The Great War

Imperialism,

1898 Spain looses the last of the american possessions in the spanish-american war
(good times)

This is also when puerto rico becomes independent of Spain. The Philippines did not
just rise up enjoy when the americans come in and liberate the Philippines from spain.
The us enters a long and bloody war to control the Philippines.

Italy loses ethiopia and the japanese are expanding into China ad Taiwan and in 1904
japan attacks russian forces and wins non-western power wins over a western power.

A lot more resistance on the part of the colonized peoples. The Boxer rebellion, rebel-
lion against the government who made concessions to the brittish during the opium
wars

Turkish Nationalists, Indian nationalists. Nationalism on the part of the colonized people
is going to be successful.

Within europe, the powers are trying to protect themselves.

Triple Alliance- Led by the germans German, Austria, and Italy. When germany needs to
protect itself it needs political sympathizers and geographically useful.The austrians
have a problem with nationalism though, to the south they are inhabited by slavic peo-
ple, who want to be free. The slavs for a long time had been put down by western euro-
pean people.So when bismarck is building up his alliance system, he has to figure out
someway to make russia and austrians play nice together, inevtibally it doesnt work.

Dual Alliance- Between Germany and Austria, if one of us is attacked we will respond.
Why on earth would you connect yourself with austria when russia is likly to get invo-
loved with Austria? Basically bismarck has no intention of honoring the other side of the
agreement.

The movement that is the slavic nationalism is called Pan-Slavism and the largest slavic
nation is russia, so smaller slavic groups are going to look to russia for support and
help.

Bismarck does two things: he has a propoganda campaing to persude the europeans
that the germans are happy where they are, at the same time he wants to protect ger-
many to prevent a two front war so he seeks alliances.

William II becomes the German emperor and doesn’t likeBismarck’s plan he is not
happy with the concillatory language . William gives a speech that germany will take its
place in the sun and fires bismarck, after about 1890, the isolation of the french and the
russians starts to fall apart and feel vulnerable.
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Inspite of all their differences, French and Russians start to talk

Triple Entente (Entente Cordial) [not formalized]- they start working out conflicts they
have with each other and do sign some agreements. French and english start talking to
each-other also, even though they hated each other. Germans ad the english are actu-
ally natural allies. If the english are going to ally with the french, they have to figure out
why they don’t want to ally with the germans.

Germany starts building a navy, but can’t quite get it right. And england finds that
threatening so they side with france.

Increase in tensions

There are several wars in the balkans in 1912 and each time the slavic peoples who are
dominatd by austria are lookingg for some independence

Each time the slavs look to russia and say ‘help’ but russia always says no.

It seems that there is no way to avoid war

June 28 1914 Archduke ferdinand of austria goes to sarejevo and is shot dead in his
car, as it turns out the shooter was serbian and is a member of the terrorist group called
the black hand .

The black hand was a well connected terrorist group and had roots in pro pan slavism
and had connections wit the serbian government.

Austria gives ultimatums to serjevo should concede to austria that terrorism is bad and
that the austrian police inspect the crime and serbia feels that that will eat away at their
soveriegnty. The ultimatums are unacceptable.

The austrians knew this and hoped that they woulnt accept them. The serbs actually
accept everything except allowing austrians comming in to investigate.

The austrians invade, and think that germany will help them, but intitially they dont. This
time the slavs say help to russia and this time russia does. But they are not industrial-
ized or fast.

The germans now have a two-front war problem Schlieffen Plan. Basically said that rus-
sia will take a long time in the east so France will be quicker that means they will take
out france first and then move to the east to stop russia.

Germans violate the neutrality of belgium by crossing through it so britian declares war
on germany.
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The french forces were not humiliated in 1914 , Paris is never taken and the line stalls in
paris and the war stagnates ad it becomes a war of attrition, and whoever runs out first
loses. Only france is self sufficent on food, the germans need very much to capture
some coastline or else they will loose the war. Also they expected wars of movement
and speed. And it becomes a trench war. When the order was given you go over the top
into ‘no man’s land’ when soldiers were given the order to go over the top they were
mowed down with these new weapons. And barbed wire was also developed .

In the fist three months of the war 1.5 million casualties, the first group to go over the
top usually experienced 90% mortality

French general says it is working against us.

Cult of the offensive.

The nature of the fighting was traumatizing ad the losses were staggering. This war
chnged the way te west thinks because it is so horrriffic.

The us does not declare

Lusitania , 1200 passengers on board, 125 which are american, sunk by a submarine
by the germans

Batlle of the sonne

20,000 troupes died after that trip over the top

Racial barriers are going to fall

The war was a total war

Fun

Governments throughout europe are going to take control of the economy and make
sure that official policies can’t be criticized, so a lot of sedition laws are passed

No clear goal for WWI

The workforce is restructured b/c a lot of men are brought into the service, a lot of
women are used to filll the positions

When men are wounded and come home, they are unable to take the jobs that they had
beforewhat it means to be male and what it means to be female

100,000 vietnamese (vietnam is a french colony) forced to work in france

Exonomic strif created with the war

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The home front

Rusian revolution

Provisional government, Mar 1917

Bolshevik revolution, Novemeber 1917

People don’t like the tzar because they don’t think he knows what is going on with the
war

Every failure becomes the tzar’s failure

The peasants dont have land ad tey are very unhappy about this

1917 in March revolution has exploded, naklus and alexandra are forced off the throne
called ‘February revolution

Peace, Land , and bread

The provisional government continues to fight the revolution

The communists led by lenin (the octoberists revolution)

The first thing they do is negotiate the peace

The us is unprepared for war by spig of 1918 we have enough troupes to make a dif-
ference, the german army suffers more than 2,000,000 casualties

The kaiser abdicates, and a republic is declared

Armistice in Nov 11, 1918

10 million dead 30 million wounded

The economy was in shambles, an peopel didnt have enough to eat, flue epidemic killed
20,000,000i KNOW

A lot of moral questions

Peacemaking

Weimar govenrment in Gemrany

How do we rebuild europe? How do restructure the peace

The victors want revenge,r they want humiliation.

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The french lost over a million buildng

Wilson’s 14 points

Austrians loose 3/4 of their territory

Treaty of Versailles

Igned in te hall of mirrors

Alsace and Lorraine get this land back (france gets this back)

Reparations- a demand that the germans pay for the civilian damage that was caused,
132 billion gold marks; a amount that germany can’t pay ‘

Article 231 paying the reparations and war guilt clause

Hyper inflation

League of natiomn