IDs and Definitions
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“between the hammer and the anvil”
“Miracle of the Marne”
armistice
Reparations
Questions and Imperatives
• When did Russia pull out of WWI and America
enter WWI, and what were the reasons for
their actions?
• Are nation-states inherently adversarial?
Give examples. (Class discussion)
WWI
• Between the Hammer and the anvil means
Germany striking France through Belgium
• the miracle of Marne is that this did not happen
• Marne, in north of France is where French put up
all they had (even by taxi) and held the
Germans (September 1914)
• Chancellor of Germany, von Moltke, resigned
over this fiasco and Falkenhaym replaced
him as Chancellor
• Falkenhaym said “we’ll attack the French at
Verdun, the carnage point in the war ==>
Battles and loss of life
• between February 1916 and December 1916,
360,000 French and 335,000 Germans were
killed at Verdun
• In July-mid November 1916, the Battle of Somme,
lost many troops
• 400,000 Germans, 200,000 French, 400,000 English
• on this 28 mile front, they had penetrated only 7
miles
• romance was taken out of the war
• both sides started using poison gas
• there was rationing because of the blockades
Trench Latrines (from the internet)
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regulation Trench Latrine was supposed to be dug in pits 4-5 feet deep often at the rear
of the Trench, but sometimes at the frontline, forward, so that men did not linger
longer than was necessary.
A bucket was placed in the pit. Each company would have two 'Sanitary personnel,'
whose job it was to empty the Latrine buckets, bury the contents, and dig new
pits.
Obviously this was not a particularly pleasant duty, and was often reserved as a
punishment for defaulters.
This duty was understandably most objectionable and there were even cases of it
leading to desertion.
Defecating in a fighting or communication trench being a punishable offence.
The most favourite type of Latrine at the front was the 'Two-holer' which was
considered superior to the 'One-holer' as mates could sit side by side and chat.
Because of the smell, many officers and some soldiers chose to go out into No-mansLand with a spade after dark. It was wise if taking this option to first warn the
sentries that you were doing so, to avoid being accidently shot as you crept back.
Before units changed over at the front, the Latrine pits were supposed to be filled in
and new ones dug for the incoming unit. In practice this consisted of just
chucking the contents of the bucket into the nearest shell hole, or as far as
possible.
German High Command
• In 1916, the German high command changed
• von Hindenburg in command with Ludendorf as his second in
command (on paper)
• von indicates that von Hindenburg was a Junker from the
Aristocracy
• Ludendorf was from the lower classes but was the military brains,
the two had fought together
• Ludendorf was given the title quartermaster general
• Ludendorf ran the show, pushing everyone around
• he ran the show at home and abroad
• he organized supplies for his army
• was a beastly character, even pushed around the Kaiser, was a
natural born Fascist (would fight with Hitler at the beer hall
in 1922)
• these two men were a shot in the arm for Germany
Back in German society...
• the war effort was more important than
anything
• freedoms could be set aside, whatever was
best for the war
• during the harshest times of war/weather,
Germans were almost starving
Russia pulls out of the War
• On the Eastern front the Russians were faltering in 1915-16
• lacked medical supplies, were outmanned, were dying from
enemy fire and disease
• only one out of three had a weapon, had to find one from the
dead
• Germany gave Lenin free transport (sealed railroad car) back
into Russia so he could launch a revolution there
• the Tsar abdicated in March 1917 and the provisional
government took over (Korinsky’s government)
• the provisional government wanted to stay in the war
• the Bolsheviks stormed the palace in November and took
over the provisional government
• Lenin signed the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Germany, March
1918 (a bitter treaty), giving the Russia people “peace”
• end of fighting in the East allowed for German troops to be
strengthened on Western front by General Ludendorff
USA enters War
• US had remained “neutral”
• May 1915, a German U-boat sank the British passenger
ship (Lusitania) off the coast of Ireland, killing nearly
1200 passengers, including 128 Americans
• Wilson still preached neutrality
• June 1916, National Defense Act passed which allowed
for an increase in the size of the American army
• Zimmerman Telegram 1917
• American ships sunk by u-boats
• Declares war May 1917
• 5,000,000 American doughboys support
the allies and stop Germany
• 350,000 killed or wounded
Last Gasp German Effort
• The Germans transported all that they could
from the eastern front to the western front
• ...big push...March 17, 1918...France and Britain
held up against the Germans...and in July
1918, it was a last gasp attack for
Germany...they were spent...US sending
more troops for France and Britain
• In October, 1918, the high command: “The
German army is no longer capable to defend
the fatherland, it behooves the council to
beg for peace”…
ARMISTICE
• Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate in order
to create a republic (Wilhelm went to
Holland)
• November 11th at 11:00 AM (1918), there was a
cease fire
• armistice (Nov 11) took place in a railroad car at
Compiègne (Hitler would use this same car)
• World War I claimed nearly 38 million casualties
among all nations
New Germany
• Elections after the war
• a republic was declared in Germany
• Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert became president with
Philipp Scheidemann as his Chancellor
• the president was elected by a popular vote (men and
women 20 and older)
• there had been fighting in northern France, now all was quiet
• the allied representative (commander in chief of the allied
forces), General Foch, met the Germans to discuss the
armistice
• Germans were told to stack arms and march home
• made the Germans extremely angry (made them look bad)
• with no arms they lost their ability to negotiate
Paris Peace Conference
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Began January 19, 1919
Wilson (USA...landed in France December 1918)
David Lloyd George (England)
George Clemenceau (France)...the tiger
Italy was one of the big four but didn’t really play a part
Russia was still involved in Bolshevik revolution and Lenin didn’t want to go
Germany was left out altogether.
French delegation made up of Prime Minister Clemenceau, President of the
French Republic, Poincaré, General Foch (leader of the allied forces)
French hated the Germans and it was obvious at the conference
the bulk of the war was fought in Northern France (was leveled)
there was still feelings about Alsace-Lorraine
there had been acts of wanton violence as the Germans had retreated
through France and this intensified the hatred
too many Germans and a good German is a dead German
wanted to drill the Germans for every reparation
Treaty of Versailles
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About 500 pages
down to 100,000 troops from 4,000,000
no heavy weapons (artillery, tanks, air force)
lost territory (Alsace-Lorraine to France, newly created Poland (mostly
Germans), including Danzig Corridor cutting strip through Germany
German’s loss of land
– Poland (poles and ethnic minorities of Russians, Jews and Ukrainians)
– Czechoslovakia
– Yugoslavia,
– Romania was enlarged
– Austria/Hungary were losers and reduced in size
– with a large Poland, Germany and Russia had less land and now
someone top stand against them
open ended reparations...initially 1,000,000,000 francs
an admission of guilt (war guilt clause...you started WWI)
Germany had 24 hours to sign after presented with the treaty...they signed
since they had no weapons and were demobilized (because of
Armistice)...signed at Versailles (hall of 1000 mirrors)
Stab-in-the-back
• Stab-in-the-back theory began
• The Versailles Treaty was signed June 28,
1919...Scheidemann would not sign...said
“the hand must wither that signs this paper.”
• Was it a harsh treaty?
• SIGNIFICANCE OF WWI
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Why do
most scholars consider WWI the
most significant event of the
twentieth century? Do You?