Western History Unit V Quiz

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UNIT V STUDY GUIDE The First World War & Reconstruction, Reaction, and Continuing Revolution: The 1920s and 1930s

Learning Objectives Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Identify the factors that led to the outbreak of World War I and the expectations of the participants.

2. Describe when, where, and how the Allies defeated the Central Powers. 3. Discuss the war’s impact on the home front. 4. Explain the consequences of the war for the European as well as the

global, social, political, and international order. 5. Explain the impact of World War I on European cultural life. 6. Discuss the ways reconstruction, rather than revolution, characterized

the postwar era. 7. Explain the emergence of the Radical Right. 8. Identify the factors that led to the polarization of European politics in the

1930s. 9. Describe the change in the interaction between the West and the world

after the war. 10. Identify notable European communities affected by the war and post-war

politics.

Unit Lesson World War I began with the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, on June 28, 1914, by a Serbian extremist while parading through recently annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina. A month later, Austria declared war on Serbia, and similar to a well calculated dominos, Europe divided and created a world war on a series of fronts. Four interlocking factors caused the war: Eastern European nationalism, the creation of rival alliance systems, the requirements of an industrialized military, and the growing belief among both leaders and ordinary people that war would solve social and cultural problems. Another key factor in the road to war was the pressure of public opinion. The popular press had involved the masses in foreign affairs by presenting such news as the drama of foreign affairs. In large cities, pro-war crowds were comprised of the middle class who gathered in support of war. For those who feared racial degeneration and gender confusion, war was seen as a chance to reassert male virility and superiority. It offered men the chance to move beyond the restrictions of their lives. Because of the imperialist expansion of the late 19th century, the war became a world war. The British colonies and dependencies supplied 40 percent of British troops. Portugal joined the war to expand its holdings in Africa, while Japan seized German possessions in China. The Middle East became an important battleground after the Ottoman Empire joined the war on the side of the Central Powers. The British allied with Arab nationalists, and by 1917, they had gained the Arabian Peninsula, Sinai, and Jerusalem.

Reading Assignment Chapter 25: The First World War, pp. 789, 802-812, 815 Chapter 26: Reconstruction, Reaction, and Continuing Revolution: The 1920s and 1930s, pp. 826, 833- 839, 847-854

Supplemental Reading See information below.

Key Terms 1. Allies 2. Balfour Declaration 3. Bolsheviks 4. Central Powers 5. Collectivization 6. Corporatism 7. Existentialism 8. Fascism 9. Fourteen Points

10. Genocide 11. Great Depression 12. Hyperinflation 13. Keynesian economics 14. League of Nations 15. Nazism 16. New Economic Policy 17. No-man’s-land 18. Schlieffen Plan 19. Social democracy 20. Total war 21. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 22. Triple Alliance 23. Versailles Treaty

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The term home front was coined to highlight the fact that civilians at home fought this war, as well. Total war recast, and even revolutionized, the economic, political, social, and gender relations of combatant nations. As the first industrial war, World War I required that economies be mobilized to supply the machine guns, poison gas, canned food, and uniforms that helped shape this distinctive style of war. Industrialization also made it possible for governments to deploy vast masses of men. It became clear that the war would be won in the factories, as well as on the front lines. To ensure loyalty, governments regulated ideas, eliminating those they viewed as dangerous and creating ideas through propaganda, which emerged as a crucial political tool. Fostering a total war mentality meant not only fostering love for one’s own country but hatred for the enemy. Nationalism, international competition, and the belief that war was the solution to political divisions and cultural fears helped spark World War I, which quickly escaped the control of European leaders as total war transformed political, economic, and social structures. The First World War also changed the idea of “the West,” solidifying the inclusion of both the United States and imperial territories while presenting the challenge of a communist regime in Russia. The destruction and carnage of World War I, followed by starvation and an influenza epidemic, caused many Europeans to lose faith in the idea of Western progress. Yet the war also fostered hopes that a better world could be constructed out of the ashes of the old. To many Europeans, World War I seemed to have irreparably destroyed European culture and society. Although modernist painters and musicians had been introducing their fragmented canvas and dissonant choruses before World War I, now their work did not seem so disturbing or alien. Along with anxiety was the excitement of perhaps building a new and better world. Europe seemed on the brink of revolution after World War I; a war that overthrew empires, redrew the map of Europe, raised social expectations, and turned gender roles upside down. Nevertheless, there was great continuity between the prewar and postwar periods. The 1920s appeared to be a decade of profound change for women, who had gained the right to vote in many countries. Women stepped out of the confines of home and family, and many women were now working, living, and traveling on their own; a change that was reflected in women’s freer clothing. For many women, especially working-class ones, a major change was the growing practice of limiting family size. The fascist revolution introduced Europe to the politics of the Radical Right, which embraced radical change but stressed authority. Born of wartime exhilaration and postwar despair, fascism offered an alternative to existing political ideologies. Fascism originated with Benito Mussolini and was not just a set of political ideas but an ongoing, spectacular performance. Nazism, founded by Adolf Hitler, offered a different version of the Radical Right. For the fascist and Nazi movements, restoring order included restoring order to gender relations. The Nazi regime used incentives to keep women at home and dismissed women from the civil service; female physicians could only work in their husbands’ practices. Fascism and Nazism provided one alternative to the inability of the democracies to deal with the Great Depression. Communism provided another alternative. Thus, politics in the West became polarized between right and left; however, some leaders tried to find a middle

24. Weimar Republic

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ground to retain democratic values. The apparent economic success of Stalinism on the left and Nazism and fascism on the right polarized European politics with the impression that they had no choice except to choose between the two. The aftermath of total war saw a dramatic re-evaluation of Western political and cultural assumptions in the 1920s and 1930s, as Soviet communism on the left and fascism and Nazism on the right challenged such Western tenets as individual rights and the rule of law. Such extremism only gained momentum with the failure of democracy in Eastern Europe and the global depression that descended after 1929.

Supplemental Reading Supplemental Readings are provided in the below links:

 Zimmerman Telegram http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/zimmermann/#documents

 Espionage Act http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1916espionageact.asp

 Fraser Journal http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1918Fraser.asp

 Kreisler Journal https://www.h-net.org/~habsweb/sourcetexts/kreis1.htm

 Irish Republic Proclamation http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1916proc.jpg

 Treaty of Versailles Highlights http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1919versailles.asp

 Fourteen Points http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=62&page=tran script

 German Propaganda Posters http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/germany.htm

 U.S. Propaganda Posters http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/usa.htm

 French Propaganda Posters http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/france.htm

 Russian Propaganda Posters http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/russia.htm

 Great War Timeline (PBS) http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/timeline/time_1914.html