CHAPTER 25
WWI
International Rivalry

Unified Germany upset Balance of Power in Europe
: Bismarck allied with AustriaHungary and Russia
 Austria-Hungary & Russia alliance weak over Balkans
 1876: Serbia declared war on Ottomans
1878 – Russia received Bulgaria
 Congress
of Berlin (1878) cancelled Treaty
 Russia terminated the League
(1882) Germany, Austria, Italy
New Alliances


Emperor William II ended all alliances with Russia
France jumped at the chance to ally with Russia
(1907) – England, France, Russia


Alliances became more and more inflexible
Balkans Crisis (1908-1913)
1908- Austria annexed Bosnia & Herzegovina to impede a
larger Serbia
 Russia humiliated when backed off Serbian support
 1912:
(Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro,
Greece) turned against each other over victory against
Ottomans

Causes

Strong
Restraint is a sign of weakness
 Bravado is seen as honorable
 Many minorities sought own nation
 Competition over colonies led to fierce competition
 Each country believed itself sovereign – answers to no one
 War is a viable option to many – even to stop internal
unrest


Conscription doubled military and influence of leaders
grew
Causes

Alliances
: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
“
” – German assured Austria-Hungary they
would send their full support
: Russia, France, England
 Didn’t
promise to defend each other, but did encircle other
the Triple Alliance
June 28,1914

Russia on
Austria
Russia, still embarrassed over Bosnian crisis
British on military against Austria
mobilized
Germany over
Belgium &
Peace
Also Germany
Declared war on…
Germany on
France
(Schlieffen!)
Germany on
Russia
Illusions & Stalemate
From Munich, via Metz, to Paris (Metz was a French city beaten by Germans in 1870)
Illusions and Stalemate


1st Battle of
Marne (Sep
1914)
stopped
German
Advance
Trench
Warfare –
dug in for 4
years
War in the East

Paul von
Hindenburg
defeated
Russians at
Tannenberg
& Masurian
Lakes
Trenches dumbfounded military “experts” that were trained
and used to movement and maneuver
Millions of men died being thrown at the other trench
Stalemate leads to new allies
Central Powers




Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
Allied Powers





Britain
France
Russia
Italy
United States!
 Lawrence of Arabia destroyed Ottoman
Empire’s holdings in Middle East using troops
from India, Australia, New Zealand
 Britain used African soldiers to seize
German holdings
 Japan took German land in China & Pacific
Effects of Total War



Centralization of government
Mass conscription
Nationalization of transportation and industry
 Compulsory

Ministry of Munitions led by David Lloyd George
 Private


employment
industry made war materials at limited profits
Irish Nationalism Movement
Women went to work
“Feed children
"Increase payments to the soldiers' families of the
defenders of freedom and world peace".
defenders of
the
motherland“
 Tsar Nicholas II took control of the armed forces
 Russian industry unable to produce weapons for army
 1914-1916: 8 million casualties (2 million KIA)
Russian Revolution
: women began a march (March 8)
calling for “peace and bread” that turned into a General
Strike (March 10)
Tsar Nicholas called for soldiers to disperse the crowds
 Soldiers joined the crowds instead
Nicholas demands
& Alexandra(March
were first
 The
(legislature) met against Nicholas’
cousins with
George
V
12)and created a provisional government (March
15)
-- Tsar
abdicated the same day


Parliamentary democracy, universal suffrage, civil equality, 8 hour work
day
Russian Provisional government
: councils of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies
 Sprang
up in army units and towns
 Represented more radical interests of the lower classes
 Composed of socialists
 Marxist Social Democratic Party
–(minority) wanted mass electoral socialist
party based on Western Model, willing to cooperate with
parliamentary model while working towards socialist state
(majority) violent revolution to destroy
capitalist system
Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)








Vladimir Ulianov
Legal education, became lawyer
1887: brother executed for planning to kill Tsar
Lenin turned to Marxism
Arrested for organizing an illegal group
Shipped to Siberia
Exiled in Switzerland
Sent to Finland by Germans hoping to create disorder
– blueprint for revolutionary action
Russia can move directly into socialism
 “Peace, Land, Bread”
 “All power to the Soviets!”

Bolshevik Revolution


Lenin and Bolsheviks accused of trying to overthrow Provisional
Government, exiled to Finland
General Lavr Kornilov began to move troops from the Eastern
Front to Petrograd




Provisional Government released Bolsheviks for help
Kornilov never made it, showed Lenin how weak government was
With Leon Trotsky (leader of Petrograd soviet) the Bolsheviks
seized power in name of soviets
November 8: Council of People’s Commisars


Lenin as head
Land nationalized, factories turned to workers, legalized divorce
– gave up eastern Poland, Ukraine,
Finland, Baltic provinces to Germany
Civil War
– Bolsheviks
– Anti-Bolsheviks





Imperialists, Mensheviks, Anti-Semites
Trotsky, Commisar of War,
reinstated draft, recruited former
tsarist army officers, rigid discipline,
executions for deserters
Disunion of White Army vs. SingleMindedness
Insular Defense
War Communism: nationalization of
banks and industries
–
(secret
police) destroyed opposition
End of War



Russia pulling out of war major setback…
Countered with American arrival
Germany tried to sue for peace but the angry
German people wanted reform
 William
II left the country
 Friedrich Ebert & Socialists announced a republic

November 11, at 11:11 armistice went into effect
: 9 million dead, 22 million
wounded
Upheaval



1919: Radical socialists
(Communists) attempted to
seize power in Berlin
Friedrich Ebert and other
moderate socialists called on
army to put down rebellion
Created a fear of
Communism in Germany
Versailles Treaty


Wilson wanted open agreements & self determination
David Lloyd George & Georges Clemenceau wanted
revenge
 Reparations,

demilitarization
– Germany and Austria took blame
– left to German and allies
– to 100,000, eliminate air force
– Alsace and Lorraine France, Prussia
 Poland, Rhineland demilitarized
Other treaties strengthened Eastern Nations