World War I “ War is a series of catastrophes that results

in a victory” -George Clemenceau

Flanders

Meuse-Argonne

Verdun

Ypres

The Somme

Tannenberg

The pattern of all of these battles is basically the same; conscript soldiers thrown against machine guns and massed artillery

Setting the Stage for War

• Causes:– Nationalism extreme patriotism

– Imperialism competition for resources to feed growing economies

– Militarism glorification of armed strength

When nations become so strong technologically, you can’t wait when war comes. You have to be ready to hit them before they hit you (mobilization)

Alliances The Triple Alliance

(The Bad Guys)

• Germany• Austria-Hungary• Italy (early on)

• The Ottoman Empire joins later

The Triple Entente (The Good Guys)

• Great Britain• France • Russia

• The U.S. joins later and Italy changes sides

The alliance system works as long as everyone acts

rationally

The Balkan “Powder Keg”(The trigger)

• Serbia is a Slavic nation with close ties to Russia

• Serbia wants to annex Bosnia (controlled by Austria-Hungary)

• Germany and Austria-Hungary oppose Russian (Slavic) expansion

The Balkans 1914

One man, one bullet, World War

• A Serb nationalist shoots the heir to the Austrian throne.

• Austria gives Serbia an ultimatum

• Serbia agrees to 3 of the 4 Austrian demands

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand

The Alliance System Fails(don’t write all of this)

• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and sent troops to their border.

• Russia, allied with Serbia, sends troops to the border with Austria-Hungary and its border with Germany

• Germany allied with Austria-Hungary is obligated to send troops to help Austria-Hungary

• Germany knows France is obligated to help Russia, so they decide to attack France before France attacks them…

World War I: An Industrial War

Warfare isn’t about men fighting men anymore, it’s about men fighting machines. Where do you get enough men? You draft them.

The Early War

The War in the West

The Germans drive to within 40 miles of Paris then stall

They don’t have the strength to overwhelm the French defense so they dig trenches

The War in the East

The Russians attack the Germans to relieve pressure on the French

The Russians lack modern equipment so their attack stalls

World War I becomes a war of attrition

Propaganda

Propaganda is the use of selected bits of information that is intended to stir up hatred of the enemy and patriotism in your country.

The U.S. in World War I• The U.S. has a long tradition of isolationism

• The U.S. does business with both sides, and stays neutral until:

– Germany begins unrestricted submarine warfare

– The Zimmerman note supposedly proposes an alliance between Germany and Mexico

The Tide Turns By mid 1917, both

sides are exhausted

Wilson proposes the Fourteen Points: a postwar plan for the peace

Germany attempts one more time to win before American troops arrive in force but fails

U.S. Troops arrive in France

Peace On November11th 1918, at 11am, the fighting stopped with

the signing of the armistice (this is not a peace treaty)

The Kaiser goes into exile as demanded by President Wilson

Great Britain and France wanted to punish Germany by taking territory and making Germany pay reparations

The Unites States wanted to reconcile Germany and the rest of Europe

The Russian Revolution

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov 1870-1924

Russia’s Late Imperial History• By the late 1800’s Russia’s development was

far behind Europe’s

• Russia was an empire of many peoples and cultures

Russia’s Late Imperial History• The liberal movement in Europe does not

make much headway in Russia– The Czar rules Russia as an autocrat;

a ruler with absolute power

– Peter the Great westernizes Russia but he does not give up any personal power

– Nationalism inspires the people of a dominated Poland and Finland

The Czar Cracks Down• The “Russification”

Program = all people will speak, act and worship the “Russian” way

• Foreign Policy;

– “Pan-Slavism”

– Expansion to the south and defeat in the Crimean war Czar Nicholas I

Alexander II and Reform• Alexander is an autocrat

but listens to the people

• The Serfs are bound to landowners until 1861 “it’s better to free them from above then they free themselves from below”– Emancipation Edict – Not enough land/not

enough money Czar Alexander II

Alexander II and Reform• Alexander allowed a

small measure of local control, zemstvos =local councils

• He reformed the courts, military, secret police.

• He granted greater freedom of the press and improved education

Czar Alexander II

The People React to Reform

• No one is happy;

– Conservatives think the Czar is weak

– Moderates think these are “first steps”

– Radicals see the chance to create an entirely new system

– By the 1870’s a group called People’s Will turned to terrorism

– After several attempts, they assassinate Alexander II in 1881

The New Czar Reacts• Alexander III will not

make the same mistakes his father did…

• He used the secret police, repression and censorship to reassert his authority

• His attempts backfired Czar Alexander III

The First Revolution (1905)

• Russia fought a disastrous war against Japan and was totally defeated

• This loss showed the incompetence and weakness of the Czar’s government

• Peaceful protesters, trying to deliver a petition to the Czar, were shot by soldiers on “Bloody Sunday”: and the revolution is on

The First Revolution (1905)• After Bloody Sunday Czar Nicholas II

issued the October Manifesto-a document that proclaimed individual liberties for the first time

– The document created a national parliament The Duma. Despite the steps toward popular government, the Czar later dissolves the Duma

– A more conservative Duma was convened in 1907; this Duma restricted many popular freedoms

The First Revolution (1905)

• The Revolution failed for three reasons:

– The Russian Army remained loyal to the Czar

– The French loaned money to the Russians

– The revolutionaries were divided;

• Some want to fix the system• Some want to burn the system down

A little Review…

• Socialism This is the political idea that government should own the means of production (factories, land, resources etc…)

• The idea is strongest in Germany, the home of Karl Marx and Frederich Engels

A little Review…

• Marx and Engels believed that all societies everywhere in the world would evolve economically and politically:

»Feudalism gives way to capitalism

»Capitalism gives way to socialism

»Socialism will evolve into communism

– Communism is a society without any formal governmental structure or class distinction.

Russia in World War I

• Russia has one-half of what it needs to be a great power- manpower (guys) they are patriotic, loyal and incredibly tough

• It lags far behind in industrialization and technology (stuff)

• For the most part, Russia has terrible military leadership and battlefield tactics

Russia in World War I

• By late 1916-early 1917, the Russian army and people had had enough of the war and of the Czar;

– Staggering losses on the battlefield

– Shortages of everything at home

– Even though serfdom was abolished in 1861 the government still runs in a feudal way

Russia in World War I• The Army refuses to attack street protestors in

Moscow and St.Petersburg when ordered to by the Czar

• The legislature (Duma) refused to disband when ordered to by the Czar

• With his government in tatters, the Army and Navy in rebellion, Czar Nicholas the II abdicated (quit) the Russian throne in March 1917. The last absolute monarchy in Europe is gone.

The Provisional Government• The Provisional

Government takes power in March 1917

• It intends to honor Russia’s commitment to the war, and to create a democratic government

• Radicals want more… Alexander Kerensky

The Provisional Government• Kerensky battled against

small councils (soviets) formed in factories, towns and even neighborhoods

• The soviets were made up of two groups

– Bolsheviks (radicals)

– Mensheviks (moderates)

Alexander Kerensky

The Bolsheviks Seize Power• The Bolsheviks seized

power from the provisional government in October 1917 and renamed themselves the Communist Party

• At first, Lenin is one of many leaders Lenin

The Bolsheviks Seize Power• Lenin and his party’s

slogan is “peace, bread and land” (hard to argue with that)

• His 1st goal is to get out of the war-NOW

• He does not care about “Russia” Lenin

Peace and Civil War

• Following Russia’s exit from the war the Allies pressure the new government to get back in, they refuse

• The disorganized, disunited opponents of the communists (reds) are the monarchists, mensheviks and other socialists (whites)

• By 1922 the war is over, the communists win and Russia became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Lenin Dies

• Lenin suffers a stroke in 1923 and dies in 1924. After a few years one of his young aides takes power; his name was Stalin

Lenin’s body in the Lenin Mausoleum.

To this day it is displayed for public viewing