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Alliances, War, and a Troubled Peace Chapter 18 A. Introduction to The Great War • 1. Causes of the Great War • Causes summed up in acronym M.A.N.I.A • Militarism • European nations mass-producing weapons • Also, militaries in European building large armies • Alliances • Prior to the Great War, Britain, France, and Russia allied in the Triple Entente • Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy allied in the Triple Alliance • Alliances make the Great War a world conflict • Nationalism • Serbia, in Austro-Hungarian Empire, wants an independent nation • Imperialism • European nations competing for resources and colonies • Assassination of Francis Ferdinand • Archduke of Austria-Hungary assassinated by a Serbian named Gavrilo Princip • The assassination provided the spark which started the war • 2. Consequences of the War • World War I causalities massive • New weapons and technology • The Russian Revolution occurs in 1917, Vladimir Lenin transforms Russia into the communist Soviet Union • The Ottoman Empire collapses • The Treaty of Versailles, ending the war, creates problems that lead to WWII B. Strategies and Stalemate • 1. War! • Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia • Serbia backed by Russia, who mobilized their army • Russian mobilization caused Germany to declare war on Russia, Aug. 1, 1914 • France declared war on Germany • The Schlieffen Plan (1905) • German battle plan created by Alfred von Schlieffen to fight a two-front war against France and Russia • Called for invading France through Belgium, taking the French out, then attacking Russia before they could march • Aug. 4, 1914, Germany invades Belgium, causing Britain to declare war • Now all major European powers at war • 2. Illusions • For the most part, Europeans greeted outbreak of war with celebrations and parades • Why? • Many Europeans believed war to be a positive, thrilling experience • Europeans believed the war would only lst a few weeks • Propaganda incited nationalism and the demonization of the enemy • 3. Realities of War • German invasion of Paris halted at the First Battle of the Marne River, Sept. 1914 • The development of Trench Warfare occurred • European leaders believed in a war of attrition • Only constant attacks and heavy losses would gain territory • Battle of Verdun (Feb-Dec, 1916) • 700,000 casualties • Western front of the war bogged down in trenches, immobile • 4. New Allies • Trench warfare created a stalemate, alliances look to new allies to break it • Turkey and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers • Italy switched to the Allied Powers b/c of promise of Austrian land • Japan allied with Britain and took over German territories in China and the Pacific • 5. New Weapons • New weapons also emerged to deal with breaking the stalemate • 1915, airplanes used for combat along with zepplins • German U-boats or submarines wreaked havoc on allied ships in the Atlantic • 1917, British tanks used • Poisoned gas • 6. The U.S. Enters the War • U.S. President Woodrow Wilson attempts to remain neutral • Verbally denounced Europeans, claimed they should make peace bases on his Fourteen Points • Free and unrestricted trade in the sea • End secret alliances • Allow nations self-determination • Create a League of Nations to stop wars before they happen • a) Why did the U.S. get Involved? • Unrestricted Submarine Warfare • German policy of firing on any non-german ship in the Atlantic • May 1915, German U-boats sink British passenger liner The Lusitania, 1100 killed, 125 Americans • The Zimmerman Note intercepted by the British • Message from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman suggesting a GermanMexican Alliance • The Russian Revolution 1917 C. The Russian Revolution • 1. Why did the Revolution Occur? • Russia completely militarily inept, lots of casualties (2 million dead by 1916) • Nicholas II weak and thought to be under control of his wife Alexandra and her advisor Grigori Rasputin • Famines caused by war effort • Women in factories toiling in harsh conditions, long hours • Political factions in the Duma discontent • 2. The Revolution • March 1917, women and workers revolt in Petrograd due to long hours and bread lines • Soldiers refuse to fire on protestors, join them instead • Tsar Nicholas abdicates throne same month • 3. The Provisional Government • The Duma created a new provisional gov’t mainly dominated by constitutionalists • BUT, socialist parties such as the Mensheviks, began to organize soviets or councils of workers and soldiers throughout Russia • Constitutionalists under Alexander Kerensky decided to remain in the war, angering the people • Military discipline in the war began to disintegrate • Meanwhile, Germans, sneak in Vladimir Lenin who had been exiled in Switzerland • 4. Lenin and the Communist Dictatorship • Lenin toured Russia arguing for peace, land, and bread • Lenin and his chief collaborator Leon Trotsky attempted a coup in summer, 1917, but failed • In October, Lenin and Trotsky succeed in an armed overthrow of the provisional government • Winter, 1917, Lenin and the Bolsheviks in control of Russia • The Bolsheviks banished all other political parties, seized banks and factories and nationalized land • 5. Russian Withdrawal and Civil War • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1917) • Treaty between Russia and Germany • Russia gets to pull out of war, but has to give Germany Poland, Finland, the Baltic States, and Ukraine • Also had to pay heavy indemnities or payments for damages • New Bolshevik gov’t met resistance • Red Russians favored communist government vs. White Russians who opposed it • 1918, Bolsheviks murdered Nicholas and the Romanov family • Under Trotsky’s ruthless leadership, the red army defeats the White Russians • By 1921, Lenin and communists in control • 1. 1917 • A good year for Germany, only a one front war, b/c no more Russia • Austrian victory over Italy • BUT U.S. now joined war on Allied side D. The End of the Great War • 2. Germany’s Last Ditch Effort • Second Battle of the Marne 1918 • Germany’s final attempt to break into France, failed because of number of American troops joining the defense • Soon after American arrival, Central powers began surrendering • Ludendorff, head of Germany military wants to make peace before allies invade Germany • BUT, U.S. and allies refuse to make peace w/ autocratic ruler (Kaiser Wilhelm) • Wilhelm refuses to abdicate throne, so Germany revolts • The German Social Democratic Party quickly organized a democratic government on Nov. 9, 1918 • Same day, an armistice or cease fire signed • 3. Results of the War • Battle casualties alone, a little less than 10 million • The war led to the creation of the Soviet Union • War ended the western myth of inevitable progress based on logic, reason, and science • War bread resentment between European nations as well as their colonies • 4. The Fall of the Ottoman Empire • British officer T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) undermined the Ottoman rulers and helped incite a revolution • Ottoman Empire in disarray allowed for British invasion of present day Iraq, parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and Palestine • Treaty of Versailles(1919) allows Britain and France to acquire mandates, territories under their control • 1920, Greece invaded Turkey, but military leader Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), ran the Greeks out, abolished the Caliphate in Turkey and created a secular, modern Republic E. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) • 1. Obstacles to Peace • Woodrow Wilson invited to lead peace negotiations at end of War • Wilson’s Fourteen Points a lot more idealistic than European’s desires • Negotiations led by The Big Four • George Clemenceau (France) • David Lloyd George (Great Britain) • Vittorio Orlando (Italy) • Woodrow Wilson (U.S) • Each country had different, less idealistic ideas • Britain and France wanted Germany to pay for damages • Many nations had been promised land • Britain had issued the Balfour Declaration, British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine • France, specifically wanted a weakened Germany • Minorities (Serbians, Bosnians, etc) wanted their own nations • 2. The “Peace” • Basically, Wilson preaches 14 Points, but Europeans want land, money, and revenge • Russia not invited to the peace talks, b/c communist • Germany not invited to participate, treated as losers • Some allowed self-determination, others not • a) League of Nations • international body designed to stop problems before they occur • Lacked any kind of military enforcement, so weak • All members had to agree unanimously on decisions • b) Germany • Hit the hardest by the treaty • Gave Alsace-Lorraine to France • Demilitarized the Rhineland • Reduced their army to 100,000 • Had to destroy air force, navy, tanks, etc • Germany required to pay $25 billion in war reparations • Germany forced to sign the War Guilt Clause, laying responsibility for the war at their feet • c) The East • New countries created, grouping unlikely people together • Austria and Hungary split apart • Czechoslovakia created w/ also included several thousand Germans • Southern slavs united into Yugoslavia, which also included thousands of Germans • Poland created using large parts of Russia • Also, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania created • d) Mandates • Germany, Austria, had to give up all colonies • Also, Ottoman empire dissolved • League of Nations created mandates or territories under the supervision of European nations (mainly Britain and France) • Britain received Iraq and Palestine in the Middle East • France obtain Syria and Lebanon • e) Colonial Participation • Colonies had fought in the war for their nations • Algerians fought for French, Indians, Canadians, Australians, South Africans for the British • Many nations begin to demand independence for their efforts F. Evaluating the Peace • Treaty of Versailles is one of the most notorious modern treaties and had serious future repercussions • 1. Economic Consequences • John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) • Wrote The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1920) • Argued that reparations on Germany and the treaty in general would ruin Europe economically and lead to a future war • The U.S. never ratified treaty b/c fear of League of Nations and being dragged into another war • In reality though, probably the best treaty that Europe as a whole had ever made • 2. Failure to Accept Reality • Ignoring powerful nations like Germany and Russia a mistake, Germany a huge part of European economy • Large amount of dissatisfaction in new countries b/c of minorities • The Treaty of Versailles had no enforcement mechanisms