Hannon Western Civ

Why did Germany seek a truce (WWI)?

Military collapse, failed 1918 offensives, starvation from British blockade, U.S. entry shifted balance, internal unrest

Spring Offensive

Germany’s final 1918 offensive that failed and led to collapse

Four Empires after WWI

German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires all collapsed

Treaty of Versailles

Main treaty ending WWI that punished Germany

Clause 231 (War Guilt Clause)

Germany forced to accept responsibility for causing the war

Clause 231 quote

"Germany accepts the responsibility… for causing all the loss and damage"

Reparations

Massive payments Germany forced to make for war damages

Versailles quote (Clemenceau)

"Germany must undertake to make reparation to the very uttermost of her power"

Versailles quote (Lloyd George)

"We will exact the last penny we can out of Germany"

German reaction to Versailles

Humiliation, anger, desire for revenge

German quote (1919)

"There will be revenge for the shame of 1919"

Territorial losses (Germany)

Lost land, colonies, resources, and population

Military restrictions (Germany)

Army limited, no tanks, no air force, reduced navy

Anschluss

Union between Germany and Austria forbidden

Treaty of Sèvres

Divided Ottoman Empire into mandates (Middle East)

Treaty system (overall)

Series of treaties that redrew Europe and Middle East

Woodrow Wilson 14 Points

Plan for peace based on self-determination and fairness

Wilson quote

"Peace without victory"

League of Nations

International organization meant to prevent war but weak

Big Three

Wilson, Clemenceau, Lloyd George leading peace negotiations

Conflict at Versailles

Wilson idealism vs Allied desire to punish Germany

Italian dissatisfaction

Italy felt cheated out of promised land (“mutilated victory”)

Lost Peace

Peace settlement created instability and future conflict

Lost Peace quote

"We shall have to fight another war again in 25 years time"

Why WWI is a watershed

End of empires, new ideologies, redrawn borders, leads to WWII

Russia before WWI

Autocratic monarchy, poor peasants, weak industry, repression

Expansionism (Russia)

Empire expanded across large territories controlling many groups

Alexander III

Tsar who enforced strict repression and strengthened autocracy

Nicholas II

Last Tsar, weak leader who lost control during WWI

Okhrana

Tsarist secret police used to crush opposition

Siberia exile

System of sending political prisoners to remote labor camps

Bloody Sunday (1905)

Massacre of protesters showing weakness of Tsar

Duma

Limited parliament created but ineffective

WWI impact on Russia

Economic collapse, military failure, food shortages

Why Nicholas II abdicated

Lost army support, protests, famine, war failures

Provisional Government

Weak democratic government that continued WWI and failed

Lenin return (1917)

Returned to Russia to lead revolution (with German help)

April Theses

Lenin’s call for immediate revolution and no support for government

April Theses slogan

"Peace, Land, Bread"

Bolsheviks

Small, disciplined revolutionary group led by Lenin

Mensheviks

Larger, moderate социалists favoring gradual change

October Revolution

1917 Bolshevik seizure of power

Trotsky

Leader of Red Army and key organizer of revolution

Trotsky quote

"Our enemies had neither sufficient logical consistency nor determination"

Russian Civil War

Reds (Bolsheviks) vs Whites (opposition forces)

Why Bolsheviks won

Organization, leadership, control of cities, divided enemies

CHEKA

Secret police enforcing terror

Iron Fist of the Proletariat

Government rule through violence and fear

Red Terror

Campaign of repression and executions

Famine under Lenin

Millions died due to policies and war conditions

Miracle on the Vistula

1920 Polish victory stopping Soviet expansion into Europe

NEP (New Economic Policy)

Temporary return to capitalism to stabilize economy

Karl Marx

German philosopher who created Marxism

Friedrich Engels

Collaborator and co-author of Communist theory

Communist Manifesto

1848 document outlining Marxist theory

Marxism

Theory that history is driven by class struggle

Class struggle

Conflict between bourgeoisie (owners) and proletariat (workers)

Marx quote (class struggle)

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles"

Stages of history

Feudalism → Capitalism → Socialism → Communism

Economic determinism

Economic forces shape politics, society, and culture

Religion (Marx)

"Religion is the opiate of the masses"

Atheism (Marxism)

Rejection of religion as a tool of control

Concessions

Reforms that delay revolution by improving conditions

Class consciousness

Workers becoming aware of exploitation

Dictatorship of the proletariat

Temporary rule by workers before communism

Communism

Classless, stateless society with no private property

Marx quote (revolution)

"The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains"

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of Bolsheviks and architect of Soviet state

Lenin background

Revolutionary, exile, influenced by Marxism

Lenin before WWI

Organizing revolution and writing in exile

Bolsheviks vs Mensheviks

Bolsheviks small elite revolutionaries, Mensheviks mass movement

Lenin vs Marx

Lenin adapted Marxism for immediate revolution in weak Russia

Lenin quote (violence)

"Dictatorship… power based directly on violence"

Lenin quote (terror)

"We shall not make excuses for the terror"

October Revolution (Lenin role)

Led overthrow of Provisional Government

Totalitarianism

One-party rule controlling all aspects of life

CHEKA leadership

Felix Dzerzhinsky led secret police

Terror under Lenin

Violence, executions, repression of opposition

War Communism

State control of economy during Civil War

Starvation as policy

Food confiscation contributed to mass death

Lenin’s legacy

Created Soviet Union and model for totalitarian regimes