World War I, Russian Revolution, Interwar Period, and World War II

Causes of World War I

  • Militarism:
    • Anglo-German arms race.
    • Nations striving for the best military technology.
    • The HMS Dreadnought: A battleship that outclassed all others, making previous ships obsolete. Focus shifted to the number of dreadnoughts a nation possessed.
    • Military buildup before World War I.
  • Alliances:
    • The alliance system was initially created by Otto von Bismarck to prevent war.
    • Analogy to nuclear weapons: Effective for peace until someone uses them.
  • Imperialism:
    • Competition for empire across the globe, including internal European imperialism.
    • The Austrian Empire: Dominated various ethnic groups in an age of nationalism.
  • Nationalism:
    • Triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists from the Black Hand.
    • Led to a war that many were already prepared for.

Military Technologies of World War I

  • Offensive technologies led to trench warfare.
    • Machine guns and poison gas were so deadly people began to hide from them, leading to trench warfare.
    • Trench warfare resulted in stalemates, with battle lines moving only a few miles over months.

US Intervention in World War I

  • World War I marked the first time The US intervened in a European war.
  • In the twentieth century, The United States began to play a more prominent role in European and Western history.

Russian Revolution

  • 1905 Revolution:
    • Russia was an autocracy led by the czar before 1905.
    • Bloody Sunday: An uprising that was violently suppressed.
    • October Manifesto: Issued by Nicholas II, promising a constitution and a Duma (representative body).
    • The czar retained a full veto, making the system ineffective.
  • 1917 Revolution:
    • The czarist government collapsed during World War I.
    • A provisional government was established but was overthrown by Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik faction of communists.

Leninism vs. Marxism

  • Leninism is an updated form of Marxism.
  • Similarities:
    • Both advocate for a violent revolution to overthrow the bourgeoisie and establish a communist society with the ascendance of the proletariat.
  • Differences:
    • Marx believed the working class would develop its own class consciousness.
    • Lenin believed a revolutionary vanguard was needed to instill class consciousness in the working class.
    • Lenin's takeover resembled a dictatorship (a top-down model).

Lenin’s Economic Policies

  • War Communism:
    • An attempt to create a completely communist society.
  • New Economic Policy (NEP):
    • Implemented after war communism failed.
    • Allowed petty capitalism, where the state controlled major industries, but small-time capitalists could operate.

Stalin’s Policies

  • After Stalin took over, the NEP was rescinded.
  • Replaced by Stalin's collective farming and five-year plans.

End of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles

  • World War I ended in 1918 with the armistice on November 11.
  • The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles followed.
  • Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations:
    • Wilson's idea of a peace without victory was overruled by Britain and France.
    • The League of Nations was created.
    • France and Britain focused on Germany admitting war guilt and paying reparations.
  • The Treaty of Versailles:
    • Saddled Germany with war guilt, humiliation, and unaffordable reparations.
    • Contributed to the wrecking of the European economy in the 1920s.
  • The Ottoman Empire was divided up.
  • Turks adopted the Western alphabet.

Economic Crisis and the Great Depression

  • Germany's economic status:
    • Before World War I, Germany had surpassed Great Britain as the number one manufacturer in Europe.
    • World War I crippled the German economy, and the Treaty of Versailles worsened it.
  • The Great Depression:
    • Began in 1929 and was felt worldwide.
    • In Germany, it led to an upsurge in support for the Nazis and communists.
    • Nationalists and Catholics faced a dilemma, choosing between the Nazis and a coalition of communists and social democrats.

Rise of Fascism and Nazism

  • The Great Depression led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.
  • Fascism in Italy:
    • Benito Mussolini established fascism in Italy in the early 1920s.
    • Mussolini's regime was not fully totalitarian.
  • Totalitarian Dictatorships:
    • A government seeks to control all aspects of public and private life.
    • Hitler and Stalin established totalitarian regimes.
  • Hitler's Rearmament Policy:
    • Began in secret and then in plain sight.
    • Western European powers were preoccupied with the depression.

Spanish Civil War

  • Francisco Franco, a conservative authoritarian, received help from fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.
  • The Soviet Union supported the other side.

Left-Wing vs. Right-Wing Totalitarianism

  • Left-Wing Totalitarianism:
    • Rejects social hierarchy (e.g., Bolshevism and communism).
    • The government controls the means of production directly.
  • Right-Wing Totalitarianism:
    • Endorses social hierarchy (e.g., fascism and Nazism).
    • Uses existing corporations for production, even though they remain in private hands (e.g., Mercedes, BMW, Hugo Boss).

Nazi Ideology and Persecution

  • The Nazis held theories of racial superiority and bigotry toward Jews and homosexuals, culminating in Kristallnacht.

Causes of World War II

  • Germany's expansion:
    • Germany reoccupied the Rhineland without response.
    • Germany annexed Austria, claiming to unify German-speaking peoples.
    • Germany annexed the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreement, with the permission of Britain and France.
    • The invasion of Poland triggered World War II.
    • Germany was aided by The Soviet Union in dividing Poland.

World War II Strategies and Key Figures

  • Germany's blitzkrieg strategy: Employed fast-moving tanks.
  • Japan's Expansion: Japan also expanded rapidly with aggressive warfare.
  • Axis Powers: Japan, Germany, and Italy formed the Axis.
  • Winston Churchill: Rallied support in Britain and influenced The United States to help before Pearl Harbor.
  • The United States entered the war after Pearl Harbor.

Military Technologies of World War II

  • New military technologies included jet engines and V2 rockets.
  • The United States detonated two nuclear bombs in Japan, ending World War II.

Consequences of World War II

  • Allies discovered the barbarism of the Nazi regime.
  • The end result of Nazi persecution against Jews, homosexuals, and other minorities.

Cultural, Intellectual, and Artistic Developments

  • World War I shattered the belief in rationalism and progress.
  • Dadaism (Dada):
    • "Nothing art" that rejects rational sense.
    • Example: Turning a urinal on its side and calling it art.
  • The Lost Generation: Literature dealing with alienation.
  • Expressionism: Art movement bringing in poignant emotional experiences, especially from veterans.

Women's Roles in Society

  • World War I brought women into munitions factories.
  • Most European nations gave women the right to vote after World War I.
  • Economic and social equality was pursued after World War II.
  • Culmination of First Wave feminism: The women's suffrage movement.

Summary of Unit 8

  • World War I: Caused by militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism.
  • World War I: Defined by new technologies and trench warfare.
  • Treaty of Versailles: Saddled Germany with war guilt and reparations, leading to the Great Depression and the rise of totalitarian regimes.
  • World War II: Caused by aggressive warfare by authoritarian regimes.
  • The Allied victory in World War II ended the bloodiest period of world history.
  • Wars since World War II have been on a smaller scale, with nuclear-capable countries tying a hand behind their back.