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World War I
World War I (1914-1918) was caused by competition among
industrial nations in Europe and a failure of diplomacy. The
war transformed American and European life, wrecked the
economies of Europe, and planted the seeds for a second
world war.
Causes of World War I:
- Alliances that divided Europe into competing camps. The
Triple Alliance took place in 1882 when Italy joined
Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Triple Entente was
formed by Russia and France in 1890 to counter an attack
by Germany and/or Austria-Hungary; England joined later
in 1904. An entente is a friendly understanding between two countries,
but it lacks the binding commitment of an alliance.
- Nationalistic feelings – Extreme nationalists put national goals above
all others.
- Diplomatic failures – Alliances, meant to keep peace, created rivalries.
- Imperialism – European nations competed for colonies/areas under
control in parts of Asia, and the Balkans, and Africa.
- Competition over colonies – Competition created strained
relations between European nations.
- Militarism. Militarism is the national policy based on strength
and glorification of war. International tensions and mutual
distrust led to militarism. With the massive buildup of militaries,
war was inevitable. Conscription is compulsory military service for
civilians; all countries adopted conscription after 1870 except Great
Britain.
Major Events:
- Assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian
throne. While in Bosnia, Serbian nationalists shot and killed Ferdinand
and his wife. Austria blamed Serbia for their death.
- With the support of Germany, Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia on
June 28, 1914.
- Tsar Nicolas of Russia, Serbia’s ally, declared war on Germany.
- Germany, in turn, declared war on Russia.
- France was Russia’s ally, so Germany also declared war on France.
- Germany traveled through Belgium to attack France. Belgian neutrality had been
guaranteed by an 1839 treaty between Great Britain, Russia, France, and Germany.
Belgium’s neutrality was violated, so Britain declared war
on Germany.
- Russia leaves the war – With moral low, and a Russian
Revolution, The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed between
Russia and Germany. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was when
Russia gave up Ukraine and Poland to Germany.
- United States enters the War in 1917. The first reason for
US entry into the war was submarine attacks on ships carrying American passengers. The
second reason was the Zimmerman Telegram. The Zimmerman Telegram was a message to
Mexico from the German minister. It said that if Mexico joined Germany, Germany would
give Mexico Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. US’s involvement in the war tipped the
balance and helped the allies win the war.
Battles of World War I extended across the Eastern and Western fronts. These battles
employed many deadly technological advancements.
Major battles of World War I:
- Tannenberg: Early German victory over Russia. Significant Russian defeat.
- Marne: Allied victory that saved Paris.
- Gallipoli: Unsuccessful attempt by the Allies to try and capture Istanbul.
- Verdun: Longest battle of the war (10 Months). Many casualties.
- Somme: Battle with high casualties that is highly discussed and celebrated.
Major Leaders:
- The Central Powers – They included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the
Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
- The Allied Powers – They included Britain, France, Russia (left in 1917), and The United
States (Entered in 1917).
- Woodrow Wilson – The US President who declared war against the Central Powers.
- Kaiser Wilhelm II. Kaiser/Emperor Wilhelm of Germany gave support to actions of
Austria-Hungary against Serbia.
Technological Advancements used in World War I:
- Submarines
- Poison Gas
- Tanks
- Machine Guns
- Trench Warfare
- Propaganda
The End of WWI and the Russian Revolution
Treaty of Versailles of the Peace of Paris laid out the
details of the Allied settlement with Germany in 1919.
The U.S. Congress did not ratify it and rejected
membership in the League of Nations. Effect of the
Treaty of Versailles was that Germany had to give
Alsace-Lorraine to France which would control the Saar
Basin; the Allied forces controlled the Rhineland. New
nations were created from the lands of Russian, German,
and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
Outcomes and Global effects of World War I:
- More than 8.5 million dead and 17 million wounded.
- Millions of civilians dead or dislocated.
- Europe physically, economically, and socially damaged.
- War debts.
- Colonies’ participation in the war, which increased demands for independence.
- End of the Russian imperial, Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
- Enormous cost of the war in lives. Property and social disruption existed throughout.
Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 at the Paris Peace Conferences.
Germany was forced to accept blame for the war and was punished. The treaty would result
in new countries, redrawn borders, and German resentment, leading to WWII.
Treaty of Versailles:
- Forced Germany to accept guilt for war and loss of territory and pay reparations.
Reparations are payment for war damages.
- Limited the German military.
- Germany stripped of their colonies and lost land (Alsace and Lorraine).
- League of Nations established: Established to prevent future wars. The United States did
not sign the treaty. League had no real power to enforce its decisions.
- The mandate system: The mandate system gave broad authority to the mandate powers
regarding preparation for self-rule. During World War I, Great Britain and France agreed to
divide large portions of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East between themselves. This
will plant the seeds for future Middle East conflicts.
The Russian Revolution
Over several years, there was a series of revolutions in Russia. There were several, but the
“Russian Revolution” generally refers to the resignation of Tsar Nicholas II and the
Bolshevik Revolution, which brought the socialists into power.
Causes of the 1917 Revolutions:
- Defeat in war with Japan in 1905. Russo-Japanese War of 1904 is when the
Japanese navy attacked the Russian naval port at Port Arthur in Manchuria.
Japan won and Russia signed a treaty that gave Japan control over Korea and
other nearby areas in 1905. This caused discontent between the Russians and
their government.
- Landless peasantry - There was a huge gap in status between nobility and peasants. While
nobles lived in luxury, most peasants had no land and few rights. Shortages at home, due to
war, opened the door for the Bolsheviks to appeal to the vast majority, the peasants.
- Incompetence of Tsar Nicholas II – Nicholas II ruled as an absolute monarch. Among
other things, his weak military leadership and failure to solve problems for poor workers and
peasants helped lead to revolution.
- Military defeats and high casualties in World War I – With lack of leadership,
poor industrialization, a weak military, Russia had many casualties on the
battlefield. Russian people lost faith and confidence in their government.
Rise of Communism:
- Bolshevik Revolution and civil war. The Bolsheviks were a radical
revolutionary group that believed a socialist society could be introduced in
Russia and would spread worldwide with the help of peasants and working class. In March,
1917, Tsar Nicholas II steps down. A provisional government is put in place. Later, in 1917,
The Bolsheviks took power from the leaders of the provisional government.
- In 1918, the Russian Civil War broke out between the Bolsheviks and their opponents.
Reds were the name of the Bolsheviks because they favored the red flag of revolution; they
became known as communist. The whites were various groups who opposed the Bolsheviks.
The Communists killed the Tsar and his family and won in 1921.
- Vladimir Lenin’s New Economic Policy. Vladimir Lenin was the Bolshevik leader in
Russia. In 1922, Lenin forms the Soviet Union (USSR).
- In 1924, Lenin’s successor, Joseph Stalin, seizes power. He was a harsh
dictator.
Impact of World War I
After World War I, international organizations and
agreements were established to avoid future conflicts.
The League of Nations was proposed by President
Woodrow Wilson, which was part of the Treaty of
Versailles.
League of Nations:
- International cooperative organization.
- Established to prevent future wars.
- Failure of the League because it did not have power to
enforce its decisions.
- Enforcement policies were not backed by military action.
- American fear of “entangling” alliances.
- U.S. was not a member.
- With a Democratic U.S. President, Republican majorities in the U.S.
House and Senate did not vote to support Woodrow Wilson’s peace plan,
The Fourteen Points, was not passed in the United States. U.S. Congress
failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.
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After the defeat of the Central powers, there was a question of what to do with
the colonies administered by the Central Powers. The allies felt that the colonies
and the Ottoman Empire were not ready to administer themselves.
The Mandate System:
- Mandates are territories administered by other nations. The mandate system
was created to administer the colonies of the
countries defeated in WWI on a temporary basis.
After the war, the “mandate system” gave Great
Britain and France control over the lands that
became Iraq, Transjordan, and Palestine (British
control) and Syria and Lebanon (French control).
- During World War I, Great Britain and France
agreed to divide large portions of the Ottoman
Empire in the Middle East between themselves.
- With both Jews and Arabs laying claim to Palestine (modern day Israel), the division of
the Ottoman Empire through the mandate system planted the seeds for future conflicts in the
Middle East.
- France and England divided Germany’s African colonies. Australia and New Zealand
split Germany’s Pacific colonies south of the Equator and Japan took Germany’s Pacific
colonies north of the Equator.
World War I hurt the economies of Europe much more than
the United States. The US would emerge as the world’s
strongest economy. A period of uneven prosperity in the
decade following World War I (1920’s) was followed by
worldwide depression in the 1930’s. Depression weakened
western democracies, making it difficult for them to
challenge the threat of totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is a
form of government that gives the state absolute power at
the cost of the civil rights of the individual.
Causes of Worldwide Depression:
- German reparations. Germany was obliged by the Treaty
of Versailles to take blame for World War I and pay war debts.
- Expansion of production capacities and dominance of the U.S. in the
global economy.
- High protective tariffs. A protective tariff is a high tax on imports.
- Excessive expansion of credit and the 1929 stock market crash.
Impact of World Depression:
- High unemployment in industrial countries.
- Bank failures and collapse of credit.
- Collapse of prices in world trade.
- Nazi Party’s growing importance in Germany. The Nazi Party
blamed European Jews for the economic collapse. The Nazi Party is
the National Socialist Worker’s Party. It became the largest party in the
German Parliament. Hitler became leader of the Nazi Party in 1933
when he became Chancellor.
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The Rise of Dictatorial Governments after World War I
Economic dislocations following World War I led to unstable political conditions. The
economies of the world were already weak and struggling from World War I, the Great
Depression brought many of them crashing down. As the economies crashed, people began
losing faith in their governments. Worldwide depression in the 1930’s provided
opportunities for the rise of dictators in the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
A communist dictatorship was established by Vladimir Lenin and continued
by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. Stalin formed a command economy,
in which the government owns all businesses and makes all economic
decisions.
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U.S.S.R. during the Interwar Period under Joseph Stalin:
- Entrenchment of communism.
- Stalin’s policies (five-year plans, collectivization of farms, state
industrialization, secret police). There was a rapid increase in factories,
power plants, mines, and railroads. Farms were placed under state control.
Peasants were forced to work on state owned farms. As a result, there was
famine and low farm output.
- Great Purge. Stalin ruled through terror. He had a fear of any type of
opposition. Because of this, Stalin and his secret police rounded up millions
of people and had them sent to gulags and/or killed. A gulag was a system
of labor camps maintained in the former Soviet Union from 1930
to 1955 in which many people died.
The Treaty of Versailles worsened economic and political
conditions in Europe and led to the rise of totalitarian regimes in
Italy and Germany.
The German economy was in ruins. Inflation mixed with
reparations led to more problems for Germany. The Germans were also upset over the Treaty
of Versailles. Also, the German democratic government was divided and weak. This opened
the door for Adolf Hitler. Hitler rose to power because of his leadership in the National
Socialist German Workers party (Nazi). Nazism was a fascist movement. Nazis promoted
strong nationalism, strong military, and German expansion.
Germany during the Interwar Period under Adolf Hitler:
- Inflation and depression.
- Democratic government weakened.
- Anti-Semitism, which is the extreme violation of the rights of Jewish
people and hatred of the Jewish culture. Hitler viewed lighted-skinned
Europeans as the “Master Race.”
- National Socialism (Nazism).
- Hitler used brutality to silence rivals.
- Germany occupation of nearby countries: During 1938-1939, Hitler sent troops into
Austria and claimed it as part of Germany. Hitler took control of Czechoslovakia in 1939.
After Italy did not gain lands after World War I, nationalism rose in Italy. Taxes rose as well
as unemployment. Workers and peasants revolted. Benito Mussolini took advantage of this
and formed the Fascist party, a group of extreme nationalists. Fascists supported
totalitarian governments, but opposed communism.
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Italy during the Interwar Period under Benito Mussolini:
- Benito Mussolini was the fascist leader of Italy during the
Interwar Period.
- Ambition to restore the glory of Rome.
- Rise of Fascism. Fascism is a political philosophy that advocates the
glorification of the state, a single-party system with one ruler, and an
aggressive form of nationalism.
- Invasion of Ethiopia.
- As Britain and France condemned Italy’s imperialism, Mussolini was
drawn to Adolf Hitler for support.
Japan emerged as a world power after World War I and conducted aggressive imperialistic
policies in Asia. Japan became aggressive and imperialistic in order to expand
its economy. For this, Japan sought to expand its military.
Japan during the Interwar Period under Hirohito and Hideki Tojo:
- Militarism.
- Industrialization of Japan, leading to a drive for raw materials.
- Invasion of Korea, Manchuria, and rest of China.
- Emperor Hirohito was a constitutional monarch/emperor of Japan during the
Interwar Period and WWII. He held no real power, but he helped stir nationalism.
- Hideki Tojo was the military leader/general of Japan during the WWII. Eventually, Tojo
would lead Japan against the United States.
Trench Warfare
No Man’s Land
Gas Masks
During World War One a variety of weapons were used.
Rifle
The main weapon used by British soldiers
in the trenches was the bolt-action
rifle. 15 rounds could be fired in a
minute and a person 1,400 meters
away could be killed.
Machine Gun
Machine guns needed 4-6 men to work them and had
to be on a flat surface. They had the fire-power of 100
guns.
Large field guns had a long range and could deliver
devastating blows to the enemy but needed up to 12
men to work them. They fired shells which exploded
on impact.
Gas
The German armies were the first to use chlorine gas at the battle of
Ypres in 1915. Chlorine gas causes a burning sensation in the throat
and chest pains. Death is painful - you suffocate! The problem with
chlorine gas is that the weather must be right. If the wind is in the
wrong direction it could end up killing your own troops rather than the
enemy.
Mustard gas was the most deadly weapon used. It was fired into the
trenches in shells. It is colorless and takes 12 hours to take effect. Effects include: blistering
skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and external bleeding. Death can take up to 5 weeks.
Zeppelin
The Zeppelin, also known as blimp, was an airship that was
used during the early part of the war in bombing raids by the
Germans. They carried machine guns and bombs. However,
they were abandoned because they were easy to shoot out
of the sky.
Tank
Tanks were used for the first time in the First World
War at the Battle of the Somme. They were
developed to cope with the conditions on the
Western Front. The first tank was called 'Little
Willie' and needed a crew of 3. Its maximum speed
was 3mph and it could not cross trenches.
The more modern tank was not developed until just
before the end of the war. It could carry 10 men,
had a revolving turret and could reach 4mph.
Planes
Planes were also used for the first time. At first
they were used to deliver bombs and for spying
work but became fighter aircraft armed with machine
guns, bombs and sometimes cannons. Fights
between two planes in the sky became known as
'dogfights'
Torpedoes
Torpedoes were used by submarines. The Germans used
torpedoes to blow up ships carrying supplies from America
to Britain.
The Germans torpedoed the passenger liner Lusitania on
May 1st 1915 which sank with a loss of 1,195 lives.
Americans were outraged and joined the war in 1917 on the
side of the allies.