Download Imperialism in Central and Southeast Asia

Chapter 25
Imperialism and the Great War
Imperialism is the rule or influence by one government, nation, or society over another. Empire Building
is the logical extension of Imperialism and is nothing new in Western Civilization. Strong societies have
often preyed upon [hunted, destroyed] weaker societies. Assyria, Egypt, Persia, Alexander the Great and
Rome all dominated large areas of the ancient world. In the 5th century Byzantium reclaimed much of the
Roman Empire and in 7th century Islam expanded from the Atlantic to Southeast Asia.
Imperialism was reborn in the West with the emergence of the modern nation-state and the Age of
Exploration. Led by Portugal, Europeans established colonies in sparsely inhabited lands such as the
coastline of Africa and also in lands where ancient civilizations and states had flourished for centuries.
European settlers migrated to their colonies in a process called colonization. And since these migrants
were superior in organization and technology, they generally assumed that they were superior culturally
toward the native populations in and around their colonies.
From the 15th to the 17th centuries, the Portuguese and the Dutch built Trading Post Empires in Africa
and the Indian Ocean Basin for the exploitation of the resources and commerce with societies already
developed. In the same time period, the Spanish and Portuguese established colonies in the New World
where they exploited the agricultural and mineral wealth. The British and French imperialists colonized
North America, Africa and Asia. Acting on Mercantilist Principles, the European nations in the 18th
century attempted to regulate the trade of their colonies in the interests of the mother country.
As the Nineteenth century dawned, imperialism seemed to be on the decline. Britain had lost its Thirteen
Colonies in North America; the Haitian Slave Rebellion had been successful; Spain and Portugal had lost
most of Central and South America; and the Dutch were having difficulties holding onto the East Indies.
Even though American Manifest Destiny, along with the mass evictions of the native peoples of Siberia
and the marginalizing of Latin American Indigenous peoples continued the practice of imperialism, it was
in the second half of the nineteenth century that Western Europeans carried Imperialism and
Empire-building to an unprecedented scale.
This almost frantic burst of European expansion is called the New Imperialism. Equipped with
overwhelming industrial, organizational and military superiority, the English, French, Germans and Dutch
imposed their control over the world on a scale unimagined by earlier conquerors. By the end of the
century, Japan and the United States had joined the European Imperialists and were looking for lands to
exploit. Although imperialism encouraged global trade, it also created hard feelings between the few
wealthy industrialized nations and the great mass of countries that were reduced to colonial or economic
tributary status and often generated virulent (strong) racism as its byproduct.
The Motives of Imperialism
The first motive of Imperialism was Power: either by military force or through trade domination,
investment and business activities – or, as often happened, a combination of any or all of these.
The second was Colonization: European colonization took two forms: either colonies ruled and populated
by European migrants, like North America, New Zealand and Australia, or colonies built on the land of
ancient civilizations but controlled by small numbers European migrants who lived among masses of
dominated peoples, such as in India and Egypt. Colonization also took the form of gaining Spheres of
Influence in which a European country received special legal and commercial privileges without direct
political involvement, such as in China or the Ottoman Empire.
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The third motive was Economics. Imperialism was the lifeblood of Mercantilism (also called Bullionism).
Remember that Mercantilism is the economic philosophy that tries to increase the power of a nation
by increasing its monetary wealth through policies designed to secure an accumulation of bullion (like
gold ingots/bars), a favorable balance of trade, the development of agriculture and manufacturing, and
the establishment of foreign trading monopolies. Thus European merchants and entrepreneurs would
often advocate aggressive action or military intervention because their wealth and investments would be
protected.
Entrepreneurs needed the raw materials such as rubber, tin, petroleum and copper found in underdeveloped
countries to keep their factories producing. So the usual pattern was to invest capital (money) in a less
industrialized country (such as building railroads, communication systems and bridges) to in order to realize
larger profits. And it is important to understand that these large profits were also made when
entrepreneurs turned raw materials of less industrialized lands into finished goods in the “Mother
Country” and then sent them back to the colonial nations for sale, often wrecking local economies.
The Fourth was Politics. Even if colonies were not profitable, they could still occupy strategic sites on the
world’s sea-lanes or offer harbors for merchant and naval vessels. Military considerations were often
paramount reasons for maintaining colonies. Moreover, imperial expansion also provided more jobs for
European workers and thus defused many internal tensions.
Lastly, there was the Cultural Motive. Many European countries felt that their culture was superior to
those of the lands they dominated. Entrepreneurs and the officers of profit driven companies like the EEIC
or VOC were often ruthless in their exploitation and domination of native populations. Missionaries on the
other hand had a more positive influence. As they flocked to foreign lands and preached the Christian
gospel, they often were domineering; but they also often frustrated colonial officials by supporting and
defending the local population – and they brought education, medical assistance and social aid (such as
orphanages). But whatever their motivations, Europeans generally believed that had a responsibility to
impose their own superior culture.
Consider these passages (verses one and five) from Rudyard Kipling’s The White Man’s Burden:
Take up the White Man's burden, Send forth the best ye breed
Go bind your sons to exile, to serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.
Take up the White Man's burden And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better, The hate of those ye guard-The cry of hosts ye humour (Ah, slowly!) toward the light:-"Why brought he us from bondage, Our loved Egyptian night?"
Cecil Rhodes was an imperialist who moved to South Africa in 1871 for health reasons. By 1889, at the
age of thirty-five, he had almost complete control of diamond mining in South Africa, or 90% of the
diamonds mined in the world. He was an imperialist to the core. He envisaged a British zone of control or
colonies stretching from the tip of South Africa up the entire continent to Egypt. But his motives were not
just capitalistic because Rhodes believed that British culture and civilization was the most noble and
superior in the world. He even hoped to bring the United States back into the British Empire. In 1877, he
said, We are the finest race in the world and the more of the world we inhabit; the better it is for the
human race.
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The Tools of Empire
Industrialization gave Europeans technological superiority and this superiority quickly became evident in
three areas: transportation, military force and communication. The most important innovation was the
steam engine applied to ships and locomotives. When military technology was applied to steamships, the
result was powerful naval vessels that were faster and stronger than any sailing ships afloat. Particularly
effective in subduing countries in Africa and Asia were gunboats, which could penetrate deep into another
country (as they did in China) to enforce European demands.
Thus between 1839 and 1860, British gunboats crushed Chinese resistance in the Opium Wars and to
dictate the Unfair Treaties on China which marked the beginning of British economic penetration of
China. The construction of new canals, such as the Suez Canal (completed in 1869) and the Panama Canal
(1914) which made it possible for ships to avoid a long and dangerous route around the tip of South
America to travel from Pacific to Atlantic or vice versa. Such strategically located canals further increased
the effectiveness of European military, passenger and cargo steamships.
The European powers also built railroads, which were immensely helpful in helping them organize and
maintain power in colonial lands. Railroads could efficiently move not only raw materials and finished
goods rapidly, but also move armies just as efficiently. As we saw under Count Sergei Witte, Russia built
the Trans-Siberian railroad from Moscow to Vladivostok not only to link together its vast empire but also
to push its influence into East Asia, especially Manchuria. In the area of military technology, increasingly
efficient and effective rifles and primitive machine guns called Maxim Guns enabled the Europeans to
overwhelm African and Asian societies. [This superiority was demonstrated in 1898 at Omdurman, near
Khartoum on the Nile River when a British Brigade of 3,000 men, 20 machine guns and six gunboats encountered a
numerically superior Sudanese army. In five hours the British lost 368 men killed and the Sudanese lost 10,000 men
killed, 16,000 wounded and 5,000 taken prisoner.]
Communication underwent a dramatic revolution as well. In 1800, it took six months for a sailing ship to
sail from England to India and back. During the 1850s, steamships cut the time to four months. After The
Suez Canal opened in 1869, the time was further cut to less than two weeks. By the turn of the twentieth
century, telegraph wires on land and under the oceans cut the time of communication between England and
India to minutes. By 1902, every part of the British Empire was linked by cable and telegraph. Finally,
European nations were aided by new medicines such as quinine which helped Europeans survive many
tropical diseases to which they had little resistance.
The British Empire in India
During the last half of the Eighteenth Century, India was divided into three very complicated types of
states. First, the once-mighty Mughal Empire still claimed most of India, but in reality had lost control of
most of the sub-Continent. Second, regional rajas or city-states again ruled many areas that were once ruled
by the Mughal Empire. Thirdly, European colonies were steadily enlarging their territorial holdings.
During the 1750s, the British East India Company, under Sir Robert Clive, defeated the Mughals in
numerous engagements culminating in Battle of Plassey in 1757. After Plassey, the Mughals were forced
to grant the British extensive military and economic concessions, which allowed Great Britain to become
the strongest power on the Sub-continent. Then in 1763, the British expelled the French from India in the
Seven Years War and the British Raj (British rule in India) began to grow.
It is important to understand that British expansion was a combination of deliberate effort and random
circumstance. The British East India Company (EEIC) continued its economic penetration, but, in many
cases, local rajas, especially those not under Mughal control, would resist the British or threaten British
interests. The British then would be forced to defeat these rulers and occupy their territories, which often
meant that the British acquired an empire by accident.
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By 1800, the British East India Company controlled almost one-fourth of India, including the Island of
Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka. Also in British hands were Bombay (Mumbai today) and most of the
southwest coast, as well as all of the East Coast including Calcutta (Kolkata) and most of the Province of
Bengal. As the nineteenth century opened, the British moved west and north from Calcutta and occupied
most of the Ganges River Valley, to New Delhi and beyond. The British soon also took outlying areas such
as the Punjab and parts of Afghanistan.
From the beginning, British rule was harmful to the local population in several ways. First, the profits
generated by Indian raw material industry (especially cotton growing) were sent back to Britain, rather than
benefiting the local economy. Second, the size and efficiency of the British-built textile mills in Great
Britain overwhelmed and drove out of business Indian textile producers, which were usually small protoindustrial operations, often run by women. Third, British tax law applied to the British zone of control and
it allowed British authorities to confiscate land from the peasants unable to pay their taxes. When the
British created their tax system, they thought they had created a fair system. However, they left the
collection of taxes to local officials, called Zamindars, who lost no time in overtaxing their fellow
countrymen and making themselves rich by using British law to seize land from bankrupt peasants. Such
land theft became so common by the 1770s that agricultural production decreased sharply and resulted in a
series of famines that killed almost a third of the Indian population, mostly poor peasants.
The Sepoy Rebellion
The Sepoy Rebellion was the defining moment in the history of the British Raj. The British East India
Company maintained its authority with a small British army assisted by a large number of native Indian
soldiers called Sepoys. In 1857, the Sepoys were given new Enfield rifles that fired bullets from cartridges.
To protect the gunpowder from moisture, the cartridges came in paper waxed with animal fat. With
unbelievable insensitivity, British officers ordered the Sepoys to tear the paper off with their teeth. Hindu
Sepoys refused to comply because the fat might have come from cows, which were sacred to Hindus.
Muslim Sepoys also refused because the fat might have come from pigs, which Muslims are forbidden to
eat. Even though the British changed their orders, the Sepoys revolted and tried to restore Mughal rule.
Peasants joined the rebellion and soon the fighting threatened British rule in all of India. After atrocities by
both sides, the British army finally crushed the rebellion the following year. But the London government
realized that the EEIC was unable to administer India properly; so to keep order, the British government
replaced the EEIC with direct British rule.
British imperial rule now meant that a Viceroy and British officials ran India, formulating all domestic and
foreign policy. They reconstructed Indian land holdings and encouraged cultivation of commercial crops
such as tea on the island of Ceylon. But more importantly, British controlled India became the world’s
leading producer of cotton. The British also built extensive railroads and telegraph networks, along with
canals and harbors. Lastly they imposed English culture on India by establishing English style schools for
Indian elites and suppressing Indian customs that conflicted with British culture, such as Sati (social
pressure to make wives jump onto their husband’s funeral pyres).
Imperialism in Central and Southeast Asia
We have seen that the Russians were frustrated when they tried to expand southwestward towards
Constantinople in the Crimean War, which halted their thrust and revealed their weaknesses compared to
the industrialized states of Europe. And we saw how the Russians continued to expand southeastward from
the Caucuses Mountains towards India absorbing what the old Khanates of the Silk Road – what today is
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; and how the Russians and British
played the “Great Game” of espionage and diplomatic intrigue.
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Spain held the Philippines and the Dutch extended their control over all the Dutch East Indies. Cash crops
such as sugar, tea, coffee, and tobacco along with tin, rubber and petroleum deposits made the Dutch East
Indies a valuable colony. (Remember: Royal Dutch Shell).
The British also expanded into Southeast Asia. In the 1820s they forced their way into Burma (Myanmar)
and soon supplied the British with teak, ivory, rubies and jade. In 1824, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
founded the port of Singapore, which soon became the trade center in the Straits of Melaka. From there
the British spread to Malayan Peninsula and the island of Borneo in the 1870s, which provided vast
quantities of tin and rubber.
The French had been defeated by the English for control of India and their imperialistic ventures were
delayed by the Napoleonic wars, but in the latter half of the nineteenth century they established control of
French Indo China or what is today, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Like the British, they introduced
European style schools and encouraged conversions to Christianity, and, as a result, Roman Catholicism
became and remains a major religion in Vietnam to this day.
By the end of the nineteenth century all of Southeast Asia was under European colonial control, except the
kingdom of Thailand (Siam), which preserved its independence because it provided a buffer state between
British and French interests. Siam’s king, Mongkut (ruled from 1851 to 1868) carefully studied Western
culture, languages and technology. He shrewdly used this knowledge to negotiate with the Western powers
and was forced to sign Unequal Treaties, but maintain his kingdom’s independence.
The Carving up of Africa
At the beginning of the nineteenth century Europeans knew very little about Africa, except for the coastal
areas where they had trading posts and contacts with the indigenous peoples. But by the end of the
nineteenth century, Europeans would dominate and colonize almost the entire continent.
West Africa: the Rise of the Asante
The Asante developed a highly centralized, semi-military government led by a chief known as the
Asantahene. After the fall of the Songhay in the late 1600s, the first Asantahene, Osei Tutu, created the
Asante kingdom, which controlled the Sahara trade and acquired firearms from European slave traders.
They used these weapons to build a strong army and dominate the region around Ghana. Their power grew
until the early 1800s when they even opposed Euro-American attempts to destroy the slave trade. In 1821,
the British began a 70-year struggle with the Asante and by 1900 had subdued the Asante.
South Africa
The Dutch had colonized South Africa in the mid-1600s. For a century and a half these Afrikaner Boers
had pushed aside the indigenous peoples and taken the best lands. When the British assumed control over
South Africa during the Napoleonic Wars, the Boers were themselves displaced. In the 1830s, the Boers
made their Great Trek to the north and east, eventually founding the Orange Free State and South
African Republic (Transvaal) just north of British South Africa. As both the British and Boers pushed
north, they came into contact with the Zulu.
The Zulu, a Bantu-speaking people, had been relatively quiet and peaceful before 1800. In 1816 a strong
chief, Shaka, united the various Zulu clans. Shaka was called the Black Napoleon because he taught the
Zulu to fight in an organized, efficient manner. Under Shaka, the Zulu gained a fearsome military
reputation and not only dominated the native peoples in Southern Africa, but also came into conflict with
the Boers and the British who, between them, finally subdued the Zulu by 1879.
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Some historians argue that the modern era in South African history began with the discovery in the early
1870s of enormous diamond and gold deposits at Kimberly. Such great wealth caused the British and the
Boers to exploit the indigenous peoples and in the 1880s to institute racial segregation in the mines in the
form of labor compounds and pass laws (or travel restrictions). These set a precedent (something done or said
that may serve as an example or rule to authorize or justify a subsequent act) for the Apartheid Laws of the
white South African government in the 1960s.
East Africa
Ethiopia, which earlier had allied with Portugal against Muslim invaders, expelled the Portuguese, largely
over religious tension in 1632. For the next two and a half centuries, Ethiopia went into isolation, and then
modernized under Theodore II, who came to the throne in 1855. Although Theodore was defeated by the
British (and committed suicide rather than surrender), his successors were able to keep Ethiopia independent.
In 1889, Menelik II continued modernization: building roads, setting up Western style schools and hiring
European military experts to bring the army up to European standards. In 1896, the Italians invaded
Ethiopia but the Ethiopians surprised the world by winning a decisive victory over the Italian army at
Adowa. Ethiopia would remain independent until Mussolini’s invasion of 1936.
The East African coast, which had come under Portuguese domination between the late 1400s and late
1600s, enjoyed a period of relative independence when the Arabs in 1728 drove the Portuguese from the
port of Mombasa, marking the waning of Portugal’s strength. By the nineteenth century, the Portuguese
retained only Mozambique.
By the early 1800s, Omani Arabs controlled trade between the East African coast and India. By far the
most important East African port was Zanzibar, on a small island off the coast of Tanganyika, and
through which flowed cloves, spices, sugar and ivory. Ironically as the demand for slaves in the Atlantic
was finally disappearing, there was a major resurgence in the Arab-East African slave market due to new
plantation activity in East Africa. It took decades for western powers to eliminate the East African Slave
trade and the great slave market in Zanzibar was finally closed down in 1873 by Great Britain
The Scramble for Africa
Between 1875 and 1900 a prodigious (enormous, huge) and unprecedented outburst of imperialism
took place in Africa. Outside of the Portuguese colonies in Angola and Mozambique, the French colony in
Algeria and small British and Dutch colonies in South Africa, Europeans had a limited presence in Africa.
The exploiting of African resources and frenzy for Empire in the last quarter of the nineteenth century led
to the “Scramble for Africa”.
The European imperialists built on the information compiled by a series of adventurers and explorers who
charted the interior regions of Africa that Europeans have never before visited. The best known of these
was Dr. David Livingston, a Scottish minister, who opposed slavery and the slave trade; he traveled
through much of central Africa in the mid-nineteenth century in search of suitable location for missionary
outposts because he believed the Christianity would help end the slave trade. Other travelers were the
American Henry Morton Stanley who led a famous search for Livingston, and two English Geographers,
Richard Burton and John Speke who charted the source of the Nile River at Lake Victoria.
In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium employed Henry Stanley to help develop commercial ventures and
establish a colony called the Congo Free State. (Today the Republic of Congo) Leopold announced that the
Congo would be a free-trade zone for all merchants and businessmen, but working conditions for the
natives were so brutal, taxes so high and abuses so many, that Leopold was forced to let the Belgian
government administer the colony, thereafter known as the Belgian Congo.
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Egypt: From 1867 to 1869, a French company built the Suez Canal across Egyptian territory between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Steamships could now sail to India without passing around the
southern tip of Africa. Like the Ottoman government in Istanbul, the Egyptian government became
hopelessly unstable because it could not pay its European creditors. So, in 1882, Britain took over the
administration of the country to protect British financial interests and ensure the safety of the Suez Canal
which was crucial for British control over India. They then moved into the Sudan. At the same time, British
colonists in South Africa were interested in extending their possessions northwards, particularly since gold
and diamonds had been found in the interior of the region.
Cecil Rhodes dreamed of building a railway across Africa, from Cairo in the north to the Cape of Good
Hope but the Dutch settlers in South Africa proved to be an obstacle to his plan. It took the British two
difficult wars, in 1895 and 1899-1902, to defeat the Boers. By 1914, the British had almost completed their
string of north-south colonies: Egypt, Sudan, British East Africa and Uganda (German East Africa or
Tanganyika the one blocking piece); then Rhodesia and South Africa. Britain also had seized Gambia, the
Gold Coast (the Asante kingdom), Sierra Leone and Nigeria in Western Africa.
West Africa was rich in palm oil and timber which stimulated European colonization. The French were
particularly active in West Africa. After defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, some French
politicians, led by Jules Ferry (we met Jules Ferry in the last chapter when he sponsored a series of laws in the
1870s and 1880s that replaced religious instruction in public schools with civic training thus taking power from the
Catholic Church), sought commercial gain and national prestige by expanding eastwards into the African
interior from Senegal and southwards from Algeria and Tunisia. At the same time, Ferry was the driving
force to colonize French Indo-China and Madagascar. By 1914, the French held Tunisia, Algeria,
Morocco, French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa and Madagascar.
The establishment of Belgian, British and French colonies alarmed many European leaders, especially
Bismarck who invited delegates of fourteen states to meet in Berlin and devise ground rules for the
colonization of Africa. The Berlin Conference (1884-1885) produced agreement that any European state
could establish African colonies after notifying the others of its intentions and occupying previously
unclaimed territory.
Ethiopia: In spite of its defeat at Adowa, the Italians still managed to seize Italian Somaliland and Eritrea
in East Africa and Libya. Spain seized Rio de Oro on the Atlantic. The German Empire seized German
East Africa, Southwest Africa, Togoland and Cameroon. So by 1900, with the exception of Ethiopia and
Liberia (a small republic in West Africa populated by freed slaves and protected by the United States), all of
Africa was colonized by European powers.
Imperialist Squabbling in the Balkans
After the unification of Germany, Bismarck brought together Austria, Germany and Russia in the League
of the Three Emperors in 1873 but the league soon collapsed over Russian-Austrian rivalry in the
Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was barely holding itself together and survived only because the European
powers could not agree on how to partition the now mortally sick man of Europe. In 1877, Serbia came to
aid of Slavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia soon came to their aid in the Russo-Turkish War. The
Russians not only wanted to help their Slavic brothers but also to expand and take control of
Constantinople. This precipitated a major international crisis when the Slavic states in the Balkans were
freed and the Ottomans had to pay a heavy indemnity in the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878. But it wasn’t
that easy. The Austrians were afraid that Russian influence would endanger their ambitions in the Balkans
and the British were afraid of the Russians tipping the scales of the Balance of Power.
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So Britain and Austria forced Russia to agree to an international conference at which the European powers
would review the Treaty of San Stefano at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. Bismarck emerged as the
leader of the conference and referred to himself as the “honest broker” – and he was. Bismarck wanted to
avoid a war between Russia and Austria which might involve Germany who had everything to lose and
nothing to gain. The decisions of the congress crushed Russian ambitions. Bulgaria, a Slavic state under
Russian protection, was reduced in size and lost access to the Aegean Sea. Austria-Hungary was given
Bosnia and Herzegovina to “occupy and administer” – although they technically remained Ottoman.
Britain received Cyprus and France was encouraged to occupy Tunisia. Russia was allowed to keep
Bessarabia which Romania claimed and Bulgaria was resentful (angry) that she had to give up so much.
Greece wanted more Ottoman Territory and there was much resentment at the Austrian occupation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. This last would come to be a major trouble spot and the place where the First
World War would break out.
The United States and Japan join the Imperial Powers
The United States
After the United States won its independence from Great Britain, it turned an imperialist eye towards the
North American continent and by the 1840s developed the idea of Manifest Destiny. But America was
also worried about European powers in the Americas. Between 1810 and 1830, Spanish colonies had won
their independence. With the Congress of Vienna’s efforts to restore the ancient regime, James Monroe
was concerned that the European powers would attempt to restore Spain's former colonies. So in 1823, he
proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine which declared that any attempt by a European power to control any
nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the U.S. In essence, Monroe
proclaimed the Americas to be a U S protectorate. We also saw how the British Foreign Secretary George
Canning supported Monroe to guard British economic interests in Latin America.
The Monroe Doctrine was reiterated (restated) in 1845 and 1848 by President James Knox Polk to
discourage Spain and Britain from establishing footholds in Oregon, California, and Mexico's Yucatan
Peninsula. After the Civil War, American leaders became anxious to acquire overseas territories. In 1867,
the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. In 1875, the Hawaiian Islands were declared a
protectorate in order to protect profitable American owned sugar plantations. In 1893, a group of American
planters and businessmen in Hawaii overthrew Queen Liluokalani and invited the United States to annex
Hawaii. President Cleveland opposed the idea, but his successor, President Mc Kinley, did not and so the
U S annexed Hawaii in 1898.
Also in 1898, the United States became involved in a war with Spain, when an American Battleship, the
USS Maine, mysteriously exploded in Havana Harbor, Cuba. The Spanish tried to comply with U S
demands, but the American imperialists won the day and declared war against Spain. The U S quickly
destroyed the Spanish fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific and seized Cuba, Puerto Rico, the island of Guam
and the Philippines. The U S decided not to give the Philippines their independence, but governed the
country as a protectorate. The Philippine leader Emilio Aguinaldo resisted the Americans until 1906.
In 1899, the Americans supported the British proposed Open Door Policy in China which opened the
door to trade and the economic annexation of Chinese territory. In 1904, President Theodore
Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that in the event of flagrant
wrongdoing by a Latin American state, the U.S. had the right to intervene in its internal affairs. So, the
United States used this corollary to occupy Cuba and to intervene in unstable governments of Haiti, the
Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua - both to keep order and to protect American business
interests; and finally to build the Panama Canal.
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Imperial Japan
After the 1850s, Japan was opened to the West and the Japanese lost no time in joining imperialist
expansion. In the 1870s, they consolidated their hold on Hokkaido and the Kurile Islands to the north, and
they encouraged Japanese migrants to populate the islands to forestall Russians expansion. In 1879, they
established control over Okinawa and the Ruykyu Islands to the south. In 1876 Japan purchased modern
warships from Great Britain and they soon used their naval power to force the same unequal treaties (they
had hated) upon Korea. Japanese were also making plans for future wars of expansion.
In 1894, a conflict with China over Korea erupted. The Qing (Chinese) government had sent soldiers to put
down an anti-foreigner rebellion in Korea, but Japan objected because they already had important business
holdings in Korea. They declared war on China and quickly demolished the Chinese navy. Their army then
pushed the Chinese army out of Korea. As a result of this first Sino-Japanese War (there would be a
second Sino Japanese War from 1937-1945) the Chinese were forced to recognize the independence of
Korea, which really meant that Korea was now a protectorate of Japan. China’s ceding of Taiwan, the
Pescadores Islands and Liaodong Peninsula to Japan completed her humiliation.
This unexpected power unleashed by Japan startled the European powers, especially Russia, because
Russia was hoping to expand into Manchuria and Korea. During the 1890s, Japan prepared for a showdown
with Russia. War broke out in 1904 when a Japanese sneak attack destroyed the Russian fleet at Port
Arthur. Japanese troops then overran the Russian troops before reinforcements could arrive from Europe.
The Russian Baltic Fleet then sailed around the world only to be destroyed at the Battle of Tsushima in
1905. Russia was in grave trouble with riots at home and no hope for victory over Japan, so they signed a
humiliating treaty with Japan in which they gave up their economic interests in Manchuria. Japan in 50
years had achieved her ambition and had become a major imperial power.
World War I: the Great Tragedy
In the first half of the twentieth century, two global wars (World War I and World War II) and a severe
depression (The Great Depression) resulted in the decline of Western Europe. The second half was defined
by the great rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States. This period, known as the Cold War,
led to the creation of alliance systems and economic unions. Each crisis extended the nature of conflict
more fully around the globe. The course of the 20th century could not have been imagined in 1900 and
many turn-of-the-century observers were convinced that “modern” Europe embodied the ultimate in human
progress. Few believed that international catastrophe was near at hand.
Factors that contributed to the Outbreak of the War
Nationalism traced its genesis to the French Revolution. Nationalism was and is the political and social
philosophy in which the welfare of the nation-state as an entity is considered paramount. Despite its short
history, it was extremely important in forming the bonds that hold modern nations together. Nationalism is
basically a collective state of mind or consciousness in which people believe their primary duty and loyalty
is to the nation-state. And as we saw in the last chapter, much nineteenth century nationalism was
rooted in racism and implied national superiority and glorified various national virtues.
Thus love of one’s nation was often (and is often) overemphasized and helped to cause World War I by
excessive concern with national self-interest to the exclusion of the rights of other nations. Inherent
(essential to, part of) in nationalism was the idea of self-determination (or the idea that peoples with the
same ethnic origins, language, and political ideals have the right to form a sovereign state). It was nationalism
that drove the Belgians to gain independence from the Netherlands in 1830 and led to the unification of
Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1870.
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Balkan Instability: The nationalist aspirations of Balkan peoples led to the demise of the Ottoman
Empire in Europe more than any other factor. And, as the Ottoman Empire broke up, minority peoples in
the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes – began pressing for
the rights of self-determination. This unrest was strongest among the Serbs - and Russia promoted this
unrest by sponsoring a movement called Pan-Slavism, which advocated Slav Nationalism for Slavs in the
Austrian Empire. The resulting tensions resulted in the Balkans being called the Powder Keg of Europe.
We saw that the Congress of Berlin and its revision of the Treaty of San Stefano angered Slavs more than
any other group – especially the Serbians. Between 1912 and 1913 the Balkan states were at war. In the
First Balkan War, the Balkan League defeated the Ottoman Empire, which, under the terms of the peace
treaty (1913), lost Macedonia and Albania. The Second Balkan War broke out after Serbia, Greece, and
Romania quarreled with Bulgaria over the division of their joint conquests in Macedonia. Bulgaria was
defeated, and Greece and Serbia divided up most of Macedonia between themselves. Thus the small
Balkan states destabilized South East Europe as Austria grew fearful of Serbia’s growing power, while the
losers, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, were drawn closer together.
The Naval Race: Nationalism also fueled Militarism (or the glorification of the military) along with
economic and colonial rivalry among the nations of Europe. Germany, as a new nation, wanted to find her
“place in the sun” and aggressively competed with Great Britain and France. When the new German
Empire began building a modern navy to secure her trade routes and protect her growing commerce and
colonies, the British responded by increasing their naval construction. And the great naval race was on.
In 1906 the British launched a new super battleship the HMS Dreadnought. This battleship was twice the
size, three times better armed and considerably faster than any battleship in the world. The Dreadnought
(taken from the English motto: fear God and dread nought) instantly made every battleship in every navy
obsolete. The Germans vowed to build better dreadnoughts. The British built even more and this expensive
naval race (which other nations joined) contributed significantly to international tensions.
Entangling Alliances: We saw that Bismarck began the modern system of Alliances. His goal was to
make it impossible for France to seek revenge for its defeat in the Franco Prussian War. In 1879 he signed
the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary and in 1881 he renewed the (1873) League of the Three Emperors
into the Alliance of the Three Emperors: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. It not only allied the
three most conservative empires, but it also meant that Germany would not have to fight a two front war.
In 1882 Bismarck engineered the Triple Alliance which gave Germany two strong allies: Austria who felt
she now had a free hand in the Balkans and Italy who needed allies against France.
But Bismarck’s plans were foiled to Germany’s eventual undoing. Soon after Kaiser Wilhelm II dismissed
Bismarck in 1890, he foolishly let the alliance with Russia expire. Moreover Italy’s minor war with the
Ottoman Empire in 1911 to annex Tripoli in North Africa stained relations with Berlin and eventually
caused Italy to back out of the Triple Alliance as World War I began - and eventually join the allies. The
members of the Triple Alliance came to be called the Central Powers. As their friendship with the
Ottoman Empire grew, the Central powers came to be the protectors of the status quo in Europe.
The Triple Entente was the other great (and opposing) alliance. France and Russia became natural
allies as a result of Bismarck’s military and diplomatic triumphs and in 1894 they signed a defensive
alliance against Germany. German rivalry with Great Britain isolated Britain and so the Triple Entente was
cemented through the diplomatic skills of the British King Edward VII (1901-1910). This son of Queen
Victoria was worried about German aggressiveness and the possibility of Great Britain finding herself
without allies. So Edward first engineered an agreement with France (the Entente Cordiale) in 1904 and
Russia in 1907. These agreements grew into the Triple Entente, which became a military alliance in the
summer of 1914. During the war, they would be the Allied Powers or the Allies.
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Colonial Disputes: The Colonial powers not only dominated the non-industrialized nations of the
world, they also stumbled over each other and often with hostile consequences. Britain and Russia disputed
over Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iran. Britain and France competed for markets in Siam and in the Nile
Valley. Britain and Germany were rivals for influence in Southwestern Africa; and Germany and France in
Morocco and West Africa. The Germans were the most aggressive because they had the latest start and in
their search for empire, they often antagonized the British and French.
The Moroccan Crises were good examples. In 1904, France and Spain carved out zones of influence
in Morocco. Great Britain’s support of France's sphere of influence provoked a strong reaction from
Germany; and Wilhelm II decided to test the new Entente Cordiale. In March 1905, the Kaiser landed in
Tangier and made a speech in favor of Moroccan independence. He wanted to show how weak France was
and for Germany to take a leading role in Morocco’s destiny. The Germans demanded an international
conference which met the next year at Algeciras, Spain. Austria supported Germany but Spain, Italy,
Russia and the United States supported the British and French. The Germans had doubly blundered! They
lost all influence in Morocco and - even worse - drove Britain and France closer together.
In 1911, a Second Moroccan Crisis (also called the Agadir Crisis) broke out when France sent an army to
Morocco to subdue a rebellion, which broke the agreements of the Algeciras Conference. Germany
responded by sending a gunboat to “protect German interests.” Talk of war spread but just as in 1905
Germany had overplayed her hand. Britain sent battleships to Morocco and Germany backed down.
Germany was embarrassed again and France established a full protectorate over Morocco which ended any
pretense of Moroccan independence.
Popular Opinion: Another outlet for aggressive Nationalism was public opinion. Citizens wanted their
nation to “look good” and “come in first” in the national arena. This public pressure was reflected in
newspapers and other publications and the result tempted leaders to please their people with short-lived
gains that often did great damage to good relations with other nations leading to long lasting enmity and
eventually to a dreadful war
War Plans
After 1910 and the Balkan Wars, both the Central Powers and the Triple Entente began to plan in earnest
for an eventual war. Both sides expected to win a quick victory and drew up complicated plans. The French
military strategy revolved around Plan XVII, which made extensive use of the belief in the mystical élan
vital assumed to be instilled within every Frenchman - a fighting spirit capable of turning back any enemy
by its sheer power. It assumed the average French soldier to be more than a match for its German
counterpart and the plan’s principal objective was the recapture of the territory of Alsace and Lorraine,
which had been lost in the Franco Prussian War of 1871. The plan did not anticipate the German invasion
of France and in the blindness of revenge did not foresee the terribly high casualty rate that would result.
The German plan was better thought out and was the creation of Count Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1913).
The Schlieffen Plan called for an overwhelming assault aimed at Paris, which would hopefully knock
France out of any war in six weeks, after which the Germans could then deal with the Russians who would
be slower to mobilize. Schlieffen planned to attack where the French were not and swing around behind
them to capture Paris. The plan was brilliant and although it failed to attain its objective in 1914, the same
basic plan worked brilliantly in May of 1940. (Although it must be noted that the success of the Germans in
1940 was due to fast moving tanks (panzers) and armored infantry coordinated with superior air power, neither of
which existed in 1914.)
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The War Breaks Out
The spark that set off the War was the assassination of Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne on June 28, 1914 by Gavrilo Princip who was a member of a radical Serbian liberation society
called Unification or Death. (The group’s unofficial name was the Black Hand) The Serbian government was
not free of blame as the Serbian army’s chief of intelligence helped plan the assassination. Although it was
not known at the time, it was generally believed throughout Europe that Serbian officials were involved.
Moreover, the joy expressed by the Serbian press after the assassination supported this belief. At any rate,
the assassination began the great tragedy.
Ironically, Archduke Francis Ferdinand was not popular in Austria-Hungary and there was very little
public grief displayed during his funeral. He had favored a form of local government for Austria that would
have raised the status of the Slaves living in the empire. This political position made the archduke
unpopular among Hapsburg officials, conservative politicians and the Hungarians. It also threatened the
radical nationalists’ dream of an independent southern Slav-state. Moreover his wife, Sophie of Hohenberg
(assassinated with her husband), was not of sufficient noble blood so their marriage was morganatic – and
she was clearly despised among the royal family. The emperor had not even attended their wedding.
At any rate, all of Europe (except for Serbia) was outraged at the assassination. To those Austrians who had
long wanted to attack Serbia, the assassination was seen to be a golden opportunity to teach Serbia a lesson.
The chief of the Austrian general staff, Conrad von Hotzendorf (1852-1925), urged an immediate attack
but the Hungarian Prime Minister, Count Stefan Tisza, resisted such drastic action. Nevertheless, the
Austrian foreign minister, Count Leopold von Berchtold (1863-1942) felt that strong action was required
but he knew that German support would be essential, if Russia should come to the support of Serbia. The
bottom line was that only German support would mollify the doubts of Tisza and the Hungarians.
Kaiser Wilhelm II and his chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1856-1921) consequently gave
Austria a “blank check” or a promise to back Austria even if war broke out with Russia. Moreover, they
urged the Austrians to move quickly while the other European nations were still angry at Serbia. They also
implied that, if Austria did not act decisively, it would be evidence that Austria-Hungary was weak and
useless as an ally. Thus the Austrian government never wavered in its determination to make war on
Serbia. They hoped – with the protection of Germany – to fight Serbia alone. The Germans knew that they
risked a general European war but they too hoped Austrian decisiveness would localize the fight to just
Austria and Serbia.
Some historians believe that Germany had long plotted a war but there is little evidence to support this
theory; nor was there any popular support for a war in Germany at large. The Kaiser had reacted angrily at
the assassination of a royal friend and neither he nor his chancellor had consulted with their political or
military advisors. Moreover, Bethmann-Hollweg, who wanted a diplomatic solution and still please the
Kaiser, was also under pressure by the army, especially General Helmut von Moltke (1848-1916), who
thought Bethmann-Hollweg was soft and believed that sooner or later, a war with Russia would need to be
fought – and sooner would be better than later.
Moreover, Bethmann-Hollweg, like many other Germans and in spite of the German empire’s prosperity,
feared for the future. He was well aware of France’s desire for revenge but even more, he feared Russia’s
military recovery and economic growth after the Russo-Japanese War – and now these two nations (on each
side of Germany), France and Russia, were allies with Great Britain being drawing closer. Thus Austria was
Germany’s only reliable ally. Bethmann-Hollweg was afraid that if Austria did not quickly crush Serbia,
the Hapsburg dominions might collapse under the onslaught of Slavic nationalism. Bethmann-Hollweg’s
policies were a calculated risk and – unfortunately – his calculations were incorrect.
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Although Bethmann-Hollweg hoped that the Austrians would act quickly, nevertheless the Austrians were
slow to act. It took them until July 23rd (month after the assassination) to deliver a deliberately unacceptable
ultimatum to Serbia, when European anger towards Serbia had begun to subside. Moreover, Austria was
embarrassed when Serbia replied in such a soft and conciliatory tone that even Wilhelm II thought war was
impossible. The Serbians accepted all the terms of the ultimatum except one, which allowed Austrian
officials to take part in any investigations connected with the assassination. But the Austrians were
determined not to turn back and on July 28, found Serbia’s reply unacceptable and declared war on Serbia.
At this point, entangling alliances took over and the drift to war could not be stopped. The Russians
responded angrily to the provocative Austrian actions. The conservatives in the Russian government feared
(and rightly so) that war would lead to another revolution like in 1905, but nationalists, Pan-Slavs and most
of the politically-conscious classes in general demanded action. The tsar and the government responded by
ordering partial mobilization – against Austria only. The problem was that any mobilization was dangerous
and would be perceived by potential enemies as a prelude to war. Germany in particular took the partial
Russian mobilization as a direct threat to her and began to prepare for her own mobilization.
Meanwhile the French president and prime minister were returning to France from a state visit to Russia,
when the Austrian ultimatum was given to Serbia. Acting without their advice or consulting the
government, the French ambassador to Russia gave the Russians the same assurances of support that
Germany had given to Austria. Britain tried to organize a conference but Austria outright refused. Too
late, Bethmann-Hollweg realized what he should have always known: that if Germany attacked France,
Great Britain would become involved. He then worked furiously but in vain to get Austria to back down.
On July 29th, Nicholas II, reluctantly ordered mobilization against Germany on the advice of his military
commanders who had convinced him that if he waited, the delay would be costly if Germany entered the
war. On July 30th, Austria ordered mobilization against Russia. Bethmann-Hollweg resisted tremendous
pressure to mobilize, not because he hoped to avoid war, but because he wanted Russia to look like the
aggressor. On July 31st, Germany sent an ultimatum to Russia demanding that Russia cease its
mobilization immediately. Germany also sent an ultimatum to France, demanding to know their intentions.
The Russians replied NO and the French did not answer. So on August 1st the German government
declared war on Russia and France started to mobilize.
On August 3rd Germany declared war on France and, on the same day, invaded Belgium according to the
Schlieffen Plan by which they hoped to surprise the French army and drive through to Paris within six
weeks. This invasion of Belgium forced the hand of Great Britain who (by the 1830 Conference of London
and the 1839 Treaty of London) was pledged to defend Belgium’s independence. So on August 4th, Great
Britain sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding they withdraw from Belgium. Germany refused and
Great Britain immediately declared war. The Great War had begun. As Edward Grey, the British Foreign
Secretary put it, “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our time.”
He was right. When the lights came on, their time was over.
It is very important to understand that both sides expected a quick victory and volunteers marched
off with great enthusiasm. Germans sang Gott mitt uns (God with us) and the Russians sang For God
and the Tsar - but no one foresaw the terrible price that would be paid in blood and suffering. Even
Sigmund Freud said, “My whole libido goes out to Austria-Hungary.”
Both sides had advantages and disadvantages. The allies had superior financial resources, command of the
sea and more soldiers but most Russian soldiers were poorly trained and did not trust their officers. The
Central Powers had the advantage of internal lines and better built ships and weapons, even though in
smaller numbers. The smaller British and larger German armies were without doubt the best disciplined
and most effective.
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The war opened on the Western Front, which was fought mostly in France and was a battle between
attacking German troops against French, British and Belgian defenders. The second or Eastern Front
developed in Russian Poland and East Prussia, where German armies battled Russian forces – and in
Galicia where the Germans tried to support the weaker Austrian-Hungarian army. In 1915 Italy entered the
war on the allied side and a third or Italian Front developed between the Italians and the Austrians.
The war was also fought at sea. The superior British Grand Fleet bottled up the large German surface navy
in the Baltic Sea for most of the war, but German submarines did great damage to allied shipping trying to
reach Britain. Early in the war the Germans promised not to torpedo ships without warning, but in 1917
they adopted a policy of not warning ships about to be torpedoed which was called unrestricted submarine
warfare and which brought the United States into the war.
The War in Europe, 1915-1916
As the war began in August, the French launched a series of attacks against the Germans in Alsace and
suffered terrible casualties. German forces followed the Schlieffen Plan and drove the allies back through
Belgium and France, but were halted by the French at the Marne River in September of 1914 and the
western front soon turned into a long, bloody line of trenches running from the North Sea to the Swiss
border. Neither side could gain ground and technological advancements gave defenders a tremendous
advantage, but generals on both sides foolishly continued to employ traditional infantry charges.
Ideas of quick victory and glorious adventure soon gave way to senseless carnage (slaughter) as soldiers
marched straight into “No Man’s Land” – a pot marked and ravaged countryside marred by land mines,
hand grenades, machine-guns, artillery, barbed wire and poison gas. Ordinary life in the trenches was as
miserable as combat itself. Mud, lice, rats, disease and the terrible smell of dead bodies all combined to
make the trench experience maddeningly terrible.
Eloquent and terrifying descriptions of trench warfare were recorded in literary works such as Erich Maria
Remarque’s novel All Quiet on the Western Front, Robert Graves autobiographical Goodbye to All
That, and the work of Britain’s so-called war poets such as the Wilfed Owen poem Dulce et Deorum who
asserts that the Roman poet Horace's nationalistic line that "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country"
to be the "Old Lie"
Meanwhile in the east, the Russians mobilized faster than expected and attacked East Prussia. German
generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, however, won a brilliant victory at Tannenburg
and in one battle almost knocked Russia out of the war. As the war in the east wore one, it just got worse
for the Russians. The Austrians overran Serbia and the Russians lost millions of men killed and captured as
well as losing thousands of square miles of territory. Moreover, when Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire
joined the war on the side of the Central Powers, Russia was just that much more isolated.
In 1915, the Western Front continued in bloody stalemate with both sides sustaining heavy casualties. On
the Eastern Front, the Germans and Austrians pushed the Russians out of Poland but could not knock
Russia out of the War. 1915 also saw the introduction of poison gas and airplanes as military weapons.
In 1916 each side tried to launch a major attack on the Western Front. In February, the Germans began a
massive offensive at Verdun. Using poison gas and flamethrowers with huge artillery barrages, the
Germans took much ground, but by July the French had stabilized and pushed the Germans back. The
casualties were awful: French losses were 161,000 dead, 101,000 missing and 216,000 wounded. German
losses were 142,000 killed and 187,000 wounded. The French general commanding Verdun, Henri Petain
(1856-1951), became a national hero, when he rallied his troops with the cry, “They shall not pass.”
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In July of 1916, the British, introducing the newly developed tank, launched an offensive at the Somme
River. The German high command called the Somme the bloody graveyard of the German army. In her
book Unquiet Souls, Angela Lambert describes the indescribable, “At exactly 7:30 a.m. on 1 July 1916,
the first wave of troops went over the top. For hundreds of yards they marched steadily into the line of
German fire, mostly uphill and across rough ground, carrying 60 pound packs on their backs, falling
wounded and dying, getting caught on the barbed wire, dying there, and being followed remorselessly by
another and another wave f Gadarene (demon possessed) soldiers. In the first hour thirty thousand
infantrymen were killed or wounded. On the first day there were 57,470 British casualties, of whom
19,249 died. Of those 993 were officers. This was almost the same number of deaths as the 22,000 in the
two and one half year Boer War...The British losses on this single day easily exceeded the combined
totals in the Crimean War, the Boer War and the Korean War...When the Battle of the Somme ended,
140 days later, they (the British) were still four miles short of Bapaume. They had advanced in all six
miles. The British suffered over 400,000 casualties. The total loss for all combatant armies was over one
million, three hundred thousand men. The best of the British troops, officers as well as men, were the
first to die on the Somme. The bravest, the most selfless, those most committed to their comrades and
their country, ran most eagerly into the attack, and were consequently the first to be killed.”
The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of the war and the Somme was the bloodiest. Thus, by
1916 staggering stagnation and slaughter on the Western Front had turned into a nightmare for both sides.
In desperation to break the blockade strangling the German economy, 1916 also saw the German navy
challenge the Grand Fleet. The Battle of Jutland, fought on May 31, was a numerical victory for the
Germans who lost two major warships to the British five, but the British won strategically by forcing the
Germans back to their bases in the Baltic. Thus the German fleet could not break the British blockade and
never again dared to challenge the British Grand Fleet during the war.
The Legend of the Poppy: Genghis Khan, the Mongol warlord, is said to have brought the seed of the
white poppy with him on his advance on Europe during the thirteenth century. Legend has it that the
flowers turned red, with the shape of a cross in the center, when they sprang up after a battle. After
the bloody battles of the western front, some people noticed a proliferation of red poppies on the
battlefields, especially those around the Somme.
Global War
To many subject peoples in European colonies, World War I was the European War. Nevertheless, the war
touched them profoundly. It was logical: Europeans had carried their animosities to their colonies;
Europeans, especially smaller Britain, needed more troops to replace those being killed; and lastly
imperialism was not yet dead, as Japan and Britain would demonstrate. Canada, Australia, New Zealand
and South Africa, Great Britain’s mostly independent dominions, declared war on the Central Powers and
took an active part in European and Middle Eastern combat. France and Britain also mobilized native
troops in Africa. Although most of them played a support role, some fought against German troops in
Africa. The French also brought African troops to the Western Front and Britain used Indian Sepoys,
Sikhs, and Nepalese Gurkhas.
Japanese Imperialism: Japan honored its alliance with Great Britain and declared war on the Central
Powers on August 15, 1914. Moreover, Japan claimed that she desired “to secure a firm and enduring
peace in Eastern Asia.” But this was a cover up for her imperialistic ambitions and Japan quickly seized
German possessions in China and the Marshall Islands, the Mariana Islands, Palau and the Caroline
Islands. Meanwhile, Australian and New Zealand forces seized the other German possessions in the
Pacific, including German Samoa.
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In January of 1915, the Japanese tried to take advantage of European preoccupation with the war and
presented the Chinese government with Twenty-one Demands which, if accepted, would have reduced
China to a Japanese protectorate giving the Japanese economic and political dominion in China. The
Chinese wisely leaked the “secret demands” to the British authorities and negative world opinion (especially
the United States) forced Japan to give up her designs on China.
Africa: The allies began an attack on German colonies in Africa immediately as the war began. Togoland
fell quickly in 1914; but the other three Germany colonies, Cameroons, German Southwest Africa and
especially German East Africa or Tanganyika resisted fiercely and with great skill. Many South African,
Belgian, British and French troops forced Cameroons and Southwest Africa to surrender by 1916, but
German forces in Tanganyika did not surrender until after the war had concluded. A sad note is that
disease killed more soldiers in these African campaigns than bullets or bombs as much of the fighting took
place in deserts, jungles and swamps.
Gallipoli: The most extensive military operation outside Europe took place at the Dardanelles. The idea
was the brainchild of Winston Churchill who was the first lord of the British Admiralty. His idea was to
open a warm water supply line to Russia by conquering the Ottoman controlled straits, which he hoped
would knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war. The naval campaign, however, was a disaster and then, to
make matters worse, the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand forces were dragged into the disastrous
land battle at Gallipoli. It took nine months and 250,000 casualties for the British to admit defeat. The
British and dominion forces were trapped pinned down by the Turks who occupied high cliffs and the
slaughter was so bad that the dead, wounded and captured on the allied side approached 50%. The disaster
forced Winston Churchill to resign as First Sea Lord, while a Turkish officer Mustapha Kemal had his
career boosted at Gallipoli and went on to play a crucial role in Post-World War I Turkey.
The Middle East: In the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire's decision to join Germany, spelled the end of
the Turks' hold over Arab regions. Ibn Ali Hussain and T. E. Lawrence led an Arab freedom movement.
Lawrence, a British officer, persuaded Arab princes to revolt and by 1918, the British, in conjunction with
their Arab allies, were able to dismantle what was left of the Ottoman’s Middle Eastern empire. The
British also promised a Middle Eastern homeland to the Jews in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. This
promise that would lead to the establishment of a Jewish state in 1947 deeply angered the Arabs.
Russia Collapses: Two Revolutions
Tsar Nicholas II was weak and incompetent and suspected of being under the control of his wife and the
unstable monk Rasputin. In 1915, he made a tremendous error in going to the German front and taking
personal command of the army. He didn’t really command and his decision was intended to rally the
soldiers and the country to the allied cause BUT it also meant that he would be blamed for any further
military disasters. This action also kept him from Saint Petersburg and the little control he had of the
floundering government which meant that corruption and incompetent ministers let the government drift
even more. In 1916, the Russian army launched a huge offensive against the Germans which was bloodily
repulsed. Bottom line: the army, the nation and all the factions of the Duma seethed with discontent.
In February 1917 (by the old calendar, so it was really early March), strikes and worker demonstrations had
erupted in Petrograd (the new name for Saint Petersburg). When poorly disciplined troops refused to fire on
the demonstrators, the revolution had begun and the Tsar was forced to abdicate (step down) in what has
come to be called the February Revolution. The government, led by the Duma composed mostly of
Constitutional Democrats (Cadets) with Western sympathies soon formed a Provisional Government
under a moderate socialist as Prime Minister, Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970). And that meant –
disastrously for democracy in Russia – continuing the unpopular war.
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At the same times, the various socialist groups, including both Social Revolutionary Party (which, as we
have seen, was founded in 1901 and inspired by Alexander Herzen) and the Menshevik wing of the Russian
Social Democrat Party (from which Lenin and his Bolsheviks left in 1912), began to organize soviets (councils
of workers and soldiers). Initially, they allowed the Provisional Government to function with actually
supporting it. Because the Mensheviks were relatively orthodox Marxists, they believed that Russia had to
pass through a bourgeois stage of development before it could have a revolution of the proletariat. As a
result, they were will to work – at least temporarily – with the Constitutional Democrats in a liberal
government, but they fell out (became estranged) with the Duma when the Cadets failed to control the
army or to remove reactionaries from the government.
The Provisional government had been very popular after the February Revolution, dismantling the secret
police, repealing restrictions on free press and speech and abolishing laws of discrimination against
minority groups. But when the Provisional Government decided to honor Russia’s commitment to the
allied nations – and continue the war – the Provisional Government became inextricably linked with
the tyranny of the Tsarist regime. The Russian armies made one last offensive against the Germans in the
summer of 1917. It ended in another disaster and sealed the doom of the Provisional Government. As the
army discipline began to disintegrate and soldiers (mutinously) stopped fighting and began to return home,
the government was unable to stem a general disillusionment with the war, peasant demands for land
reform and shortages of food and other necessities.
When the February Revolution took place, Vladimir Lenin was exiled in Switzerland. As we have seen,
Lenin believed that the Proletariat needed a well-organized and highly disciplined leadership so that the
real revolution of the workers could take place. Ironically, the German High Command transported Lenin
to Russia in a sealed train hoping that he would stir up trouble and end Russia’s participation in the war.
Although Lenin’s Bolsheviks were a small group among many groups of revolutionaries, Lenin saw his
opportunity to achieve a political alliance of workers and peasants with his Bolsheviks holding all the
power. In speech after speech Lenin hammered on his theme, Peace, Land and Bread. With the failure of
the Russian Summer offensive, he and his senior collaborator, Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), attempted a coup.
The coup failed. Lenin fled to Finland; Trotsky was imprisoned.
But then the government had to defeat a right wing coup, and it gave the Bolsheviks another chance. In the
confusion that followed Lenin returned from Finland and Trotsky managed to gain control of the powerful
Petrograd Soviet. Trotsky convinced his doubting comrades that the time was ripe and, nn October 17th,
launched the October Revolution (actually November) and drove the Provisional Government out of the
Winter Palace. Kerensky fled and the Bolsheviks were as astonished as the rest of the world that they had
pulled off the coup. Thus Lenin and his Bolsheviks were bringing to fruition the revolution of the
proletariat that Marx and Engels had prophesied.
The Provisional Government had scheduled a November election and the Social Revolutionaries won a
large majority over the Bolsheviks but when the assembly met in January, it met for only one day before
the Red Army, controlled by the Bolsheviks, dispersed it. All other political parties were outlawed and the
new, Bolshevik government nationalized the land and turned it over to its peasant proprietors; and Factory
workers were put in charge of their plants. Moreover, the Bolsheviks seized banks and repudiated the debts
of the tsarist regime; and took almost all Church properties.
In March 1918, the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by which Russia lost Poland, Finland,
the Baltic states and the Ukraine – and the Bolsheviks agreed to pay a heavy war indemnity. Lenin, now
undisputed leader, had no choice. Moreover, it is important to note that Lenin understood that a civil war
between the Bolsheviks and more conservative forces (called the Whites) would soon break out but even
Lenin did not know that the cost in human suffering and bloodshed in the Russian Civil War would be
staggering.
Page 17
Italian Collapse and American Intervention
When the war broke out, Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance but did not declare war on the allied
powers. Both sides tried to gain Italian support but, since the Austrians held what the Italians wanted most,
Italia Irredenta (Italy unredeemed), Italy had joined the war in 1915. And so in a secret treaty, the allies
promised to Italy those parts of Austria that were Italian in ethnicity. Italy fought mostly against Austria on
its northern border. Italy launched many offensives against the numerically inferior Austrians but gained
little ground and suffered heavy losses. Bottom line: Italy’s effort proved to be of little help in relieving
pressure on either the Eastern or Western fronts. Finally, in October 1917, the Austrians (reinforced by
German troops) broke through the Italian lines and won a huge victory at Caporetto in the Alps and (for all
practical purposes) knocked Italy out of the war.
American Intervention and the End of the War
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the rout at Caporetto released a million German soldiers to launch a 1918
offensive on the western front. And Germany was poised to end the war on her terms. But Germany was
running a race against time because in 1917, the United States entered the war. In 1914 President
Woodrow Wilson had pledged neutrality and won reelection in 1916 on the slogan He kept us out of war.
In spite of that fact that many Americans were isolationist and wanted no part in European affairs, there
many factors which were drawing the United States closer to the European conflict. In addition to
supporting the autocratic tsarist government, there were three:
One, Economics: Sales to Europe had brought the United States out of a severe recession and the
American economy had become dependent on arms sales, especially to Great Britain. Moreover, United
States banks had made loans to Britain and France and the thought of an allied defeat brought shudders to
American business interests.
Two, the Zimmerman Note: Alfred Zimmerman was the German Foreign Secretary and on January 16,
1917 he sent a telegram to the German ambassador to Mexico to approach the Mexican Government.
Zimmermann's message included proposals for a German military alliance with Mexico and, if Germany
should go to war with the United States, Mexico could attack the United States and be rewarded by
financial assistance and the restoration of her former territories of Texas New Mexico and Arizona. Mexico
declined the offer but the British intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram and leaked the information to the
United States. The American reaction was overwhelming hostile to Germany.
Three (and the official reason) German resumption of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare in February,
1917. Early in the war the Germans had agreed to warn belligerent ships that they would be torpedoed.
Then as the British blockade began to strangle the German economy, the Germans began the policy of
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. This meant that ships were given no warning and often neutral ships
carrying war material were sunk. Then on May 7, 1915 a German submarine sank a British passenger liner,
the Lusitania, off the Irish coast with a loss of 1,198 lives including 128 Americans. Even though the ship
was a legitimate target because it was carrying munitions in a war zone, American public opinion was
outraged.
So Germany withdrew its policy of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. But by 1917, the crippling British
blockade and the fact that the British were arming their merchant ships with (often hidden) guns, drove the
Germans to renew Unrestricted Submarine Warfare; it was the final straw for President Wilson. So on
April 6, 1917, Wilson asked the Congress to declare War and to make the World Safe for Democracy. It is
important to note that many in congress disagreed, especially Senator George Norris who argued for
neutrality and declared I feel that we are putting the dollar sign on the American Flag.
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But Congress did declare war and not a moment too soon for the allied powers. By the time the American
Army began to arrive in France, both sides were exhausted and almost bankrupt. Rebellions and mutinies,
such as a French mutiny of 50,000 soldiers in 1917, were representative of the frustration and anguish of
the common people. The Germans launched their great offensive in the spring of 1918, but it stalled as
more and more American troops arrived at the battlefields. The Americans led by General John J.
Pershing helped the French and British drive the Germans back towards the German border. By the
summer of 1918, the end was in sight. It is crucial to understand that the American intervention into the
war tipped the balance in favor of the Allied Powers. Had America not entered the war, it is doubtful
that the allies would have won. The Central Powers then began to crumble. Bulgaria capitulated on
September 30; the Ottoman Empire on October 30; Austria-Hungary on November 4; and finally Germany
agreed to an armistice (or agreement to stop fighting) on November 11, 1918.
Some Observations
The Great War radically changed the way war would be fought. No longer was war fought
by professional officers with conscript (drafted) soldiers and with civilians only occasionally affected;
rather now, the civilian population was targeted just like the soldiers on the battlefields. Germans used
Dirigibles (huge blimps or airships) to bomb Paris and London, causing more fear and terror than damage.
The British naval blockade was meant to bring starvation to German civilians to order to make civilians
suffer so much that they would pressure their government into ending the war. And what happened was
that an estimated half million Germans starved to death.
Technology: Moreover the technologies and weapons devised by industrialized societies were more
destructive than in any previous wars on the globe. Airplanes, submarines, flame throwers and tanks were
used for the first time. Enormous artillery canons, machine guns, poison gas, and barbed wire fences turned
the battlefields into a nightmare. A line of trenches ran from the Swiss border to the English Channel. A
bloody battle would move the line slightly; then the advance would be halted and new trenches dug.
Millions of men lived in these cold, wet, and rat infested ditches. Some soldiers would be buried alive
when enemy artillery shelled them; some would dig their way out, some....
The British Empire: Gallipoli in particular had long term consequences for the British Empire. As we
saw, the British used mostly New Zealand, Canadian and Australian soldiers in the fruitless assaults against
the Ottoman positions. And they suffered most of the casualties. In Australia April 25, 1915 became known
as ANZAC Day (ANZAC = Australian New Zealand Army Corps) and remains one of Australia’s most important
days of war remembrance. In the long run, Gallipoli weakened the Dominions’ ties to Great Britain.
Genocide: Although genocide was nothing new in World History, between 1915 and 1917, before the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks carried out the twentieth century’s first genocide, the Armenian
Genocide or Holocaust, which was a forced mass evacuation sparked by an Ottoman Government
dominated by the Young Turks, which caused the deaths of between one and two million Armenians.
Between 1914 and 1920, Turkish forces also massacred or relocated thousands of Christian peoples in
Northern Mesopotamia.
The Home Front
Conscription: One of the factors that made World War I so different than all previous wars was the
enormous scope of the conflict. This applied not only to the size of the armies themselves, but the demands
that the war placed on every aspect of society. World War I was total war. Governments increased
dramatically in size and influence and required their populations to mobilize their resources as completely
as possible in order to win the war. The most immediate and noticeable way in which the home front was
affected was conscription, or the draft. By the end of the war more than 70 million men had been drafted.
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Economic Mobilization: Entire nations and their economies had to give their all to the war effort.
Laissez-faire capitalism was replaced by government direction as wartime production required enormous
amounts of raw material: iron, steel, oil, rubber, cloth and much more. The workforce needed to turn out
uniforms, weapons, tanks, aircraft, ships and other wartime necessities was immense. Agriculture had to be
stepped up as well. With most able-bodied men gone off to war, women were brought into the work force.
And in order to keep the war front supplied, strategic materials such as lumber or rifles, and consumer
goods were rationed.
Restrictions on Civil Liberties: Even in democratic countries, like Britain, France and America, the
war brought about a certain restriction in civil liberties. All countries imposed censorship on the press, the
mass media and even the mails. Those suspected of espionage or treason could be arrested, tried and
sentenced without due process. In most countries, all political parties agreed to unite behind the war effort
and refrain from criticism of the government. Even pessimism or an insufficient display of patriotism could
bring a person under suspicion.
Propaganda was used by governments to maintain spirit on the home front and counter threats to
national unity by trying to convince the public that military defeat would mean the destruction of
everything worth living for. So they did their utmost to discredit and dehumanize the enemy. Posters,
pamphlets and “scientific studies” depicted the enemy as subhuman savages who engaged in vile atrocities.
Germans depicted Russians as semi-Asiatic barbarians and the French referred to Germans as Huns. A
British newspaper suggested that the Germans turned corpses into fertilizer and Germans issued posters
suggesting that black American soldiers would rape German women. These obviously made up lies often
caused people to become skeptical and cynical, thus creating the opposite effect intended.
Women and the War Effort
The war affected women profoundly. It has been observed that men went to war and women went to work.
Thus women, at least temporarily, enjoyed greater economic advantages in the process of supporting a total
war. With so many men serving in the military and with so many men being killed or seriously wounded,
women had to fill in on farms or drive trucks and buses. Women now worked in the post office, as police
officers and even munitions workers. Sometimes this war work was dangerous, as in munitions plants
where handling TNT was not only dangerous but often caused severe poisoning.
Middle and upper class women often reported that the war was a liberating experience, freeing them from
older attitudes that had limited them and their opportunities both in the workplace and in their personal
lives. Working class women, however, who were used to working for wages, found the war far less
liberating. Life for them was still a struggle to survive: hard work - often under strict supervision - in the
day and care for their families in the evening. In Britain more than a million women who had never before
worked outside the home took jobs. In the Krupp factories in Germany, women made up 38% of the
workforce. Even France, which had always been highly resistant to the notion of giving women equal
rights, granted minimum wage rights to female textile workers, who were needed to produce uniforms and
other cloth goods.
When the war ended, many nations were surprised when women did not want to lose the gains they had
made in personal freedom, equality in the workplace and new areas of employment. And in the years
following the war women did receive the right to vote in many countries as a symbolic thank you for the
contributions women had made to the total war effort. There is no doubt that female participation in the
war effort led Canada, the United States, Great Britain, and a number of European countries (France and
Italy excepted) to extend suffrage to women in the years after the First World War.
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The Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles
After the war, peace terms were decided at the Paris Peace Conference, which lasted from 1919 to 1920.
All decision making was dominated by the Big Four: Woodrow Wilson (U.S.), David Lloyd George (U.K.),
George Clemenceau (France) and Vittorio Orlando (Italy). The victors drew up five treaties: one for each
defeated nation: Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.
The Paris Peace Conference was characterized by a clash between American idealism and European thirst
for revenge. When he arrived from America, Wilson’s sincere desire was to make the World Safe for
Democracy and to prevent Warfare against Mankind by eliminating the possibility of future wars with a
just and lasting peace. These goals were reflected in his Fourteen Points which called for an end to secret
treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, decolonization, the rearrangement of European
borders according to the “self-determination” of national groups and the establishment of an international
dispute-resolution body called the League of Nations.
By contrast, Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Orlando were not interested in future peace; rather they
wanted revenge and were determined to make Germany pay for the war. France in particular (which had
never forgotten the humiliation of her defeat in the Franco Prussian War of 1871) wanted Germany to suffer and
be made so weak that she could never threaten France again. Italy wanted Austrian land and German
colonies and all three of these leaders vigorously opposed Wilson.
It is very important to understand that George, Clemenceau and Orlando won the big points at
Versailles and Wilson won only minor points.
Nevertheless, the treaties that resulted were the product of bitter negotiation and compromise. But Wilson
got his cherished dream for world peace: the League of Nations. Ironically however, Wilson offended the
Republican leaders in Congress (not even inviting one Republican senator or congressman to the Conference)
and so America (led by George Norris and other “irreconcilables” in a Republican controlled Senate) never joined
the League and signed a separate peace treaty with Germany.
The dubious fruits of the Paris Peace Conference
The Paris Peace Conference was settled by numerous treaties with the losers but the harshest was the
Treaty of Versailles forced on Germany. First, Germany had to accept full blame for the war. Second,
Germany lost 13% of its territory or about 25,000 square miles. Third, Alsace and Lorraine were given to
France and part of Poland was created out of German land. The allies also were allowed to occupy the
resource-rich Saar Basin until 1935. Germany’s Rhineland was to be occupied till 1935 as a demilitarized
zone. Fourth, All of Germany’s overseas colonies were given to allied powers. Like the Middle East,
German colonies in Africa were also placed under the Mandate System causing great cynicism and
resentment in Germany. Fifth, Germany was forced to almost completely disarm and was allowed a token
army of 100,000 soldiers with no military aircraft, large battleships, submarines or heavy artillery. Lastly
and most harshly – and against Wilson’s advice, Germany was forced to agree to pay for the full cost of the
war, about 32 billion 1919 dollars which would not be repaid until 1961.
To heap insult upon injury, the Germans were not allowed to participate at Versailles and were required to
accept the entire treaty - as the victors wrote it. The Germans, of course, did not believe that they were the
only nation responsible for the war and bitterly resented being forced to admit the charge. They had lost
territories which contained badly needed natural resources and they were facing – what to them – seemed
an astronomical reparations bill. The German Prime Minister, Philipp Scheidmann (1865-1939), called the
treaty an imprisonment of the German people and asked, “What hand would not wither that binds itself
and us in these fetters.” Nevertheless, the Social Democrats and the Catholic Center Party formed the
backbone of the Weimar government that ruled Germany until Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933.
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The League of Nations: Wilson’s one big victory was the creation of the League of Nations. The
league was not designed to be an international government but a body of sovereign states which agreed to
follow common policies and consult on matters of common interest. The League of Nation was historic
because it was the first international security organization whose principal function was to avoid future
destructive wars and ensure peace among all nations. Every signatory of the Paris Peace Treaties was
obliged to join the League of Nations. Even without United States’ participation, it seemed like a promising
start with twenty six of the original members being non-European countries.
BUT the League was doomed for two major reasons: First) Even though it was to be a peace keeping
force, it had no power to enforce its decisions on its members except by means of economic sanctions.
Second) The League relied on Collective Security or a security arrangement, in which each member in the
system accepts that the security of one is the concern of all, and agrees to join in a collective response to
threats to, and breaches of, the peace. Moreover, the exclusion of Germany and Russia foreshadowed the
future ineffectiveness of the league.
The Ottoman Empire was likewise stripped of all its possession but Great Britain, France and Italy
were unwilling to apply self-determination to the newly freed peoples. They wanted to create new colonies
but since the United States objected, Southwestern Asia (the Middle East) was placed under temporary
French and British control or trusteeship, according to a Mandate System, under which the League of
Nations would help supervise these areas, which were to be prepared for eventual independence. Syria and
Lebanon became French Mandates; Iraq, Jordan and Palestine became British Mandates.
This greatly disappointed these states who had been promised freedom in exchange for helping the British
during the war. The British moreover compounded their colonialist blunders by the Balfour Declaration
of 1917, in which Britain agreed in principle to the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. However,
the declaration delayed the question indefinitely but, nevertheless, bitterly antagonized the Palestinian and
Arab populations.
The Allies occupied Istanbul and the Ottoman government collapsed. Then a failed Greek invasion of
Western Anatolia provoked a spirit of Turkish nationalism and brought to power the young general and
hero of Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal, who drove the Greeks out of Anatolia and won a new and more
favorable peace treaty, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Kemal (who came to be called Ataturk or Father of the
Turks) abolished the sultanate and made Turkey a republic. As part of the settlement, thousands of Turks
living in southeastern Europe were expelled and sent to live in the Ottoman Empire. Likewise, large
numbers of Greeks living in the Ottoman Empire were forced to move to Greece. Although, the population
was overwhelming Muslim, Kemal’s Turkey was a Westward looking secular state.
Italy, Austria and Hungary: Italy received some Austrian territory, but not all it was promised,
causing much disillusionment, especially because many Italians were frustrated because some of the
territory they had been promised was given to the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The AustroHungarian Empire was dissolved as well as the union between Austria and Hungary. Both Austria and
Hungary now became small second-class nations. Over three million disillusioned German-speaking
Austrians were now forced to live outside the Austrian Republic. The Magyars retained their kingdom but
were particularly embittered as they too lost so many ethnic Hungarians to newly formed nations.
Nine New European Nations: Mainly out of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but also out of lands lost
by Germany and Russia, the new countries of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland, Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia were created. This was done in accordance with Wilson’s principle of selfdetermination. But this process was not always fair or uniform. These nine new Eastern European nations
were – with few exceptions – inexperienced in self-government, plagued by nationalist tensions and forced
to struggle with weak economies.
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One third of Poland’s population, for example, did not speak Polish, being mostly German or Russian.
Czechoslovakia was a multi-ethnic state whose population consisted of Czechs (51%), Slovaks (16%),
Germans (22%), Hungarians (5%) and Russians (4%). Many of the Germans and Slovaks in particular felt
oppressed and ignored. Moreover, Germans and Austrians not only lost territory containing ethnic
Germans but were also denied the right to form one nation. Yugoslavia (which was supposed to be a united
Serbian state) was 87% Slavic (Croats, Slovenes, Serbs) but with significant German, Albanian and
Hungarian minorities; religiously, the country was 90% Christian but almost 10% Muslim. And these
ethnic and religious stresses coupled with an agrarian, non-industrial economy caused much unrest.
The Long Term Consequences of World War I
1. Everybody Lost: The German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman empires had all fallen.
Nevertheless, both the victors and the losers had suffered terrible losses of men, money and prestige.
The British Empire and all allied colonial powers had their dominion over their colonies shaken. Great
Britain had lost worldwide economic dominance to the United States. Germany, Russia, Britain and
France suffered an entire generation of War Widows.
Not since the Thirty Years War in the seventeenth century had the spirit of Europe been so
psychologically devastated! Angela Lambert summed it best in Unquiet Souls, when she noted “Their
loss (the dead killed at the Somme) was a blow which it seemed the country would never recover from
and never forget.” The number of dead was placed at a minimum of 10 million with about 20 million
more wounded. The allies lost almost eighteen million dead, wounded and captured; the Central Powers
lost twelve and a half million dead, wounded and captured.
2. European Instability: Russia was in shambles with Whites and Reds locked in mortal combat. The
most immediate threat appeared to be the threat of Bolshevism. While the civil war distracted Lenin
and Trotsky, the Allies landed small armies in Russia to help the Whites and overthrow the Bolshevik
regime. The fear of Bolshevism was intensified when communist governments were established in
German Bavaria and Hungary; and a communist uprising led by the Spartacus Group had to put down
in Berlin. In the United States, the fear and anxiety that a Bolshevik revolution would take place was
called the Red Scare.
3. Social and political Transformation: The day of the aristocrat was over but not necessarily the
elite. Although WW I did not cause this trend, it did help to accelerate it. Even before the war, the
political power, social influence and economic clout of the traditional aristocracy had been vanishing,
while that of the middle and lower classes had been rising.
4. Women’s Suffrage: Mostly due to the economic role they played during the war, women gained a
great deal of respect, not just in the workplace, but in the public sphere overall. Perhaps the most
important result of this was that, in most Western nations (Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Russia,
Britain, and the United States), women were given the vote during or just after World War One; only
Italy and France resisted this trend and did not given women the vote until the 1940s.
5. German Resentment: Germany was economically and politically wrecked. The Kaiser had
abdicated and fled. A new government was formed at Weimar making Germany a democratic republic
with a president and chancellor. The Paris Peace Conference produced a flawed peace. Perhaps the
most degrading part of the Versailles Treaty was the War Guilt Clause in which Germany had to
admit responsibility for causing the war. This so-called admission of guilt was a crucial part of the 1871
+ 1919 = Adolf Hitler formula. The allies’ greed and revenge set into motion such humiliation and
suffering that when Hitler promised to erase the shame of Versailles, Germans gave him their loyalty.
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6. Decline in European Economic and Global Power: The United States had become a World
Power, but retreated from world affairs. The National economies of most Allied powers and all the
Central powers were seriously damaged. The direct costs of the war exceeded 180 billion dollars with
indirect costs adding another 150 billion. Although the victorious nations of Europe were still able to
maintain the appearance of great powers, their economies had been badly drained and those of the
losers were in shambles. Moreover, the victors would find it increasingly difficult to maintain control
of their colonial empires.
7. The bitterest critic of the economic consequences of the peace treaties was the Bloomsbury economist
John Maynard Keynes, who took part in the peace conference and who resigned in disgust when he
saw the direction it was taking. In his book The Consequences of Peace (1920), he leveled a scathing
attack on the allied leaders of the peace conference and on the entire concept of reparations payments.
Keynes was especially critical of Wilson whom he called a fool and a hypocrite. Keynes called the
Treaty of Versailles both immoral and unworkable - and a Carthaginian Peace [referring to Rome’s
destruction of Carthage after the Third Punic War] which would bring economic ruin and war to Europe,
unless the Big Four came to their senses.
Keynes actions and arguments had a profound on the British government which was already suspicious
of France and glad to use Keynes as an excuse to withdraw from continental affairs. Thus, it became
the “respectable attitude” in Great Britain that the treaty should be revised and lessen the severity of its
terms. In the United States, Keynes’ book compounded by Wilson’s political mistakes, continued to
fuel American feelings of Isolationism
8. Sense of Uncertainty and Anxiety in European Culture: Even before World War I, the
prevailing faith in progress that had characterized Europe’s cultural and intellectual life was questioned
by many. The destruction, suffering and despair caused by the WAR, not to mention the economic
meltdown, only made this sense of uncertainty and anxiety worse and bring it to the forefront of
European culture.
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