HISTORY 12

UNIT 1 CONFLICT AND CHALLENGE: THE WORLD OF 1919

NOTES

Ben LeporeSeptember 8, 2017

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Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles

Objectives: Wilson, Clemenceau and George

Woodrow Wilson and the United States

Woodrow Wilson (idealist) believed war was caused by three major factors: secret diplomacy among nations, tendency of dominant nationalities to oppress ethnic minorities, and autocratic governments ruled by elites

Wilson's Fourteen Points addressed these key issues (refer to TCV p.56) Wilson hoped the Fourteen Points would be the basis for a new world order self-determination probably the most important recommendation which meant

major revision of European borders wanted to resume free flow of trade so that American business could continue to

prosper greatest national interest in peace process was to maintain their robust economy

so the U.S. placed pressure on Britain and France to repay war loans and in turn Britain and France passed on this financial burden to Germany

Georges Clemenceau and France

PM Georges Clemenceau (realist) wanted revenge, compensation, and guarantee war would not happen again

France had two goals: national security and financial reparations to ensure national security France wanted to remove the threat from German

military France received Alsace-Lorraine but not the German Rhineland (buffer zone)

because it violated principle of self-determination so the region was demilitarized; Germany prohibited from placing troops or fortifications within 50 km of the east bank of the Rhine River and Allies occupied the west bank for 15 years

military restrictions and pledge of military assistance from Britain and U.S. in the event of German aggression addressed France's security concerns

to make up for German destruction of French coal mines France was awarded coal rights in Germany's Saar Valley until 1935

1921 Reparations Commissions assessed Germany $33 billion of which 52% went to France

David Lloyd George and Britain

PM Lloyd George (moderate) believed Germany should not be humiliated or bankrupt otherwise it would not be able to help get European industry and trade moving again and feared the spread of communism

the key British objective was to ensure the security of the sea lanes to its empire which meant that German sea power had to be crippled

this was achieved by reducing the German navy to a token force of six warships, prohibiting submarines, and redistributing German colonies to the Allies

Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles

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Main Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Territory (refer to table on p.46 International Affairs “Treaty of Versailles”)

Alsace-Lorraine returned to France Moresnet, Eupen, Malmedy transferred to Belgium Danish-speaking northern half of Slesvig joined Denmark in a plebiscite Posen, West Prussia, part of Upper Silesia transferred to Poland Danzig became a free city administered by the League of Nations Memel transferred to Lithuania Germany renounced territory gained in the Treaty of Brest Litovsk (Russia) and

Treaty of Bucharest (Romania)

Colonies

Germany lost its colonies in Africa and Asia to the League of Nations who transferred them to various nations as mandates

part of German East Africa was transferred to Belgium and the other part became the British colony Tanganyika

Britain and France share Togoland and the Cameroons German Southwest Africa was transferred to South Africa German colonies in the Pacific south of the equator were divided between Britain,

Australia, New Zealand; colonies north of the equator went to Japan

Military

the Rhineland was demilitarized and occupied by Allied troops for 15 years the east bank of the Rhine was demilitarized and no armed forces, military

installations or army maneuvers were permitted army limited to 100,000, no conscription, and tanks were prohibited air force was prohibited navy limited to 12 destroyers, 6 light cruisers, 6 battleships with a

minimum10,000 tonnes, and submarines were prohibited

Reparations

Germany to pay war reparations to France and Belgium for damages caused during the war

Reparations Commission established to determine the amount and in 1921 Germany was assessed $33 billion (included pensions and war debt)

Germany to pay reparations for shipping damage by turning over part of its merchant marine fleet to Britain

coal mines of the Saar were given to France for 15 years as compensation for destruction of France’s northern coal mines by the retreating German army

Article 231 (War Guilt Clause)

Germany to accept responsibility for starting the war

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the clause served as legal justification for reparations

Anschluss (union)

unification between Germany and Austria forbidden

League of Nations

Germany was not allowed to be a member

Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George and Treaty of Versailles

Objectives Satisfied Not Satisfied

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Wilson League of Nations

established

self-determination in Eastern Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia)

disarmament (military restrictions)

most of the Fourteen Points were ignored or rejected

only the defeated powers were disarmed

Britain refused to accept freedom of the seas

Britain, France, Belgium refused to allow self-determination to their colonies

Anschluss was denied

Senate refused to accept the treaty or join the League of Nations

Fourteen Points

repay war loans

resume the free flow of trade and maintain robust economy

did not want to cripple Germany

Clemenceau Article 231

disarmament (military restrictions)

Alsace-Lorraine returned

received German colonies

received Saar coalfields for only 15 years

Rhineland only demilitarized not an independent country

reparations not high enough

national security remove military threat

reparationsfinancial compensation for damages

revenge and punishment

Lloyd George reduction of the

German navy

received German colonies

did not support League of Nations

opposed self-determination

reparations too high

ensure security of sea lanes to its empirereduce German navy

did not want to cripple Germany

Source: How did the ‘Big Three’ feel about the Treaty of Versailles?

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Paris Peace Conference and the Peace Treaties

The Successor States

World War I and Eastern/Central Europe

German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian (Turkish as well) empires were destroyed by the war

Poles, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Austrians, Hungarians declared their separate existence within new nations

these new nations were recognized or established at the Paris Peace Conference partly due to Wilson’s principle of self-determination

however these new nations were also established in order to isolate communist Russia and contain Germany

Eastern and Central Europe

the successor states dramatically changed the structure of Eastern and Central Europe and created instability

Eastern and Central Europe became a chaotic region in which rampant nationalists forces strove to establish their own nations in the midst of civil war and social revolution

the new nations held within their borders large ethnic minorities that made them politically unstable

Austria and Treaty of St. Germain September 1919

Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian Silesia and parts of Lower Austria were transferred to Czechoslovakia

Galacia was transferred to Poland Bukovina was transferred to Romania South Tyrol was transferred to Italy (1915 Treaty of London) as well as Trieste and

Istria Austria lost more than two-thirds of its territory Austria accepted responsibility for starting the war, assessed reparations for

thirty years, and the army was limited to 30,000

Hungary and Treaty of Trianon June 1920

Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory mostly to Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia

Hungary lost half of its road and railway network and most of its timber resources Hungary accepted responsibility for starting the war and pay reparations the army was limited to 35,000 and airplanes, tanks, heavy artillery were

prohibited Hungary wanted to overturn the terms of the Versailles Conference along with

Germany and Italy

Bulgaria and Treaty of Neuilly November 1919

Western Thrace was transferred to Greece Southern Dobrudja was transferred to Romania Bulgaria had to accept responsibility for starting the war, pay reparations and its

army limited to 20,000Romania

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Romania obtained Transylvania, Bukovina and part of Hanat from Hungary, Southern Dodrudja from Bulgaria and Bessarabia from Russia

consequently Romania contained over a million Magyars, nearly a million Russians and Ukrainians, over 700,000 Germans and 350,000 Bulgarians

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia was a new state created partly in recognition of Serbia’s claim that it should unite all Slavs in the Balkans and an example of Wilson’s national self-determination

Yugoslavia was built around the independent states of Serbia and Montenegro, it acquired Slovenia and Dalmatia from Austria and Croatia from Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina from Austria-Hungary (annexed in 1908) and Macedonia (Turkey 1913)

Yugoslavia, Romania, and Czechoslovakia formed the Little Entente to deter Hungary from reacquiring its lost territory

Czechoslovakia

October 1918 Czech nationalist led by Thomas Masaryk and Eduard Benes proclaimed their independence from Austria-Hungary and established the state of Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia included 600,000 Ruthenians, 700,000 Magyars, 3 million Germans in Sudetenland who declared they are part of Austria Oct1918

however the Sudetenland was awarded to Czechoslovakia in order to give the new state a strategic frontier against Germany

Poland

Poland was a major European power in the early 17th century but was partitioned by Austria, Prussia and Russia be the end of the 18th century

the creation of a Polish state with access to the sea was a war aim of the U.S. (Fourteen Points), Britain and France

after World War I Poland embarked on a series of military campaigns against Russia, Germany, Lithuania and Czechoslovakia

by 1921 Poland included territory acquired from Russia in the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, part of Galicia, Posen, West Prussia (Polish Corridor), part of Upper Silesia and part of East Prussia from German

Danzig became a free city administered by the League of Nations but Poland maintained considerable influence

Turkey and Treaty of Sevres 1920

Turkish nationalists would not recognize the settlement imposed upon them in the treaty and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk led a rebellion that deposed the Sultan and organized resistance to transfer of western Anatolia to Greece

Turks and Greeks fight for two years before peace restored 1923 Treaty of Lausanne arranged for an exchange of populations and Turkey

continued to control mainland Asia Minor

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The Search for Security

League of Nations

League of Nations

Wilson promoted the idea of the League of Nations as a way to prevent war through the collective action of its members who were required to respect and protect each other's territories > principle of collective security which meant that an attack on a member of the League would be viewed as an attack on all members

Britain and France accepted the League as a way to retain U.S. commitment to the future peace and stability of Europe but preferred bilateral relationships

the main objective of the League was to preserve the peace of the world through international cooperation, arbitration and collective security collective security members agreed to help other members who were attacked an attack on one member was an attack on all the members it was hoped that aggression would be stopped using economic sanctions members would be obligated to break off trade with the aggressor nation forcing it through a lack of supplies to stop fighting

Covenant of the League was included in each of the treaties at the peace conference thus the nations that signed the treaties were obligated to support the League

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Mandates

the colonies of Germany and Turkey became the responsibility of one or another of the League's members who were given the mandate to bring them as quickly as possible to self-governing status

Britain and Japan were in possession of most of these colonies but agreed to League supervision under a mandate system

the ruling nations did not regard the colonies the same way as the League not possible for the League to change the ways Britain and France ran the Middle

Eastern mandates because they were the backbone of the League refer MHMW p.33

International Labour Office (ILO)

its objective was to improve working conditions and raise standard of living

The World Court

located at The Hague in Holland its effectiveness was hindered by allowing members to opt out and lack of power to enforce its decisions

Accomplishments

it effectively administered the Saar Valley and Danzing for 15 years it settled territorial disputes between Finland and Sweden 1921, Turkey and Iraq

1924 and Greece and Bulgaria 1925 work in the social and humanitarian fields (refer to GF p.32)

Reasons for the Failure of the League

Incomplete Membership

U.S. Senate refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles and receded in isolation American public opinion opposed to further involvement in European affairs U.S. absence from the League weakened the effectiveness of economic sanctions

against aggressors since the aggressor nation can obtain supplies from the U.S. U.S. absence left Britain and France as the only major powers in the League but

they preferred direct negotiations between states and refused to place their affairs in the hand of an impotent organization

since the League was the only organization responsible for enforcing the terms of the treaties the absence of the U.S. was serious if Germany chose to challenge the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Russia (1934) and Germany (1926) were originally excluded

Lack of Power and Enforcement

the League had no adequate means to enforce its will on offenders as it did not have an army

although it had the power to impose economic sanctions if often lacked the will to do so

Structure of the League

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the League was muddles and it took a long time to do anything the decisions of the Assembly had to be unanimous which was difficult to achieve

and paralysed the League the members of the Council were able to veto League action thus preventing it

from doing anything

Great Depression

the Depression made countries try to get more land and power they were worried about their economies not world peace countries did not want to impose sanctions and further reduce trade during the

economic crisis

Nationalism

large countries were unwilling to be told what to do by larger countries and Japan, Italy and Germany still viewed war as means of national advancement

Attitude of members towards the League

the major powers did not take the League seriously and undermined its effectiveness; Italy and Japan betrayed the League and Britain and France did not do enough to make it work

Examples of the Failure of Collective Security and League of Nations

Japan - Japanese invasion of Manchuria September 1931-February 1932

Japan’s expansion on the Asian mainland was designed to secure minerals essential for industrial growth and therefore the Japanese sought to acquire an empire that would sustain industrial expansion

September 1931 Japan occupied Manchuria and renamed it Manchuko League action was delayed by Japan’s veto in council U.S. proclaimed the Stimson Doctrine which stated they would not recognize any

boundary changes made by force of arms the League adopted the doctrine and sent the Lord Lytton to investigate the Lytton commission urged recognition of Japan’s economic interests in

Manchuria and its need to have a military presence to protect its interests but branded it the aggressor

Japanese responded by withdrawing from the League the League decided that it had no further responsibilities in the matter and no

further action was required significance: the League demonstrated it was incapable of enforcing world

peace, it encouraged European dictators to try similar tactics (Mussolini, Hitler), the Japanese were not reluctant to expand their empire by armed force > refer to MHMW p.51 and GF p.32

Italy - Italian invasion of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) October 1935-May 1936

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Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia was part of an attempt by Mussolini to regain imperial prestige; it wanted Ethiopia because it lay between its colonies of Eritrea and Somaliland

October 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia and within four days the League condemned Italy and imposed economic sanctions with the exception of food, coal, scrap iron, rubber, copper and oil; Britain suggested an oil embargo to be initiated in December

the U.S. indicated it would be able to fill any world shortages in these or any other products that League action caused which would prove disastrous to British and French markets in the region

Britain and France were unwilling to take measures that might push Mussolini into a German alliance; British and French interests in the Mediterranean called for caution since a Rome-Berlin axis would threaten their lifelines through the Suez Canal

British and French foreign ministers Samuel Hoare and Pierre Laval made a secret proposal to Italy a few day before the oil sanctions were to be imposed whereby Italy would be given most of Ethiopia if she agreed to stop fighting immediately but when the Hoare-Laval Pact became public it showed that Britain and France were not interested in the League taking a strong stance and the other supporters of sanctions lost interest; Mussolini completed his conquest of Ethiopia

significance: Mussolini entered into an alliance with Germany, Hitler used the invasion to re-occupy the Rhineland Hitler used the invasion of Ethiopia to re-occupy the Rhineland, the League was unable to recover, politicians sought other ways of maintaining world peace eventually resorting to appeasement

The Search for Security

The Search for Security in Europe

France

impact of WW I had a significant human and economic cost on France 1.3 million dead and 3 million wounded (one third permanently disabled)

destruction of thousands of buildings, 9000 factories, hundreds of km of railways, Germans flooded coal and iron mines in Alsace-Lorraine anddestroyed farm land

in the long run France's strength and security depended on a rapidreconstruction of its war damaged industrial base and its alliance with Britain and the U.S.

aside from war damage France's economy was precarious (uncertain) partly because the Bolsheviks in Russia who had overthrown the Tsar in 1917 renounced (give up) Russia's debts and seized all foreign assets

at the Paris Peace Conference France as well as other nations accepted a more moderate treaty with Germany based on U.S. involvement in the League and its guarantee of European security

but because of American isolationism the U.S. Congress did not approve the peace treaties and thus did not become a member of the League

the French counted on British military strength to keep Germany checked but Britain's immediate post-war objective was to regain world markets lost to the Americans and Japanese during the war

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in addition the British believed that France and Germany should be more nearly equal in strength

Germany's industrial complex had not been damaged by war and French attempts at the peace conference to dismantle it were defeated

U.S. isolationism, British ambivalence and Germany industrial strength left France in its view vulnerable and alone and therefore it embarked on a series of efforts to build security

French Security

Maginot Line French security meant keeping Germany weak and therefore wanted to annex the

Rhineland but had to accept its demilitarization instead after the U.S. failed to ratify the treaty France felt vulnerable along its northern

frontier and decided to construct a series of fortifications known as the Maginot Line

the defence line had two vulnerable gaps in Lorraine where the Ardennes forest was considered too hilly for tanks and along the Belgian border

France did not have confidence in the League because it considered it weak

Reparations

France wanted high reparations for compensation, retaliation and as an attempt to cripple Germany's economic revival (52 % of $33 billion)

late 1922 Germany was unable to meet the payments and defaulted so on January 11 1923 French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr Valley the major coal and steel producing region in Germany to extract the reparations themselves from the mineral resources

German workers refused to work and the government supported their passive resistance by printing money to pay the workers which caused "hyperinflation" (refer to TCH p.49)

the government fell and the new Chancellor Gustav Stressman called off the passive resistance in the Ruhr and stated Germany would resume payment of reparations

November 1923 right-wing extremist from several small nationalist parties attempted to overthrow the Munich government but failed (Munich Putsch)

Stressman introduced an new currency, Rentenmark, and indicated the government was willing to cooperate and participate in international affairs rather than complaining about the treaty as previous governments had thus introducing a new era in the Weimar RepublicDawes Plan 1924

American banker Charles Dawes headed a committee to reorganize the reparation payments French and Belgian forces to be evacuated from the Ruhr German government pledged government revenues for reparations

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German payments to begin at $250 million and build to $600 million payments tied to German prosperity $200 million loanThe Young Plan 1930

another reorganization of reparation payments cut the total to $29 billion and Allied occupation of the Rhineland was to end

International Agreements

Treaties of Mutual Assistance France also sought security through international agreements Belgium 1920, Poland 1921, Little Entente Czechoslovakia 1924, Romania 1926

and Yugoslavia 1927 the Little Entente created a corridor with the potential of 100 million people

capable of credible military action but in reality was an illusion and France's initiatives in Eastern Europe eventually brought Germany and Soviet Union together

inability of the successor states to cooperative together made the alliance system unworkable

Locarno Pacts 1925 introduced an era of optimism in Europe

France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Britain agreed to respect and guarantee the existing frontiers between them and demilitarization of the Rhineland

Britain agreed to come to the aid of any of these countries if attacked Germany was relieved regarding another occupation by France France now had British support in the event of another German attack the pact weakened the Little Entente because France with British support no

longer needed to rely on its Eastern European allies and although Germany agreed to respect the western frontiers it made no promise to respect the eastern frontiers thus giving cause for concern to Poland and Czechoslovakia

the result of the pact was to divide Europe into a secure west and insecure east

Kellog-Briand Pact 1928 several nations including U.S., Germany, and the Soviet Union denounced war as

a method of solving disputes but there was no machinery for enforcement

Security by Disarmament

the arms race was a major cause of WW I the Paris Peace treaties forced Germany and its allies to disarm and the League

supported disarmament disarmament would be ineffective because of mistrust and some nations had not

given up war as a way of redressing old issues from WW I

Washington Treaties/Conference 1921 attempt to halt the naval race by limiting the relative tonnage of rival battle fleets

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U.S., Britain, France, Japan, Italy agreed: not to build anymore battleships for ten years naval tonnage to be reduced based on a ratio

London Conference 1930 the same countries met to further reduce naval tonnage France and Italy left but the other three agree to further reductions of all types of

military ships

Geneva Disarmament Conference 1932 sixty nations including U.S., Germany and U.S.S.R. attended in an effort at

general arms reduction some progress was made but when Hitler came to power in 1933 he withdrew

Germany from the conference and it collapsed

Revolution in Russia and the Establishment of Communism

March 1917 Revolution

Pre-Revolutionary Russia

Russo-Japanese War 1905

Russia and Japan both wanted to expand into Korea and Manchuria to obtain resources for their industrial needs

the Japanese won and claimed Lushun (Port Arthur), seized economic concessions from Manchuria, and took Korea as a protectorate

the war was a humiliating experience for the Romanov dynasty and had a devastating effect on the tsarist regime as its political authority was undermined and could not ignore the growing demand for political change

Bloody Sunday January 22 1905

January 22-October 30 Russia was wracked by labour strife and political dissension most of it attributed to the war losses

workers marched on the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to present their demands and shots were fired by troops on the protesters killing many workers

this touched of a season of unrest among workers in the major cities significance of Bloody Sunday: it showed the incompetence of the tsar in

dealing with discontent and encouraged workers to join revolutionary groups

October Manifesto

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following an intense period of strikes across Russia the tsar made some concessions knows as the October Manifesto

it promised some civil liberties and the creation a Duma a legislative assembly the 1906 Fundamental Laws enacted into law the October Manifesto but the tsar did not fulfill his promises and the Duma remained under his control

however the moderates were content and supported the tsar while the radical opposition used terrorism to attack the regime

in the next decade strikes and work stoppages escalated as thousands of labour demonstrations occurred each year

by 1914 the domestic economy was having serious economic problems

February/March Revolution 1917

problems with the domestic economy and WW I led to the revolutions the problems that led to the revolution was the tsarist regime's inability to deal

with the economic and social changes caused by industrialization the major reasons for the revolution were economic, social, political and military February 26,27/ March 11,12 shortages of bread and coal caused riots and

demonstrations in St. Petersburg (renamed Petrograd) and soldiers that were supposed to keep order joined the demonstrations; the Cossacks (imperial troops) joined the people and helped distribute food

February 27/ March 12 Duma established a provisional government and March 2/16 Nicholas II abdicated

Revolution in Russia and the Establishment of Communism

Factors that led to the March Revolution

Weakness of Russia

Russia was defeated by the Japanese in 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War Bloody Sunday January 22 1905 demonstrated the Tsar’s incompetence in dealing

with the discontent of the people and spawned opposition towards him Russia contained many different nationalities, languages and religions Russia was vast making it difficult to govern especially with poor communications

(few roads, railways) majority of the population were peasants working a backward farming economy industrialization minimal but workers subjected to poor working and living

conditions Tsar Nicholas was an autocrat and governed with absolute power often dismissing

the Duma (parliament) and ignoring its demands for political reforms

World War I

the army was poorly led and ill-equipped to fight a modern industrial war Russians experienced many defeats and suffered significant casualties (4 million

casualties by 1917) the military defeats showed the incompetence of the government war took 15 million men from farms and railways were used to transport supplies

and soldiers resulting in food shortages and increase in food prices/inflation protests, demonstrations and strikes resulted from food shortages and inflation in

major cities like Petrograd and Moscow

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Tsar’s Ineffective Leadership

Tsar took personal command of the army during the war meaning he would be responsible for the military defeats

he left Tsarina Alexandra in charge of the government who was incompetent and under the influence of Father Gregory Rasputin who was equally incompetent

Tsar refused to compromise and make any changes to government as demanded by the Duma (such as a constitutional monarchy)

Tsar failed to act effectively during crisis in March 1917 which led to his abdication

Tsar lost support of the Army/Army abandoned the Tsar

military defeats resulted in millions of soldiers deserting soldiers joined the demonstrations and riots caused by food shortages army refused to put down riots caused by food shortages in Petrograd on March

12 and mutinied military officers no longer support the Tsar

Tsar lost support of the Duma/Duma abandoned the Tsar

members of the Duma no longer support the Tsar Duma establishes a Provisional Government (temporary) on March 12 Duma demands the Tsar abdicate on March 13 Tsar abdicates on March 15

March Revolution Time Line

March 7 steelworks strike

March 8 demonstrations and bread riots erupt

March 11 soldiers fire on demonstrators/strikers Duma urges Tsar to act > Tsar dissolves Duma

March 12 soldiers mutiny Duma establishes Provisional Government workers and soldiers establish Petrograd Soviet

March 13-14 Tsar’s train to Petrograd stopped by soldiers and he is arrested

March 15 Tsar abdicates > Romanov dynasty comes to an end

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Revolution in Russia and the Establishment of Communism

November 1917 Revolution

Provisional Government

the moderates or liberals dominated the government with Georgi Lvov as the prime minister and only one social revolutionary Alexander Kerensky

the government was supported by the Petrograd Soviet (worker organization) a power struggle ensued between liberals and Marxists government planned to rule the country until the people elected a Constituent

Assembly and developed a new system of government dissention developed between the two groups over involvement in the war V.I Lenin, the Bolshevik leader, returned to Petrograd and presented his April

Theses on April 3/17 > peace, land reform, nationalize factoriesand developed the slogan "Peace, Bread, and Land", "All Power to the Soviet"

the Petrograd Soviet organized anti-war demonstrations that eventually brought down the government in May

in the new government (First Coalition) Lvov continued as prime minister while Kerensky was minister of war

the government continued Russian involvement in the war and launched an offensive in June which was disastrous and discredited the government

July 3-4 huge demonstrations occurred with the Petrograd Soviet participation that threatened the government

Lenin was accused of being a German agent and forced to flee to Finland

October/November Revolution 1917

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July 24 the Second Coalition government Kerensky became prime minister and faced opposition from the left and the right

the turning point in the struggle between the government and the Petrograd Soviet was the Kornilov Affair

Kerensky feared the government would be overthrown by General Kornilov commander-in-chief of the army who disapproved of the Soviet and worked out an agreement with Kerensky to send troops to Petrograd to destroy it

Lvov tried to get Kornilov to replace Kerensky as prime minister Kerensky feared the government would be overthrown and asked the people for

help and received enough support to arrest Lvov and dismiss Kornolov the right thought Kornolov had been betrayed while the left thought that the

government plotted with Kornolov to destroy them Bolsheviks who dominated Petrograd and Moscow Soviets took advantage of the

split in the Duma and behind Lenin’s leadership moved to seize power October 25/ November 7 strategic locations in Petrograd were stormed by the

Bolsheviks and members of the provisional government arrested the provisional government's inability to solve peasant discontent by

redistributing the land and continuation of the war led to economic and social breakdown; on the other hand Lenin promises of bread, peace and land was attractive and brought support for the Bolshevik seizure of power

Revolution in Russia and the Establishment of Communism

Factors that led to the November/Communist Revolution

Provisional Government problems

the PG decided to continue with the war which was unpopular with the people offensive in June was disastrous and discredited the new government soldiers deserted and there was a mutiny in the navy the PG did not implement land reform which upset the peasants a power struggle between left wing and right wing factions weakened the PG the Petrograd Soviet (left wing) opposed the continuation of the war while the

right wing objected to the government’s inability to control the army

Economic Conditions

economic conditions had not improved (inflation and food shortages) since the March Revolution and were even worse

Petrograd Soviet

the Petrograd Soviet passed Order Number 1 which stated soldiers should not take orders from officers but rather regiment committees

Lenin demanded “All Power to the Soviets” the Bolsheviks won control of the Petrograd Soviet after the Kornilov Affair

Red Guards

a private Bolshevik army, the Red Guards, dedicated to the revolution was established and gave the Bolsheviks the military power to overthrow the PG

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Lenin

Lenin was an effective leader, ruthless, brilliant speaker and good planner

April Theses

“Peace, Bread, and Land” appealed to people who were impatient for change

Kornilov Affair

the Bolshevik Red Guards (Petrograd Soviet) demonstrated their power when they prevented Kornilov’s attempted coup

the army lost credibility the right wing factions felt Kornilov was betrayed while the left wing faction felt

the government plotted to destroy them and the subsequent split in the Duma was the turning point in the left-right wing dispute

November 1917 Revolution Time Line

• March Provisional Government faces massive problems > inflation, food

shortages, war, peasant unrest

• April Lenin returns from exile and presents his April Thesis

• June the military offensive against Austria fails

• July the Bolsheviks incite riots but are defeated

• August Kornilov’s coup is defeated by the Bolsheviks and Red Guards

• September the Bolsheviks gain control of the Petrograd Soviet

• November 6-7 the Bolsheviks arrest members of Provisional Government and seize power

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Revolution in Russia and the Establishment of Communism

Lenin and the Establishment of Communism in Russia 1917-1924

The New Government

Establishing a new government and control

after the October/November revolution Lenin and the Bolsheviks established a new government under the Council of the People’s Commissar and during the next few weeks Soviets all over Russia took control of most towns and cities and by the end of 1917 almost all of Russia was controlled by the Soviets

but the Bolsheviks did not have complete control of Russia as the only 14 of 25 members of the Council were Bolsheviks, not all the Soviets were controlled by the Bolsheviks, and most of the peasants supported the Socialist Revolutionary Party who had a majority in the Constituent Assembly

January 1918 the elected members of the Assembly met for the first time and Lenin sent Bolshevik Red Guards to shut it down as Lenin wanted to establish the authority of the Council and destroy and other parties or organizations that wanted to share in government or threatened to undermine the Bolshevik Party

Lenin’s new government

Lenin’s promise of land to the peasants was fulfilled when he abolished private ownership and made land the property of the state to be organized into collective farms but the peasants wanted their own private plots of land; the peasants had already seized the land

other steps taken to introduce communism included the control of factories by workers’ committees, banks were placed under state control, foreign trade became a state monopoly, opposition groups made illegal

Lenin’s other significant promise to take Russia out of the war was accomplished with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

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December 1917 Trotsky rejected German peace terms as too harsh so the Germans launched a new offensive in February 1918 which the Russians were unable to stop and forced them to accept the terms of the treaty

March 3 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Russia lost 60 million people as the Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia received independence and Germany received 26% of the railway system, 33% of the manufacturing and 73% of the iron industry, 75% of the coal fields

Civil War and War Communism

Civil War

The civil war pitted the Bolshevik Red Army against groups who opposed the Bolsheviks that included monarchists, landowners, Kadets, Social Revolutionaries and right-wing groups who made up the White Army

several nations became involved in the civil war including U.S, Britain, France, and Japan in order to re-establish a second front by defeating Lenin’s government and establishing a new Russian government that would renew the war with Germany

the foreign nations avoided military confrontation with the Red Army and restricted its role to supplying the White Army with equipment and protection

the significance of the foreign intervention is that it set the new communist regime against the capitalist West from the beginning

the Red Army controlled the central area around Petrograd, Moscow and Kiev while the White Army controlled the surrounding countryside

December 1918 the Bolsheviks established a security police force, the Cheka, to combat counterrevolutionaries > 50, 000 people killed

the White Army could not agree on a program for Russia nor a supreme commander and fought as independent groups compared to the effective leadership of Trotsky who organized the Red Army into an efficient and disciplined unit

the White Army was unable to gain the support of the peasants who were either indifferent or viewed it as representative of the tsar’s autocratic rule and interests of the property owners

the White Army’s reliance on Allied intervention, which was half-hearted, branded it as treasonable

the Red Army emerged victorious in 1920 and in 1922 became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R)

War Communism

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1918-1921 the Bolshevik government implemented the economic policy of “war communism” with the objective of keeping the Red Army supplied with food and with weapons and introduce a system of communism

the government banned private trade, nationalized factories, took surplus food produced by the peasants to feed the cities and Red Army

the peasants resisted when the government forcibly requisitioned the harvest in order to feed the cities and the Red Army and the government responded with severe repressive measures

War Communism kept the Red Army going but had grim effects on the people (refer to TCH p.55)

cultivated areas dropped 40% in three years and the black market absorbed the bulk of farm produce and serious food shortages affected industrial labour and strikes ensued

1918-1920 7.5 million people died from starvation, disease, and ravages of civil war

The New Economic Policy

War Communism and civil war from 1917-1920 devastated the economy, food shortages, strikes, and riots were common in the cities

March 1921 sailors at the Kronstadt naval base near Petrograd rebelled against the government and demanded free elections, freedom of speech and association and the right for peasants to own their land

although the Red Army suppressed the rebellion it revealed serious dissatisfaction with Bolshevik rule and Lenin recognized that change must occur and that consumer goods were needed immediately

March 1921 Lenin introduced the NEP as a temporary measure in an attempt to rejuvenate the economy through a return to individual economic initiative and profit motive

private trade was permitted, small industry returned to private ownership, and peasants would be taxed but they would be allowed to sell their surplus produce

by 1928 the economy had recovered its pre-war strength (refer to TCH p.56) the NEP represents a compromise on Lenin’s part as he temporarily sacrificed the

ideals of Marxism for the necessity of capitalist production

Lenin’s Final Years

1919 Communist International (Comintern) was established to supervise international communist revolutions

after 1921 the Bolsheviks entered into agreements with western nations to rebuild their industrial base

1922 Treaty of Rapallo Russia received German steel and help with the reconstruction of her armament industry in return Germany would be able to manufacture weapons in Russia forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles

1922 the Bolsheviks became the Communist Party and Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R)

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the government was the business of elected Soviets or Councils at every level from the village to the republics

at the center of the system of government of the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet and a Council of Ministers

by 1922 there were over 1 million members of the Communist Party and 25,000 party officials who could fill every government post in the U.S.S.R.

the real power lay in the hands of the Party officials and the man who hired and fired those officials (General Secretary) was the “real” ruler of the U.S.S.R.

Lenin had established a dictatorship which he and the Communist Party claimed to exercise on behalf of the people but in doing so established a system which could be corrupted into a one man dictatorship

Lenin died in January 1924 from a stroke and Petrograd was renamed Leningrad

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