World War I and Its Aftermath(1914–1919)

Chapter 17: World War I and its Aftermath(1914–1919)

Section 1: The Seeds of War

Section 2: The Spark

Section 3: The War

Section 4: The Russian Revolution

Section 5: Peace At Last

 World War I1914-1918

The Road to War: 1890-19141898: Germany begins its naval buildup. 1902: Britain and Japan conclude a naval alliance 1905: The First Moroccan Crisis. 1907: Anglo-Russian treaty over Persia.

oTriple Entente is completed. 1911: Italy annexes Tripoli 1912: The First Balkan War

1913: The Second Balkan War 1914: The Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo

World War I begins

The Course of the War: 1914-19181914: The Battle of the Marne

oThe Ottoman Empire enters the war 1915: The Armenian Massacre 1916: The Battle of Verdun. 1917: The February Revolution in Russia

oThe United States enters the war on the Allied side oThe Balfour Declaration on Palestine

1918: Germany and the Soviet Union conclude the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

oPresident Wilson's Fourteen Points oArmistice ends the war.

The Aftermath1918: Revolutions in Germany, Austria and Turkey. 1919: Allied governments intervene in Russia The Treaty of Versailles is ratified. The League of Nations is founded.  

The Pursuit of Peace

• In 1869, the first modern Olympic games were held.  Their founder hoped the games would promote “love of peace and respect for life.”

• Alfred Nobel set up the annual Nobel Peace Prize to reward people who worked for peace.

• Women’s suffrage organizations supported pacifism, or opposition to all war.

• In 1899, world leaders attended the First Universal Peace Conference. There they set up the Hague Tribunal, a world court to settle disputes between nations.

By the early 1900s, many efforts were underway to end war and foster understanding between nations.

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Nationalism and International Rivalries

Aggressive nationalism was one leading cause of international tensions.

• Nationalist feelings were strong in both Germany and France.• In Eastern Europe, Pan-Slavism held that all Slavic peoples 

shared a common nationality.  Russia felt that it had a duty to lead and defend all Slavs. 

Imperial rivalries divided European nations. • In 1906 and again in 1911, competition for colonies brought

France and Germany to the brink of war.

The 1800s saw a rise in militarism, the glorification of the military. • The great powers expanded their armies and navies, creating an

arms race that further increased suspicions and made war more likely.

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Causes and Effects of European Alliances 

Distrust led the great powers to sign treaties pledging to defend one another.

These alliances were intended to create powerful combinations that no one would dare attack.

The growth of rival alliance systems increased international tensions.

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European Alliances, 

1914

Standing Armies in Europe, 19141

Which power had the largest standing army ?

World War I Troop Strength and Casualties

This map compares the size of the different armies in World War I with the number of wounded and dead among the major combatants in the war. The relatively light numbers of American dead and wounded reflect the late entry of the United States in the war. The major European participants suffered enormous losses. Twice as many men died in World War I as in all the significant wars from 1790 to 1913 combined. (Note that due to the scale of destruction, the estimated figures given here for Russians and Ottomans killed are probably low.)

The Guns of August 

• How did ethnic tensions in the Balkans spark a political assassination?

• How did conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia widen?

• How do historians view the outbreak of World War I?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsLB55b5z1g&feature=related

Assassination in SarajevoIn 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary announced he would visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. • At the time, Bosnia was under the rule of Austria-Hungary., but it was also the home of many Serbs and other Slavs.

News of the royal visit angered many Serbian nationalists.• They viewed Austrians as foreign oppressors.• The date chosen for the archduke’s visit was a significant date

in Serbian history. On that date in 1389, Serbia had been conquered by the Ottoman empire. On the same date in 1912, Serbia had freed itself from Turkish rule. Members of a Serbian terrorist group assassinated the Archduke and his wife. 

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, far right, was shot to death on June 28, 1914, shortly after this photo was taken. His assassination triggered the outbreak of World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• Family name: Hapsburg

Heir to the Austrian Throne:Third in line to the throne at one point, he became heir through two untimely deaths. The first was of the Emperor's son, Crown Prince Rudolph, who killed himself (and his sixteen year old mistress) in 1889. The second was the death of his father, Archduke Charles Louis, in 1896.

• Fate: The Archduke and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28-Jun-1914 (their fourteenth wedding anniversary) by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The Archduke's role of Inspector General of the Austrian army had brought him to Sarajevo for the summer maneuvers. Neither Emperor Franz Josef or the Kaiser saw fit to attend the funeral.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

1863-1914

General Information

Family name: Hapsburg

Heir to the Austrian Throne: Third in line to the throne at one point, he became heir through two untimely deaths. The first was of the Emperor's son, Crown Prince Rudolph, who killed himself (and his sixteen year old mistress) in 1889. The second was the death of his father, Archduke Charles Louis, in 1896. Now it was Franz Ferdinand that would be next in line for the Crown.

Politics: Considered more flexible in matters of military and domestic affairs than his uncle Emperor Franz Josef, he was a reformist with new ideas to be put into practice when he ascended to the Hapsburg throne. One of these ideas was "trialism" - the reorganization of the dual monarchy into a triple monarchy by giving the Slavs an equal voice in the empire. This would put them on an equal footing with the Magyars and Germans living inside the Austro-Hungarian borders. These politics were in direct conflict with those of the Serbian nationalists.

The ill-fated couple arriving in Sarajevo.

Personal: Much has been said about Franz Ferdinand and very little of it good. He has been referred to as a miser, a bigot, and a spoiled child. Shunned by the elite of Viennese society, he was also called "the loneliest man in Vienna". He lacked the two key elements for success in this social scene - charm and elegance. His home life appears to have been surprisingly better. His marriage to Countess Sophia von Chotkowa und Wognin, Duchess of Hohenburg in 1900 was called one of the world's great love affairs. Unfortunately the Emperor considered the Duchess a commoner and tried to convince Franz Ferdinand he was marrying beneath his station. They went through with the marriage against the Emperor's wishes but had to renounce rights of rank and succession for their children. In the years to come, Sophie would not be allowed to ride in the same car with her husband during affairs of state.

The Heir with his uncle Emperor Franz Josef.

The Archduke (left) with the Kaiser on maneuvers in 1909.

Ferdinand and Sophie

The Archduke with Sophie and their children

Gavrilo PrincipA 19 year old tubercular Bosnian Serb student. A member of Mlada Bosna ("Young Bosnia"), a movement dedicated to a Bosnia free of Hapsburg rule. He and his six fellow assassins were equipped with pistols and bombs by a Serbian terrorist organization known as the Black Hand.

On 28-Jun-1914, he succeeded where his accomplices failed in assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Countess Sophia in Sarajevo.

He attempted suicide at the scene, but the gun was knocked from his hand by an onlooker. His second attempt at suicide was by cyanide, but it made him retch and he vomited up the poison. He was taken into custody and made to stand trial. He was found guilty but, because of his age, spared the death penalty. He died in prison of tuberculosis in 1918. All in all, it seems he was treated fairly by the government he considered so tyrannical.

Quotes "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." Princip to the prison governor on being moved to another prison.

After the assassination of the archduke, Austria sent Serbia an ultimatum, or final set of demands.

Serbia agreed to most, but not all, of the terms of Austria’s ultimatum. As a result, Austria declared war on Serbia.

• Germany offered full support to Austria-Hungary. Instead of urging restraint, the Kaiser gave Austria a “blank check.”

• Serbia sought help from Russia, the champion of Slavic nations. When Austria refused to soften its demands, Russia began to mobilize.

• Germany responded by declaring war on Russia.

• Russia appealed to its ally France. France offered full support to Russia, prompting Germany to declare war on France.

How Did the Conflict Widen?2

The Historians’ View

How could an assassination lead to all-out war in just a few weeks?

Today, most historians agree that all parties must share blame.• Each of the great powers believed that its cause was just.• Once the machinery of war was set in motion, it seemed

impossible to stop.• Although leaders made the decisions, most people on both sides were equally committed to military action.

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• Ascent: Emperor Wilhelm I dies 9-Mar-1888. Frederick III is crowned Emperor but cannot rule due to throat cancer and a ninety-nine day coma. Wilhelm II succeeds his father and is crowned Emperor (midyear) 1888.

• Noteworthy Relations           Relationship              Country • Crown Prince Wilhelm            son                          Germany• Czar Nicholas II          cousin                      Russia• King Edward VII                          uncle                        Britain• King George V                           cousin                      Britain• King Frederick III                       father                       Prussia• Queen Victoria                     grandmother          Britain• Emperor Wilhelm I                grandfather            Germany

•Politics: Above all, the Kaiser wanted "a place in the sun" for the German people. The problem was the only places left were in the shade. There was very little room left for new colonization in the early part of this century. Nevertheless, the Kaiser built up the German military machine and built a naval fleet to rival that of Great Britain. The term "saber rattler" sums up his politics as well as his personality. Historian Barbara Tuchman put it well when she referred to the Kaiser as "possessor of the least inhibited tongue in Europe".

Frederick Wilhelm Viktor Albert of HohenzollernKaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

• Misconception: The Kaiser was a war monger solely responsible for the First World War. The Kaiser did not start the war. The Kaiser did not want the war. "Saber rattling" is one thing, a war with the other major European powers is something very different indeed! The most that can be said is that the Kaiser did not do enough to try to control the actions of Austria-Hungary and prevent the outbreak of war. In the end, he accepted war.

• Fate: The Kaiser was forced to abdicate as part of the Armistice. He went to Holland where he died in 1941. He is buried at Doorn.

• Personal: The Kaiser was born with a withered left arm. This, together with having some tough footsteps in which to follow, led Wilhelm towards the military lifestyle. He loved his numerous uniforms and surrounding himself with the elite of German military society.

A New Kind of Conflict

• Why did a stalemate develop on the Western Front?

• How did technology make World War I different from earlier wars?

• How did the war become a global conflict?

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The Western Front

German forces swept through Belgium toward Paris.

Russia mobilized more quickly than expected.

Germany shifted some troops to the east to confront Russia, weakening German forces in the west.

British and French troops defeat Germany in the Battle of the Marne. The battle of the Marne pushed back the German offensive and destroyed Germany’s hopes for a quick victory on the Western Front.

The result was a long, deadly stalemate, a deadlock in which neither side is able to defeat the other. Battle lines in France remained almost unchanged for four years.

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The Allies included France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia.

Europe at War, 1914–1918

Schlieffen Plan

• Negotiations also began to add Russia to this alliance. As a result of these moves the German military began to fear the possibility of a combined attack from France, Britain and Russia.

Alfred von Schlieffen, German Army Chief of Staff, was given instructions to devise a strategy that would be able to counter a joint attack. In December, 1905, he began circulating what later became known as the Schlieffen Plan. 

In 1904 France and Britain signed the Entente Cordiale (friendly understanding). The objective of the alliance was to encourage co-operation against the perceived threat of Germany.

• Schlieffen argued that if war took place it was vital that France was speedily defeated. If this happened, Britain and Russia would be unwilling to carry on fighting. Schlieffen calculated that it would take Russia six weeks to organize its large army for an attack on Germany. Therefore, it was vitally important to force France to surrender before Russia was ready to use all its forces. Schlieffen's plan involved using 90% of Germany's armed forces to attack France. Fearing the French forts on the border with Germany, Schlieffen suggested a scythe-like attack through Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The rest of the German Army would be sent to defensive positions in the east to stop the expected Russian advance.

• When Helmuth von Moltke replaced Schlieffen as German Army Chief of Staff in 1906, he modified the plan by proposing that Holland was not invaded. The main route would now be through the flat plains of Flanders. Moltke argued that Belgium's small army would be unable to stop German forces from quickly entering France. Moltke suggested that 34 divisions should invade Belgium whereas 8 divisions would be enough to stop Russia advancing in the east.

• On 2nd August 1914, the Schlieffen Plan was put into operation when the German Army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium. However, the Germans were held up by the Belgian Army and were shocked by the Russian Army's advance into East Prussia. The Germans were also surprised by how quickly the British Expeditionary Force reached France and Belgium.

                                                                                                                               

                                                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCsldbh9hAYTop Ten Tanks- #4: WWI Tank

• The airplane was first used in combat during World War I. Airco D.H.4's, like this one, were highly regarded British bombers. The D.H.4 held a pilot and a gunner and carried bombs under its wings.

• The submarine proved its value as a warship in World War I. German submarines, like this UB II, challenged British sea power. They fired torpedoes that struck surface ships and then exploded.

•  The tank was a British invention of World War I. Tanks were designed to rip through barbed wire and cross trenches. Crews inside gunned down the enemy. This MK IV tank first saw action in 1917. The machine gun made World War I more deadly than earlier wars. The gun's rapid fire slaughtered attacking infantrymen. The 8-millimeter Hotchkiss gun used by the French army is shown here.

World War I TechnologyModern weapons added greatly to the destructiveness of the war.

A one- or two-seat propeller plane was equipped with a machine gun. At first the planes were used mainly for observation. Later, “flying aces” engaged in individual combat, though such “dogfights” had little effect on the war.

A mounted gun that fired a rapid, continuous stream of bullets made it possible for a few gunners to mow down waves of soldiers. This helped create a stalemate by making it difficult to advance across no man’s land.

These underwater ships, or U-boats, could launch torpedoes, or guided underwater bombs. Used by Germany to destroy Allied shipping, U-boat attacks helped bring the United States into the war.

Airplane

Automatic machine gun

Submarine

Miracle of the Marne

• The Battle of the Marne was a First World War battle fought between 5 and 12 September 1914. It resulted in a Franco-British victory against the German Army under Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke.

• The battle effectively ended the month-long German offensive that opened the war and had reached the outskirts of Paris. The counter-attack of Allied forces during the First Battle of the Marne ensured that a quick German victory was impossible, and set the stage for four years of trench warfare on the Western Front.

Parisian Taxi Cabs Save the Day!

• With German forces close to achieving a breakthrough against beleaguered French forces outside Paris between 6-8 September 1914, a decision was taken by French military authorities to dispatch emergency troop reinforcements from Paris.

• Extraordinarily these were dispatched - on 7 September - using a fleet of Parisian taxi cabs, some 600 in all, ferrying approximately 6,000 French reserve infantry troops to the front.

• The tactic worked and Paris was saved - barely. The incident quickly gained legend as "the taxis of the Marne". Events at the ensuing First Battle of the Marne led to a throwing back of German forces, ensuring Paris' safety - and military stalemate and with it the onset of trench warfare.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/video/taxisofthemarne.htm

Second Battle of Ypres

• The Allies planned a major counter-offensive. Their attack was stopped in its tracks by the German use of chlorine gas. Although the Allies knew of German plans, they were unprepared, and there troops were forced to withdraw in disarray.

• It was the first time a former colonial force (Canadians) pushed back a major European power (Germans) on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St. Julien-Kitcheners' Wood.

The Battle of Verdun

• The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February to 18 December 1916 in north-eastern France. The Battle of Verdun ended in a French victory The Battle of Verdun resulted in more than a quarter of a million battlefield deaths and at least half a million wounded. Verdun was the longest battle and one of the most devastating in the First World War and more generally in human history. A total of about 40 million artillery shells were exchanged by both sides during the battle. In both France and Germany it has come to represent the horrors of war.

The Battle of the Somme

• The Battle of the Somme took place during the First World War between 1 July and 18 November 1916 One of the largest battles of the First World War, by the time fighting had petered out in late autumn 1916 more than 1.5 million casualties had been suffered by the forces involved. It is understood to have been one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded.

The Tank makes its debut!

The Gallipoli Campaign• The Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to

9 January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, and secure a sea route to Russia. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides.

• 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 Ottoman Empire/Turkey was ably led by the nation's revered founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

• The Russians were in desperate need of war supplies. The only route to them was blocked by the Turkish blockade of the Dardanelle Straits. The British decided to land troops to capture the heights overlooking the straits. In a campaign that lasted eight months, the British failed to capture the straits, and were forced to withdraw without accomplishing anything.

• It probably hastened genocide against the Armenians.

T. E. Lawrence

• British archaeological scholar, adventurer, military strategist, and the writer of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1927), an ambitious work, which combines a detailed account of the Arab revolt against the Turks and the author's own spiritual autobiography. T.E. Lawrence's (1888-1935) enigmatic personality still fascinates biographers and his legend has survived many attempts to discredit his achievements.

• In 1914, he was quickly taken up by the Intelligence Service, and was based in Cairo where he seems to have made an excellent impression on his superiors. In 1916 he was sent to Jeddah to liaise with the Sharif Hussein who had launched the Arab Revolt on June 10th. He was later detached as permanent liaison, and subsequently at Prince Faisal's request was named "advisor" to Faisal. He spent the remainder of the Arab Revolt in this capacity, entered Damascus with the Arab tribesmen to prepare the way for Faisal and later attended the Peace Conference at Versailles with the Arab delegation. 

• Disillusioned with the decisions taken there, he retired from any public activity and was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1935.

Edith Cavell• Edith Cavell (1865-1915) was a British nurse

serving in Belgium who was executed on a charge of assisting Allied prisoners to escape during World War One.

• Many of the captured Allied soldiers who were treated at Berkendael subsequently succeeded in escaping - with Cavell's active assistance - to neutral Holland. Cavell was arrested on 5 August 1915 by local German authorities and charged with having personally aided in the escape of some 200 such soldiers. She, along with a named Belgian accomplice Philippe Baucq, were duly pronounced guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad.

Dirigibles and Zeppelins

The Zeppelin men: (from left) Hugo Eckener, Count von Zeppelin, and Peter Strasser Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin died

of pneumonia on 8-Mar-1917 at the age of seventy-eight. Peter Strasser, Chief of the Naval Airship Division and the driving force behind the German airship program, was aboard the height-climber L 70 when it was shot down over the English Channel on 5-Aug-1918. This event marked the end of the airship as a strategic bomber. Hugo Eckener would go on to lead Germany's postwar airship program.

How Did the War Become a Global Conflict?

The Allies overran German colonies in Africa and Asia.

The great powers turned to their own colonies for troops, laborers, and supplies.

Japan, allied with Britain, tried to impose a protectorate on China.

The Ottoman empire joined the Central Powers in 1914.

Arab nationalists revolted against Ottoman rule.

In 1915, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and helped crush Serbia.

EASTERN EUROPE

In August 1914, Russian armies pushed into eastern Germany. After Russia was defeated in the battle of Tannenburg, armies in the east fought on Russian soil.

SOUTHERN EUROPE

OUTSIDE EUROPE THE COLONIES

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Total War Warring nations engaged in total war, the channeling of a nation’s entire resources into a war effort.

Economic impact• Both sides set up systems to recruit, arm, transport and supply huge fighting forces.• All nations except Britain imposed universal military conscription, or “the draft.”• Governments raised taxes, borrowed money, and rationed food and other products.

Propaganda• Both sides waged a propaganda war. Propaganda is the spreading of ideas to promote a cause or to damage an opposing cause.

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Women and War

Women played a critical role in total war:

• As men left to fight, women took over their jobs and kept national companies going.

• Many women worked in war industries, manufacturing weapons and supplies.

• Women grew food when shortages threatened.

• Some women joined branches of the armed forces.

• Women worked as nurses close to the front lines.

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CollapsingMorale

• As morale collapsed, troops mutinied or deserted.

• Long casualty lists, food shortages, and the failure of generals to win promised victories led to calls for peace.

• In Russia, soldiers left the front to join in a full-scale revolution back home.

By 1917, the morale of both troops and civilians had plunged.

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1917

Feb. 1 Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare.

April 6 The United States declared war on Germany.

June 24 American troops began landing in France.

Dec. 15 Russia signed an armistice with Germany, ending the fighting on the Eastern Front.

1918

Jan. 8 President Woodrow Wilson announced his Fourteen Points as the basis for peace.

March 3

Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

March 21

Germany launched the first of its final three offensives on the Western Front.

Sept. 26 The Allies began their final offensive on the Western Front.

Nov. 11 Germany signed an armistice ending World War I.

Why Did the United States Enter the War?

• German submarines were attacking merchant and passenger ships carrying American citizens. In May 1915, a German submarine torpedoed the British liner Lusitania, killing 1,200 passengers, including 120 Americans.

• Many Americans felt ties of culture and language to Britain and sympathized with France as another democracy.

• In early 1917, the British intercepted a telegram sent by German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman. It revealed that, in exchange for Mexican support, Germany had offered to help Mexico reconquer New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

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“I Dare You To Come Out”

• This 1917 cartoon shows the arrogant piratical Kaiser defying American Rights, national honor, freedom of the seas, and international law while standing on the conning tower of a German U-boat.

• These are the things for which we will fight!

War In Air & At Sea

Anthony Michael Michalski 165th Infantry, KIA

John Rudolph Webb and Crew 301st Tank Battalion

The Art of War

One water bottle for 40 men by G.P. Hoskins

Gassed by John Singer Sargent

Take a Little Tour

• LEGEND:• 1. A 3rd Class berth. 

2. The 3rd Class Dining saloon. 3. The Bridge. 4. The Port Side Regal Suite.5. The 1st Class Library.6. The 1st Class Lounge.7. The 1st Class Dining Saloon and 1914 Menu.8. The 2nd Class Lounge.

By all accounts, she was riding low in the water.What was she carrying? Supplies and shells?

Schwieger's log and the testimony of several survivors shows categorically that he only fired one torpedo; but a larger, second explosion had occurred almost instantaneously, which was highly likely to have been attributable to a particular consignment of 5,000 live artillery shells in the hold. It was the second explosion, caused we think by the sympathetic detonation of these munitions, which was ultimately responsible for the ship's rapid demise.

Germany and Great Britain were at war. So were most of the other countries of Europe. The United States, wanting to remain neutral, had not yet entered World War I. But the Imperial Government of Kaiser Wilhelm II had issued a dire warning to American citizens: Stay out of the waters around the British Isles. Those waters included the Irish Sea. How many of the 1959 people on board the Lusitania on May 

7, 1915 knew about Germany’s threat to sink non-military ships? Of those who knew, how many really believed that women and children would be treated like 

front-line soldiers of war?

"Torpedo coming on the starboard side!"The torpedo struck the ship with a sound which Turner

later recalled was"like a heavy door being slammed shut."

Almost instantaneously came a second, much larger explosion, which physically rocked the ship.

A tall column of water and debris shot skyward, wrecking lifeboat No. 5 as it came back down. The

clock on the bridge said 14.10. Watching events through his periscope,

Kapitan-Leutnant Schwieger could not believe that so much havoc

could have been wrought by just one torpedo.He noted in his log that "an unusually heavy

detonation"had taken place and noted that a second explosion had also occurred which he put down to "boilers, coal or powder." He also noticed that the torpedo had hit the

Lusitania further forward of where he had aimed it.Schwieger brought the periscope down and U-20

headed back to sea.

On the bridge of the Lusitania, Captain Turner could see instantly that his ship was doomed.He gave the orders to abandon ship.

The Sinking of the Lusitania

• The Lusitania was gone, and with her had gone 1, 201 people.

• Then, nearly instantaneously, the Lusitania exploded. Not from a second torpedo. From an internal explosion.

• Nearly 2,000 people had 18 minutes to get off the mortally wounded, quickly-sinking liner. (Follow the link to a rare copy of the "Annex to the Report," from the official inquiry conducted by Lord Mersey.)

Captain William TurnerAs the stern of the ship settled back, the bridge was awash and the Captain was swept into the Irish Sea.

He, unlike most others, survived.

Germany, however, was unapologetic. The government had issued its warning. Their actions were justified, they said, because they believed the ship carried arms that would have been used to kill Germans.

U boats would stalk the North Atlantic. Ships used the convoy system to protect cargoes. Surround the cargo vessels with circling military ships.

The Zimmerman Telegram

• The German ambassador Zimmerman telegraphs the Mexican ambassador with a proposition. The British intercept it and decode it for US.

• The Kaiser is offering Mexico choice parts of the US (CA, TX, NM) if they attack US and keep US off balance during The Great War.

• This angers US so much that we will join the Allies against Germany.

• It is the unrestricted U-boat activity in the North Atlantic that makes US finally ditch Isolationism & join the war.

Steps to War!• 1. The Lusitania is sunk!• 2. Zimmerman Telegram discovered• 3. Sussex pledge broken—unrestricted submarine

warfare is back!• 4. Lenin freed from German jail, goes back to

Russia, and the Russians desert the Allies for their Revolution.

• 5. We declare war on Germany/The Central Powers on April 2, 1917.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k9XZB6O26w

Jeanette Rankin

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives and the first female member of the Congress sometimes referred to as the Lady of the House. A lifelong pacifist and feminist, she voted against the entry of the United States into both World War I and World War II, the only member of Congress to vote against the latter. To date, she is the only woman to be elected to Congress from Montana.

World War I

• Americans reluctantly entered Europe’s “Great War” and tipped the balance to Allied victory. In part the nation was responding to threats to its own economic and diplomatic interests. But it also wanted, in the words of President Woodrow Wilson, to “make the world safe for democracy.” The United States emerged from the war a significant, but reluctant, world power.

• The Yanks Are Coming! • Under unprecedented government direction, American industry mobilized to produce

weapons, equipment, munitions, and supplies. Nearly one million women joined the workforce. Hundreds of thousands of African Americans from the South migrated north to work in factories.

• Two million Americans volunteered for the army, and nearly three million were drafted. More than 350,000 African Americans served, in segregated units. For the first time, women were in the ranks, nearly 13,000 in the navy as Yeoman (F) (for female) and in the marines. More than 20,000 women served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps.

• The first contingent of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), commanded by General John J. Pershing reached France in June, but it took time to assemble, train, and equip a fighting force. By spring 1918, the AEF was ready, first blunting a German offensive at Belleau Wood.

Facts / StatisticsDates: 1917-1918Troops: 4,734,991Deaths: 116,516

The Great War was without precedent ... never had so many nations taken up arms at a single time. Never had the battlefield been so vast… never had 

the fighting been so gruesome..."•

The World War of 1914-18 - The Great War, as contemporaries called it -- was the first man-made catastrophe of the 20th century. Historians can easily identify the literal "smoking gun" that set the War in motion: a revolver used by a Serbian nationalist to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne) in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. But scholars are still debating the underlying causes. Was it the desire for greater empire, wealth and territory? A massive arms race? The series of treaties which ensured that once one power went to war, all of Europe would quickly follow? Was it social turmoil and changing artistic sensibilities brought about by the Industrial Revolution? Or was it simply a miscalculation by rulers and generals in power? The answer provided in "The Great War and The Shaping of the 20th Century" is that all of these volatile elements combined to set off a gigantic explosion we now know as World War I. "World War I marked the first use of chemical weapons, the first mass bombardment of civilians from the sky, and the century's first genocide..."

•True to the military alliances, Europe's powers quickly drew up sides after the assassination. The allies -- chiefly Russia, France and Britain -- were pitted against the Central Powers -- primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Eventually, the War spread beyond Europe as the warring continent turned to its colonies and friends for help. This included the United States, which joined the War in 1917 when President Woodrow Wilson called on Americans to "make the world safe for democracy."

“Over There, Over There” by George M. Cohan

• The Americans entered a war that was deadlocked. Opposing armies were dug in, facing each other in trenches that ran nearly 500 miles across northern France—the notorious western front. Almost three years of horrific fighting resulted in huge losses, but no discernable advantage for either side.

• American involvement in the war was decisive. Within eighteen months, the sheer number of American “doughboys” added to the lines ended more than three years of stalemate. Germany agreed to an armistice on November 11, 1918.

• Machine guns, poison gas, and a variety of other weapons killed tens of thousands on both sides, but far more troops died under the rain of artillery shells. The dead—often just parts of bodies—were carried back from the front lines. Frequently, an American ambulance driver noted, “there wasn’t anything left to bring.”

• Two million men in the American Expeditionary Force went to France. Some 1,261 combat veterans—and their commander, General Pershing—were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for extraordinary heroism. Sixty-nine American civilians also received the award.

Mademoiselle from Armentieres

or Three German Officers crossed the Rhine|: Mademoiselle from Armentieres,Parlez-vous, :|Mademoiselle from Armentieres,She hasn't been kissed for forty years,Chorus:Hinky-dinky parlez-vous. 2. |: Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,Parlez-vous :|She got the palm and the croix de guerre,For washin' soldiers' underwear,Chorus: 3. |: The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre,Parlez-vous :|The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre,The son-of-a-gun was never there!Chorus: 4. |: Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,Parlez-vous :|You didn't have to know her long,To know the reason men go wrong!Chorus:

5 . |: Mademoiselle from gay Paree "Parley voo"Mademoiselle from gay Paree "Parley voo"Mademoiselle from gay PareeYou certainly did play heck with me Chorus: 6. |: Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,Parlez-vous :|The cooties rambled through her hair;She whispered sweetly "C'est la guerre."Chorus: 7. |: Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,Parlez-vous :|She'll do it for wine, she'll do it for rum,And sometimes for chocolate or chewing gum!Chorus: 8. |: Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,Parlez-vous :|You might forget the gas and shellsBut you'll nev'r forget the Mademoiselles!Chorus: 9. |: Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,Parlez-vous :|Where are the girls who used to swarmAbout me in my uniform?Chorus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZNAoYsgSYY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db5uGDcG0Rw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k9XZB6O26w

Propaganda  for the War Boards

George Creel’s propagandaW/ Herbert Hoover, Bernard Baruch, and Can Do McAdoo

Meatless Mondays and Wheatless WednesdaysLiberty Pups and Liberty Cabbage. Victory Gardens

daschund dog

Manfred Albrecht

Freiherr von Richthofen

As a young cadet Manfred von Richthofen climbed a church steeple at Wahlstatt and tied his handkerchief to its lighting rod, just for fun. He loved risk. He came from a wealthy Junker family and in his youth enjoyed hunting and riding horses. When the war broke out Manfred was a cavalry officer and saw duty on both the Eastern and Western fronts scouting for the German Army. By May of 1915 he was bored with scouting and asked to be transferred to the Flying service.

On September 17, 1916, Richthofen recorded his first aerial combat victory. Before his career was over he shot down eighty allied aircraft and was the leading ace of the war. As his success increased so did his popularity with the German people. He was showered with military decorations and treated like a hero by the Germans. His flaming red Fokker airplane became infamous to the troops in the trenches. In the air he embodied deadly grace and his experience as a hunter helped him as a pilot. By 1918 he had become such a legend that it was feared that his death would be a blow to the morale of the German people. His superiors asked him to retire, but he refused as long as there were still troops in the trenches. He began to get more depressed and the emotional weight of being responsible for so many deaths began to press on him. On April 21, 1918, his career ended when he was shot down over enemy lines by Roy Brown of Canada. His opponents had so much respect for the noble flyer, that he was given a hero’s funeral.

Who put the fatal bullet into the Red Baron as he closed in on Canadian Wilfrid May along the Somme River on April 21, 1918? Theories abound.

Various Allied gunners on the ground claimed to have shot the Baron down. To whom that honor truly belongs will likely never be known.

Campaign to Victory

In 1917, The United States declared war on Germany.

By 1918, about two million American soldiers had joined the Allies on the Western Front.

The Germans launched a huge offensive, pushing the Allies back.

The Allies launched a counteroffensive, driving German forces back across France and Germany.

Germany sought an armistice, or agreement to end fighting, with the Allies. On November 11, 1918, the war ended.

4

“LaFayette, we are here!”

Edward "Eddie" Vernon Rickenbacker

• The son of Swiss immigrants, Rickenbacker was the American "Ace of Aces." He recorded 26 official victories against German aircraft during World War I and was awarded the Medal of Honor. Between WWI and WWII, Rickenbacker bought and administered the Indianapolis Speedway and became president of Eastern Airlines. In October 1942, he was aboard a B-17 bomber that crashed in the Pacific Ocean while on a secret mission to New Guinea. "Iron Man Eddie" and six companions survived 24 days afloat on life rafts.

In 1995, the United States Postal Service issued a postage stamp in honor of Rickenbacker's accomplishments as an aviation pioneer.

1890-1973

Edward V. Rickenbacker• Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)• "For extraordinary heroism in action near Montsec, France, 29 April

1918. Lt. Rickenbacker attacked an enemy Albatros monoplane and after a vigorous fight, in which he followed his foe into German territory, he succeeded in shooting it down near Vigneulles-les-Hatten-Chatel." DSC citation

• Medal of Honor• "Edward V. Rickenbacker, Colonel, specialist reserve, then first

lieutenant, 94th Aero Squadron, Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Billy, France, 25 September 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the lines Lieutenant. Rickenbacker attacked seven enemy planes (five type Fokker protecting two type Halberstadt photographic planes). Disregarding the odds against him he dived on them and shot down one of the Fokkers out of control. He then attacked one of the Halberstadts and sent it down also..." Medal of Honor citation, awarded 6 November 1930

On September 26th, Allied troops now took the offensive, under the command of General Foch. Thanks to the presence of a million American soldiers in France by this time, the Allies made slow, but steady, progress. The German high command warned that it could no longer ensure victory and, as the German army began mutinying, it sued for peace.

Sergeant Alvin C. York

• Born Alvin Cullum York, December 13, 1887, in Pall Mall, Tennessee. • His life was turned around by a woman, Gracie Williams, who convinced

him to give up his worldly ways and go to church. He formed long held and firm religious beliefs as a result.

• Drafted in 1917. • Impressed the regular army officers with his ability to use a gun. Shot

accurately at ranges of 200, 300 and 500 yards. Struggled with the moral issue of killing human beings, and refused to shoot at human silhouettes (targets).

• At the battle of the Argonne Forest in the fall of 1918, as a member of the 82nd division, he killed 25 Germans, knocked out 35 machine guns, and captured 132 prisoners almost single-handed.

• Received the French Medaille Militaire and Croix de Guerre, the Italian Croce de Guerra and the American Medal of Honor.

• Came home to the adulation of the American people, married Gracie Williams, and died in Nashville, Tenn. on September 2, 1964 after having a cerebral hemorrhage.

1887-1964

York, 1919, in the Argonne

Alvin’s Conundrum• "Sir, I am doing wrong. Practicing to kill people is against my

religion." York, speaking of target practice at human silhouettes.

• "What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all the armies of Europe." Marshall Ferdinand Foch, on York's feat in the Argonne.

• "This uniform ain't for sale." York, on demands for his endorsement.

• "It's over; let's just forget about it." York's modesty about the event that brought him the Medal of Honor.

• 1914-1918 - World War I- More than 400,000 African-American troops fight against the Germans.* 6,000 of the 8,000 American Indians who fought were volunteers.

The Battle of Henry Johnson (1897-1929)

• Henry Johnson’s claim to fame was his remarkable performance during WWI in France. Johnson, born in 1897 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, moved to Albany, New York with his family when he was still a child. At the age of 20, Johnson worked as a “Red-cap” porter at the Albany train station. On June 5th of that ear, however, he signed up to fight in World War I and was eventually assigned to the all-black New York 369th Infantry Regiment better known as the “Harlem Hellfighters.”

• Nearly four months into his Army enlistment, Johnson married Georgia Edna Jackson of Great Barrington, Massachusetts on September 17, 1917.

• Johnson and the other troops were trained in segregated Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina. Due to racial tensions between the black soldiers and the local red necks, Johnson’s regiment was shipped over to Europe earlier than others. They were attached to French units despite Black Jack Pershing’s order. (The French were not prejudiced along color lines.)

• On January 1, 1918, the unit arrived in Brest, France and at first used as laborers and stevedores. By mid-March the 369th was sent to the front and attached to the 16th Division of the French Army.

• On May 1, 1918, Johnson was promoted to sergeant. Fourteen days later, on the night of May 14, Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts were assigned to sentry duty at a bridge held by American forces.

• They were ambushed by a 20 man German Army raiding party. Although Roberts was taken prisoner, Johnson killed four German soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, wounded twenty others and rescued Roberts.

• His heroic stubborn defense of the bridge sent the other German soldiers into retreat. After this skirmish which was soon dubbed the Battle of Henry Johnson,” it was discovered that the sergeant was wounded 21 times. He was treated in a French hospital for bayonet wounds in the back, stabs on the left arm and knife cuts on the face and lips. Johnson was awarded the Croix de Guerre, France’s highest military honor, becoming the first enlisted American soldier to win the medal.

• In 1923, he and his wife divorced. Denied work and without a pension, Johnson became an alcoholic and died in poverty and alone at the age of 32 in New York City on July 2, 1929.

• He was, however, buried with full military honors in the Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington, D.C.

• On July 25, 1996 the U.S. Army awarded posthumously awarded Johnson a Purple Heart for his battle wounds. Six years later on March 19, 2002, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery.

• Johnson went home a hero of World War I.

• Discharged on February 14, 1919, he and the 369th received a tumultuous welcome when they paraded up New York City’s Fifth Avenue to Harlem. Johnson was personally greeted by New York Governor Alfred E. Smith and other officials when his train arrived in Albany. Despite the hero’s welcome which

included discussions of a movie contract and proposals to name a street after him, Johnson, who was permanently disabled by his wounds, was never able to fully support himself in post-World War I America.

They were the first Americans awarded the Croix de Guerre, and they were not the only Harlem Hellfighters to win awards; 171 of its officers and men received individual medals and the unit received a Croix de Guerre for taking Sechault.

The extraordinary valor of the 369th earned them fame in Europe and America. Newspapers headlined the feats of Corporal Henry Johnson and Private Needham Roberts. In May 1918 they were defending an isolated lookout post on the Western Front, when they were attacked by a German unit. Though wounded, they refused to surrender, fighting on with whatever weapons were at hand.

Henry Johnson (left) and Needham Roberts (NARA photo)

http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/comment/Scott/SCh18.htm

Henry Johnson369th InfantryAwarded DSC 14 

Feb 2003

• More than 83 years later, and following a campaign of several years, the US Army has agreed to posthumously award Johnson the country's second-highest medal, the Distinguished Service Cross. Now senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer have proposed legislation to enable Johnson to receive the ultimate recognition of his service, the Medal of Honor - and in doing so have focused fresh attention on a largely unrecognized episode in American military and racial history.

The 369th Regiment from New York - the "Harlem Hellfighters" - were not conscripts. They were black soldiers who chose to sign up, despite the US military's insistence that they would not be permitted to fight alongside white troops. Mostly low-paid laborers in Manhattan's service sector - waiters, doormen, messengers - they were sent to South Carolina, a particularly racist state even by the standards of the time, for rudimentary training using wooden sticks for guns. Eventually, the army - facing a manpower crisis on the European frontline - reluctantly allowed them to fight. To avoid breaching segregation rules, they had them placed under the command of the French.

"The French were horrified by the segregation, and by all these directives that came from the American high command instructing them not to praise the black troops, not to socialize with or speak to black officers outside of the line of duty," says Gail Buckley, author of American Patriots, a study of African-Americans in war. "The French command apparently ordered [General John] Pershing's directives to be burned."

•

• from the Guardian 21 March 2002 Honor at last for war hero ignored for being black American 'Harlem Hellfighter' who fought off German attack single-handedly is finally awarded a medal 

• Oliver Burkeman in New York

Shortly after midnight on May 15 1918, an American soldier called Henry Johnson was on duty near the Allied-German frontline in France when he heard the sound of barbed wire being snipped in the darkness. Silence returned for a moment. Then it began raining grenades. Afterwards, Pte Johnson would rarely speak of his wartime experiences, but military historians agree on the essentials of what happened that night. Under sustained attack from between 15 and 20 Germans, Johnson - armed with one rifle, and then, when his ammunition ran out, with only a knife - fended them all off, killing many of them, and managed to rescue his sole companion on duty that night, Pte Needham Roberts, who had been seriously wounded. Johnson himself received 21 injuries in the attack.

The way Herman Johnson sees it, his father was a war hero - and would have been recognized as such long ago had he not been African-American. "It beats me why this country didn't do that," says Mr. Johnson, an 85-year-old estate agent living in Kansas City. "There's something inside a human being when his country is in need of service. And my father just had that thing and he deserves the appropriate award." Instead, prevented by his injuries from returning to work as a railway porter in Albany, New York, Henry Johnson died in poverty in 1929, reportedly suffering from alcoholism.

• More than 83 years later, and following a campaign of several years, the US Army has agreed to posthumously award Johnson the country's second-highest medal, the Distinguished Service Cross. Now senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer have proposed legislation to enable Johnson to receive the ultimate recognition of his service, the Medal of Honor - and in doing so have focused fresh attention on a largely unrecognized episode in American military and racial history.

The 369th Regiment from New York - the "Harlem Hellfighters" - were not conscripts. They were black soldiers who chose to sign up, despite the US military's insistence that they would not be permitted to fight alongside white troops. Mostly low-paid laborers in Manhattan's service sector - waiters, doormen, messengers - they were sent to South Carolina, a particularly racist state even by the standards of the time, for rudimentary training using wooden sticks for guns. Eventually, the army - facing a manpower crisis on the European frontline - reluctantly allowed them to fight. To avoid breaching segregation rules, they had them placed under the command of the French.

"The French were horrified by the segregation, and by all these directives that came from the American high command instructing them not to praise the black troops, not to socialize with or speak to black officers outside of the line of duty," says Gail Buckley, author of American Patriots, a study of African-Americans in war. "The French command apparently ordered [General John] Pershing's directives to be burned."

Henry Johnson's son Herman, pictured on the left, and New York governor George Pataki, honour his grave at Arlington VirginiaAnd so for a brief, extraordinary period, the black soldiers fought alongside the white French as equals, forging friendships that led some of the Americans to return to settle in Paris - and, incidentally, introducing Harlem jazz to the nightclubs of Montmartre. "One of the famous melodies of the day was called How You Gonna Keep Them Down on the Farm Once They Have Seen Paree?," says John Howe, a former New York state legislator and military historian who has worked "pretty much full-time" on the Henry Johnson case for the last few years.

Johnson became the first American soldier of the war to be awarded France's highest honour, the Croix du Guerre. "The American report is too modest," a French general wrote of Johnson and his fellow soldier, Roberts. "As a result of oral information furnished me, it appears the blacks were extremely brave. This little combat does honor to all Americans!"

• And the Hellfighters did return to something like a heroes' welcome. They had not been permitted to march in the farewell parade before their departure, but now they were at the helm of a tickertape parade that swept up Fifth Avenue into Harlem. But it was not to last. It was the summer of 1919, and the Ku Klux Klan was on the rise. The Harlem Hellfighters received no official American honors except the standard Purple Heart - "just a recognition that he'd been wounded", says Herman Johnson. "In spite of what some people may think of black people, we've fought in every war this country's ever had... It's a classic example of racism in our country."

"For this American hero to be denied his due honors simply due to the color of his skin is a tragic yet blatant reminder of the rampant racism that existed in this nation during the first world war," said New York governor George Pataki recently. "The time is now to right this eight decades-long injustice, and finally recognize the valor, patriotism and grit of a man who was both a great New Yorker and an exemplary American soldier."

Now, says John Howe, the Distinguished Service Cross "means the fable of Henry Johnson is no longer a fable. It's not the award he deserves, but it makes him an official part of American history. It makes him a real American hero. He's not just a legend any more."

Herman Johnson holds Sunday the Distinguished Service Cross awarded posthumously to his father, Sergeant Henry Johnson.  John Howe, left, was a key fighter for recognition of Henry Johnson's heroism. 

Broken Promises & Broken Dreams

We returnWe return from fighting. We return fighting.

-W.E.B. DuBois, after WWI

The world was perhaps not safe for democracy, but hypocrisy was on the run. It will only have to wait another forty years….

• In 1916 Wilson ran on the slogan,"he kept us out of war," and narrowly defeated Supreme Court Justice Charles Even Hughes. Wilson managed to keep America out of the war until it was clear that Germany's submarine warfare would continue to claim American civilian lives. During the 976 days of neutrality Wilson repeatedly tried to negotiate for an end to the fighting, and called on all those involved to accept peace without victory. Facing the imminent defeat of France, and seeing no end to Germany's attacks on civilian shipping, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany 2-Apr-1917. Neutrality had ended, the nation was at war.

• United States Involvement in WW1 • Wilson continued to work for an end to the fighting while mobilizing the nation for war.

American forces led by General Pershing made a significant addition to the allied fighting force in both numbers and morale. When America entered the war France was on the verge of collapse. Within months the Germans agreed to an armistice based on Wilson's 14 points. It was clear that they could not continue.

The Versailles Peace Conference "Punitive damages, the dismemberment of empire we deem childish and in the end less than futile" Woodrow Wilson, 1917 Wilson became the first President to leave the country while in office when he left for France aboard the S.S. George Washington 4-Dec-1918. Wherever he went in Europe huge crowds gathered to cheer him on. His 14 points were very popular and the common people saw him as the savior of France, and the greatest hope for world peace. His efforts, for the most part, would end in vain. British Prime Minister Lloyd George and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau resisted most of his ideas. To them the goal was to punish Germany to the extent that it could never make war again. They both were very conscious of the revengeful attitude of constituents, and would not budge. Wilson, through much effort, did manage to prevent some of the more extreme punishments against Germany, and convinced the allies that a League of Nations was necessary. With these small victories in hand Wilson headed home.

The Last Battle "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired."

F. Scott Fitzgerald 

• Wilson could not convince people at home that it was time for America to join the World Community. America had stepped back into isolationism, and would not be budged. The Congress was in Republican hands and was generally uncooperative with Wilson. Led by Wilson's longtime adversary Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the Republicans insisted that certain parts of the League be altered. Wilson refused to make even the smallest concessions, fearing it would make it impotent. The Senate would not agree to the treaty so Wilson entered the final chapter of his relatively short political story. He decided to take the matter directly to the public.

• His doctor warned him not to go. His wife begged him to reconsider. Wilson was determined and would not be turned back. The Senate would not listen to him, so he hoped to convince the public through an extensive speaking tour, and thus pressure the Senate into ratifying the treaty. The tour started out well. Enthusiastic supporters cheered him at each stop. Victory turned out to be beyond his grasp. Wilson’s fragile health halted the tour abruptly in Colorado. . "I don't seem to realize it," he commented to an advisor, "but I seem to have gone to pieces."

• For the remainder of his administration Wilson was a near invalid. His wife looked over him carefully and was suspected of making important decisions for him. His hope was not shattered, but his body was, and that handicap was insurmountable. Wilson lived on until 1924, but never fully regained his mental or physical abilities. He died with his wife by his side, confident to the end that wrongs would be righted, and that America's mission would be fulfilled. His last words were "Edith,(his wife) I'm a broken machine, but I'm ready."

• Legacy • His influence has been significant. During his tenure there were 3 amendments to the

constitution. The Seventeenth provided for the direct election of United States Senators. • The Eighteenth prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.

The Nineteenth, guaranteed suffrage for women. His legislative successes included the Federal Reserve Act, the Clayton Anti-trust Act, Keating-Owen Child Labor Act, and the Adamson Act which established the eight-hour work day on railroads. According to Henry Kissinger, his foreign policy has shaped 20th Century United States policy like no other.

• He was a man known for his principles, drawn from the pages of the Bible and the doctrine of the Presbyterians. He was an unusual president in that he had years of thinking and writing the philosophy of government, but little in the way of political experience. In the end he may be remembered more for his failure concerning the League of Nations than his progressive reform.

• Wilson served in an era before Watergate, and before all of the scandals that have reduced faith in government to tired cynicism. Wilson was a great man in an age when people still believed in great men.

• Epilogue

"I can predict with absolute certainty that within another generation there will be another world war if the nations of the world do not

concert the method by which to prevent it." Woodrow Wilson, 1919

At eleven o'clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the war ends as Germany and Allies sign an Armistice.

The Big Four at the Paris Peace Conference. David Lloyd-George-- from BritainVittorio Orlando-- ItalyGeorges Clemenceau-- Franceand Woodrow Wilson-- United States

Wilson’s Fourteen PointsPresident Woodrow Wilson issued the Fourteen Points, a list of his terms for resolving World War I and future wars. He called for:

• freedom of the seas• free trade• large-scale reductions of arms• an end to secret treaties•  self-determination, or the right of people to choose their own form of government, for Eastern Europe• the creation of a “general association of nations” to keep the

peace in the future

4

Making the Peace

• What were the costs of the war?

• What issues faced the delegates to the Paris Peace Conference?

• Why were many people dissatisfied with the Treaty of Versailles and other peace settlements?

5

The Costs of War

• More than 8.5 million people died. Twice that number had been wounded.

• Famine threatened many regions.

• Across the European continent, homes, farms, factories, roads, and churches had been shelled to rubble.

• People everywhere were shaken and disillusioned.

• Governments had collapsed in Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman empire.

5

Casualties of World War I

Deaths Woundedin Battle in Battle

AlliesFrance 1,357,800 4,266,000British empire 908,371 2,090,212Russia 1,700,000 4,950,000Italy 462,391 953,886United States 50,585 205,690Others 502,421 342,585

Central PowersGermany 1,808,546 4,247,143Austria-Hungary 922,500 3,620,000Ottoman empire 325,000 400,000

5

CountriesTotal

MobilizedKilled

& Died Wounded

Prisoners& Missing

TotalCasualties

Casualties % of

Mobilized

Allied Powers

           

Russia 12,000,000 1,700,000 4,950,000 2,500,000 9,150,000 76.3

France 8,410,000 1,357,800 4,266,000 537,000 6,160,800 76.3

British Empire

8,904,467 908,371 2,090,212 191,652 3,190,235 35.8

Italy 5,615,000 650,000 947,000 600,000 2,197,000 39.1

United States 4,355,000 126,000 234,300 4,500 364,800 8.2

Japan 800,000 300 907 3 1,210 0.2

Romania 750,000 335,706 120,000 80,000 535,706 71.4

Serbia 707,343 45,000 133,148 152,958 331,106 46.8

Belgium 267,000 13,716 44,686 34,659 93,061 34.9

Greece 230,000 5,000 21,000 1,000 17,000 11.7

Portugal 100,000 7,222 13,751 12,318 33,291 33.3

Montenegro 50,000 3,000 10,000 7,000 20,000 40.0

Total 42,188,810 5,152,115 12,831,004 4,121,090 22,104,209 52.3

Central Powers

           

Germany 11,000,000 1,773,700 4,216,058 1,152,800 7,142,558 64.9

Austria-Hungary

7,800,000 1,200,000 3,620,000 2,200,000 7,020,000 90.0

Turkey 2,850,000 325,000 400,000 250,000 975,000 34.2

Bulgaria 1,200,000 87,500 152,390 27,029 266,919 22.2

Total 22,850,000 3,386,200 8,388,448 3,629,829 15,404,477 67.4

Grand Total 65,038,810 8,538,315 21,219,452 7,750,919 37,508,686 57.6

Central PowersCost in Dollars

in 1914-18

Germany 37,775,000,000

Austria-Hungary 20,622,960,000

Turkey 1,430,000,000

Bulgaria 815,200,000

Total of all Costs 60,643,160,000

Cause of Death

Overseas Domestic Total

Killed in Action

36,926 5 36,931

Died of Wounds

13,628 45 13,673

Died of Accident

2,557 1,946 4,503

Drowned 328 399 727

Committed Suicide

296 671 967

Murdered 159 159 318

Executed 11 25 36

Other Deaths 131 190 321

Total 54,036 3,440 57,476

American Lives Lost:

The Paris Peace Conference

The delegates to the Paris Peace Conference faced many difficult issues:

• The Allied leaders had different aims.

• The Italians insisted that the Allies honor their secret agreement to gain Austria-Hungary. Such secret agreements violated Wilson’s principle of self-determination.

• Many people who had been ruled by Russia, Austria-Hungary, or the Ottoman empire now demanded national states of their own. The territories claimed by these people often overlapped, so it was impossible to satisfy them all.

5

The Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty:

• forced Germany to assume full blame for causing the war.• imposed huge reparations upon Germany.

Russia was not included in any negotiations.

The Treaty aimed at weakening Germany by:• limiting the size of the German military,• returning Alsace and Lorraine to France,• removing hundreds of miles of territory from Germany,• stripping Germany of its overseas colonies.

The Germans signed the treaty because they had no choice, but German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles would poison the international climate for 20 years and lead to an even deadlier world war. Humiliated, bankrupt, and broken, Germany will vow revenge!

5

19145

Europe in 1914 and 1920

19205Europe in 1914 and 1920

1914

1920

Widespread Dissatisfaction

Eastern Europe remained a center of conflict.

Colonized peoples from Africa to the Middle East and across Asia were angry that self-determination was not applied to them.

Italy was angry because it did not get all the lands promised in a secret treaty with the Allies.

Japan was angry that western nations refused to honor its claims in China.

Russia resented the reestablishment of a Polish nation and three Baltic states on lands that had been part of the Russian empire.

5

World War I:  Cause and Effect

Imperialist and economic rivalries among European powers

European alliance system

Militarism and arms race

Nationalist tensions in Balkans

Austria-Hungary’s annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Fighting in the Balkans

Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand

German invasion of Belgium

Enormous cost in lives and money

Russian Revolution

Creation of new nations in Eastern Europe

Requirement that Germany pay reparations

German loss of its overseas colonies

Balfour Declaration

League of Nations

Economic impact of war debts on Europe

Emergence of United States and Japan as important powers

Growth of nationalism in colonies

Rise of fascism

World War II

Long-Term Causes Immediate Causes

Immediate Effects Long-Term Effects

5

We refuse to ratify the Treaty of Versailles• The Republicans led by Henry Cabot Lodge will not ratify the Treaty —

back to Isolationism and no more foreign entanglements!!! In the upcoming election, any Republican would have won over the Democrats.

• Wilson ruins his health trying to get support for his League of Nations and the Treaty ratification, but his health fails—and then so does he. US signs a separate peace with Germany, and does not join the League of Nations, therefore dooming it to failure and another World War…

Wilson might have succeeded if he could have compromised, but it was not in his nature to compromise on what was right.

How did the poppy become a symbol of remembrance?

• Flanders is the name of the whole western part of Belgium. It saw some of the most concentrated and bloodiest fights at the first world war . There was complete devastation: buildings, roads, trees and natural life is simply disappeared. Where once there were homes and farms, there was now a sea of mud and graves for the dead where the men still lived and fought.

• Only one other living thing survived and that was the poppy ,flowering each year with the coming of the warm weather brought life, hope, color and reassurance to those still fighting.

• Poppies on flower thrive in uprooted soil. Their seeds can lay in the ground for years without germinating and will only grow after the ground has been disturbed.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders Fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In 

Flanders Fields.

John McCrae 1915

By 1918 the poem was well known throughout the allied world. Moina Michael, an American woman, wrote these lines in reply.

We cherish too, the Poppy redThat grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skiesThat blood of heroes never dies.

She then adopted the custom of wearing a red poppy in memory of the sacrifices of war and also as a symbol of keeping the

faith.

• Since it began in 1921, the Poppy Appeal has raised over £518m for war veterans and their families. Poppies will go on sale this weekend but after the death of the last British World War One veteran, Sam Wood asks whether the poppy is still relevant

• MY granddad tells me about what it was like to grow up during the war with the rationing and everything," says 10-year-old Megan Armstrong. "Soldiers fought and died to save this country and we should remember that."

• Megan and her classmates at Canning Street Primary School in Newcastle will be among 40 million people who buy poppies as part of the Royal British Legion’s annual campaign this year. In the North East alone 200,000 veterans and their families are eligible for support, and £10,000 is distributed every week in the region.

• But after the death of the last surviving World War One veteran Harry Patch earlier this year, questions have been raised about whether the poppy – a symbol of the killing fields of the Great War – is still relevant today.

• Dr Martin Farr, of the School of Historical Studies at Newcastle University, said it would be almost impossible to come up with a symbol as powerful and simple as the poppy.

He said: "Current conflicts add resonance and make people think. Some of the images we have seen coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan have been shocking and that will strengthen the support for the appeal I would think."If you paid an expensive London advertising company top money, they could not come up with a better symbol than the poppy. It is just so simple and gets the message across. There are still legs in it even after the sad death of Harry Patch.

• A French woman, Madam Guerin, visiting the United States, learned of the custom and took it one step further. When she returned to France she decided to hand make the red poppies and sell them to raise money for the benefit of the orphaned and destitute women and children in war-torn areas of France.

• This tradition spread to The United Kingdom, Canada, The United States and Australia and is still followed today. The money collected from the sale of poppies goes to fund various veterans programs.

Last WWI American Veteran Turns 109

• Nearly five million Americans served in World War I. One remains alive, and he's celebrating his birthday today.

• Frank Buckles was born Feb. 1, 1901. Yes, he's 109 today.• More quick math will tell you he was only 16 when the United States got involved

in the war in 1917.• According to a USA Today report from 2007, when Buckles was 16, he walked

into a Marine Corps recruiting office, saying he was 18. Not believing him, the recruiter sent him away.

• The Navy also rejected him -- flat feet.• Proof that Buckles was 21 was in his family Bible back home, he swore to an Army

recruiter. That one worked.• He trained as an ambulance driver and got into the war, but not into combat.

The armistice was signed bringing the peace in 1918.• Buckles lives in West Virginia.

Far from the deadliest epidemic.

The Bubonic Plague.  Just mention the name and you will send shivers down the spine of

many people.  There is no doubt that this disease was deadly. Deadly and gruesome to watch. 

The death rate was 90% for those exposed to the bacterium. It was transmitted by the fleas from infected Old English black rats. The

symptoms were clear: swollen lymph nodes (buboes, hence the name), high fever, and delirium. In the worst case, the lungs became infected

and the pneumonic form was spread from person to person by coughing, sneezing, or simply talking. 

From the time of infection to death was less than one week.  There were three major epidemics - in the 6th, 14th, and 17th centuries. 

The death toll was 137 million victims.  As a result, the plague is considered to be the worst epidemic of all time, but it wasn't (not that we

are downplaying the severity of the plague).  At its worst, the bubonic plague killed 2 million victims a year.  This is certainly a bad situation, but there is one that is worse. 

• The pandemic (an epidemic that is spread worldwide) that killed at least 25 million people in one year. A disease that is largely forgotten.

• A disease that occurred in the 20th century! • I know what you're thinking - AID's, Syphilis, or the dreaded Ebola. • All are wrong. It was the influenza of 1918-1919, right after World War I (the war

killed 9 million men in 4 years) This was no minor disease - everyone on the planet was at risk. And it was started right here in the good old U. S. of A. In one year, nearly twenty million cases were reported in the United States, accounting for almost one million deaths.

• The cause is still unknown, but is believed to have been a mutated swine virus. It all started on the morning of March 11, 1918 at Camp Funston, Kansas. A company cook named Albert Mitchell reported to the infirmary with typical flu-like symptoms - a low-grade fever, mild sore throat, slight headache, and muscle aches. Bed rest was recommended. By noon, 107 soldiers were sick.

• Within two days, 522 people were sick. Many were gravely ill with severe pneumonia.

• Then reports started coming in from other military bases around the country. Thousands of sailors docked off the East Coast were sick.

• Within a week, the influenza was hitting isolated places, such as the island of Alcatraz. Whatever the cause, it was clearly airborne.

• Within seven days, every state in the Union had been infected.

The 1918 Pandemic

The Influenza• Then it spread across the Atlantic. By April, French troops and civilians were

infected. By mid-April, the disease had spread to China and Japan. By May, the virus was spread throughout Africa and South America. The actual killer was the pneumonia that accompanied the infection.

• In Philadelphia, 158 out of every 1000 people died. 148 out of 1000 in Baltimore. 109 out of 1000 in Washington, D. C..

• The good news (if there was any) was that the disease peaked within two to three weeks after showing up in a given city. It left as quickly as it arrived. The United States death toll was a total of 850,000 people, making it an area of the world that was least devastated by this virus.

• Sixty percent of the Eskimo population was wiped out in Nome, Alaska. 80-90% of the Samoan population was infected, many of the survivors dying from starvation (they lacked the energy to feed themselves).

• Luxury ocean liners from Europe would arrive in New York with 7% less passengers than they embarked with. The confined area of the ship was especially conducive to the spread of the disease.

• In the end, 25 million people had died. Some estimates put the number as high as 37 million. Eighteen months after the disease appeared, the flu bug vanished and has never shown up again.

• So what happened?

The Spanish Flu

• Until recently, no one was really sure. In March of 1997, the news broke that researchers at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D. C. had isolated genetic material from the virus.

• This was no easy task. The living virus is no longer around. It turns out that while conducting autopsies in 1918, Army doctors had preserved some specimens in formaldehyde. One of these jars contained the lungs of a 21 year old soldier who died on September 26, 1918. Bingo!

• The researchers spent nearly two years extracting just seven percent of the genetic code, but the evidence gathered has provided a great wealth of information. It appears that the virus passed from birds to pigs and then to humans. These are the deadliest of all viruses. The viruses tend to remain stable in the birds, but occasionally they infect pigs. Of course, the pig immune system kicks into action and the virus is forced to mutate to survive. Both the Asian flu (1957) and the Hong Kong flu (1968), which were not as deadly, mutated from pig viruses.

• The scary part is that it could happen again - and we're not prepared for it.• Just think H1N1!!!!

Adolf Hitler's Book, Mein Kampf, is Published (1925)

• In July of 1925, Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945) issued his autobiography. The book, entitled Mein Kampf or My Struggle, would have a second volume in 1926; the People's Edition appeared in 1930. The book, written while Hitler was imprisoned early in his career, reflected his hatred of Jews, and his belief that Germans were a superior race. Outside of Germany the book was not given much notice, a fact the Allies would soon regret.

• Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Austria. He served time in Germany's armed forces during World War I as a political spy and became a decorated corporal. He served as leader of the German Workers' Party, which would later be renamed the National Socialist German Workers' (Nazi) Party. In 1933, he came to power as chancellor of the Third Reich. Despite Hitler's doing away with democracy, the people of Germany applauded his efforts, for they were weary of the depressed state of affairs that followed Germany's defeat in World War I. After involving his country in a costly second world war, geared to make it the predominant world power, Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945.

Pvt. Henry Tandey, VC at Marcoing

September 28, 1918

The annals of history are full of fateful moments which scholars refer to as the great "what if's" of history, where if events had taken only a slight deviation the course of human affairs would have been dramatically different. Such a moment occurred in the last moments of the Great War in the French village of Marcoing involving 27 year old Private Henry Tandey of Warwickshire, UK, and 29 year old Lance Corporal Adolph Hitler of Braunau, Austria.

Henry Tandey was born in Leamington, Warwickshire, on the 30th August 1891, son of former soldier James Tandey. After a difficult childhood, part of which was spent in an orphanage, he became a boiler attendant at a hotel in Leamington before enlisting in the British Army, joining the Green Howards Regiment in August 1910 and embarking on a 'Boys Own' adventurous life.

• Tandey was mentioned five times in dispatches and certainly earned his VC during the capture of the French village and crossing at Marcoing, his regiment held down by heavy machine gun fire Tandey crawled forward, located the machine gun nest and took it out. Arriving at the crossing he braved heavy fire to place wooden planks over a gaping hole enabling troops to roll across and take the battle to the Germans, the day still not over he successfully led a bayonet charge against outnumbering enemy troops which helped bring hostilities to an end. As the ferocious battle wound down and enemy troops surrendered or retreated a wounded German soldier limped out of the maelstrom and into Private Tandey's line of fire, the battle weary man never raised his rifle and just stared at Tandey resigned to the inevitable. "I took aim but couldn't shoot a wounded man," said Tandey, "so I let him go." 

The young German soldier nodded in thanks and the two men took diverging paths, that day and in history. Hitler retreated with the remnants of German troops and ended up in Germany, where he languished in the humiliation of defeat at wars end. 

• Tandey put that encounter out of his mind and rejoined his regiment, discovering soon after he had won the Victoria Cross. It was announced in the London Gazette on 14th December 1918 and he was personally decorated by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 17th December 1919, in newspaper reports a picture of him carrying a wounded soldier after the Battle of Ypres was published, a dramatic image which symbolized a war which was supposed to have put an end to all wars and immortalized on canvas by Italian artist Fortunino Matania.

Leaving the army in 1926 at the rank of sergeant the 35 year old settled in Leamington where he married, settling back into civilian life he spent the next 38 years as Commissionaire, or plant security chief, at Triumph, then called the Standard Motor Company. He lived a quiet life and although regarded as a hero by all and sundry wasn't one to brag or boast, wouldn't mention the war unless asked about it.

• Tandey was haunted the remainder of his life by his good deed, the simple squeeze of a trigger would have spared the world a catastrophe which cost tens of millions of lives. He was living in Coventry when the Luftwaffe destroyed the city in 1940, sheltered in a doorway as the building he was in crumbled and city burned like a scene from Dante's Inferno. He was also in London during the Blitz and experienced that atrocity first hand, he told a journalist in 1940, "if only I had known what he would turn out to be. When I saw all the people, woman and children he had killed and wounded I was sorry to God I let him go". 

• When war irrupted the 49 year old tried to rejoin his regiment to see to it that, "he didn't escape a second time", but failed the physical due to wounds received at the Battle of the Somme. Nonetheless he did his bit on the homefront, volunteering wherever he could be of service but was always haunted by an act of decency to an indecent man.

• Henry Tandey VC DCM MM died without issue in Coventry in 1977 aged 86, in accordance with his wishes he was cremated and interred at the British Cemetery in Marcoing alongside fallen comrades and close to where he won his Victoria Cross 60 years earlier. His widow sold his medals three years later for a record £27.000 and on Armistice Day 1997 they were presented to his old regiment, the Green Howards, by Sir Ernest Harrison OBE at a special ceremony at the Tower of London and are displayed with great pride at the Green Howards regimental museum.

Chamberlain & Hitler• In 1938 Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940),

Conservative PM from 1937-40, made his gloomy trip to Munich to meet Chancellor Hitler in a last ditched effort to avoid war which resulted in the ill-fated 'Munich Agreement'. During that fateful trip Hitler invited him to his newly completed retreat in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, a birthday present from Martin Bormann and the NAZI Party. Perched 6017 feet up on Kehlstein Mountain it commanded spectacular views for 200 kilometers in all directions. While there the Prime Minister explored the hill top lair of the Führer and found a reproduction of Matania's famous Marcoing painting depicting allied troops, puzzled by the choice of art Hitler explained, "that man came so near to killing me that I thought I should never see Germany again, providence saved me from such devilishly accurate fire as those English boys were aiming at us".  

• Chamberlain's thoughts aren't recorded, World War II erupted soon after and he lost power to Winston Churchill, dying of stomach cancer within months of that event. Although I feel safe in assuming he wished Tandey had pulled the trigger, ridding the world of a venomous creature. Hitler seized the moment to have his best wishes and gratitude conveyed to Tandey by the Prime Minister, who promised to phone him on his return to London. It wasn't until that time Tandey knew the man he had in his gun sight 20 years earlier was Adolph Hitler and it came as a great shock, given tensions at the time it wasn't something he felt proud about. The story first broke in 1940 but no one gave it much thought at the time, however in recent years it has generated greater interest. Some historians are doubtful as it sounds too good to be true, however it has an unmistakable ring of truth to it. No one in their right mind would make up a story about having spared the life of a tyrant who at that time had just fire bombed Coventry, was Blitzing London and mass murdering people on the continent.

• Hitler's regiment was in the Marcoing region at the time although his presence cannot be verified, a great deal of German records for the Great War were lost in WWII due to allied bombing of Berlin which resulted in the destruction of a significant amount of the State Archives. So documents showing Adolph Hitler's exact whereabouts on 28 September 1918 are not available, Hitler biographers have differing opinions. However there is irrefutable evidence that Hitler possessed a copy of the famous Matania painting featuring Tandey as early as 1937, acquiring it from Tandey's old regiment. "Colonel Earle said that he had heard from one Dr. Schwend that Hitler had expressed a wish to have a large photograph of the Matania painting.

• At the outbreak of the Great War, Adolph Hitler (1889-1945) joined the 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment and became a Dispatch Runner. He proved himself a capable and brave soldier, was twice wounded, once almost fatally gassed and awarded the Iron Cross in recognition of his bravery. He had a deep sense of destiny entwined with delusions of grandeur and a warped view of the world, influenced by melodramatic Wagnerian operas he cast himself as the savior of the Germanic race.

• He believed Private Tandey's benevolent action was part of the grand scheme of things, the gods were watching over their emissary, which was also his sentiment upon surviving assassination attempts later on. Hitler never forgot the moment he stared down the barrel of death, nor the face of the man who spared him, he stumbled across a newspaper featuring the famous image of Private Tandey which noted his being awarded the VC for bravery. Hitler kept it and on becoming Chancellor of Germany ordered government officials to obtain a copy of his service record and reproduction of the Matania painting, which he hung and pointed out to loyal disciples with pride.

Rasputin, the Mad Monk

• During the fateful last evening of Rasputin's life, the conspirators drugged with poisoned wine (he had taken enough cyanide to kill six men), poisoned with cyanide in the cakes, shot at point blank range, beaten, and then dumped in the river. Yet the monk survived all of these and actually died by drowning when his body, wrapped in a carpet was thrown into the Moika Canal on the Neva River. Rasputin's corpse was discovered under the ice of the Neva on December 19. His hands had been untied and there was water in his lungs. He died from drowning.

Tsar Nicholas of Russia

The Last of the Romanovs:L to R: Olga, Marie, Nicholas II, Alexandra, Anastasia, Alexei, Tatiana

Nicholas II, Olga, Tatiana, Marie, Anastasia, and Alexei (photo taken by Alexandra)

The Last of the Romanovs

• The Romanovs were murdered by the Bolshevik guards, machine- gunned to death, thus eliminating the threat of a counter-coup by the supporters of the Czar. Rumors persisted that Anastasia had escaped this fate.

Anastasia Lives?

Most persistent was the claim that the Tsar’s youngest daughter, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, survived. (Anastasia is Greek for “the woman who rose again.”) Only 17 at the time of the execution, the Russian report had it that she had not been hit by bullets (some may have ricocheted off her jewelry) but merely fainted. She revived moments later in a pool of her family’s blood and began screaming. At this point she was run through with many bayonets and bludgeoned to death. This much was reported and this much was confirmed in recent excavations.

The Anastasia rumors lived, bolstered perhaps by her failure to die in the initial volley. As early as 1925 Grand Duchess Olga (the Tsar’s sister) interviewed one Anna Anderson in Berlin. Anderson was a young woman with a history of mental illness, and Olga quickly rejected her claim to be Anastasia. Yet just three years later the first of at least four books was published claiming Anna Anderson was Anastasia. One, purporting to be a first-person account, titled I am Anastasia, was even rejected as a forgery by Anderson herself. Her claim was featured in a 1956 cover article in Life. Over the years additional faux-Anastasias appeared, many of them interviewed and rejected by Olga, who died in 1960. The Anastasia mania inspired four films, five plays, a musical, two ballets, two TV shows, and a 1956 song by Pat Boone. Ingrid Bergman copped an Oscar for her role in the 1956 eponymously titled movie.

Lenin

• Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian: Влад мир Иль ч Л нини́/ и́/ е́/ ), original surname Ulyanov (Уль новя́/ ) (April 22 (April 10 (O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the founder of the ideology of Leninism.

• "Lenin" was one of his revolutionary pseudonyms. He is believed to have created it to show his opposition to Georgi Plekhanov who used the pseudonym Volgin, after the Volga River; Ulyanov picked the Lena which is longer and flows in the opposite direction. However, there are many theories on where his name came from and he himself is not known to have ever stated exactly why he chose it. He is sometimes erroneously referred to in the West as "Nikolai Lenin", though he has never been known as such in Russia.

• Lenin was chilling in a German jail until his sudden release. He was put on a train back to Russia and he fomented a revolution that took Russia out of The Great War.

"Fire!"

By 1949, the Soviets had expanded their control to cover most of Eastern Europe, and it appeared that China would soon fall to the communists as well.

"The fear-filled forties and fifties were a dark

period when the spread of communism abroad increased anxieties and frustration at home," wrote Herb Block. In their zeal to stamp out all signs of subversion in the United States, professional and amateur anti-communists threatened to suppress American liberties as well," Fire!" June 17, 1949 Reproduction from original drawing Published in the Washington Post (25)

Revolution in Russia(1917–1939)

Revolution in Russia (1917–1939)

Section 1: Two Revolutions in Russia

Section 2: From Lenin to Stalin

Section 3: Life in a Totalitarian State

Two Revolutions in Russia

• Why did revolution occur in Russia in March 1917?

• Why did Lenin and the Bolsheviks launch the November revolution?

• How did the Communists defeat their opponents in Russia’s civil war?

1

Why Did Revolution Occur in Russia in March 1917? 

• Czars had made some reforms, but too few to ease the nation’s tensions.

• Much of the majority peasant population endured stark poverty.

• Revolutionaries worked to hatch radical plots.• World War I was producing disasters on the battlefield for

the Russian army, and food and fuel shortages on the home front.

• Rasputin’s influence in domestic affairs weakened confidence in the government.

1

Why Did Lenin and the Bolsheviks Launch the November Revolution?

Lenin adapted Marxist ideas to fit Russian conditions. He called for an elite group to lead the revolution and set up a “dictatorship of the proletariat.” 

Conditions were ripe for Lenin and the Bolsheviks to make their move:

• The provisional government continued the war effort and failed to deal with land reform.• In the summer of 1917, the government launched a disastrous offensive against Germany. • The army was in terrible shape and growing numbers of troops mutinied.• Peasants seized land and drove off fearful landlords.

1

Russian Civil War How did the Communists defeat their opponents in Russia’s civil war?

Lenin quickly made peace with Germany so that the Communists could focus all their energy on defeating enemies at home.

The Communists adopted a policy called “war communism.” They took over banks, mines, factories, and railroads, took control of food produced by peasants, and drafted peasant laborers into military or factory work.

Trotsky turned the Red Army into an effective fighting force.When the Allies intervened to support the Whites, the

Communists appealed to nationalism and urged Russians to drive out the foreigners.

1

From Lenin to Stalin

• How did the Communist state develop under Lenin?

• What were the effects of Stalin’s five-year plans?

• How did Soviet foreign policy affect relations with the western powers?

2

Turning Points in Russia, 1914–19212

1914AugustWorld War I begins.

1917March Revolution forces the czar to abdicate. A provisional government is formed.AprilLenin returns to Russia.JulyRussians suffer more than 50,000 casualties in battle against German and Austro-Hungarian forces.November

A second revolution results in Bolshevik takeover of government.DecemberBolshevik government seeks peace with Germany.

1918MarchRussia signs treaty of Brest-Litovsk, losing a large amount of territory.JulyCivil war between the Reds and Whites begins.

The czar and his family are executed.AugustBritish, American, Japanese, and other foreign forces intervene in Russia.

1921MarchCommunist government is victorious. Only sporadic fighting continues.

The Communist State Under Lenin

The Communists produced a new constitution that:• set up an elected legislature, later called the Supreme Soviet• gave all citizens over 18 the right to vote• placed all political power, resources, and means of production in the hands of

the workers and peasants

The new government united much of the old Russian empire in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or Soviet Union.

Lenin adopted the New Economic Policy, or NEP.• It allowed some capitalist ventures. • The state kept control of banks, foreign trade, and large industries. Small 

businesses were allowed to reopen for private profit. 

2

Soviet Union, 1917–19382

Stalin’s Five-Year Plans

• Stalin brought all economic activity under government control. The Soviet Union developed a command economy, in which government officials made all basic economic decisions.

• Stalin also brought agriculture under government control. He forced peasants to give up their land and live on either state-owned farms or collectives, large farms owned and operated by peasants as a group.

• Overall, standards of living remained poor. Wages were low, and consumer goods were scarce.

Once in power, Stalin set out to make the Soviet Union a modern industrial power. He put into place several “five-year plans” aimed at building heavy industry, improving transportation, and increasing farm output.

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The Great Purge

• At least four million people were purged during the Stalin years.

• The purges increased Stalin’s power.

• The victims of the purges included most of the nation’s military leadership. This loss of military leadership would weigh heavily on Stalin in 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Stalin harbored obsessive fears that rival party leaders were plotting against him. In 1934, he launched the Great Purge.

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Leon Trotsky was a close friend of Lenin and shared idealistic ideas about the Communist state. He can be seen with Lenin in both photos.

But Trotsky was deported in1929 and declared “an enemy of the State”, as a threat to Stalin’s power, so Stalin had Trotsky airbrushed out of the pix.

Many others will be “erased”. Some for real!

Stalin’s enemies just seem to disappear!Nikolai Yezhov, chief of the Soviet secret policeKnew where too many bodies were buried, so he is made to vanish.

The Case of the Vanishing Commissar

Soviet Foreign Policy

Between 1917 and 1939, the Soviet Union pursued two very different goals in foreign policy.

As Communists, both Lenin and Stalin wanted to bring about the worldwide revolution that Marx had predicted.  • Lenin formed the Communist International, or Comintern, which aided revolutionary groups around the world.

As Russians, they wanted to guarantee their nation’s security by winning the support of other countries. •The Soviet Union sought to join the League of Nations.

The Comintern’s propaganda against capitalism made western powers highly suspicious of the Soviet Union.

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A Totalitarian State

Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state. In this form of government, a one-party dictatorship attempts to regulate every aspect of the lives of its citizens.

• To ensure obedience, Stalin used secret police (the KGB), censorship, violent purges, and terror.

• The party bombarded the public with relentless propaganda.

• The Communists replaced religion with their own ideology.

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Changes in Soviet Society, Comrade!

The Communists transformed Russian life.

• They created a society where a few elite groups emerged as a new ruling class.

• The state provided free education, free medical care, day care for children, inexpensive housing, and public recreation. But quality of everything was poor and the average person had no choices.

• Women were granted equality under the law. • There was no place for the Church in the regime.

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State Control and the ArtsStalin forced artists and writers to conform to a style called socialist realism. Its goal was to boost socialism by showing Soviet life in a positive light. Lots of statues of himself were evident.

Government controlled what books were published, what music was heard, and which works of art were displayed. Censorship and propaganda were rampant and the State controlled all news, information, and media.

Writers, artists, and composers faced government persecution. They were killed or sent to Siberia, or imprisoned in a gulag. Few people were allowed to emigrate and fewer people were allowed in.

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Hitler/Soviet Pact