Chapter+25

Chapter 25

Matt Easton & Maggie Gassert

*Allied Powers: Britain, France, and Russia
//*//The Schlieffen Plan was the German plan for a two-front war //*// March 1917– Zimmermann Note is decoded revealing German and Mexican plot to ally against the United States. ==**2. Contextual factors** we should remember when writing about this topic? Consider when, where, what happened before==
 * Great Alliance:Germany, Italy, and Austria
 * War started with intentions of ending very soon
 * Trench war fare consumed the first 2 years of war
 * The United States eventually entered the war- (Germany used U-boats to try and stop supply lines and sometimes shot civilian targets, such as the British passenger liner, //Lusitania)//
 * March 1918: Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers, taking itself out of World War I.
 * In Russia, the communist group (Bolsheviks) overthrew the Russian government with Vladimir Lenin as their leader
 * Peace talks are finally initiated at the //Peace of Paris// in the makings of five treaties in the //Treaty of Versailles//
 * “The war guilt clause” was the portion that explained Germany’s responsibility to accept all the blame for the war-the reparations.
 * Fourteen Points were intended as negotiating plans, but became the demands placed on Germany
 * Nationalism-Austria-Hungry had many nationalities within their own nation state and the Slavic people want to be a part of Serbia
 * The Eastern Question was still a conflict waiting to emerge
 * Nationalism and a competition with the Balkans
 * Conflict with the Russians looking at the Mediterranean Sea resulting in conflict with France/Britain
 * Imperialism and competition over territory oversees, France had irredentism for lands lost taken by Germany
 * Nation states all focused on building their armies through Militarism
 * Most nation states made many alliances and entanglements in order to protect themselves
 * Domination by Liberal governments during the first portion of the 20th century

3. **Historical debates / approaches** that are playing out amongst scholars to understand this topic?

 * Did Wilson’s plans actually bring the War to a conclusion, or was it just a temporary fix?
 * What were the contextual factors that would have caused Europe to go to the extreme of trench warfare? And what did it represent for Europe in the War?
 * Did the war create any advancement for women? Newly defined roles?
 * The results of World War I placed Europe in a lull until World War II just twenty years later. What mechanisms, if any, were in place that could have prevented a second world war?

**4. Timeline**
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand 1914-> First Battle of the Marne 1914-> Battle of Verdun 1916-> Battle of the Somme 1916-> Total War in Germany -> U.S. enters World War I -> Bolshevik Revolution -> Germany Surrendurs-> Russian Civil War

**5. Questions**
1) During the first years of the Great Depression, governments responded to the economic crisis by A. increasing their support for higher unemployment payments B. supporting the economic ideas of John Maynard Keyes C. launching major public works projects D. committing their countries to a laissez-fare economic policy E. reducing their expenditures in order to balance their budgets

2) Mussolini attempted to improve the relationship between the Italian state and the Catholic Church by A. mandating that all Italians attend mass B. placing loyal Fascists in key clerical positions C. emphasizing his own path towards religious beliefs D. returning all confiscated church property E. signing the Lateran Treaty, which resolved some of the longstanding issues between the Church and the Italian State

3) The British won a major propaganda victory at the start of the First World War because of A. the sinking of the Lusitania B. the Zimmrman Telegram C. German atrocities in Belgium D. the destruction by the Germans of major Parisian landmarks E. the Battle of the Marne

4) The term "popular fronts" refers to the idea of A. political parties of the center and the left working together to block the triumph of fascism B. Communists uniting with unions to oppose bourgeois governments C. the elimination of class conflict D. using German and Italian forces to support Spanish nationalists E. coalition governments in Great Britain between the Labour Party and the Conservatives