DOMESTIC SITUATION AT THE END OF WW1

Germany and Russia have revolutions at the end of the war- new government is established

Germany:
- Silent dictatorship- Hindenburg and Ludendorff – officially there is still a monarchy,
but unofficially these two men are doing all the decisions
- Food shortages in urban areas, factory workers have very little access to food, all food
goes to the soldiers. Germany is under blockade by GB, Germany is unable to get
anything from the outside of Germany (cannot trade) it is dependent only for their
own agriculture and economy

Russia:
- Food shortages  starvations + harsh winters, higher prices, situations is becoming
very desperate
- The Tsar absolute power, he was present at the front
o Tsarina (German princess- people thought that she is German spy, religious
and superstitious)
o Grigori Rasputin (advisor of Tsarina, who relied on him)

Russia under the Tzar Nicholas II. (1894-1917)

- Last tzar of Russia
- Romanovs- last dynasty of Russian tzar
- Expectations of new Russian tzar: to expand the territory of Russia, to have a son who
would take over after Nicholas´s death
- Nicholas last son was hemophiliac, which was a secret
- Autocracy (tzar is head of church, government, is considered as the divine leader)
- Building railways
- Feudalism was abolished but not broken until 20th century
- No guarantees for the factory workers (working long hours, low wadge, risky
environment)- most of Russian people were peasants and workers, they were
struggling to provide bare minimum for them and their families
- Russification- using only 1 language in education, government, official business…
- Agricultural economy- weaker and less industrialized than in other western countries
- Revolution of 1905-
o Long-term causes: fast, dramatic reform- tzar and government are not able to
cope with new situation; new urban middle class and growing middle class-
demanding access to decision-making and take part in the government
 (elections); crisis in agriculture- peasants have no motivation to work harder
because everything will be taken from them
o Short-term causes: Defeat in war against Japan- Nicholas lost almost his all
navy (Baltic fleet), new minister of the interior with liberal ideas

o Spark=Bloody Sunday
 Protest of the working class in St. Petersburg, petition to introduce the
tzar, protestors wanted to be heard by the tzar= protestors were killed
by the guards

Manifesto of 17 October 1905 (by Tzar)

- Give fundamental civil freedoms to people, declared by the Tzar (personal
inviolability= no other person can attack you, hit you; freedom of conscience; speech;
assembly; association)
- Create new body of government- Duma- which should be elected; tzar could lose his
throne, if he didn’t create it

Aftermath of the 1905 revolution

- Creation of duma, which represent the burgoaise and rich people- tzar could veto the
laws created in Duma, tzar replaced the opposition with his own supporters (Duma
had a little power)
- Repression (secret police Okhrama- to suppress any form of discontent in Russian
society, gathering information)- thousand people killed, sent to labor camps
- Agricultural reform (1906-1911 P. Stolypia prime minister)
 State land Bank established- peasants are independent, can start their
own independent bank (3 million clients until 1914)
- Successful reform for Russian economy and the commons in Russia

o Rasputin (healer) taking care of the hemophiliac son of tzar Nicholas and tzarina, he
also had a political influence Rasputin became a close confidant of tzarina, there
are rumors that they sleep together
o Since 1915- tzar was the supreme commander, tzarina was in the head of
government, people thought that she is a German spy as she was born in Germany,
Rasputin was always at her side- situation of collapse, people would find tzarina to be
responsible for it
o December 1916- Rasputin killed

1917- year of revolution in Russia

 - 23rd-28th of February series of protests and strikes gradually joined by soldiers
- On the 1st of March abdication of Nicholas II (also in the name of sin Alexej, his
brother Michael now should have the throne= he refused, as it is tough job, Russia
without charge)
- Provisional Government formed by Duma and Petrograd Soviet until elections
(working council),
 the Mensheviks- leading force of Provisional Government, moderate
social democrats, valued democracy, and elections, didn’t want
dictatorship (A. Kerensky)
 the Bolsheviks (Lenin)- more radical group
 Provisional government had to cooperate with Petrograd soviet so
they would not be the next target of protest

Provisional Government:

 food shortages, food prizes

 war effort
 issue of landlandownership (peasants who worked on the land should be given the
land)
 formed by Petrograd Soviet (representing the working class- proletariat) and Duma
(representing aristocracy and bourgeoise)
 goal the next elections
 Bolsheviks protest against the Provisional Government
o Lenin= Peace, land and bread (to the workers of the cities)
 The end of provisional government with a Bolshevik overthrow of the government
End of the First World War

 Lenin gave up territories to Germans

 Lenin created a communist force called the Red Army
 He needed to focus on stabilizing his power, he believed that Russia would regain the
lost territories; he believed that communist revolutions would occur in other
European countries as a result of the war
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)

 Significant loss of territory of Russia to Germany

 Germany could focus on the Western Front (France and Germans soldiers are tired
from 3 years spent in the trenches and in the war
 Bolsheviks focused on the civil war

Austrio-Hungary surrender
  11.11. 1918
 Germany signed an armistice (meaning they decided to stop fighting and discuss the
conditions of peace treaty
 Germany is in unconditional surrender- cannot disagree with any conditions of the
peace treaty
 USA, GB and France gave conditions

Paris Peace Conference

 Main issues (what they discussed)

o Compensation
o Prevention of another war to maintain peace
o New borders + division of territory

Demands of France (G. Clemenau)

 Security- demilitarization of Germany

 Compensation- territories in middle East
 Rhineland
  buffer state
 Alsace-Loraine territory back
Demands of USA (W. Wilson)

 League of Nations
 The freedom of seas
 Self-determination of European nations
Demands of GB (D.I. George)

 East Africa+ takeover German colonies in Africa

 Palestine+ other former of Ottoman empire

Treaty of Versailles (1919) - forcing Germany to sign it

o Main terms:
 Germany blamed for starting the war- War Guilt Clause- Germany and her allies had
to accept total responsibility for starting the war
 Reparations- Germany had to accept liability for reparations, the amount of which
would be decided by a Reparation Commission
 Disarmament- this restricted Germany´s ability to wage war in the future
 Demilitarization (no tanks, submarines, air force)- Germany was forbidden to train
their male population for another war
 German territory was taken away
 Russian Civil war (1918-1921)
 The Reds (the Bolsheviks)
 The Whites- supporters of the Tzar; military officers, who wanted to continue in the
WW1; foreign troops from GB, France, Czechoslovakia, Poland Finland (they didn’t
want Bolsheviks to takeover the largest country on earth= huge impact on the whole
world)
 After 3 years of civil war, the Reds won thanks to Red Army that was supported by
large number of peasants and workers
o Reasons: The Red army supported workers, priority in food supply (motivation
for people); better organized and led than the White army (had clear goal,
Trotsky, extzarist offices)
 Justification for Tzar execution by the Reds: he did nothing for the economy and for
the people
 War communism:
 Grain confiscations
 Everything nationalized by the Bolsheviks
 Military discipline in factories- NO STRIKES, FOOD RATIONING
(division)
Aftermath of the Russian civil war

 7 years of war- people suffering, bad Russian economy

 New Economic Policy by Lenin
o Reacted to war communism
 Division of land between the peasants (everyone in countryside would
have piece of land for growing crops and having food)
 Allowed factories and businesses more than 20 employers= moderate
market economy
 Private ownership
 Big factories in hands of government- to control the production
 By 1926 levels of production reached 1913 level of production
 August 1922- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
 CHEKA (secret police)- to spy on and threaten the opposition

Bolshevik Russia

 Lenin dissolved the Assembly and established the dictatorship of proletariat

 New labor law= 8- hour day, unemployment pay and pensions
 Lenin introduce Communist laws= Land was taken from tsar and bnobles and given to
peasants; peasants owned their land and workers owned factories
 Bolsheviks created a totalitarian state (CHEKA, dictatorship of proletariat- a
dictatorship was needed until Russia was changed into Communist country)= terror/
no political freedom
Stalin´s economic reforms

 Collectivization (1928)
o Collective farms (they should all cooperate together in a collective farm- new
way of running agriculture; to increase the production and using land more
effectively= more money to buy new machinery)
o 5 year plans (1st: 1928-1932; 2nd: 1933-1937)- to produce more tractors and to
double the production of electricity= planned economy
o Sovchoz