History final pour moi

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Term 1:

From 1871 the dominant nation in Europe was Germany and the dominant statesman was Bismarck. His policy was to keep the peace.

After 1871 Germany had defeated France and Austria Hungary. Bismarck owed his success to taking down his opponents one by one. He knew that France had been looking for allies so that if they attacked Germany again they wouldn't be alone. In order to prevent this, Bismarck decided to isolate France.

He knew that France's most suitable ally would be Russia because if they did then Germany would be threatened from the eastern and western frontiers ( Go to map on p45 for reference). The next most suitable was Austria Hungary because then Germany would also be threatened from two directions. To prevent this he signed the Three Emperors' League treaty with Austria Hungary and Russia in 1872.

Russia and Austria Hungary could never agree on the Ottoman Empire though. Russia wanted to split it into separate states which it could control whereas Austria-Hungary wanted to prevent the collapse of a multi-national empire like their own. Another issue which worsened the conflict between the two was after the Congress of Berlin, in 1878, when Austria-Hungary helped stop Russian expansion in the Balkans. Bismarck tried his best to fix the issues between the two, but later had no choice but to choose one of them: Austria-Hungary. The Three Emperors' League was over, which left a Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary. However, Germany tried to reconcile with Russia by signing a Reinsurance Treaty in 1887, which assured neutrality between the two in any wars. Meanwhile, Italy was angry over the French invasion of Tunisia, which allowed them to join the Dual Alliance, making it the Triple Alliance in 1882. Even though Germany would have been overjoyed by this addition, they were not as Italy was not a first class power and also because they had been Austria-Hungary's traditional enemy, which made it highly unlikely for them to associate. In fact, Italy had actually fought against Germany and Austria Hungary in World War I. By 1890, Bismarck's policy of isolating France had gone downhill (failed).

In 1889, William II had been appointed Kaiser, or German Emperor. He had been a vain, arrogant, and boastful man who had loved pomp and ceremony and longed for popularity. He was certainly not a clever politician let alone as clever as Bismarck.

STUFF BISMARCK HAS DONE FOR GERMANY:

HE TRIED TO ISOLATE FRANCE

HE PLAYED DOWN INTEREST IN TURKEY WHICH WOULD UNITE RUSSIA AND BRITAIN AGAINST HIM

HE WAS AGAINST ROUSING HOSTILE ALLIANCES WHICH MIGHT THREATEN GERMANY'S DOMINANT ROLE IN EUROPE

HE WAS AGAINST GERMAN OVERSEAS CONQUESTS WHICH MIGHT ANNOY BRITAIN

HE BELIEVED THAT AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SHOULD BE KEPT FIRMLY UNDER GERMAN CONTROL IN CASE THEY STARTED TROUBLE IN THE BALKANS

ALSO VERY IMPORTANT!!!! BISMARCK ATTACKED HIS OPPONENTS ONE BY ONE NOT ALTOGETHER!!!

William was less aware of these issues and dismissed Bismarck in 1890. He allowed the Reinsurance Treaty to lapse which caused Russia to sign a Dual Entente with France in 1893. He encouraged friendship with Turkey which brought Russia and Britain together. In 1898 he decided to build a large navy.

Kaiser William wanted a big navy because he always longed for one as a child. The naval chief, Admiral Tirpitz, however, wanted it because he believed it would prevent the ports from being blockaded by French warships, which once took place in 1870-71.

The German Navy Law was made in 1900 which allowed the building of forty-one battleships and sixty cruisers. The Naval League was founded by Admiral Tirpitz, which allowed land-minded people to take an interest in a navy.

In 1900, the British Empire comprised of one quarter of the world's population. No power dared to challenge Britain's naval supremacy. Continentals regarded armies as essential to their safety. However, since Britain was an island, they heavily relied on a large navy if they wanted to be safe.

The British had been nothing but nice to the Germans until the German Navy Law in 1900. Even when they had been allies, the British had always considered France to be their traditional enemy. In 1904, some writers even went as far as describing a French invasion of Britain, not German. In fact, Kaiser William himself wanted an alliance with the British. Even a few British statesmen had considered an Anglo-German alliance.

Britain hadn't been involved in the Congress of Berlin in 1878, as they wanted a peaceful Europe so that they could continue their overseas expansion in peace.

The slogan ' Splendid Isolation' described Britain's position in Europe. IN 1902, Britain and Japan signed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to deal with the threat the German navy imposed and also to get help from the Japanese in any conflict with Russia over India. The British naval chief, Admiral Fisher, imitated Tirpitz. More battleships were built. A Navy League was formed which published propaganda stressing the German danger. In1906 they launched the British super-battleship, The Dreadnought. The Dreadnought was faster, more heavily armored, and more powerful than any previous warship. After, Germany also built a dreadnought, which enabled the British to construct eight more. Conferences were occasionally made to limit each army, which eventually failed because neither side trusted the other, and also because William believed it would frighten Britain to a greater friendship with Germany.

Eventually Britain built more warships and started to look for more allies because the 1902 alliance with Japan wasn't enough. Now they tried to cooperate with France. William did not believe that had spread about the alliance and claimed that the two would never be friends due to their infamous rivalry. However, in April 1904, they signed the Entente Cordiale, which wasn't a war treaty, but dealt with matters like French supremacy in Morocco and British supremacy in Egypt.

Two factors made war a lot more dangerous:

First, the German General Staff wanted to attack France knowing it would mean Russia would get involved. However, they went ahead because they knew that France was the greater danger. They knew that France wanted to seize Lorraine and Alsace so they planned a massive attack there. They were right, for France had planned a massive assault which would drive the Germans back to the Rhine. This plan was called "Plan 17". The Germans replied with a knockout blow through an entirely different region, Belgium. The person who made this plan was Count Alfred von Schlieffen and this was called the "Schlieffen Plan". The plan was meant to knock out the French within weeks, before Russia was ready for war. The entire plan heavily depended on the right wing of the army or the hammerhead, being so powerful it would crush the entire opposition.

Second, the details of alliances, eve the alliances themselves were kept secret. Every country was afraid for every detail was heavily encrypted and kept secret. However, France's was the most justified of all, for they were locked away in Plan 17 and the Schlieffen Plan were the seeds of a major war. Both were highly detailed, and the Germans knew every little bit of the French's whereabouts. They even knew how many railway trucks would pass through the main Rhine bridge.

The Germans were confused over the alliance between Britain and France. So confused that between 1905 and 1911, they deliberately provoked France about Morocco, which resulted in France strengthening the entente against Germany.

The Germans went to Tangier, where Kaiser William delivered a speech suggesting that the Moroccan Sultan be independent of France. Not many people were sure about this, however they decided to settle it with a conference. The Algeciras Conference was disappointing for the Germans, for most of the countries agreed that although Morocco should be independent of France, France should act as a 'policeman' of that area. Only Austria-Hungary, stood by Germany. This is a firm example of how Germany had become so isolated under the leadership of William.

The Algeciras Conference led to Britain sending 100,000 troops to France in case they got attacked. It also proved that the British would stand by France at all times.

In 1911, French troops occupied Fez to help the Sultan in his struggle with troops. Germany immediately protested at this 'invasion' and called for compensation. The Kaiser sent a warship called The Panther to Agadir. This baffled the British who felt offended. The London Cabinet Minister, Lloyd George said that Britain would fight Germany if her and her allies were bullied in this way. To show that he wasn't kidding he set the British fleet on a war footing. The Kaiser immediately agreed to French supremacy in Morocco.

The Germans were humiliated. By 1911, Bismarck's worst fear of a two front war possibility had come true.

AUSTRIA HUNGARY

An empire similar to their own had been broken up by a Balkan League. The Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pasic had hinted at a war with Austria-Hungary. General Conrad von Hotzendorf, suggested the destruction of free Serbia as a possible solution to this issue. Every day he would urge Emperor Franz Joseph to go to war with Serbia.

CONRAD'S ADVICE WAS BAD BECAUSE:

No combination of Balkan forces can take down Austria-Hungary on their own.

Russia would aid Serbia and be involved in the fighting, which would also include its existing alliances with France and Germany.

If Austria-Hungary was in any danger, not only will the six million Serbs, but also the subject peoples would demand independence from Habsburg rule.

Serbia was in no military condition to wage war. On its borders, were fanatics who Prime Minister Pasic couldn't control. They believed that the Bosnian Serbs should be freed of Austrian rule. On June 28 1914, they had planned to kill the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, in Sarajevo, Bosnia. One of the men who were going to fulfill this mission was called Gavrilo Princip.

The Archduke wanted to watch the army maneuvers in Sarajevo, and it worried Pasic so he warned the Austrian government. However, the Archduke took no notice as he felt that he was obligated to watch the manoeuvres. The conspirators wanted Bosnia Herzegovina to be a part of Serbia. They believed the only way to do this was through pistols and bombs. Even though he had seen the Archduke and his wife many days before, he hadn't done anything because he wanted the Archduke's death to be a public one.

Nedjelko Cabrinovic knocked off his bomb's cap against a fire hydrant and threw it at Franz Ferdinand's car. The Archduke saw and immediately deflected it. He swallowed poison and jumped into the river. However, he was dragged out and immediately arrested. The Archduke's car accelerated and he cancelled the rest of his tour. He chose the wrong side of the car and no one told the driver the change of plans. Eventually both the Archduke and his wife died due to this disarray of events.

Conrad von Hotzendorf's supporters argued with the Emperor who still feared that a war with Serbia would include Russia. And if this happened, the Germans would be sure to be involved. The Austrian Ambassador told Kaiser William about the murder conspiracy. He told the Austrians to present the Prime Minister with demands, and if they were rejected occupy the country. He also stated that he would support them all the way, mainly because Russia wouldn't be ready for war.

The Habsburg government presented them with an ultimatum:

Serbia should stop encouraging nationalist propaganda

Allow Austrian officials into Serbia to crush revolutionary movements

Punish all those involved in the murder plot

Prevent arms and explosives.

He agreed to all except for letting Austrians in his country. They viewed this as a complete refusal and declared war on 28 July. Russia immediately mobilized her troops.

Germany declared war on Russia ( August 1) and France (August 3). And because of the Schlieffen Plan, they attacked France first.

Belgium's neutrality had been guaranteed by the Treaty of London in 1839 , which had also been signed by Britain and Prussia. So in order to avoid conflict with Britain , Germany asked for permission from Belgium to cross their borders and when they refused, they passed anyway, marching through Luxembourg.

When Germany marched in anyway, Britain declared war on Germany in August 4.

Moltke, Count Alfred von Schlieffen's successor, had modified the Schlieffen Plan because it had been so risky. He ignored Schlieffen's words and strengthened the left wing, fearing a French breakthrough in the east. And Belgium had put on a far better fight than expected. The Russians also mobilized quicker than expected and invaded East Prussia, which made Moltke send troops to the Russian Front. Then, 125,000 British troops arrived in France and marched south. William made fun of them, yet they shot their rifles and tore the German army to pieces on August 23 1914 at Le Cateau. The survivors call themselves the "Old Contemptibles".

The German army had numbered 1,125,000 men. The French and the British fought well but their main offensive had been in the east. The German troops had no room to spare for a siege. Either they split up and go round either side of the city, or they swing inwards and pass to the east. Both were dangerous as the first one would split them up and the second one would crush them into a small space.

They chose the second alternative. The marching had gone for a month. On September 6, the French Commander General Joffre decided to counter attack. It was called the Battle of the Marne, named after the French river. However despite its name, it was fought on a front by two million men. The Germans were attacked from Paris and the South. The Paris attack came as a surprise as there were 250 taxis full of troops.These taxis were called 'the taxis of the Marne'.

The French army was better led and better equipped. Joffre knew the German army movements better than Moltke himself. Eventually the Germans lost the war.

The Western Front established after the Marne had barely moved a few kilometers throughout the war. Two salients or corners jutted into German defense at Verdun and Ypres. Generations of British, French and German died, and soldiers called it no mans land.

The British won at Neuve Chapelle.

TERM 2:

Adolf Hitler was born in April 1889 in Branau, Austria-Hungary. In 1908 he moved to Vienna to pursue art. However, the Art Academy rejected him. It has been said that the coordinator had been Jewish, which explains his anti-semitism and racism throughout his entire life. He was very poor. His clothes were ragged and full of lice. He lived a miserable life and grew to hate Jews, Croats, and Czechs. On the other hand, he loved everything German. He went to war with his country in 1914. He took part in the First Battle of Ypres, The Somme, and the final 1918 offensives. He served as a runner during the war, carrying messages to and fro. He was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery, and he left the army in 1918 with the rank of corporal .

He returned to a defeated and newly divided Germany, or which was then called the Weimar Republic, named after the city its first parliament had met in. It was highly unpopular amongst its people as no one admired a government born out of defeat. It was plagued by riots, revolutions, and disobedience of every kind, especially since its constitution allowed the Germans a great deal of freedom. Revolutionary socialists called spartakists were crushed by the army whereas ex servicemen called Free Corps were allowed to murder and beat up their opponents. Unofficial courts punished the Spartakists yet ignored the Free Corps.

Over 376 murders had taken place in Germany, If the killers were Communists, they'd be given the death penalty. If they weren't, they'd either be given light sentences or allowed freedom.

In 1923, The French invaded the Ruhr because Germany had failed to make payments of reparations.The Germans held strikes and acts of sabotage. As a result, production slowed down, causing unemployment, and German currency collapsed.

Hitler's main tactic to persuade people was to appeal to the feelings, not to the reason. To some he seemed like a mad man, meanwhile others burst into tears when they heard him speak.

In 1920, Hitler had a following called the National Socialist German Worker's Party, or Nazis. Their badge was the swastika.

He had known that the people were looking for someone to blame for their problems so he would give about a bunch of enemies. He claimed that Germany had been let down by Jews and communists at home. And also by the "november criminals" who signed the truce in November 1918. This acclaimed theory of his was untrue. However, his demand for an Anschluss between Austria and Germany hit the right note. This was highly supported by many Germans. He pleased capitalism and socialism by promising nationalization in department stores but also condemned communism. The simply solution Hitler offered was to deprive Jews of all money and power, crush the communists, hang the 'November criminals' , i.e. stand up and fight and ignore the terms of the Versailles Treaty.

Gustav Stresemann was the Chancellor at the time. Under his power, Germany began to be accepted as a great power once again, instead of the beaten 'naughty boy' of the world. In 1925 France and Britain signed the Locarno Pact with her. Germany promised never to change her frontiers with France or Belgium, and only attempt an alteration by peaceful means. In 1926, Germany was a member of the League of Nations, and in 1928 she signed the Kellogg Pact by which most Europeans agreed to outlaw war. And in 1929, the Young Plan allowed payments to be spaced for over fifty-nine years.

Meanwhile Hitler was not impressed with any of the changes as they weren't useful at all to him. So he found a brilliant propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, a crippled journalist who was an expert at lying. Out of 31 million votes, the Nazis garnered about 810,000 and over 12 seats out of 600 available in the German Reichstag( parliament).

In 1929, Stresemann dies, and soon after the world depression in the USA strikes Germany as well. In fact, Germany as hit more severely. Their entire prosperity had been built up upon loans of 7 billion US dollars. Now due to the world depression, these loans stopped. There was a fall in wages. Factories and businesses closed. And in 1929 there were over 1,320,000 unemployed in Hitler's chance.This was an opportunity for Hitler as the people were desperate and looking for someone to provide a solution to their misery. Stresemann's death was important as it left the position of Chancellor open to Hitler. Unemployed men flocked to become Stormtroopers. Hitler hated democracy but to gain power he had to gain it by democratic means. He runner for president and Nazi membership in the German Reichstag. Goebbels used every trick in the book. Films of Hitler, records of his speeches, millions of swastika posters. In 1930, the seats in the Reichstag rose from 12 to 107. And two years later Hitler pulled 13 million votes. In 1932, The Nazis gained 37% of the votes cast, becoming the German's largest party. However, Hitler did not win the presidency.

The proportional representation helped Hitler when it led to a small number of political parties when Germany needed one strong one to lead her. The Nazis, The Social Democrats, the Communists, and the Catholic Centre Party, formed a coalition government. And the only way to solve the crisis was by having President Hindenburg rule by emergency decrees.

So from 1929 and so forth Germany was ruled by a few advisers of the President. This was Hitler's opportunity to persuade these men to let him become Chancellor because there as huge support for the Nazis, he would convince them that a civil war would break out if he couldn't obtain power legally, and also that the Nazis could protect them from Communists. Hitler's main three rivals were: Heinrich Bruning, Kurt von Schleicher, and Franz von Papen.

On 30 January 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany.

Hitler's first action as Chancellor was to demand an election. A Dutch Communist, Marianus van der Lubbe, burned the Reichstag because he wanted to encourage a workers' rising against Hitler.

The burning of the Reichstag also symbolized the end of democracy. In 1945, the Enabling Law allowed Hitler to make laws independent of the Reichstag. And from 1935, the Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of their rights as citizens. They couldn't marry non-Jews, they couldn't get jobs, and in some cases they couldn't even get food. Workers were taught to join the Nazi Labour Front and strikes became illegal. Children enrolled in the Hitler Youth. The StormTroopers were replaced by black uniformed SS led by Heinrich Himmler. The only threat to Hitler's power was the head of Stormtroopers, Ernst Rohm. He hated the army and its Prussian generals and wanted his men to become the core of a new peoples army. Hitler offered Ernst Rohm a bullet and he killed himself . His two secretaries were killed. There were over sixty-one deaths. Rohm and his men are plotting revolution. This was known as the Night of the Long Knives.