• Czar Nicholas II led the Russian Empire throughout the war

• His position of power relied upon the military and bureaucratic institutions

• Interferences from Rasputin, a monk and trusted friend of the Czar’s wife began to weaken his power

GrigoryRasputin

Vladimir Lenin

• A communist party called the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin campaigned to overthrow the Czar’s government

• Forced the overthrow of the Czar and Russia had to withdraw from the war

• Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon seized power and set up a communist government in Russia by 1922 the USSR is established

RMS Lusitania

USA Enters the Conflict (page 766)

• Sinking of the Lusitania (1915) had increased public pressure for the US to get involved in WWI

• Interception of the Zimmerman Telegram (1917) further influenced the USA to join the fight

• The first American troops arrived in Europe in April 1917

Ludendorff’s Gamble

• German General Erich Ludendorff strategized a final assault on the Western Front

• It would use the last of Germany’s resources– Germany had used up all reserve supplies– German public is rioting over shortage of food– Germans have lost their will to fight– USA has entered the war and have tipped the balance

in favour of the Allies

• The Germans were finally defeated at the Second Battle of the Marne

• Ludendorff called it “the black day of the German army in the history of this war”

The Armistice

• Ludendorff informs Kaiser Wilhelm II that it is time for a conditional surrender

• The Kaiser refuses, escapes to Holland to avoid capture and/or possible assassination

• Negotiations are begun to end the war • On November 11, 1918 at 5:00 am the Armistice

is signed in General Ferdinand Foch’s railway coach in Northern France

• Fighting officially stops at 11:00am that same day.• Allied soldiers and Germans run out of their

trenches and run across no-man’s-land to greet each other

Stabbed in the Back Myth

• Popular belief amongst German military personnel, including Ludendorf

• “Germany lost the war only because they were betrayed by their government and civilians on the homefront.”

• Those that signed the armistice are referred to as the November Criminals

• This myth would be perpetuated later by the Nazi party as propaganda to fuel anti-Semitism and German nationalism.

Paris - 1919

The Big Three…(or Four)

Woodrow Wilson: pg 780

• What were Wilson’s “14 Points”?

• How did Wilson think peace could

be achieved?

• How did Wilson portray WWI?

• On what ideals did Wilson plan to base his “New World Order”?

• What was the League of Nations?

• What did other leaders (Clemenceau and Lloyd George) desire from the Peace Talks?

Wilson’s 14 Points for Peace1. No more secret international agreements

2. Absolute freedom on the seas

3. All trade barriers would be eliminated

4. There would be guaranteed mutual disarmament

5. There would be fair distribution of colonies

6. Russian territory would be evacuated by foreign troops

7. Belgium would be evacuated and restored to prewar independence

8. Alsace and Lorraine would be returned to France

9. Boundaries of Italy would be adjusted to include Italians living in Austria-Hungary

10. Various national groups of Austria-Hungary would be free to develop their own nations

11. Romania, Serbia, Montenegro would be evacuated

12. Turkey would be an independent nation but all subject people would be freed

13. Independent state of Poland to be created and guaranteed

14. Association of Nations created to protect political independence and territory of all states.

The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28 June, 1919

- By Sir William Orpen