Summary

World History Class 11

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS AND Q&A SESSION (05:06 PM)

WORLD WAR I (05:16 PM)

Explanation of World War I.
World War I (1914-1918) (05:45 PM)
The first major crisis in the history of mankind was WW I, it was called a Total war for the reasons
a) For the first time all continents and countries were affected either directly or indirectly. In other words, a war of this type had never taken place before affecting the whole world.
b) It was a total war as we find for the first time war not only on the surface of the earth but also in the sky and under the waters of the sea. In other words, Aeroplanes and Submarines were used for the first time.
War affected every aspect of human life i.e. Family, education, society, polity, economy, and the very attitude of an individual underwent a change. For its nature, affecting human life in all regards it was called a total war.
Reasons for the war
a) The way Bismarck united Germany and his foreign policy to keep France isolated. Bismarck turned friendly with Austria after defeating Austria in the second stage of unification. Whereas the same Bismarck continued to remain harsh against France.
b) He kept the city of Paris for 1 year under his control. He made the French to pay compensation of 5 million Francs. He made France to Surrender Alsace and Lorraine. This virtually made France crippled as her hardware industry got affected.
Above all Bismarck severely undermined French nationalism by declaring William I as Emperor of Germany in the "Hall of Mirrors" in the Palace of Paris.
c) Bismarck's foreign policy was to keep France in Isolation. In 1873, Bismarck formed Triple Emperor's League with Germany, Austria, and Russia, Just to scare France. When Russia withdrew from the Emperor's League, Bismarck supported Austria against Russia in Balkan politics.
He made Italy to join the league and finally by 1883, the "Triple Alliance" was formed with Germany, Austria, and Italy.
When Bismarck resigned in 1894, France and Russia could come together and formed into "Dual Entente"/ Goodwill association. In 1902, England and Japan came together and formed an Anglo-Japanese alliance.
In 1904, England and France, formed into Dual Alliance. In 1907, England Joint the "Dual Entente" and thus finally "Triple Entente" was formed with England, France, and Russia.
Thus Bismarck's foreign policy was responsible for dividing Europe into two military camps called the "Triple Alliance" and "Triple Entente" making World War I unavoidable.
The other factors for the War
a) Rivalries started among the European powers for the sake of the colonies.
" World Wars are the result of the crisis in the capitalist system" as observed by Karl Marx. Intense rivalries started between England v/s Germany, France v/s Germany, England + France V/s Italy in Africa, etc
b) Every European country spent more than 1/3rd of its GDP on Defense and Military expenditure creating a war atmosphere.
c) No international organization solving the disputes between two countries
d) Extreme nationalism, Hatred towards the other nation continued to create hatred among the nations.
e) Secret diplomacy was the other major factor polluting international relations. The defence treaty between England and France signed in 1904 was not even known to England's cabinet until 1911. Italy member of the Triple Alliance defected and joined Triple Entente, once the war started.
Japan served an ultimatum with 21 demands on China, not known to the Chinese delegation until the Paris peace conference, in 1918. No nation was in a position to trust the other due to secret treaties.
f) Alsace and Lorraine's problem continued to be a source of a constant rift between France and Germany. France's hardware industry was severely affected. When France tried to compensate for the loss by exploiting the Iron ore industry, Germany entered Congo and prevented France from doing that in Congo.
g) The immediate cause for the war was the "Near East Crisis". Austria was permitted only to administer Bosnia and Herzegovina whereas Austria not only occupied them and administered them. Serbia encouraged Bosnia to revolt against Austria as the Sizeable population of Bosnia was Serbians.
Serbia even supported secret societies like the "Union of Death". One of the members of society killed Archduke Ferdinand, the Austrian Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina at a place called Sarajevo.
Austria served an ultimatum on Serbia. Russia came in support of Serbia and mobilized its army to defend Serbia against Austria whereas Germany gave an ultimatum to Russia to de-mobilize its army. Russia was supported by England and France.
Thus a small incident in a remote corner of Europe finally became an immediate cause of World War I.

COURSE OF WAR (06:29 PM)

In the initial phase, Germany scored a brilliant victory against France. The problem started for Germany when they started attacking American Submarines.
With the entry of the US, the table turned against Germany.
War ended with the Paris peace conference
Question- Was World War II a logical end of World War I? or In what way Paris peace conference was responsible for World War II?
Question- Paris peace conference since its beginning was a clash of interests and a clash of individuals. Comment
The President of France participated and wanted to Pulp Germany. France wanted to take revenge against Germany.
Germany was a major trade partner of England in Europe, and if France exploits Germany then England will lose a major trade partner. Hence England was not in favour of France's aggressive policy.
America invested $21 trillion in World War I, and it wanted to recover its money.
US President, Woodrow Wilson, wanted Germany to pay compensation and if France exploits Germany then Germany will not be able to pay compensation.
The USA was equally eager to establish political authority and capture the European market.
Italian PM Orlando was completely ignored.
No Guard of honour was given to Germany. The German delegation was treated with humiliation. Germany was made to sign in the Hall of Mirrors palace at the Paris peace conference.
Germany was informed that the treaty will be according to Woodrow Wilson's 14-point formula i.e. Every nation with a national minority has a right to self-determination, Internationalising the river systems of Europe such as the Danube, End of secret diplomacy, etc.
At the last moment, the drafted treaty had nothing to do with the 14-point formula. German delegation refused to sign. But the German delegation was forced to sign.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL/ REVIEW OF PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE (07:34 PM)

World War I ended with Paris Peace Conference. At the outset, it was characterized by a "clash of interests and individuals".
France was for taking revenge against Germany and was for a harsh policy against Germany whereas England and USA were for a liberal policy against defeated Germany.
For England, Germany was a major trade partner in Europe, if France was allowed to exploit Germany maximum, England would lose its trade partner. Secondly, the Exploitation of Germany by France would only benefit France, not England.
US President Woodrow Wilson was for a liberal treatment of Germany. USA's main concern was how to recover the financial assistance given to England and France during World War I.
The US banked upon the compensation to be paid by Germany. If France loots Germany, then Germany may not be able to pay compensation.
The US also wanted the treaty to be conducted as per the 14-point formula drafted by Woodrow Wilson. The main provisions of the formula were
a) The Right of Self-determination for National minorities who were scattered all over Europe
b) Internationalization of European River Systems for Trade and Commerce.
c) To end secret diplomacy etc.
Thus, US policy was completely motivated by her financial, Trade, commercial, and political motives.
Italian PM, Orlando was ignored
Thus we see in the very beginning of the treaty, a clash of interests and individuals.

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE (07:46 PM)

From the beginning, Germany was ill-treated, and the Guard of Honor was denied to the German Delegation. They were treated as prisoners, and finally, they were made to sign the treaty in the Versailles palace where Bismarck declared William I as the Emperor of Germany.
In the beginning, Germans were informed that the treaty would be as per 14 point formula, and at the last moment, France changed the draft copy of the treaty. When the German delegation refused to sign, they were threatened at gunpoint. Thus the treaty was a "Dictated Treaty" against the spirit of international law.
The sole responsibility for the war was placed on Germany's soldiers.
Provisions of the treaty
Alsace and Lorraine were given back to France. France also got the exclusive right to exploit the coal mine-rich Saar Valley for 15 years. A provision was made for the plebiscite to decide the question of whether Saar Valley to remain with France or to come back to Germany after the 15th year.
Germany was territorially divided among Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, and Czechoslovakia. Poland was given the city of Danzig in Germany. Poland constructing a highway connected to Danzig divided Germany and with that "Polish corridor" was formed dividing Germany.
Germany's rivers Danube and Rhine were internationalized.
Germany lost all its colonies and investments made there.
Germany's armed forces drastically reduced to 1 lakh from 11 lakhs before the war. Germany not to have war technology and warships.
With regarding compensation Germany was asked to pay $6600 million. As Germany expressed its inability, it was finally reduced to $2200 Million, which Germany could not even pay.
A separate treaty called the St. Germane treaty was signed with Austria
Under the treaty, Hungary was separated from Austria and was made into an independent country.
Austria also surrendered Bohemia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. With all that, a new country called Yugoslavia was formed.
End of the treaty, Austria lost her major portion of the territory and sizeable population.
Another separate treaty with Turkey called the "Treaty of Sevres" was concluded.
Under the treaty, England got, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Trans-Jordan as "Mandated states" (States only to be administered, not to be occupied).
Similarly, France got Syria as a "Mandated state".

The Topic for the next class:- Impact of war, World War II.