Chapter 13 - The Collapse of the Autocratic Empires

• Problems faced by Russia which sparked the revolution 1917 (5)

  1. War was going badly for Russia

  2. Eastern Front highlighted poor training of Russian troops + inadequate supply lines

  3. Tsar assumed command of army 1915 -> military defeats e.g. Lake Naroch Offensive often blamed on his poor leadership

  4. Russian govt. left to Tsarina Alexandra who was deeply unpopular due to being German + her influence from Rasputin

  5. Winter 1917 -> conditions atrocious, bread rations introduced, many factories closed due to fuel shortages
• Events of the Russian Revolution 1917 (2)

  1. Strikes and rioting broke out March 1917 as people demanded bread and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas

  2. The Tsar abdicated as mutinies spread, resulting in the formation of the Provisional Government
• Features of the Provisional Government (3)

  1. Severely limited by their compromises made to retain power

  2. Established authority with the help of the Petrograd Soviet

  3. Became unpopular after continuing war despite demands from Russians, as they couldn't betray Allies by allowing Germany to focus entirely on the Western Front
• What was the Petrograd Soviet?

  A political organisation led by the working classes, which had considerable influence in the capital
• What were the proclamations of the Provisional Government? (5)

  1. Political and religious amnesty

  2. Freedom of speech / press / assembly

  3. Calling of a Constituent Assembly by universal suffrage, which will determine the form of government

  4. Substitution of the people's militia for the police

  5. Elections to the local self-government by universal suffrage
• Who were the Bolsheviks? (4)

  1. Led by Lenin

  2. Advocated for the establishment of Bolshevik control in Russia

  3. Won support with promises of bread, land and peace

  4. Stormed the Winter Palace in November 1917, met with little resistance, and executed the Tsar
• Terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1917 (5)

  1. Established peace between Russia and Germany

  2. Russia lost territorial rights to many countries eg. Poland and Estonia. Germany and AH allowed to decide fate of these countries

  3. Russia had to evacuate Finland =

  4. Russia had to recognise independence of Ukraine

  5. Germany allowed to exploit farmland which had been given up by Russia
• Problems facing Germany in 1917 which led to their withdrawal from the war (4)

  1. British naval blockade had caused 760,000 Germans to starve

  2. Poor potato harvests in winter 1917

  3. Allied victory became more likely after US entry into the war + failed gamble of unrestricted submarine warfare

  4. Bulgaria had asked Allies for a ceasefire, leaving AH exposed to enemy penetration
• Influence of Wilson's Fourteen Points at the end of WW1 (2)

  1. Influential to the Central Powers while they considered peace as USA offered more lenient terms than Britain and France

  2. Established democracy and self determination as ideals
• Events of Germany's withdrawal from the war 1918 (2)

  1. New Chancellor Max Baden requested armistice from Wilson

  2. Parliamentary government was established in Germany
• Wilson's criteria for Germany for the Armistice (3)

  1. Evacuation of German occupied territories

  2. End of submarine warfare

  3. German government must be democratic and not influenced by the military
• How did German government change in 1918? (2)

  1. Germany became a parliamentary democracy

  2. Chancellor now answerable to the Reichstag
• How did German government show continuity in 1918? (4)


  1. Kaiser still head of state

  2. Military still had strong influence in government

  3. Strikes were still illegal

  4. War continued
• Causes of the Kiel Mutiny 1918

  Germans unhappy with the limited reforms and continuity of the German government
• Impact of the Kiel Mutiny 1918 (4)

  1. Sparked German revolution

  2. Monarchical authority collapsed

  3. Kaiser abdicated

  4. German republic was proclaimed + new government started peace negotiations with Allies
• Terms of the Armistice for Germany (3)

  To obtain peace, Germany had to:

  1. Evacuate Belgium and France

  2. Pay compensation to Allies

  3. Surrender the naval fleet
• Deterioration of AH's fortunes from 1915 onwards (5)

  1. Russia occupied Galicia

  2. Italy opened up new front in the Alps

  3. 300,000 AH troops deserted

  4. Allied blockade + bad harvest 1916 -> encouraged different regions of the empire to operate independently

  5. New emperor Karl I lacked authority to restore empire
• Events of AH's withdrawal from the war (4)

  1. New emperor Karl I sought armistice from Allies

  2. USA informed AH they would no longer offer peace terms based on 14 points due to Czech's joining the war on the Allies side

  3. Austrian Prime Minister Lammasch started dismantling empire

  4. Karl I abdicated
• Causes of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire (3)

  1. Turkey forced to give up Middle East territories due to Allied military campaigns

  2. Arab nationalism grew in strength, hoping to detach from Ottoman Empire and form own Arab state, led by bin Ali

  3. Young Turk revolution alienated Syrians and Palestinians with pan-Turkish agenda
• Allied agreements concerning the Ottoman Empire (3)

  1. McMahon-Hussein correspondence 1915

  2. Sykes-Picot agreement 1916

  3. Balfour declaration 1917
• McMahon-Hussein correspondence 1915


  Arabs were promised independence by British if they started an uprising against the Ottomans to divert the Central Powers to the Middle East, therefore providing relief for the Allies
• Sykes-Picot agreement 1916


  Britain and France decided on the division on the defeated Ottoman Empire into British and French spheres of influence. Contravenes McMahon-Hussein agreement
• Balfour declaration 1917


  Guaranteed Palestine as a Jewish homeland due to increase of Zionism. Contravenes McMahon-Hussein agreement
• Events of the collapse of the Young Turk government (4)

  1. Ottoman Empire agreed to the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies 1918

  2. Britain occupied Syria + Palestine while France threatened occupation of Thrace and Constantinople

  3. Led to collapse of Young Turk government

  4. Allies invaded Constantinople to ensure Turks didn't regain control of Anatolia
• Impact of the Russian Revolutions internationally (2)

  1. Polish nationalists took the opportunity to establish independence

  2. Pan-Slavs encouraged by Provisional Government to decide their own destiny
• Impact of the collapse of the autocratic empires internationally (3)

  1. Hungary saw the opportunity for independence as AH weakened

  2. Czechs sought support from France for independence

  3. Serbs and Croats created Yugoslavia