3/14 & 3/16

10 Perspectives on WWI Assignment

• Gillian and Caleigh
• Grouping: Everyone in the group believes that Austria-Hungary went out of their way to start a war with Serbia, which they were only comfortable doing because of Germany's blank check. 
• These perspectives connect to nationalism. Austria-Hungary disapproved of growing Serbian nationalism and feared it and what it could cause. In order to halt this, they decided to subdue the Serbians. 
• Hannah and Meghan
• Grouping: Everyone believes that World War 1 would likely not have happened if Germany had not promised its unwavering support to Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary was not powerful enough alone to begin World War 1. 
• Germany's militarism was the key to the beginning of the war, because their weaponry frightened Serbia and its allies. Without all of Germany's weapons, their support of Austria-Hungary would mean very little. 

How did Franz Ferdinand's assassination relate to these other causes?

• According to the political cartoon, it was the match that lit the already-built pile of wood (made up of the main causes, fanned by other, secondary causes)
• Austria-Hungary already had everything it needed to start the war except a real reason. They took full advantage of his death to do what they had been planning for quite some time. 

What was Total War?

• Definition: a war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursues, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded
• World War 1 was different from previous wars because of the new technology available. There was a take no prisoners mentality which resulted in the dehumanization of soldiers and the destruction of various places, some of which are still destroyed (like the Red Zone in France). Additionally, countries mobilized all available resources towards the war, which was new. 
• Propaganda was used to encourage everyone to get involved in the war effort in any way possible. 

Timeline of the Russian Revolution

• Background
• Russian absolutism was supported by 3 pillars:  Orthodoxy (religion), autocracy, and nationalism
• Absolutism was at its height with Nicholas' predecessors
• By the time of Nicholas II' reign, Russia was the only autocracy left
• Most countries had adopted representative bodies and mass politics
• The Russian loss in the Russo-Japanese war put Nicholas II in a precarious situation
• Revolution of 1905
• There were forces at play that Nicholas did not understand
• Ended with the October Manifesto, which created the Duma
• Nicholas II's wife, Tsarina Alexandra, had a trusted advisor named Rasputin

• Rasputin was known for his healing powers (healed Nicholas and Alexandra's son's hemophilia) and for seeing the future
• It was especially important to keep the hemophilia under wraps, because if the rebellious people knew that their future tsar was sickly, they would have even less faith in their government
• Russia was not a real perpetrator of the war, because they were not ready for it
• They were one of the least industrialized European powers, but they had a large population that they could send to fight the war
• Meanwhile (back at the ranch), the Russian people trusted their tsar and tsarina even less because of Rasputin
• They believed that Rasputin was secretly controlling the government
• He died, but left behind a note warning that all of the nobility would die
• Sometime during all of this, Lenin was allowed back into Russia
• His motto, "Peace, land, and bread," was very appealing to Russian peasants
• Tsar Nicholas II abdicated his rule, but between him and the communists, there was a provisional government led by Alexander Kerensky
• This was a pseudo-republic and not particularly revolutionary
• The one thing that the Russians wanted was to pull out of the war (which Lenin promised to do). This government did not do that
• The communists began their control by fighting the provisional government
• There were two factions of communists, the bolsheviks and the mensheviks
• Although Lenin was a communist, he did not follow the communism that Marx proposed

3/13 Blog

Causes of WWI

1. Imperialism
• Competition between countries regarding imperialism
• the countries were trying to expand to become more powerful
2. Industrialization
• The weapons from the new technology
• Better guns to fight, land mines, more updated weapons
• "It began this process of dehumanization through technology that got worse in World War II and is still a problem today." -LA Times article
3. Nationalism
• Serbians didn't want to be apart of Austria Hungary anymore
• Serbian nationalism
• Subject nationalism
4. Militarism
• increased armies
• “Why Germany is blamed for WWI, were aggressive in building up army and navy (in particular with Kaiser Wilhelm)
• increased navy
• Willie and his boat
• 

Political Cartoon of all the pieces to the fire that led to WWI

The Scramble for Africa

Is this New Imperialism different from the old imperialism?

• What was going on in Africa during the 1500s?
• Not much. Only a couple of Portuguese trading outposts along the coastline to help with trade in Asia. Europeans, only interested in securing profitable trade relations with Asian countries, never ventured inland in Africa.
• When did things change?
• The Boer War in South Africa marks the turning point for New Imperialism. This is the first major fight between native Europeans over African territory. This war sparked more European interest in colonizing Africa. By 1880, European nations were in a race to get their hands on as much African land as possible, regardless of the potential economic gains that the land offered. 
• Berlin Conference
• Similar to the Open Door Policy, which said that all European nations could exploit the failing Chinese Empire, the Berlin Conference said that European rule in Africa should be based off of "effective occupation" and that no single nation could take more land if they were not actually using it. This allowed for more European nations to exploit Africans and create colonies.

What caused this New Imperialism?

• Increasing economic competition between European nations led to a chain reaction scramble for Africa. If one European nation had African colonies, then every European nation had join the bandwagon lest they be left out of the potential economic gains in Africa.

• Many people also felt that more colonies meant greater nations. The idea of amassing large amounts of land was championed by imperialists who encouraged their nations to grab as much land as possible in Africa.

• Europe's technological superiority meant that any African uprisings could be quickly suppressed. The steamship and the telegraph also allowed for quicker communication and travel between the colonies and Europe.

• The last major reason for the New Imperialism in Africa was the idea that whites had the duty of civilizing the lesser African people. Many Americans used the ideology of the white man's burden to justify ruling over the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Again, this mentality was used to justify exploiting and ruling over the Africans, who were viewed as savages.

Were these colonies even useful?

Bismarck said that the African colonies reminded him of a "poor but proud nobleman who wore a fur coat but could not afford a shirt underneath"

• Africa had the appearance of wealth while in reality there was little profit to be gained there. The native Africans were too poor to purchase excessive amounts of European goods and much of the continent is barren. This led to many European nations ultimately giving up their colonies in Africa as they were of little use.

What did Hobson have to say about it?

• Hobson, a British economist, was disgusted by the harsh British tactics used during the Boer war and he argued that the rush to acquire African colonies stemmed from unregulated capitalism. He believed that the entire country did not benefit from the acquisition of these colonies, but that only a few unscrupulous groups made any real money at the expense of the African natives. Instead, he believed that European nations should focus on domestic reform and reducing the gap between the rich and the poor.

Class 3/5

How did Great Britain finesse China into importing more European goods?

• Previously, China was in fact interacting with other nations but were only really exporting their goods. 

• Merchants smuggle opium(which was legally grown in India) into China. The Chinese become addicted to the drug, but opium is illegal to buy and sell in China. The growing desire for opium forces the Chinese to look to other nations to supply them with the drug. Therefore, Great Britain intentionally hooked the Chinese on opium in order to manipulate China into importing more from Europe than they had been previously. The Opium Wars essentially opened up China to European free trade. 

At this point, imperialism involves more than simply territorial gain. 

• Along with the power that comes with gaining land, economic gain is also a very important source of power in regards to imperialism, beginning during this period.

Imperialism is the byproduct of the industrial revolution... why?

• European markets become oversaturated(thanks for the big word Gill!!) as the Industrial Revolution continues. Eventually, everyone in Europe acquires 10 shirts, for example. Therefore, Europe must look to other nations to consume their surplus of products in order to keep making bank/mula/doe. European markets had the supply, but needed the demand from outside nations. 

Were the situations in China, Japan, and Egypt similar? Different? 

• All three nations were coerced into tradinf more with nations that were very industrialized(GB, France, America)
• What happened in China and Japan were pretty similar. The only main difference is the fact that it took less time for Japan to fall in line than China. 
• "What the British had done in China with two wars, the Americans had achieved in Japan with the threat of one."

• Egypt is different though... Egypt was ruled by an outsider by the name of Muhammad Ali. Great Britain took advantage of the debt that Ismail(Ali's son) put them in by spending all their doe on super expensive projects. The British want their doe that they had invested back during this time when Egypt was in this massive amount of debt. Great Britain took advantage of Egypt and tied their hands when they, along with France, demanded to take control of Egyptian finances in order to ensure that they get their investments back in full. 
• “The British takeover in Egypt provided a new model for European expansion in densely populated lands. Such expansion was based on military force, political domination, and a self-justifying ideology of beneficial reform. This model predominated until 1914. Thus did Europe’s Industrial Revolution lead to tremendous political as well as economic expansion throughout the world after 1880”

24.2 Graph 

• This graph depicts how immigration from Europe spiked around 1914 due to the growing population in Europe. Immigration then declined because Hitler was crazy and kept everyone from escaping to other lands.

24.3 Pie Chart 

• This chart exemplifies the fact that although a large percentage of Europeans immigrated to the United States, many Europeans went to other places, too. It is important to note that the majority of European immigrants temporarily left their homelands to work and make money then return to their origins. 
• 45% of European immigrants came to the US --> US tried to cut down this number by imposing the Immigration Acts 

2/28

What does Darwin have to do with the Industrial Revolution/this time?

• Social Darwinism: people applied what Darwin discovered (organisms adapt over time to changes in their environments) to the Industrial Revolution
• Everything about the Industrial Revolution was new, so everyone had to be able to change in order to be successful. Those who could were rewarded and were the "fittest," and those who could not were likely unemployed and had little resources. 
• Additionally, if people were unable to keep up with the pace and demands of their jobs, there were thousands of other people in the overcrowded cities that were more than happy to replace them. 

Were the suffragettes terrorists?

Emily Davison being trampled

• It depends on who you ask
• People who call them terrorists cite Emily Davison (Ana?) who threw herself under the king's horse during a race. She died and another jockey fell from his horse, but the king was unharmed. 
• Her intention in doing this was to seriously injure or kill the king, potentially inspired by the People's Will movement who assassinated Tsar Alexander II (who "was da bomb"). 

How did the Second Industrial Revolution differ from the first?

• The Second IR is when people became more innovative and creative. During the First, most improvements were made out of necessity, and people did not think too outside of the box. During the Second, invented more things, such as the internal combustion engine (which is still used in cars today). 
• Most of the improvements and advancements that happened during the First IR were improved upon during the Second IR.

Who was Max Weber and what did he believe?

• He wrote a book linking the rise of capitalism to the rise of Protestantism. He believed that Protestants have stronger work ethics than Catholics, because Protestants believed that worldly success was a sign of God's love and Catholics did not. This meant that in general, Protestants were more likely to work hard. 
• Additionally, Protestantism has a focus on the individual that is not present in Catholicism. In order to be a successful individual, a person must work hard. 

What is the difference between Realism and Romanticism?

• Realism depicts real people in everyday settings, romanticism is more fantastical and has more of a focus on nature. 
• This reflects the shift from pastoral life to urban life, as well as the slight decline in belief in religious supremacy as more scientific discoveries were made. 
• 
  



The Gleaners is one of the most famous Realist paintings.

• 2/26 Class
• Luddites- Group of handicraft workers who attacked factories in northern England in 1811 and later, smashing the new machines that they believed were putting them out of work.
• Are there luddites today?
• Yes there are people who don’t like technology
• Why are the luddites angry at the machines?
• They were taking their jobs 
• Citizens, globalization ruined the US because we don’t manufacture as much
• Living standards for the working class were bad
• How did they respond to the “grossness” of the cities?
• 1848 Britain’s first public health law was passed and they began to have proper sanitation 
• Utilitarianism- by Bentham 
• Based in the belief “greatest good for the greatest number”
• 22.1 graph- as things became cleaner the amount of people dying declined, but wars and famines caused increases but there was a steady decline
• 
• Germ theory- the idea that disease was caused by the spread of living organisms that could be controlled, invented by Louis Pasteur (invented pasteurization)
• Miasmatic theory- though that someone could get sick from inhaling environmental fumes but it’s wrong
• Rebuilding Paris
• The way the city was designed now had wider streets and parks were built
• It is important because there were more ways of public transportation
• Expropriation- taking away someone’s house to build something in its place
• They would be given money to move out of their house so they could put a highway or a park

Communism

Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto

Did Marx hearken back to better times? Was there something wrong with the time that he was living in?

Marx opens the Communist Manifesto by explaining the class struggles that have existed since the Middle Ages. In the feudal system, there were several different classes in which a person could find themselves doing meaningful work. Guild-masters, apprentices, and journeymen were all paid for their craft. The new proletariat, which is paid for its time instead of its skill, has lost all of its character and pride. Instead of working towards creating something, the proletariat becomes a part of the machine. 

Proletariat: the ones producing things (workers)
Bourgeoisie: controls the means of production

During the Industrial Revolution, the social and economic divides between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat became wider. Increased economic globalization offered markets into which the bourgeoisie could expand and consolidate their power. The Communist Manifesto is largely a response to these changes. Marx was appalled by the worsening conditions of the urban laborers during the Industrial Revolution and communism is his proposed solution.  


Did he want everyone to be equal?
The Communist Manifesto does explain how economic equality is important, but it does not explicitly say that all people should be equal. Its main intention is toppling the bourgeoisie's power and redistributing it to the people who actually produce stuff (the proletariat). He does not want perfect equality, he just wants the efforts of the working-class to be recognized fairly. 

Why does Hannah think they're terrorists?
During the cold war, communism was targeted by the United States. Propaganda was spread throughout the country and the echoes of the anti-communist campaign still remain today.