1914 - 1945

EHAP Review Pt. 5

World War I (1914-1918)

Immediate Cause: the “Powder Keg” of Balkan Peninsula w/ assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists

“MAIN” long-term causes:

Militarization (Germany unification)Alliances (Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente)Imperialism (colonial rivalries)Nationalism (Italy, Ger., Pan-Slavism)

Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, *Italy, & (Turkey)

Triple Entente: Britain, France, & Russia

Crises Leading to War

1905: First Moroccan Crisis: Germany tried to take over Tangiers (Morocco)

1908: Balkan Crisis: both Austria & Serbia wanted to expand in the Balkans

1911: Second Moroccan CrisisBalkan Wars of 1912 & 1913: Greece,

Bulgaria, & Serbia defeat Ottoman TurksJune 28, 1914: in Sarajevo the Archduke killed

by Gavrillo Princip of the Black Hand nationalists

Austrian Ultimatum: Austria blamed Serbian nationalists & demanded the killers…

War

Serbian’s: accepted some of ultimatum, but rejected loss of sovereignty

German Actions: mobilizationRussia?…mobilization July 28, 1914: Ger. invaded Belgium &

Austria declared war on SerbiaEng. & Fr.?…declared war on Ger.Ger. declares war on Russia; Russia declares

war against “Central Powers”

The War

German strategy: Schlieffen Plan (conquer France, then Russia…) failed

brutal trench warfare ensued

Russian losses were enormous: led to the collapse of Czarist Russian in 1917

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1917): Russia out of war

New Methods of Warfare

British naval strength…but Ger. U-boats inflicted great damage in Atlantic

sinking of the Lusitania (entrance of the U.S.)

trench warfaresubsheavy artillery/machine gunspoison gastanks & planes (but ineffective)

War Ends

Allied victory at Battle of Verdun in Fr. turned tide

armistice on Nov. 11, 1918Treaty of Versailles (1919): “Big 4” Lloyd George,

Clemenceau, Orlando, & Wilson controlled conference

League of Nations established Alsace & Lorraine restored to Fr. war reparations paid by Ger. Ger. de-militarization Ger. “war guilt” clause Middle East under “Mandate” control by Eng. & Fr. new countries (ex: Yugoslavia)

New Map of Europe

World War I Casualties

01,000,0002,000,0003,000,0004,000,0005,000,0006,000,0007,000,0008,000,0009,000,000

10,000,000RussiaGermanyAustria-HungaryFranceGreat BritainItalyTurkeyUS

1918 Flu Pandemic:

50,000,000 – 100,000,000 died!50,000,000 – 100,000,000 died!

Russian “Communist” Rev.

Czar Nick. II ignored demands from revolution of 1905

WW I dissatisfaction food shortages lack of guns/bullets for soldiersRasputin’s influence on Czarina Alexandra

Revolution of March, 1917

strike in St. Petersburg mutiny by troops dissolved the Duma

Provisional Gov’t takes power (run by Kerensky & Prince Lvov)

Czar Nick. II abdicated (royal family arrested) executed by the Bolshevik party Provisional Gov’t stayed in WW I, despite

demands by Bolsheviks

The Soviets

Soviets: small workers’ councils

most radical Soviet under control of Trotsky

Soviets called for end to war & land reform for peasants & workers

Lenin: active in Marxist party & led the Bolsheviks

Road to Revolution

April 16, 1917: Lenin returns to Russia from exile in a sealed rail car…

Germany did this, believing that he would end Russia’s involvement in WW I

Lenin’s motto: “Peace, Land, & Bread” exactly what peasants wanted to hear…

Civil War: Bolsheviks (Reds) against Provisional Gov’t (Mensheviks; Whites)

The October Revolution

Nov. 6, 1917: Lenin & Trotsky arrested remaining members of Provisional Gov’t

Nov. 7, 1917: Lenin renames Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

1917-1928: enacted Soviet policies (“nationalized” farms &

industries) expected worldwide revolutions power struggle b/ Stalin & Trotsky

Soviets

National Congress

Committees

Politburo

General Secretary of the Communist Party

Leninism

Politburo

The Russian State from 1918 until 1989

Internal Problems

USSR out of WW I, but lost territory to Ger.

5 yr. bloody civil waranarchists & peasants revolted in

countryside

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Lenin’s method of both control & relief limited private farms allowed some peasants to

keep food & sell it gov’t control of heavy industry & trade

Kulaks (traditional farmers) made some profits by NEP

Trotsky wanted them killed many Kulaks starved to death under Stalin

Stalin vs. Trotsky

Lenin died in 1924 (in his will he left USSR to Trotsky)

Trotsky: wanted worldwide revolution Stalin: rebuild USSR

Trotsky exiled (assassinated in 1941)

Stalinist Russia

Great Purges (1934-38): executions, arrests, suicides

Five Year Plans: collectivization of agriculture & heavy industrialization

steel mills, electrical power, cement, railroads, & tractors

run by high-ranking communist party members

“Cult of personality”: eliminate anyone not loyal

"There is a person, there is a problem; there is no person, there is no problem."

Four... Three...

Two... One...

Changing History

Soviet Foreign Policy

initially, Stalin favored “Socialism in one State”…

late 1930’s: stop Hitler & Fascism

post-WWII: spread the revolution (China, Korea, Vietnam, Cuba)

Rise of Totalitarianism

Leftist: Communism Stalin: USSR

Right wing: Fascism Italy: Mussolini Germany: Hitler Spain: Franco

Rise of Mussolini

Italy switched to Allied side in WWI… Italy disappointed w/ Treaty of Versailles

Economy in shambles after warKing Victor Emmanuel III no real powerMussolini organized fasci groups

the “Black Shirts”, a para-military group emerged

fascism: political philosophy of state-controlled military/economy (anti-democratic & anti-communist) uses terror & dictatorial practices

Fascist Italy

1921: Fascists elected to the parliamentOct. 1922: March on Rome: Blackshirts &

discontented Italians marched on Rome demanding new gov’t

King Vic. yielded constitutional authority to Mussolini he created a fascist militia gave himself absolute control*allowed private property

Fascist economy: a corporate state called syndicalism (collective will of the people…)

Fascist Policies

The Lateran Accords: Mussolini neutralized the Catholic Church (1929)

granted Vatican independence for no interference

Foreign Policy: sent troops to help Franco in Spanish Civil War occupied invaded Albania & Ethiopia

Germany After WW I

Nov. 1918: Kaiser Wilhelm ousted & Weimar Republic created Weimar Republic blamed for Treaty of Versailles

Weimar Republic: dominated by the Social Democrats elected 1st Pres. (Ebert) Constitution gave universal suffrage*Chancellor could rule by emergency decree

Crisis in the Weimar Rep.

Opposition from both Communists (Sparticists) & Fascists many moderate political leaders killed

Ger. faced horrible inflation & defaulted on war reparation payments (Fr. occupied the Ruhr)Stab-in-the-back theory by Ludendorff:

claimed gov’t surrendered even though they could have won

Munich Beer Hall Putsch (1923): Hitler & Ludendorff led a coup & were imprisoned

while in jail, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf

Rise of Hitler

Great Depression changed the political climate: Nazi party promised to regain German greatness

Hitler formed SA (Stormtroopers) & offered a meal & a shirt to any man who joined Nazi cause

Nazi had lower class & middle support1930 Reichstag Election: Nazi party gained seats

Nazis began to march in large ralliesElection of 1932: Hindenberg won Presidency

Nazi party gained more seats 1933: Hitler appointed Chancellor

Hitler’s Consolidation of Power

Feb. 1933: Hitler arranged for a Dutchman to burn the Reichstag building

fire blamed on communists Hitler invoked emergency clause of the constitution

Hitler’s Policies: ruled through seizure, terror, & dictatorshippurged dissidents (“Night of the Long Knives”)Gestapo (secret police)1934: took title of “Fuehrer” pulled Ger. out of League of Nations Nuremberg Laws (anti-Semitic)

Nazi Bureaucracy

Goebbels: led the Ministry of Propaganda to spread Nazi ideas

Goering: built air force (Luftwaffe)Rosenberg: spread anti-Semitic and

Aryan supremacy theoriesHess: Chief Secretary who carried out

Nazi policies

Nazi GermanyMilitarization

4 year plans: war materials, food, & Autobahn Gov’t funded research in weapons forced labor, abolition of unions Nazi Youth

Church members persecutedAll non-Aryans barred from office

one-party stateCultural: Kulturkampf spread Nazi ideals

art & music (Wagner) glorified the Nazi mother

Hitler’s Foreign Policy

control Europe through Lebensraum “living space” eastward for German Aryans

led to WW II

Spanish Civil War

Spanish Republic (1931-36): very unstable.

1936: General Franco of the fascist Falange party led a military coup

aided by Hitler & Mussolini

Inter-war England

Eng. a “joyless victor” of WW I: economic crises (Great Depression, inflation, &

unemployment) political instability (Ireland & colonial problems) Conservative Party & Labor Party disagreements rise of fascism

“Problem of Ireland”: hatred between Ulster in N. Ireland (Protestant & pro-British) & the rest of Ireland (Catholic & pro-independence)

Sinn Fein pushed for Irish independence (terrorism) Ireland broke away in 1930’s (except for Ulster)

British Mandates & Dominions

Middle East: Egypt: independence from Britain in 1922

British still dominated Suez Canal Iraq: independence from Britain in 1921

British dominated oil fields until 1950’s “Palestine”: promised to both Arabs & Jews by Brits

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, & S. Africa: Statute of Westminster (1931): gave dominions

“Commonwealth” free status

Interwar France

Fr. lost most property, wealth, & pop. in WW I Germans stopped paying war payments 1923: Fr. Invaded the Ruhr (industrial area) 1932: Hoover Moratorium permanently end

payments

Foreign policy: Pres. Poincare made secret pacts to avoid German attack

Maginot Line on border (did not include border w/ Belgium…)

President Briand signed Locarno Pacts (secured borders) & the Kellogg-Briand Pact which outlawed war (1928)

French Political Problems

Unstable government (“Political Turnstile”) political scandals (Stravinsky affair 1933) radical parties appease Hitler or join Popular Front w/USSR?

Leon Blum: Fr. socialist who promoted a popular front gov’t

wanted to intervene in the Spanish civil war & nationalize some industries

“Better Hitler than Blum”: gov’t fell to Daladier’s gov’t

THE ROAD TO WW II

Inter-war yrs. led to WW II: economic: great depression & protective tariffs

failure of the League of Nations: NO power to enforce decisions U.S. did not join 1935: German rearmament

resentment of Versailles by Ger.: war guilt clause war reparations lost land

Appeasement of Hitler

1935: Ger. leaves League of N.1936: Ger. occupation of the Rhineland1938: Anschluss (Ger.-Austrian

unification)1936-39: Ger. & Italian aid to FrancoMarch 1938, Munich Conference: Hitler

given Sudetenland for promise not annex rest of Czechoslovakia

Sept. 1938: Hitler took rest Czech.

War

August 1939: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (secretly split Poland; Baltic states to USSR)

Sept. 1, 1939: Hitler invaded Poland Allies declared war

June 1940: Fr. fell to Nazis Vichy France created under Marshall Petain

Winter War (1940): USSR vs. FinlandBy early 1942: major victories for Germans &

Japs. U.S. entry & 47 Allied nations joined war effort

Operation Barbarossa

The Russian Front

June 1941: Ger. invaded USSR winter conditions & Russian scorched earth

policy slowed Ger.

June 1942: Battle of Stalingrad turning point in Eastern front Russians now on the offensive

The Teheran Conference: Dec. 1943 “The Big Three” (FDR, Churchill, & Stalin) met to coordinate war plans

90% of Stalingrad destroyed

Mediterranean Front

German Afrika Korps led by General Rommel (the “Desert Fox”)

British defeated Rommel at Battle of El Alamein

General Montgomery (Br.) & Eisenhower (U.S.) took N. Africa in May, 1943

Italy: Allied invasion of Sicily & Italy Italy surrendered & Mussolini

executed

D-Day

June 6, 1944: D-Day Allied invasion of beaches of Normandy, Fr.

Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945): “Big Three” met Final war decisions allowed USSR to liberate Berlin agreed to divide Ger. after war agreed to hold Nuremberg trials

Spring 1945: Allies & entered the RhinelandMay 8, 1945: Victory Europe Day

Russians entered Berlin Ger. surrendered after Hitler committed suicide

The The ““Big ThreeBig Three””Joseph Stalin, F.D.R., & Winston Churchill

The Potsdam Conference

July-August 1945

Big Threecarry out Yalta provisionsde-Nazify & demilitarize Ger.war reparations for Ger.

U.N. flag (HQ in N.Y.C.)