World War I and the Russian Revolution

I. Background and Beginning A. Long-Term Causes 1. Nationalism – refers to an ideology,

a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that deals with a nation.

2. Competition over empire – covered in European colonialism.

3. European alliance system – Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, Russia), Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy).

European Alliances

4. The crisis that started the war came in the Balkans, in Sarajevo.

5. Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia, was a Slavic province under Austrian authority.

6. On June 28, 1914, a Bosnian Serb student assassinated the heir to Austria’s throne, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife.

Assassination of Ferdinand

7. Austria blamed the Serbian government and in July issued an Ultimatum: a list of humiliating demands and threatened war if they did not comply.

8. Russia was protective of Serbia as a fellow Slavic country and Germany assured Austria of its unwavering support.

9. On July 28th, Austria declared war on Serbia. Between July 28th and August 4th, Serbia, Austria, Russia, Germany, France, and Britain entered the war.

B. Combat 1. After the war began, it expanded

beyond the original alliance system. 2. The Triple entente now became the

Allies when it included the countries of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and South Africa.

3. The Triple Alliance now became the Central Powers when it included the countries of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire.

4. Germany’s Schlieffen Plan led to the ultimate failure of the Central Powers.

5. The plan required that Germany send 75 percent of the army against France with the goal of taking Paris within six weeks.

6. In order to surprise the French, Germany illegally invaded Belgium in an attempt to circumvent France’s defenses.

The Two Fronts

C. Trench Warfare and the two fronts 1. The Western Front and the Eastern Front

were very different. 2. The French army made a heroic stand at

the Marne River preventing the Germans from any further encroachments.

3. After the failure of the Schlieffen Plan both sides dug in to conduct what was called Trench warfare.

4. Accurate depictions of Trench Warfare can be found in Erich Maria Remarque’s book All Quiet on the Western Front.

Trench Warfare

5. The Eastern Front was much different extending over one thousand miles.

6. Serbia fell quickly to the Austrians and the Russians were soundly defeated. It is estimated that millions of Russians were killed, wounded or captured.

7. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended the Eastern Front with Russia ceding vast territories to Germany.

D. The Home Front 1. World War I introduced a new concept of

warfare known as Total War – nations involved their entire populations and mobilized their resources in order to carry on the fight.

2. It required conscription to fight the war with all the nations drafting more than 70 million men into their armies.

3. Women made up a large portions of the war effort of both sides, however, they were forced to give up their jobs once the men returned home.

E. Global Dimensions 1. The empires of all the belligerent

nations were mobilized in an attempt to win the war.

2. France and Britain mobilized native African troops, most of which served only in support roles.

3. France allowed African troops to serve in the Western Front while Britain involved their Indian Sepoy, Sikhs, and Nepalese Gurkhas in the Middle East.

4. Japan eventually fought alongside of the Allies seizing German colonies in the Pacific.

5. British agents stirred up rebellion among the Arabs who fought for independence against the Ottoman Empire.

6. The Ottoman Empire carried out the Armenian genocide by massacring as many as 2 million victims.

Armenian Genocide

F. The Treaty of Versailles 1. The Treaty of Versailles imposed the following

conditions on Germany: (1) War guilt (article 231)- Germany had to take

responsibility for the war. (2) Loss of Territory – Germany loss appx. 13% of

its territory. (3) Loss of Colonies (4) Disarmament – Germany was allowed only an

army of 100k soldiers and it was not permitted any aircraft, submarines, battleships, or heavy artillery.

(5) War payments – Germany had to pay the full cost of the war estimated to be at $32 Billion.

G. Paris Peace Conference 1. Woodrow Wilson brought American Idealism to

the table but European Allies had a strong thirst for revenge.

2. Britain’s Lloyd George and France’s Georges Clemenceau solely focused on making Germany pay for the war and keeping it weak in the future.

3. The only idea of Wilson’s that was supported was the establishment of the League of Nations which the U.S. Congress ironically refused to ratify.

4. Arab leaders were not granted the independence their were promised but were instead made into mandate states for French and British exploitation.

New European Map

H. The Russian Revolution 1. The Tsarist regime of Nicholas II fell in

February – March 1917 and was quickly replaced by a moderate Provisional Government.

2. The Provisional Government tried desperately to continue the war with Germany but they were unable to satisfy the majority of the population.

3. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Trotsky , overthrew the government the following fall.

4. From 1917 until 1921, the Russian people underwent a brutal Civil War which pitted the Bolshevik Red Army against their anticommunist enemies, the Whites.

5. From 1921 until his death in 1924, Lenin tried to modernize the Soviet Union along Marxist lines.