Our World Since 1500

1
Our World Since 1500

• Chapter 27 The Great Break War Revolution

2
The Bismarckian System of Alliances

• Bismarcks response to the diplomatic challenges
  of the late nineteenth century was a shifting
  series of alliances designed to restrain Russia
  and Austria-Hungary, to prevent war between them,
  and to isolate France.
• The Three Emperors League linked
  Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia.
• Bismarcks balancing act was a precarious one.

3
Hopes for a world order of progress and peace

• Benefits of modern science as solutions for
  social problems
• Material wealth filtering down to the poor
• Era of permanent, international peace seemed to
  have dawned
• Growth of international cooperation
• Creation of a wide variety of international
  organizations

4
Origins of World War I

• Competitive Nationalism
• Entangling Alliances
• --Triple Alliance Germany, Austria-Hungary,
  Italy
• --Triple Entente England, France, Russia
• A Growing Arms Race
• --1st German Navy

5
The Rival Blocs

• William IIs dismissal of Bismarck led to a
  breakdown in the relationship between Russia and
  Germany.
• France and Russia became allies in 1894, pledging
  to stay allies as long as the Triple Alliance of
  Austria, Germany, and Italy existed.
• The Anglo-French Entente of 1904 settled all
  outstanding colonial disputes between Great
  Britain and France.
• Germany tried to weaken the entente by
  precipitating the Moroccan crisis, but became
  even more isolated.
• By 1914, Europe was divided into two hostile
  blocs.

6
Pan-Slavic Nationalism The Catalyst for War

• Russias Support for Pan-Slavism
• Austrias Problem with Serbian nationalism
• Assassination in Sarajevo
• -- Black Hand
• --Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• --June 28, 1914

7
The Outbreak of War

• Conflicting nationalist forces made war in the
  Balkans inevitable.
• In 1912, the First Balkan War pitted Serbia,
  Greece, and Bulgaria against the Ottoman Empire.
• The destruction of the Ottoman Empire created
  fears in Austria-Hungary that it would be next.
• On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand and
  his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by
  ultranationalist Serbs.
• With confidence inspired by Germanys blank
  check, Austria declared war on Serbia on July
  28.
• Long-settled military plans helped create a
  domino effect that pulled Russia, Germany,
  France, and Great Britain into the conflict.

8
Pan-Slavic Nationalism
The Austrian Response The Russian
Reaction --General Mobilization on July
30th Mobilization out of control --German
Declaration of War on August 1st (Russia) and
August 3rd (France) --British Declaration of War
on August 4th Popular War
9
Stalemate, slaughter, widening of the war

• In 1914, almost all observers thought that the
  war would end in a few months.
• Trench warfare on the western front soon
  dispelled that illusion.
• By 1915, Germany was winning the war in Russia.
• The war spread to the Middle East, to parts of
  East Asia, and to Africa.
• The entry of the United States into the war in
  1917 tipped the balance in favor of the allies.

10
A Massive Meat Grinder The Western Front
Early Battles of the War --The Battle of the
Marne (September 6, 1914) Immovable front for two
and a half years Trench warfare --25,000 miles
of trenches Cavalry gives way to infantry
11
The Western Front

• The Race with Death
• -- Going over the top
• -- No Mans Land
• Gap between officers and enlisted men
• Daily routine of the World War I soldier

12
Industrial Death

• Impact of Heavy Artillery
• The importance of the hand grenade and the
  machine gun
• Tanks and airplanes
• Increasingly not seeing the enemythe
  dehumanization of warfare
• All Quiet on the Western Front
• The role of poison gas
• --Chlorine
• --Phosgene
• --Mustard Gas
• The emotional toll of gas warfare
• The use of pets

13
Case Studies in Industrial Warfare

• Battles of Attrition
• The Battle of Verdun (February-June, 1916)
• --German attack opened by most massive military
  bombardment in history
• --longest single battle of the war
• --The sacred road
• --600,000 men died

14
Case Studies of Industrial Warfare

• The Battle of the Somme (July-November, 1916)
• --Seven Days and Seven Nights of British
  bombardment
• --60,000 British dead in 12 minutes
• --1 million dead for just 7 miles of land
• The Changing atmosphere of War
• --complete breakdown of human existence

15
Going Over the Top at the Battle of the Somme
16
Mobilizing for Total War

• In 1914, most people were in favor of the war.
• As it became clear that World War I was a new
  kind of war, it also became clear that a new kind
  of effort would be needed to prosecute it
  successfully.
• Governments instituted planned economies,
  strengthening the cause of socialism in the
  process.
• In 1917, Germanys military leaders declared that
  all of the countrys resources, human and
  material, were to be dedicated to the war effort,
  thus making Germany the first totalitarian
  society.
• By December 1916, the British economy was largely
  under state control.

17
The Home Front

• The concept of total
• Government management of the war effort
• Food and energy shortages
• Increasingly demoralized and disillusioned
• No realistic war aims

18
Social impact and political tensions

• The demands of the war ended unemployment.
• Labor unions increased in power and prestige.
• Women worked in industry, transportation, and
  offices.
• The war promoted social equality.
• The strains of war created disunity and unrest
  among civilian populations.
• Germany and Austria-Hungary faced the most
  internal dissent.

19
The fall of imperial Russia

• Russian unity began to falter soon after the war
  began.
• Russia faced a crisis of leadership when Nicholas
  II refused to share power with the Duma.
• While Nicholas was at the front, his wife,
  Alexandra, and a debauched monk, Rasputin, shared
  power.
• On March 12, 1917, the Duma declared a
  provisional government and on March 15 the tsar
  abdicated.

20
The provisional government

• The March Revolution was positively received
  throughout the country.
• Under the leadership of Alexander Kerensky, the
  provisional government tried to steer a moderate
  course at home while continuing to fight the war.
  
• Conflict between the provisional government and
  the Petrograd Soviet led to anarchy.
• Anarchy created opportunities for radical
  socialist leaders such as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

21
Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution

• Lenins political philosophy was based on three
  ideas capitalism could only be destroyed through
  violent revolution, socialist revolution did not
  depend on a fully developed industrial working
  class, and a disciplined party controlled by a
  dedicated elite was crucial to the success of the
  revolution.
• Russian Marxists did not all agree with Lenin.
• In April 1917, the Germans allowed Lenin to
  return to Russia, hoping that he would undermine
  Russias war effort.
• The Bolsheviks came to power because they took
  advantage of anarchy, superior leadership, and
  the eagerness of soldiers and urban workers to
  end the war.

22
Dictatorship and Civil War

• Lenins response to Russias situation in 1917
  was successful, in large part, because it was
  pragmatic.
• The 1918, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was harsh, but
  it did bring peace.
• In 1918, civil war between Whites and Reds
  engulfed Russia.
• Lenin and the Bolsheviks won because they were
  more unified and because they had a better army.
• War communism, revolutionary terror, and
  foreign intervention all contributed to Communist
  victory.

23
The End of the War

• U.S. troops played a decisive role in halting
  Germanys last great offensive.
• On November 11, 1918, the war ended.
• The German Revolution began in the same month the
  war ended.

24
The End of the War

• American Entry into the War April of 1917
• The illusion of German strength
• The realization of German military disaster
• Formation of the Weimar Republic (November, 1918)
• The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

25
The Costs of the War

• A Generation of Men Lost
• International Flu Epidemic
• A Leadership Vacuum was created in Western Europe
• European Economies were destroyed
• Individual Emotional Damage
• The Great Interruption

26
The Treaty of Versailles

• The real powers at the Versailles peace
  conference were the United States, Great Britain,
  and France.
• President Wilson wanted the conference to focus
  on the League of Nations. France and Great
  Britain were more concerned with punishing
  Germany.
• The treaty signed on June 28, 1919, was a
  credible first step toward lasting peace.

27
The Paris Peace Conference

• The Emotional Atmosphere
• The Popularity and Idealism of Woodrow Wilson
• --The Fourteen Points
• Wilsons Political Handicaps
• Attempt at Self-Determination
• Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
• German Reaction to the Diktat