20th Century Backgrounder

World War I (1914-1918) Triple Entente

France Great Britain Russia

Triple Alliance Germany Austria-Hungary Turkey

Causes of WWI

Alliance System Nationalism Imperialism Militarism The Balkans The Assassination of Franz

Ferdinand

Major Events of WWI 1914

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand lead to chain of events which draw all of the major powers into a war.

Battle of the Marne Trench Warfare begins Ypres

1915 2nd Battle of Ypres (mustard gas) Sinking of Lusitania

1916 Battles of Verdun, Jutland and the Somme. (Tanks)

1917 Zimmerman Telegram – Draws in USA Russian Tsar abdicates Bolsheviks take power in Russia – Russia is out of

the war Vimy Ridge Passchendaele

1918 Wilson’s 14 points German Spring Offensive Heavy German losses leads to surrender Armistice – Nov. 11, 11:00 AM, 1918

1919 Treaty of Versailles

Trench Warfare

Treaty of Versailles Terms of the Treaty was

hard on Germany Legal Restrictions

War Guilt Clause Military Restrictions

Army of no more than 100,000

Navy diminished and no U-boats

No air force Territorial Changes

Both in Europe and colonies Demilitarization of Rhineland Reparations

300 Billion Reichsmarks

Map of Europe Changed

Russia USSR Bolsheviks take power in 1917

Bolsheviks slowly take complete control of Russia.

Become the Communist Party Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)

Leader of the Bolsheviks Becomes Leader of the USSR

Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) Leader of USSR after Lenin Gradually took more power until

he became the unchallenged leader

Totalitarian Dictator of the USSR

The Roaring Twenties The Great Depression

Boom and BustLife after World War One

Took place in North America and Western Europe

Period of economic , social, and economic prosperity.

USA gained dominance in World Finance

Stock market crash of 1929 (Black Tuesday)

Most severe economic depression of the 20th Century

Most countries did not come out of the Great Depression until after World War II

Benito Mussolini Fascist Dictator of Italy “Il Duce” One of the founders of

Italian Fascism 1922 March on Rome –

Coup d’etat Led Italy into World War II

on the side of Nazi Germany

The Rise of Hitler“The one means that wins the easiest victory over

reason: terror and force”Adolf Hitler

“We must develop organizations in which an individual’s entire life can take place. Then every activity and every need of every individual will be regulated by the collectivity represented by the party. There is no longer any arbitrary will, there are no longer any free realms in which the individual belongs to himself… The time of personal happiness if over.”

Adolf Hitler

Background – Hitler (1889-1945) Austrian born dictator of

Germany 1933-1945 Artist in Vienna – absorbed

anti-Semitic prejudices. Volunteered for the

German Army in WWI Won the Iron Cross for

Bravery twice Believed Jews and

Communists were responsible for losing WWI.

Rise of Nazi Party 1919 Hitler joined the

National Socialist German Workers Party

1920 put in charge of NAZI propaganda

Organized the Munich Putsch of 1923

Unsuccessful and went to prison – wrote Mein Kamph

Mein Kamph (My Struggle Sought the reunion of the

German Peoples that were settled in Poland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia

Hitler wanted to Establish the Third Reich 1st Carolingian Empire 2nd Late 19th Century to WWI

(Wilhelm and Bismarck)

Reasons for the Rise of HitlerTreaty of VersaillesEconomic Ruin and the Great Depression

AnschlussFear of CommunismSocial DarwinismHitler’s Oratory SkillsFailure of the League of Nations

Hitler’s SolutionsOverturn the Treaty of Versailles – reclaiming lost territory and canceling all foreign debt

Full employment – through government spending

Eliminate foreign elements (Jews)

Timeline after 19301930’s – Nazi Party the 2nd largest partyNazis gain 13 million votesHindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor in January 1933

Reichstag Fire – Excuse to suspend civil liberties – blamed on left-wing opponents

March 1933 – Enabling Act – Gave Hitler complete power

SS expanded from 280 – 50,000

Timeline – con’t 1933 – Dachau opened 1933 Gestapo established – Himmler June 30, 1934 – Night of the Long

Knives Hitler purges the party of enemies

1934 Death of Hindenburg Hitler become the Fuhrer

1934-1939 Expand public works Economy put in war time Rearmament Isolation of the Jews 1936 Berlin Olympics

Nov. 9 1938 Kristallnact Night of the Broken Glass 26,000 Jews arrested 200 synagogues vandalized

Appeasement Foreign policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain towards Nazi

Germany between 1937 and 1939. His policies of avoiding war with Germany have been the subject of intense debate for seventy years among academics, politicians and diplomats. The historian's assessment of Chamberlain has ranged from condemnation for allowing Hitler to grow too strong, to the judgment that he had no alternative and acted in Britain's best interests. At the time, these concessions were widely seen as positive, and the Munich Pact among Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy prompted Chamberlain to announce that he had secured "peace for our time".

The word "appeasement" has been used as a synonym for weakness and even cowardice since the 1930s, and it is still used in that sense today as a justification for firm, often armed, action in international relations

Hitler Tests the Waters 1936 Hitler Rearms the Rhineland 1938 Anschluss (Union)

Austria is annexed by Germany with no resistance

1938 Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia

1938 The remainder of Czechoslovakia

1939 Chamberlain promised Poland that the UK would declare war on Germany if they are attacked

Non-aggression pact between Hitler and Stalin Would divide Poland Germany attack on Poland officially

started WWII