Introduction for Chapter 25

25. War and Revolution, 1914–1919

>What were the most significant causes and consequences of World War I? Chapter 25 examines World War I and the Russian Revolution. When the First World War began in August 1914, both peoples and governments confidently expected a short war and thought that European society would be able to go on as before. These expectations were totally mistaken. The First World War was long, indecisive, and tremendously destructive. Grand states collapsed: the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires passed into history. The trauma of war contributed to the rise of extremist politics — in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks established a radical Communist regime, and totalitarian Fascist movements gained popularity across Europe in the postwar decades. Explaining the war’s causes and consequences remains one of the great challenges for historians of modern Europe.

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Life in World War I. This painting by British artist Paul Nash portrays a supply road on the western front. Nash’s somber palette, tiny figures, and Cubist-influenced landscape capture the devastation and anonymous violence of total war. (© Imperial War Museum, London, U.K./The Bridgeman Art Library)

>What caused the outbreak of the First World War?

>How did the First World War differ from previous wars?

>In what ways did the war transform life on the home front?

>Why did world war lead to revolution in Russia, and what was its outcome?

>In what ways was the Allied peace settlement flawed?

1914–1918 1917
– World War I – Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare
June 28, 1914 March 1917
– Serbian nationalist assassinates Archduke Francis Ferdinand – February Revolution in Russia
August 1914 April 1917
– War begins – United States enters the war
September 1914 October–November 1917
– Battle of the Marne; German victories on the eastern front – Battle of Caporetto
October 1914 November 1917
– Ottoman Empire joins the Central Powers – Bolshevik Revolution in Russia; Balfour Declaration on Jewish homeland in Palestine
1915 1918
– Italy joins the Triple Entente; German submarine sinks the Lusitania; Germany halts unrestricted submarine warfare – Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; revolution in Germany
1915–1918 1918–1920
– Armenian genocide; German armies occupy large parts of east-central Europe – Civil war in Russia
1916 1919
– Battles of Verdun and the Somme – Treaty of Versailles; Allies invade Turkey
1916–1918 1923
– Antiwar movement spreads throughout Europe; Arab rebellion against Ottoman Empire – Treaty of Lausanne recognizes Turkish independence
Table 25.1: > CHAPTER CHRONOLOGY