Aftermath of World War I: Paris Conference and Russian Revolution
The Paris Conference
In 1918, Wilson presented to the United States Congress “Fourteen Points” intended to guide a just and lasting peace. Objectives:
- Abolition of secret diplomacy.
- Freedom of navigation and international trade.
- Arms reduction.
- Division of old empires and recognition of the independence of ethnic and linguistic minorities within these empires.
- Creation of the League of Nations, based on equality between states outside of its power.
These principles were not respected, as the European allies were more concerned with defending their own interests than achieving a just peace. France demanded that Germany pay war reparations and even be divided.
In the Paris Conference, five treaties were drafted, stipulating the conditions of peace and the new borders between the victors and the vanquished. The defeated nations were not heard and were only called to sign the treaties imposed by the Council of Four.
A Peace Imposed by the Victors
Of all the treaties signed in Paris, the Treaty of Versailles, which regulated the peace with Germany, was the most important.
- Germany had to cede Alsace-Lorraine to France, the region of Poznan to Poland, and the Polish Corridor was created with Danzig, separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany. German colonies became mandates of the League of Nations.
- Germany was held responsible for the outbreak of war and consequently had to pay heavy war reparations. It surrendered its merchant fleet, its locomotives, and ceded to France the exploitation of the Saar coal mines for fifteen years.
- Germany had to abolish compulsory military service and limit its army to 100,000 men. The union of Germany with Austria was banned.
The treaties of Saint-Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, and Sèvres established a new organization of borders and states in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The Austro-Hungarian and Turkish empires were dismembered into different states, forming a cordon sanitaire around Russia to prevent the spread of the Bolshevik revolution.
Political Implications of the Treaties
With the end of the war, empires that existed in Europe before 1914 disappeared. Thus, according to Wilson’s principle of respect for nationalities, new states were formed.
By 1920, Europe was composed of twenty-eight states. All but two were parliamentary democracies, and most introduced universal suffrage.
The February Revolution and the Fall of the Tsars
On February 23, 1917, the outbreak of a strike at the Putilov arms factory spontaneously started a revolution in Petrograd. The next day, the city was paralyzed by a general strike.
Strikes and demonstrations spread to Moscow. On February 26, the army bloodily suppressed the demonstrations, but the next day, the troops of the Petrograd garrison joined the strikers.
The revolutionaries reorganized the Petrograd Soviet. They decided to demand democratic reforms and an end to the war.
The dissolution of the fourth Duma pushed the Liberals to oppose the Tsar, who had practically no support. On March 2, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, and the next day a provisional government was formed, chaired by Prince Lvov, with Kerensky as Minister of Justice.
From March to October: The Provisional Government
Between March and October, there were two parallel powers in Russia: the provisional government and the soviets. Only the Bolsheviks opposed collaboration with the provisional government.
The provisional government adopted a series of reforms:
- Declared an amnesty.
- Recognized civil liberties and disbanded the Tsarist police.
- Promised to deliver land from landlords to peasants.
- Prepared elections to a Constituent Assembly as a step toward a parliamentary republic.
- Recognized the independence of Finland and Poland.
The provisional government kept its commitments in the war and postponed basic reforms until the end of the conflict. The government faced successive crises and opposition from the Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, and Socialist Revolutionaries.
The Crisis with the Bolsheviks
In this situation, the April Crisis occurred, as Lenin explained in his April Theses, outlining the policy of his radical party. He proposed:
- Breaking with the provisional government and its collaborators.
- Moving from a bourgeois to a socialist revolution.
- Transferring power to the Soviets.
Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries formed a coalition government with the Liberals in May, with Kerensky taking the Ministry of War.
After another Russian failure in the war, the Bolsheviks staged an armed demonstration to seize power. The demonstration was dissolved, and the Bolshevik Party was declared illegal. Lenin fled to Finland, and Trotsky was imprisoned. Prince Lvov resigned in favor of Kerensky, who formed a new coalition government.
The Kornilov Coup
In August, General Kornilov revolted and marched on Petrograd to establish a military dictatorship. Kerensky sought help from the Bolsheviks and the Petrograd Soviet, convincing the soldiers to join the revolution.