FIRST WORLD WAR

FIRST WORLD WAR

2.1. Introduction

The 20th century witnessed the inauguration of a new kind of warfare. It was the first global conflict in history. That is why it was called "The Great War". More than one hundred countries were involved (sixteen nations and their colonies) and nearly 80 million people fought.

Map of the World with the participants in the First World War. The Triple Entente allies in green, the Central Powers in orange, and the neutral countries in grey.

For the first time in history, the concept of total warfare appears. In previous wars, the victims were only those who were directly involved on the battlefield, and the impact was not as great. However, in the Great War there were more civilian deaths than military deaths; it affected both the front and the rear. It therefore affected society, work, the economy, the government... hence its name "total warfare".

Nobody expected the war to end up being so long and so destructive. At first everyone thought it was going to be a short war (a few months). However, when it was realised that it was not going to be, governments went to great lengths to run propaganda campaigns through the glorification of the war to keep morale high.

Poster in which British Marshal Kitchener appeals to young British men to enlist in the army.

"The most famous poster in the world." Over four million copies were printed between 1917 and 1918, as the United States entered World War I. Uncle Sam (initials U.S. common national personification of the American government

US Recruiting Office

German soldiers in a freight wagon on their way to the front in 1914.

Never before had a war been so destructive. The casualties include an estimated 10 million dead and 20 million wounded.

Entire cities were completely destroyed

Ypres (Belgium)

Nieuwpoort Square (Belgium) before and after the war

The war ends with an imposed and non-agreed peace that would bring new consequences in the future.

2.2. Causes of the war

1. Arms race and military blocks
2. Colonial conflicts
3. The outbreak of war: assassination of Franz Ferdinand

There were 3 main causes:

2.2.1. Arms race and military blocks

“Watch out, the dogs are barking”

Rivalries between the great European powers had existed long ago. Since the end of the 19th century, European countries have been keeping the peace while rearming at the same time, which is why this period is called "Armed peace” (*Paz Armada).

France, Russia and United Kingdom

1907

Triple Entente

1882

Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

Triple Alliance

European powers ended divided into two military blocks:

Mutual fears led to an arms race (* carrera de armamentos). Almost every country increased the size of its army and manufactured new weapons (UK increased its military spending from 44 million to 77 million, Germany from 90 million to 400 million).

2.2.2. Colonial conflicts

Wilhelm II, the German emperor wanted his own empire.

Morocco was the scenario of a major crisis. At the beginning of the 20th century, Morocco was one of the few African territories that had not been colonised by Europeans and remained independent, but several European powers showed an interest in the area.

However, Great Britain, Spain and German Empire had also interests:

I want it for me!!!

Give me a piece

Leave me alone in Egypt

What do you want in return?

France wanted to create a protectorate in Morocco.

OK!!

I give you Cameroon but leave me in Morocco!!

There were two crisis (1906, 1911) in which Wilhelm II tried to dominate Morocco and almost ended in a war. Finally France gave Germany Cameroon in exchange for Morocco and the war did not started (yet).

Morocco became a Hispano-Frech protectorate.

Another source of tension was the Balkans (*Los Balcanes). The Balkan peninsula had belonged to the Turkish Empire or Ottoman Empire for many years, but the Turks were very weakened and their empire was known in the 20th century as "the sick man of Europe" because of its weakness.

• Outside its borders: its weakness encouraged the ambitions of its neighbours (Austria-Hungary and Russia) who were keen to dominate the Balkan area (access to the sea, strategic control).

This caused a double problem for the Turks:

• Within their borders: their weakness caused that several Balkan countries become independent.

Franz Joseph I of Austria

I want the Balkans!!! and Serbia and Russia are standing in my way...

Between 1908 and 1913, there were 3 crises which culminated in the independence of more Balkan countries from the Ottoman Empire, Serbia expanded its borders, Russia increased its influence in the area and Austria-Hungary saw its power reduced, event that will ultimately culminate in the outbreak of war.

2.2.3. The outbreak of war: assassination of Franz Ferdinand

On 28 June 1914, a Bosnian student Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, on an official visit to Sarajevo (Bosnia).

Gavrilo Princip

Logo de la Mano Negra

Austria-Hungary sets in motion its plan to destroy Serbia: Gavrilo Princip supposedly belonged to a secret society affiliated with the Serbian terrorist organisation "The Black Hand", which aspired to unite all Balkan countries.

Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of being behind the attack and sent an ultimatum, they were given only two days to respond. Despite conciliatory efforts by the Serbian authorities, the Austrian government declared war on 28 July 1914. The alliance system was set in motion. World War I began.

2.3. The war

Italy, Romania, Greece, United States , China and Japan joined the Allies

The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers

ALLIES (France, United Kingdom and Russia)

CENTRAL POWERS (Germany and Austria-Hungary)

Up to fourteen European countries and their respective colonies, plus Japan and the United States, became involved.

1. War of movement (1914)

2. War of positions (1914-1917) 3. The decisive year (1917) 4. The end of the war (1918)

The war took place in four stages of the war between 1914 and 1918:

2.3.1. War of movement (1914)

Germany started the war with the Schlieffen Plan, named after its creator (Alfred von Schlieffen), which aimed to achieve a quick victory on the Western Front, defeating the French army, and then take over the Russian Front.

Alfred von Schlieffen

However, the Germans made the mistake of crossing into neutral Belgium and Britain, seeing itself threatened, entered the conflict on 4 August 1914. French troops, with the help of Britain, managed to halt the German advance at the Battle of the Marne (September 1914) and thus the possibility of a short war. This led to the stabilisation of the Western Front.

2.3.2. War of positions (1914-1917)

The most important were the Social-Democratic Worker´s Party (*Partido obrero socialdemócrata ruso) They were divided among:

• Bolsheviks (*Bolcheviques) more radical

• Mensheviks (*Mencheviques) more moderate

In the late 19th century, clandestine political parties opposing the Tsar were founded.

Trench line

From 1915 onwards, the war of movement gave way to trench or positional warfare. The fronts were stabilised and the armies fixed their positions, erected barbed wire barriers to prevent the enemy's advance, and protected themselves in trenches (*trincheras).

The war ends on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at eleven o'clock in the morning.

3.2. THE OPPOSITION

2.4. CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR

On the left -> In July 1917, the Bolsheviks organised an armed demonstration to seize power. The provisional government opened fire on the demonstrators. The demonstration failed and the Bolshevik party was declared illegal.

General Kornilov

Trotski

Lenin

On the right -> in September 1917 General Kornilov staged a military coup to install a dictatorship. The Provisional Government had to call on several parties (including the Bolsheviks!) for help in putting down the coup.

The provisional government will come under attack from all sides:

Somme battle

Clemenceau (France)

Wilson (U.S.)

Lloyd George (United Kingdom)

Orlando (Italy)

By 1920 Europe consisted of a total of twenty-eight states. All but two of them were parliamentary democracies.

New states were formed: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia.

The great empires that existed in Europe in 1914 disappeared: The Russian Empire (Russian Revolution). The German Empire (Republic). The Austro-Hungarian Empire (Republic). The Turkish Empire (new countries).

The peace treaties established a new organisation of European borders:

Europe after the war

Europe before the war

3.1. What was Russia like before the revolution?

At the end of the 19th century there was a slight process of industrialisation which was very limited to certain cities such as St. Petersburg, Moscow, etc. This led to the emergence of new middle and working classes in the cities, which to a large extent, initiated the revolution.

Russia in 1900 was an empire of enormous size, with more than 140 million inhabitants. It was made up of a great diversity of peoples and cultures. It was, therefore, very difficult to govern.

• The provisional government adopted a series of liberal reforms.

• But they made a big mistake: they did not come out of World War I.

Now what?

Without the Tsar, Russia was left in the hands of a provisional government that was set up to replace the Tsar. Its members were mostly democrats who wished to establish a liberal political system. The other parties offered their support.

Caricature of the blood-stained Tsar after Red Sunday published in a French magazine.

• Demonstrations multiplied.

• The Tsar was heavily criticised

• Peasants and workers met at soviets (popular assemblies).

Spark that ignited the 1905 revolutionary movement

Bloody Sunday

Russia entered the war in August 1914. The serious problems of a weak economy were compounded by the war. THE WAY TO A NEW REVOLUTION WAS OPENING UP...

The straw that broke the camel's back: Russia's entry into the First World War

Demonstration in front of the Winter Palace in Petrograd in February 1917.

On 23 February 1917, there were new protests in St. Petersburg (now renamed Petrograd). The revolutionary slogan was “Peace, bread and land”

2.3.3. The decisive year (1917)

2.3.4. The end of the war (1918)

Why did U.S. enter the war?

During the Civil War, to prevent them from being liberated by the Whites, the Bolsheviks decided to assassinate the Romanovs. On the night of 16-17 July 1918, the entire Russian royal family, the Tsar, the Tsarina and her five children, the Tsar's doctor and some of his servants were murdered in the cellar of a house. This event further aroused hatred of the Bolsheviks.

Two events in 1917 helped turn the tide of the war: The entry of the United States into the war (a major advantage for the Allies).The Russian Revolution (Russia exits the war and the war on the Eastern Front is over)

Germany takes advantage of Russia's exit from the war to carry out several offensives on the Western Front. But the massive entry of American troops allowed the Allies to mount a counter-attack that enabled them to regain all the ground they had lost as German troops retreated. All this forced the countries to surrender gradually in 1918:

• Bulgaria (29 September)
• Turkey (30 October)
• Austria-Hungary (3 November)
• Germany (11 November)

Who was Trotsky and how did he die?

Assault on the Winter Palace (25 October 1917)

On the night of 24-25 October, the Bolsheviks occupied all contacts with the outside world (banks, telephone exchanges and railway stations). On 25 October 1917 they stormed the Winter Palace, the seat of the Provisional Government, and arrested the members of the government. The Bolshevik revolution had triumphed without bloodshed.

Jutland battle

@GuiomarProfe

THANK YOU!

After the war was won, the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) (*URSS Unión de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas) was created in 1922 and existed until 1991 (69 years)

Russian Civil War (1918-1921)

Bolsheviks´ measures

Opposition from many sectors of the population

The Bolsheviks set up a socialist government with Lenin as president and carried out the following measures:

• To come out of the First World War

• Land was expropriated (taken) without compensation from the large landowners (nobility, Church) and given to the peasants.

• They promised to create a constitution and called elections in November 1917, but the outcome was not favourable to the Bolsheviks, which caused them to dissolve the assembly by force and set up a dictatorship of the proletariat.

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

The Revolution of October 1917

The Revolution of February 1917

Revolution of 1905

Background

Revolución de 1905

In 1916, three of the most important battles of the war were fought with unprecedented violence and cruelty:

- The Battle of Verdun (21 February - 19 December 1916) was the longest battle of the war, lasting ten months and killing over half a million soldiers. It was lost by the Germans. - The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was the bloodiest battle, with over a million soldiers killed between the two sides. It was started by the Allies and ended with no one winning. - The Battle of Jutland (31 May - 1 June 1916) was the largest naval engagement of the war. It resulted in a British victory.

The Tsar makes a pathetic impression when he cannot even reach Petrograd by train because the railway line is blocked and he has to stay in the forest.

The revolution had triumphed. They had succeeded in ending Tsarism.

Statue of the Tsar toppled by the crowd

Nicholas II abdicates and is imprisoned along with the rest of his family

The Tsar again gives the order to charge, but something unexpected happens: The troops refused to shoot the demonstrators! (among whom were his parents, brothers, sisters...) and shot the officers, joining the revolution.

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

The Revolution of October 1917

The Revolution of February 1917

Revolution of 1905

Background

Revolución de 1905

• Russia finish the war with Japan.

• Some civil liberties (freedom of conscience, expression, assembly, association) were granted.

• A representative regime was created, with a parliament: the Duma, with legislative powers. However, the Duma had very limited power, as the Tsar could veto any law.

October Manifesto (1905)

Nicholas II has no choice but to make some concessions and signs a document

Protests intensified the next day at the risk of their lives.

In January 1905 there was a peaceful workers' demonstration in St. Petersburg.

The revolution of 1905 is called the "Revolution of Discontent" because the origin of it all was the widespread discontent of the population: - The economic and social situation in Russia was desperate: hunger, shortages, inequality....- Russian peasants were impoverished.- Russian workers lived in horrible conditions.- As if this were not enough, in 1904 Russia started a war against Japan which led to shortages and rising food prices, and in which Russia was defeated, bringing the Tsar into even greater disrepute.

Many did not believe these reforms....

The Tsar's hand, stained with blood, on the text of the October Manifesto

Verdun battle

What was Tsar Nicholas II's response?

Opening fire on demonstrators

3.3. THE REVOLUTION

304 years

Nicholas II (1894-1917) Last Tsar of Russia of the House of Romanov

Michael I (1613-1645) First Tsar of Russia of the House of Romanov

Its political system was among the most authoritarian in Europe. The Romanov family had reigned for more than three centuries with an absolute and immobile monarchy (little change). Meanwhile, the rest of the world had experienced the American and French Revolutions.

Who was Rasputin? Find out about him and his relationship with the Tsars and the Russian Revolution. How did he die?

Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, Russian troops invade East Prussia and surprise the Germans, forcing them to move forces from France (explaining the failure of the Marne). The Germans defeat the Russians at the Battle of Tannenberg. The German setback in France becomes a victory in the East.

Russian soldiers surrender at the Battle of Tannenberg

The same as in 1905:

Open fire on demonstrators. 25 February was a very bloody day, hundreds of people are killed.

What was Tsar Nicholas II's response?

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

The Revolution of October 1917

The Revolution of February 1917

Revolution of 1905

Here the communists triumph

Here falls the Tsar

This is where the foundations are laid

In order to study the Russian revolution, one must understand that it was a process that had three revolutionary moments:

Background

Revolución de 1905

Finally the Red Army wins the civil war. Trotsky: <<We have won the civil war, but the price we have paid is that we have ruined the country>>.

It had a very backward, agrarian-based economy (agriculture and livestock). 80% of the population were peasants. Russia had not introduced the advances of the Industrial Revolution.

3. RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Who was Anastasia and what is the legend about her?

What was life like in the trenches?