Age of Total War
Fall 2007
Peace
In Germany, the sailors mutinied
and the mutiny spread throughout Northern Germany.
Soviets were established.
Modeled after what had happened
in the Russia.
In London peoples groped each
other.
People even had sex in doorways.
The killing had finally ended.
What Did It All Mean?
Some how the victors would have
to turn off their hatred if peace was to have a chance.
But was that possible?
People would never realize that
the war aims and the wars causation had nothing in common.
What made hatred in this war
different than in previous wars?
Normally people hate those that
killed their loved ones.
In World War I the number killed
was so great, the level of hatred was grossly amplified.
Background
Industrialism came late to
Russia.
Serfdom ended by the time of the
American Civil War.
Discontent ran high with the
failure to address social problems.
Russian defeat in the
Russo-Japanese War.
The rise of militant
Revolutionary parties.
Failure of the Regime in World
War I.
The debasement of the Old Regime
by Rasputin.
Chronology of the Russian
Revolution in 1917
Feb. 14 Duma reconvenes.
Feb. 23-24 Food riots break
out in Petrograd to correspond with International Womens Day.
Feb. 25 Demonstrations turn
violent.
Feb. 26 Troops fire into the
crowds.
Feb. 28 Provisional Government
formed.
Mar. 2 Nicholas Abdicates for
himself and his son.
Lenin Lives!
Role of Lenin
Mar. 1916, Lenin Moves to
Zurich.
April 1917, Lenin returns to
Russia via a sealed train with the aid of the Germans.
He publishes the
April Theses,
calling for the overthrow of the provisional government and redefining Bolshevik
tactics.
The Crisis for the Provisional Government
The Provisional government
wanted power, but had none.
The Soviets had the power, but
refused to act.
A crisis was developing.
The Russians needed peace, but
the Liberal/non-Bolsheviks refused to end the war.
Never realizing the crisis that
was at hand.
The Course of the Revolution
May 1917 Lenin takes a
prominent role in the RSDLP (Bolsheviks) in Petrograd.
June 1917 First All-Russian
Congress of Soviets of Workers and Soldiers is held.
July 1917 Bolshevik Uprising
in Petrograd known as the July Days Lenin is forced into hiding.
September 1917 Lenin calls for
another uprising.
October 1917 Lenin returns
from hiding in Finland.
October 1917 Lenin calls for a
general uprising and meets opposition from his associates.
Lenin Goes Into Hiding
Lenin and his key lieutenants
had to go into hiding as a result of the July Days.
This included Zinoviev, Kamenev,
Lunacharsky, and Alexandra Kollantai.
Troops loyal to the Provisional
government occupied Bolshevik Headquarters too.
But time was running out for the
Government.
The Birth of the Red Guards
The were first organized as a
result of the Revolution of 1905.
They were armed factory workers.
The were reformed following the
outbreak of the Revolution.
Much like the National Guard in
France, except they were from the working class.
They were re-armed and defended
Kerensky from Gen. Kornilov.
Failure of the Provisional Government
The Bolsheviks managed to
influence the Soldiers Soviets.
Such as General Order No. 1
allowing Soldiers only to obey the Soviets.
By passing officers.
Leading to a complete break down
of authority.
The Provisional Government had
to end the war.
Something they would not do.
Lenin Presses for Armed Action
Lenin returned to Petrograd in
early October from Finland.
Lenin realized that the Russia
was ready for a revolutionary event.
Now he had to convince the
Central Committee.
Making sure a
Military-Revolutionary Committee was organized on Oct. 16 [29].
On Oct. 24 [Nov. 6], he ordered
the Party to move.
The Bolshevik Coup
The coup started on the night of
Oct. 24-25 [Nov. 6-7].
Trotsky moved troops as Chief of
the Military-Revolutionary Committee.
Early the Cruiser Aurora
anchored near the Winter Palace.
Key locations, the post office
and telegraph office and bridges.
The Congress of Soviets was
meeting too.
The SRs and Mensheviks resigned.
The Bolsheviks were in control.
Introduction to the German Revolution
The German Revolution of 1918
was not the work of planning, but confusion.
The German public was simply
stunned by the news of the call for an armistice.
Soon mutinous sailors and
soldiers set up councils throughout Germany.
Controlling local governments.
Setting the stage for increased
violence.
And dividing Germany between
various camps.
Background
War weariness was sitting in.
Even as late as Oct. 5, 1918,
Socialists were calling for a Socialist Republic in Germany.
The Independent Socialists
planned for a General Strike for Nov. 6.
But it didnt happen as the
police rounded up the ringleaders.
But the Revolutionary Shop
Stewards planned on a Strike on November 9.
The Events in Kiel
A naval mutiny broke out at
Wilhelmshaven and Kiel.
Following rumors that the Fleet
was being readied for a suicide mission against the British on Oct. 30.
The Independent Socialist worked
with the Sailors.
Naval officers arrested the ring
leaders.
Sparking a general mutiny on
Nov. 3.
The Spread
On the following day, the
workers in Kiel joined.
Establishing a Soviet.
Soon it spreads through northern
German cities.
Similar events were taking place
in Munich and Berlin.
With the collapse of Austria,
the public was fearful.
The Independent Socialists took
over and established a Socialist Republic under Kurt Eisner.
The Crisis in Berlin
Pressure was building in Berlin
and the Socialists put pressure on Prince Max of Baden.
To do the following:
The Socialist Partys Position
Did not favor a Socialist
Workers State.
Or a Dictatorship of the
Proletariat.
The leaders Ebert and
Scheidemann were democrats.
The Independent Socialists were
opposed to this view.
Under Karl Liebknecht made
demands the SPD meet.
Karl Liebknechts Demands
Majority of the Cabinet Should
be Socialist.
All power should be in the hands
of Soldiers and Workers Councils.
The Constitute Assembly delayed
until the Revolution was consolidated.
The Impact in Berlin
Only 15 people died on Nov. 9,
1918.
Berlin papers called it the
greatest revolution of all.
Soon the representatives of the
land governments resigned.
The old regime was over.
But the Independent Socialists
wanted completed power.
The struggle was on.
Let the Storm Begin
While Friedrich Ebert and his
Socialist Allies maintained power.
The Revolutionary Socialists of
the Spartakist League sought to change the equation.
Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa
Luxemburg agitated the working class.
Ebert moved quickly to avoid the
mistakes made by Kerensky.
The Arrival of the Troops
On Dec. 10, 1918, Eberts ally,
Gen. Groener sent 75,000 troops to Berlin.
Soon fighting broke out between
the Red Soldiers and the Army.
Tensions mounted between the two
sides.
By the end of Dec. most of the
troops that arrived had deserted the Army.
Giving hope to the Spartakists.
The Creation of the Freikorps
Early the Spartakists seized the
Chancellery and took Ebert prisoner.
Soon, Ebert reached a deal with
Groener.
A Secret deal to great a force
to defeat the Spartakists.
Composed of former Soldiers who
hated the Spartakists, now known as Communists.
Soon the Spartakists than took
to the streets.
The Spartakist Uprising
Spartakist newspapers called for
the workers to take to the streets.
Strikes broke out throughout
Berlin.
Soon other uprisings took place
throughout Germany.
The Freikorps troops entered
Berlin and were cheered by the Berlin public.
Soon Liebknecht and Luxemburg
were rounded up and killed.
The Revolution was crushed.
The Birth of Weimar
Once calm returned, Eberts
dream was about to become true.
The creation of a National
Assembly.
Elections were to held on
January 19, 1919.
The day of the opening of the
Versailles negotiations.
The delegates meet in Weimar on
February 9.
With the SPD hold a majority of
delegates.
Followed by the Catholic Center
and the New Democratic Party.
Objectives of the National Assembly
Establish a legal government for
Germany.
Conclude a peace with the
Allies.
And Write a Constitution for the
new German Republic.
Reaching Peace
The Allies proposed a settlement
clearly not acceptable to most Germans.
Making it very difficult to be
accepted in the long run.
If the Germans did not accept
the terms by June 28, 1919, the Allies would march again.
Anyone who did sign would be a
dead man.
Groener informed the German
Generals and politicians that war was impossible.
Impact of the Settlement on Germany
The political right forgot that
they lost the war.
Contributing to the infamous
Dolchstoss
legend.
The Germany was stabbed in the
back.
Blaming Germanys defeat on
Socialists and pacifists at home.
Pointing out that the Socialists
were willing to accept the treaty as a sign of guilt.
The Weimar Constitution
Declared Germany a Republic.
The National government
controlled controlled issues of:
The Situation for the Germans
During Pre-Armistice
negotiations Germany was mislead.
Berlin believed the peace would
be based on the Fourteen Points.
Then Berlin discovered the
reservations.
Many Germans believed that this
was Allied bad faith.
Then when the German delegation
arrived they were lectured and sent to a hotel surrounded by barbed wire.
Then they were told to return
when the Allies were ready.
Woodrow Wilsons Fourteen
Points (Jan. 18, 1918)
1 Open covenants
openly arrived out.
2. Absolute
freedom of the seas alike in peace and war, except as the seas might be closed
by international covenants.
3. The removal,
as far as possible, of economic barriers.
4. Armament
reductions consistent with public safety.
5. The impartial
claim/adjustment of all colonial issues.
6. The
evacuation of Russian territory.
7. The
evacuation and restoration of Belgium.
8. The
evacuation and restoration of French territory, including Alsace-Lorraine.
9. Readjustment
of Italian borders along lines of nationality.
10. Autonomous
development of the peoples in Austria-Hungary.
11. Restoration
of Serbia, Rumania, and Montenegro.
12. Freedom for
the Turkish peoples.
13. An
Independent Poland with access to the sea.
14. A general
association of states to be created.
German and Allied Communications
Prince Max of Baden was chosen
as Chancellor and Foreign Minister.
At the same day, he and his
counterparts in Austria appealed for an end of the war based on the Fourteen
Points.
There had been a series of
exchanges of notes over the next few weeks.
Wilson demanded German
evacuation of territories.
That the Allies would only
negotiate with a democratic Germany
Background
The war ended before the Allied
and Associated Powers could come up with a plan.
When Germany sought terms,
Wilson convinced them to used the Fourteen Points as a basis of peace.
Yet no one looked at what had
happened at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
However the composition was much
different.
Only two signatories of 1815
were present in Paris in 1919.
To Unwieldy
The Council of Ten proved to be
too difficult.
And the power organized another
committee, the Council of Four.
Composed of Wilson, Lloyd
George, Clemenceau, and Orlando.
As well as a Council of Five
composed of the Foreign ministers of the Allied and Associated Powers.
The Council of Five than handled
other issues such as reparations, territories, colonies, etc.
The First Meeting
Twenty-seven Allied and
Associated powers met in Paris on Jan. 12, 1919.
The real decisions were made by
the Big Four Wilson, Lloyd George, Orlando, and Clemenceau.
Which was reduced to the Big
Three after Orlando left in protest to Wilsons position on Italian claims.
But what about the Germans and
other Central Powers?
What Should Happen to the Losers?
First topic was what to do with
territorial changes.
In the Treaty of London (1915),
the Allies had divided the colonies of the Central Powers among themselves.
Wilson opposed the Allies and
advocated a mandate system.
Japan and Britain opposed the
proposal Japan wanted Germanys colonies in the Pacific and so did Britain.
Jan Smuts of South Africa
offered a compromise the victors would take over those colonies but under the
mandate principle.
What Germany Lost in World War I
All gains from treaties with
Russia and Rumania.
Lost Poland and Alsace-Lorraine.
Lost Eupen and Malmedy to
Belgium.
Lost Memel to Lithuania.
Lost the Polish Corridor to
Poland.
Danzig became a free city.
The Saar would be administered by
the League of Nations for 15 years.
A plebiscite would determine the
fate of Schleswig.
German war criminals would be
tried.
Germany would have to pay
reparations.
Germany lost their African
colonies.
Military Provision of Versailles
The Army limited to 100,000 men.
No aircraft.
No cadet schools, academies, or
General Staff.
No submarines.
No warships larger than 10,000
tons.
The Reparations Issue
The Germans realized that they
would have to pay reparations.
For civilian damages suffered
during the war.
But later, the Germans were then
to pay for widows and service pensions.
At first Allies did not set a
total cost to Germans.
But they would have to pay five
billion gold marks now and the rest to be determined.
127 billion gold marks later.
The War Guilt Clause
This was the infamous War Guilt
Clause Article 231.
That Germany and her allies were
totally responsible for the outbreak of the war.
The clause was written by John
Foster Dulles.
It was intended as a concession
to the British and the French.
Later, Dulles admitted it did
more to bring Hitler to power than anything else.
The Other Treaties
Treaty of St. GermainWith
the Allies and Austria involved the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Treaty of NeuillyTreaty
of peace with Bulgaria. Bulgaria lost territory on the Aegean and had to
recognize the independence of Yugoslavia as well as pay reparations.
Treaty of TrianonTreaty
with Hungary that lost considerable territory to her neighbors including
Transylvania.
Treaty of Sevres
With Turkey, the only one that was renegotiated.
Wilson Returns from Paris
Wilson worked mostly alone.
He consulted rarely with the
Inquiry and other advisers.
After writing the
covenant to
the League in ten days.
He decided to return to
Washington on Feb. 14, 1919.
He would spend a month in DC
handling business.
There he jaw-boned members of
Congress about the League.
What did Wilson Discover?
The Monroe Doctrine had to be
protected.
The GOP would accept the Treaty,
but not the League.
Wilson told the Republicans that
both were linked together.
Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. then
dropped his bombshell on March 4, better known as the Republican Round Robin.
The proposed League was
unacceptable.
Thirty-nine senators signed it,
well over one-third needed to defeat the Treaty.
Wilson Responds
Wilson returned to Paris in
March 1919.
He was determined to uncut Lodge
and the Round Robin.
Also, he reinforced his personal
hatred for Lodge.
Upon his return, Wilson made a
series of trades to ensure the passage of the League.
But in the process undercut his
moral standing about the Treaty itself.
Wilsons Moral Compromises
Wilson already surrendered the
Freedom of the Seas (Point 2).
Then there was Shantung province
in China.
It was a German colony, now
Japan wanted it.
Japan threatened to leave the
Conference and the League if the Shantung province was not restored to Tokyo.
So went self-determination.
The Rise of the Irreconcilables
They numbered twelve U.S.
senators.
All were Progressives.
The leaders were William Borah
of Idaho and Hiram Johnson of California.
They opposed U.S. membership in
any organization like the League.
They did not want to be drawn
into any potential conflict where they had to defend the colonial interests of
Britain or France.
What did the Irreconcilables support?
They were more concerned with
domestic issues at home.
Likewise they supported
revolutionary movements in Russia and China.
They did not want the United
States to withdraw from the world.
But likewise they did not want
American boys policing it either.
They neither wanted to defend
the borders of Europe nor provide for European security either.
Allies of a Kind
The Irreconcilables were joined
in their opposition by the reservationists.
Lodge led this group.
Outside of the Senate, Charles
Evans Hughes, Herbert Hoover, and former president William Howard Taft belonged
too.
Why did they oppose Wilson?
Thought he was weak.
TR would have joined if he had
not died in January 1919.
Lodges Tactics
He delayed.
He read portions of the Treaty
aloud.
He called interest groups to
testify against the Treaty.
He realized the longer the
process was delayed the public clamor for the Treaty would lose popular support.
Lodge also knew Wilson.
Concerns of the Reservationists
They opposed Article 10.
Feared it weakened Congresss
power to declare war.
Forced the United States to
defend a weakening European colonial system.
When asked directly about
Article 10, Wilson wiggled out.
In many respects Article 10 was
the major impediment to ratification of the Treaty.
Article Ten
Lodge Offers a Compromise
Both the Irreconcilables and
Reservationists did not want to take on a commitment to defend Europe.
However, Lodge was more
sympathetic to London and Paris than others.
He then proposed fourteen points
of his own to Wilsons treaty.
Wilson opposed any reservations
to the Treaty.
Taking His Case to the People
By this time Wilson has had at
least three minor strokes before he embarked on a cross-country speaking tour.
He relied on his oratorical
skills to sway the public and indirectly force the Senate to accept his
arguments.
All told he gave 36 speeches in
23 days.
Then he had a major stroke and
rushed back to Washington.
But it was futile.
No matter what happened the
Senate would not have approved Wilsons treaty as is.
The Final Struggle for the Treaty
Edith Wilson limited all access
to her husband.
Even in ill-health Wilson
opposed any compromise with Lodge and the Senate
Lansing supported and gave tacit
agreement to Lodges case.
Wilson then lost support of
William Bullitt and Walter Lippmann.
Other Factors to Consider
Before the Senates vote on the
Treaty the country experienced the first Red Scare.
This was the aftermath of a
series of bombings in New York and Washington.
Attorney General A. Mitchell
Palmer ordered the raids.
The atmosphere was poisoned by
the time of the Treaty was debated.
Defeat of the Treaty
November 19, 1919, the Treaty
with Lodges reservations was defeated by a vote of 39 to 55.
Loyal Democrats aligned
themselves with the Irreconcilables.
Over the winter the public
clamored for reconsideration.
The vote was held on March 19,
1920, and was defeated by a vote of 49 to 35.
The Wilson Democrats could have
passed the measure
but they followed Wilsons directive -- no compromise.
The End Game
In 1921, the United States
signed a separate treaty with Germany and Austria.
While Wilson may have thought of
running in 1920, that was not going to happen.
The 1920 Election, while not a
referendum on the League, seemed that way.
With the return to normalcy of
the GOP
it was now left to the Republicans to pick up the pieces of World War I.
The Cost of the War
While the Guns on the Western Front Were
Silent
One problem was in Turkey, where
Greece, operating with the approval of Lloyd George sent five divisions to
derive the Kemalists back from Smyrna.
Not realizing this would set off
a title wave of Turkish nationalism.
Eventually driving the Greeks
out of Asia Minor by 1922.
A situation the neither the
Greeks or Turks have ever forgotten.
Yet the Turks were the only
state to revise the Versailles settlement.
The Opening Rounds of the Russian Civil
War
After Jan. 1918 officers and men
who opposed the Bolsheviks gathered to oppose the Reds.
The opponents included
Mensheviks, SRs, former officers.
Some wanted to continue the war.
Others opposed the Bolsheviks.
The Whites had initially success
in the Ukraine.
But were driven back by Nestor
Makhno, an Anarchist and Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko.
Still the main threat to the Reds
came from the German Army still in Russia.
The Hope for the Counter Revolution
The Czechs were supposed to
leave Russia to fight with the Allies.
When the Czech Legion opposed
the Reds, there was hope in May 1918.
The Czechs captured a base in
the Central Volga Region.
To stabilize the Front, Lenin
made Trotsky Commissar for War.
But the Whites made progress.
Battlefield Report
Anton Denikin made progress for
the Whites in the Kuban region of Russia.
Peter Wrangel was a threat in
the Crimea.
Nikolai Yudenich threatened
Petrograd in the East.
But then the Whites united for
awhile behind Admiral Alexander Kolchak in Siberia.
Then there was the foreign
forces in theater too.
Foreign Intervention
U.S. and Britain in the north
around Archangel.
British in the Caucasus.
The Japanese and Americans in
the Far East.
The French in the Black Sea.
Almost 200,000 foreign troops
where in theater at one time.
But the Whites had a serious
problem by failing to provide an alternative to Reds.
Why Did The Reds Succeed?
Use of internal lines of
communications.
The Reds were highly motivated.
Had a cause.
Fear of the return of the Old
Regime.
Mass mobilization under War
Communism.
Excellent field commanders.
Selective use of terror via the
VCheka.
Red Commanders
Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Tukhachevskii
Some were professional
revolutionaries.
Others were former Tsarist
officers who fought for the Reds.
A point Stalin would use against
them later.
The Cost of the Civil War
800,000 soldiers died.
Another 8 million died from
either disease or starvation.
Then would along come Stalin.
Along Come the Poles
Marshall Pilsudski with 75,000
men saw their chance.
And invaded the Ukraine in April
1920 supporting the Hetman Seymon Petlura.
The Poles captured Kiev in May.
But what the Poles did was to
awaken Russian nationalism.
Soon the Russians/Reds were
driving the Poles back as far as Warsaw.
The Miracle on the Vistula
The Red Army was on the move
under Tukachevskii.
Trotsky saw his chance to open
Western Europe to Communist penetration.
Stalin and one of his lackeys
was there too.
Somehow, the Red Army divided
their forces.
Opening the way for Pilsudski to
conduct a timely counter attack.
Saving Poland on Aug. 15, 1920.
The Anglo-Irish War
This is better known as the
Irish War of Independence.
Waged by the
Irish Republican Army
against the British Police, the Royal
Irish Constabulary, and the
Black and Tans.
The fighting was violent.
And was finally terminated by
negotiations in London between the Welsh Wizard and
Michael Collins.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921
Eamon de Valera ordered Collins
and Arthur Griffith to go to London and negotiate the treaty.
He realized that it was an
impossible task.
Collins and Griffith did the
best they could do.
Which created the two Irelands
Ulster and the Free State.
The Irish Civil War of 1922-23
was on.
Conclusion
Military leaders were no longer
trusted.
Politicians had to worry about
expansion of Communist westward.
Primacy of European economic
domination was coming to an end.
New York was now the center of
power.
Liberal parties were no long
held in esteem.
Ex-soldiers were alienated from
the mainstream.
A revolution was taking place in
social mores.
The Sleeping Giant
The U.S. was the new power to
reckon with, whether Americans like it or not.
Instead, Congress and Wilson
rejected the Versailles Treaty and the League.
American turned inward.
Electing weak weak presidents who
were tools of Big Business.
And sought to return to
normalcy.
Also inciting a wave of violence
seen in race riots and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan.
As well as entering an age of
unilateral disarmament.
Sometimes with the help of Europe
as seen in the Washington Naval Conf.