WORLD WAR I AND ITS AFTERMATH

Chapter 25

The Great War, 1914-1918The Totality of WWI Full mobilization of entire societies – soldiers and

civilians – and complete technological capacities of nations involved.

The unexpected horror is what made WWI great. Machines and new technologies drove the war into new

depths○ Machine guns, airplanes, battleships, submarines, gas, tanks,

bombs all came to the fore from 1914-1919.

The war became a testing ground for new weapons. But old generals were unwilling to abandon old techniques. The Cult of the Offensive would cost millions of lives in the

face of new technologies.

The Great War, 1914-1918 What was supposed to be an offensive

war was turned into a stationary standoff.When the British and French met the

Germans on the Marne, neither side could defeat the other.

75-mm Howitzers made advancement almost impossible.○ Trench warfare

Life in the Trenches, France

Life in the Trenches, French Lines

Life in the Trenches, French Lines at Verdun

The Sides of WWI

1. Central Powers Austria-Hungary and Germany Evolved out of Bismarck’s Triple Alliance

○ Ottoman Empire joined in order to fight Russia

2. Allies France, Great Britain, and Russia Emerged as a bloc from the Entente Cordiale b/t

FR and BR.○ Japan joined in 1914 hoping to extend into China.

3. In 1915 Italy switch from the Triple Alliance to the Allies in hopes of postwar gain.

The Wants and Needs of WWI…1. Germany: wanted a bigger empire, to be gained by

annexing Russian territory Wanted to incorporate Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

2. Russia: wanted to reassert its status as a great power.

Wanted to be protector of the Slavs Wanted a reunified Poland

3. France: wanted the return of the Alsace-Lorraine, lost to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.

4. British: wanted to cement their hold on the Suez Canal and keep their empire in place.

5. Italy: promised territory in Africa, Asia Minor, and the Balkans in return for joining the Allies

The Empire and Its PeopleThose involved extended beyond the European powers and Japan. 1 million Africans 1 million Indians More than a million members of the British

Commonwealth fought in battles.

The opening months crushed any hope of quick victory. Schlieff Plan: an outline for combating enemies on two

fronts by focusing on one at a time. Quick, concentrated attack on France in the West (blitzkrieg?) Light holding action against Russia in the East. Planned to continue into Belgium (neutral) after France falls.

Western Leaders Sound Off…“I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas… I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes... It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gasses; gasses can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected.”

- Winston Churchill

Others agreed, indeed we must “insist on reserving the right to bomb niggers.”

- Lloyd George, British Prime Minister shortly after WWI

WWI – The Home Front Total war means the participation of virtually every

member of society.Manufacturing of shells, machine guns, poisonous gasses,

bombs, and airplanes skyrocketed.Production of coffins, canes, wheelchairs, and artificial

limbs increased too.To keep the war machine going gov’ts oversaw production.

○ What would have angered liberals in the past now became a necessity.

Political squabbling was put on hold in many countries.Socialists became as patriotic as anyone elseSome feminists shelved their pacifismWilhelm II proclaim “I no longer recognize political parties. I

recognize only Germans.

WWI – The Home FrontDuring any time of crisis, Governments will seek to place tighter controls on their citizens.

Throughout Europe gov’ts pass sedition laws that make it a crime to criticize official policies.

Gov’ts created propaganda agencies to paint the war as a patriotic duty.○ Brits call the Germans “Huns” and fabricated

atrocities.○ Germans warned that French-African troops would

rape German women if Germany were defeated.○ In Russia, St. Petersburg is changed to Petrograd

in 1914.

WWI – The Home FrontDissident Groups Attempt to End the Brutality 1915: Women’s activists meet in The Hague

to call for an end to the fighting. In Austria-Hungary, nationalists groups stay

focused on their own problems.Czechs launch anti-Habsburg campaignIn the Balkans Croats, Slovenes, and Serbs form

a committee to form an independent state, free from Austria-Hungary.

WWI – The Home FrontThe Civilians War Many nonessential businesses closed in the face of

the need for wartime production. Women working in textiles, luxury shops, and

domestic sectors lost their jobs.They took over higher paying jobs in the war industry.Munitions, metallurgical factories, truck driving, street car

operating. Social tensions return during wartime

Gov’ts allow businesses high rates of profits○ Costs of living surge○ Shortages make life difficult – bread, sugar, meat.○ 1916-1917: Known as the turnip winter because that’s all

their was.

WWI – The Home Front Social tensions return during wartime

Both sides begin deporting or conscripting people in the territories they occupied○ French bring 100,000 Vietnamese to work in

France for the war effort.○ Africans faced grueling forced labor.○ This suffering during wartime set the stage for

ordinary people to become politicized.

Protest, Revolution, and War’s End, 1917-1918

Russia and Revolution – Why? By 1917 Russia has 7.5 million casualties, the most

of any country. Fighting on the eastern front droves peasants to

the interior.Hunger, homelessness, and disease spread.

March 1917: Crowds begin protesting, then looting shops for food.

Most of the army, instead of remaining loyal to the tsar, became embittered about the loss of life.

As riots continue throughout March 1917, Nicholas II abdicates, thus ending 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia (alliteration aside…)

What to Do Now?

Provisional Government – Their Goals

1. Needed to pursue the war successfully

2. Manage internal affairs better

3. Set gov’t on constitutional grounds to gain credibility with the people

Soviets: councils of elected workers and soldiers. Mostly under the control of the Socialist-RevolutionariesThe SR’s were disbanded by the Bolsheviks

after 1917.

What to Do Now?Vladimir Lenin Germans help Lenin back into Russia in order to add to

the chaos. April Theses: 1917, calls for Russia to withdraw from the

war, the Soviets to take power, and for all private land to be nationalized.

Overthrows the Provisional Government in a coup. Failed to obtain a plurality, so they used Bolshevik troops to

take over the gov’t. Disbands the SR’s Signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Cedes vast regions of Russian empire to the Germans. Moves Russian capital from Petrograd to Moscow.

Lenin’s tactics and the Brest-Litovsk treaty divide Russia.

Russian Civil War

The Reds The Whites

1. Pro-Bolsheviks

2. Cheka

3. Third International

1. Tsarist military leadership

2. Landlords

3. Supporters of aristocratic rule

4. Businessmen whose property had been seized

5. Ukrainians, Estonians, Lithuanians

Russian Civil War

Mid-1921: Reds defeat the Whites in the Crimea, the Caucasus, and Muslim borderlands.Japanese withdraw from Siberia in 1922

thus ending the Russian Civil War.Bolsheviks in full control of Russia.

Ending the War, 1918

After Russia withdraws, there’s a new balance of force.Central Powers use offensive tactic –

focusing on one point in the enemy line an attempting to punch through.

Worked against Italians but failed against FR and BR.○ FR and BR begin to use tanks and planes

more effectively.

Ending the War, Establishment of the German Republic October 1918: German revolution begins.

Mostly among sailors at first who resented the establishment’s attempt to continue the war.○ German gov’t pushed for a final battle with the BR on the high

seas. Sailors see it as a suicide mission.○ Spreads to include “leftists,” essentially led by Rosa

Luxemburg.Combat troops had to be pulled from the front lines to quell

the uprisings○ Czechs and Slovaks begin declaring independence in Austria-

HungaryNovember 9, 1918: Kaiser Wilhelm II flees and Central

Powers collapse on all fronts.○ Two days later both sides sign an armistice and guns fall silent

on the Western Front.

Mass Culture and the Rise of Modern Dictators

How Do You Control the Public in Democratic Societies? It’s much more efficient to shape opinion

than it is to control with the lash. Intellectuals take up the task of

“manufacturing consent.” Walter Lippmann, Edward Bernays,

Harold Lasswell, Reinhold Niebuhr.

Walter Lippmann• Known as the dean of American

journalism• Advisor to Woodrow Wilson• Helps draft the 14 Points• Liberal intellectual who believes

that the public should not be controlled by force but by manipulation of opinion.

Rise of Mass Propaganda Walter Lippmann:

describes a "revolution" in "the practice of democracy" because "the manufacture of consent" has become "a self-conscious art and a regular organ of popular government."

When institutions of indoctrination don’t do their job, “the common interests very largely elude public opinion entirely, and can be managed only by a specialized class whose personal interests reach beyond the locality,“

When this “specialized class” be protected from the "ignorant and meddlesome outsiders," (the general public), who are incapable of dealing "with the substance of the problem."

“The public must be put in its place,” so that the “specialized class” may "live free of the trampling and the roar of a bewildered herd," whose "function" is to be "interested spectators of action," not participants.

It is, therefore, a “precarious assumption” to think that the “bewildered herd” is capable of the “dignity” needed to “instinctively [enact] wise laws and good government.

Edward Bernays

• Known as the “father of public relations”• Sits with Lippmann on the Committee on

Public Information (Creel Commission)• Writes a book called Propaganda claiming

that :

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”

Edward Bernays

Goes on to explain that "the very essence of the democratic process" is "the freedom to persuade and suggest," what he calls "the engineering of consent.”

Harold Lasswell:

• American political scientists and communications theorist

• Helped analyze Nazi propaganda films in order to discern their methods of persuasion.

He explained in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences that we should not succumb to "democratic dogmatisms about men being the best judges of their own interests."

When governments can’t use force to control the population, "a whole new technique of control, largely through propaganda“ is needed because of the "ignorance and superstition [of]...the masses.”

Reinhold Niebuhr• American theologian, ethicist, public

intellectual.

The “cool observers,” Reinhold Niebuhr explained, must recognize "the stupidity of the average man," and must provide the "necessary illusion" and the "emotionally potent oversimplifications" that will keep the naive simpletons on course.

Totalitarianism Takes Hold…Stalin Takes Power, 1928 Served as the general secretary of Communist

Party under Lenin. After Lenin dies, Stalin creates a kind of cult of

Lenin – displaying his body for public view.Cults can control the public mind In his will, Lenin says “the comrades must find a

way to remove Stalin.”Stalin keeps the will secret and consolidates power.Has Trotsky exiled and institutes a kind of spoils

system, surrounding himself with supporters.

Totalitarianism Takes Hold…Mussolini Takes Power, 1922 Europeans had begun to blame

parliaments and constitutions for international problems.Italians approves Mussolini’s march on

Rome in 1922.Personal army (Black Shirts) force King

Victor Emmanuel III to make Mussolini prime minister.

Totalitarianism Takes Hold…Fascism Italians feel cheated out of wartime glory Promoted male violence and opposed

parliamentary rule and antinationalist socialism.

Criticism of the state is outlawed Violently put down labor movements Businesses like Fascists because of their

attacks on labor $$ support for Mussolini, allowing him to hire the

unemployed Give illusion that Fascism can rescue the

economy. Recognizes the importance of Catholicism to

Italians Lateran Agreement, 1929 makes Vatican an

independent state under papal authority. Church ends criticism of Fascist tactics.

Totalitarianism Takes Hold…Praise for Mussolini’s New Direction US State Department, “Italians are like children”…“and

must be led and assisted more than almost any other nation.”

The US embassy praised the “fine young revolution” albeit with “enthusiastic and violent young men” that is “perhaps the most potent factor in the suppression of bolshevism in Italy.”

“All patriotic Italians” “hunger for strong leadership and enjoy being dramatically governed.”

The so-called US “Left” praised the Fascists Samuel Gompers says they were “capable of decisive action on

a national scale,” which was “rapidly reconstructing a nation of collaborating units of usefulness.”

Totalitarianism Takes Hold…Business Praise for Mussolini

J.P. Morgan & Co. expressed admiration for Mussolini as "a very upstanding chap" who

had "done a great job in Italy," and praised his "sound ideas"

Kuhn, Loeb, and Co. praised the Fascists for ending "parliamentary wrangling and wasteful

impotent bureaucracy" and bringing "a spirit of order, discipline, hard work, patriotic devotion and faith" under "the clear sighted and masterful guidance of that remarkable man, Benito Mussolini."

United Steel Asks whether "we, too, need a man like Mussolini."

The U.S. Embassy was particularly impressed that "there has not been a single strike in the

whole of Italy" since the Fascist takeover.

Civil War in SpainWhat Led to It?

1. Great Depression Spain lagged behind much of the rest of

Europe in terms of industrialization Largely agricultural society is thrown into

poverty. By April 1931, King Alfonso abdicates.

Democracy established by liberals, socialists, and antimonarchists.

Constitution establishes a republic under Alcala Zamora.

○ Power of the Catholic church was greatly reduced

○ Anti-clericalism spread.○ Labor unions gain power, but economic

problems continued.

Civil War in SpainCortes Generales National election in 1933 sees a coalition of supporters of the

Catholic Church, landowners, and monarchists gain control of the Cortes.

Catalan separatists rise up against the gov’t. Communists, socialists, liberals, labor unions.

Spanish political factions now divided between Right and Left.

February, 1936 Parliament is dissolved and a call for new elections was issued. Popular Front (alliance of leftist groups) won control of parliament. Began to seize land from wealthy landowners. Fascists (the losers) encouraged strikes, riots, and plotted military

coups.

July, 1936 Army units in Morocco, led by General Francisco Franco, declared

war on the republican gov’t Gains control of the South and West. Republicans still control the North and East. Guernica is bombed by Germans and Italians at the behest of Franco’s

forces.

Guernica, by Pablo Picasso

Civil War in Spain