WW1 + The Russian Revolution

With tensions already running high in Europe, the assassination was a trigger for WW1.
Austria-Hungary gains German supports to attack Serbia in retaliation.

A Serbian man assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Alliances: the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance
Germany encouraged Austria-Hungary to invade Serbia in 1914.
Empires: Germany wanted to increase the size of its empire.
Russia's alliance with Serbia had almost led to a war over Bosnia in 1908. They wanted to stop Austria-Hungary from getting more powerful.
Russia and France were allies, so Germany felt threatened on two sides.
All the countries had signed a treaty to respect Belgium's neutrality but German invaded Belgium in 1914.
Arms race: Germany wanted a navy as big as Britian's.
Germany had a plan to invade France first if a war started.

Over 1 million Indian soldiers fought on the side of the British in WW1. This included soldiers from all of Britain's colonies in the Indian subcontinent: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar (Burma).

1st July 1916 - 18th November 1916

General Douglas Haig- leader of the British Army.

The generals are living a life of comfort behind the soldiers and the fighting. The General knew there were high death rates in the fight when going "Over the Top" and the plan was not working, going "Over the Top" did not get them anywhere.

The plan was to pound the German lines with shells. This would cut the barbed wire and kill most of the Germans in their trenches. Then the British soldiers would go "Over The Top", walking across No Man's land to capture the German trenches. The aim was to breakthrough German lines and then use cavalry to get behind the enemy trenches.

The artillery shells didn't cut the barbed wire, 30% of the 1.7 million shells fired by the British did not go off due to technological failure. Only some of the barbed wire had been successfully cut and this created bottlenecks where soldiers all crammed together to get through. This was an easy target for the German.
The bombardment stopped at 7:00 am by the British army, so the Germans knew something was coming, but the British didn't go over the top until 7:30 am. The Germans, therefore, had time to come up from their dugouts and man their machine guns.

February 1917- Russian Revolution
The government was overthrown, so the Russian make peace with Germany and withdrew from the war.
April 1912- USA declared war on Germany
German submarines started sinking submarines and boat that was transporting food to make Britain stave. However, in 1915 a ship called the Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine that was full of passengers. America got angry and declared war on Germany.
March 1918- Hundred Days offensive
German tried to win the war, by making a big attack and advancing 40 miles within sight of Paris, however, the British soldiers held them off. German commander Erich Ludendorff thought that Germany had to win the war before American soldiers arrived.
August 1918- Hundred Days offensive
The allied armies held on and launched a series of counter-attacks against the exhausted German troops. With fresh American soldiers arriving at a rate of 10,000 a day, the German lines were driven back again and again.
November 1918- Strikes in Berlin
Strikes and demonstrations broke out in Berlin due to the lack of food caused by the Allied naval blockade of German ports by British Ships. German sailors refused to obey orders (mutinied) when they were asked to try to break the blockade. The rest of the army also threatened to mutiny. The Kaiser abducted (resigned) and went to exile.
November 1918- Germany signed the Armistice
Armistice = agreement to stop fighting, letting the opposing side do anything to them as punishment.

Many German soldiers felt bitterly betrayed. They said " they had been stabbed in the back" by the new government who they called "the November Criminals".

Kaiser Wilhelm II was the leader of Germany during WWI and in January 1919 Ebert and a group of members elected to represent the German people, a National Assembly (Germany became a democracy).

28th June 1919

French Prime Minister- Georges Clemenceau ("Le Tigre")

Woodrow Wilson (created the League of Nation/United Nations).

David Lloyd George

money paid by Germany to make up for the damage caused during the war.

Blame for the war
Land
Reparation
Germany's armed forces

He had one very simple aim- Germany should be brought to its knees so it could never start a war again. Much of the fighting had been done on French land and large parts of France had been badly damaged, so the French peoplewanted revenge too.

He wanted to make the world safe. He wanted to end war forever by making a fair peace. His main ideas were:
1) Countries must seek to reduce their weapons and armed forces.
2) All countries should sort their problems out by talking.
3) National self- determination= people of the same nationality to rule themselves. People should not be ruled by other countries.
He wanted Germany not to take the blame for the war to prevent another war from happening and create a league of nations.

The British people wanted revenge and to make Germany pay and Lloyd George listened to their views. However, he did not want to punish Germany too badly as he thought it would start another war in the future,

1. Germany had to take all the blame for the damage of the war in the "War guilt clause".
2. Germany had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations.
3. The German army could have no more than 100,000 soldiers, no aircraft or submarines, and only 6 battleships.
4. Germany lost all of its overseas colonies and land was taken away from it in Europe.

East, West, North of Germany and the Polish corridor and Alsace and Lorraine.

In France.

Germany had to accept the treaty because the country was collapsing and people were rioting about the government and how they were the "November Criminals", they could not afford another war.

Dictator: is a ruler who has complete control of a country.
Communism: a set of beliefs that says that there should be no private property and all wealth should be shared equally.
Fascism: An extreme right-wing system of government with a powerful dictator and where no political opposition is allowed.
Republic: A system of government where the people have the power.
Democracy: a government led by a President who is elected by the people.
Theocracy: A system of government where a god or deity is recognised as guiding the people who rule the country.

In a democracy...
1) Everyone can vote and help to choose the government.
2) Everybody, including the government, must obey the law of the land.
3) People have the freedom to criticize the government and protest about its policies.
4) People can follow any religion they wish.
5) Newspapers can write what they like about the government.
6) A government has a limited time in power, after which voters can choose a different government.

In a dictatorship...
1) There are no free elections to change the government.
2) The government controls the media, newspaper, radio, and films.
3) People who criticize the government may be tortured, imprisoned, or sent to special camps.
4) Secret police keep the people under control, often using brutal methods like torture.
5) Trade Unions are banned.
In the 1930s Great Britain was a...

democracy.
dictatorships.

Left-Wing: Communist- Russia/Soviet Union/USSR
Right-Wing: Fascist- Italy and Germany

Karl Marz and wrote the Communist Capital.

1)Women are seen equal as to men.
2) People can work at something they enjoy.
3) no classes
4) the poor would get what they needed.

1) Peasants had to give up every that they owned.
2) They believed that they need a dictatorship to enforce communism.
3) You had no view or opinion about government.

Vladimir Lenin

1917

21st January 1924

Joseph Stalin

Stalin wanted to turn the Soviet Union into a great power, which would show the world how great communism was. He wanted to catch up with the rich countries in the West, like the USA and the UK.

Over 1,500 massive new factories, 100 new industrial towns, and 90 new towns. To achieve his aim, Stalin's government hired foreign engineers and bought the best foreign machinery.

They were hungry but most were forced to leave their homes and work where directed. Workers had to work very hard, for long hours, without much reward. Working conditions were extremely poor and dangerous and if they made mistakes, they were accused of "wrecking" or "sabotage" and were arrested and punished. People had to work in the freezing cold and accidents were very common, 1 worker died every 4 hours, on average, during the First Five Year Plan.

Peasants were forced to hand over their land, animals, and tools to collective farms and to work co-operatively. They had to give much of their produce to the state and were then allowed to share out what was left.

Many peasants refused to join the collective farms. Some peasants killed their animals rather than hand them over and often murdered officials sent to supervise the changeover.

Stalin sent police and soldiers to round up and deport them to labor camps, million of them died. Stalin expelled five million peasants from their homes and drove them to barren regions where most died of starvation or cold.

The result was the opposite of what Stalin hoped would happen. Food became scarce and in 1932-33 a famine killed more than 5 million people.