Ww1 and ww2 full

• At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe was a mixture of large empires and countries
• The two alliances in World War I


  • The Allies/Entente Powers (Britain, France, Russia, Italy, USA joined in 1917, Russia left in 1915)
  • The Central Powers (Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria)
• Competition over trade, control, and military strength was a common tension that finally resulted in a war between the two alliances
• The war was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914
• The Great War


  • Most violence and destruction the world had seen
  • Central Powers saw it as a chance to expand into France and east into Russia
  • Soon became a stalemate
  • In western and eastern fronts, trenches were dug with no man's lands in between
  • Huge losses of life during battles, 60,000 casualties and nearly 20,000 deaths on the first day of the Battle of the Somme
  • For four years, the war dragged on with the arrival of American troops in late 1917
  • Germany and the Central Powers surrendered in November 1918
• Paris Peace Conference


  The victorious countries met in Paris in early 1919 to create a peace treaty
• Key figures at the Paris Peace Conference


  • Woodrow Wilson (America)
  • George Clemenceau (France)
  • David Lloyd George (Britain)
  • Vittorio Orlando (Italy)
• Woodrow Wilson


  Believed each country in Europe should rule itself, not in favour of large empires, advocated for self-determination, wrote a 14-point plan for how Europe should seek peace through friendship
• George Clemenceau


  French PM, blamed Germany for the war and wanted revenge, most of the war had been fought in France which was destroyed, felt America did not understand as they had lost 12 times fewer men, demanded compensation and wanted to take control of Alsace-Lorraine again
• David Lloyd George


  English PM, also wanted Germany to pay, demanded that the German navy be weakened, understood France's suffering but felt some of their demands were too much
• Vittorio Orlando


  Wanted to gain large amounts of land from the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
• The peace treaty became known as the Treaty of Versailles, presented to the Germans in 1919, they were not allowed to take part in the negotiations, and they were initially angry at the treaty contents and refused to sign it, eventually they were forced to do so on June 28th, 1919
• Contents of the Treaty of Versailles


  • Germany had to accept the war guilt clause, acknowledging it was their fault and forced to pay reparations of 6.6 billion (about 300 billion today)
  • Large amounts of land were taken from Germany, including Alsace-Lorraine lost to France and parts of Poland and Denmark, Germany also lost all land in Africa
  • The German army was limited to 100,000 men, not allowed to have an air force, any tanks or submarines, and the navy was limited to 24 ships and 24,000 naval personnel
  • Germany was not allowed to station any troops in the Rhineland, the area that borders France
  • The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires were broken up into different countries
  • The League of Nations was set up in the hope of discussing any future issues between countries
• Results of World War I


  • Resentment - Germany was very angry at the terms of the treaty, they resented the size of the reparations they had to pay, and most German people felt betrayed by their government for signing the treaty, resulting in anger towards the Allies and the German government
  • Unemployment and poverty - the size of the reparations, loss of life, and destroyed land made it difficult for the German economy to recover after the war, leading to high unemployment and growing anger
  • New countries - new countries were formed within the old Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires, allowing them to govern themselves
  • Rise of the USA - the war was fought in Europe and bought Europe weapons and goods from the USA during the war, making them very powerful economically after World War I, they followed a policy of isolation opting not to get involved in the uprooted problems
  • League of Nations - hope that this new organisation would allow talking rather than war, but Russia, Germany, and the USA were not allowed to join, making it hard to operate without them
  • Rise of communism - Russia withdrew from World War I due to the rise in power of the Bolshevik party, allowing them to focus on their own ideologies
• Russia was on the side of the Allies during World War I, with 3 million dead, and widespread food shortages during and after the war made it very unpopular with the common people
• In the February Revolution of 1917, Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown, and a new temporary government was put in place, but it continued to fight in World War I
• The Bolsheviks


  Led by Vladimir Lenin, they promised to withdraw from the war, and believed in communism, their support increased as the war continued
• The October Revolution


  1. Lenin and the Bolsheviks led a successful revolution in October 1917, taking power and making some dramatic changes

  2. They signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918, taking Russia out of World War I, in exchange for some Russian territories along the border

  3. The Bolsheviks became the only allowed party, creating a one-party state

  4. They believed the wealth of the country should be shared between all people, dividing up land and nationalising factories

  5. The Russian Civil War between the Red Army and those loyal to the Tsar lasted from 1918-1921, with the Red Army eventually winning
• New Economic Policy (NEP)


  Introduced by Lenin to give bonuses to workers to produce more, and allow farmers to sell extra food from their farms
• In 1922, the communist government changed the name of Russia to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
• Josef Stalin


  After Lenin's death in 1924, he used his influence to gain power, expelling Trotsky and beginning to industrialise the USSR from 1929 onwards
• Industrialisation of the USSR

  1. Five Year Plans - the first one in 1929 wanted industries to double or triple their production, with workers punished if they didn't meet their targets

  2. Two more Five Year Plans followed in 1933 and 1938, helping the USSR catch up with the rest of the world

  3. Modernisation of agriculture was also planned, with all farms nationalised and smaller farms merged into larger collective farms using modern methods
• Resistance to collectivisation came from medium-sized farmers known as kulaks, who did not want to merge their farms and move to the cities, and Stalin dealt with them harshly, leading to food shortages and the deaths of around 10 million people
• The Great Purges


  Anyone thought to be against Stalin and his police was arrested by his secret police, the NKVD, with millions executed or sent to gulags, as Stalin worried members of the Bolshevik party might plot against him
• Propaganda and the Cult of Personality under Stalin


  • Stalin had his own newspaper called Pravda, places named after him, and the Russian people were told he was responsible for all the good things that happened
  • Education was compulsory and used to indoctrinate, with books rewritten to show Stalin as the best
• Gulags


  Prison camps where people sent by Stalin's secret police, the NKVD, were held
• Show Trials


  Trials held by Stalin of his party members, who were put on trial for conspiracy
• Under Lenin, women had equal rights and could vote and work, but Stalin was more conservative, encouraging women to have lots of children and rewarding them with money and medals
• Fascism is a form of government where most of the country's power is held by one ruler, and fascist governments are usually authoritarian one-party states
• Causes of Fascism in Italy

  • The Treaty of Versailles - Italy lost around 600,000 men fighting the Austro-Hungarian Empire and received less land than expected after the war, leaving them annoyed
  • Memories of Italy's past - Italians felt they had been badly treated by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles and wanted to return to their former glory
  • Economic trouble - Italy lost a lot of money during the war, the economy was in trouble afterwards, and unemployment was high, leading people to want the government to solve the problems
  • Failure of democracy - five different governments attempted to solve Italy's economic problems, each failing, leading to strikes in 1920 and 1921 that frightened the wealthy, and the Catholic Church providing political support for a strong leadership party - the Fascist Party
• Mussolini


  Born in 1883, he was influenced by his father's Marxism and became a socialist in 1912, but later supported Italy's entry into World War I, which led to him being expelled from the socialist party. He then founded his own party, the Fasci Italiano di Combattimento (Italian Combat Leagues), whose members became known as Fascists.
• Mussolini's Rise to Power


  1. In 1919, he set up the Fasci Italiano di Combattimento party and organised his young Fascists into armed groups wearing black shirts to provide security at meetings and disrupt socialist and communist events

  2. In 1921, he and 34 other Fascists were elected into the government, and when the government collapsed again in 1922, Mussolini told the king that his party should be asked to form the next government

  3. To show his seriousness, he asked tens of thousands of supporters to march to Rome, making the king nervous and choosing not to stop the march with the army, instead making Mussolini prime minister of Italy in October 1922 even though his party only had 15% of seats in government
• Mussolini in Power


  • Introduced a number of new Fascist policies, including creating the OVRA secret police force to silence opposition
  • Gradually consolidated his power, eventually declaring Italy a Fascist dictatorship in 1925
• In 1921 the economy got worse and strikes began to break out
• Mussolini offered his black shirts to business owners to break up these strikes
• Mussolini used the black shirts to disrupt any socialist and communist meetings and rallies
• Mussolini renamed the party the national fascists party and promised to bring glory and law and order to Italy
• In 1921 Mussolini and 34 other fascists were elected into the government
• The government in Italy collapsed again in 1922
• Mussolini told the king (Victory Emmanuel 111 of Italy) that his party should be asked to form the next government