The Aftermath of WWI, the Russian Revolution & the Treaty of Versailles

1. The Aftermath of WWI, the Russian Revolution & the Treaty of Versailles World-Wide Depression, Rise of Totalitarianism, and WWII

2. Russia prior to the Russian Revolution • Before 1917, Russia was an autocracy. • The czar was the absolute ruler. • The last of the czars was Nicholas II

3. Bloody Sunday: 1905

4. Events leading to the Russian Revolution • During WWI, Russia did NOT do well. There were millions killed, wounded, and missing. • Citizens didn’t have enough food. Soldiers didn’t have enough clothes, shoes, or weapons. • People were VERY unhappy in Russia and Germany was winning the war. • Struggles for Civil Liberties

5. The Beginning of the Russian Revolution • The czar ignored the people’s unhappiness and in the early 1917; people began to riot. • The military couldn’t keep the peace and the czar and his family were captured. • How do revolutions change things? • The Fall • Bye to the Czar

6. What happened to Czar Nicholas and his family? Anastasia Tatiana Alexei – only son Olga Maria

7. What becomes of the family? • They are imprisoned in March 1917. • They were taken to the countryside under house arrest. • On July 1918, the Bolsheviks march them to the basement and they are shot by a firing squad. • The remains of Anastasia and Alexi were not found with the others.

8. Results of the Russian Revolution • A government was set up to try and run the country but there were TOO MANY problems. • As the year progressed, there was another revolution and a Communist group led by Vladimir Lenin took control. • Lenin

9. Vladimir Lenin • Lenin’s Party – Bolsheviks “majority” • Lenin Believed – Socialism • Lenin promised – PEACE, LAND, and BREAD When Czarist government realized what a problem he would be, they exiled him to Siberia. Afterwards he moved to Germany and Switzerland. During WWI, he wants to return to Russia. Why?

10. Results Continued… • Russia became known as the Soviet Union and it signed a peace treaty with Germany. • The Soviets had to give up a large amount of land to Germany. • Although that land was good farming land and had many natural resources the Soviets had little choice in the matter.

11. Russia becomes… • USSR (United of Soviet Socialist Republics) • Drops out of WWI • Lenin’s plan – • NEW ECONOMIC POLICY or NEP • Some capitalism allowed to help economy

12. After WWI • Economic times were hard for everyone in Europe as they attempted to recover from the war. • The Treaty of Versailles was particularly harsh on Germany and caused high unemployment and great despair among the people. • To the rescue comes a young man named Adolf Hitler. • By 1933, he was the chancellor of Germany.

13. Adolph Hitler (1889-1945).. IRC(2005). Retrieved September 28, 2008, fromunitedstreaming: http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/ “Germany, which was unable to make the reparations payments demanded by the Treaty of Versailles, suffered particularly severely from the worldwide economic downturn of the late 1920s. In the Germany of 1933, Adolph Hitler won a widespread following for his National Socialist party by appealing to German national pride , and denouncing the internal enemies, Jews and liberals, who he claimed were responsible for Germany's defeat and humiliation during and after WWI. He repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, took Germany out of the League of Nations, and began rearming. In this speech, Hitler announced the exclusion of Jews from citizenship, the prohibition of marriage between Jews and "Aryans," and the adoption of the swastika as the emblem of Germany.”

14. Worldwide Depression • U.S. Stock Market collapse – Oct 29, 1929 • German economy - loans from America and dependent on foreign trade. • U.S. wanted repayment of loans • Market for German exports went bad. • Germans were out of work, banks failed, savings wiped out, inflation followed • Germans were cast into poverty • Life was miserable • They looked for any solution • Adolf Hitler knew his opportunity had arrived.

15. Rise of Totalitarian Governments • In Italy, Mussolini took power with promises of economic recovery. • In the Soviet Union, Stalin began his campaign to take total and complete control of the surrounding countries and to eliminate his enemies. • In Germany, a new leader would rise to the top of a country in economic despair.

17. Rise of Nazism • Hitler began his career in politics as a street brawling revolutionary appealing to disgruntled WWI veterans • By 1930 he was quite different, or so it seemed. • Hitler counted among his supporters a number of German industrialists, and upper middle class socialites • His chief assets were his speech making ability and a keen sense of what the people wanted to hear. • The German people were tired of the political haggling in Berlin. • They were tired of misery, tired of suffering, tired of weakness. • These were desperate times and they were willing to listen to anyone, even Adolf Hitler.

18. After Hitler’s Election as Chancellor of Germany • Within weeks, Hitler would be absolute dictator of Germany and would set in motion a chain of events resulting in the second World War and the eventual deaths of nearly 50 million humans through that war and through deliberate extermination. • Next, the Holocaust