1917: shifting sands

1. 1917: shifting sands • Stalemate continues, Germans withdraw into NE France • Hindenburg Line fortifications • Allied offensive push aided by TANKS • Little movement • Arras (April 9-15), Aisne (April 16-20), Third Ypres (Passchendaele, July-Nov) • French face mutiny after failure of Nivelle Offensive (Aisne) • Cambrai (Nov 3-20) show positive signs • GB + Australia use tanks to break German lines  advance of 5 miles • Tank breakdowns  slowdown of advance + German counter-attack = loss of territory gained

2. PAUSE…The Road to [russian] Revolution • Bolshevik Party formed in 1903 • Means the “majority” • Led by Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) • Brother hanged, sister exiled over plot to assassinate Tsar • Later he was exiled for same attempt • Inspired by Marx, hope to overthrow Tsar • March 1905: Bloody Sunday • Soldiers fire on unarmed protestors • Led to creation of the Duma (legislature) • WWI a disaster for Russia • Millions dead, military losses, weak czarist rule, Russian troops mutiny, desert, ignore orders, workers strike (all goes to troops, very little to civlians)

3. The February (March) Revolutions: 1917 • Workers, women go on strike • Demand food and fuel • Soldiers left front lines to deal with issue, instead joined in. Led to uprising throughout Russia • Forced Tsar to abdicate his throne • Established Provisional Government • Led by middle class liberals, Alexander Kerensky; established “soviets” (councils) • Could not meet demand of masses, led to political/social upheavals • Land to peasants • Control of factories to workers • Get Russia out of WWI

4. Lenin and the Bolsheviks • Lenin believed the party needed to provide leadership/control of the government • Radical revolutionary group focused on “dictatorship of the proletariat” • Workers would control the economy, government • “Peace, Land, and Bread!” • Win support by advocating all power to the soviets • Gov. would be run by worker’s councils and would overthrow the Provisional Government (government of the bourgeoisie)

5. The Bolshevik Revolution:October (November) 1917 • October- coup d’etat staged to overthrow provisional government in St. Petersburg • Storm the Winter Palace, no shot fired • Provisional Gov. leaders arrested, fled • Power went to local soviets controlled by Bolsheviks (by 1918- called communists) • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Russia out of WWI • Land distributed to peasants, workers gain control of factories/mines, end of private ownership

6. The treaty of brest-litovsk • CP armistice w/ Russia under Bolsheviks,- March 3, 1918 • Loss of land • Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Findland, Ukraine • Loss of resources • Coal, iron ore, industrial centers, agricultural land • Loss of population

7. Russian Civil War • Led to Russian Civil War • Reds (Bolsheviks) v. Whites (non-communists) • Whites=Enemies of Reds: • Landowners, republicans, conservatives, middle-class, pro-monarchists • Red Army led by Leon Trotsky • Villages burned, civilians killed, starvation • Bolsheviks begin “war communism,” the Cheka (secret police) • Whites outnumbered, disorganized • By 1921, Communists in control and had won • Lenin rule until death in 1924 • 1922-Creation of Soviet State (USSR- Soviet Union), supposed to be led by workers, but Party ruled • Capital moved to Moscow • The Kremlin (seat of Bolshevik/Communist gov) • Sickle & Hammer= symbols

8. April 1917- USA enters war • Why? • U-boat attacks, Zimmerman Telegram, anti-German propaganda, WW/14, democracy • Impact • Morale, troops numbers, supplies by end of 1917 • Coincide w/ German troops pulled from E. front after TBL

9. Italian Front • October- Austria/Germany vs. Italy @ Battle of Caporetto • Offensive push by CP  defeat of Italian forces • Loss of land, men, supplies • Stay in war? • GB/France send troops to prop up Allied forces in Italy

10. 1918: the western front • Ludendorff Offensive = final German effort to end war (March – June) • Issues for Germany- loss of manpower, loss of morale, loss of resources/supplies, population question government/war, little food, • New tactics • Short-term, intense barrage of artillery fire & gas  immediate infantry assault by special forces (Stormtroopers) to take weak points • Quicker movement than mass infantry w/ heavy weapons • = infiltration tactic

11. Early success – 40 mile advance w/in one week • BUT… lack of supplies, reserves + Allied counter-attacks  slowdown, withdrawal • Second Battle of the Marne (July 15 – Aug 3) • Amiens (Aug 8) • Both use tank and aircraft • Germans see war as hopeless, strain of situation takes toll, Spanish flu  little will to continue fighting  desire for peace/armistice by October, 1918 “No reliance can be put on the troops any longer.” -General Erich Ludendorff

12. The CP COLLAPSES • Bulgaria- Sept 29 • Ottoman Empire- Oct 30 • Austria-Hungary- Nov 3 • Why? • Men/supplies low • Difficulties on homefront (food shortages, worker revolt) • Mutiny

13. Analyzing Germany’s defeat What were Germany’s weaknesses and failures in relation to the Allies strengths and successes?

14. Germany • Overconfident- gambles that didn’t pay off • Schlieffen Plan (quick victory) • Verdun (wear down the Fr/GB forces) • Unrestricted submarine warfare • How did these go wrong? What effects did their failure have? • Weak allies • Sept – Oct., 1918: Bulgaria + Serbia + Austria + Ottomans fall/surrender

15. Failure of Ludendorff Offensive •  supply issues, low morale/will to fight, loss of manpower • German army in 1918 “broken” from strain, hopelessness • + Spanish flu •  “desperate desire for peace” in October • “No reliance can be put on the troops any longer. . . The High Command and the German Army are finished.” • Homefront in Germany • Poor economic situation  push for revolution (why? econ + milit failures) • Role of Allied blockade • German gov. not efficient at organizing nation for war • Supply issues + lack of effort to provide for civilians • AG production down

16. The Allies • In a nutshell- more men and more resources • War of attrition benefitted Allies • Maintaining control of the sea • German blockade • Convoy system • Mobilization of Fr/GB economies

17. Spring, 1918 counter-offensive success • Better coordination, use of technology/tactical developments • Germany (Ludendorff) distracted by TBL w/ Russia • Allied use of tanks, artillery, aircraft, infantry TOGETHER • US entrance into war (300k men/month) • Men, money, weaponry, warships • “American participation spelled the defeat of German ambitions.” (Akira Iriye)

18. Total War? Let’s review. Go back to the handout that discusses the characteristics of total war. Do you think WWI qualifies as such?

19. TOTAL WAR • Both CP & Allies fought for total victory • vs. limited aims • Both use all weaponry at their disposal to win war • Air, land, sea • + new technologies, weaponry • All people of major nations involved • Soldiers & civilians • Civilians targeted, suffered from economic warfare • Women play role on homefront • Increase of Gov. power • State had to be united, efficent at making war • Gov. controlled economy & population •  changes in gov, soc, econ practices

20. German War aims • “September Memorandum” • “security for the German Reich in west and east for all imaginable time” • How? Territorial expansion + economic control • Africa- combine Fr, Belg, Port colonies into C. Africa economic region (Mittleafrika) • Europe- develop customs union (A-H, Belg, Den, Fr, NE, Poland) for econ control • + annexation of parts of Belg, Fr, Lux • Russian grant of self-determination to Polish • Increase naval power & area of control to challenge GB economic supremecy

21. France • Regain A-L • Fr + GB • “crush Prussian militarism” • Propaganda to reinforce nationalism, justify war, demonize Germany • Compromise not easy after selling war in this way • 1917 calls for peace • Pope, Lenin, Wilson, Lord Lansdowne (GB Conservative, former Foreign Sec) • Failure…both sides think victory is still possible • “Only victory will do and only victory could justify the sacrifices made in the war.” (P.M.H. Bell)

22. Use of weapons • CP & Allies use full arsenal of weapons + new tech on land, sea, air • Why? Break deadlock, achieve total victory • Broke Hague Convention (1899) agreements • Ex: Poison gas

23. civilians • Affected by fighting • Western Front • Affected by fighting: cities shelled by heavy artillery, German planes/Zepplins over GB, GB planes over Germany • Eastern Front • Civilians caught in battle (war more mobile) • Targeted attacks of Jews, deportations of Germans, Turks, Gypsies, Hungarians in Russia • Massive loss of life • Military conscription

24. The war of the world • ”The Western Front had revealed a new level of industrialization of warfare- had seen the introduction of machines of death comparable in their lethal effectiveness with those Wells had imagined in The War of the Worlds. But the Eastern Front had seen an equally important transformation of warfare. There the death throes of the old Central and East European empire shad dissolved the old boundaries between combatant and civilian. This kind of war poroved much easier to start than to stop.” • Niall Ferguson, The War of the World, 2006

25. genocide • Ottoman Empire use propaganda to show Armenians as aiding Russia, sabotaging war effort • Why? • Xn w/in Muslim state, possible independence if aid Allies, Ottoman resentment of success •  “deportations” from eastern Anatolia (E. front war zones) to Syrian desert from 1915-1916/1922 • April 24th- arrest, execution of several hundred • Death marches through desert w/o food, water • “Turkification” campaign “Special Organization” and killing squads • “the liquidation of the Christian elements” • Women, children, economic impact

26. Economic warfare and civilians • Supplies to both CP/Allies cut off, trade routes disrupted • Food, raw materials blocked via minefields, attacks on merchange ships • GB blockade  food shortages in Germany • Caloric intke down 500 cal. Within two years of blockade (@ 1k cal/day) • German u-boat campaign  shortages in GB • Less impact thn in Germany • Ottoman/CP blockade  supply issues in Russia • ALL lead to rationing w/in nations at war

27. Civilians and the war effort • Rapid growth of industry to keep up w/ demands of total war •  demand for more workers • GB, Fr, US, Germany = women join workforce • BUT… most resistant to idea through 1915-1916 • Recruitment ramp up as war continue, BUT employers, unions unhappy • GB had to negotiate agreements on women in “men’s jobs” (munitions, engineering) • Work only temporary, no full training • Wages lower than male counterpart (but higher than traditional work) • By 1917- 1 of 4 workers a woman

28. Growth of government • Centralized gov power increased • Gov need max use of human & economic resources  more gov control • GB • Defense of the Realm Act (DORA)- 1914 • Police daily lives (hours of restaurants, use of binoculars, lighting of fires) • France • “State of Siege” declared • = gov departments under direct control of President, subject to military law • Russia • Tsar Nich. Use as excuse to reassert autocratic power, suspend Duma

29. Gov control of. . . • Manpower • Conscription • To take in soldiers AND deny those who worked in industries necessary for war (ex: coal, shipyards) • = controlled direction of manpower • Necessary so industry & armed forces function

30. Production • Industry efficiency important for war effort  increase of gov control • Nationalize industries (coal, shipping), regulate wages, regulate prices • New gov. agencies, departments, committees • Morale • War propaganda to emphasize reason for war • Start as “defensive” (defending soil, nat’l pride), then to ”justify” a drawn-out war in face of opposition groups. • Show enemy as inhuman, evil, brutal- must defeat at all costs!

31. Economy • Increase taxation to pay for war + borrowing of money + war bonds • Free trade halts, tariffs increase • Russia, Fr, Italy borrow from GB & US, GB heavily from US • Russian issues w/ inflation • Circulation increase from borrowing (contribute to Rev) • Germany stuck w/ loans and bonds (vs. tax) • Harsh treaties after German victory would help pay back loans