WWI and Russian Revolution

- marked the height of European power on the planet, but also its decline -Results of the war -empires fell: Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman -others declined in power and influence: France and Britain -new countries arise: Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland -triumph of communism in Russia -fascism in Italy and Nazism in -drain of European resources made U.S. world’s leading creditor and producer -led to WWII

-Long-term causes of the war -Rival alliances -a large, powerful upset the balance of power -Austria was weakened by nationalism and disintegration -French power and prestige had been damaged by their loss in the Franco-Prussian War -French were afraid of their new neighbor, Germany -Germany wanted to isolate France to prevent France and any other European power (especially A-H or Russia) from aligning -Germany wanted to avoid a 2-front war

-Bismarck’s first move was to establish the Three Emperors’ League in 1873 (Germany, Austria, Russia) -mutual defense pact -fell apart, though, b/c of… -Russo-Turkish War 1877 -Slavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina were revolting against Turkish rule -Serbia and Montenegro came to the aid of their fellow Slavs, encouraged by the weakness of the Ottoman Empire -Russians hoped to exploit this by pursuing expansion into Ottoman territory, so they felt the need to free their fellow Slavs -Russians wanted control of -Russia also felt they were the protectors of all Slavs -ended in the Treaty of San Stefano 1878 -Russian triumph -Slavic states in the Balkans were freed from Ottoman control -Austria was alarmed that the Slavic victory and the increase of Russian interest in the Balkans would threaten them -Britain was concerned about Russia dominating the Mediterranean and threatening their control of the Suez Canal -Britain and Austria forced Russia into meeting in Berlin 1878 under the direction of Bismarck (Treaty of Berlin) -Bismarck wanted to prevent war between Russia and Austria, which he feared Germany would be drawn in -Russia lost a chunk of Bulgaria, as well as their claim as protector of all Slavs and Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire -stated that the Ottoman government had to give legal protection to the Christian Armenians -A-H was given Bosnia and Herzegovina to “occupy and administer”, although they formally remained under Ottoman rule -Serbia resented this -Kingdom of Serbia allowed to stay independent -Britain received Cyprus -France was told they could occupy Tunisia -created tensions between Germany and Russia (killed the Three Emperor’s League)

-1879 Dual Alliance (Germany and Austria) -they would come to each other’s aid if Russia attacked either of them -if another country attacked either of them, they promised to remain neutral -was for 5 years, but was renewed regularly until 1918 -isolated Russia -in 1881 Bismarck thought that this would frighten Russia, and he was right

-1881 Three Emperor’s League renewed -promised to be neutral in case a 4 th power attacked any of them -included the right of Austria to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina whenever it wished -also closed off the Black Sea to all nations in case of war -calmed German fears of a Russia-France alliance -calmed Russian fears of Britain’s fleet sailing into the Black Sea, as well as calming a hostile combination of Germany and Austria -1881 Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy) -Italy was asked to join the Dual Alliance with Germany and Austria) -Germany asked Britain to join, too, but Britain maintained its “splendid isolation” -defensive agreement directed towards France -left France isolated and no threat

-1887 Russian-German Reinsurance Treaty -in 1886, the Three Emperor’s League wasn’t renewed, but Bismarck still wanted Russia on its side -both states promised neutrality if the other was attacked -after Bismarck was dismissed by William II, his successor as Chancellor, General Leo von Caprivi refused the Russian request to renew the treaty in 1892

-Russian-French Alliance in 1894 -political isolation and the need for foreign capital drove the Russians toward France -the French encouraged their investors to pour capital into Russia b/c it would provide security against Germany -defensive alliance against Germany

-1904 Entente Cordiale -Britain and France alliance -not a formal treaty, no military provisions, but it settled all colonial disputes between the two -Britain gave France a free hand in Morocco in return for French recognition of British control in Egypt

-1907 France, Russia and Britain form Triple Entente -entente – friendly understanding -added Russia to the Entente Cordiale -informal, but powerful association -wanted to check German naval power and colonial strength

-Triple Alliance (G, A-H, I) vs. Triple Entente (F, B, R)

-Anglo-German rivalry -starting in 1890 Germany became a very serious rival to Britain in manufacturing and overseas trade -from 1890-1914 the German economy surpassed Britain’s -from 1871-1912 the transport capacity of German merchant shipping on the world’s ocean’s increased 10-fold -in 1900, Wilhem issued plans to double the size of its naval fleet in an effort to compete with Britain -Britain’s was seriously concerned about this -in Africa, Germans blocked British attempts to build a railroad from the Capetown to Cairo -Germans also supported the Boers (S. African farmers of European descent) in the Boer War in S. Africa (1899-1902) in their effort to resist British expansion -1898 Kaiser Wilhelm II initiates expansion of German navy to protect growing international trade and colonialism -architect of the German Navy was Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, who openly proclaimed that Germany’s naval policy was aimed at Britain -naval race between Britain and Germany begins -1902 Germany started to build Berlin to Baghdad railroad -Britain scared because they could secure the Suez Canal and sea routes to India, so they sought influence in Middle East as well -if the Ottomans were to get in the war on Germany’s side, the British were willing to arm and support an Arab revolt against the Ottoman rulers

-Imperialism -First Moroccan Crisis… -1905 Germany’s William II made a speech in Morocco in favor of Moroccan independence -implied that Germany should have the right to participate in Morocco’s future -was a direct challenge to France, who had occupied Morocco since the Congress of Berlin in 1878 -led to a 1906 international conference in Spain to discuss it -Austria sided with Germany -Spain sided with Italy, Russia, and the US b/c of their claims in Morocco -France ended up winning out -German bullying drove France towards Britain -Second Moroccan Crisis… -1911 France sent an army to Morocco -Germany responded by sending a gunboat of theirs, the Panther , to the Moroccan port of Agadir to “protect German interests” -British took this as a threat -ended when France conceded parts of the Congo and Germany then recognized the French protectorate over Morocco

-Nationalism -Slavic nationalism disrupted the unity to two empires: Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian -Pan-Slavism – nationalist movement to unite all south Slavic peoples (Serbs, Bosnians, Slovenes, Croats) to seek a single political entity in southern Europe known as Yugoslavia (land of the south Slavs) -Slavic separatist movement -turned to Russia for support as fellow Slavs, as well as independent Kingdom of Serbia -Serbia had won independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878 (Kingdom of Serbia) -Serbia felt it was their duty to free all Slavic peoples since they had their independence -similar to Piedmont uniting the Italians and Prussia uniting Germany -A-H included Croatia, Slovenia, and “occupied and administered” since 1878 Bosnia and Herzegovina -1908 Russia agreed to support Austro-Hungary annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina into their empire in return for Austria backing Russia putting warships in the Dardanelles (a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, which then connects to the Black Sea) -Austria declared the annexation before the Russians could act, though -the British and French refused to agree to the opening of the Dardanelles for Russian warships -Kingdom of Serbia was furious -Defense of the People forms, a secret society of Bosnian Serbs, for the cause of creating a break with A-H -Unification or Death, a Bosnian Serb terrorist group also known as the Black Hand, forms out of the Defense of the People -group of 35 Bosnian Serb men -call for terrorism for a Greater Serbia -“we were extremists” -1912-13 -Serbia defeated the Turks -gains territory of Kosovo and Macedonia, which both contained large non-Serbian majorities, as well as -Serbia changed from an ethnically homogeneous state into one where Serbs made up less than 2/3 of the population -expansion proved to be an obstacle to its development -but Serbs still wanted to expand westward and northward, but Austria-Hungary, which included Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia stood in the way -Ilija Garasanin in the late 1800s said that Serbia’s plan “to absorb all the Serbian peoples around her” meant a conflict with Austria: “Austria must always be the eternal enemy of a Serbian state” -Austria stepped in and forced Serbia to give up in 1913 -aroused Slavic nationalism

-Pan-Turkism – nationalist movement to make Turkey for the Turks alone (no Arabs or Armenians or Greeks or Christians or Kurds) -military generals rule since 1908, known as the Committee of Union and Progress, nicknamed the Young Turks -in Ottoman Empire, attacks on all non-Muslims increase, especially Greeks and Armenians -Ottomans hated Russians b/c they were Christians and kept trying to fight them, so they teamed up with Germany -1915-1923 Amenian Genocide -1915 genocide where 1.6 million of Armenians were massacred by Ottoman Turks -mostly Christians living in a Muslim empire -first modern genocide -not recognized by U.S. on account of hurting current U.S./Turkish relations -The Burning Tigris and Back to Ararat

-Pan-Germanism – Germany for the Germans -starts during Napoleon’s Wars - unity of the German-speaking and ethnic-German peoples of Europe -mainly in A-H and Prussia -one of its leaders was Austrian politician Georg Heinrich Schonerer -elected to Austria’s Reichsrat (Parliament) in 1873 -founded the Pan German Party in A-H in 1879 -anti-Semitic -against A-H Prime Minister Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni -Badeni had proclaimed that civil servants in Austrian-controlled Bohemia would have to know the Czech language -prevented many ethnic German- speakers (the majority of whom could not speak Czech) in Bohemia from applying for governmental jobs -started a break with Rome movement in 1898 to encourage German conversion from Catholicism to Lutheranism -Karl Lueger used anti-Semitism as a major attraction for his Christian Socialist Party in A-H -elected mayor of Vienna in 1895 -wanted to eliminate Jews from all areas of public life -appealed to the German-speaking lower middle class in Vienna, like the young and confused Hitler -Lueger was credited by Hitler as an inspiration for his own virulent hatred of Jews -in Germany, the Christian Socialist Workers Party founded in Berlin in 1878 by the ultraconservative Lutheran chaplain Adolph Stoecker -blamed Jews for business failures, domination of liberal political movements, and for being "a foreign drop of blood in the German body, one with destructive power” -started the League of Anti-Semites in 1879

-Immediate causes of the war -Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef’s only son and heir to throne, Rudolf, committed suicide in 1889 -leaves no direct heir -nephew, Franz Ferdinand, becomes heir to throne -considered weak, marries a low level Polish Princess, a commoner, in 1900 (Sophie) -a morganatic marriage -he renounced all rights for Sophie and their kids of the right to succession and all titles and privileges -not allowed to ride in the same car together, not allowed to eat at the same table, couldn’t sit by each other in public

-June 28, 1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand was to visit Sarajevo, capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia -as inspector general of the A-H armed forces, he had to attend the maneuvers of a division of the army in Bosnia -wants his wife to go with him to celebrate their 14 th wedding anniversary -news of the visit angered many Serbian nationalists, viewed Austrians as foreign oppressors – also a special day in Serbian history: 1389 when Serbia conquered by Ottoman Empire, a day all patriotic Serbs observe -“How dare Franz Ferdinand, not only the representative of the oppressor but in his own person an arrogant tyrant, enter Sarajevo on that day? Such an entry was a stupid insult…” -many said that he was the embodiment of A-H’s oppression of South Slavs -Bosnian Serbs said he would have prevented their unification with Serbia -Archduke ignored warnings of anti-Austrian unrest -rode through Sarajevo in an open car through the widely publicized route -7 members of the Black Hand lined the route, but only three Black Hand members were each given a revolver, 2 grenades, and cyanide; the 3 had tuberculosis and not long to live -told to commit suicide after the assassination -Gavrilo Princip was the son of Serb peasants in Bosnia -in Bosnia, 6,000 Muslim landowners kept more than 100,000 Serb peasants under feudal conditions -at his trial, he spoke of A-H’s failure to alleviate the plight of Serbian peasants -kicked out of school for participation in anti- Habsburg demonstrations -visited the grave of Bogdan Zerajic frequently, a young Bosnian student who in 1910 unsuccessfully attempted to kill the governor of Bosnia (missed, so he shot himself instead) -considered him a hero -moved to , the capital of the Kingdom of Serbia after that -wanted to fight in the Balkan Wars in 1912 against the Ottomans, but he failed to meet the minimum physical standards to join the Serbian army -upset that he couldn’t take part in this glorious Serb revenge on 500 years of Ottoman oppression -still wanted to prove he was a die-hard Serb nationalist -18 yr. old Gavrilo Princip was one of the 3 -another member had the first opportunity and threw a grenade that missed the archduke but injured an officer of the archduke’s in another car -when Princip heard the bomb go off, he thought Ferdinand had been assassinated, and as he saw his fellow conspirator, Nedjeljko Cabrinovic, being taken away by police, he thought about shooting his accomplice to prevent him from talking and then committing suicide, but he then saw the parade route continuing and knew the bomb didn’t kill Ferdinand -the officer was taken to the hospital -Ferdinand resumed his journey, though, going to the town hall for his official welcoming ceremony -the mayor of Bosnia ignored the assassination attempt and proceeded with his speech -after the ceremony at the town hall, Ferdinand decided to go to the hospital to visit his wounded officer -so instead of taking the original parade route, they planned to take another route, but that info wasn’t relayed correctly to the drivers -Ferdinand’s car took a wrong turn, and once realized, stopped and was about to back up -Princip was a few feet from Ferdinand as the car stopped, he shot both him and Sophie -all 7 members were caught and arrested after failed suicide attempts -Princip couldn’t be killed b/c capital punishment in Austro-Hungary was banned for people under 20, so because his birth couldn’t be validated, sentenced to maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for high treason – died in prison in April 1916 of bone tuberculosis "There is no need to carry me to another prison. My life is already ebbing away. I suggest that you nail me to a cross and burn me alive. My flaming body will be a torch to light my people on their path to freedom." “the same force drove Princip in 1914 as drove Milosevic and his henchmen in 1992 – 'the idea of using force to create ... a greater Serbia'.” -Muhamed Filipovic -the spot where Princip fired the two shots has been preserved with impressions of his feet imprinted onto a concrete slab in Sarajevo -Latin Bridge was renamed Princip Bridge -the corner building where he stood during the assassination is now the Young Bosnian Museum and has a shrine to his memory -unbeknownst to him, he also caused WWI, which did defeat A-H and unite South Slavs in the state of Yugoslavia

** Would you blame the Serbia or Bosnia for this? **Similar to assassination of JFK in Dallas in 1963?

-A-H believed that the assassination was a Serb-backed plot -Austria felt the need for strong action, but he knew German support would be required in the likely event Russia would intervene to protect Serbia -the question of peace or war against Serbia then laid in the hands of Germany as Austria would only attack if Germany had their back -William II and his Chancellor, Theobold von Bethmann- Hollweg promised German support to Austria for an attack on Serbia -told Austria that a failure to act would show how weak and useless they were as an ally -allied in the Triple Alliance -July 28, 1914 – Austria declares war on Serbia, even though the A-H army wouldn’t be ready for an attack until mid-August -the Russians responded angrily by ordering partial mobilization against Austria only -intention was to diplomatically pressure Austria from attacking Serbia -July 30 Austria mobilized against Russia -the French ambassador to Russia gave the Russians French backing (similar to Germany backing A-H) -Germany took Russia’s mobilization as a threat to A-H, their ally, but they resisted mobilizing first -Germany wanted Russia to mobilize against them first, so it would be a defensive war and people would back the war effort -Russia mobilized against Germany, and Germany gave them 12 hrs. to demobilize or there would be war -Aug. 1 – Germany declares war on Russia after they fail to demobilize -like U.S. and Bush with Iraq – 48 hrs. in 2003 -Schlieffen Plan went into effect under command of Gen. Helmuth von Moltke -designed in 1905 by Gen. Alfred von Schlieffen at request of Wilhelm II -- died in 1913 -practiced for 8 years, needed precise timing -defense by means of attack (scared of having to fight a 2-front war) -main aspects: 1) rapid mobilization, 2) disregard Belgium neutrality, and 3) force France to surrender -6 weeks – 42 days to beat France and rest of the time to get soldiers to Russian front by train (7 of Germany’s 8 army corps were based on French border, 1 on Russian border) -hold off Russia, which they thought would take a long time to fully mobilize -invade France through neutral Belgium

-Germans occupied Luxembourg and then invaded neutral Belgium by Aug. 3 -violated Belgium’s neutrality (from an 1839 treaty where European powers had guaranteed Belgium neutrality) -this angered Britain, and united the nation against Germany -Belgium resisted, but Germans pressed on -Aug. 3 – Germany declared war on France -Aug. 4 – Britain declared war on Germany -official start of the war

-WWI -sides: Allies – France, Britain, Russia, Italy (1915), U.S. (1917) -Russia (out 1918) -superior in numbers and financial resources, as well as command of the sea Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy (until 1915), Turkey -advantage of launched their attack first

-neutral throughout: Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland, Albania -newspapers started calling it the Great War

-with WWI: -Germany sought to gain economic supremacy -Britain sought to preserve their colonial hegemony -France sought revenge for the Franco-Prussian War, win back Alsace-Lorraine, and secure their position as a great power

-WWI -Western Front -Aug. – Sept. 1914 -German soldiers thought they’d “be home by Christmas” -Schlieffen Plan failed b/c: -Belgians protested and put up unexpectedly stiff resistance; invasion of neutrality led Britain to declare war on Germany -Russians mobilized with great speed, drew German reserves to the Eastern front -French counterattacked at Battle of the Marne River with Britain (Sept. 5, 1914) to stop German drive to Paris -Britain help to slow Germany in France -German military command shifted from Helmuth von Moltke, who failed at the Marne, to Erich von Falkenhayn and his “strategy of attrition” -stalemated into trench warfare and a war of attrition -war of attrition (wear down resources and morale of enemy) was to Germany’s disadvantage because of superior land mass, resources, and population of its enemies

-trench lines extended from North Sea to Switzerland -no significant breakthrough for each side

-weapons developments: machine guns, poison gas, tanks, bombing planes, submarines, tanks -Chemical warfare began in World War I: Germans first used chlorine gas at Ypres, Belgium in 1915 against the French, and they also used mustard gas as early as 1917 -German public lied to and told they were winning the war and everything was fine

-Troubles: -Christmas 1914 Munitions Crisis -all armies only had munitions for 3 months because that’s how long they thought the war would last -skilled workers that were mobilized were sent home to get the industries working at full strength again -Schweinemord (Pig Slaughter) -because of significant grain shortage and starving soldiers, German gov’t ordered all pigs to be killed, but there is not enough materials to preserve the meat, so almost all of it goes bad -flu pandemic that comes later is used as a cover-up for food shortages, so gov’t escapes blame again

-Eastern Front -Russia advanced into Austria and inflicted heavy causalities -but Russian incompetence and German energy changed the situation -German military leaders Erich Ludendorff and his general, Paul von Hindenburg captured an entire Russian army at the Battle of Tannenberg -new nations join -Turkey decides to get into the war on the side of the Central Powers b/c of its hostility to Russia in 1915 -April 1915-Jan. 1916 Battle of Gallipoli -a joint British Empire and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul and secure a sea route to Russia -After the failure of the naval attacks, led by Lord Admiralty of the British Navy Winston Churchill, it was decided that ground forces were necessary to eliminate the Turkish mobile artillery -the Anzac (Australia-New Zealand Army Corps) landed first in Turkey -Mustafa Kemal, a 34 year old Lt.-Col. In the Turkish forces, was waiting for the Allies to land -The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides -Turkey lost 87,000 men in the campaign, but refused to give up -the Allied troops, who had lost 44,000 troops (half being British troops), were eventually evacuated -the Ottoman victory over the Allies at Gallipoli renewed Turkey's visions for their empire -the meteoric rise of Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) began at Gallipoli

-In Turkey, the battle is perceived as a defining moment in the history of the Turkish people—a final surge in the defense of the motherland -In Australia and New Zealand, the campaign was the first major battle undertaken by a joint military formation, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries -the war most affected New Zealand and Australia, as it was the first great conflict experienced by those nations -New Zealand and Australia lost over 11,000 soldiers in the invasion

-Britain, b/c of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign in Turkey and with forces throughout Europe and in Egypt and India, too, they decided to sponsor an Arab revolt in June 1916 -plan was for this to take out the Ottoman Turks without having to use any soldiers themselves -British backed the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein, and Arab -disaster, though, b/c most Arabs, including those in the vilayets (provinces) of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra or present-day Iraq, stayed loyal to the Ottoman Empire -the Arab rebels were great at guerrilla raids, but couldn’t match the Turks when it came to pitched battles -in a 1915 secret treaty, Austria promised to give Italy, a member of the Allies, the Dalmatian Islands, colonies in Africa, and a share of the Turkish Empire -Italy agreed and joined the Central Powers

-Naval battle -Naval blockade… -Britain used its superior navy to cut Central Powers off from overseas trade in a blockade -Admiral of the British Navy was Winston Churchill -war supplies, food, and other peaceful cargo were prohibited -Germans responded with submarine warfare meant to destroy British shipping and starve the British -said that even neutral ships around the British Isles would not be safe -US upset by both British and German actions on the seas b/c they traded extensively with Europe

-May 1915 a German submarine torpedoed the British passenger liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland -Germans claim it was carrying illegally imported weapons, but British said it was merely a passenger liner -was actually carrying thousands of boxes of ammo because when it was hit, the ship exploded -1,120 people drowned, including 118 Americans -helped turn American public opinion against Germany -Pres. Wilson warned that another act like this would have grave consequences

-starting in Feb. 1916, armed merchant ships of neutral states with supplies destined for Britain were torpedoed -also started attacking unarmed merchant ships from neutral states, like the US

-Jan. 1917 Zimmerman Note -a coded telegram dispatched by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, , on January 19, 1917, to the German ambassador in , Heinrich von Eckardt -It instructed the ambassador to approach the Mexican government with a proposal to form an alliance against the -told Mexico to invade America to reclaim its lost territory of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona -Germany wanted to start unrestricted sub warfare again to take out Britain and wanted to make sure U.S. wouldn’t enter the war against them -It was intercepted and decoded by the British and its contents hastened the entry of the United States into WWI

-Feb. 1, 1917 Germans announced they were resuming unrestricted submarine warfare, so the US broke off diplomatic relations with them -although more neutral U.S. ships were sunk by British mines than by German U-boats, the massive debt the Allies owed to the U.S. and British led U.S. to side with Allies -similar to Germany and Russia not voting for the war in Iraq in 2003—money owed to them by Iraq -April 6, 1917 US declared war on Germany -Wilson: “to make the world safe for democracy” and “war to end war”

------Russia

-1914 with outbreak of WWI, Nicholas suspended the Duma to prevent political bickering from disrupting the war effort and enacted prohibition -it did not want war, but the Russian government felt obliged to resist the Austro- German attempt to destroy Serbia because they were fellow Slavs and because they feared a strong Germany in control of Europe -at war with Austro-Hungary and Germany

-capital’s name changed from St. Petersburg to Petrograd in Aug. 1914 because old name sounded too German -people clamored for the return of the Duma for initiation of needed reforms

-Stalin and Lenin -Stalin, who started using that as his revolutionary pseudonym in 1913 meaning “man of steel”, was rejected for military service in Russia in 1916 b/c of his left arm, so he didn’t have to fight in WWI -was a professional revolutionary for Bolshevism in Russia -arrested in Russia again in 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913 (when he was exiled to Siberia again) -wasn’t allowed to live in Moscow or St. Petersburg (Petrograd)

-Lenin is in Europe recruiting more members -in 1914, he was arrested while in Krakow by Austrian police for espionage (he was a Russian on enemy territory) -Victor Adler, a socialist in the Austro-Hungarian parliament, got him released after only 12 days -Lenin then traveled to Switzerland, eventually to Zurich -Lenin was convinced that the war signaled the final decline of the worldwide capitalist economy and thus was bringing nearer the socialist revolution -WWI put wind in the sails of the revolutionaries -He declared himself a “defeatist,” arguing that imperial Russia’s defeat in the war would be the surest means of bringing about revolution in Russia -Rasputin -Nicholas took over supreme command of the army in mid-1915 and allowed his wife an increasing influence on government in his absence at the front -Alexandra still keeping company with Rasputin to the point where he was basically living in the Winter Palace -between 1906 and 1914, royal acquaintance with Rasputin gave firepower to radicals against the gov’t, but became even more associated with royal family now that Nicholas II was at the front -people thought that he had too much influence in the gov’t and wanted him dead -the Empress was virtually governing Russia, and by dominating the Empress, Rasputin virtually governed Russia -“The 1 st Revolution and the counter-revolutionary era of 1907-1914 that followed revealed the core of the monarchy by showing the rot, vileness, cynicism, and debauchery of the Czarist clique with its monster Rasputin heading it.” -Lenin, Letters from Afar -December 1916 Rasputin was murdered by a group of conspirators, including the emperor’s first cousin, Grand Duke Dmitry, and his nephew, Prince Felix Yussoupov -these politically conservative aristocrats hoped naively to rescue the dynasty’s prestige -lured to Prince Yussoupov’s palace where he was served cakes and wine laced with cyanide, which didn’t work -so Yussoupov shot him in the chest, but he got up and started to attack Yussoupov -the Prince ran off but Rasputin ran out of palace when another man shot him, but he just fell in the snow, so they threw him in the icy Neva River -cause of death from autopsy was drowning (not poison, not gunshot wound)

-war was disastrous -the tsar drafted 14 million men, but gave out only 4,100 machine guns and no heavy field guns -hundreds of thousands of soldiers were dying every year -led to mutinies by the generals and soldiers -troops on the front lines were deserting by the thousands (2 million had deserted by Feb. 1917) -215,000 soldiers in and around Petrograd, and 80,000 sailors in the Baltic fleet, refused to support the monarchy

-society was in chaos -1916 Duma met for the first time since its disbanding and immediately criticized the czar’s gov’t -country had a massive debt of 51 million gold rubles (owed money to US, France, Britain, Belgium, etc.) -1,400 worker strikes in 1916 -food riots break out in Moscow and Petrograd -bread riots started in Petrograd in March 1917 and lasted for days, eventually turning into protests for political reform -the army opened fire, killing 50 protestors in Petrograd -but soldiers began to rebel -Sergei Kapichnikov, said, “Our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and brides are begging for bread. Are we going to kill them?” -officers lost control, and several army regiments shot their officers -soldier mutinies spread throughout Petrograd -sailors on the island of Kronstadt took control of their base, overtaking their officers and shooting many of them -March 11, 1917 in Petrograd, several regiments of soldiers refused to obey Nicholas’ orders to shoot bread rioters and protestors -soviets were set up to reflect their views (direct democracy) – army divisions and factories set up their own councils

-March Revolution of 1917 – a spontaneous, unplanned, and unorganized anger at the tsarist regime -March 14 the Duma took over the gov’t -formed a Provisional Gov’t under Prime Minister Georgi Lvov (made his headquarter in the tsar’s Winter Palace in Petrograd) -Minister of Justice was Alexander Kerensky -made up mostly of wealthy, landowning Constitutional Democrats -wanted a constitutional monarchy -Mensheviks were willing to work with the Constitutional Democrats -they eventually compromised on a republic -stayed in WWI and maintained imperial Russia’s alliances -under great pressure from the US, Britain, and France to stay in the war -but soldiers kept mutinying as they were being ordered to go to the front to continue fighting in the war -General Klembovsky, “What can help? The death sentence? But can you really hang whole divisions? Court-martials? But then half the army will be in Siberia.” -the soldiers weren’t necessarily Marxists or Bolsheviks, but they hated the war -but the prolongation of the war was the prelude to Bolshevism and was great for Lenin -March 15 Nicholas had no alternative but to abdicate -imprisoned with his family in Siberia -April 1918 they were taken to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains -March 17 Russia proclaimed a republic -would be an 8-month republican interregnum between the white monarchy and the red soviets -March Revolution was not planned or led by any political faction, but rather the result of the collapse of the monarchy’s ability to govern -all political parties were unhappy with the tsar -end of Tsarist Russia -reasons: -devastating defeats by Central Powers -staggering causalities demoralized Russian people -military incompetence -corruption and ineptitude of the tsarist gov’t -workers heavily exploited and peasants (majority of population) oppressed -defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) -1905 Revolution demonstrated vulnerability of the tsarist regime and their unwillingness to change -Ukraine took advantage of this and separated from Russia in March 1917 -set up its own gov’t under President V.K. Vinnichenko, who called the new gov’t the Central Rada, or Central Soviet -organized a nationalist insurrection against the German occupation of Ukraine -Bolsheviks opposed Ukrainian separatism, and eventually attacked and overthrew it in 1918 -Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders come back from exile to Petrograd on April 16 -Germany turned to the revolutionary Lenin and hoped his reemergence in Russia would disrupt their involvement in the war and wreck Russia -thought his presence and ideas would threaten the Allied war effort -German military looked to the “unused resource of the Russian revolutionaries in Switzerland” -both Ludendorff and Kaiser William II agreed -Germans allowed him passage back into Russia by a secret rain from Switzerland (20 Bolsheviks in total were on the train) -went through Sweden and Finland eventually to St. Petersburg -in his April Theses (aka. Lenin’s 10 Commandments), Lenin called for: 1) all power to the soviets, which meant no control to the Prov. Gov’t 2) down with the imperialist war -Lenin’s rallying cry was “Peace, Land, Bread”

-in July, Petrograd again saw the soldiers protesting as more soldiers were being sent to the front -the soldiers were demanding that power be transferred to the soviets -wanted to overthrow the Prov. Gov’t -called for immediate action, which Lenin did not support -the Prov. Gov’t forces opened fire into the crowds and were able to gain control -Lenin was branded a German spy and was ordered to be arrested -Lenin and Bolshevik leaders fled to Finland, believing the revolution had been lost -felt the coup was too unorganized and spontaneous -the Bolsheviks were ruined -known as the July Days

-in July 1917, Alexander Kerensky, becomes Prime Minister by calling for a tougher gov’t (suppresses Bolsheviks, including jailing Trotsky) -he decided to arm the Petrograd Soviet as a way to control them -proved disastrous -but many are getting upset with the inadequacy of the Provisional Gov’t -many, including the Bolsheviks, called for the Soviets to take over power -“The government, alas, has no real power; the troops, the railroads, the post, and telegraph are in the hands of the Soviet. The simple fact is that the provisional government exists only so long as the Soviet permits it.” —Minister of War, Aleksandr Guchkov

-October Revolution (according to Russian calendar) -on Oct. 10, Lenin comes back to Petrograd from Finland disguised as a railway worker -appears at a Petrograd Soviet meeting and puts armed revolution on the agenda -says that the Bolsheviks will defend the Soviets -the only way to take power is by force, and he got support from the Kronstadt sailors -starts planning a planned, armed, and controlled revolution, not the spontaneous March revolution

-Bolshevik-led revolution (engineered by Lenin, run by Trotsky) -Stalin plays a meaningless role -October coup -Kronstadt sailors brought in and take over the Winter Palace in Petrograd -Kerensky is able to flee, first to Paris, then to the US -Red Guards (armed factory workers) also seize key Petrograd buildings -Lenin: “The provisional gov’t has been overthrown.” -he promised peace to the soldiers, land to the peasants, and control of production to the workers -“Long live the revolution of soldiers, workers, and peasants” -Lenin gives all power to the Petrograd Soviets, but many feared he meant power just for the Bolsheviks -then, as promised, elections were held that people were excited about

-Nov. 25-27, 1917 elections held for a Constituent Assembly where 40 million people voted (Russia’s first fully, fairly, democratically elected representative parliament) out of a population of 159 million -Social Revolutionaries won the majority, though (410 of 707 seats) –got 17.5 million votes (58% of the vote) -SRs considered themselves utopian socialists, enjoyed tremendous following amongst the peasants -of Russia’s 159 million people, 82% lived in villages, and 18% lived in cities -Bolsheviks won 175 seats (9.5 million votes -- 25% of the vote), Mensheviks 16 -soldiers and workers backed the Bolsheviks, so they had support in Petrograd and Moscow -striking b/c the Bolsheviks were actually ruling Russia, though -only 250,000 Bolshevik party members in 1917 (out of a population of 159 million people) -the Bolsheviks didn’t want to share power, though -he called for a soviet-led gov’t, a “dictatorship of the proletariat” -Bolsheviks quickly arrested a number of SR deputies and armed patrols prevented future sessions, thus ending Russia’s brief parliamentary experience

-Congress of the Soviets (representing local Soviets all over Russia) establish a Council of People’s Commissars (their Cabinet) with… -Lenin as head -Jewish Ukrainian-born Leon Davidovich Bronstein (Leon Trotsky) as foreign minister -Georgian-born Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Josef Stalin) as Nationalities Minister -Russians constituted only 43% of Russia’s inhabitants -other 57% were Ukrainians (Russia’s largest national minority with 37 million people), Georgians, Armenians, Uzbeks, Azerbaijani, Tartars, Tadjiks, and at least 100 others -Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Dzerzhinsky, and Stalin all belonged to minority ethnic groups -Politburo (governing body of Russia), elected by the Central Committee of the communist party after each party congress, consisted of Kamenev, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, and Krestinsky in 1920 -Bukharin, Kalinin, and Zinoviev were alternate members -in 1921, it changed: Krestinsky was out and Zinoviev was in

-Communist Russia -Decree on Land Nov. 1917 -abolished landlord ownership of land without compensation -nationalized the land and turned it over to peasants, including church property -forever abolished private ownership of land and prohibited the sale, purchase, and renting of land -factory workers were put in charge of factories -in December thy established a secret police organization, the Cheka (later known as the OGPU, NKVD, MVD, and KGB) under Felix Dzerzhinsky (Iron Felix) -Cheka is the Russian acronym for the Extraordinary Commission for Fighting Counterrevolution and Sabotage -Lenin: “How can you safeguard a revolution without executions?” -set up a police state that infuriated the people -“this didn’t seem like the revolution we fought for.”

-ending the war -one of the main reason why people had favored the Bolsheviks over the Kerensky gov’t b/c they promised an end to the war in Russia -Western nations wanted Russia to keep up its alliance responsibilities, while Germany wished to see them leave the war, which is why they trained Lenin back into Russia in 1917 -Russian army, and the Soviet gov’t, couldn’t defend the country against Germany, and Germany knew it -Bolshevik capital becomes Moscow, and the Kremlin their headquarters in March 1918 -wanted to be farther away from a threatening Germany, as well as distance themselves from the tsarist capital -Nov. 27, 1917 Lenin signs an armistice with Germany and starts peace talks in the town of Brest-Litovsk (in present-day Belarus) -Soviets sent symbolically a worker, a peasant, and a sailor to represent the new gov’ts constituency, as well as a number of military experts -peace talks eventually led by Trotsky -could Bolsheviks hold onto power now that they had it??? -Lenin was simply happy to have outlived the life of 1871 Paris Commune, which survived for 72 days -all depended on getting Russia out of WWI -Soviets also needed socialist revolutions to break out throughout Europe, too -were internationalists -the hammer and the sickle in 1917 -symbol of the union of workers and peasants having been declared the base of the state -became the flag of the country in 1923

**Compare and contrast the three great revolutions in a 141 year span: American, French, Industrial, and Russian Revolutions

-1918 -“dictatorship of the proletariat” proclaimed with Leninist doctrine -Leninist thought is simply Lenin’s version of Marxism in Russia -government ruling on behalf of Russia’s industrial workers and peasants -the proletariat never governed the Soviet Union – the communist party governed, and a dictator dominated the party -Bolsheviks rename themselves Russian Communist Party in March -starvation still wrecked the nation, especially Petrograd -active communists with political assignments lacked physical energy with such low food rations -some communists talked about establishing a closed restaurant where party members could have more nourishing meals -some thought that the party members should be starving just like the workers -but the majority of the party felt that if the communists were physically exhausted, the result would be “inevitable premature collapse with disastrous effects on the revolution -b/c without its leaders, “the working class would fail as the motor of the revolution and the builder of a new society” -Lenin agreed, “the workers will understand the necessity of it” -completed contradicts what he said in The State and Revolution -there was grain, but the kulaks (prosperous peasants) were hiding and hoarding it -Lenin: “Who does not work, he shall not eat” -established a gov’t grain monopoly to provide a “correct and just” distribution of bread among all citizens -called this War Communism -made it illegal to sell grain privately -all surpluses of grain must be turned over to the gov’t at a fixed price -to increase the supply of food to army troops and workers in the cities -workers organized into squads to enter villages and forcefully bring out the grain -any peasants who resisted to give up their grain were shot -to prevent abuses, Lenin put Stalin in charge of the Workers and Peasants Inspection in 1919 -in Russian, it was the “RKI” or “Rabkrin” -eradicated nepotism and corruption in this, and thus was ruthlessly brutal -peasants hated this, and since they backed the SRs anyways, this was leading to a civil war, a war with the peasantry -thus 82% of the population was alienated -Trotsky takes over command of the Red Army -“we do not shoot peasants, but arrest landowners and officers who try to shoot the peasants” -Brest-Litovsk peace talks -a group of Bolsheviks, including Karl Radek and Nikolai Bukharin, organized against Lenin and for a revolutionary war -were against any thought of a peace treaty, which they saw as capitulating with a capitalist, monarchist gov’t -wanted a revolutionary war to free all workers throughout Europe -signing the treaty would split the Bolshevik party Lenin: “Better a split in the party than the danger of a military overthrow of the revolution. The split could be healed, but if the Germans conquer us, not one of us returns.” -Russia accepts the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918 -takes Russia out of WWI -surrender Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), Finland, Poland, and the Ukraine to Germany -1/3 of Russian land, 1/3 of population (55 million people lost), and ½ of industry lost -Lenin paid dearly to get out of the war, but he saved the state that he had created -humiliating to Russian nationalists who called them “defeatist concessions” -outcry against the treaty was again led by Nikolai Bukharin and Karl Radek -“anti-treaty” -included Mensheviks, anarchists, and SRs -threatened to secede from the soviets, and took drastic measures to bring down Lenin and his Bolsheviks -left Germany with no Eastern threat, so they came out even more powerful -similar to the 1939 Soviet-Nazi non-aggression pact with Stalin and Hitler -from July 1918 on, the Congress of the Soviets ruled as a one-party state -all other parties had been banned, and now the largest opposition party, the SRs, were banned, too -civil war had broken out in Russia (1917-1923) -Reds (Bolsheviks) vs. Whites (Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries, monarchists, anarchists, etc.) -Whites hated the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, hated war communism, etc. ------

-Wilson’s 14 Points (peace plan recommendations never fully implemented) delivered to Congress -January 8, 1918 -meant to punish Germany as the one who started the war 1. end secret treaties 2. freedom of the seas 3. free trade 4. arms reduction 5. just settlement of colonial claims 6-13. evacuation of occupied territories and national self-determination 7. Belgium must be evacuated and restored 8. France should be freed, and they should get Alsace-Lorraine back from Germany 9. Italy 10. self-determination for the peoples of Austria-Hungary 11. Serbia and Montenegro should be evacuated 12. Turks in the Ottoman Empire should be given their sovereignty 13. independent Polish state 14. establishment of League of Nations (international political organization to settle disputes) – predecessor of U.N. -U.S. ironically never joined League of Nations, though -US said they would only deal with a democratic German gov’t b/c they wanted to be sure they were dealing with the German people, not simply their rulers

-End of the war 1918-1919 -U.S. had 9 divisions of its army in France by summer of 1918 -by fall of 1918, Turkey left the war, Austria-Hungary collapsed, Germany was wrecked -on Sept. 29, 1918, Erich Ludendorff and the army unexpectedly demanded that the gov’t should negotiate an armistice and form a parliamentary gov’t -basically an admission to military defeat -talks began between the new gov’t under Chancellor Prince Max von Baden, the military, and the Allies -based on democratic principles and to seek peace immediately -Prince Max asked for peace on the basis of the 14 pts. -US said they would only deal with a democratic German gov’t b/c he wanted to be sure he was dealing with the German people, not simply their rulers -Chancellor Prince Max von Baden declared the abdication of Kaiser William II on Nov. 9, 1918 -Wilhelm II was at the army headquarters in Belgium at the time – eventually fled to neutral Holland -von Baden handed over power to Friedrich Ebert, an SPD member of the Imperial cabinet, as chancellor -the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was the largest party in the parliament at the time -proclaimed the birth of a democratic republic -needed to end the war -sent a Catholic civilian, Matthias Erzberger, to go sign the armistice instead of a military officer -on 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month of 1918 (Nov. 11, 1918), Compiegne Armistice ended WWI (10 million dead from combat, millions more from disease) -Erzberger became the Minister of Finance, but was assassinated in 1920 for this act by the Organization Consul, who tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic

-peace settlement -Paris Peace Conference Jan. 1919 -Big 4 – President Wilson of U.S., Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain (under King George V), Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France, Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando of Italy -made all decisions -Central Powers excluded (no Russia or Germany) -France was eager to weaken Germany permanently and preserve French superiority -14 Points compromised -Treaty of Versailles June 28, 1919 -ended the war but never settled explosive issues that led to war in the first place 1. loss of territory -German territories ceded to Allies or given independence... -Alsace-Lorraine and the right to work the Saar coal- mining area to France for 15 years -Schleswig to Denmark -Germany west of the Rhine River and 50 km east of it (Rhineland) became a demilitarized zone -Allied troops could stay on the west bank of it for 15 years -Silesia became part of the new state of Poland -Germany also had to give up lands gained in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia -Finland, the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), and Poland all became independent nations -Poland becomes a country again (first time since 18 th century partition) after 123 years of occupation by Russia, Germany and Austria

-also, all states that Germany had conquered, like Belgium, got their independence back -German colonies and properties in foreign countries distributed to Allies -all in all, Germany gave up 13.5% of its territory, 13% of economic productivity, 7.3 million citizens (10% of their population)

-Austria-Hungary split up into several new states -Republic of Austria was for most of the German- speaking people -forbidden to unite with Germany -Kingdom of Hungary was for the Magyars -Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia joined with the Slovaks to form Czechoslovakia -southern Slavs were united in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) 2. Germany blamed for starting the war, forced to plead guilty (“war guilt” clause) -Germany bitterly resented this 3. German army cut back to 100,000 men, navy severely cut back to 15,000 men and only 6 warships, 0 submarines, 0 air force, 0 tanks, 0 poison gas -German compulsory military service is abolished, as well as the General Staff -Britain and US said they would help France if Germany attacked them 4. one fourth of German fishing fleet and two fifths of the inland navigation fleet has to be ceded to Allies, as well as large amounts of machinery and building materials, trains and trucks 5. Germany had to pay war reparations for civilian damage done – payments for damage done and pensions for millions of Allied soldiers and their families and/or widows -the sum was 132 billion German marks (the equivalent of $400 bn. USD) over 30 yrs. was agreed to in 1921 -France and Britain wanted Germany to pay the full cost of the war b/c they worried about their war debts to the US -52% of it to France; US refused to ask for reparations from Germany -John Maynard Keynes, a British economist, became an outspoken critic of the treaty as whole, specifically of the reparations -his 1920 The Economic Consequences of the Peace -said that such a harsh peace would bring economic ruin and war to Europe again -Germany made its last reparations payment on Oct. 3, 2010, finally settling its outstanding debt from the 1919 Versailles Treaty, paying off the final $94 million, which is the remaining interest on loans taken out to the pay the debt

6. creation of a League of Nations -international peace organization meant to arbitrate differences among nations through the League Council (US, Italy, France, Britain, Japan) -failure to abide by the decision would lead to economic sanctions or military intervention by the League Council -problems: -they had no armed forces -any action required unanimous consent of the League Council -Germany and Russia excluded

-US Senate failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles -consequently they did not become part of the League of Nations -meant that the United States did not continue to be involved in world affairs following WWI -also meant that the US was not bound to defend France -this meant that the US was still at war with Germany until the 1921 Treaty of Berlin -similar to Korean War today (armistice, but no treaty)

-the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic -caused by an unusually virulent and deadly influenza strain -the virus killed via a cytokine storm (overreaction of the body's immune system), so it specifically targeted young people -the close troop quarters and massive troop movements of WWI hastened the pandemic -spread to nearly every part of the world, lasting from March 1918 to June 1920 -cities passed laws requiring citizens to wear masks in public places, but little stemmed the spread of the disease -up to 100 million killed worldwide by this pandemic (1/3 of the world’s population) -including Sigmund Freud’s daughter, -in Britain as many as 250,000 died; in France more than 400,000 -from 1917 to 1918, average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped an amazing 12 years -the pandemic ended only when the virus had infected so many people that it burned itself out -today, doctors have better tools--antivirals and respirators--that would cut the potential death toll -individuals who survived the flu: -FDR, Woodrow Wilson, Kaiser Wilhelm II, David Lloyd George, and Norwegian painter Edward Munch

-Results of the war: -10 million killed in war, $300 billion war costs and property damaged -WWI resulted in more causalities than any previous war -Hitler conscripted by Austrian army, but fled and joined the German army at 25, became a corporal -assigned to the Bavarian reserve infantry regiment, but eventually became a courier in the army -wounded in the leg in a battle in 1916 -while wounded, he spoke to other soldiers on the “invisible foes of the German people” (Jews, Marxists) -ironic b/c 12,000 Jewish soldiers died fighting on the German side in World War I -“…horror had replaced the romance of the battlefield." – Hitler in Mein Kampf -blinded temporarily by British chlorine gas attack in Ypres, Belgium in 1918 -“there followed terrible days and even worse nights – I knew that all was lost…in these nights, hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this deed.” –From Mein Kampf on hearing Germany had signed the armistice -“And so it had been in vain. In vain all the sacrifices and privations; in vain the hunger and thirst…in vain the death of two millions… Was it for this that these boys of 17 sank into the earth?...Did all this happen only so that a gang of wretched criminals could lay hands on the fatherland?” -"The war made Hitler, as the revolution made Stalin." - British historian Richard Overy

-empires fell: Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman

-the Middle East was radically transformed -in early 1915, when it was becoming clear that the Ottoman Empire would not survive World War I, politicians in London and Paris hit upon the idea of dividing up what was left of the empire -the British and French plan targeted the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire -imposed colonialism on the free peoples of the Arab world

-1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement -a secret agreement that the British diplomat Mark Sykes negotiated with his French counterpart François Georges- Picot -London and Paris divided up the expected spoils in such a way that the regions surrounding Beirut, Damascus and Mosul were to go to France, while the British would control the Arab Gulf coast, Palestine and the provinces of Baghdad and Basra

-1917 Balfour Declaration -signed by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, the British government guaranteed the Zionist Federation "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."

-the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration are the two founding documents of the modern Middle East -they served as the basis for five states -- Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel -- and the eternal non-state of Palestine

-the British couldn’t afford to keep money and troops in the Middle East, so it had to do something to maintain its influence -Britain had troops in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Persia in 1919 -but they were war-weary and battered -the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein, had a power-hungry son, Feisal, who the British had supported during the failed Arab Revolt against the Turks in 1916 -Feisal declared himself the King of Syria, despite the fact that the French militarily occupied much of the area -but France expelled him from Syria

-in 1920, Ottoman Turkey and the Allies of WWI (France, Britain, and US) signed their own treaty to end WWI in the Middle East -League of Nations gave France and Britain mandates in the region in April 1920: -Syria and Lebanon became French mandates -British got the mandates for Palestine, Transjordan, and Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) -Mesopotamia was made of 3 separate, independent provinces at the time: Mosul, Basra, and Baghdad -Iraq a mix of Sunni and Shiite (Shi'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%)

-Churchill wanted an Arab regime that would preserve British imperial interests that wouldn’t cost much (Churchill became Sec. of State for the Colonies in 1921) -also did not want to alienate the French in Syria and Lebanon -saw Feisal as his man for running Mesopotamia -problem with this was the Feisal was a Sunni, and 65% of Iraqis are Shiites -so Feisal would not be chosen by the Iraqi people, but placed in power by Britain -minority Sunni rule over a predominantly Shia population -Arabs in Mesopotamia rebelled in 1920, to which Churchill responded: -“I think you should certainly proceed with the experimental work on gas bombs, especially mustard gas, which would inflict punishment on recalcitrant natives without inflicting grave injury upon them.” -thousands of Iraqis died in the attacks -in March 1921, Churchill gathered what he nicknamed the “40 thieves” in Cairo for the Cairo Conference to settle matters in the Middle East -he presided over the conference as Britain’s Sec. of State for the Colonies -main goal was to figure out how to save as much money as possible (ie. pull troops and resources out) -created the map, and the issues that would lead to wars and conflicts, of today’s Middle East -determined the fate of millions of Arabs -put Feisal on the throne of unified state of Iraq as king in Aug. 1921 -the cheapest and fastest solution for Britain, but not an Iraqi-centered position (saved Britain £20m/year) -Iraqis were mainly Shia, and they had no say about who would rule them -Feisal was a Sunni and an outsider (a prince from the Arabian peninsula), so his legitimacy was questioned -to keep the Sunnis having some power, he need to keep the Kurds in Iraq and not let them have their independence since they were Sunnis, too -British reasons, not Iraqi interests, were paramount -there was now a pro-British puppet regime in place w/out financial burden -Britain still pulled the strings behind the scenes -created an artificial state we know as Iraq -created out of 3 Ottoman vilayets (provinces) that were very different -the north was centered around Mosul (Sunni, but ethnically they were Kurds) -the center was centered around Baghdad (Sunni, but ethnically they were Arab) -the south was centered around Basra (Shiite, but ethnically they were Arabs)

-Iraq attained its independence from Britain as a kingdom 11 years later in 1932

-put his brother Abdullah on the throne of Transjordan -Jordan given their independence in 1923 by Britain -his great-grandson, King Abdullah II, sits on the throne of Jordan today -the Hashemite dynasty installed by the British only survives in Jordan, but it failed in Syria and then Iraq

-these were the best options not for the people in these nations, but for Britain to save millions and pull troops out -also decided to pay Ibn Saud £100,000/year to allow for him to create a massive new Arab kingdom (Saudi Arabia) with the understanding that he wouldn’t invade their new countries of Iraq or Tansjordan -thought this would make him want to trade with them more

-by 1923 Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the leader of the Turkish forces, created the Republic of Turkey -ironically born in present-day Greece to a poor Turkish man and a peasant woman -became their first president -took the name Kemal Ataturk (Father of the Turks) -Turkey became a secular state, modernizing by adopting western ways

-in 1918, Poland becomes a country again (first time since 18 th century partition) -triumph of communism in Russia -WWI was the mother of WWII -Germany felt cheated rather than defeated -Germany’s Prime Minister Philipp Scheidmann spoke of the Treaty of Versailles as the imprisonment of the German people -1915-1923 Armenian Genocide -first modern genocide

The War to End all Wars?