World War I and Russian Revolution

1
World War I and Russian Revolution
2
The outbreak of world war 1

• In 1900, Europeans were enjoying greater peace
  and prosperity than ever before.
• Despite minor conflicts, Europeans had not
  experienced a major war on their continent for
  almost a century.

3
The outbreak of world war 1

• By the early 1900s great powers of Europe were
  plunging toward war.
• 4 Factors fueled this
• Militarism
• Alliances
• Imperialism
• Nationalism

4
The outbreak of world war 1

• Militarism
• Glorification of armed strength
• Occurs when military values and goals take over
  civilian society.
• Generals became influential in government.
• Germany and Britain competed to build the most
  powerful navy.
• Military planning played a key role in the
  outbreak of World War I.

5
The outbreak of world war 1

• Alliance System
• By 1914, Europe was divided into two large
  alliances.
• One side was Austria-Hungary and Germany.
• Italy joined them to form the Triple Alliance in
  1882.
• The other side was known as the Triple Entente
  which consisted of Russia, France, Great
  Britain.
• Although these alliances sought to preserve the
  existing balance of power, any dispute involving
  any two of these countries threatened to drag in
  all the others.

6
The outbreak of world war 1

• Imperialism When a nation tries to dominate the
  political, economic, and cultural affairs of
  another region.
• Many European powers believed that the sign of a
  great power was possession of overseas colonies.
• Competing claims created an atmosphere of tension
  between the major powers.
• European great powers were competing economic
  interests.
• By 1900, ¼ of the world was under British rule

7
The outbreak of world war 1

• Nationalism Love of ones country
• It is also the belief that each ethnic group
  should have its own nation.
• Belief that nations should promote their nations
  interests.
• Nationalists sometimes assert their nation as
  superior to others.
• Nationalism threatened to tear Austria-Hungary
  apart.

8
The outbreak of world war 1

• Unable to achieve reform through moderate means,
  some reformers turned to forming secret
  revolutionary movements.
• Demonstrations forced the tsar to create a
  national assembly in Russia in 1905.
• Reformers in Turkey overthrew the Sultan in 1908.
  
• In Mexico, a revolution overthrew the countrys
  military dictator in 1910.
• Even in China, nationalism reformers overthrew
  the emperor in 1912.

9
The outbreak of world war 1

• New technologies made warfare tremendously more
  destructive than ever before.
• Imperial governments and the old class system of
  Europe were forever shattered.
• The violence of the war prepared the way for the
  rise of both communism and fascism.

10
(No Transcript)
11
The Flashpoint that Ignites the War

• Balkan powder keg The state of unrest in the
  Balkans which allowed the assassination of the
  heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.
• On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the
  heir to the Austrian Empire, was assassinated by
  a member of a terrorist group, the Black Hand, a
  Slav nationalist group.
• The Austrians decided to teach Serbia a lesson.
  Austria-Hungary invaded tiny Serbia.
• Russia entered the conflict to protect Serbia.
• Germany entered the war to fulfill its
  obligations to protect Austria.
• Britain and France came in to honor their
  alliance with Russia.

12
Fighting the War

• Central Powers Germany, Austria-Hungary,
  Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire (Triple Entente)
• Allied Powers Great Britain, Russia, and France.
  
• President Woodrow Wilson called upon Americans to
  take no sides and to remain neutral.
• New type of Soldier the drafted civilian
• Propaganda Ideas, facts, or rumors spread
  deliberately to further ones cause or to damage
  an opposing cause.
• In the oceans, German submarines, called U-boats,
  were used to attack large ships.

13
Fighting the War

• New and improved weapons were used in fighting
  the war, including machine guns, poison gas,
  submarines, tanks and airplanes.
• Germany used U-boats and poison gases as a weapon
  against enemies.
• Soldiers dug deep protective trenches
• Soldiers spent years in these trenches, facing
  shelling from artillery fire for hours each day.
  
• Since neither side could advance, fighting lines
  became stationary.

14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
Fighting the War

• Germany launched its main attack on France
• By September 1914 Germany had reached the Marne
  River near Paris.
• Paris was saved
• Russia helps distract German troops by attacking
  Prussia.
• Battle of Tannenberg Russia vs. Germany
• Russian Army defeated
• Half its force lost including 90,000 prisoners
• In 1915 Britain and France try to capture
  Constantinople. They wanted to remove the Ottoman
  Empire from the war.

18
Fighting the War

• The British decided to blockade the North Sea to
  keep merchant ships from reaching Germany.
• The blockade became an attempt to ruin the German
  economy starve the German people.
• Germany will also set up a blockade and they will
  use U-boats to sink ships carrying food and arms
  to the British.
• May 1915 Lusitania (British passenger liner) was
  sunk off the coast of Ireland.
• By late 1915 the war became a stalemate on land
  as well as on sea.
• War of Attrition A slow wearing-down process in
  which each side as trying to outlast the other.

19
The U.S. helps win the war

• America supplied food, raw materials, and
  weapons to both sides
• Contraband war materials supplied by a neutral
  nation to a belligerent one.
• Arthur Zimmermann In January 1917 he sent a
  secret telegram to the German ambassador in
  Mexico proposing an alliance between Germany and
  Mexico.
• The British will intercept the telegram and
  decode it. The telegram was then published in
  American newspapers.
• USA declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917

20
The Russian Revolution

• World War I showed Russias economic weakness
• Roots of the Revolution
• The Russian Tsars (emperors) ruled as autocrats
  (absolute rulers).
• Through a network of secret police and strict
  censorship, new ideas were repressed.
• The vast majority of Russians were illiterate
  serfs who lived in poverty.
• The serfs remained bound to the land
• Tsar Alexander II decided to listen to reformers
  and emancipated (liberated) the serfs in 1861.

21
The Russian Revolution of 1917

• In 1914, Nicholas II brought Russia into the war
  against Austria-Hungary and Germany.
• Poorly trained and badly equipped Russian
  soldiers suffered disastrous defeats.
• In 1917, worker-led food riots broke out in
  cities all across Russia.
• When soldiers refused to fire on striking workers
  in March 1917, Nicholas realized he was powerless
  to govern the nation.
• Nicholas gave up his throne, and the leaders of
  the Duma declared Russia a republic.

22
The October Revolution November 1917

• Vladimir Lenin was a follower of Karl Marx,
  living in exile in Switzerland.
• The Germans sent him back to Russia by railroad,
  hoping he would cause unrest in Russia.
• This would help to end the war on the Eastern
  front, allowing Germany to concentrate on
  defeating the western allies

23
The October Revolution November 1917

• Lenins supporters, known as the Bolsheviks,
  promised Peace, Bread and Land peace to the
  soldiers, bread to the workers, and land to the
  peasants.
• The Bolsheviks seized power by force in a second
  revolution on November 7, 1917.
• In 1918, the Bolsheviks renamed themselves the
  Communist Party.
• They also changed the name of their to country to
  the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
  (U.S.S.R.) or Soviet Union.

24
The Russian Civil War (1919-1921)

• A civil war broke out between those who supported
  Lenins program, known as the Reds (red army)
  and those who wished to return to the rule of the
  Tsar, known as the Whites. (Mensheviks the
  moderate group)
• Several foreign powers, including the United
  States, intervened, sending troops to help the
  Whites.
• The Reds defeated the Whites.
• This victory secured the position of the new
  Communist government.

25
The Terms of peace

• President Wilson announced Americas war aims in
  the Fourteen Points.
• No secret treaties
• Freedom of the seas for all nations
• Removal of all economic barriers, such as tariffs
• Reduction of national armaments
• Adjustment of colonial claims so they are fair to
  both the imperialist powers and colonial peoples
• Establishment of a general association of nations
  (League of Nations)

26
Defeat of the Central Powers

• In May 1918 Germans once again reached the Marne
  River 37 miles from Paris.
• Ferdinand Foch stopped the Germans at
  Chateau-Thierry.
• In July 1918 Allies began a counter attack
• Bulgaria surrendered in September
• Turks asked for peace
• In November 1918 a German delegation signed an
  armistice, an agreement to stop fighting.
• November 11, 1918 at 1100am all fighting would
  cease

27
Defeat of the Central Powers

• Costs of the war were very high
• Left more than 8.5 million soldiers dead
• 21 million more were wounded
• Germany suffered most severely (Lost more than
  1.8 million soldiers)
• USA lost 110,000 in battle
• Civilian deaths/injuries were also very high
• Total cost of war was 300 billion

28
The Paris Peace Conference

• Meet in Versailles in January 1919
• 4 major Allied powers dominated the conference
• President Woodrow Wilson (USA)
• Prime Minister David Lloyd George (GB)
• French Premier Georges Clemenceau
• Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando
• Different views of what the peace treaty should
  allow.
• Took 6 months to come up an agreement
• The Allied powers made separate peace treaties
  with all five central powers.

29
The Paris Peace Conference

• Treaty of Versailles Treaty signed with Germany
• Dealt very harshly with Germany
• Made Germany admit it was guilty of starting the
  war.
• Must alone pay reparations payment for war
  damages
• Took large chunks of territory from Germany
• New independent Poland was created
• Placed restrictions on German government
• Created the League of Nations

30
The League of Nations

• The League of nations purpose was to promote
  disarmament and prevent war.
• Had no military force of its own it depended on
  the help of its member states.
• The League consisted of a Council, representing
  the Great Powers, and an Assembly in which all
  member states were represented.
• It also created a new Court of International
  Justice.