A Flawed Peace and the Russian Revolution Study Guide

The Paris Peace Conference and the Negotiated Settlement

• On January 18, 1919, a conference convened at the Palace of Versailles, located outside Paris, to establish the terms of peace following the end of World War I killing.

• The gathering, known as the Paris Peace Conference, hosted delegates representing $32$ countries and lasted for one year.

• The conference was marked by vigorous and often bitter debate as Allied powers struggled with conflicting aims.

• Major decisions were primarily determined by the "Big Four" leaders:

  • Woodrow Wilson: President of the United States.

  • Georges Clemenceau: Representing France (the "Tiger").

  • David Lloyd George: Representing Great Britain.

  • Vittorio Orlando: Representing Italy.

• Notable absences included Russia, which was in the midst of a civil war, and Germany along with its defeated allies, who were not represented at the talks.

Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the Vision for Peace

• Personal Background: Woodrow Wilson ($1856–1924$) was described as tall, thin, and in poor health. He suffered from severe indigestion, occasionally requiring the use of a stomach pump on himself. A scholarly man and former president of Princeton University, he was passionately committed to international peace.

• In January 1918, Wilson proposed a plan for a just and lasting peace known as the Fourteen Points:

  • Points 1–4: Called for an end to secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, and the reduction of national military forces (armies and navies).

  • Point 5: Focused on the adjustment of colonial claims with fairness toward colonial peoples.

  • Points 6–13: Provided specific suggestions for changing national borders and creating new nations.

  • Point 14: Proposed a "general association of nations" intended to protect "great and small states alike" and negotiate solutions to world conflicts.

• The guiding principle of the proposals was self-determination, which allowed people to decide for themselves the government under which they wished to live.

The Treaty of Versailles and its Major Provisions

• The agreement was signed on June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.

• Britain and France were primarily concerned with national security and stripping Germany of its war-making capabilities rather than adhering to Wilson's idealism.

• League of Nations: An international peace organization based on Wilson’s fourteenth point. Initially, enemy and neutral nations (including Germany and Russia) were excluded.

• Territorial Losses and Penalties:

  • Germany was required to return the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to France.

  • The French border was extended to the west bank of the Rhine River.

  • Germany surrendered all overseas colonies in Africa and the Pacific, which became mandates administered by the League of Nations.

• Military Restrictions:

  • Strict limits were placed on the size of the German army.

  • Germany was prohibited from importing or manufacturing weapons or war material.

  • Germany was forbidden from building or buying submarines and was not permitted to have an air force.

• Article 231 (War Guilt Clause):

  • Germany was forced to accept sole responsibility for the war.

  • Germany was required to pay reparations to the Allies totaling approximately $33 \times 10^9$ (33 billion dollars) over a period of $30$ years.

The Creation of New Nations and Post-War Bitterness

• The Allies signed separate peace treaties in $1919$ and $1920$ with the other defeated Central Powers:

  • Austro-Hungarian Empire Dismantlement: New recognized independent nations included Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

  • Ottoman Empire Dismantlement: The Turks retained only the territory of modern-day Turkey. Other lands were converted into mandates.

  • British Mandates: Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan.

  • French Mandates: Syria and Lebanon.

• Russian Territorial Losses: Although Russia left the war early, it lost significant land. Romania and Poland gained Russian territory. Former Russian lands became the independent nations of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

• Reactions to the Treaty:

  • Germany: Left with a legacy of bitterness and hatred due to the war-guilt clause and harsh penalties.

  • Africans and Asians: Angered by the disregard for their desire for independence; the mandate system was seen as colonialism in disguise.

  • Italy and Japan: Embittered because they gained less territory than they had desired upon entering the war.

  • United States: The dominant world power rejected the treaty and the League of Nations. Many Americans believed the best hope for peace was to stay out of European affairs. The U.S. later signed a separate treaty with Germany.

The End of the Romanov Dynasty in Russia

• The Russian Revolution was compared to a "firecracker with a very long fuse," driven by nearly a century of cruel and oppressive rule.

• In $1881$, revolutionaries assassinated the reform-minded Czar Alexander II.

• Alexander III ($1881$): Responded by halting all reforms and enforcing autocracy. He used secret police, strict censorship (even of private letters), and monitored schools. Political prisoners were exiled to Siberia.

• Russification: Alexander III oppressed non-Russian groups, making Russian the official language and targeting Jews with pogroms (organized violence) where police stood by as homes and synagogues were destroyed.

• Nicholas II ($1894$): Continued autocratic rule while the nation industrialized rapidly.

Rapid Industrialization and Revolutionary Movements

• Between $1863$ and $1900$, the number of factories in Russia more than doubled.

• By $1900$, Russia was the world’s fourth-ranking producer of steel ($4^{th}$ behind the U.S., Germany, and Great Britain).

• Trans-Siberian Railway: Begun in $1891$ and completed in $1916$ with British and French investment; it connected European Russia with Pacific ports.

• Growth of Marxism: Revolutionary groups followed Karl Marx’s belief that the industrial class of workers would overthrow the Czar to form a "dictatorship of the proletariat."

• Bolsheviks vs. Mensheviks ($1903$):

  • Mensheviks: Desired a broad base of popular support for the revolution.

  • Bolsheviks: Radical group supporting a small number of committed revolutionaries. Led by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Lenin ($1870–1924$).

• Lenin: An excellent and ruthless organizer with an engaging personality. He fled to Western Europe in the early $1900s$ to avoid arrest, waiting for the right moment to return.

Crises Leading to the Fall of the Czar

• Russo-Japanese War ($1904$): Conflict over Korea and Manchuria. Russia broke agreements, leading to a Japanese attack at Port Arthur. Repeated Russian losses sparked domestic unrest.

• Bloody Sunday (January 22, 1905): Approximately $200,000$ workers and families petitioned Nicholas II at the Winter Palace for better working conditions, freedom, and an elected legislature. Generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd, killing several hundred and wounding more than $1,000$.

• The Duma: Nicholas II reluctantly created Russia's first parliament in October $1905$ but dissolved it after just $10$ weeks because he was unwilling to share power.

• World War I (The Final Blow): Russia entered the war in $1914$. By the end of one year, more than $4 \times 10^6$ soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. Nicholas II moved to the war front in $1915$, leaving Czarina Alexandra in charge.

• Rasputin: A "holy man" advising Alexandra who claimed to heal her son Alexis's hemophilia. He made key political decisions until he was murdered by nobles in $1916$.

The March and Bolshevik Revolutions

• March Revolution ($1917$): Women textile workers in Petrograd went on strike over shortages of bread and fuel. Nearly $200,000$ workers rioted. Soldiers eventually joined the rioters, forcing Nicholas II to abdicate the throne.

• Provisional Government: Led by Alexander Kerensky, it was established after the Czar stepped down. Its decision to remain in WWI cost it popular support.

• Soviets: Local councils of workers, peasants, and soldiers often held more power than the provisional government.

• November Revolution ($1917$): Armed factory workers (Bolshevik Red Guards) stormed the Winter Palace, arrested government leaders, and established Bolshevik rule under Lenin.

The Russian Civil War and the New Economic Policy

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918): Russia surrendered large territories to Germany to exit WWI, causing domestic anger.

• Civil War ($1918\text{--}1920$): The Red Army, commanded by Leon Trotsky, fought the White Army (a fractured coalition supporting the Czar, democracy, or different versions of socialism).

• Approximately $14 \times 10^6$ Russians died during the three-year civil war and subsequent famine.

• New Economic Policy (NEP): In March $1921$, Lenin introduced a small-scale version of capitalism, allowing peasants to sell surplus crops privately while the government maintained control of major industries and banks.

• Formation of the USSR ($1922$): Russia was organized into self-governing republics named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Communist Party.

• Rise of Joseph Stalin: Named "man of steel," Stalin was a cold, impersonal leader who became General Secretary in $1922$. After Lenin's death in $1924$, Stalin outmaneuvered Trotsky (exiled in $1929$) to become an absolute dictator by $1928$.