Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The Beginning of the Twentieth-Century Crisis:

War and Revolution

Timeline

Map 25.1: Europe in 1914

The Road to World War INationalism and Internal Dissent

Nationalism• Liberals claimed that creation of national states would bring peace• Led to competition instead of cooperation• Brinkmanship

Internal dissent• Ethnic tensions• Growing power of Socialist labor movements

MilitarismConscriptionInfluence of military leaders

The Outbreak of War: The Summer of 1914The effects of the Balkan Wars prior to 1914Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and wife Sophia, June 28, 1914Germany gives “full support” to AustriaRussian mobilizationSchlieffen Plan 

The Schlieffen Plan

The War 1914-195: Illusions & Stalemate

European attitudes toward the beginning of war

Failure of the Schlieffen Plan

First Battle of the Marne, September 6-10, 1914

Russian FailuresBattle of Tannenberg, August 30, 1914

Battle of Masurian Lakes, September 15, 1914

Austrian FailuresGalicia and Serbia

Germans come to Austria’s aid

Battle Scene in Northern France

The War 1916-1917: The Great Slaughter

Trench warfare“No-man’s land”

“Softening up” the enemy

Battle of Verdun, 70,000 lost

Battle of the Somme, 1916• Heaviest one-day loss in World War I

Trench Warfare in France

Map 25. 2: The Western Front, 1914-1918

Map 25.3: The Eastern Front, 1914-1918

The Widening of the WarAugust 1914: Ottoman Empire enters the war

Battle of Gallipoli, April 1915

May 1915: Italy enters the war against Austria-HungarySeptember 1915: Bulgaria enters the war on the side of the Central PowersMiddle East

Lawrence of Arabia (1888-1935)

April 1917: Entry of the United StatesThe United States tried to remain neutralSinking of the Lusitania, May 7, 1915Return to unrestricted submarine warfare January 1917United States enters the war, April 6, 1917Bolshevik Revolution, 1917

A New Kind of Warfare

Air Power1915: first use of airplanes on the battle-front

German use of zeppelins

Tanks1916: first use of tanks on the battlefield

Early tanks ineffective

1918: British Mark V first effective tank

The Home Front: The Impact of Total War

Government CentralizationConscription Effects on EconomiesPublic Order and Public Opinion

Dealing with unrestDefense of the Realm ActPropaganda

Social Impact of Total WarLabor benefitsNew roles for women

• Male concern over wages• Women began to demand equal pay• Gains for women

The Russian RevolutionWar and Discontent

Nicholas II was an autocratic rulerRussia not prepared for warInfluence of Rasputin

The March RevolutionProblems in PetrogradMarch of the women, March 8, 1917Calls for a general strikeSoldiers join the marchersProvisional Government takes control

• Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970)• Tried to carry on the war• Soviets sprang up

Bolsheviks under the leadership of Vladimir Ulianov, 1870-1924• Sent back to Russia in a sealed train by the Germans• “Peace, land and bread”

Map 25.4: The Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution (cont)The Bolshevik Revolution

Bolsheviks control Petrograd and Moscow sovietsCollapse of Provisional Government, November 6-7, 1917Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 3, 1918

Civil WarBolshevik (Red) army and Anti-Bolshevik (White) armyMurder of the Tsar and his family (July 16, 1918)Disunity among the white armyCommunists and “War communism”Invasion of allied troops19121: Communists victory

The Last Year of the WarLast German offensive, March 21-July 18, 1918Allied counterattack, Second Battle of the Marne, July 18, 1918General Ludendorff informs German leaders that the war is lostWilliam II abdicates, November 9, 1918Republic establishedArmistice, November 11, 1918The Casualties of the War

8 to 9 million soldiers killed, 22 million wounded

Revolutionary Upheavals in Germany and Austria-Hungary

Revolution in GermanyDivision of German Socialists

Formation of two governments

Failure of radicals to achieve control

Revolution in AustriaEthnic upheaval

Formation of independent republics

The Peace SettlementPalace of Versailles, January 1919, 27 Allied nationsWoodrow Wilson, Fourteen PointsPragmatism of other statesLloyd George determined to make Germany payGeorges Clemenceau of France concerned with his nation’s securityJanuary 25, 1919, the principle of the League of Nations adopted

The Treaty of Versailles

Five separate treaties (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire)

The most important was the Treaty of Versailles, June 18, 1919

Article 231, War Guilt Clause

100,000 man army

Loss of Alsace and Lorraine

Sections of Prussia to the new Polish state

German charges of a “dictated peace”

The Other Peace Treaties

German and Russian Empires lost territory in eastern EuropeNew nation-states: Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and HungaryRomania acquired additional lands from Russia, Hungary, and BulgariaYugoslaviaCompromises will lead to future problemsMinorities in every eastern European statesOttoman Empire dismembered

Promises of independence of Arab states in the Middle EastMandates

• France – Lebanon and Syria• Britain – Iraq and Palestine

United States Senate rejects the Versailles Peace Treaty

Map 25.5: Europe in 1919

The Middle East in 1919

Discussion QuestionsWhy were so many Europeans eager for war in 1914? Did Europe’s governments share their enthusiasm? What was “total war”? How did European governments meet the challenge of total mobilization? Why were so many people in the United States reluctant to get involved in World War I? Why did Woodrow Wilson see U.S. involvement as a necessity?Describe the goals of the major participants at the peace talks. How were these goals incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles?

Web Links

World War I: Trenches on the Web

The First World War: A Multimedia History

World War I: Document Archive

The Russian Revolution

The Empire That Was Russia