Intra-War Years

Russian Revolution

Russian Government Before

Revolution

Monarchy: The Czar (Tsar)

Until 1905 the Tsar's powers were

unlimited

Russia had no constitution

A strong secret police which terrorized

the people.

Czar Nicholas II (1894)

Last Czar of Russia

Nicholas II was a harsh and weak ruler

The Russian economy was bankrupt and WWI

Russia’s entry into WWI became very

unpopular.

Czar Nicholas II and Family

Russia and World War I

War becomes unpopular

Rationing leads to starvation

Nicholas II leaves St. Petersburg to war

front opening the door for a revolution

October (Bolshevik) Revolution-

1917

Lead by Vladimir Lenin “Peace, Land, and Bread”

Get Russia out of WWI

Take the land from the wealthy and distribute it to the

poor

Feed all the people of Russia

Won support of people (especially peasants)

Russia becomes a Communist country and is renamed

the Soviet Union

1918

1918 March The Bolsheviks accept the

peace from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,

ending WWI with Germany.

Russia gives up much land to Germany in

the treaty.

Communism

A Form of Socialism

Central government planning of the Economy

by the country

Gov’t (Communist Party) makes decisions

on individual jobs and pay (no private

companies or businesses)

The Treaty of Versailles

“The Allied and Associated Governments affirm, and Germany accepts,

the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and

damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their

nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed

on them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

Treaty of Versailles, Article 231

BRAT

1. Germany had to accept the Blame for starting the war in the

form of a “war guilt” clause.

Germany’s punishment in the Treaty can be

remembered as:

Germany

• The reparations covered the destruction caused by the war,

pensions for millions of Allied soldiers, widows and families.

2. Germany had to pay over $33 billion in Reparations, or fines.

BRAT

1. Germany had to accept the Blame for starting the war in the

form of a “war guilt” clause.

Germany’s punishment in the Treaty can be

remembered as:

Germany

3. Germany was forbidden to have an Army over 100,000 men,

no submarines, and no air force.

2. Germany had to pay over $33 billion in Reparations, or fines.

BRAT

1. Germany had to accept the Blame for starting the war in the

form of a “war guilt” clause.

Germany

Germany’s punishment in the Treaty can be

remembered as:

3. Germany was forbidden to have an Army over 100,000 men,

no submarines, and no air force.

4. Germany lost Territory and colonies to Britain and France.

2. Germany had to pay over $33 billion in Reparations, or fines.

BRAT

1. Germany had to accept the Blame for starting the war in the

form of a “war guilt” clause.

Germany

Germany’s punishment in the Treaty can be

remembered as:

President Woodrow Wilson created the League

of Nations.

The countries that joined the League promised to

take cooperative economic and military actions

against any aggressive country.

Wilson’s Creation

The United States Congress rejected the League

because Americans feared it would pull them into

future European wars.

The lack of the US severely weakened the

League.

Many nations were upset with the Treaty of Versailles, and felt

their goals had not been achieved.

• Germany was horrified by their reparations,

reduced military, and territorial losses.

• Italy wanted to gain more land from Austria than

it received.

• Americans also felt the Treaty was too harsh on

Germany, and the US Congress refused to

approve it.

• Russia was angry they were not invited to

Versailles, and upset over losing Finland,

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Unfortunately, the

treaty that ended the

“war to end all wars”

merely provided the

motivation for WWII,

just twenty years later.

World-wide Depression• - 1929 stock market crash (Starts in

the US) “Black Tuesday” - October

29th 1929

- dominance of U.S. in world market

(US falls, so does everyone else…

like dominos)

- German Reparations Payments

-Many European countries in debt to

the U.S. from WWI

-France and Germany had a lot of

destruction from WWI

-Poor economies even before the

World-Wide Depression

World Wide Effects

• Effects

– high unemployment

– bank failures (people lost their savings)

– collapse of credit (no one could borrow

money)

– lead to unstable governments in Europe

– runaway inflation- Inflation is the rate at which

the general level of prices for goods and

services is rising and power of currency falls

Rise of Nazism

• The Nazi Party was formed in 1919

• Hitler joined the party shortly after its inception

• Germany was in really bad shape after the First World War

1919-1923

• Many Germans felt that they had been ‘Stabbed in the back’ by the WWI German government by signing the Treaty of Versailles.

• People feared a Communist revolution in Germany.

• Nazis gained popularity by saying that they would not adhere to the Treaty of Versailles.

How did the Nazi party gain

support in this period?• Military uniforms demonstrated

strength at a time when the government was weak

• Use of force against communists and trade unions was popular with businesses

• References to traditional values and reminders of ‘Who was to blame’ for the economic crisis built support.

1923: Munich/Beer Hall Putsch

• By 1923 the Nazi party had

gained much support in Bavaria.

• Now firmly under the control of

Adolf Hitler the group attempted

to seize control force.

• Despite having many

sympathisers the coup

(overthrow of the government)

failed and Hitler was imprisoned.

• The failure of the Munich Putsch

demonstrates that power needs

to be taken through legal means.

Regrouping

• Whilst in prison Hitler

analysed, developed and

refined the party’s strategy

• Shift to winning electoral

support

• Development of

propaganda tools

• Attempts to win support of

big business

1924-1929

• Focus on traditional values

• Built fear of communists

groups

• Continued use of military

imagery

Into government

• Nazis used force to prevent uprisings

• Rhetoric played on peoples fears

• Emphasis placed on military power won support of many soldiers and traditionalists

• Weak coalition governments enabled Nazis to gain political strength

• Propaganda and shows of might impressed the masses

Absolute Power

• Invited to become Chancellor

by politicians who believed that

Hitler could be manipulated

• Hitler and the Nazis takes more

and more power.

• By 1933 the Nazi Party’s rise to

power was complete

Adolf Hitler1933

Country: Germany

Type of Government: Nazism (dictatorship)

Goals and Ideas:

•Anti-Semitism: persecution of Jews

•Extreme nationalism: National Socialism (aka Nazism)

•Aggression: German occupation of nearby countries

•Unite: unite all German speaking nations and German union with Austria

•Hatred of Communism

Summary

Write a summary for each of the

4 sections of your notes.

Summaries should be written in

complete sentences.