World War One (1914-1918) and Russian Revolution (1917-1922)
"The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime"
Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary in 1914
"The people will turn their weapons against their capitalist exploiters. The Russian Revolution achieved by you has opened a new epoch. Long live the worldwide socialist revolution!"
Vladimir Lenin, first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924
1. The Causes of the War
The period before the outbreak of the war is known in Europe as "Peace through strength", a term that needs no explanation. This climate of tension is the breeding ground for the emergence of violence.
The causes are a very complex issue, and even among historians specializing in the First World War, there is no agreement today. We will study at least two antecedents and five crises that influenced the unsustainable tension between the powers.
Antecedents:
-
1903: In Serbia, there is a new king, Peter I, who declares himself anti-Austrian, pro-Russian, and pro-French. He wants to build "Greater Serbia" and become the most powerful country in the Balkans. The Austro-Hungarian Empire becomes suspicious and begins to consider destroying Serbia.
-
1904/05: Japan wins its war against Russia. To make amends and prevent other countries from believing it is weak, Russia plans to strengthen its position in the Balkans at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, which is in its last throes, and becomes Serbia's protector. Furthermore, Russia is interested in having access to the Mediterranean Sea, and the best option is to conquer the Dardanelles Strait, which belongs to the Ottoman Empire.
Crisis:
-
First Moroccan Crisis (1904): France and Spain agree to divide Morocco. Wilhelm II of Germany intervenes, demanding a German protectorate there, as he was interested in controlling the Strait of Gibraltar. The crisis culminates with the Algeciras Conference of 1906, in which France and Spain, with British and Russian support, do not allow Germany to enter their spheres of influence. Germany is humiliated and prepares its revenge.
-
Bosnian Crisis (1908): The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexes this territory, which it had previously occupied and which, nominally, belonged to the Ottoman Empire and was coveted by Serbia. The latter begins to conduct intensive propaganda in favor of "Greater Serbia" in Bosnia.
-
2nd Moroccan Crisis (1911): A rebellion against the sultan broke out in Morocco, and the sultan appealed to France for help. However, it was Germany that arrived in Agadir with the gunboat SMS Panther to assist him. This meddling caused tensions between France and Germany to rise. The crisis was resolved when France ceded a large portion of its African territories to Germany.
-
Balkan Wars (1911-1913): Russia encouraged and supported independence movements in the Balkan territories belonging to the Ottoman Empire. A Balkan League was created, encompassing Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria, which defeated the Ottoman Turks and divided Macedonia. Austro-Hungary viewed Serbian expansionism with suspicion.
-
Sarajevo Assassination (June 28, 1914): Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by a young Bosnian Serb nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, with Serbian support. This triggers the events: Austro-Hungary, eager to invade Serbia and bring it under its control, issues an ultimatum to that country demanding intervention and control of Serbia's army, which constitutes a violation of national sovereignty. Serbia refuses, as it is inconceivable to accede, and in July the Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia. In reality, it is an excuse to invade them. From this point on, a cascade of war declarations between allies of each other ensues.
The German gunboat SMS-Panther, off the coast of Agadir.
WWI before and after map
Declarations of War
July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
July 29: Russia mobilizes its troops near the Austria-Hungary border
July 30: Russia mobilizes its troops near the German border
August 1: Germany declares war on Russia
August 3: Germany declares war on France
August 4: Germany declares war on Belgium
August 4:1 United Kingdom declares war on Germany
August 6: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia
August 11: France declares war on Austria-Hungary
2. Development of the War (1914-1918)
World War I was the first major war in industrial Europe, making it a global conflict with battles on five continents. It was a "total war," meaning the entire population was mobilized, not just soldiers, and all resources were put at the service of the conflict. Fronts stretched for hundreds of kilometers, and millions of soldiers participated. Women had to take over men's jobs in factories, which was a significant step towards female suffrage and equality. The war's development had three phases: first, armies aimed to surprise the enemy and end the war quickly; second, after the failure of the first, armies entrenched themselves, with little progress for two years, though millions died; and third, the U.S. entered the war, and final offensives brought an end to the Central Powers.
2.1) Maneuver warfare (1914)
The Western Front (Germany-France border) was decisive. Germany faced enemies to the east and west. Their plan, known as the Schlieffen Plan, was to defeat France quickly to then send the bulk of their troops to the Russian front. The plan failed because in the Battle of the Marne (September 1914), the Germans were unable to break through French lines. This led to the beginning of trench warfare.
On the Eastern Front, the Russians launched an offensive that was completely defeated by the Germans (Battle of Tannenberg, August 26-30).
2.2) Trench Warfare (1915-1916)
Battles were long and bloody, with little to no progress achieved. What one army gained in a day could be lost the next in an enemy counterattack. This was known as "war of attrition". It was only with the appearance of the first British and French tanks that the possibility of breaching trenches emerged.
In the Battle of Verdun (February-December 1916), Germany intended to repeatedly press this point and weaken French troops to create a definitive breakthrough in the lines, but Commander Joseph Joffre defended the position. The battle lasted eight months, and both armies had a similar number of casualties, but the victory went to France, whose lines could not be breached.
The Battle of the Somme (July-November 1916) was a Franco-British attack against the Germans to divert them from the Battle of Verdun, but it was so bloody that over a million soldiers died in the Somme River, between those of the Entente and the Central Powers. Ultimately, the Entente achieved a tactical victory by weakening Germany. It was the first time tanks participated in a battle.
2.3) The Final Offensives
-
German submarine warfare against England (1917-1918) and the entry of the U.S. into the war: Germany tried to besiege England by sea, preventing supplies from reaching the island by torpedoing ships heading there. In the United States, President Woodrow Wilson, a proponent of freedom of trade and the seas, began to consider entering the war on the side of the United Kingdom. In January 1917, the "Zimmermann Telegram" was discovered (a German attempt to convince Mexico to declare war on the U.S. to prevent them from entering the European war), and in April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Their intervention as an Entente ally proved decisive.
-
On the Eastern Front, the Russian Revolution began in March 1917. Lenin, leader of Bolshevik Russia, understood that he could not fight on so many fronts and signed peace (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918) with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire which took a significant number of Russian territories.
-
Balkan Front: The combined army of the United Kingdom, France, and Italy defeated the Turks, Bulgarians, and Austro-Hungarians. On November 3, the Austro-Hungarian Empire surrendered.
-
Western Front: In the summer of 1918, Germany launched a desperate attack, the "Kaiserschlacht" (Kaiser's Battle), which failed. The Entente, now with the help of the United States, launched a counterattack in the summer and autumn (Hundred Days Offensive) led by French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, which achieved a decisive victory. Wilhelm II left Germany on the 10th. On November 11, at 11 a.m. (11/11, at 11), Germany requested peace from the Allies (the Entente), and they demanded conditions which Germany accepted. The war had ended.
Women working in a gas mask factory
One of the first main battle tanks: the British Mark V
3. Peace Treaties and Consequences of the War
3.1) The Treaties of Paris.
The Allies signed five treaties with the defeated countries, although the most significant was the Treaty of Versailles with Germany.
It was a huge failure, as each country pursued its own interests, and in the end, no one was satisfied:
France feared German rearmament and wanted the United Kingdom to help weaken Germany, which it failed to achieve because:
-
The United Kingdom sought a balance of power, preventing Germany from becoming too weak because it wanted it as an ally in the event of a hypothetical attack by the USSR, considered a new enemy, because many countries feared the expansion of communism.
-
Germany was forced to disarm almost completely and pay enormous sums of money (war reparations). Furthermore, its territory was divided in two, as Poland reappeared as a country, part of whose territory would divide Germany (the Polish Corridor). The country becomes a republic (the Weimar Republic) and experiences Marxist revolutions.
-
Italy and Japan, which had been Entente allies, demand compensation with territories, but they do not receive all they expected and leave disappointed and resentful. Italy obtains the Trentino-South Tyrol region from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
-
United States: President Woodrow Wilson develops a plan ("Wilson's 14 Points") in January 1918 to achieve peace. In one of them, he proposed creating the League of Nations, a supranational organization with members from all countries that would guarantee conflict resolution through dialogue and world peace. The problem is that the League of Nations is founded, but the US Senate rejects US entry into it, so it is born without its main ideologue.
-
The USSR, founded in 1922, is marginalized by the rest of the countries, who fear a global communist revolution. This new country will seek allies in various ways.
-
The Ottoman Empire, which fought alongside the Central Powers, saw its capital, Istanbul, occupied by France, Italy, and the United Kingdom until 1923. That same year, the Empire collapsed and the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed.
3.2) Territorial Consequences: The New Map of Europe
The Austro-Hungarian Empire, always in tension because it never had a common spirit among the many nationalities that formed it, disappeared. In its place, the following countries emerged: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and part of Poland, while Romania enlarged its territory. It also ceded the Trentino-South Tyrol region to Italy.
The Russian Empire also disappeared, though more due to the 1917 Revolution than the war itself. From its immense territory, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and part of Poland separated.
Germany also suffered territorial losses, as mentioned earlier. Part of its territory was granted to Poland, allowing that country access to the sea through the so-called Polish Corridor, on whose coast the Free City of Danzig was located. They also ceded the North Schleswig region to Denmark.
In summary, the Great War ended, but no one was happy. This widespread frustration and discontent would be one of the causes of the rise of interwar totalitarianism. French Marshal Foch, upon seeing the Treaty of Versailles, famously said: "This is not a peace treaty, it is an armistice for twenty years."
3.3 The Impact on the Population
The War left a trail of death: 20 million people, including soldiers and civilians, plus 23 million wounded, many of whom never recovered from their physical or mental after-effects.
Thousands of homes were left in ruins and thousands of families in poverty. Countries had to make an extraordinary effort to recover, as industry and communications were destroyed. Furthermore, the war was followed by a flu epidemic (misleadingly called "Spanish Flu") that claimed the lives of 23 million more people.
Political cartoon illustrating the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles.
Map of Europe before and after WW1
Consequences of WW1: the Polish Corridor and the Free City of Danzig
4. The Russian Revolution
4.1. Russia under the Tsar and Opposition
4.1.1 Situation in Russia and Early Political Parties
In 1894, Nicholas II ascended to the throne of Russia. His idea of absolute power and Russia's outdated state structure did not respond to the racial, religious, linguistic, and ideological pluralism of the empire. However, the Tsar turned a deaf ear to the cries for change:
-
The Russian Empire contained peoples with very defined identities: Poles, Ukrainians, Finns, Balts, Armenians, Georgians, etc., who demanded their rights but were subjected to an intense program of Russification.
-
The liberalism and parliamentarianism of Western Europe were rejected by the authorities, but...
-
Affluent Russian classes, whose children had studied abroad, were more receptive to liberalism, and began to question why Russia couldn't take that step. This liberal bourgeoisie started to form associations and parties advocating for a parliamentary tsarism.
-
The poor living conditions of peasants (the majority) and industrial workers gave rise to the first labor movements: democrats, socialists, anarchists in factories, and the first movements supporting peasants (anti-kulak revolts).
-
4.1.2 The War Against Japan (1904-1905) and the 1905 Revolution
Japan and the Russian Empire had maintained tense relations for some time. Japan had occupied part of Manchuria (today Chinese territory) as part of its imperialist policy, and Russia wanted to build part of its Trans-Siberian railway through Manchuria. This further strained the situation. In February 1904, Japan attacked Russian ships docked in Port Arthur, a Russian-owned port in Asia. Consequently, Russia declared war.
This led to conscriptions and tax increases for the war effort. In the Russian countryside, people were at their limit: if young men went to war, hardly anyone was left to work the land. Protests and hunger began.
January 22, 1905, was Bloody Sunday: a hungry crowd marched to the Tsar's palace to ask for his help. They were unarmed, carrying only portraits of Nicholas II and religious icons, as they believed he would listen to them. The Tsar was not at the palace, but his uncle, who was in charge, ordered his soldiers to fire on the demonstration, killing around 1000 people.
Strikes quickly followed. Nicholas II began to repress them harshly, but given the impossibility of ending them and the widespread discontent over the defeat against Japan, he had to accept the creation of a parliament (Duma, 1906) in which the Tsar had the right of veto, and grant some basic rights to citizens. Revolutionary sectors considered these reforms insufficient, but a certain peace was achieved.
The Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia
The Russo-Jap'anese war of 1904-1905
4.2 The February Revolution of 1917
4.2.1 Russia in World War I
As a member of the Triple Entente and protector of the Balkans, Nicholas II entered the Great War. The people were as desperate as they were in 1905. This meant more conscription and more scarcity.
Furthermore, the war wasn't going well for Russia; it lost important battles against Germany. In 1915, the Tsar went to the front to lead his troops. But Nicholas II was no strategist, and Russia continued to lose. In Saint Petersburg, the capital of Russia, Tsarina Alexandra was left in charge of the government, but she was under the influence of a disreputable monk, Rasputin, whom she considered a saint. The nobility surrounding the royal family was dissatisfied with the Tsar, the Tsarina, and the monk. Rasputin was assassinated in 1916.
The scarcity, military disasters, and political discontent led to a new revolution, larger than that of 1905, in which the people no longer cheered the Tsar, but quite the opposite.
4.2.2 The February Revolution of 1917
On February 23, the revolution erupted. Revolutionaries (Socialist-Revolutionaries, anarchists, Mensheviks, and Bolsheviks) organized themselves into committees called Soviets, from which they planned strikes and other actions. The Tsar ordered his soldiers to fire on the demonstrators and strikers, but the soldiers refused, realizing they were the same people and facing the same problems. In this state of affairs, the Tsar had no choice but to abdicate on March 15. A provisional government was immediately formed, led by Georgy Lvov, a member of the Duma (Russian parliament), with the approval of the powerful Saint Petersburg Soviet.
The provisional government began some reforms, such as:
-
In the labor sphere: An eight-hour workday and the existence of trade unions.
-
In the political sphere: Free elections, civil liberties (freedom of expression, association, etc.), and a constituent assembly (to prepare a constitution for Russia).
However, the government struggled to control the more radical sectors, who wanted broader reforms, and Aleksandr Kerensky replaced Lvov in July. His political intention was to create a moderate republic and continue in World War I, which earned him the sympathy of France and England... and the antipathy of the Bolsheviks.
Tsar Nichollas II and Tsarina Alexandra
Georgy Lvov
Aleksandr Kerensky
4.3. The October Revolution of 1917
4.3.1 The Seizure of Power
In April, Lenin, the Bolshevik leader who had been declared illegal, returned from exile to carry out the communist revolution. His plan was to give all power to the Soviets, completely bypassing the provisional government. For this, he created a small army of highly disciplined industrial workers, which the masses would voluntarily join. He didn't believe in majority movements or in convincing large masses
("[Revolutionaries] would have to be very naive if they expected to have a majority; no revolution expects this"), much less the peasants, whom he considered to be only interested in securing their small plot of land, not in a Russian and world revolution. His intentions were outlined in the April Theses.
Kerensky's big mistake was wanting to continue the war, which was tremendously unpopular among Russians. Lenin promised to withdraw from an "imperialist and capitalist" war as soon as he had power, thus gaining much support.
His careful plan took effect, and Lenin, with his Bolsheviks, seized all power through armed revolution in October 1917. The provisional government was automatically dismissed.
4.3.2 Measures of the Bolshevik Government
From the beginning, Lenin made it very clear that the supreme organ of power was the Bolshevik party, formed by a highly ideological and disciplined proletarian vanguard. The first measures they took were:
-
Ending all opposition: Censorship and political arrests were instituted. A political-military police force, the Cheka, was created to punish any act that could be considered counter-revolutionary. The Cheka had the power to arrest, judge, and summarily execute.
-
The supreme governing body of the Bolshevik party would be the Council of People's Commissars (SOVNARKOM).
-
Initiating Russia's withdrawal from World War I.
-
Eight-hour workday.
-
Agrarian reform: Expropriation of land from large landowners and distribution among peasant committees.
-
Suspension of the Constituent Assembly: Lenin had advocated for its creation in his campaign before the revolution, but now he did not want to discuss political decisions with other parties. He believed that the Bolshevik party and its Soviets should hold all power to achieve a rapid and effective transition to a communist society. In the first elections (November 1917), the Socialist-Revolutionary party won, but Lenin immediately staged a coup (against the revolution itself) and shut down the Constituent Assembly.
Vladimir Illich Lenin. Leader of the bolshevik party
4.4 Foreign Affairs
4.4.1 Difficulties with Former Russian Republics
Lenin wanted to include all regions of the former Russian Empire within his idea of a communist state, but some of these regions didn't want to join. After numerous clashes, Finland and the Baltic republics (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) gained independence from Russia, something the Bolsheviks couldn't prevent. Ukraine also tried to gain independence, embarking on a bloody war as we'll see later.
4.4.2 The German Advance. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and Russia's Exit from the War.
With Russia in the midst of revolution, the troops defending positions against Germany (remember, this was during World War I) were disorganized and confused. Germany advanced unstoppably and was on the verge of entering Saint Petersburg, the capital at the time. The SOVNARKOM retreated to Moscow, which became the new capital. The situation was very serious: if Germany entered Saint Petersburg and defeated the Bolsheviks, it could mean the end of the revolution. Lenin had no choice but to sue for peace with Germany in exchange for ceding an enormous territory to the Central Powers (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918).
Independence of Finland and the Baltic Republics from Russia
4. 5. The Russian Civil War (1918-1922) and its Consequences
4.5.1 Participating Factions and Course of the Conflict
The Bolshevik coup d'état provoked a reaction from the other parties and led to a civil war.
On one side was the Red Army, which comprised the armed forces of the Bolshevik party and all its supporters. This army was led by Leon Trotsky.
On the other side was the opposition to the Bolsheviks, grouped in the White Army, which included conservatives, Kadet liberals, Tsarists, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and Mensheviks.
Ultimately, the Red Army, with excellent discipline and organization, defeated all its opponents.
In 1922, Russia and all the republics controlled by the Bolsheviks were renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), with Lenin at its head. Supposedly, each republic could voluntarily join or not join the USSR, but in truth, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), which was the largest, pressured the others to join.
The Bolshevik party, now known as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), became the only legal party.
4.5.2 War Communism and its Consequences
War Communism meant that all economic production—that is, all the wealth produced by Russian industry and agriculture—was controlled by the SOVNARKOM and redirected to cover the expenses of the civil war. Industry, banking, transport, and trade were nationalized, and farmers had to hand over most of their harvests to the state.
Rebellion against War Communism was swift, with numerous peasant and worker revolts occurring, which were harshly suppressed by the Cheka and the Red Army.
Nationalization had not yielded the expected results. Since almost all production went to the state, which then rationed its output, many people became disengaged from work, as they didn't know how much of their labor would be allocated to them. Production declined dramatically.
To stabilize the economy, Lenin launched the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1922. This policy was "State Capitalism," meaning it allowed part of the economy to be governed by supply and demand, the traditional laws of the market. In this way, seeing that they could earn money according to the work they did, people became enthusiastic about their trades again. The economy improved and stabilized, but a major problem for Marxist theory emerged: until now, the Bolsheviks had thought that, given the same opportunities and resources, everyone would progress at the same rate. However, the NEP demonstrated otherwise: some people were more capable, intelligent, and skilled than others, progressing faster. This led to the reappearance of bourgeois and kulaks, bringing back social differences, price increases, enrichment, and poverty.
Trotsky was very critical of the NEP for deviating from Marxism, which caused enmity with other Bolshevik leaders like Lenin and Stalin. Finally, the NEP was abandoned in 1928, and the USSR returned to a communist economy.
Leon Trotsky
El Lissitzky: ¡Vence a los blancos con la cuña roja!
"For a United Russia." White Army propaganda poster.
4.6. From Lenin to Stalin
In 1922, Stalin, who had skillfully positioned himself politically, became the new strongman. The ailing Lenin couldn't oppose him, despite his dislike for the Georgian's excessive ambition, as he warned in his political testament.
Lenin died in 1924. That same year, a CPSU congress was held where Stalin managed to get Trotskyism condemned. Meanwhile, Trotsky accused Stalin of bureaucratizing the regime to the point of paralysis and of abandoning what he called "the permanent revolution", meaning the export of communism beyond the USSR's borders. The truth is that Stalin wanted to consolidate his leadership within the country and wasn't interested in extending the revolution to the rest of Europe. The aforementioned fear of reprisals meant very few supported Trotsky.
In 1927, Trotsky and his followers were expelled from the party. Some were arrested and executed, and only his prestige saved him. Finally, he was exiled in 1929 and sought refuge in Mexico, where a spy sent by Stalin ended his life in 1940.
By 1929, Stalin's power in the USSR was omnipotent, and he imposed his economic and social policies through five-year plans. No one dared to oppose his judgment, as it meant risking their life.
Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin initiated the "Great Purge", an internal operation that involved the systematic arrest and elimination of any political opponent. Those targeted could be former landowners (kulaks), military personnel, politicians, writers, religious figures, and generally anyone who might be minimally suspected of anti-Soviet activities. Stalin's paranoia led to many people being repressed without having engaged in any political activity. In certain cases, even the families of those repressed were arrested and sent to Soviet concentration camps (GULAG).
By the late 1930s, this Great Purge resulted in between 600,000 and 2 million executions, plus hundreds of thousands of prisoners in concentration camps.
On the other hand, the Soviet victory over Hitler in World War II and intense industrialization transformed the USSR into a superpower and Stalin into a prestigious leader.
