World War I, Russian Revolution, and the Rise of Totalitarianism

Posted on Dec 9, 2024 in History

1. The First World War

Reasons:

  • Territorial claims of different countries.
  • Economic rivalries between Germany and the UK, mainly colonial interests.
  • The formation of two blocs: the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary) and the Triple Entente (UK, France, and Russia). This situation favored the arms race, in which each country increased its military strength to prepare for a possible war.

Belligerent Countries:

  • Triple Alliance: Joined by the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Italy switched to the opposing bloc. This bloc was called the Central Powers.
  • Triple Entente: Joined by Serbia, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Japan. This bloc was called the Allies. Indian troops also participated in the defense of their cities.

Features:

  • New weapons and defense systems were used, as well as new technologies and control systems such as sea blockades.
  • The war caused the massive incorporation of women into the workforce, occupying the positions of men who went to fight.
  • The economy was focused on the war, and its sole purpose was the production of armaments. Money was scarce, the population suffered rationing, and state intervention in the economy increased.
  • Propaganda played an important role in maintaining the morale of the population.

The War:

In July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, blaming it for cooperation in the Sarajevo bombing. From then on, European nations opted for one of the two sides.

Phases:

  • War of Movement (1914): Germany implemented the Schlieffen Plan, advancing rapidly to the west and north of France and then to the east to stop the Russian army.
  • Trench Warfare (1915-1916): This occurred when new weapons impeded progress, the front stabilized, and critical trenches became widespread.
  • Events of 1917: Two major events occurred: the triumph of the Russian Revolution and the US entry on the side of the Allies.
  • The End of the War (1918): The Allies launched a victorious offensive. The Germans signed the armistice (truce) on November 11, 1918.

The Peace of Paris:

In 1918, Thomas W. Wilson formulated a peace program called the Fourteen Points to achieve a just peace. When the war ended, the victorious powers, except Russia, met in Paris in 1919 to establish the conditions for peace. The Paris Peace Treaty consisted of five treaties:

  • Treaty of Versailles: Germany
  • Treaty of St. Germain: Austria (separated from Hungary)
  • Treaty of Trianon: Hungary (separated from Austria)
  • Treaty of Neuilly: Bulgaria
  • Treaty of Sèvres: Ottoman Empire

The conditions imposed on the vanquished were harsh. Germany felt humiliated and developed a desire for revenge. These treaties led to a new map of Europe.

Consequences:

  • Great loss of human lives (soldiers, disabled, orphans, etc.).
  • Social transformations (incorporation of women into the workplace, etc.).
  • Territorial changes (new states were forged, territories were returned, etc.).
  • Economic disaster for Europe (property damage, economic hegemony, etc.).

2. The Russian Revolution

Fall of Imperial Russia and the October Revolution of 1917

Under the autocratic rule of the czars, only a few reforms were carried out, such as the liberation of the serfs. In the late 19th century, there was a rapid process of industrialization, but Russia also suffered a serious crisis due to its military defeat in the East against Japan. The economic and social consequences of this defeat provoked protests that were suppressed. Tsar Nicholas II authorized the formation of a Duma (parliament) but then tried to rule without it. In February 1917, a revolution overthrew Nicholas II, restored the Duma, and established a provisional government formed by socialists and liberals. Given its weaknesses, the Bolsheviks (Communist Party), led by Lenin and Trotsky, were able to seize power during the October Revolution and established the Council of People’s Commissars.

Civil War and Consolidation of the USSR

In March 1918, Russia signed the Peace of Brest-Litovsk, withdrawing from the First World War. In 1922, a new political organization, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was formed. It adopted a constitution in 1924 based on:

  • A federal state composed of various republics.
  • The concentration of all power in the hands of the Communist Party Central Committee.
  • A body representing popular sovereignty, equivalent to a parliament.
  • A Congress of Soviets (the representative body of the different territories of the USSR) that chose the government.

Arrangements were made to replace capitalism with Marxist socialism. However, the situation, which had led to civil war, forced the start of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which partially restored capitalist economic forms.

3. Soviet Totalitarianism: Stalinism

After the death of Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky fought for power. Ultimately, Stalin succeeded Lenin as the leader of the Soviet Union.

Political Developments

In the late 1920s, the Russian Revolution began its second phase: stability. This name is given to Stalin’s totalitarian personal government, with the support of the Communist Party.

The Economy

Stalin imposed a system based on planning with the creation of the Gosplan, which centralized economic activity through five-year plans, characterized by:

  • The collectivization of the countryside was achieved by pursuing the kulaks and carrying out massive land expropriations. Production was organized into collective farms (kolkhozes) and state farms (sovkhozes).
  • Planned industrialization turned the Soviet Union into one of the major industrial powers. Industries were developed, and the arms industry was also given impetus.

The Society

Society experienced great population growth thanks to improved health. The implementation of the planned economy changed the social structure through:

  • The reduction in the number of peasants.
  • The increasing number of industrial workers.
  • The birth of a new social class (intelligentsia).

4. Peacebuilding (1919-1929)

Democracies

  • Germany: The Weimar Republic was proclaimed. It experienced a difficult economic situation due to the payment of war reparations and hyperinflation, as well as a difficult political situation due to extremist revolutionary attempts.
  • France and the United Kingdom: They experienced a deep crisis by moving from a war economy to a peace economy, resulting in increased unemployment. The British Empire was transformed into an independent community of nations: the Commonwealth.
  • United States: The country benefited most from the war and victory. It enjoyed an economic boom fostered by trade protectionism against Europe and, therefore, consolidated its position as a world power.

The League of Nations

The League of Nations was an organization created after the First World War to ensure peace and order in international relations. There were several drawbacks: the control exercised by France and the UK, whose right to veto allowed them to defend their national interests, and the absence of powers like the US and the USSR. However, it contributed to the maintenance of international peace and collective security. It also contributed to the signing of the Treaty of Locarno (1925), which improved relations between Western European nations. In the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928), countries agreed not to resort to war as a political tool for settling disputes.

5. The Crisis of the 1930s

Causes

  • The US saw the emergence of a consumer society. Purchases were made by resorting to easy credit, but there was no real monetary liquidity.
  • Overproduction occurred because industries produced more items at low prices, as did agricultural products.
  • Capital was not invested in production but in the stock market due to the rising value of shares.

Crash of the New York Stock Exchange

Stocks were very overpriced. Investors wanted their money back and wished to sell. This happened in October 1929 when there was a massive sale of shares on Wall Street. Thirteen million shares were sold in a single day, causing the collapse of their value, and most people lost their money.

The Great Depression

This effect extended to the London Stock Exchange and then to the rest of Europe and Japan, bringing serious consequences:

  • The US defended its products from foreign competition, negatively impacting trade relations and the economy.
  • Americans withdrew capital invested in Europe, further exacerbating the European crisis.
  • Investments stopped, businesses shut down, banks failed, and these failures led to rising unemployment.

Fighting the Depression: The New Deal

Faced with this situation, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (the new president) introduced a social and economic program called the New Deal to end the crisis. The measures were:

  • Aid for farmers through compensation payments.
  • Granting of unemployment benefits to workers.
  • Increase in workers’ wages and reduced working hours.
  • Intervention in banks through state acquisition of shares.
  • Job creation by the government through major investments in public works.

6. The Rise of Totalitarianism

Causes

  • The recovery from the terrible war.
  • The concern about the possible outbreak of a workers’ revolution similar to that which had triumphed in Russia.
  • The fear of the economic crisis of 1929.

Fascist Totalitarianism

Above all, Italian and German fascism gained the support of all social classes. They implemented a centralized totalitarian state with the party as the main organization. They opposed liberal democracy, socialism, communism, and the labor movement. They used strategies to terrorize and manipulate the masses. Their methods of action were based on:

  • Worshipping a charismatic leader (Duce in Italy or Führer in Germany).
  • Establishing a social hierarchy.
  • Exalting militarism that pervaded civil society.
  • Engaging in and encouraging revenge through imperialist territorial expansion.
  • Showing a nationalism that reinforced the feeling of national unity and degenerated into racism.

Italian Fascism

In Italy, there was a situation of social disorder and political instability provoked by revolutionary attempts, which favored the rise of Benito Mussolini in 1922. He established fascism, characterized by:

  • Domestic Policy: The absolute power of Mussolini was imposed. The Fascist Grand Council replaced the parliament.
  • Foreign Policy: Ultranationalist ideology resulted in aggressive action against other nations.
  • Economics: An autocratic and interventionist system was imposed (to avoid imports).
  • Society: Corporatism was encouraged (defending state intervention in conflicts), and working rights were terminated (strikes, etc.).

Nazi Totalitarianism

In 1933, the National Socialist leader Adolf Hitler won elections supported by the right. He imposed a dictatorship, dissolved the Weimar Republic, and founded the German Third Reich. Hitler combined the desire for revenge against the victors of World War I with a racist anti-Semitism (against Jews) and pan-Germanism (the union of all German towns in one state). The regime was characterized by:

  • Internal Policy: Control was imposed by the Nazi Party, whose instruments were an implacable political police (Gestapo) and various military forces such as the SA.
  • Foreign Policy: Focused on denouncing the Treaty of Versailles. Territorial claims were raised.
  • Economy: A self-sufficient policy was implemented through public works investments.
  • Society: A birth policy was fostered to increase the number of soldiers.