3/30/11
Why were imperialism and materialism important features of the 2nd half of the 19th century?
v Justification for taking someone elses land
¨ Darwin- On the Origin of Species
Ø Evolution, natural selection later Descent of Man applies this to humans
Ø Church opposition ranged from Pius IX to Leon XIII to Moderninsts
Sp p716
¨ Social Darwinism- applied Darwin to the social order
Ø Herbert Spencer- beneficial to society if the “unfit” die- so government should not interfere
Ø German general Friedrich Berhardi “war is a biological necessity” à advancement of the race and “all real civilization” (by fighting, the superior race, which is stronger and fitter, will advance)
Superior races dominate the inferior
¶ Volkists: German racial nationalists who wanted to explore and celebrate their German identity
¶ Houston Stewart Chamberlain- The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century
Ø Germans were pure Aryans and needed to save civilization from lower races (Jews, Negroes, and Orientals)
Ø For some people it led to white man’s burden (because I am so superior I feel the need to help the inferior people in underdeveloped places)
¨ Economic factors for imperialism
Ø Industrial societies needed control of raw materials
Ø Looked for more profitable foreign investments and receive a better profit
Ø Lenin Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism- emphasized the idea of imperialism being the highest stage of Capitalism
¨ Nationalism à colonies
Ø Coaling stations- needed a place for coal, which nations needed to run their ships (navy) to refuel when they travel around the world
Ø **Increased prestige- people thought that nations that did not have colonies were weak
Ø See Sherman: Hobshawn and Carlton Hayes- argued that imperialism was not economic. The conservatives wanted imperialism, and they only used economic arguments to convince the liberals
Why was the Balkans a tinderbox?
v 1870 weak Ottoman (even weaker than it was during the Crimean War) empire and competing European interests: Russia, Austria, Britain, France, Germany
v Bismarck- peacemaker, wanted to prevent war (but he couldn’t)
v 1876 Serbia and Montenegro declared war on the OE
¨ Russia (with Austrian consent) attacked and defeated the OE (Russo-Turkish War of 1876-77) à Treaty of San Stefano
Ø Large Bulgarian State created (Danube to the north to the Aegean Sea in the south)
Ø Bulgaria was seen as a Russian satellite and the other powers wanted to challenge that à Congress of Berlin 1878
Dominated by Bismarck (who hosted the congress). He wanted to undo Russia’s gains
Bulgaria was shrunken- part of the territory was returned to the Ottomans à Russia quit the “3 emperor’s league” (Russia, Germany, and Austria)
¶ Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania were recognized as fully independent (no longer under Ottoman influence)
¶ Bosnia and Herzegovina were under Austria “protection”- Austrian could station troops there but not annex
3/31/11
v MAIN (militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism) factors causing WWI
¨ Alliances
Ø Germany and Austria 1879
Italy joined Germany and Austria 1882 to make Triple Alliance
¶ Defensive alliance against “2 or more great powers not members of the alliance”- intended for defense just in case someone attacked them (Russia/France)
¶ Support existing political order- they wanted to keep things as they were
Ø 1887 Reinsurance Treaty- Germany and Russia
Bismarck did not want a Russian-French alliance, so he made an alliance with Russia
However, Kaiser William II did not have much use for Bismarck and fired him (because William II wanted an aggressive, war policy, but Bismarck wanted to prevent war). When it was time for the treaty to be renewed, Kaiser did not want to renew it. Russia then feared that Germany was planning something against them à
Ø 1894- Franco-Russian Alliance
Ø 1894 Entente Cordiale- Britain and France
Ø 1907 Triple Entente- Russia joined the Entente powers (Britain and France)
v Balkan Crises (led to hostility)
¨ Bosnian crisis of 1907-08
Ø Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina to prevent Serbia from growing (they feared that Serbia expanding will cause Serbs in the Austrian empire to want to join Serbia, and spread to the other nationalities)
Ø Russia backed Serbia (they’re both Slavic people) and Serbia prepared for war against Austria
Ø Kaiser William II forced Russia to back off by threatening war with Germany (Russia accepted that Austria will annex these territories) à Russia felt humiliated and vowed revenge
¨ First Balkan War 1912
Ø Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece created the Balkan League and fought the OE (which was very weak) and conquered Macedonia and Albania, but they couldn’t agree on how to divide the land à
¨ Second Balkan War 1913
Ø Serbia, Greece, Romania, and the OE against Bulgaria
Ø Result: Bulgaria lost and got only a little piece of Macedonia
London Conference
¶ Serbia and Greece got most of the rest of the land BUT Serbia was not satisfied because Austria (with help from Germany) did not let Serbia get Albania (which had a port on the Adriatic Sea, which they wanted). Instead, Albania was made independent
¶ Results
Ø Serbia viewed Austria as evil monsters
Ø Russia was upset (they were backing the Slavs), and prepared for war
Ø Austria saw Serbia as a mortal danger- nationalism would destroy the empire
Ø France and Russia renewed their alliance and promised not to back down next time
Ø France and Britain drew closer
¨ By 1914, the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente were armed and ready for an outbreak of war
v Outbreak of the Great War
¨ Directly caused by the leaders of the European states in the Balkan crisis but background factors of militarism, nationalism, a desire to stop internal dissent
¨ Trigger: assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand was in Sarajevo (a city in Serbia)
Ø Bosnian nationalist Gavrilo Princip decided to shoot the Archduke. He did so with the backing of the Black Hand (secret nationalist society that wanted a Pan-Slavic country)
Austria suspected the Serbian government was involved
Government involvement
¶ Dragutin Ddimitrijevic- head of Serbian intelligence was also head of Black Hand. He ordered the murder
¶ Serbian PM tried and failed to stop the assassination
¨ Austria, worried about Russian reaction, consulted Germany and got a “blank check”
Ø Austria was nervous about Russia, and Germany said they could do whatever they want
¨ Austrian ultimatum to Serbia
Ø To avoid war:
Serbia should prevent all anti-Austrian or pro Greater Serbian expression propaganda
Austria can “help” investigate the murder
Ø Serbia refused to give control of the investigation to Austria and only agreed to limit press
¨ Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914
¨ Russia wanted to support Serbia- Czar tried to order a partial mobilization (against Austria) but the General Staff said it was too hard to do a “partial mobilization” à full mobilization July 29 (knew the Germans would consider this an act of war)
Ø Willi-Nikki Letters p751 Germans tried to prevent Russian mobilization (it takes Russia longer to mobilize) but they did not say that the Germans and Russians know that Germany can mobilize faster
v Plans
¨ Schlieffen Plan
Ø Assume that any war against Russia is also against France
Ø Plan was to attack France first through neutral Belgium
Ø Defeat the French and then redeploy against Russia
¨ Germany demanded passage through Belgium on August 2nd, declared war on Aug 3rd, and violated Belgian neutrality act (bc they said yes it would be like they’re on Germany’s side) but they went through anyway
Ø Britain declared war on Germany over violation of the Belgian neutrality, but they also don’t want their great power to lessen
Germany called the neutrality agreement a “scrap of paper”
Spielvogel suggests that fear of a powerful Austria-Germany motivated the British
¨ French Plan
Ø Attack towards Alsace-Lorraine and the Rhine
¨ Russia assumed any war would be against both Germany and Austria, and planned to simultaneously attack East Prussia in the north and Galicia in the south
¨ All plans depended on rapid deployment and quick movement à advantage to whoever was most “ready” to go
Why did serious conflict develop in Russia by 1905?
v Earlier: autocracy, orthodoxy, and nationalism had “worked”
v Alexander III opposed reform
¨ “Exceptional measures” to strengthen his personal power
Ø No rights
Ø Zemstvo’s power is much less
v Nicholas II pledged to be like his dad
¨ Problem: Rasputin was a monk who was insane, but he was believed to have the power to maintain Nicholas’ hemophilia. He was very influential and power hungry
¨ Some effort at reform: Sergel Witte, finance minister
Ø State sponsored industrialization
Steel and coal in Ukraine
Protective tariffs
Allowed foreign investment
Ø Railroad- started the trans-Siberian
v Marxists
¨ Development of industry à bad conditions for workers à socialist parties (recall: Liberation of Labor led by Plekhanov in Switzerland and Marxist Social Democratic Party in Russia) met in Minsk in 1903 à arrest of leaders à next meeting in Brussels
¨ 4/12 Smaller Marxists group: League of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Classes
Ø Vladimir Illich Ulyanov = Lenin
¨ After Lenin was released from Siberia, he joined Plekhanov in Switzerland, merged their groups into the Social Democrats (S.D.s)
Ø *DO NOT CONFUSE with the S.R. (Socialist Revolutionaries- narodniks)
v S.D.’s
¨ 1903 in London split in SD’s
Ø Mensheviks- means “minority”, but they were actually the majority (originally, they used to be the minority)
Wanted a large party to wait until the masses are ready to support a democratic regime
Ø Bolsheviks
Led by Lenin who wanted a small party of revolutionaries who would use force and overthrow existing order
v Lenin’s views
¨ No middle way between capitalism and communism
¨ Violent revolution is the only way to gain a proletarian state
¨ Democracy allows for the minority to be subjected by the majority
¨ Class struggle is entering the phase of civil
¨ Dedication to overthrowing the czar and the capitalist class
¨ It is OK to use legal methods, subterfuge-trickery
¨ To achieve goals:
Ø A small professional centralized leadership elite to direct the proletariat
¨ Top down leadership- central committee is in control
¨ 2 stages to revolution
Ø First, a bourgeois democratic revolution with workers, peasants, and bourgeoisie against the czar
Ø Then, a “socialist revolution”- workers and peasants will go against the bourgeoisie
¨ Worldwide (or European wide) revolution at the same time as the Russian revolution
Ø Get rid of anti-revolutionaries
¨ Socialist Rosa Luxemberg
Ø Thought Lenin wanted to be a dictator over the proletariat (he would be the boss, and boss the proletariat around)
Ø In this way, Lenin’s views were different from Marx
v 1905 Revolution- not Marxist, and not led by Lenin
¨ Causes
Ø Russo-Japanese War loss à upheaval
Ø Middle class business and professionals wanted a liberal political system
Ø Nationalities resented Russian domination
Ø Peasants wanted land
Ø Urban workers had bad living conditions
Russia started industrializing à bad affects of early industrialization, which were a burden on the urban workers
Ø Basically, all of the classes were upset
Ø Trigger: food shortages in the major cities
¨ Bloody Sunday
Ø Led by Father Gapon
Russian Orthodox priest
Spy for secret police
Led a peaceful protest of workers. The tone of the protest was polite and asking for help from the czar. They had a petition asking for certain rights
Ø The peasants’ respectful appeal was not revolutionary, but the czar answered by bullets
¨ Result: Workers organized unions and started strikes
Ø St. Petersburg: Menshevik leader Leon Trotsky organized the Soviet of Workers Deputies- representatives of various socialist groups
The number of soviets increased- they wanted to protect the rights of people
Zemstvos wanted parliamentary government
¨ October 1905 St. Petersburg Soviet called a general strike (all workers don’t work) à government concessions
Ø Count Witte suggested concessions to appeal to moderates and isolate extremists
October Manifesto
¶ Freedom of consciences and speech
¶ Voting, and a Duma which would be elected by a broad amount of people and would approve new laws
¶ No imprisonment without trial
It worked- it built support for the government, and the government was able to suppress a workers uprising in Moscow and arrest the St. Petersburg Soviet. However, all of the rights were too much for the czar to handle à
¨ Witte was forced to resign and was replaced by Peter Stolypin
Ø Stolypin supported “reform”
Wanted agricultural reform
Allowed peasants to get land. Some peasants were able to become wealthy (kulaks) and then they would support the czar
Gradually dissolved the mir
Ø Ruthless suppression of political opponents (Stolypin’s neckties)
Would not let others oppose him
New court system, which made it easier to arrest and hang people
¨ First Dumas were reformists but by 1907 the 3rd Duma was elected by a new system that gave more control to the ruch à more conservative Duma that lasted 5 years (also the 4th Duma did the same) but does not make enough reforms to prevent revolution
Ø Early Dumas (1st and 2nd) attempted reform (equality, education, taxation) but the reforms did not really work. These 2 Dumas were more reform oriented, so they were dissolved. The voting methods were changed so the 3rd and 4th Dumas were more conservative and didn’t do much reform
¨ Stolypin was assassinated in 1911
4/4/11
What were the fundamental causes of WWI?
The turning point of 19th century thought and optimism was all changed during World War I, which is why it is so important
v Nationalism
¨ Fierce Competition
Ø Each state was motivated only by its own self interest
Ø Economic competition
Ø Competing colonial rivalries
Ø Each state acted to the benefit of the state
¨ Each state wanted allies so they were not the weakest nation- they believed that the nations that were not tough and strong were the losers
¨ Acceptability of war- it was a way of preserving power
¨ Fear of internal conflict (and nationalisms)
Ø “Active policy” smothers internal differences. Being in war with another country will get rid of internal conflicts and differences with the nationalities
Ø Nationalists without states created internal fights (Poles, Irish, etc, were not happy being ruled by others)
¨ Popular support for war
Ø Individuals liked the idea of war and were excited about it à volunteers for the army
Ø Enthusiasm was so high that even the socialists as individuals joined
Ø Possible reason for the popular support: economic system (capitalism) wanted war profits and/or competition for raw materials and markets
War was profitable for the industries who would create materials for the war (bullets, guns, tanks)
Some industrialists would get profit from new markets and materials
¨ General expectation for a quick and successful war
v Militarism
¨ Large armies
Ø European armies doubled in size between 1870 and 1914
Ø Russia had the largest army with 1.3 million
Ø France and Germany had 900,000 each
Ø Britain, Italy, Austria had 250,000-500,000 each
Ø Armies were usually comprised of peasants (they were strong, unlike the urban workers)
¨ Increased influence of military leaders
¨ Plans
v Imperialism
¨ Ambition to be seen as a great power
¨ First Moroccan Crisis 1905
Ø Big crisis over Moroco (learn on your own)
Ø Scramble for Africa
Why was WWI such a destructive war?
Because it killed a lot of people, of course!
v The Start
¨ Everyone claimed to be fighting a defensive war for the “fatherland”
¨ Illusions
Ø Short
Ø War = “glorious adventure”- brings out the best in people- self sacrifice, heroism, nobility
v Reality 1914-15
¨ Germans seemed to be following plan- crossed into Belgium Aug 4th, and by 1st week in September they were 20 miles from Paris
¨ Germans underestimated the speed of British mobilization
Ø Didn’t realize how quickly Britain would come to help the French
Counterattack by Gen Joffre à stalemate (both sides were stuck in the mud)
¨ Trench war in west- “immobilized…for four years”
Ø They were basically in the same spot (trenches) for four years
Ø Life in the trenches were horrible- mice, mud, dust
¨ Eastern front- more movement by very heavy losses
Ø Russian attack into eastern Germany defeated by German generals von Hindenburg and Ludendorff by Aug-Sept
Ø Austrians were defeated by Russia in Galicia and thrown out of Serbia
Ø Italy switched sides and joined the Allies and attacked Austria
Realized the Central Powers were not being successful
Italy was promised certain territory for joining the Allies
¨ Germans helped the Austrians and pushed the Russians back 300 miles into Russia
Ø Bulgaria joined the CP and, with the Austrians and Germans, they eliminated Serbia from the war
v The Great Slaughter 1916-17
¨ Trenches “work”
Ø Provided good defensive cover
Ø Heavy artillery and concrete based machine guns
Ø Attempts to move trenches caused many deaths
¨ Troops weren’t as enthusiastic anymore
Ø Made unofficial truces- no attacking during breakfast
Ø Heavy casualties
¨ Other nations joined in
Ø Ottoman Empire joined the CP
Ø Britain tried to open a Balkan front at Gallipoli (however, it failed)
v World Wide Effects
¨ Britain sent T.E. Lawrence to encourage an Arab revolt against the Ottomans- promised Arab rule in the Middle East
¨ Britain used Australian, Indian, and New Zealand troops in the ME (middle east)
¨ US tried to be neutral
Ø British blockade of Germany à German blockade of Britain, enforced by submarines
Ø British ship the Lusitania was sunk by German submarines
100 Americans died (there was British ammunition on board, which is why the boat blew up so quickly) à US upset à temporary change in German policy (they would no longer use submarine warfare)
Ø 1917 Germany returned to unrestricted submarine warfare à US joined the Allies. American troops arrived in 1918, after the Russians pulled out
v Home Front
¨ Total war- not only involved soldiers, but everyone was involved in the war
¨ Political centralization
Ø Mass conscription in order to get enough troops
Ø Government control over the economy
Needed to produce products that were necessary for the war- guns, tanks, etc
Controlled prices, wages, rents
Rationing
Imports and exports were controlled
Nationalized transportation- government controlled transportation to give priority for war goods to take quicker transportation to the warfront
Some countries had compulsory labor employment- drafted people for war industry jobs (making guns, tanks, etc)
¨ Germany
Ø Walter Rathenau organized and controlled the War Raw Material Board
Decided whether materials were used for war goods or personal goods
Ø Big food problems- 750,000 Germans starved
Ø Military dominated by von Hindenburg and Ludendorff
Ø Auxiliary Service Law- all males who were not in the army between the ages of 16-60 had to work in a job that helped the war effort
¨ Britain
Ø After a brief effort to limit government control, they created a Ministry of Munitions under David Lloyd George
Encouraged the production of munitions and limited profits
Ø Rationed food
Ø Rent controls
¨ France had quarrels between military and civilian à strong civilian control under Clemenceau
Ø Problems
Germans occupied NE of France, which included the area that had coal and steel production
Not good at rationing and organization
¨ Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Italy had many more problems
Ø Not well organized
Ø Backward economies
Ø Did not have enough materials
Ø Minority problems in Russia and Austria-Hungary- minorities wanted independence, weren’t nationalistic to the empire and enthusiastic to the war
Ø Italy lacked resources and most people did not support the war
¨ Public opinion
Ø People weren’t as enthusiastic about the strikes anymore
Ø After 1916 strikes
Berlin arrest of Karl Liebknecht (socialist) à 50,000 workers went on strike
Ireland- Easter Sunday Uprising
¶ Irish Republican Brotherhood and Citizens Army took over government buildings and wanted Irish independence. British put down rebellion and condemned the leaders
Germany cut the bread ration à 200,000 people went on strike
Ø Opposition to war came from liberals and socialists
English and German liberals wanted to make negotiated peace with no changes in borders, but no one really listened to them
Calls for peace were generally ignored
Ø Mutinies
People in the army decided they did not want to obey anymore
Hard to put down mutinies, but eventually suppressed
Czechs decided they wanted an independent Czech state
Ø Government efforts to control public opinion
Britain: DORA- Defense of the Realm Act
¶ A dissenter who spoke up against the war could be arrested as a traitor
¶ Later- newspaper censorship
In France, the same thing occurred
¶ Censorship of the press- journalists who wrote against in the war were put into the war
Propaganda
¶ Not needed at the beginning because most people were enthusiastic and supported the war
¶ However, as the was went on they needed more effort to get support, thus more propaganda
¨ Social impact
Ø Labor
No unemployment
Trade unions were accepted more
Post war unions were more respected- collective bargaining
Unions increased prestige and membership
Ø Women
New jobs opened for women: banking and physical labor
Social effects of new working women
¶ Middle class women were shocked at the language and immorality of lower classes in the factories
Ø Men sometimes watched their mouths
Ø Blamed poverty and crowding à reformist movements
¶ Men were upset
¶ Women’s wages rose, but still did not equal men’s wages
¶ Little security in women’s jobs- expectation that this was a war emergency and women will stop doing these jobs after the war à women were let go after the war, and wages were cut
Long term effects for women
¶ Right to vote: Britain, Germany, and Austria right after the war. US in 1919
¶ Social emancipation of middle and upper class women
Anderson and Zinsser
¶ Downplay importance of WWI
¶ Major changes were in 1870 and 1920
Ø Social classes
Deaths hit jr. officers (often aristocrats) and unskilled workers/peasants (cannon fodder)
¶ Skilled workers often were exempt to train workers in war industries
Expectation of the “end of class conflict” was wrong
Economic impact was uneven
¶ Large firms favored for war production
¶ Inflation cut purchasing power (British workers were the exception- wages increased more than prices)
¶ Middle class people often could not keep up (pensions and salaries did not keep up)
v The end of the War
¨ Germany was encouraged by the withdrawal of Russia à final gamble: offensive in the west
¨ Mar-July attack brought the Germans to the Marne river (35 mi from Paris) à 2nd battle of the Marne
Ø French General Foch + 140,000 Americans won
¨ 2,000,000 Americans landed and started with the Allies towards Germany
¨ 9/29/18 General Ludendorff told the German leaders it was over
¨ Allies refused to make peace with autocratic imperial governments à reforms to make a liberal constitutional government
Ø Too late: naval units mutiny in Kiel and councils of civilians and soldiers (like the Russian soviets) formed and too over the administration of North Germany (November Revolution)
Kaiser fled to Holland and Socialists under Friedrich Ebert announces a republic
Ø Armistice 11/11/18- no more fighting. Work towards peace
¨ Socialists had split during the war (1916)
Ø Social Democrats wanted a gradual approach to socialism parliamentary democracy
Ø Minority of Independent Social Democratic Party wanted and immediate social revolution to be carried out by workers, sailors, and soldiers
Ø 1918 Independent Social Democratic Party led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg changed the name to the German Communist Party
¨ 2 parallel governments in Germany
Ø 1 parliamentary republic (Majority of Social Democrats)
Ø 2 Revolutionary socialist republic
¨ Unlike Russia, the radicals did not win
¨ Moderates ended the war à removed a major source of dissatisfaction
Ø January 1919 communists tried to seize power “second revolution”
Ø Ebert used socialists, regular army, and free corps to suppress the Communists in Berlin and Munich
Ø Liebknecht and Luxemburg were murdered
Ø Uprising à deep fear of communism among German middle class (Hitler will use this in the future)
¨ Austria-Hungary
Ø Nationalist forces à broke up the empire: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and also a large Slavic monarchy- Yugoslavia
Ø Resulting rivalries weakened Eastern Europe for 80 years
Ø Ethnic pride more important than class issues
Bela Kun attempted a communist government in Hungary- lasted 5 months
How was the czar overthrown?
v WWI worsened all of Russia’s problems
¨ Czar commanded the army-incompetent
¨ Industry
¨ Lack of trust between the people and government
¨ Results:
Ø Army suffered great losses
v Efforts to change the situation
¨ Conservative aristocrats assassinated Rasputin
¨ March 1917 Revolution
Ø February price of bread rose à rationing à women who had worked 12 hours in a factory forced to stand on line for hours, sick and starving children
Ø March 8th, 10,000 women marched into Petrograd calling for “peace and bread” and “down with autocracy” (March 8th became International Women’s Day)
Others joined the march and called for a general strike à effective, shut the factories à czar ordered the soldiers to disperse the crowds by shooting “if necessary” à soldiers joined the demonstration
¶ Duma met over the Czar’s objections, declared a provisional government, and asked czar to quit à March 15th the czar abdicated
Ø Government fell without any particular group organizing deliberate organization
v Provisional Government- Constitutional Democrats (middle class and liberal aristocrats)
¨ Goals: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, civil rights
¨ Mistake: stayed in the war to “preserve Russia’s honor”- upset both workers and peasants
¨ Problem: rival authority of the soviets (councils of workers’ and soldiers’ representatives)
Ø Petrograd Soviet established in March 1917 and was copied throughout the country
Ø Soviets were more radical- mostly socialists and represented lower class interests
Petrograd soviets’ Army No. 1: remove all officers and replace them with elected committees of representatives of the lower ranks à total chaos
Ø April 1917 Germans sent Lenin back to Russia “sealed train” to “make troubles for Russians”
Ø Lenin’s April thesis = his plan for revolutions- updated Marx
Eliminated the need for a bourgeois revolution before socialism
Russia can go directly to socialism using the soviets (a council of representatives of working class people) as “ready made instruments of power”
Bolsheviks needed to gain control of the soviets and used them to overthrow the provisional government
¶ Methods (slogan)
Ø Propaganda
Ø Peace, Land, Bread
Ø Worker control of production
Ø All power to the Soviets
Ø Provisional Government response (to the propaganda):
Promised a constitutional convention in the fall of 1917
¶ Convention would confiscate royal and monastic land for distribution to the peasants (but many peasants had already started to seize those lands by force)
July 1917 Russia made a military offensive against the Germans- failed because peasant soldiers deserted the fight to go home and get land
¶ Alexander Kerensky (Provisional Prime Minister) falsely (for now) accused Lenin of trying to overthrow the Provisional Government à Lenin went to Finland
September 1917 General Kornilov tried to march on Petrograd to seize power (was he against Kerensky or duped by Kerensky to create a sense of crisis?!) à Kerensky released the Bolsheviks from jail and arrested them and asked the Petrograd Soviet for help
¶ Result: convinced Lenin that the Provisional government was very weak
4/7/11
v October Revolution
¨ Bolsheviks had a slight majority in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets
¨ Lenin heard reports of unrest in Europe and thought that there would be a worldwide proletarian revolution- convinced the Bolsheviks that the time was right for revolution
¨ Trotsky helped Lenin by organizing the Military Revolutionary Committee
¨ November 6th-7th Bolsheviks took over the headquarters of the Provisional Government in the winter palace à quick collapse of the Provisional Government
v Bolshevik (Communist) rule
¨ Timed the overthrow to coincide with a meeting of the Congress of Soviets
¨ Lenin pretended to turn over to the Congress of Soviets BUT real power went to the Council of Peoples’ Commissars. Congress of Soviets adopted a few decrees on peace, and giving peasants land and workers control of the factories and then dissolved itself. Council of Peoples’ took over, and was dominated by Lenin
¨ Problem: Constituent Assembly was supposed to come into existence in January à Lenin arrested the leaders and dissolved the Assembly
¨ THIngs Lenin did
Ø Declared all land nationalized and turned it over to the rural soviets
Ø Gave control of the factories to worker committees (expected it to be temporary)
Ø Social change
Alexander Kollantai- Minister of Social Welfare
Marriafe is a civil act (not religious), divorce and abortion were allowed
Men and women were declared equal
Zhenotdel- women bureau within the CP
¨ Treary of Brest-Litovsk- March 3rd, 1918
Ø Russia came out of the war
Ø Peace
Ø Russia had to give up eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and Baltic provinces to Germany
Ø Lenin says it didn’t matter because there would soon be a socialist revolution in all over Europe, and everyone would be under the proletariat
¨ Civil War in Russia
Ø Whites = anti-Bolsheviks (royalists, bourgeoisie, liberals, socialists against Lenin, and allied troops who tried to get Russia back in the war. But the foreign soldiers actually helped the reds because of nationalism of foreigners)
Ø Reds (Bolsheviks) won
Trotsky was a military genius
Reds were well disciplined and recruited former czarist officers in supporting the “Russian” side
Interior lines of defense- easier to shift men and supplies
Communists were able to mobilize supplies
¶ Instead of going through all of Marx’s stages, Lenin decided to jump right into communism à
¶ “War communism”- nationalization of banks and industry, confiscation of grain and centralization of administration
¶ Revolutionary terror: Cheka (secret police)- killed anyone who opposed the regime
Ø White weaknesses
Political differences
Presence of foreign soldiers allowed the reds to be the “patriotic” side
How did the nations try to establish peace?
v Paris Peace Conference January 1919 à separate treaties with each defeated nation
¨ Big 4
Ø President Wilson (US)
Ø George Clemenceau (France)
Ø David Lloyd George (Britain)
Ø Vittorio Orlando (Italy)
¨ Hope- eternal peace
Ø Wanted to make it virtually impossible for future wars
¨ Germany was not invited and Russia was too busy with the civil war
¨ Problems
Ø Reconciling conflicting claims and expectation
Idealistic 14 points of Wilson
¶ Germans hoped that they would be the basis of the peace- allies accepted most of the reluctantly
¶ “Open covenants, openly arrived at” (no more secret treaties or negotiations- everything should be public)
¶ “Self determination of peoples” (European peoples should be allowed to decide whether they want to be independent or not- however, Wilson was racist, and did not believe Asians, Africans, etc, were capable of determining their independence)
¶ “Impartial adjustment of colonial claims” taking into consideration both the ‘interests of the populations involved and ‘equitable claims of the government’
¶ Reductions in national armaments
¶ Freedom of the seas
¶ Removal “as far as possible” of trade barriers
¶ Creation of a league of nations (Wilson believed the League of Nations would solve any problems in the future that were not solved now)
¶ Wilson’s list basically gave everyone a better life! The US and Britain both wanted this very badly. However, the Allies were reluctant in accepting the points
Vs. secret treaties promises
¶ Secret Treaty of London
Ø Italy was promised territory in the Austrian Tyrol Yugoslavia and Near East before they entered the war, however this treaty only became public after the war
¶ French demands
Ø Harsher approach to Germany
Ø Guarantee of French borders (create a demilitarized Germany and use the Rhineland as a buffer state)
Ø Demilitarize Germany
Ø Make Germany PAY for the costs of the war
§ 1) Germany ruined the French country
§ 2) Making the Germans pay will make it hard for them to rearm in the future
¶ George was a “moderate” but the English people elected him on a platform of “make the Germans pay” and the popular mood was “hang the Kaiser”
¶ Italy wanted the Irrendenta
Ø Question over boundaries
Wilson: self determination
¶ Experts would be used to determine boundaries based on ethnicity
Fear of the spread of Bolshevismà enlarging and strengthening Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania at the expense of Germany and Russia
v Treaty of Versailles with Germany June 1919
¨ Germany lost territory
Ø France got Alsace Lorraine
Ø Denmark got part of Schleswig
Ø Poland got West Prussia and Posen for a Polish Corridor to the sea
¨ Limits on German military
Ø General staff dissolved
Ø Long enlistments
Ø Max 100,000 men
Ø Abolished the German air force
¨ Saar River basin under the control of the League for 15 years- France got to mine the coal and keep the profits
¨ Rhineland demilitarized
¨ Germany must recognize the independence of Poland and Czechoslovakia
¨ Germany and Austria must never merge
¨ Japan got German rights in China
¨ War guilt clause = war was Germany and Austria’s fault à commission to decide on reparations Germany had to pay
¨ Created the League of Nations and its covenant is part of the treaty
v Results of the treaty
¨ Germans were very bitter about “war guilt” à myth- Germany had not really been defeated but was “stabbed in the back” by the socialists, democrats, and pacifists (Hitler spells that “Jews”)
¨ Idealists disappointed
¨ Clemenceau gave up his hope for an independent Rhineland in exchange for a defensive alliance with the US and Britain: help if France were to be attacked by Germany
Ø US Senate refused to ratify the alliance treaty à Britain also withdrew à France was left alone à France was left to take strong actions (against Germany)
¨ Regarding the 14 Points, Clemenceau said “Le bon Dieu n’avait que dix”
Ø “G-d only had 10”- he thought Wilson was being full of himself having 14 points, when G-d only had 10 commandments
¨ Some good things in the treaty
Ø Minorities were freed from foreign control
Ø League of Nations- but it was weaker because the US refused to join
¨ Other results
Ø Russia lost territory
Ø Austrian Empire disappeared
Ø New nations were created: Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia
Ø Other minority problems (even with the creation of these new nations, there will still “Germans in Poland, and Poles in Czechoslovakia…”
Ø Ottoman Empire was reduced to Turkey
Lost land to mandates- Lebanon and Syria went to France, Iraq and Palestine went to England
¨
