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European History Unit 8: Twentieth-century global conflicts (c. 1914–present)

Two world wars, revolution in Russia and the rise of totalitarian states devastated Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.

Covers: World War I, the Russian Revolution, the interwar period, fascism, the Great Depression, World War II, the Holocaust

Study guide

World War I (1914–1918) resulted from militarism, the alliance system (the Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia vs. the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), imperial rivalry and nationalism, especially in the Balkans. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered the war. Germany's Schlieffen Plan failed, and the Western Front became a deadly stalemate of trench warfare. The war was total, with propaganda, rationing and women in factories. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) forced Germany to accept war guilt, pay reparations, give up territory and limit its military.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 began when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated. Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government, withdrew from the war in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and won a civil war. Lenin's New Economic Policy allowed some private trade. Stalin took over, launching five-year plans for industry and collectivization of agriculture, which caused famine, especially in Ukraine, and purges that killed many.

The interwar period brought instability. The Great Depression, starting in 1929, caused mass unemployment. Fascism rose in Italy under Mussolini, and Hitler's Nazis took power in Germany in 1933, blaming Jews and communists, rearming and expanding. Britain and France followed appeasement, letting Hitler take the Sudetenland at the Munich Conference (1938). World War II began when Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Germany used blitzkrieg to conquer much of Europe, but the Battle of Britain, the invasion of the USSR and the Battle of Stalingrad, and D-Day (1944) turned the war. The Holocaust killed six million Jews and millions of others, including Roma, disabled people and political prisoners. The war ended in 1945.

The assassination was organized with help from the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist group. Germany gave Austria-Hungary a 'blank check' of support, and Austria's harsh ultimatum to Serbia set off a chain of mobilizations that the alliance system turned into a general war. The 1919 treaties created new states such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia from the collapsed empires, based partly on self-determination. Weimar Germany suffered hyperinflation in 1923 that wiped out middle-class savings. American loans under the Dawes Plan and the Locarno treaties (1925) brought brief stability until the Depression.

The League of Nations failed to stop Japan in Manchuria or Italy's invasion of Ethiopia (1935–1936), and Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland (1936) and annexed Austria (1938). The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (1939) let Germany invade Poland without fear of a two-front war. In the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), Francisco Franco's Nationalists, aided by Hitler and Mussolini, defeated the Republic, which was supported by the Soviet Union and international volunteers. Franco ruled Spain as a dictator until 1975.

Mussolini made peace with the Catholic Church in the Lateran Accords (1929), which created Vatican City. His regime also promoted motherhood and large families and organized state-sponsored leisure for workers. Early Soviet policy legalized divorce and abortion and promoted women's equality at work. Under Stalin, abortion was banned in 1936 and motherhood was emphasized, and women continued to carry a 'double burden' of paid work and housework.

Key ideas

• WWI was caused by militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism.
• The Treaty of Versailles punished Germany harshly.
• The Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, and Stalin built a totalitarian state.
• The Great Depression and resentment helped fascism rise.
• Appeasement failed to stop Hitler, leading to WWII and the Holocaust.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Thinking appeasement means military resistance; it means giving in to demands to avoid war.
• Confusing Lenin's NEP (some private trade) with Stalin's collectivization.

Words to know

Triple Entente

Alliance of Britain, France and Russia before WWI.

Triple Alliance

Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy before WWI.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany's plan to defeat France quickly before turning to Russia.

Western Front

Line of trenches across France and Belgium in WWI.

War guilt clause

Versailles provision blaming Germany for WWI.

Bolsheviks

Lenin's communist party that seized power in 1917.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

1918 treaty taking Russia out of WWI.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Lenin's policy allowing some private trade.

Five-year plans

Stalin's plans for rapid industrialization.

Totalitarianism

A government that controls every aspect of life.

Fascism

Extreme nationalist, one-party rule under a dictator.

Appeasement

Giving in to an aggressor's demands to avoid war.

Munich Conference

1938 meeting where Britain and France let Hitler take the Sudetenland.

Blitzkrieg

'Lightning war' using fast tanks and aircraft.

Stalingrad

Major Soviet victory that turned the war against Germany.

Holocaust

Nazi genocide of six million Jews and millions of others.

Sample practice questions

5 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.