Age of Total War

Handout Three

Topic: The Peace to End All Peace

 OUTLINE

 III. The Peace to End All Peace

1. Introduction.
2. The Coming of the Bolsheviks.
3. The German Revolution.
4. The Versailles Treaty.
5. The Aftermath of War
6. Let the Fighting Begin.
7. The Impact of World War I.

 QUESTIONS

 1. Overtime the correlation of forces proved too much for Germany to withstand. What factors account for Germany’s eventual defeat at the hands of the Allies and Americans?

2. The Russian Revolution was one of the pivotal events of the twentieth century. Why did it happen? What were the forces that drove Russia to Revolution? How were Soviet Russian and the new German state received in Europe?

3. With the defeat of Germany, there was hope that there would be lasting peace in Europe. Was that realistic? What role did Wilson play in the process? Why did he fail?

4. Following the war, the German right claimed that the German Army was never defeated on the field of battle. Instead rightwing writers and agitators claimed that Germany was “stabbed in the back” by Jews, Socialists, and hidden enemies of the state. How powerful were those claims? How did the Versailles Treaty contribute to the failure of ordinary Germans to accept the peace settlement?

5. How did World War I contribute to the problems current Middle Eastern problem? What problems did the British make to the world Jewry in order to gain their support in 1917?

TERMS

Kerensky                                V. I. Lenin                             Cheka

Nicholas II                              April Theses                          Finland Station

July Days                                Article 231                            Red Guards

Storm Troops                          Armistice                              Fourteen Points

Balfour Declaration                 Trotsky                                  Russian Civil War

Anglo-Irish War                      IRA                                       Ataturk