Chapter 27-The Great Break: War and Revolution Flashcards
1
Q
Triple Alliance
A
- Late 19th Century, Austria, Germany, and Italy.
- It was a pre-WWI military alliance
- Each member promised support in the event of an attack by any other great powers(Germany and Italy).
- Faced an increasingly hostel Dual Alliance of Russia and France.
- Italy left the alliance when war broke out in 1914 because Italy argued that Austria had launched a war of aggression, and had not been attacked. The Ottoman Empire took Italy’s place and this new alliance became known as the Central Powers.
- German general staff began secret preparations for a war on two fronts; Germany offered Austria a “blank check”–any support Austria needed, Germany would provide.
2
Q
Schlieffen Plan
A
- Early 20th, Germany
- A failed plan by Germany that called for an attack through neutral Belgium, which was the quickest way into Paris and then aattack on Russia; called for a two-front war.
- Called for a quick victory over France before turning on Russia; it was the German plan to fight a two-front war.
- It failed because of trench warfare–the German army could not advance through barbed wire and shelling and capture Paris.
- It also failed because Russia was quicker to mobolize and attack Germany than any would have thought.
3
Q
Triple Entente
A
- Early 20th century, Great Britain, France, and Russia.
- A military alliance in direct opposition to the German led Triple Alliance
- The genius of the Entente was that it forced Germany and Austria-Hungary to fight a two-front war in the east and west.
- Slightly odd because France and Britain had been colonial enemies in Africa in the 19th century (and had a long history of conflict between them); however, both France and England were relatively liberal democracies, while Russia was the last nearly-absolutist state.
4
Q
Fourteen Points
A
- Early 20th century, America (with an influence on European and global colonial affairs)
- Was President Wilson’s (US) peace proposal after WWI that called for:
•A. Diplomacy, not militarism, in future conflicts
•B. A reduction in armaments
•C. Freedom of commerce and trade
•D. Establishment of the League of Nations
•E. A national self determination of people’s to determine their own state and government (heavily influential with minority groups and colonial people; examples of this included the creation of Czecholoslovakia and other Balkan states by dismembering the Austrian-Hungarian empire, and the creation of Poland) - Was successful in that it became the framework for the Treaty of Versailles
- Was unsuccessful in that the allied forces refused to follow it and it was denied the U.S. Congress refused to join the League of Nations.
5
Q
Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
A
- Late 19th to early 20th century, Russia
- The Bolsheviks were Lenin’s radical, revolutionary communist sect of Marxian Socialism, which successfully installed a dictatorial socialist regime during the Russian Revolution.
- The Bolsheviks were born out of Russia’s Social Democrat Party; “Bolshevik” means “Majority Party” (even though, as it was very radical, it had only a few members) and its opponent sect was called the “Menshevik” (“Minority Group” even though it had more members)
- Bolsheviks came to power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917.
- After the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- Bolsheviks considered themselves supporters of the revolutionary working class of Russia, they were extreme and eventually formed a dictatorship.
- Bolsheviks made use of the Cheka, their version of the secret police, to maintain their authority
6
Q
Army Order No. 1
A
- Early 20th century, Russia
- A law that created by the Petrograd Soviet (see card) during the February Revolution that stripped officers of their authority (because the officers were seen as too loyal to the tsar)
- Gave some authority in military matters to elected committees of common soldiers
- Was issued to all Russian military forces as the provisional government was forming, and was generally believed to be the cause of Russia’s breakdown in military order which undermined its ability to fight effectively in WWI (many peasant soldiers simply left the front because they had little fear of court marital punishments).
7
Q
Constituent Assembly
A
- Formed in the early 20th century in Russia
- Promised that during the reign of the Bolsheviks (under Lenin) after the October Revolution, that there would be a “provisional workers’ and peasants government” (some form of democracy)
- Lenin and the Bolsheviks promised a freely-elected Constituent assembly that would create a constitution
- However, after elections were held for representatives to the assembly, and moderate socialists won a clear majority of representatives, the Assembly was immeadiately disbanded by force by the Bolsheviks (whose radical party only had 1/4 of the delegates)
- Considered the beginning of the Communist dictatorship of Lenin’s Bolsheviks in Russia and the beginning of the Civil War between Red and White Armies. (see card)
8
Q
Total War
A
- early-mid 20th century (present in both World War I and II), Europe
- A new form of warfare in which distinctions between the soldiers on the battelfield and civilains at home were blurred.
- The government plans and controls economic affairs in order to supply the armies at the front with supplies and weapons; national economies were geared toward the war effort. (During the Russian Revolution, Lenin calls this “War Communism”)
- Governments revoked or ignored some civil liberties (such as freedom of speech) in order to maintain loyalty and patriotism.
- Total war was best explemified by Walter Rathenau, a Jew who convinced the German gov’t to set up the War Raw Materials Board in order to direct the economy and ration and distribute materials neccessary for the war effort.
9
Q
Balfour Declaration
A
- Early 20th century, Britain
- Declared British support of a country for European Jews to return to in Palestine
- Written by British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour
- An example of the influence of Zionism (belief that Jews should create and then return to a Jewish-nationalist state in the Middle East) from the late 19th century being continued into the early 20th century.
- The goals of the Balfour Declaration were made possible by:
5a. The secret Sykes-Picot agreement, whereby Britain and France agreed to split the Ottoman territories between them after WWI
5b. The Mandate Commision created after WWI by the Treaty of Versaille’s League of Nations. “Mandates” were temporary colonies in the Middle East that Britian and France would “guide” towards political independence…and in the meantime, gain access to valuable natural resources and trade routes.
5c. An example of US president Wilson’s “right of national self-determination” (ethnic nationalism) in his 14 Points (see card)
10
Q
Trench warfare
A
- Early 20th century, border between France and Germany and border between Germany and Russia
- Type of fighting used in World War I; it caused fighting to be static (little movement of armies and little loss or gain of land) and the war to be one of attrition (slowly wearing down the other side by outlasting them with men and materials)
- Fighting occured behind rows or trenches, mines, and barbed wire; “No Man’s Land” was the deadly area a soldier would have to cross safely between two opposing trenches.
- Had a huge loss in lives and minimal territorial gains
11
Q
League of Nations
A
- Established during the early twentieth (1919) at Paris Peace Conference; involved European nations and a few Asian ones (Japan and China)
- Was one of the 14 points that U.S. President Wilson gave in his peace proposal at the end of WWI; ironically though, the US Congress refused to allow the US to participate in it, because Congress felt they would lose the ability to declare war on other states if needed.
- Was an international body designed to provide a place for peaceful resolution of world problems; similar to the United Nations today.
12
Q
What caused the Russian Revolution and what were its main consequences?
A
- Early 20th (end of WWI), Russia
- Caused by ineffective war effort and poor leadership by Nicholas II at the front (and leaving all internal matters to his wife and the illiterate monk, Rasputin) created conditions that led to Russians of all classes calling for a change in gov’t.
- Caused by a history of undemocratic gov’t in Russia; people were demanding the natural and liberal rights (free speech, free religion, representatives in gov’t, etc.) promised by the Enlightenment 100 years before, and successfully gained by British and French people in the early 1800s and Germany and Italy in the late 1800s; Russia’s only representative body was teh Duma, which had little power and was frequently ignored by Nicholas II.
- Caused by pressures placed on the Russian economy and people’s morale/patriotism due to World War I.
- Caused by food shortages (February Revolution of 1917 begins with a protest of women and soldiers wanting bread and peace.
- Effect: The Russian Revolution marked the end of the monarchial system that had limped on after the Enlightened Age (18th) and French Revolution in Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary under the protection of Metternich’s (A-H) conservative Congress of Europe system.
- Effect: The Russian Revolution created a communist state and so therefore challenged the core economic ideals of capitalism that were so central to the Industrial Revolution and Europe’s colonial empires.
13
Q
How did the First World War change the nature of modern warfare?
A
- The new violence of “total war” helps explain why so many died and so many were crippled physically and mentally.
- Total war required service by soldiers and civilians alike.
- New weapons such as the machine gun and poison gas made the war deadly.
- Generals adapted to such new weapons, and men died by the millions.
- Trench warfare favored the defender, and both sides saw minimal territorial gains despite enormous losses.EX: On the eastern front, Russia made initial gains in Germany, only to be pushed back into Russia where millions were killed or starved to death.
EX: Offensives on the western front often ended in depressing slaughters - On both western and eastern fronts the war degenerated into a persistent stalemate
- Neutral countries were brought into conflict, which eventually spread to the Middle East and into some parts of the colonial East Asia and Africa.
14
Q
What caused the First World War, and why did it have significant popular support?
A
- Early 20th, Europe
- Cause: Nationalism. The assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne (Francis Ferdinand) by a Serbian nationalist (Gavrilo Princip, a member of the “Black Hand” secret society) who sought to unify all Serbs in one national state independent of Austria-Hungary.
2A. Austria-Hungary deliberately chose to go to war in an attempt to stem hostile nationalism within their borders.
2B. Political leaders and ordinary people shared strong feelings of nationalism and believed that military action (see #4) would be honorable test of national strength. - Cause: the Alliance system. Attempts to maintain a balance of power between states led to diplomatic problems created by Germany’s rise to Great Power status after the Franco-Prussian War.
3a. Backed by Germany, and Austria-Hungary reacted harshly, setting off a chain of diplomatic and political events that turned Third Balkan War into a World War; Britain entered the war because of Germany’s invasion of neutral Belgium (Treaty of London)
3b. Starting with the Coalitions against Napoleon and Metternich’s Congress of Vienna (early 19th), Europe became divided into hostile alliances:
Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy.
Three Emperors League: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia
Dual Alliance: France and Russia - Cause: Militarism. There were growing tensions between Germany and Britain caused by intense commercial rivalry and Germany’s decision to construct a large world-class navy (arms race)
- Cause: Imperialism. Competition for colonies and the Balkans, and a arms (navy) race between Germany and Britain, increased international tensions.
5a. Leading statesmen engaged in aggressive foreign expansion of colonies to distract from social tensions and political inequalities at home. - Cause: Industrialism. Created a need for raw materials (and therefore competition for colonies; see #5) and provided the technology and economic organization which would characterize the war. Europeans underestimated the effects of modern weapons.
15
Q
February Revolution
A
- Early 20th century, Petrograd (capitol city of Russia)
- Unplanned uprisings followed with violent street demonstrations led by hungry, angry people (mostly women, because many men were at the front) against the war and the tzar’s ineffective gov’t.
- Led to the abdication of the Tsar and the establishment of a provisional and some soldiers and resulted in a new provisional (temporary)
- Led to the creation of the Petrograd Soviet, a committee of workers, soldiers, and other important groups in the capitol that took on the responsibility of governing the capitol; it would compete and sometimes ally with the Provisional Gov’t formed under Alexander Kerensky after the abdication of the tsar.
- However, the goals and gov’t of the February Revolution would be overturned by the October Revolution later that year, in which Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional gov’t, established a radical communist regime, reformed existing capitalist institutions, redistributed land, and implemented a new authoritarian rule under Lenin and the Communists.
