World War I and Interwar Period

• Rebellions and revolutions challenged existing political and social orders across the globe
• Revolutionaries institute governments reflecting their political, social, and economic ideals

Revolution in Russia

• Russia fell behind other European powers in wealth and power
• Significant internal challenges existed, like its government being reluctant to grant liberties to the people
• Losing the Crimean War to the Ottoman Empire (1853-1856) as well as the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) weakened it further
• In 1917, The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power
• They formed a communist government which believed that workers should own the means of production
• The Soviet government abolished private trade, distributed peasants' crops to feed urban workers, and took over ownership of factories

Key Events Leading to Revolution in Russia

• "Bloody Sunday" (January 22, 1905) involved the Tsar's troops killing 1,300 peaceful protestors petitioning for better conditions
• A revolution in 1905 spurred by "Bloody Sunday" saw 400,000 workers striking and thousands killed/injured
• Russia and Japan fought over influence in Korea and Manchuria (Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905) and Japan won
• Germany declared war on Russia in 1914 (World War I) and the Russians were ill-equipped and suffered from extreme food shortages

Upheaval in China

• The Qing Dynasty was overthrown in 1911 by a revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen
• The new republic was short-lived
• China struggled with ethnic tensions between the Han majority and the ruling Manchus of the Qing Dynasty
• A rapid population growth between the mid-1700s and mid-1800s led to a food supply crisis
• The government had low revenues due to an outdated tax system

External Challenges to China

• China faced growing threats from European industrialization
• Europeans could only trade in Canton (Guangzhou) in the late 18th century
• The Chinese did not want European products and looked down on Europeans
• However, in 1911, the last Chinese dynasty was overthrown by Sun Yat-sen
• Sun Yat-sen was a Christian who wanted China to follow Confucian principles and incorporate them into his "The Three People's Principles"

Sun Yat-Sen's Three People's Principles:

• Democracy: Sovereignty for people who are "able"
• Nationalism: Patriotism and loyalty to central authority
• Livelihood: End unequal distribution of wealth and economic exploitation
• Sun Yat-sen never had enough military strength to rule all of China, and gave up his position to a military leader after two months
• The Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) would later regain power and honor Sun as the founder of the Chinese republic

Self-Determination in the Ottoman Collapse

• By the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire was weak, relying on its position as a trade center
• The Young Turks were a reform group that advocated for a constitution and Turkification
• Turkification was an effort to unify the multiethnic empire under Turkish culture, and Islamic values
• The Young Turks scapegoated Armenians for economic problems
• The Ottoman Empire secretly allied with Germany in World War I due to resentment towards European economic policies
• They were dismantled by the victorious powers, and replaced with the Republic of Turkey and independent countries
• Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) led the Turkish National Movement to defeat British forces
• The Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 with Kemal as the first president, who implemented reforms to create a secular nation

Power Shifts in Mexico

• Mexico, under dictator Porfirio Díaz, experienced stability and economic progress
• However, Díaz allowed foreign investors to control the country's resources and the wealthiest 1% controlled 97% of the land
• Francisco Madero challenged Diaz for presidency in 1910, setting the stage for revolution.
• Madero's troops, led by Francisco "Pancho" Villa, defeated Mexican troops and Emiliano Zapata redistributed land
• The Mexican Revolution led to 2 million deaths between 1910 and 1920
• Mexico adopted a new constitution in 1917 which included land redistribution, universal suffrage, and public education, which would guide Mexico's government moving forward
• The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was formed in 1929 and dominated Mexican politics

Immediate Causes of the Great War

• World War I lasted from 1914-1918, and weakened the European powers
• It encouraged nationalism and set the stage for WWII
• The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip was the immediate cause
• Princip was a Serbian member of the Black Hand, who were devoted towards ending Austro-Hungarian presence in the Balkans
• Austria-Hungary sent Serbia an ultimatum and after it was rejected, declared war on July 28, 1914
• Alliances, imperialism, militarism and nationalism all played a part in the war

Long-Term Causes of the Great War

• Militarism: Aggressive military preparedness
• Alliances: Secret agreements to protect and help one another
• Imperialism: Rivalry for global domination and colonies
• Nationalism: Pride in one's national identity and desire for self-determination

Consequences of the Great War

• The war led to the downfalls of monarchies in Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire, as well as a redrawing of maps
• Germany lost its colonies, former Ottoman provinces came under British and French control
• New technologies made World War I the deadliest war in history, disrupting economies and societies, and leading to the rise of authoritarian regimes

Changes in Warfare

• Soldiers began fighting wars from trenches
• Trenches were often cold, muddy, and rat-infested
• Soldiers were equipped with gas marks to defend against chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas
• Machine guns could fire more than 500 rounds of ammunition per minute
• Submarines wreaked havoc on shipping lanes of the Atlantic Ocean
• Airplanes was used mainly for reconnaissance (observation)
• British developed tanks to traverse difficult land

The United States Enters the War

• Economic ties between the United States and the Allies were one underlying reasons for U.S. entry into the war in 1917
• The Allied nations were more democratic than the Central Powers
• U-boat attacks on ships carrying civilians led to resentment towards Germans
• A German submarine attacked and sank the Lusitania in 1915, killing over 100 U.S. citizens
• The interception of the Zimmermann Telegram in January 1917, in which Germany offered to help Mexico reclaim territory lost to the United States

Total War

• Total war strategy committed a nation's domestic population, in addition to its military to winning the war
• Propaganda was used to influence attitudes and opinions by spreading inaccurate or slanted information
• Posters and articles depicted the enemy in a negative way

A Global War

• World War I was fought in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
• Competition for colonies was a major reason for the war and imperialism extended the boundaries of the war
• Japan entered the war on the side of the Allies, the British seized most of Germany's colonies in Africa, and the British defended the Suez canal

Women and the War

• Sheer numbers of men enlisting meant that women's lives changed significantly and began replacing those men on farms and in factories
• Thousands of women served on the front lines as nurses, ambulance drivers, and switchboard operators
• Most countries forebade women from serving in combat, but that changed in Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria

The Paris Peace Conference

• The leaders of Paris Peace Conference became known at the Big Four: Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Vittorio Orlando
• Woodrow Wilson wanted there to be "peace without victory"
• Georges Clemenceau believed France deserved special protection and revenge on the Central Powers
• Wilson created the Fourteen Points which created a League of Nations
• League of Nations was an organization in which all nations of the world would convene to discuss conflicts openly to avoid tensions

The Treaty of Versailles

• The treaty of Versailles punished Germany for its role in the war
• Germany had to pay billions of dollars in reparations, give up its colonies, and restrict the size of its armed forces
• The terms of created great hardship on the nation
• Resentment toward the Weimar Republic set the stage for the Nazis to take power

Questions cover Turkification, Bolsheviks, WWI causes, European imperialism, Mexican Revolution figures, PRI's role, arms race consequences, Young Turks, Italy's & Russia's exclusion from the peace conference, and Wilson vs. Clemenceau's peace visions.