World War I and the Inter-War Years

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Transcript World War I and the Inter-War Years

Stearns, Chapters 28 and 29
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Nationalism
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Industrialism
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European countries are richer and stronger than ever before. Arms races ensue, and
no one has any idea that—given the new technologies--war will be mutually
destructive.
Encourages expansion for access to cheap raw materials.
Imperialism
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You’re the best around: nothin’s gonna ever bring you down!
Competition over trade, territory, and prestige.
All sides eager to show how awesome they are.
Didn’t I just mention competition over trade and territory?
Leads to conflict not just between imperial powers but between conquerors and the
conquered. Think Balkans.
Jingoism (Militarism)
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All of the above create an aggressive mindset.
Encourages webs of alliance that will, once fighting starts between Austria and
Serbia, lead to a general European/World War.
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Serbian nationalist assassinates Franz
Ferdinand.
Austria-Hungary mobilizes for war against
Serbia. Germany offers a carte blanche.
Russia (remember Pan-Slavism) mobilizes for
war against Austria.
Germany mobilizes for war against Russia,
which means it invades France by going
through Belgium.
British mobilize for war against Germany.
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Triple Entente/The Allies
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England
France
Russia
(And each country’s colonies)
Britain and France will promise Italy territory from
Austria-Hungary if it jumps in.
Triple Alliance/Central Powers
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Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
(And each country’s colonies)
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Repeating rifles
Machine guns
Mustard gas
Heavy artillery
Tanks
Airplanes
Uboats
Extreme casualties
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The main weapon used by British soldiers in
the trenches was the bolt-action rifle.
A trained soldier could fire 15 rounds per
minute, with an effective range of 1400 meters.
Try to imagine what this means for combat…
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Machine guns needed a crew of 4-6 men to work
them and had to be on a flat surface.
Fire-power of 100 guns.
The real game changer and led to trench warfare.
Notice what they’re wearing?
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The largest field guns needed up to 12 men to
work them.
Longest range: German Paris gun—75 miles!
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Germans use chlorine gas at the battle of Ypres, 1915.
causes a burning sensation in the throat and chest pains.
Death by suffocation (very painful)
Use limited by weather.
Mustard gas was deadlier.
Fired into the trenches in shells.
Colourless; takes 12 hours to take effect.
Causes blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external
bleeding.
Death can take up to 5 weeks.
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Answer to machine guns and trenches
First tank had a three man crew and maximum speed of 3mph.
Later tanks could carry 10 men, had a revolving turret and could go
4mph.
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First for bombs and reconnaissance
Later fighter aircraft armed with machine guns, bombs and
sometimes canons.
Fights between two planes in the sky became known as ‘dogfights’
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Used widely by Germans
Attempted to cut of trade to Britain
Sank the Lusitania in 1915
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Western Front
Germans against French and British (U.S. too by 1917)
German advance stopped at the Marne River, France, and trench
warfare sets in.
 War of attrition—mass production of modern weapons leads to
unprecedented casualties on both sides.
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 Automatic rifles, machine guns, landmines, long-range artillery, mustard
gas, submarines, aircraft, tanks.
 50% of all 20 million combatants were killed or injured.
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Eastern Front
Germany and Austria-Hungary against Russia.
More mobile than the war in the West; Russians not able to stop
German war machine. Only advantage in numbers keeps them
going.
 Russian failures on the battlefield will fuel political crisis in St.
Petersburg. Kerensky and the Duma will force the Tsar’s abdication,
but Lenin’s Bolsheviks will overthrow their provisional government.
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Q uickTim e™ and a
G r aphics decom pr essor
ar e needed t o see t his pict ur e.
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British dominions (Canada, Australia, New
Zealand) supply troops to the bulk Ottoman front
in the Middle East (Gallipoli and defense of Suez
Canal).
British and French non-settler colonies provide
soldiers (especially India)
British naval blockade prevents trade with
Germany.
Germans establish U-boat blockade of Britain.
Japan joins the Allies; attacks German colonies.
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Those not in the trenches kept the war going.
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State control of key industries.
Executive branches gain power at the expense of
legislative bodies.
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More hateful of the enemy supportive of the war effort.
No real understanding of what was happening.
Dissent suppressed (Bertrand Russell in Britain, socialists in
Germany)
Media censorship; propaganda departments.
Labor unrest (especially Russia)
Women take on new roles in the workforce
Rationing in Britain and France; downright famine in
Russia.
Armenian genocide.
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The Russians surrender to the Germans;
Germany able to throw hundreds of thousands
of soldiers at the British and French in an
attempt to break the trench stalemate.
The United States entry into the war probably
prevented German success.
Final German assault fails, Germany agrees to
an armistice.
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Germany forced to accept harsh terms.
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War guilt clause
Demilitarization
Reparations
Loss of territory
 Colonies
 Poland
 Alsace and Lorraine
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League of Nations formed
New Countries formed; Old Empires gone
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Auf Wiedersehn, Kaisertum Österreich!
Ottoman Empire collapses
Russia not a part of the peace process (they’d surrendered to Germany,
after all)
Japan and Italy gain nothing. (How do you think they felt?)
Promises to non-white colonials broken.
Q uickTim e™ and a
G r aphics decom pr essor
ar e needed t o see t his pict ur e.
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European Imperialism on the ropes
Nationalist movements (where?)
 Britain and France wax eloquently about selfdetermination but have no intention of backing off.
 European war demonstrates the fallacy of Europeans as a
great civilizing race.
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German humiliation will simmer and then boil
over.
The U.S. plays in the big leagues now. Industry
booming; European governments owe $.
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Indian nationalism will establish pattern for
resistance amongst European colonials in Asia and
Africa.
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National Congress party
Western-educated leadership
Urban centered: Bombay, Poona, Calcutta, Madras
British obtuseness and racism unifies Indians, creates a
proto-national identity
B.G. Tilek more militant than Mohandas Gandhi.
Hindu communalists advocate violence; terrorist-style
Gandhi appeals to moderate, educated people; emphasis
on non-violent protest.
Gandhi and his followers make it expensive and morally
challenging for the British to maintain control over India.
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Starts even before WWI
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National Congress Party leads the way.
 Initially loyal to British and exclusive to Indian elite.
 Starts off simply wanting more opportunities for
educated Indians.
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Morley-Minto reforms (1909) expand political rights
for educated Indians
Montagu-Chelmsford reforms (1919) increase
powers of all-Indian legislatures.
Rowlatt Act (1919) restricts Indian civil rights
(e.g. freedom of press)
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Gained protest experience resisting racist laws in
South Africa. It’s here he begins developing his
method.
Satyagraha gives Gandhi the moral high ground,
forces British to be beasts or grant concessions.
Helps unite diverse Indians under the umbrella of
colonial resistance.
Offended some by insisting too much unity (if that makes
any sense). Tells Sikhs they are Hindus (whether they
like it or not)
 Unable to resolve the divisions between Hindu and
Muslims.
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Egypt had a tradition of nationalism
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Dinshawai incident (1906) “exemplified the racial arrogance
displayed by most of the European colonizers.”
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Mohammad Ali against the Ottomans
Resistance to British control.
Constitution in 1913, expel British in 1919
Led by the effendi (middle/business class) and journalists
Pigeon meat important to peasants, but a sport for British
Accidental shooting, mob reacts, fire into mob, four hangings
By 1913, resistance forced the British to grant a constitution
and representative parliament.
Wafd party and 1919 revolt;1922 process of independence
begins
Egypt remains impoverished with elites in control, leading
to Nassar’s coup and social revolution (1952)
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Kamal Ataturk establishes a Western Turkish republic.
Britain and France retain control over the rest of the
former Ottoman territories, calling them “Mandates”
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Breaks wartime promises
Incites Arab nationalism
Rise of Zionism calls for formation of a Jewish state in
Palestine.
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This also angers Arabs
Balfour Declaration
Dreyfus Affair
Herzl and the World Zionist Organization
Initially opposed by German Jews who enjoyed citizenship!
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Men had enlisted as soldiers, hoping the
mother-country would grant independence.
When the British and French deny nationhood,
protests ensue.
W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey
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The American “Back to Africa” movement, inspired
by civil rights issues in the USA.
Pan-African movement sparks anti-colonial
sentiments.
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Education and Western reforms enabled
several females to lead nationalist movements.
In the West, women had been essential workers
on the homefront. Their competent work will
eliminate objections to suffrage in the U.S.,
Britain, and France.
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Decline of Europe; Rise of U.S. and Japan
Formation of the Soviet Union
Women enter politics and the workplace
League of Nations
Credence to self-determination and the rise of
nationalistic movements. Europe may still be
the “Daddy” continent, but the young’uns
were growing up fast.
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the last Tsar?
the Bolshevik leader?
the Duma’s leader?
the last Kaiser?
the U.S. president?
the French premier?
the British prime minister?
the Indian nationalist who’s nationalism hinged on
Hinduism’s ancient traditions and threatened violent
rebellion?
the Indian nationalist who mastered non-violent protest
against British overlords?
the founder of the World Zionist Organization?