Transcript Chapter 25 The Beginning of the Twentieth

Chapter 25
The Beginning of the TwentiethCentury Crisis:
War and Revolution
By; Marshall Caldwell
The Road to WWI

Nationalism:

Liberals had thought that the organization of European states would remain
peaceful based on a sense of fraternity, but had actually led to competition
and rivalries over colonial and commercial interests during an era of
imperialist expansion.

Led to Europe's division into allies. Germany, Austria, and Italy against France,
Great Britain, and Russia.

Germany wanted to create an empire, France wanted to win back over
Alsace-Lorraine from Germany, and Austria wanted to gain land from Serbia.
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Internal Dissent:

The growth of Nationalism kept ethnic groups from achieving the goal of
nationhood, such the Slavs, Irish, and Poles.
The Road to WWI

Militarism:

The growth of large mass armies through conscription heightened tensions in
Europe making war inevitable.

Russia had 1.3 million men in military, France and Germany both had about
900,000, and the British, Italian, and Austrian armies was between 250,000
and 500,000.

Military machines had doubled in size and military leaders had created
complex plans mobilize men and supplies.
The Road to WWI

The Outbreak of War: The Summer of 1914:
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Serbia, supported by Russia, wanted to create big, independent Slavic state in
the Balkans but Austria prevented this from happening.

The Austrian heir to the throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sofia
was assassinated by Gavrillo Princip, a Bosnian activist who worked for the
Black Hand.

Austrian leaders sought for the backing of Emperor William II and his
chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg. They issued to Austria a “blank
check”, giving Austria everything they needed for war and giving full support.

With Germany’s support Austrian leaders issued an ultimatum to Serbia, in
which they mostly rejected, then they had declared war.
The Road to WWI

In July, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia issued a partial mobilization of the Russian
army against Austria which eventually thwarted into a full mobilization.

Germany considered this an act of war and asked Russia to halt its army, in
which Russia ignored, and Germany declared war on Russia.

The German General Staff divised a plan under a two front war with France
and Russia called the Schliefen Plan, in which Germany would rapidly invade
France through Belgium, and then attack the Russian army.

Germany declared war on France, and Great Britian declared war on Germany
because of the violation of Belgium neutrality.
The War

1914-1915: Illusions and Stalemate:
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People seemed convinced that their nation’s cause for the war was just. They had
an illusion that it would be a short war and the troops would be home before
Christmas. The soldiers thought it would be exhilarating and fun adventure in
which they could come home proud and with medals. But these illusions soon died
dreadfully.
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The Schlieffen Plan had a major defect since Germany’s right flank was used to
fight against the Russians in the East. In the First Battle of the Marne, German
troops where met with an unexpected British and French army in which the
German army had to fall back. They where not pursued because of exhaustion and
the battle ended in a stalemate.
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In the beginning of the Russian battle, Russian armies where pushing the German
army West, but soon was defeated and pushed farther East. Austria was defeated
by the Russians and forced out of Serbia, and Italy broke their alliance.
The war
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1916-1917: The Great Slaughter:
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With the German army back in the West, trench warfare was created in which
both lines of trenches were protected by barbed wire 3 to 5 feet high and 30
yards wide, concrete machine-gun nests, and mortar batteries, supported by
heavy artillery. In between these trenches was a “no-man’s land” in which
one army would try to cross over r fall back and the other army would go
next.
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Men in these trenches lived in damp mud with the rot of decomposing bodies,
and swarms of rats. Experienced Foot Rot and other diseases.
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The Widening of the War:
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The Ottoman Empire joined the war with Germany.
The War
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Eventually, revolts came about in the Ottoman Empire, which destroyed the
Ottoman Empire
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European’s used people from their colonies, mainly in Africa, in the War for
fighting and labor, killing many.
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Japan then joined the allies, primarily to seize control of German territories
in Asia, in which they conquered.
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The USA tried to remain neutral but joined because of German using
unrestricted submarine warfare resulting in the sinking of the Lisitiana in
which more than one-hundred Americans lost their lives
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The USA entry gave the allies a psychological boost for the war. But still
suffered heavy loses.
The War
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A New Kind of Warfare:
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Airplanes appeared on the battlefront for the first time in history first to spot
enemies, but evolved into attack ground targets and dogfights.
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The first tank was invented by the British, at first they where not very
effective, but was created better and becoming very effective in the war, but
it came to late.
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The Home Front: The Impact of Total War:
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Total war effected the lives of all citizens.
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European countries devised new systems of mass conscription or military
draft. Countries mobilized millions of men to the battlefield. Governments
expanded their control over their economies shelving free markets and
installing the nationalization of transportation systems and industries.
The War
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Civilian morale was beginning to crack under the pressure of the war. Strikes
occurred frequently, and liberal and socialists opposed the war. Governments
fought back with exaggeration.

The war temporarily ended unemployment, even giving women opportunities
not opened to them before. Male resistance though made it difficult for
women. At the end of the war, governments moved quickly to remove women
from the jobs. Gave women more freedom.
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Social classes where not recognized during the war.
War and Revolution
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The Russian Revolution:
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Tsar Nicholas II relied on the army and bureaucracy to uphold his regime, but
the war magnified Russia’s problems, challenging the Russian government.
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The Tsar did not lead the army efficiently because of lack of training and
Russian industry was unable to produce the weapons. Thus, the army suffered
considerable losses.
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Nicholas’ wife Alexandra insulated Nicholas from the increasingly bad citizen
events. Rasputin also influenced people with a deep-seated belief in the
power of the Tsar, but was assassinated. Disasters in economy, political, and
civilian affairs followed.
War and Revolution
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A series of riots broke out in Petrograd. The Women's March became backed
by troops, and was soon out of control and the Duma abdicated the Tsar and
established a provisional government.
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The moderate Constitutional Democrats was responsible for setting up this
government but faced the soviets, or councils of workers’ and soldiers’
deputies.
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The soviet of Petrograd was formed, and soon the Marxist Social Democratic
Party which split into Mensheviks (wanting the Social Democrats to be amass
electoral socialist party) and Bolsheviks.
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The Bolsheviks where led by V. I. Lenin. Became a violent party that would
destroy the capitalist system. Issued in Lenin’s “April Theses”, Lenin
maintained that the soviets of soldiers, workers, and peasants where
instruments of power, stirring up revolutionary action.
War and Revolution
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Leon Trotsky joined Lenin in the Bolsheviks and they overthrown the
provisional government with little bloodshed. Lenin became the commissioner
of war. The Bolsheviks became the communists and made reforms. Civil wars
followed but the Red Army under Trotsky prevailed. War communism was
used.
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The Last Year of War:
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After defeating the Russians, German forces succeeded in advancing 40 miles
to the Marne river, 35 miles from Paris. But an allied counterattack including
fresh American troops defeated the Germans and advanced towards Germany,
eventually defeating Germany.
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Between 8 to 9 million soldiers died on the battlefield, 22 million was
wounded. Birthrate declined as well as devastation of economy.
War and Revolution
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Revolutionary Upheavals in Germany and Austria-Hungary:
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In Germany the Social Democrats formed as well as the German communist
party. Both were crushed in revolution
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Austria-Hungary became independent republics of Austra, Hungary, and
Czchoslovakia.
The Peace Settlement
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Peace Aims:
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The Big Four (David Lloyd of Great Britain, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Georges
Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson of the United States) met at the
Paris Peace conference.
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Wilson wanted to create A “League of Nations” to prevent future wars, but
Clemenceau and George wanted to demilitarize Germany, as well as have
Germany pay war reparations as punishment.
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The Treaty of Versailles:
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Consisted of five separate treaties with the defeated nations of Germany,
Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.
The Peace Settlement
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The War Guilt Clause declared Germany (and Austria) responsible for starting
the war and ordered Germany to pay reparations for the war. Germany had to
reduce its army to only 100,000 men, cut back its navy, and eliminate its air
force. Germany lost Alsace and Lorraine to France, and 30 miles to the East of
the Rhine was established a demilitarized zone.
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Germany was outraged by this, and thought of it as harsh.
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The Other Treaties:
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Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and
Hungary emerged the from Austria-Hungary, as well as land from Germany and
Russia.
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The Americans was not part of the League of Nations.