Post War_ interwar_ Russian Revolution
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Transcript Post War_ interwar_ Russian Revolution
Post War, Interwar years, Russian
Revolution
Created by David Silverman
The War on the Home Front
The First World War was the first time that all nations mobilized and were affected by a war.
Once people realized that the war would not be short, the role of government being involved
in the 20th century began to increase.
What started as controlling the war efforts/spending- turned into banning strikes, price
control regulation, rationing, etc. In Great Britain, the government started regulating
pub hours and closing bars in the afternoons.
Governments also started to change public opinion with pieces of propaganda. These
campaigns created by the government were usually created to create fear (in Germany
Hitler was known for using propaganda to leave the Germans to believe that they lost the
war because of the Jews).
Propaganda can be in the form of campaigns, posters, movies, commercials, etc.
The War and Civil Rights- the First World War accelerated women's rights. Before the war, the
Suffragettes (under Emmeline Pankhurst) protested and attended political gatherings. They
supported the war efforts and pushed for women to step up their efforts at home. By the end
of the war, over 5 million British women were employed (even in dangerous factory jobs.) By
1918, British women gained the right to vote.
The Versailles Treaty and the Cost of War
During WWI- 9 million men lost their lives in battle and another 23 million were wounded
This doesn't include the people that came home with after effects of the gas
Germany- 6 million casualties (dead and wounded)
France- 5.5 million casualties. This huge blow to the country is still evident today. Every
small town has a war Memorial/Cemetery. The incredible loss from the war was soon
dwarfed by the number of people that died from the influenza. The influenza outbreak
killed 30 million people worldwide.
People in Belgium are STILL dying from unexploded shells leftover from the trenches
Aside from the loss of human lives, the financial costs were unprecedented. Europe went into
debt with the US over the cost of war and many European towns were destroyed.
An international peace organization estimated the financial loss of the war to be $338
billion. All of the money made during the Second Industrial Revolution was gone within 5
years.
The horrible cost of human and financial lost was discussed in Paris (1919) when 5 separate
peace settlements were made (including the Versailles Treaty).
The Versailles Treaty (continued)
Versailles Treaty: a peace treaty that witnessed the following competing postwar visions
Woodrow Wilson- Wilson was known for his optimism and hope for international harmony.
He used his Fourteen Points outline for an international peace vision that included The
League of Nations (an international body that would handle disputes between nations)
with the American President, Wilson sitting at the head. This made sense at the time,
since none of the fighting was on US soil.
Georges Clemenceau (the French Premier) presented a completely different idea.
Clemenceau was most concerned for the French public and wanted to find a way to make
sure Germany could never be a threat again. The treaty ended up reflecting this position
more than Wilson's plan.
David Lloyd George 1863-1945 (the British Prime Minister) was interested in naval
matters and, like Clemenceau, wanted to see Germany punished.
Article 231 in the Treaty stated that Germany was to blame for WWI (which was not entirely
true) and Germany was to pay out 132 billion gold marks
The treaty included the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France. It also returned territory in the
Rhine region of Germany to France. The treaty stated that Germany's army couldn't exceed
100,000 men, could only have a small navy, and were banned from having an air force.
Other 1919 Postwar Treaties
The demise of Austria-Hungary, and the reduction of Germany, led to new nations...
Czechoslovakia was born (merged lands of the Czechs, the Slovaks, and some Germans)
Hungary became independent (but smaller)
Romania also became independent (out of the former Austro-Hungarian lands)
Serbia was rewarded extra territory (Yugoslavia)
Poland was independent for the first time since the 18th century
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland were carved out of former
parts of the former Russian Empire.
Although most started as democracies, within a short time period/host of problems, most
became dictatorships
Middle East and Africa Post-World War I (the collapse of the Ottoman Empire)
During the war, the British made numerous promises to both the Arabs and the Jews to
gain their support. When peace arrived, the promises weren't met.
Also, despite the efforts made my colonial soldiers during the war, the French and British
made no move to reward their African colonies with independence.
The Russian Revolution
Russia's army was so unprepared for the war, many soldiers didn't have guns and they
were told to take them from their fallen comrades.
In another move of sheer stupidity, tsar Nicholas II (1868-1918) decided that during
the second year of the conflict that he should emulate warrior tsars of the past and
assume personal command of the army.
He left his wife, Empress Alexandra, in charge in his absence. Alexandra was
ignorant and under the influence of a mystical Russian monk named Gregory
Rasputin (1872-1916)
Rasputin
made Alexandra believe that he had power over her son Alexis being
a hemophiliac (inability to clot) and influenced her to assign his friends for
government roles. Rumors spread that they were lovers and Rasputin was
killed in 1916 because people thought he was destroying the prestige of the
throne.
The Russian Revolution- The Provisional Gov't
Two revolutions occurred in 1917.One was in March, when order collapsed in the
capital of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg) due to a food shortage.
Troops were called out but eventually joined the strikers. A Provisional Government took
authority made up of members of the Duma (the Russian Parliament)
The workers and soldiers continued to form Soviets (primarily consisting of Russian
Socialists belonging to the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary wings)
A fraction belonged to the extreme social groups, the Bolsheviks. Russian Socialism
had split in 1903 when Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) insisted that a small party of
professional revolutionaries could seize power on behalf of the working class. His
followers became known as the Bolsheviks.
The group that believed that Russia could achieve an ideal socialist society (as Marx
had mandated) became known as the Mensheviks. The Mensheviks dominated the
Petrograd Soviet (originally supported the Provisional Government).
The short-lived republic faced great problems. The Provisional Government was
responsible for the decision to stay in the war instead of withdrawing from the
fighting and for the decision to delay distributing land for the peasants.
Russian Revolution- The Triumph of the Bolsheviks
In April, Lenin returned from exile in Switzerland- aided by the Germans who
transported him through their territory thinking he would undermine the Russian war
effort. They never thought he would actually come to power.
The Bolsheviks continued to gain power, and by the fall of 1917 were the largest
party in the Soviets. On November 9th, Lenin decided to seize the moment. The
Provisional Government was collapsing and the revolution was easy.
Leon Trotsky (1870-1940) the new Bolshevik figurehead, took over key spots in
the city and the communications center without much violence. However, the
civil war to maintain that power was bloody.
Lenin and his party believed that the revolution in Russia would be the first of
many Communist revolutions across Europe. They agreed to accept peace with
Germany, only assuming that Imperial Germany would disappear shortly. By the
end of 1917, the Germans and the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
(removing Russia from the war).
The
treaty was harsh and involved taking much of Russia's land, butu
Germany's defeat in the war made it so much of the treaty was never
implemented.
The INTERWAR YEARS– The German Weimar Republic
In the time after the disastrous war, the German Weimar Republic was nothing short
of a tragic failure. In the early days of the republic, the leaders were forced to sign
the vastly unpopular Versailles Treaty.
The republic was created in 1918 under Friedrich Ebert (1871-1925), a moderate
Socialist who served as the first president. In order to secure his republican regime,
he had to put down a rebellion led by radical Marxists like Karl Liebknecht and Rosa
Luxemburg.
The German army was in no shape to do this alone, so Ebert gave approval for the
formation of "Free Corps" (a voluntary paramilitary group of right-wingers).
Some Free Corps later attempted to overthrow the democratic state but workers held
strikes and it failed (known as Kapp Putsch). Eventually, both the extreme right and
extreme left were threats to the Republic.
By 1924, the Republic showed some stability, even with the Versaille penalties and the
terrible inflation due to the over-printing of money. The high inflation destroyed the middleclass and their savings. When Gustav Stresemann (1878-1929) became Chancellor of
Germany, he helped get the economy back on its feet and entered Germany into the League
of Nations.
By 1925, Germany was slowly rebuilding its relationship with other nations. Germany signed
The INTERWAR YEARS– The Soviet Experiment
After the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, Lenin and his small party ruled a shattered
nation with little support. Despite attempts to intimidate voters at the polls, nobody
attended the assembly.
Over the next years, Communists (a named adopted by the Bolsheviks) worked to
solidify support over the vast Russian state. For 3 years they fought against the
"White" forces (a loose term for anyone anti-communist- including monarchists and
republicans) this included the support of Western troops. The Americans and British
sent supplies and were there to keep an eye on Russia.
The Civil War provided justification for Lenin and Trotsky to launch a "Red Terror"
against their opponents. By 1920, the Communists had defeated the various White
armies and established Bolshevik rule over Russia.
1919- the Russian Communists founded the Third (or Communist) International to
aid in the cause of revolutions. This stopped any expectations of revolutionary tides
sweeping through Europe. The rise of this is referred to as the Comintern and it had
an impact on other nations.
The split for Communist vs Socialist spread throughout Europe. In Germany, this
split allowed the Nazi party to rise.
INTERWAR YEARS– The Soviet Experiment (cont)
The leaders of the Soviet Union started to debate party economics. During the Civil
War, Russia imposed "war communism" (extremely tight control over the economy).
1921- a rebellion by the sailors at the Kronstadt Naval Base led Lenin to replace war
communism with the NEP- New Economic Policy. The NEP policy placed the 'heights
of the industry' in the governments hands but also allowed for private enterprise.
Under the New Economic Policy, the nation recovered economically.
The next Soviet challenges- how they would build a socialist state and who would
succeed Lenin as the leader of the party after his death in 1924. The two most
popular candidates were...
Trotsky- with the prestige of building the Red Army that won the Civil War, he
was a popular candidate. Trotsky thought the NEP was too idealistic and he
envisioned returning to a structure more like war communism. As the leader of
the "Left Opposition", he argued it was necessary for communism to spread
across Europe in order to survive.
Nikolai Bukharin (1888-1938)- Trotsky's opponent in the debate and the leader of
the "Right Opposition" advocated for continuing the NEP and building
communism internally within the Soviet state.
THE INTERWAR YEARS– Stalin
In the end, it was neither Trotsky nor Bukharin who followed Lenin's lead, but
Joseph Stalin instead. Stalin was uninterested in ideology debates and wanted to
establish his own power within the Soviet state. In order to do this, he worked with
Bukharin to push Trotsky out of authority.
1927- Stalin expels Trotsky and his ally Gregory Zinoviev from the party
1929- Stalin ousts Bukharin also
1936- Stalin launches a series of trials in which he tortures his opponents until they
confess to all sorts of crimes against the state.
1940- Stalin sent an agent to assassinate Trotsky
While the complete brutality of Stalin's rule will never be fully known, at least 10
million Russians were arrested during the late 1930s. Millions were executed
immediately or eventually died in brutal detention camps that Stalin set up in
Siberia. Stalin destroyed anyone in the ranks of the "Old Bolsheviks" as well.
Stalin adopted the policy of the Left Opposition and rapidly began to turn Russia into
an industrial nation. He implemented the Five-Year Plan in order to do so. To pay
for this growth, he forced collectivization of Russian agriculture to squeeze money
out of the peasants. Any kulaks (wealthy peasants) that refused to join the
collective farm were killed and many destroyed their crops/animals in the resistance
THE INTERWAR YEARS– The Great Depression
When most people picture the beginning of the Great Depression, they think of
October in 1929 when the stock market crashed. The roots of the Great Depression
were much deeper than that, and the worldwide depression would not begin until
the banking crisis of 1931.
1931- Vienna's most powerful bank (Credit-Anstalt) collapsed and created a domino
effect across Germany and Europe. People stopped trusting banks and removed
their money quickly, which made banks fold.
The drop in bank loans, led to a drop in buying, led to the drop of industrial
projects, which led to the drop in jobs, etc.
Many countries worsened these problems by trying to remain on the gold standard (a
fixed exchange rate between their currency and gold) which prevented countries
from using controlled inflation to help get out of the depression.
Inflation (increasing the amount of available money) allows people to meet their
desired level of savings but have leftover money to spend.
The common belief to save money, and not trust banks or loans, during a depression
makes everything worse. Governments and individuals tightened spending and
suppressed the need for goods or services.
The 1920's: Perception vs Reality- our image of the 1920's 'Jazz Age' as a glittering
INTERWAR YEARS– The Great Depression (cont)
English economist, John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) became the voice of dissent.
He argued that if the problem was a lack of demand in the private sector,
governments should fix it through deficit spending (temporarily providing new jobs)
to restore the health of the economy.
The depression worsened as the government took misguided steps to raise tariffs to
protect domestic manufacturing. In 1930- the US raised the tariff wall and the other
nations of Europe followed.
By 1932, the economies of Europe were performing at half the levels they were 3
years before and the depression was staggering.
The depression hit Germany and the United States the hardest, where only 1/3 of
the available workforce was employed.
In the US, under a stable democracy, Franklin Roosevelt was elected as
president and subscribed his New Deal as a solution.
In Germany, under a shaky democracy, the crisis resulted in the death of
republican institutions and the rise of fascism.
THE INTERWAR YEARS– Fascism
Historians debate the definition of fascism. Some say that the label is only applied
to the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini. Fascist parties emerged in Europe and other
parts of the world (including the US), but they didn't all have the same views.
Fascism focused on authority and community, with the central idea that the notion
of the individual should be destroyed for the common community. At first glance, it
seems similar to what the Communists wanted to achieve. The difference was that
Communism wanted a unified society, devoid of class differences and tied to an
international identity. Fascists did NOT want to end class distinctions. Instead,
fascism pushed for an identity of extreme nationalism and racial heritage.
Fascists did NOT believe in democracies and favored the idea of strong leaders
The Italian Fascists had Il Duce
The German Fascists had the Fuhrer
The irony with the hatred for democracy was that the two places where fascism
triumphed (Italy and Germany) had used ballot box votes as opposed to force
Fascists also rejected the idea of socialism (many people joined the fascist party
because they hated the idea of communism)
Fascists were against most of the modern world- they didn't believe in the women's
THE INTERWAR YEARS– Fascism in Italy
Italy was the first place to have a Fascist government. Since it occurred
before the Great Depression, it can't be said that fascism was a result of
financial devastation.
After the war, Italy received most of what it was guaranteed by the French
and British
By 1919, Italy underwent a political transformation with new
representation proportionate to the people. This favored mass parties like
Mussolini's Fascist movement.
Tensions were on the rise between factory workers and
landowners/business owners and people were turning on democracy and
looking to the new political movement (fascism)
The founder and leader of the Italian Fascists was Benito Mussolini (18831945)
THE INTERWAR YEARS– Fascism in Italy
•
Mussolini, born to a Socialist father, was a newspaper editor with Socialist views until the
war. He broke with his fellow Socialists and support, and served, in the war.
Mussolini founded a new party after returning from war called the National Fascist
Party. They formed paramilitary squads (the Blackshirts) and fought leftist
organization, gaining the gratitude (and cash) of factory owners and land-owners.
Mussolini demanded that King Victor Emmanuel III (1900-1946) give his party more
seats in the cabinet posts. He marched on Rome with his black-shirted thugs with a
threat of war (the they had little chance of winning), but the timid King named
Mussolini Prime Minister backed down.
Mussolini promised the Italian fascist state that he would implement corporatism-an
association of employers and workers within each industry that would iron out issues
regarding production and wages. This never happened.
Mussolini was involved in a murder of a politician and lost some power. He made
peace with the Catholic Church in 1929 when he signed the Lateran Pact with the
papacy. For the first time, the papacy recognized the Italian State.
THE INTERWAR YEARS– Fascism in Germany
The Nazi regime in 1933 marks the final stage of the Weimar Republic
The failure of the republic dates back to the first years of the Great Depression. In 1930,
the government was led by Hermann Muller, who buckled during an unemployment
insurance crisis.
The Weimar Republic was shaky under the president Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934)
Hindenburg selected Heinrich Bruning (1885-1970), the leader of a moderate Catholic
party.
Both Hindenburg and Bruning made poor choices and angered both the left and the
right.
Bruning called for parliamentary elections in 1930 that led to the Communists and
Natzis to emerge as the winners. This election transformed the Nazi party from 12
seats to 102 seats in the Reichstag. With such a hostile Reichstag, the economy
continued to fail for the next two years.
While Hindenburg had personal disgust for Hitler, he asked him to become Chancellor
in 1933.
THE INTERWAR YEARS– Fascism in Germany
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) was Austrian born and had gone to Vienna to
study art. Unfortunately for the history of Europe, Hitler proved to
have little talent as an artist and was rejected from the Academy.
Historians
debate where Hitler's anti-Semitic roots came from, but
while living in Vienna his hatred towards Jews was on the rise. Hitler
hated the multinational empire when the war began and he volunteered
to serve the German army.
1919-
Hitler joined the small German Workers' Party which was
renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party. By 1923 he
thought it was strong enough to seize power and he launched Beer Hall
Putsch in Munich. It failed and he was put on trial (which really just
gained him more attention) and in jail he wrote his famous Mein Kampf
(My Struggle) outlining his extreme views and hatred
INTERWAR YEARS– Fascism in Germany- Nazis
After the failure of the Beer Hall, Hitler knew he need more people for a coup
Why the Nazis? At the time they were just a political party
Before the Germans could see the horror that came with rampant nationalism (in the form of
the war and the Holocaust), they were looking for new leadership.
Many Germans were still very upset about the Treaty of Versailles (which the Nazis denounced)
Nazis were able to use Dolchstosslegenda (stab-in-the-back legend) to convince Germans that
the only reason they lost World War I was because of the groups that they hated (Jews,
Communists, Weimars, and big businesses)
The Nazis also played off of social support (claiming to increase wages, improve well-being) by
starting soup kitchens and serving beer at political meetings.
The Nazis started a "Jewish conspiracy" based on war-profiteering and extorting workers, all
while telling Germans that they were superior to everyone else.
When Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the Reichstag was set on fire. It was thought to
be the Nazis but they blamed the Communists. During the next election, the Nazis only
had 44% of the vote but Hitler enforced an Enabling Act (which gave the party 'emergency'
power to govern the state with the authority of the chancellor or president)
By the summer of 1993, Hitler banned all other political parties except the Nazis
INTERWAR YEARS– Fascism in Germany- Hitler
Hitler's attempts to consolidate power were on the rise and he had to
consolidate the army as well. The German army was worried about the
growing S.A (the Nazi political army that helped the Nazis seize power)
Since
Hitler didn't need the S.A. now that he was in power, he organized
the "Night of the Long Knives" in June of 1934. He murdered his old
ally Ernst Rohm (the leader of the S.A) and following the attack on the
S.A. the members of the German army agreed to swear personal loyalty
to Hitler.
The Nazification of the German state soon proceeded. To create support
for the program, the Nazies created the Ministry of Propaganda under the
leadership of Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945)
Germany life had always been full of organizations like hiking groups or
chorus societies. The Nazis made sure to establish and control these with
the organizations Hitler Youth
For those that refused the new state of affairs, Nazis were ruthless at
INTERWAR YEARS– Western Democracies in Crisis
Woodrow Wilson said that the first World War was fought 'to make the world safe for democracy' and
for the first time his vision looked accurate as democracy began to spread across Europe.
Unfortunately, it was short lived and by the 1930s democracy had faltered in most states that
had been born out of the Versailles Treaty.
Democracy was also struggling in France and Spain
Great Britain- remained politically stable but not stagnant. The Labour Party emerged & passed the
liberals as the 2nd largest British party. The Labour party voiced the concerns of the working men.
WW I revealed flaws in the Liberal Party, which was not comfortable with total war
Minister David Lloyd-George had encouraged the British to fight in the war promising them a
postwar land that was 'fit for heroes'. Unless heroes like high unemployment, urban slums, and
growing labor disputes- he was wrong.
France- also didn't see postwar growth. A slight economic growth in the 1920's did nothing to offset
the Great Depression. The economic crisis enhanced the radicalization of the political scene in
France.
In order to block a Fascist overthrow, like in Germany, some of the smaller parties joined
together to form a "Popular Front". This proved successful in 1936 when a coalition of
Communists, Socialists, and Radicals came together to select Socialist party leader Leon Blum
(1872-1950)to be Prime Minister. They worked together to solve French labor issues for
decades.
INTERWAR YEARS– The Spanish Civil War
Following the fall of the Spanish monarchy in 1931, Spain had become a parliamentary democracy.
The first election was a victory for the coalitions for liberals and Socialists. Unfortunately, the new
government faced challenges.
Landless farm laborers waited as the government failed to implement promised land that would
break up the vast estates of the rich. The parties on the far right were equally as upset.
In 1936, a Popular Front coalition averted a threat from the Spanish Fascists
The same year, the failure to maintain order was used by the far right to stage a coup. An army
group under the leadership of General Francisco Franco (1892-1975) took control of parts of Spain.
They believed that the republic would simply collapse, but this didn't happen. Loyalists to the
republic bravely took a stance to defend the state against the nationalist insurgents which
swept Spain into the brutal Spanish Civil War.
Soon Italy and Germany got involved in the war to support the nationalists. The fascist states of
Germany and Italy wanted to test out their brutal war efforts in the city of Guernica (where
they bombed a civilian market and not a military target in order to instill fear in the masses).
Tragically, the Communists put in as much effort destroying their allies as they did their enemies
(the nationalists)- this was because they got their orders from Stalin.
George Orwell wrote a firsthand account of this in his Homage to Catalonia which details how
the Communists destroyed the movement and allowed the nationalists to capture Madrid and
triumph over the republic.
INTERWAR YEARS– The Road to the Second World War
From the beginning, Hitler made his plans clear to overturn the Versailles Treaty. He
started with having Germany remilitarize the Rhineland area.
Germany Invades Austria- In the very first sentence of Mein Kampf Hitler states his desire
to absorb Austria into a larger German Reich. In 1938, this became reality as Germans
moved into Vienna.
Despite postwar claims that Austria was the first victims of the Nazis, the Anschluss
was welcomed by the majority of the Austrians. They celebrated by wildly greeting
Hitler on his arrival to the city and by attacking their Jewish neighbors.
Germany Invades Czechoslovakia- At the time, Czechoslovakia was doing well and was
the success story of eastern Europe.
It had a thriving economy, a decent army, and a strong industrial base
The issue came down to tension with nationalities. A large community of Germans
lived in territory. Although France had promised to come to their defense if the
Germans ever attacked- they did nothing when the time came.
INTERWAR YEARS– The Road to the Second World
War
Great Britain Tries to Appease Germany- The British settle on a policy known as
Appeasement in 1937. British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) did not
like the Nazi state, but knew he had to make peace with either Hitler or Mussolini.
Germany had already taken over the Rhineland, the creation of the Rome-Berlin Axis,
and even the Olympic games in Berlin (which had been total propaganda)
Appeasement began with the British recognition of Italy's annexation of Ethiopia
Germany threatened to invade Czechoslovakia unless the Sudetenland (the western
part of Czechoslovak state that included many ethnic Germans) was turned over to the
Reich. The Munich Agreement was a four-pour summit (British, French, Italian, and
German) called to discuss the future of Czechoslovakia. They weren't invited.
All
of Sudeten territories were transferred to Germany and in return, Hitler
promised sovereignty to what remained of Czechoslovakia.
Chamberlain
returned to a cheering London telling people there would be 'peace in
our time', but Hitler ignored the Munich agreement and seized Czechoslovakia.
INTERWAR YEARS– The Road to the Second World War
•
Appeasing Germany was happening for a few reasons
1) Politicians (such as Chamberlain) saw it as a responsibility to remove the specter of
war from Europe. The First World War was still fresh in everyone's minds
2) From a British point of view, the Versailles Treaty was unjust and they agreed with
Hitler on that matter.
3) Only with hindsight do we know that Hitler wouldn't fulfill his promises. In 1938,
few individuals in Great Britain (other than Winston Churchill) fully understood that
Hitler needed to be stopped at all costs.
Germany and the Soviet Union Invade Poland
After taking over Czechoslovakia, Hitler set his attention to invading Poland. The Polish nation
had been built out of the Versailles Treaty and was originally German land.
When Chamberlain figured out Hitler's intentions, the British and French joined together and
agreed to defend Poland's border in the case of an attack.
Stalin was so pissed that the British and the French didn't trust him or think his army was
effective, that he shocked the world by signing a nonaggression pact (Germany and the Soviet
Union).
The way was now open for Germany to invade Poland, while the Soviets took Eastern Poland,
References and Resources
Totalitarianism
References
This PowerPoint presentation was
adapted using information from
the Princeton Review’s Cracking
The AP European History Exam
Pearl, Kenneth. Cracking the AP
European History Exam, 2016. New
York: Random House, 2015. Print.
4/19/16