Triple Alliance
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy alliance formed to protect against France in 1880s
Contributors to Start of WWI
Feuds between European countries, industrialism, rise in nationalism, military build-up and powerful weapons, power-grabbing alliances
France-Russian Alliance
formed to keep Germany in check
Schlieffen Plan
Germany’s planned attack on France through Belgium (neutral country)
Triple Entente
Britain, France, Russia - later joined by Japan (and Italy when they switched sides in 1915)
Event that started WWI
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip - Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia led to all allied groups getting involved
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke of Austria-Hungary
Central Powers Alliance
Ottoman Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary
How many countries joined the WWI?
over 40 - most due to colonial ties and alliances
Why did US join WWI?
Germany sinking British civilian boat Lusitania in 1915
Zimmermann telegram
Previously had an isolationism policy
Zimmermann telegram
Secret telegram between German diplomats saying Mexico could regain territory taken by US if they joined forces
Isolationism
neutrality, focusing on internal affairs instead
WWI End
Germany and Central Powers gave up in November 1918
WWI Effects
8.5 million soldiers were killed
20 million civilians died
Treaty of Versailles
signed in 1919 - official end to WWI
Treaty of Versailles Main Points
Germany was to pay war reparations, release territory, downsize military to prevent them from rising to power again
Austria-Hungary divided into other nations like Czechoslovakia
Britain and France put strict punishments on Germany - US wanted to focus on President Wilson’s Fourteen Points
President Wilson’s Fourteen Points
more focused on future peace and workable balance of power - but was disapproved of by Britain and France
League of Nations
President Wilson called for formation of council to preserve peace and establish humanitarian goals, but was not widely accepted (even by US)
Czar Nicholas II
Russian czar who was forced to resign in 1917 over growing resentment among working class
Alexander Kerensky
established a provisional government in Russia after czar Nicholas II - ineffective because it disagreed with the local councils, soviets, who represented workers, peasants, and soldiers
Bolsheviks
Led by Marxist leader Vladimir Lenin - Socialist party that was backed by the Russian working class
April Theses
issues by Vladimir Lenin - demanded peace, land for peasants, power to soviets
within 6 months took power of government - soon to be called Soviet Union
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
1918 - armistice with Germany - ceded part of western Russia to Germany so they dropped out of WWI
Red Army
Bolshevik military force under Leon Trotsky to defeat counterrevolutions against Russian leadership
What happened when Ottoman Empire joined Central Powers in WWI?
A movement to reclaim Turkish culture occurred and spawned a genocide of Armenian minority and a shift to Turkish nationalism
resulted in loss of most of remaining land in peace negotiations
Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk)
Led successful military against invading Greece and overthrew Ottoman Empire to become first president of Turkey
What did the Soviets do when they dropped out of WWI?
Focused on their own domestic problems - Lenin instituted the New Economic Policy
New Economic Policy (Vladimir Lenin)
1920s - allowed farmers to sell portions of grain for profit - successful, but Lenin died and new Communist leader, Joseph Stalin discarded it
Five-Year Plans (Joseph Stalin)
taking over private farms for state-owned enterprises (collectivization) - really was totalitarianism
USSR
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics led by Joseph Stalin - relied on terror (secret police, bogus trials, assassinations)
What led to The Great Depression (1930s)?
War was expensive and Europe owed a lot of money to America, who had given out loans to a lot of countries and weren’t getting them back
US stock market crash in 1929 leading to international catastrophe
Who has hit the hardest by the Great Depression?
US and Germany - 1/3 of workforce unemployed
loss of trust in government in countries with weak democracies = fascism
Fascism
Political structure with goal to destroy will of individual in favour of the people
Wanted a unified society like communists, but did not eliminate private property or class distinctions
Pushed for extreme nationalism - often on basis of racism
Fascism in Italy
First fascist state - founded by Benito Mussolini in 1919
Led through force and fear which led him to take over the government in 1922
Utilized Blackshirts
Blackshirts
Fought socialist and communist organizations to win over factory and land owners
Weimar Republic
German emperor was abdicated after WWI so a conservative democratic republic took over
Nationalist Socialist Party (Nazis)
Mussolini’s success in Italy was influencing Germany so Nazi party was formed to help the economic crisis in Germany and rose to power in the 20s
Reichstag
Weimar Republic elected body - rejected by the people due to the economic crisis in Germany
Adolf Hitler
became head of Nazi Party in the 20s - believed in extreme nationalism and superior race - believed the Aryan race was the most superior race
eventually became leader of the Reichstag in 1933
Third Reich
Hitler’s fascist rule in Germany from 30s to 40s
How did Hitler go against the Treaty of Versailles?
Began rebuilding military
Withdrew Germany from League of Nations
Took back the Rhineland part of Germany
Formed alliance with militant Japan
Annexed Austria
Dictatorship in Spain
Spain was in turmoil after fall of Spanish monarchy - nationalist army under General Francisco Franco took control of large parts of Spain
Established a dictatorship in Spain in 1939 with help from Germany and Italy
Munich Conference of 1938
Hitler, Mussolini, Neville Chamberlin of England
Hitler given Sudetenland to cease his expansionist activities (appeasement) - did not work
Hitler’s Invasions that Led to Start of WWII
Invaded rest of Czechoslovakia in 1939
Invaded Poland in 1939
Britain and France first declared war on Germany
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Germans and Soviets signed a pact to stay out of each other’s countries and agreed to divide rest of Europe’s land between them
How did Japan gain more power?
Accepted an alliance with Britain in 1905
Japanese militarists gained momentum after economic downfall in Japan from Great Depression
Invaded Manchuria in 1931 and renamed in Manchukuo
Withdrew from League of Nations and signed Anti-Comintern Pact (against communism) with Germany, beginning their alliance
How did Japan get involved in WWII
Alliance with Germany and 1937 war with China (which eventually moved into WWII
WWII Timeline
1939: War officially declared against Germany - allied countries get involved
1940: Hitler’s blitzkrieg technique got control of Poland (half with USSR), Holland, Belgium, France - tried taking over Britain but were unsuccessful
1941: Germany invaded Greece breaking their deal with Soviet Union, so they invaded the Soviet Union too - Japan bombs Pearl Harbour in Hawaii so US declares war on Japan and joins WWII
1943: US and Britain take control of Italy
1944: US, Britain, and Canada land on French beaches (D-day) and eventually liberate France
1945: Allied forces close in on Germany and end Europe war when Hitler commits suicide
End of WWII in Pacific
US drops atomic bomb on city of Hiroshima in Japan - when Japan refused to surrender, they dropped another bomb on Nagasaki, causing them to surrender
Battle of Britain
Airstrike war between Germany and Britain in attempt for Germany to capture Britain
Winston Churchill
Britain’s PM during WWII that prevented Britain from being captured
The Holocaust
Millions of Jews under German control were rounded up and killed in concentration camps to create the Aryan race
WWII Peace Settlement
US and Soviet Union became superpowers and Germany and Japan forced to demilitarize
Marshall Plan
US movements to rebuild Europe (only accepted by Western Europe nations) and rebuilt their economies in less than a decade
WWII Causing Decline in Colonialism
War inspired native populations to rise against their oppressors
WWII Causing Changes in Women’s Rights
Women took over the workforce while men were fighting - after the war, many women kept their jobs
United Nations
established in 1945, to prevent break out of another great war - goal was to mediate and intervene in international disputes
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Published by UN in response to Holocaust
Cold War
US or Soviet Union did not want each other to spread its influence beyond their borders, so they began strategizing how to contain each other - lasting for the next 50 years