HEMOW 7: The Great War

The Concert of Europe (1815-1871)

A post-Napoleon system adopted by European powers (Austria, Britain, Prussia, Russia) to maintain stability and power balance in the Europe in order to prevent another Napoleon. It involved consultations and meetings amongst the powers before intervening with an occurring problem e.g. revolutions.

Triple Alliance

An alliance formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882

Triple Entente

The Triple Entente was a network of diplomatic agreements and understandings between Britain, France and Russia.

BUT by 1914, the three were politically aligned enough that they effectively operated as opposing blocs to the Triple Alliance.

Entente Cordiale

An alliance formed between Britain and France in 1904

The Crimean War

Occurred in 1853-1856. Russia wanted to expand its influence at the expense of the declining Ottoman Empire. Russia invaded the empire in the name of protecting Orthodox Christians, who were at the time a minority and less privileged than the muslim majority.

France and the UK were worried this would create a power imbalance, so they fought besides the Ottoman Empire. Russia was defeated.

The Crimean War, was a major example of the decline of the Concert of Europe.

Splendid Isolation

Britain avoiding permanent European alliances because it believed its naval, economic and imperial strength allowed it to remain independent.

It had to abandon it though because of Germany’s growing navy and Britain formed the T Entente Cordiale with France and eventually the Triple Entente

Revanchism

Wanting revenge by taking back territory you lost

Sentiment in France, after losing the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-1871. France lost Alsace-Lorraine to the German empire, and many French nationalists wanted it back. Hence why France had a beef with Germany before WW1

Dreyfus Affair

Dreyfus Affair (1894–1906): Jewish French soldier Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of spying for Germany and sent to Devil's Island. When evidence showed another officer was responsible, the military tried to cover up its mistake. Émile Zola's “J'Accuse…!” exposed the injustice, leading to huge political conflict. Dreyfus was eventually cleared and returned to the army in 1906.

Weltpolitik

This was Germany’s world policy under Kaiser Wilhelm II, especially from 1890s onwards. Germany wanted to become a major global power

Germany wanted:

• More colonies and overseas influence

• A much stronger navy

• Greater access to global trade and markets

• Germany to have a bigger say in international affairs

• To compete with established powers like Britain and France

Britain did not like this (hence why Splendid isolation was abandoned)

Weltpolitik contributed to the power imbalance in Europe before WW1

Schlieffen plan

A military plan developed in the 1890s-1900s by German military planners in case a major war occurred. Germany feared a two-front war against France (revanchism) and Russia (allied with enemies, and AUS-HUN beef with RUS over Balkans).

So the plan was:

1. Quickly defeat France
Germany would attack France through Belgium (Germany wanted to avoid France's heavily defended Franco-German border. Going through neutral Belgium gave Germany a route to quickly reach northern France and encircle Paris.), going around the French defenses.

2. Then turn east toward Russia
Germany assumed Russia would take longer to mobilize its army.

Riskko-gedanke

Germany wanted a navy strong enough to make Britain fear that a war with Germany would be too costly.

Bismarck’s Alliance System

Germany maintained relationships with Russia and Austria-Hungary to isolate France and prevent Germany from being surrounded in a two-front war.

The Russian Revolution: Tsar’s abdication

Russia was struggling badly because of WWI:

• huge military casualties

• food shortages

• inflation

• economic problems

• growing anger at Tsar Nicholas II

In February 1917 (Russian calendar; March in the Western calendar), protests and strikes broke out in Petrograd.

The army eventually stopped supporting the Tsar.

Nicholas II abdicated.

The Russian Revolution: Dual power

After the Tsar fell, two different centres of power appeared:

A. Provisional Government

• Made up mainly of liberal/moderate politicians

• Claimed to be the official government

• Wanted to establish a democratic system

• Kept Russia in WWI

B. Petrograd Soviet

• Council representing workers and soldiers

• Had enormous support among ordinary people and soldiers

• More radical than the Provisional Government

• Wanted peace, land, and workers' interests

Provisional Government = official government
Soviet = huge popular influence

That's why it's called Dual Power — two institutions were competing for political authority at the same time.

The Russian Revolution:

During 1917, the Provisional Government became weaker because:

• the war continued

• food shortages continued

• soldiers were exhausted

• peasants wanted land

• workers wanted better conditions

Meanwhile, the Bolsheviks gained influence in the Soviets.

By October, they had enough support and organization to attempt to take power.

In October 1917 (November according to the Western calendar), Bolshevik forces took control of important locations in Petrograd.

They then seized the Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government was based.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks took control over the government.

What was the state of Europe before WW1

A post-Napoleon system, The concert of Europe, was set up to allow European monarchs to discuss ongoing problems in the region before turning it into war. Another additional goal of theirs was to maintain a balance of power.

However, this system started to crumble as a result of the European powers forming more permanent alliances based on their own self-interest, the unification of Germany and Italy, and the Crimean War which altered the balance of powers.

What were the states of the great powers (AUS-HUN, GER, RUS, BRT, FR) of Europe before WW1

AUS-HUN: Struggling to maintain the multinational empire because of a series of separatists and self-determination movements. Was beefing with RUS over Balkans.

GER: Was building up the nation with Weltpolitik, Bismarck’s alliance system and the Schlieffen plan, building up its navy based on Risikko-gedanke which frustrated BRT. Won the Franco-Prussian war (1870-71) and took Alsace-Lorraine. Triple alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungary.

RUS: Behind in modernization as the Tsars continued to oppress the population whilst maintaining there autocratic structures. Had serfdom, poverty, hunger, lost some wars (Crimean war and the Russo-Japanese war)

BRT: Abandoned ‘Splendid isolaton’ because Germany’s naval developments was scaring them. So they formed an alliance with France (Cordiale Entente) and then the Triple Entente with France and Russia by 1914

FR: Revanchsim cause they were salty about losing Alsace-Lorraine and French nationalists were beefing with Germany cause of Alsace-Lorraine. They also had relative imperial decline and political scandals such as the Dreyfus Affair

What were the economic and social impacts of WW1

• Expanded State Role: Managing total war forced an increase in government bureaucracy and state intervention in the economy.

• Social and Gender Transformation: Industrial labor shortages strengthened the political position of labor unions and brought women into the workforce, marking a major breakthrough in women's emancipation.

• Colonial Mobilization: The deployment of soldiers from European colonies stimulated rising nationalist movements within those colonies.

The (Punitive) Peace of Paris 1919 — The Treaty of Versailles 1919

Punitive Measures against Germany: The Treaty of Versailles established Alleinschuld (sole German guilt), stripping Germany of territory and colonies, imposing severe military restrictions, and assessing reparations of 20 billion Gold Marks