- 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
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