Unit 8The First World War and the Russian

Revolution

Almudena Corrales Marbán

4th graders

(ESO)

Social Studies

Department

VOCABULARY

https://quizlet.com/almusociales

The First World War (La Primera

Guerra Mundial)

communist (comunista)

dictatorship (dictadua)

neutral (neutral)

arms race (carrera armamentística)

front (frente)

trench warfare (guerra de trincheras)

withdraw (retirarse)

ally (aliado)

abdicate (abdicar)

armistice (armisticio)

telegraph (telégrafo)

artillery (artillería)

shortage (escasear)

rationing (racionar)

black market (mercado negro)

conscript (reclutar obligatoriamente)recruit (reclutar)

suffragette (sufragista)ratify (ratificar)

Almudena Corrales Marbán

VOCABULARY

https://quizlet.com/almusociales

Almudena Corrales Marbán

air force (fuerza aérea)

reparations (reparaciones)

tsar (zar)

Menshevik (Menchevique)

Bolshevik (Bolchevique)

soviet (soviet)

protectorate (protectorado)

coup (golpe)

avant-garde (vanguardias)

1. INTRODUCTION

Between 1871 and 1914, rivalries between European countries had resulted in the formation of two powerful alliances that fought against one another during the First World War.

End of the Franco-Prussian

War

Many 19th century industrial and technological advances were used to manufacture weapons and other military equipment

Society was transformed by the war. For example, while men were fighting in the armed forces, many women worked in the factories and also helped in the battlefield.

Spain remained neutral during the First War War, but the government had to deal with a series of political, economic and social problems, as well as the military conflict in North Africa in its colonial expansion.

Russia’s participation in the First World War had servere effects on its population. This was one of the causes of the Russian Revolution.

During this period,the Avant-

garde movement greatly

influenced art.

Nurses helping during the First World War

FIRST WORLD WAR

RIVALRIES

German Empire and Autro-Hungarian

Empire

Great Britain, France and

Russian Empire

Economy and society

Dominated and transformed by

the war

Russian Revolution

PoliticsTriumph of the

Marxism

EconomyCommunist

system

In the mid 19th century, Karl Marx introduced the world to a radical form of socialism called Marxism.

Marx and Engels predicted that in the future the proletariat would overthrow the upper classes in a worker’s revolution which would destroy capitalism and create a classless society.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR WAS FOUGHT BY TWO OPPOSING ALLIANCES THAT INCLUDED VARIOUS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, AS WELL AS UNITED STATES AND JAPAN, FEW YEARS LATER.

2. THE CAUSES OF WAR

SOURCES OF

TENSION

France wanted to recover the region of

Alsace-Lorraine which had lost to the German

Empire in 1871

Between 1878 and 1908 the Austro-

Hungarian Empire occupied and annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina. It

angered Russia, Serbia’s traditional ally

Industrialised European countries

expanded their empires and competed for

control of colonies, especially in North

Africa.

Britain and Germany became involved in a naval arms race. Both countries built a range

of powerful new battleships known as

dreadnoughts (acorazados).

A German dreadnought

On the 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz

Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-

Hungarian Empire, was assassinated by

a Serbian gunman in the Bosnian city of

Sarajevo. His death triggered the

sequence of events that led to the First

World War: the Austro-Hungarian

empire declared war on Serbia, blaming

the Serbs for the archduke’s death.

Princip shown shortly after his arrest. His group, Young Bosnia, had ties to the Serbian extremist group Black Hand. He died in prison of tuberculosis in 1918.

The bridge in which the muder took place. Sarajevo

3. PARTICIPANTS IN THE WAR

THE CENTRAL POWERS: the Austro-Hungarian Empire was supported by the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.

THE ALLIED POWERS: Serbia was supported by Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire. Later, they were joined by Japan, Romania, the United States, Greece and Portugal.

Altough ITALY was a member of the Triple Alliance, it remained neutral at the beginning of the war. However, in 1915, Italy

joined the Allied Powers, hoping to adcquire territory that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

What about

Italy???

4. PHASES OF THE WAR

1. FIRST PHASE. INITIAL GERMAN OFFENSIVES 1914-1915.

The German Empire made several rapid offensives, invading Belgium, which was neutral, as well as the north of France. At the same time, German forces were fighting to prevent Russian advances in the east.

2. SECOND PHASE. TRENCH WARFARE AND NEW ALLIES 1915-1917.

In 1915, the western front between Germany and the Allies stabilised and a period of trench warfare began.

In the 1917, the United States entered the war in support of the Allies, but the Russian Empire began to collapse as a result of the Russian Revolution.

3. THIRD PHASE. ALLIED VICTORIES AND THE ARMISTICE 1917-1918.

Russia withdrew from the war, but the Allies achieved a number of victories both in the east and the west. After, a political revolution took place in Germany , kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918.

5. ECONOMY AND SOCIETY DURING THE WAR

ECONOMYMost economic activity was directed towards the military effort. Industry

produced supplies and equipment for the armed forces: food, uniforms, weapons

and vehicles. Many recent inventions were also used in the war: the telephone, tanks, aeroplanes, grenades, machine-

guns, poison gas.

At the same time the production of consumer goods decreased. As a result,

there were shortages of same products. In response the governments introduced

rationing and the black market appeared.

SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE WARMen were conscripted or

recruited into the armed forces. In European countries and their colonies , advertisements were

often used to encourage patriotism and convince more

young men to enlist in the armed forces.

As soldiers, women worked at war as nurses and helpers. In

addition, women continued working after 1918, but they

were usually paid less than men.

OXFORD BOOK, Modern History, Year 4.

6. THE POST WAR6.1. THE PEACE SETTLEMENT

After the armistice, representatives of the Allied Powers met at the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) to decide the conditions that would be imposed on the defeated Central Powers.

The United States President Wilson, proposed a peace agreement that would promote reconciliation between the various participants in the war, this was called the League of Nations, origin of the UN. However this idea was rejected by the Allied countries that had been devastating, such as France. Instead, they wanted the Central Powers to compensate them for their losses.

The heads of the "Big Four" nations at the Paris Peace Conference, 27 May 1919. From left to right: David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau  and American president Wilson.

621. THE PEACE TREATIES

The Allies ratified five treaties at the Paris Peace Conference, which was signed by the defeated countries. The Treaty of Versailles established especially severe terms for Germany:

It could not have tanks or an air force.

It had to return Alsace-Lorraine to France and the German region of East Prussia was divided from the rest of the country by a corridor of land that was goven to Poland.

It had to pay reparations to the European allies

It had to sign the war-guilt clause.

The Treaty of Versailles would become the source of problems because the German people felt humiliated by its harsh conditions.

7. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE GREAT WAR.

The war reduced the population

and the available work-force in

post-war Europe.

The fighting destroyed cities,

factories, farmlands,

infrastructures such as roads,

bridges and ports.

Europe lost its economic leadership

and needed loans from the United

States. The United States became the

world’s leading economic power.

The map of Europe changed dramatically

as a consequence of the peace treaties. The

Autro-Hungarian and the Ottoman Empires

ceased to exist and new states were created.

By looking at the next slide, discover these

new states and add them

to your notes !!

The Paris peace treaties gave Allied powers control

over colonies or regions that had belonged to the Central Power before the

war. The countries that

benefited the most were: Great Britain (Iraq, part of Middle East) and France

(Syria and Lebanon)

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

1. FROM ABSOLUTISM TO REVOLUTION

Brief summary

Despite the liberal revolutions of the 19th century, the Russian Empire continued to be an absolute monarchy. Its involvement in the First World War worsened (empeoró) the economic and political problems that the empire was already experiencing. This led to a revolution in the 1917 which established the first Communist state in history.

HOW WAS RUSSIA LIKE AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY?

Absolute monarchy ruled by the tsar. Civil rights were not recognised and political parties faced represion.

Semi-feudal economy- a wealthy minority owned most of the agricultural land , which was worked by a peasant majority.

At the beginning of the 20th century; the Russian Empire, ruled by Nicholas II, experienced serious problems.

• In 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) was formed. Its aim was to establish a Social state based on Marxist ideology.

• In 1903, the RSDLP divided into two factions: Mencheviks (gradual reforms), and Bolcheviks (immediate revolution to remove the tsar from power)

• In 1905, there were protests against absolutism which were supressed by the government. In response, workers and soldiers formed a revolutionary council (soviet) in St. Petersburg. (Watch Battleship Potemkin, a film comissioned in 1925 in order to commemorate 20 years of this protest)

Battleship Potemkin

2. THE REVOLUTIONS OF FEBRUARY AND OCTOBER 1917

From the 1914 to the 1917, Russia’s participation in the First World War caused more discontent and protests because Russian soldiers did not have enough food or military equipment, as a result, many of them died.

The Russian Revolution began in February 1917, when protests involving peasants, workers and soldiers forced Nicholas II to abdicate. At first, the Mensheviks formed provisional government. This government declared Russia a republic, and made political parties legal. However, Lenin’s Bolsheviks opposed them, and established government based on the soviets.

In October 1917 there was another revolution. The Bolsheviks seized control of the government and Lenin became the new leader of Russia. One of the first actions was to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the German Empire in March 1918.

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WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THESE REVOLUTIONS?After taking power, the Bolsheviks began persecuting their opponents. In July 1918, they killed the tsar and his family. In response to these events, a civil war broke between the White Russians, counter-revolutionaries, and the Bolshevik forces, known as the Red Army.

The Red army eventually won the civil war. In 1922, Lenin established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly known as the USSR or the Soviet Union. He also approved a new constitution based on Communist principles.

In the USSR, Marx’s ideas of the dictatorship of the proletariat was put into practice through a system in which workers’ interests were represented by one political party: the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)The state also controlled the means of production, such as factories and energy sources, as well as trade and finance.