1917 the turning point of WWI

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1917 the turning point of WWI

• The Russian Revolution
• The U.S. entered the war

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• Czar Nicholas II - Autocracy, Orthodoxy
  and Nationalism
• Unlike his predecessors, he was weak, incompetent
  and suspected of being under the influence of his
  German-born wife Alexandra, and a half-crazed
  monk named Grigori Rasputin.

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• There were two revolutions in 1917
• The February (March-western calendar)
• The October (November)

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The November 6th Revolution

• The second revolution was instigated and inspired
  by a radical socialist party then known as the
  Bolsheviks. Its leader was Vladimir Lenin.

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World War One The Battle of Tannenberg, 1914
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• In 1915, Czar Nicholas decided to go and direct
  the war from the front lines
• Czarina allowed a crazed monk named Rasputin to
  run the homefront

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Demonstrators gathering in front of the Winter
Palace in Petrograd, just prior to the Russian
Revolution, January 1917.
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• Czar Nicholas abdicated on March 15.A
  Provisional Government (the provisional
  government is often referred to as the Kerensky
  Government ) because its primary figure was
  Alexander Kerensky..
• - continued the war- - big mistake that led to
  its undoing

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Vladimir Ulyanov aka Lenin was a folk legend

• A founder of the Bolshevik Party which was
  outlawed in Russia.
• Lenin had spent 20 years living in exile but
  writing about a peoples revolution.

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Location of Bolshevik Leaders in February, 1917 Location of Bolshevik Leaders in February, 1917
Bolshevik Leaders Location
Lenin Switzerland
Radek Switzerland
Zinoviev Switzerland
Bukharin New York
Litvinov London
Antonov-Ovseenko Paris
Dzerzhinsky Moscow
Latsis Petrograd
Molotov Petrograd
Kirov Vladikavkaz
Stalin Kureika (Siberia)
Ordzhonikidze Pokrovsk (Siberia)
Sverdlov Turukhansk (Siberia)
Kamenev Achinsk (Siberia)
Rykov Narym (Siberia)

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• Lenin was secretly aided by the German govt to
  return to Russia

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Upon returning to Russia, Lenin promised Peace,
Bread and Land and All Power to the Soviets.
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The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918

• Lenin accepted Germanys harsh conditions in
  order to focus on securing powerthe real
  revolution was yet to come.
• Russia lost 1/3 of its population, 3/4 of its
  iron resources and 9/10 of its coal supply plus a
  huge indemnity to Germany.
• News of the treaty contributed to a civil war
  which lasted until 1921.

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American Entrance into the war

• Woodrow Wilsons
• Proclamation of Neutrality

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Significance of American entrance into the war

• Turned the tide of battle in favor of the Allies
• Broke sharply with Americas traditional
  avoidance of foreign entanglements the policy
  of isolation George Washington
• Americas emergence as a world power and
  eventually a world leader

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What changed for Americans?

• German unrestricted submarine warfare
• attacked ships of neutral nations without warning
  and without attempting to save the crew and
  passengers
• May 7, 1915 The Lusitania 128 Americans died

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Allied propaganda

• Americans felt a kinship with the British and
  friendship with France since the American
  Revolution

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American economic interests

• American agricultural and manufactured goods were
  sold almost exclusively to the Allies.
• American investors extended substantial loans to
  the Allies

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American idealism

• a war to end all wars
• the world must be made safe for democracy
• The March Revolution in Russia brought a
  democratic govt to Russia

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April 6, 1917 America goes to war

• The formal end to neutrality came when Congress
  passed a formal declaration of war
• Wilson offered a peace plan The Fourteen Points
• It took about a year for the U.S. to recruit,
  train, supply and transport a modern army to
  Europe

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Hostility towards Germany

• Autocratic Kaiser William
• Invasion of neutral Belgium
• The Lusitania
• Contd submarine warfare
• The Zimmerman telegram

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• Any questions?