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World War in the 20th Century
World War I and the Russian Revolution Altered the Course
of History
The war that began in the summer of 1914 resembled no previous
war. For the first time in history, industrial technology, especially
the mass production of armaments, played a major role. This horrifying war dragged on for more than four years, taking a terrible toll
in lives and property.
Conflicting National Interests
Beginning in the late 1800s, cooperation among European nations
broke down as intense rivalries increased. As rivalries intensified
in the early 1900s, the great powers built up their military strength
and formed secret alliances to protect themselves. Soon they were
plunging toward war, pressed forward by four factors: nationalism,
imperialism, militarism, and the system of alliances. In 1914
Europe was divided into two armed camps (Triple Alliance and the
Triple Entente), and even a minor disagreement would threaten
global devastation.
The minor incident that plunged Europe into war came in the
Balkans on June 28, 1914, when the heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and his wife were assassinated. The assassin belonged to a secret society (the Black Hand)
of Serbian nationalists who opposed Austria-Hungary.
The assassination brought to a head the long struggle between
Serbia and Austria-Hungary. When Serbia did not accept all of the
terms of an ultimatum issued by Austria-Hungary, AustriaHungary declared war. Then on August 1, 1914, Germany declared
war on Russia. Convinced that France was prepared to side with
Russia and hoping to gain a military advantage by swift action,
Germany declared war on France two days later. When German
troops passed through neutral Belgium on their way to France,
Great Britain declared war on Germany. Many other nations soon
entered the war.
A New Kind of War
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire
became known as the Central Powers. They fought the Allied
Powers that included Great Britain, France, Russia, and their
partners in the war. Eventually 32 countries made up the Allied
side. Many of them, however, joined late in the war and made only
symbolic contributions to the war effort.
Except for the wars of the French Revolution, most previous
European wars had been fought by professional soldiers whose
only source of income was their military pay and rations. In
contrast, armies of drafted civilians fought the battles of World
War 1. Those who could not fight worked at home to help the war
effort. Many women participated in the war effort by working in
factories. This type of war became known as total war.
The war soon became a stalemate. Both sides dug long lines of
trenches on the western front, which stretched from the Swiss
border through Germany, France, and Belgium to the shores of the
North Sea. On the eastern front, the Germans forced the Russians
back into Poland. Only a few sea battles took place.
As the strongest industrialized neutral nation, the United
States became a supplier of food, raw materials, and
munitions. Then in 1917, when the Germans began attacking
merchant ships, the United States entered the war on the side
of the Allies.
The Russian Revolution
The spring of 1917 found the Russians weary of hardships and
disheartened by the appalling casualties they had suffered.
They had lost all faith in their government and Czar Nicholas
II. Strikes and street demonstrations broke out in Petrograd, as
St. Petersburg had been called since 1914. On March 15,
1917, unable to control his subjects or his army, Nicholas II
abdicated. He and his family were exe- cuted the following
year.
A liberal provisional government was set up to rule Russia
until a constitutional assembly could be elected to choose a
permanent system of government. While the provisional
government tried to restore order, a rival force—the
Marxist Bolsheviks—worked for change in Russia. By
November the Bolsheviks, or Communists, under the
leadership of Nikolai Lenin, had taken over the
Russian government.
The Communists signed separate peace treaties with each of
the Central Powers in the spring of 1918. The new regime then
turned its attention to quelling a civil war that had erupted. By
1921 the Communists had completely defeated their
opponents.
Peace Terms
President Wilson of the United States wanted the Allies to
work out a just peace. But when the Central Powers finally
surrendered in November 1918, the victorious Allies sought
revenge. In a series of peace treaties, the Allies redrew the
boundaries of Europe. They also humiliated Germany and
declared the end of the Dual Monarchy.
The League of Nations
In helping to draft the peace settlements, President Wilson
made several compromises with his ideals. He realized that the
treaties failed in many respects to provide a "peace of justice."
He consoled himself, however, with the thought that the new
League of Nations would be able to remedy the injustices
inflicted by the treaties.
However, the League of Nations had no real powers to help it
maintain peace. In addition, the United States never joined the
League.
The Great Depression Helped the Rise of Totalitarian
Dictators
For a time after World War I, it appeared that the world had
indeed been made "safe for democracy. " Within a few short
decades, however, events proved this assumption false.
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Uneasiness in the Postwar Era
Following World War I, many people rejected the beliefs of reason
and progress expressed during the Enlightenment. Instead,
scientists, writers, and artists expressed a sense of helplessness and
cynicism.
These intellectuals, however, appealed only to a small audience.
Most people found escape from the disillusionment of troubled
times in other new forms of entertainment that "Big Bands," jazz,
and films provided.
Architecture also underwent great change during the postwar
years. New technical advances, such as the use of structural steel,
made skyscrapers and bold new architectural designs possible.
Worldwide Depression
The United States emerged from the war as the apparent successor
to Great Britain in world leadership. But the refusal of the United
States to join the League of Nations indicated that the United
States did not want the responsibility of world leadership.
Americans seemed to want to sit back and enjoy their newfound
prosperity during what historians have named the Roaring
Twenties.
Prosperity, however, was short-lived. The collapse of the
American stock market plunged the United States and the rest of
the industrial world into a severe economic depression known
simply as the Great Depression.
In response to the hardships of the Great Depression, voters in the
United States elected Franklin D. Roosevelt president. Roosevelt
quickly set up a series of measures, known as the New Deal, to
combat the Depression. Only when the United States mobilized for
war once more in the late 1930s, however, did the hardships
caused by the Great Depression finally end.
Political Tensions
The events of the postwar years put a strain on the older and more
experienced European democracies, such as France and Great
Britain. France still owed money that it had borrowed from its
citizens and from the United States during and after the war.
And inflation soared.
Although conditions improved in the 1920s, the Great Depression
brought havoc to France. Riots in 1934 almost toppled the
government. In 1936 a socialist government took power, but it
lasted only a year. Although France remained a democracy, bitter
divisions still existed.
Like France, Great Britain faced grave economic difficulties after
World War I. While Great Britain retained its democratic
government, military dictatorships took power in the nations of
eastern Europe.
Fascist Dictatorships
As it did elsewhere, the war and its aftermath took their toll in Italy
and Germany. Heavy loss of life, a crushing burden of debt,
unemployment, and inflation plagued these countries. In Italy the
problems led to the rise of Benito Mussolini, whose Fascist
Party set up a military dictatorship. In Germany Adolf Hitler and
the Nazi Party came to power in the 1930s. In both countries the
new leaders established totalitarian regimes that stripped the
citizens of all human rights.
The Soviet Union
Similar developments occurred in the Soviet Union. Although
Lenin had allowed some freedoms as well as free enterprise to
exist under his New Economic Policy, his successor, Joesph
Stalin, announced the end of the NEP and the return to a
completely controlled economy. Through a series of bold
Five-Year Plans, the Soviets tried to industrialize. This
industrialization, however, concentrated on heavy industry and
defense at the expense of consumer goods, creating shortages
of the basic necessities of life. Just like the Fascists in Italy
and the Nazis in Germany, Stalin created a totalitarian regime
that deprived the people of basic human rights. In addition, the
Soviets began to export communism to other parts of the
world.
New Political Forces Emerged in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America
The postwar years also witnessed profound changes
outside Europe.
The British Empire
Although the British Empire had grown larger as a result of
the Versailles peace agreements, its existence was threatened
from within. People in all parts of the empire voiced demands
for more self- government, and even for complete
independence.
In the Middle East in 1923, the British recognized the
independence of Trans-Jordan. By 1930 the British had also
recognized the kingdom of Iraq as an independent nation.
Then in 1936 the British and Egyptian governments agreed
that Egypt would be independent but that Great Britain would
control the Suez Canal for 20 years. Only Palestine remained
under British control.
As the largest British colony, India posed even greater
difficulties than did the Middle Eastern mandates. Indian
nationalists clamored for complete independence. Finally, in
1935, after many committee reports and conferences, Great
Britain granted India a new constitution that provided for
home rule. However, the British viceroy still controlled India's
national defense and foreign affairs. Committed to total selfgovernment, the nationalists rejected the new constitution.
During the next few years, discontent continued to simmer in
India.
Even in those parts of the British Empire that already had a
degree of self-government, people demanded greater
independence. After World War I these dominions demanded
complete self- government. Showing a remarkable readiness
to accommodate, adjust, and accept the political realities, the
British gave in without (much of) a struggle.
Turkey, Persia, and Africa
The nationalist feelings that swept the Middle East after World
War I also affected the Southwest Asian countries of Turkey
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and Persia and the whole of Africa. In Turkey an able and
energetic leader, Mustafa Kemal (kay • MAHL), emerged as the
republic's first president and worked to modernize
the nation. In 1921 in Persia an army officer with strong nationalist
sentiments seized control of the government in a coup d'etat. Some
four years later, he deposed the ruling shah and assumed the
throne, taking the title Reza Shah Pahlavi. Like Kemal, Reza Shah
wanted to modernize his country and free it from foreign
domination. In Africa many leaders worked for independence;
however, their success was limited.
China
In the 1800s the Western powers carved out spheres of influence in
China. When the Chinese attempted to oust the foreigners during
the Boxer Rebellion, the Westerners crushed the revolt and
imposed heavy penalties on the Chinese. The humiliation of this
defeat brought on a revolution against the Qing dynasty. In 1911 a
series of revolts, led mostly by young army officers who supported
Sun Yat-sen, spread throughout southern China. In a last desperate
gesture to preserve their dynasty, the Qing proclaimed a
constitutional monarchy. The rebels, however, would accept
nothing but a republic. In 1912 the emperor abdicated and the
republic was proclaimed.
But China's problems were far from over. The ruling political
party, the Kuomintang, soon split into rival factions. On one side
were the Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek. Opposing them
were the Communists, led by Mao Zedong. The two sides never
resolved their differences, and until the late 1940s, continued to
wage war.
Japan
By 1920 Japan had advanced from a feudal agrarian nation to one
of the world's leading industrial and military powers. However,
this rapid change brought a deterioration of traditional values. Although the economy grew rapidly, it could not provide jobs for all
those who wanted them. As a result, Japanese people began to
emigrate to Korea, Taiwan, and Hawaii, as well as other islands of
the Pacific. Thousands more left for the United States.
In addition, Japan had to export goods in order to buy needed raw
materials from other countries. Many countries, however, levied
high tariffs on Japanese goods. The Japanese resented these tariffs.
This resentment led many Japanese to accept the arguments of
military leaders that Japan needed to become an imperialist power
in order to survive.
Latin America
The 1920s brought prosperity to Latin America as it did to much of
the world, and for a time the region seemed destined for stability.
But the Great Depression dashed these prospects. Demand for the
region's products shrank, and the United States and Europe halted
investment in Latin America.
Economic crisis soon led to political crisis. Coups d'etat overthrew
most Latin American governments in the 1930s. In many cases
these coups toppled constitutional systems that had worked for
30 to 40 years. Only Uruguay, which experienced a minor crisis
between 1933 and 1935, and Mexico, which had undergone a
revolution from 1911 to 1917, avoided major political upheaval.
Local Aggressions Brought About World War II
By the 1930s most European nations once more claimed
loyalty to one of two opposing camps. One group included
those nations generally satisfied with the World War I peace
settlement. The other group consisted of dissatisfied nations
that wanted
change.
Threats to World Peace
Although many international conferences in the 1920s worked
to maintain peace, several local conflicts erupted. In Asia,
Japan, under the influence of its militaristic leaders, invaded
Manchuria, set up the puppet state of Manchukuo, and invaded
China itself. In Africa, Mussolini invaded and conquered
Ethiopia. And in Spain a bitter civil war resulted in the
establishment of a fascist government under the leadership of
Francisco Franco.
Nazi Aggressions
Germany also embarked on a program of conquest in the
1930s. In March 1936 German troops marched into the
Rhineland, violating the Treaty of Versailles. Then in October
1936, following the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, Hitler
and Mussolini formed a military alliance called the RomeBerlin Axis and began referring to themselves as the Axis
Powers. Shortly afterward, Japan and Germany pledged to
work together to prevent the spread of Russian communism.
Perhaps emboldened by the inability of the League of Nations
to act, Hitler continued his conquests. In March 1938 his
troops marched unopposed into Austria, and later that year he
occupied the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The next year he
occupied all of Czechoslovakia. Even though the Czechs had
alliances with Great Britain and France, the Western
democracies were unwilling to defend their ally.
Wanting still more territory, Hitler took part of Lithuania in
early 1939. About the same time, Mussolini conquered
Albania.
Faced with all of this Fascist aggression, Great Britain and
France prepared for war. Although the two countries tried to
forge an alliance with Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, their
negotiations failed. Instead, Stalin shocked the world by
announcing that he had concluded a nonaggression pact with
Germany. Publicly the Nazi-Soviet Pact pledged that Germany
and the Soviet Union would never attack each other. Each
would remain neutral if the other became involved in war.
Secretly, the two dictators agreed to divide eastern Europe into
spheres of influence.
Emboldened by the pact with Stalin, Hitler launched his next
act of aggression with an attack on Poland on September 1,
1939. This time Great Britain and France stood by their ally
and declared war. World War II had begun.
Axis Gains
On September 27, 1939, after a brief but devastating war, the
Poles surrendered to Hitler. Then after several months of
inaction, Hitler invaded Scandinavia, the Netherlands,
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Belgium, and France. By June 14, 1940, the Nazis were marching
through Paris. Hitler tried to conquer Great Britain as well, but the
British held their own, assisted by the United States. Although the
United States remained officially neutral, it gave assistance to
Great Britain in the form of war supplies.
Soviet and American Involvement
By late 1941 it appeared that the Axis Powers were winning the
war, conquering much of eastern Europe and pushing into North
Africa. Hitler failed, however, in his attempt to conquer the Middle
East and its rich oil fields. By 1942 the British had stalled Nazi
advances in North Africa.
On June 22, 1941, the war entered a new phase. Without a
declaration of war, German armies invaded the Soviet Union.
British Prime Minister Churchill declared that, although he did not
admire communism, any nation that fought the Nazis was an ally
and should receive help. The United States also declared its
willingness to assist the Soviet Union. This assistance helped the
Soviets stall the Nazi offensive.
The invasion of the Soviet Union was part of Hitler's master plan
for the creation of a "New Order" for Europe. To build this New
Order, the Nazis mercilessly slaughtered millions of Jews,
Gypsies, and other groups whom they considered inferior races.
The struggle against the Axis Powers received a major boost in
December 1941, when Japan attacked the United States naval base
at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the United States declared war on
the Axis Powers.
Allied Victory
Throughout 1942 the Axis Powers faced defeats on every front.
Then with the Allied invasion of France in 1944, the war reached
its final phase. By 1945 Germany surrendered. Japan soon
followed suit after the United States unleashed the power of the
first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Even before the end of the war, Allied leaders Franklin Roosevelt
of the United States, Winston Churchill of Great Britain, and
Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union had met at Yalta in the Soviet
Union. The Big Three, as these Allied leaders were called, agreed
that Germany should be temporarily divided and occupied by
troops of the victorious powers, including France. Another
conference began on July 17, 1945, at Potsdam, near Berlin. At
this conference the leaders planned for the control and occupation
of Germany.
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