Western Civilization II Exam #3

Topics: WWI,

Triple Alliance

pre-wwI alliance formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy that aimed to provide mutual military support

Triple Entente

Alliance formed during WWI between Great Britain, France, Russia to counterbalance the power of the Triple Alliance

Bosnia

Austria-Hungary annexed this country in 1908, posing a direct threat to Serbia’s own ambitions and national interests

Serbia

Their nationalism clashed with the interests of Austria-Hungary; they wanted to unite all South Slavic peoples

Archduke Francis Ferdinand

killed by a member of the black Hand; Austria blamed this event on Serbia; Austria declares war on Serbia July 28th 1914

The Black Hand

Bosnian Serb nationalist/terrorist government

Schlieffen Plan

German military plan to invade and defeat France before Britain can support them, then move all the troops East to fight Russia

Battle of Verdun

• Became the bloodiest battle world war I; goal was to bleed their opponent dry

• German’s siege the fortress of Verdun from the French

• illustrates the savagery of war

Battle of Somme

• British offensive against the Germans

• illustrates the futility of offensive actions on the western front

11/11/1918

the new German government agreed to an armistice effectively ending combat on the western front

Treaty of Versailles

• placed blame of war on Germany

• France takes territories lost in the Franco-Prussian war

• Forced Germany to pay reparations

• Forbade military conscription - limited to 100,000 volunteers

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

peace treaties signed by the Central Powers with the Ukrainian Republic (Feb. 9, 1918) and with Soviet Russia (March 3, 1918), which concluded hostilities between those countries during WWI

Russian Revolution

Czar abdicates → communists take over and leadership signs Treaty of Brest - Litovsk in March 1918 → ends Russian involvement in war

Zimmerman Telegram

Germany proposed a Mexican invasion of the U.S. and in turn Mexico would gain TX, AZ, & NM

Russo-Japanese War

• Russia is humiliated when defeated by their Japanese enemy

• prelude to revolution: reformers begin to ask for political change in Russia

Revolution in February

Unrest in Russia caused by many humiliating losses and demands for political reforms erupts into revolution

Vladimir Lenin

• founder of the Russian communist party

• replaced by Joseph Stalin when he died in 1924

Bolsheviks

led by Lenin, seized power of the central government, Russia withdraw from WWI → treaty of Brest-Litovsk [reds]

Gulag

Russian: “Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps,”

• the system of Soviet labor camps and accompanying detention and transit camps and prisons that housed the political prisoners and criminals of the Soviet Union

October Revolution

Led by the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin, it overthrew the Russian Provisional Government, established the world's first socialist state (and later the Soviet Union), and sparked the Russian Civil War.

anti-bolshevicks

supported by America and Britain [whites]

Soviets

council's made up of soldiers and workers that were consequence of the October revolution, not official government structures (they’re alternative),

New economic policy

• nationalization of certain policies

• mixed economy

• state only allows some activities especially in agriculture

Joseph Stalin

• replaces Lenin when he died in 1924

• aggressively imposes economic changes

• five year plans

• works on civilization (state organized agriculture) and pooling of farmland, animals, and equipment

Five year plans

large investment in construction of railroads, tanks, power plants, etc.

Article 231

section of the Treaty of Versailles that placed sole responsibility for World War I on Germany and her allies

Characteristics of fascism

• extreme nationalism

• anti-communism

• anti-liberalism

• emphasis on unity

• authoritarian 1 party states

• violent suppression of dissent

• desire to expand

Benito Mussolini

Creator of Italian fascism, organized fascist party and creates a fascist militia

The November Criminals

a group of German politicians who signed the armistice that ended WWI, earning them the label from those who believed Germany had strength to continue fighting

Lebensraum

Nazi ideology that referred to the idea that Germany needed to expand its territory, secure resources, and expand the ‘Aryan race”

Blackshirts

the militant wing of the National Fascist Party led by Benito Mussolini that were known for intimidating political opponents and unionized workers through violence and intimidation

March On Rome

Occurred in 1922 when thousands of fascist Blackshirts marched on Rome in an attempt to take control of the Italian government and hand power to the Fascist party

Weimar Republic

• created after the collapse of the German monarchy

• Political instability (creates fear of communism in Germany)

• Economic crises causes Hitler to rise to power

Adolf Hitler

• German solider who joins the German worker’s party in 1919

• Leader of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazi)

Nazi Party

Political party that appeals to veterans and organized a paramilitary organization (storm troops)

Third Reich

Refers to the Nazi regime in Germany from 1933-1945; This word can also mean ‘empire’ in German history

• period is known for dictatorship, Holocaust, and aggressive foreign policies

Beer Han Putsch

Hitler arrested and sent to prison and writes Mein Kampf while locked up

Mein Kampf

an articulation of Hitler’s worldview written by him after he was arrested and placed in prison

Kristallnacht

laws that refused Jews citizenship and created many laws against them; name means ‘night of broken glass’

November Criminals

Denounced by the Nazi party because they ‘stabbed the German war effort in the back’ according to Hitler Jews and German socialists

Lebenstraum

German for ‘living space’; Hitler wants to make living space for the ‘superior’ race

Guernica

• Spanish city bombed by German airplanes

• shows the power of new weaponry developed during this time

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister apart of the apex of appeasement

Apex of Appeasement

Britain and France continually appease Hitler’s requests and desires so as to not begin a war and keep the peace

Czechoslovakia

• Hitler annexed Switzerland, which is a predominantly German region of this country

• Invaded in May 1939

Poland

• Invaded by Germany on September 1st of 1939; Britain and France promised to back them up if Germany invaded— sparks the beginning of the war

• surrenders on 27th of September 1939

Sudetenland

during the munich conference Britain and France allows Germany to annex this region

Battle of Britain

• July 1940-May 1941

• Germany vs. Britain

• German air force gives up on the idea of invading Britain and instead begin to terrorize civilization (bombings) leading to evacuations

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister during the majority of WW2

Pearl Harbor

The Japanese attacked this American region on Dec. 7th 1941 and this is how the United States entered WW2

Barbarossa

Code name for Nazi Germany’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union (began June 22, 1941); aimed to eliminate the USSR as a military power and establish German dominance

Stalingrad

Major turning point in WW2 resulting in a victory for the Soviet Union against Germany and its allies (lasted from July 1942- Feb 1943)

D-day

Day Normandy was attacked; marked the beginning of the end of Nazi control in West Europe

Hiroshima

Site of the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare; occurred Aug 6 1945; hastened the end of the war leading to Japan’s surrender

Nagasaki

the second city targeted by atomic bombs on Aug 9 1945

Auschwitz

the largest of the concentration camps and extermination center/death camps run under the Nazis

Final Solution

Nazi’s plan to eliminate Europe’s entire Jewish population

Two remaining superpowers after WW2:

The United States and The Soviet Union

Iron Curtain

• 1946

• Winston Churchill warned that an iron curtain was dividing Europe into Soviet and western spheres of influence

Containment

• 1947

• Primarily American Cold War policy

• U.S. sought to contain the spread of communism

Berlin Airlift

western allies (US, France, Great Britain) flew supplies into West Berlin to counter the Soviet Union’s blockade of the city

Perestroika

“reconstructing” in Russian; refers to a series of political and economic reforms led by Mikhail Gorbachev meant to kick-start the stagnant economy and political policy of the USSR

NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]

• solidifies division of Europe

• 12 nations

• an attack against one nation is an attack against all

Korean War

helps us understand how the Cold War became global; proxy war between U.S. and its allies who supported South Korea and the USSR and China who supported North Korea.

Berlin Wall

built by the German Democratic Republic to prevent citizens from escaping to the Western sector of Berlin

Glasnost

means ‘openness’ and transparency in government institutions and activities in the USSR

1989 [in relation to Cold War event]

• year of turning points eventually leading to the end of the Cold War

• fall of Berlin Wall

• weakening of Soviet influence

Decolonization

rapid disintegration of European empires from 1945-1975 over 50 new independent states are created

Amritsar Massacre

1919, sparked independence movement in India led by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawarhal Nehrv emergence of much more vocal movement

Partition of India

In order to avoid fighting the British decided to create Pakistan and India and East Pakistan becomes Bangladesh in 1971

Israel

• declaration in May of 1948 established the state

• war between new state and its Arab neighbors who support the Palestinians; Israel wins

Balfour Declaration

letter from the British government to the Jewish community in 1917 expressing support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine

Palestine

• hundred of thousands of Jews leave Europe for this region

• UN calls for partition of this country into two states (Jewish State, Arab State)

6 Day War

• June 1967

• Israel attacks and defeats its Arab neighbors and acquire new territories

Vietnam

• France looses control of Indo-china during WW2, and attempts to reign control in 1945 which leads to warfare between Vietnamese nationalist forced and French forces

• Vietnam is divided into two separate states (Geneva Accords)

Dien Bien Phu

• 1954

• Viet Minh victory

• marked the end of French colonial rule in Indochina

• set stage for the Vietnam War

Mandates

legal instruments under which a nation (usually a Western power like Britain or France) administered a former colony or territory on behalf of the League of Nations, and later the UN, with the goal of guiding it toward self-governance and independence

Vladimir Putin

• president of Russia from 1999-2008; 2012-present

• Russian nationalist

• Advancing Russian claims in non-Russian territory (Ukraine and Crimea)

Yugoslavia

becomes an area shaped by ethnic and religious conflict

Slobodan Milosevic

• Serbian and Yugoslav politician who played a role in the breakup of Yugoslavia

• president of Serbia & the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

• Rose in prominence by promoting Serbian nationalism during a time of increasing ethnic tensions in Yugoslavia.

Bosnia

• after this country declared independence from Yugoslavia there was a war that led to calls for humanitarian intervention

• widespread ethnic cleansing targeting Muslims supported by Serbia

Kosovo

• ethnic Albanians in this region demanded independence from Serbia

• mass atrocities and the displacement of nearly a million ethnic Albanians

Developed European Union

• open market to all borders

• 28 states total

• Brussels, Belgium is the center of the government

• Strasbourg, France is the location of the European Parliament

• Currency = Euro

Brexit

British referendum in favor of exiting the European Union in 2016

Origins of the European Union

• 6 countries joined in 1957 to create the European Economic Community (EEC)

• UK, Ireland, Denmark join the renamed European Community (EC) in 1973

• 1985, Schengen zone, free movement of people

• by 1993 Macstrict Treaty officially creates the EU