History Unit 1: WW1 and Russian Revolution

MAIN: Militarism

• Militarism: building up armed forces, getting ready and prepared for war

  • Standing army: an army ready to go to war

  • By 1914, there was an explosion of military power 

  • European nations began arming themselves to protect their assets  

    • Germany and Britain were competing to build the biggest army + navy

  • Caused Europe to become extremely unstable - tension is high, and even a small spark can cause a war

    • Made some feel patriotic and others feel fearful 

MAIN: Alliances

• Alliances: agreements or promises to defend and help another country during times of war 

  • Alliances created a false sense of security

    • Many were confused

  • Nations felt obligated to join in the defense of their partners 

    • Alliance networks were so extensive, pulling everyone into the war (why it is a world war) 

MAIN: Imperialism

• Imperialism: trying to build up an empire 

  • 1910-1914 → increase in Defense expenditures 

  • Many were colonizing Africa and trying to gain more land/territory 

    • Industrial nations wanted markets for goods

    • Competed sometimes to the edge of war → created mistrust and rivalry 

  • Britain was the largest imperial power - incredibly competitive in Europe 

  • Germany was left out of the colonial race

  • Ottoman Empire weakens - Russia and Austria both wanted a chunk 

  • Serbia (part of the Ottoman Empire) gained independence 

    • Russia wanted to unite the Slavic people

MAIN: Nationalism

• Nationalism: having pride in one's country and being willing to defend it

  • Pride in one's country, which can become extreme

    • The rise in nationalism caused Europe to become unstable, as everyone was competing against each other 

    • In competition over markets and materials 

    • Territory disputes → everyone wants independence

  • Serbia threatened Austria-Hungary's rule

  • Cultural expressions of nationalism

    • Personification of the nation - ex, Uncle Sam 

    • National flags

    • National songs and anthems

  • Used nationalism to convince people to support their country

The Spark

• June 28, 1914, Archduke Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary and his wife were assassinated by Serbian terrorists, Gavrilo Princip

  • Advised not to go to this parade, due to growing tension and proximity to Serbia

• Multiple assassins → first one misses, so the route of the car changes

  • Cyanide expires, and the first guy is detained

  • Second person, Gavrilo Princip, gives up and goes to a sandwich shop

    • The Archduke and his wife walk out of the hospital after visiting across the street from Gavrilo 

      • He shoots and kills both of them 

• Sparks the war, dragging all the allies in 

  • Austro-Hungaria blames Serbia and declares war 

  • Germany declares war on Russia and France 

  • Britain declares war on Germany 

Alliance Systems

• Central powers (center of Europe and aka the triple alliance): 

  • Germany 

  • austria -hungary 

  • Bulgaria

  • Ottoman Empire (becomes modern-day Turkey) 

• Allied Powers (aka Triple Entente) 

  • Britain

  • France 

  • Russia 

  • Japan

  • Italy - switches sides often

  • Later the US

Schleiffen Plan

• Plan by Alfred von Schlieffen - Germany plans to defeat France in 6 weeks and then attack Russia 

  • Plan fails because there is strong resistance in Belgium (between Germany and France) 

    • Russia also mobilized quicker than expected - industrialized and built railroads 

  • Germany abandoned the plan

Trench Warfare

• Occurs mainly along the Western Front 

  • Stalemate: a deadlock in which neither side can defeat the other 

    • Waiting to see who runs out of resources first

  • Trench warfare soon becomes a war of attrition - wearing them down by continual losses 

    • System of subterranean trenches 

    • In the middle was no man's land 

Significant battles and the futility of war

• Western Front battles (1916) 

  • Battle of Verdun: French v German 

    • The battle was 10 months long 

    • 305,000 losses 

    • No gains 

  • Battle of the Somme: Eng/French v Germany 

    • 1st use of tanks

    • 1 million dead → bombed Germany and decided to walk over to their trenches; however, they were all shot 

    • Eng/French gained 5 miles of land 

• Eastern Front battles

  • Russia suffered massive losses, but had a huge population 

  • Hadn't industrialized 

  • The Army didn't have food, guns, ammunition, clothes, boots, or blankets

  • At this point, Poland and Ukraine are part of Russia 

Industrialization of war (new technologies and their impact)

• First creation of the tank: a way to get through no man's land without getting shot 

  • Could also break through barbed wire + barricades in the trenches  

• Poison gas: created by Germany, but then both sides used it 

  • Caused blistering, blindness, and almost always death 

  • Chlorine gas: burned skin and filled lungs with fluid (drowning from the inside)

• Aircraft were used for spying behind enemy lines, air battles, dropping bombs, and dropping supplies

• Submarines - previously called German U-boats, which dominated the sea

• Machine guns - up to 600 rounds a minute  

Total War

• Total war: all people and resources were devoted to war 

  • A lot of conscription: the draft, where men from 18 to 25 were required to fight 

  • Also, a lot of propaganda: spreading of ideas to promote a cause of damage to an opposing cause

  • Censorship of the press

  • Rise of women in factories: worked for men in battle to keep them running 

U.S. Involvement

• U.S. Enters the War 

  • Unrestricted Submarine Warfare: submarines sink any ship in waters around Britain without warning 

    • When the Lusitania was sunk, 128 Americans died, and Americans turned against Germany, joining the war 

  • Zimmerman telegram: proposal to Mexico from Germany to attack the U.S. if they joined the Allies - would receive New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona as compensation as well  

    • Telegram was intercepted by America

    • Wilson declared war on April 2, 1917 

Results of WWI

• Germany’s final plan 

  • Tried one big final push to Paris 

  • Fails: Allies fight back thanks to the fresh U.S. troops, and push them into Germany

  • Collapses in the fall of 1918

• Kaiser Wilhelm steps down (the German equivalent of their king) 

• Germany declares itself a republic (governed by the people) → No longer a monarchy 

  • They sent a representative to sign a peace deal

    • Armistice: an agreement to stop fighting on November 11th, 1918

• The Entente powers have the most land, surrounding the Central Powers

Big 4 and their goals at the Paris Peace Conference

• Woodrow Wilson (USA): 

  • Global peace, stability

  • Fix war’s root causes

• George Clemenceau (France): 

  • wanted to weaken the German army

  • protect French borders

  • Wanted Alsace and Lorraine, a piece of land that Germany had won.

• David Lloyd George (Britain): 

  • wanted economic punishments for Germany and its allies

  • naval strength

  • Wanted to protect the British Empire

• Vittorio Orlando (Italy):

  • wanted more land

Paris Peace Conference

• Paris Peace Conference: a way to negotiate and determine the terms of the war and peace that followed, as everyone wanted something different

  • Also needed to determine the best course of action for the future, to avoid more losses than the 16 million from the war.

Wilsons 14 points

• Fourteen points were a list to reduce future conflicts and establish the immediate cessation of the war

  • He hoped to improve international relationships and reduce the size of armies globally. 

  • Also allowed for self-determination for colonies 

    • People with national consciousness can form their own state and government

• Treaties did not apply to self-determination (right to self-govern, etc) in European colonies in Asia and Africa -- created a system of mandates

  • Former German and Ottoman lands became mandates administered by Western powers 

  • Mandates were to be held until they were ready to stand alone, teaching them and then freeing them 

    • In practice, they were treated as colonies - never released (“never took training wheels off”

    • Added to the imperial war instead of ending it

Wilsons last point

• Wilson also wanted to create an international peacekeeping organization

  • The League of Nations was a group of more than 40 countries formed to negotiate disputes in an effort to avoid future wars 

  • The US Senate refused to pass the Treaty of Versailles -- created it, but refused to join

    • The US never joined the League of Nations → However, they promised collective security (would help protect other countries)

      • Weakened their power due to the US's lack of involvement 

  • The League proved ineffective in preventing future wars

Treaty of Versailles

• Summed up the punishment 

  • Germany must reduce their army and ban conscription (draft) 

    • Banned weapon making 

    • Reducing the size of Germany (Alsace-Lorraine) 

  • Took away all of Germany’s colonies 

  • Made Germany pay reparations (payment for war damages)

    • Harmed germanys already weak economy

  • Demanded that Germany must accept all the blame for causing the war (war guilt clause)

• France was very insistent on these harsh punishments as they had the most damage

• Germany felt resentment about their loss in the war 

  • Versailles left Germany weak → laying the groundwork for Nazism 

Causes of the Russian Revolution

• Russia was rural and late to industrialize 

• Serfdom and poor working conditions → bloody sunday 

  • Worked long hours for a low wage 

  • Asked the tsar for help with the petition, but the generals fired, killing 500 people. → had to give some power to the Duma (causing instability in the gov)

• War involvement: Alliances with France, Britain, and Serbia

  • Nicholas refused to pull out of the war → more casualties

• Rise in food prices and an increase in death rates due to neglect of the issues

  • Led to bread riots, worker strikes, and anger among peasants

• Nicholas left to lead troops (no previous military background): blamed for the losses

  • His wife, the Tsarina, tried absolute rule with the help of Rasputin → rumors, and led towards revolution

Tsar Nicholas

• Leader of Russia (like a king)

• Not favored by the people - gave them the bare minimum that was needed to survive (while he lived lavishly), didn’t help them when asked

• Left to lead Russians in WWI, blamed for all of Russia’s losses

  • Left Tsarina in charge which hurt his name and the country

• Abdicated the throne (after March Revolution)

• Executed (along with his whole family) in 1918

Tsarina

• Wife of Tsar Nicholas

• Was left in charge when he went to fight in the war

  • Went terribly, took most of her advice from Rasputin

  • Had terrible consequences on Russia (food shortages, soldiers deserting, economy breaking down) and the monarchy’s reputation

Rasputin

• Aid to the Tsarina when Nicholas II went to war

• A spiritual believer/conjurer of sorts

  • Unpopular with the people as Russia was very conservative

• His actions negatively affected Russia in the future becuase they were unadvised and based on his own beliefs

• Rumored to be having an affair with the Tsarina which hurt her family’s reputation

  • Ended up in his murder, which led towards the revolution

Lenin

• Developed his own revolutionary interpretation of Marxist thought

• Key revolutionary and leader of the Bolsheviks (later known as the Communists)

• Helped overthrow Tsar Nicholas and industrialize Russia 

• Eventually became leader of new Russian government (after the November Revolution)

• Tried to give all groups of people what they wanted and more rights

  • Lived modestly, and did not care for personal gains

• Negotiated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

• Created the Soviet Union

• Executed many people without a trial and used miltary force to silence opposition

• Died in 1924 of natural causes

Trotsky

• One of Lenin’s biggest supporters, later led alongside him

• Organize followers and Bolshevik soldiers in the November Revolution and helped them seize power

• Led the Red Army (Bolsheviks) in the Russian Civil War

March Revolution

• March Revolution

  • Spontaneously, soldiers joined protests, a provisional government formed, Tsar Nicholas II abdicates throne

    • Causes: Began as a womens protest for food shortages and then others joined becoming a large event

    • New government still keeps Russia in WWI

  • Effects: new gov in place 

November Revolution

• November Revolution

  • Causes: In April Lenin returned from Switzerland (with help from Germany, as they wanted him to create chaos in Russia so that they would pull out of the war)

  • While in hiding, Lenin called for a Bolshevik insurrection 

    • Bolsheviks were able to seize power, aided by Leon Trotsky

  • Effects: Lenin was named the head of the new Communist government

    • Lenin updated Karl Marx’s ideas to address Russia's conditions 

      • New slogan: “Peace, Land, and Bread”

Problems with the Provisional Government (Duma)

• Formed immediately after the March Revolution and Tsar’s abdication (1917)

• Started out popular → ruled under a new constitution that established equality, freedom of speech, and etc 

• but failed to pull Russia out of WWI as they believed international alliaces must be honored 

  • turning people against the Duma 

• Also had to share power with the Petrograd Soviet

  • The Soviets weakened the provisional government through their own orders, and were more radical, wanted more power to the soviets, and overall were more popular with the people

• Collapsed due to the November Revolution and was replaced by Lenin and the Bolsheviks 

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

• Negotiated by Lenin with Germany, 1918

• Pulled Russia out of WWI and allowed it to stop the losses of men and supplies

• Had to pay a price → money/territory, to leave the war

• Allowed Lenin to escape the continued war and pursue his goal of absolute power for the Communists within Russia

Russia’s Civil War

• White Army vs Red Army 

  • Red Army → Bolsheviks led by Leon Trotsky

    • Won due to controlling the center - whites attacked at the edges 

    • Communists had a better army 

  • White Army  → led by anti-communist, old army group

    • Also failed to unite Bolshevik foes 

• Bolsheviks established War Communism on the home front 

  • Applied total war concept to a civil conflict 

  • Nationalized banks and industries

  • Rationed food, seized grain 

  • Use of propaganda (more visual, as many peasants were illiterate)

• Red Terror

  • Used the Cheka to silence opposition, establish fear, and execute class enemies

The Cheka

• Cheka - police of the Russian Civil War (partook in the Red Terror)

• Imprisoned and executed tens of thousands without a trial as “class enemies”

• Established the secret police as a new tool