WW1

• The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist was one of the immediate causes of World War I.
• The Treaty of Versailles, 1919:

  • Germany and her allies accept responsibility for causing loss and damage to the Allied and Associated governments as a consequence of the war imposed by Germany and her allies
• Harry Elmer Barnes, 1929:

  • Direct and immediate responsibility for World War falls upon Serbia, France, and Russia, with guilt about equally divided
• Sidney Bradshaw Fay, 1990:

  • Verdict of the Versailles Treaty that Germany and her allies were responsible for the war is historically unsound and should be revised
• Fritz Fischer, 1961:

  • Germany's leaders bear a substantial share of historical responsibility for the outbreak of general war in 1914
• Events leading to the end of WWI:

  • US troops help Allies win the Second Battle of the Marne in the summer of 1918
  • Fall of 1918 sees the collapse of Central Powers with Bulgaria and the Ottomans withdrawing, Austria-Hungary asking for peace, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicating the throne, and Germany and the Allies signing an armistice on November 11th, 1918
• Post-WWI changes:

  • Communist attempt to seize power in Germany
  • Germany forms a democratic republic under Social Democrats (the Weimar Republic)
  • Austria-Hungary no longer exists and is replaced by Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia
• Consequences of WWI:

  • Devastating slaughter with 10 million casualties
  • Total war leading to an increase in government power
  • New revolutions and nations causing instability and setting the stage for WWII
  • Ethnic boundaries ignored when redrawing the map, leading to the creation of the League of Nations
• Terms of the Treaty of Versailles:

  • War Guilt Clause (Article 231) holds Germany and Austria responsible for the war
  • Germany must reduce military, pay reparations ($33 billion), give up 10% of its land, return Alsace and Lorraine, give eastern lands to create Poland and Czechoslovakia, and create a demilitarized zone in the Rhineland
• Woodrow Wilson's 14 points were part of the USA's involvement in post-WWI negotiations
• Woodrow Wilson 14 points Lasting Peace, open agreements, reduce arms, league of nations, Self-determination: ethnic groups should have own nation/select own government
• During wartime, tens of millions of young men were drafted
• Rights are not absolute, as shown in the case of Schenck v. US, where limitations were placed on freedom of speech by using the example of shouting "fire in a crowded theater"
• Powers were expanded to control economies during the war, leading to:

  • Free-market capitalist systems being put aside
  • Rationing of food supplies and materials
  • Regulation of imports and exports
  • Takeover of transportation systems and industries
• A planned economy emerged, with economic systems directed by government agencies
• Women took over many jobs during the war, with the negative perception of it being temporary until men returned, but also resulting in many gaining the right to vote shortly after the war by "proving" themselves
• Civilian morale decreased as the war prolonged, with authoritarian countries like Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary relying on force to subdue their populations, while democratic regimes such as Great Britain, France, and the USA also expanded their powers
• Propaganda was used to exaggerate German atrocities, leading to limited freedom of speech during the war
• 1914 - Start of World War I
• December 1916 - Rasputin assassinated
• March 1917 - Series of women-led worker’s strikes break out (March Revolution), marching through the capital and shutting down cities
• March 12, 1917 - The Duma established a provisional government
• March 15, 1917 - The Czar steps down, ending the Romanov dynasty
• April 1917 - Lenin returns to Russia and takes over the Bolsheviks
• November 6, 1917 - Bolsheviks seize the Winter Palace and topple the provisional government
• March 3, 1918 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed
• July 16, 1918 - The Romanov family is assassinated
• 1921 - Communists are in total control of Russia, leading to the formation of the Soviet Union
• Soviets:

  • Councils of representatives from different groups of workers and soldiers
  • Primarily Socialists
  • Worked to protect the lower classes
• Bolsheviks:

  • Group of Russian Social Democrats that were Marxist
  • Led by Lenin
  • Believed in a violent revolution
  • Worked to control the Soviet councils, eventually taking over the provisional government and establishing communism in Russia
• Red Army:

  • Communist army for the revolution
  • Led by Leon Trotsky
  • Well-disciplined and well-organized
• White Forces:

  • Anti-communist forces in the revolution
  • Varied groups with no common goal
  • Didn't work well together
• Russia during WW1:

  • Lack of industrialization and access to modern technology and weapons
  • No competent military leaders
  • Not militarily prepared for modern conflict
• Russian Monarchy:

  • Disliked the influence Rasputin had over the monarchy
  • Faced rising prices, food rationing, and lack of power for the common man
  • Poor treatment for workers
  • Limited opportunities for success
• Lenin:

  • Aimed for an end to the war
  • Advocated for redistribution of land to the peasants
  • Transfer of factories and industries from capitalists to committees of workers
  • Transfer of power from the provisional government to the Soviets
  • Slogans: “Peace, Land, Bread”, “Worker Control of Production”, “All Power to the Soviets”
• War Efforts:

  • Organized by Leon Trotsky
  • Reinstated draft
  • Implemented War Communism to ensure supplies for the Red Army
  • Government controlled banks and most industries
  • Centralized state administration under communist control
• Cheka:

  • Red Secret Police
  • Implemented the Red Terror
  • Destroyed those who opposed the new regime
  • Played on Russian Patriotism
• western front

  • France and Belgium
  • Decisive front in World War I
  • Germany
  • Hoped for a quick end to the war
  • Schlieffen Plan → fight a two front war, France (west) & Russia (east)
  • Storm through Belgium to France to force

  to surrender
• Naval Blockades:

  • Great Britain blockades Germany
  • Germany used unrestricted submarine warfare in retaliation
• Lusitania:

  • May 7, 1915, the British ship Lusitania was sunk by German forces with 128 Americans on board
  • Germans stop unrestricted submarine warfare after US protests