World History Notes WWI

• Imperialism
• Definition
• Effort of one nation, to dominate over another
• Transformation of Japan
• Japan changed from being a feudal system to an empire
• During the feudal era there were:
• Samurai
• Bushido
• Japan for a time was Xenophobic
• They didn't trust most who arrived in Japan
• Had Many Problems Due to Not Trading with the West
• Commodore Matthew Perry Traveled to Edo and Forced Japan to Trade
• At this time the Japan military was called Tokugawa
• These events lead to a civil war which shapes Japan
• The Result of the Civil War
• A New Leader Takes Hold
• A stronger central government was formed
• The Samurai Class was Abolished
• He Reformed the Tax System
• Experts were brought in from other areas to help modernize Japan and its military
• An Industrial Revolution Takes Place
• Their Businesses Evolved
• The Zaibatsu were formed
• The Shoguns of Business
• Each Business Worked Together to Keep Each Other Running and Successful
• It is dissolved by 1945
• Imperialism in Africa
• By the late 1800s, Europe begins dominating Africa
• Reasons For African Imperialism
• Prestige
• Conservative Nationalism
• Social Darwinism
• Natural Selection Applied to Politics
• There was a belief that white races were more superior
• To Spread the Gospel
• Humanitarianism
• Economic Gain
• Berlin West Africa Conference
• No Africans Were Present
• Cecil Rhodes
• He was a prominent businessman and imperialist
• He wanted to Britain to Dominate Africa and India
• Boer War
• The British fought the Dutch over South Africa
• The Dutch were already there
• The British were trying to take it
• It was a big blow for the British
• Imperialism, Social Darwinism, and Scientific Realism
• Count Arthur de Gobineau
• He was a racist scientist, who believed that each race was its own species and that white people were the superior race.
• Imperialism and Japan
• Using their new capabilities gained through the Industrial Revolution They Declare War on China Over Korea
• Korea and Taiwan give up by Qing China 1895
• Russia and Japan get into a War
• Japan defeats Russia to the world's surprise
• The Balance of Power In Europe Is Blown Away
• What Was Good About the Holy Roman Empire
• It wasn't threatening at all
• All city states functioned on their own
• Unification has made nations more threatening as they are now united.
• Three Emperors League
• Austria
• Russia
• Prussia
• Montenegro Defeat Ottomans
• Russia helped Serbia to Defeat the Ottomans
• That is because Russia wanted to have a warm water port.
• Bulgaria was created as a large and strategic Russian Satellite
• Congress of Berlin
• Bismark (Germany) Dominates the Congress
• France is Left Out of the Congress
• France is isolated because they want revenge against Germany for what happened in Versailles.
• New Nations Are Formed
• Serbia
• Montenegro
• Romania
• Russia Was Humiliated, due to these new nations making Bulgaria less of a power.
• Austria occupied Bosnia, Herzegovia
• The Balkans
• Who Wants the Balkans?
• Russia
• Wants a warm water port in the Balkans
• Austria
• Italy
• The Bismarckian System
• Bismark
• Believed in the politics of reality or Realpolitik
• He Banned the Socialist Party
• He is German
• He Persecuted the Catholic Party
• He wanted to keep the other nations talking with each other and not fighting
• Wilhelm II
• Ascended 1888 to power in Germany
• He Was Bipolar
• He was pro-austrian
• He was anti-russia
• He did not agree with the Bismarkian System
• He believed himself to be infallible
• When He Was Being Born
• He was forced out of the womb, and crushed his arm.
• This forced him to have a deformity
• This deformity made him an insecure bully
• Youth
• His Grandmother was Queen Victoria of England
• He used to admire the naval ships of England
• Imperialist Ideas
• He wanted Germany to have colonies around the world
• He wanted Germany to have a huge Navy
• Wilhelm vs Bismark
• Wilhelm dismissed Bismark
• Bismark was keeping the nations at peace
• Wilhelm wanted more and took power to gain it.
• Bismark kept Russia close, and France Isolated
• Militarism and Imperialism on the Rise
• Alliances
• France and Russia Form a Military Alliance in 1894
• Britain and France Allied in Entente Cordiale in 1904
• When Germany Emerges With Bismark's Absence, and Becomes More Powerful Militarily, Britain Searched For An Alliance.
• Britain does not ally with Germany, because Willhelm II was a spoiled little shit.
• Open Door Policy
• In America in 1905 during the Rosevelt Administration
• There are no taxes on imports, and America believed in free trade.
• Free Trade fosters pure competition in the market
• This Open Door Policy is the opposite of Protectionism
• Protectionism believes in high taxes on imports
• Nations are Not Self Efficient
• Countries depend on one another in order to sustain their society.
• Triple Entente
• Britain 
• France
• Russia
• Triple Alliance
• Germany 
• Austria
• Italy
• Willhelm's Desire for a Stronger Navy
• He reads a book that claims that Britain's Navy is what made them a world power
• Now more than ever Willhelm desires a stronger Navy in order to make Germany more of a world power
• Schlieffen Plan
• Germany is secretly planning for a war
• They know that France wants revenge on them, so they are planning ahead
• This plan was made by Alfred Von Schlieffen to eliminate France and Russia
• He wants to send all of Germany's power to France as France would mobilize first so that they can take Paris.
• The idea was for Germany to go around the large fortifications that France had developed through their towns and take Paris.
• Assination in Sarajevo
• The Black Hand
• Wanted independence from Austrian Rule
• Group of Assassins
• Gavrilo Princip
• Member of the Black Hand
• Assassinated the Arch Duke of Austria and his Wife
• World War One Begins
• Ultimatum
• Austria makes an ultimatum with Serbia
• Serbia accepts the ultimatum from Austria
• Austria declares war on Serbia
• Due to bad communication the war begins even though Serbia accepted the ultimatum
• Austria was given funding by Germany and had Germany as a huge ally.
• Russia Declares War on Austria because they declared war on Serbia
• Germany declares war on Russia
• France declares war on Germany and so does Britain
• The Schlifen Plan is Activated
• Causes of World War One
• Militarism
• Nationalism
• Imperialism
• German belligerence
• French Vegeance 
• Two Armed Camps
• Triple Entente
• Britain 
• France
• Russia
• Triple Alliance
• Germany
• Austria
• Italy
• World War One
• The Rules of War
• The Rules of War have changed
• War used to be short
• War used to be lines of men vs lines of men
• Wars before this time, were before the industrial revolution.
• Before technology hadn't been so advanced, so powerful
• War now was:
• More violent
• Began with an artillery barrage, in which each side started by just blowing each other away
• Men would line up in the trenches, then get out of the trenches and run at the enemy line, with machine gun bullets flying everywhere.
• The military didn't know how to deal with the weapons they had.
• Horrors of Trench Warfare
• Filled with Blood, urine, and poop
• Where the soldiers slept, fought, and lived during the time of war.
• US During WWI
• US Remained Neutral
• Until the Lusitania was sunk by Germany
• Lusitania was a ship containing war military for Germany's enemies
• The US warns Germany not to sink any of their ships anymore.
• Germany cooled off, and stopped just recklessly sinking ships, but then decided fuck it, sink everything again.
• Germany tried to secretly make a deal with Mexico, but the information was intercepted and published openly to the media
• The US could no longer stay neutral
• The US shipped millions of men to Europe, and sways the balance of the war in favor of the allies
• The US pushed the Germans back with their power.
• Germany's government changed and William II ran away.
• Technology of the World
• Chemical Weapons
• Poisonous Gas
• Machine Guns
• Blimps
• Tanks
• Air planes
• Results of The War
• Most devastating war ever
• France was ravaged
• The Emperors of Germany were kicked out
• The Habsburgs were kicked out of Vienna
• The Romanovs are kicked out of Russia
• Germany is Blamed for the War
• Treaty of Versailles
• The nations met in the hall of mirrors to discuss peace for the world after World War One.
• 32 Nations Met
• Big Nations Met
• President Woodrow Wilson, US
• President During World War One
• He was a progressive liberal
• He used to be a:
• Historian
• President of Princeton University
• Governor of New Jersey
• He was an academic and very idealistic
• Prime Minister David George, Britain
• Prime Minister Orlando, Italy
• And more....
• Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points of the Treaty of Versailles
• The Formation of a League of Nations
• Free Trade
• Free Navigation
• France gets its frontier on the border of Germany returned to it
• Open Diplomacy was promoted
• Self Determination was established, where people could choose their own destiny
• Many Nations hated this idea
• Multilateral Disarmament
• Germany and Austria Hungary were forced to sign the treaty
• Guilt Clause
• Effects
• Germany lost all colonies
• Had to pay high reparations
• Had to relinquish bulk of merchant ships
• Had to deliver significant portions of coal to neighbors as a part of reparations
• They had to demilitarize the Rhine Land, and the German military was more or less disarmed.
• Hausburg Empire is Disbanded
• Polish Corridor is Created
• Ottoman Empire ceases to exist
• Palestine, Iraq and Tranjordan, are given to Britain
• Ultimate Results Of the Treaty
• No one got what they wanted
• Cooperation did not happen
• The Roaring Twenties happen in the US, and our country didn't consider itself a world power.
• Britain turns its back on the treaty
• John Maynard Keynes
• Talks shit about the treaty
• By 1920, the treaty is being openly questioned and criticized.
• Russia in Trouble - Revolution
• Nicholas II is the autocratic ruler of Russia, and is heavily separated from the peasants of Russia and their turmoil
• This leads to a revolution in which peasants battle against soldiers
• Industrialization hits, and suddenly the cities balloon with people.
• Famine spreads
• Factories are dangerous
• Nicholas II's heir was Aleksey, but he was very sick and nearly dies several times due to his blood disorder.
• Rasputin was an orthodox priest and mystic.
• He helps to improve Aleksey
• Nicholas II puts his wife in charge, and his wife puts Rasputin in charge.
• Rasputin loved women and partying, but at the party he was poisoned by officials who hated him.
• The poison had no effect on Rasputin.
• The officials straight up Julius Caesared him, but no matter what they do, he wouldn't die.
• They threw him in a river of ice after shooting, stabbing him, and beating, but he escaped the river and then died.
• Nicholas ignores the trouble in Russia
• Soviets form
• Gatherings of comittees of workers to discuss a better Russia
• Liberal Government is Established in Russia in 1917
• Karensky wanted democratic reform, but also to keep fighting WWI.
• Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky who are radical socialists start a revolution in Russia.
• They make a deal with Germany and secretly give them a ton of land, to get Germany off the line.
• Totalitarianism
• Soviet Union becomes a thing
• Socialism rejects private property
• Because private property is what distinguishes one class from another
• Private property is distributed to everybody
• The KGB is formed
• Collectivization is started
• Anyone who resists the change, dies
• Stalin imposes slavery
• Stalin starts making five year plans
• This pushes production to new heights
• The Russians are encouraged to work
• Lenin died, Trotsky was killed by Stalin, Stalin took power
• Purges and Personality Cults were started
• If you work for Stalin and show initiative, Stalin kills you
• If you don't care, and your incompetent, Stalin kills you
• All that is left are like C+ level performers
• This causes everything to kind of suck
• The Romanov's were killed off in the basement.
• Muckrakers
• Those who wrote about social injustices
• The Gilded Age
• The age in America where the rich were rich, but the poor were very poor.
• Jacob Riis
• He helped to show others how bad the world was, so that the world would be a better place through his photography.