.



*Great powers in the end of the 19th century:
• USA - the strongest
•Germany (2nd world industrial area), the most powerful state in Europe, strong army, developed
economy and culture
•France – the bank of the world, 2nd strongest European state, succesful colonial politicis –
colonies in Africa and in Asia
•Great Britain – the greatest colonial power – its domain included  the greatest colony – India,…
•Austria-Hungary –cooperation with Germany, its foreign politics focused on the Balkan Peninsula
•Russia – economicaly and politicaly the weakest state among the great powers, military-political
system, absolute power of the Tsar, no political rights for citizens, social movement, expansion to
Asia – conflicts with Japan and Great Britain
•Japan – constitutional monarchy, development of industry, expansive politics
*

*



•1879 – the secret agreement was concluded between Germany and Austria-Hungary – against France and
Russia; 1882 – Italy joined this pact → Tripple  Alliance (later the Central Powers)
•1893 – Russia and France made an agreement – they both were isolated and were affraid of strong
and aggresive Germany
•1904 – so called Entente Cordial concluded between France and Great Britain (affraid of strong
Germany); 1907 – Russia + Great Britain → Tripple Entente
*

•The first conflict in Europe after 40 years
•The Balkan nations were fighting against Ottoman Empirw - occupiing them
•1912–1913 - 1st Balkan War – so called Balkan League (Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro) x
Ottoman Empire – was defeated and its European areas were liberated
•But then the former allies started to fight with each other because of dividing of the liberated
areas; Bulgaria had greatest war casualties and invested the most but the deliberated areas
(Macedonia, Thrakia) got especially Greece and Serbia → Bulgaria was dissatisfied  - military
conflict - Greece and Serbia → 2nd Balkan War – 1913
•Ottoman Empire and Romania joined Greece and Serbia and they were fighting against Bulgaria which
was defeated and lost also the areas which obtained after the 1st Balkan War
•But also Serbia was dissatisfied with the results  of the wars (Serbia was expecting enlargement
of its territory and wanted to raise Adriatic coast but instead of that Albania was formed)
•Serbia started to prepair for the new war – wanted tu unify all the southern Slavs – who were
living in Austria-Hungary
*

first_balkan_war_map.jpg Second Balkan War.JPG



•Since Crimean War (1853–1856) there was a period without a great war in Europe (only local
conflicts)
•The tensions persisted on the Balkan Peninsula (1908 – the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by
Austria-Hungary, 1912–1913 the Balkan Wars etc.)
•Pacifist movement  - peace conferences in Hague (1898 and 1907) - unsuccessful
•
•2 blocks of powers at the beginning of the war:
*- Entente (Allied Powers): Great Britain + France + Russia
*- Central Powers: Germany + Austria-Hungary + (later) Bulgaria + Turkey
•
•Italy – firstly neutral, in May 1915 joined the Entente (London Treaty - April 1915 - promised
territorial gains to Italy)
•Neutral countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Albania; USA –
neutral at the beginning of the war, entered the war in April 1917
*




•European Powers
Europe1914.gif


františek_ferdinand.jpg
•The pretext for starting the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in
Sarajevo on June 28, 1914
•July 28, 1918 – Austria-Hungary declared the war on Serbia
*

•Germany – the most agresive, wanted new colonies and wanted to expand to the Middle East
(Berlin-Baghdad railroad), also wanted to rule in the Central, Eastern and South-East Europe (with
the help of Austria-Hungary), Germany also wanted some areas in France and Belgium
•Austria-Hungary – wanted to expand into the Balkan Peninsula and defeat the Kingdom of Serbia,
which was independent, Serbia was the enemy for A-H also becauce of Bosnia and Herzegovina
•France – wanted to get back Alsace and Loraine from Germany + keep its colonial domains
•Russia – wanted Galicia (which was Austro-Hungarian province in those times), Silesia, and some
parts of Balkan Peninsula, especially around the straits between Asia and Europe - Bosphorus and
Dardanelles
•Serbia – wanted to keep its independence and to form the Balkan federation – with Croats, Slovenes
and Serbs living in Austria and Hungary
•Great Britain – wanted to keep its colonies and exclude Germany from world trade, stop its
expansion to the Middle East
•USA – wanted to defend democracy in the world and the principle of self-determination of the
nations (Woodrow Wilson)
*

qAugust – December 1914 – offensive operations
*
q1915–1916 – trench warfare
*
q1917–1918 – the era of total exhaustion
*
qMarch 1918 – November 1918 – supremacy of Allied Powers (USA entered the war in April 1917)
*

•Balkan front (Balkan Peninsula, firstly in Serbia, then in Greece)
•Western front (against France)
•Eastern front (against Russia)
•Italian front
•
•Also naval war (Pacific Ocean: Japan +  Great Britain against Germany, in the Nothern Sea – Great
Britain against Germany)
•Warfare in the colonies
*

•A-H army was not succesful in Serbia
•September 1915 – Bulgaria entered the war
•During October and November 1915: German+ A-H and Bulgarian troops occupied Serbia
•Spring 1915 – Allied Powers prepared the operation in Gallipoli against Ottoman Empire, British
troops under the command of Winston Churchill, but the operation was not successful
•Then in 1916 the Macedonian Front in Greece was opened
•Bulgarians were defeated in September 1918
*
*

•The Germans attacked France according to the so called Schlieffen Plan - designed to attack France
quickly through neutral Belgium
•Great Britain declared war on Germany because of breaking Belgic neutrality
•The German troops were stopped at the first: Battle of Marne in September 1914 – the offensive war
changed into the trench warfare
•March 1915 – Battle of Ypres – the Germans used chlorine gas – 15 thousands of men were poisoned
•From February till September 1916 – bloody battle of Verdun – 600 thousands of casualties
•From July till November 1916 the great battle of the Somme - totally 1 million casualties during
the whole battle, the new British invention was used – the tanks
•

fww0828.jpg Battle-of-the-Somme.jpg



•In the east, Russia attacked East Prussia but was defeated by German army at the series of battles
colectively known as the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914
•Already in 1914 – the Czech Company in Russian Army – Legions (originally – the Czechs living in
Russia, prisoners of war, volunteers)
•Summer 1916 – so called Brusilov offensive
•1917 – the Czechoslovak Corps in Russia – from 38,000 to 70,000
•Russians were more succesful against Austria-Hungary in Galicia (today – western Ukraine)
•Russia occupied parts of Galicia and Bukovina
•July 1917 – so called Kerensky offensive – Battle of Zborov (Galicia) – Czechoslovak Legions won
over the Austria-Hungary, the offensive was unsuccesfull for Russians
•After the Russian Revolutions the Czechoslovak Legions were fighting against bolsheviks
•

•Italy entered the war in April 1915 – Allied Powers promised to Italy Istria with Trieste,
Dalmacia and Trentino (Austro-Hungarian provinces), so Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary and
later also on Germany
•But the Italians were not very succesful, their offensives along the Isonzo River were repelled by
the Austro-Hungarians
•1917 – Battle of Caporetto – Italian troops were defeated by Austro-Hungarian army and the front
line was broken through, usage of poison gas
•During 1916 the front stabilized at Piave River till 1918 – June 1918 –  Battle of Piave River –
participation of Czechoslovak Legions
•The Austro-Hungarians were defeated in October – the Battle of Vittorio Veneto – participation of
Czechoslovak Legions again
•

•After the Russian revolutions in 1917 Russia concluded separate peace with Germany in Brest
Litevski in March 1918
•General exhaustion – of sources, armies, people in real (lack of labour power – participation of
women)
•
•April 1917 – USA declared war on Germany – originally USA persued the politics of
non-interventions, but German submarines several times attacked merchant ships and civil ships with
American passengers
•USA - never formally a member of the Allies but became a self-styled "Associated Power"
•American troops came to Europe and after the great offensive of Allied Powers in summer 1918  the
Central Powers collapsed very quickly
•3rd November 1918 Austria–Hungary sent a flag of truce to ask for an Armistice and the armistice
with A-H was signed in Vila Giusti near Padua
•11th November 1918 – armistice with Germany signed in railroad carriage near Compiègne
•At 11 a.m. on  11th November 1918 a ceasefire came into effect
•




oCasualties:
•10 million of soldiers died
•7 million of civilians died
•
•The map of Europe has changed:
•dissolution of four monarchies (Russia, Austria-Hungary, German Empire and Ottoman Empire)
•after dissolution of Austria-Hungary: constitution of 5 new states (Austrian Republic,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes)
•Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia was established, independent and unified Poland was renewed
•http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome03/index.php
•
•Economic changes:
•Development of industry (iron and steel, textiles, etc.) and technologies(armament industry,
automobiles, aircrafts …)
•Firstly the in many countries the war prosperity, later economic depresse
•Social changes:
•Social radicalism – rise of totalitarism, revaschism etc.
•Social status of women has changed(sufrage)
•Many veterans – problems with reintegration
v
*
*




•The meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I – the aim was to set the peace
terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918
•It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and
nationalities. They met, discussed various options and developed a series of treaties ("Paris Peace
Treaties") for the post-war world
•The winning powers – France, Great Britain, USA, Italy, Japan
•Other figthing states – Belgium, British dominiums, Poland, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Greece, Portugal and other non-european states
•Defeated states – Germany, Austria - Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria
•Russia was not invited to the Paris Peace Conference (bolshevik revolution and civil war in
Russia)

•The Big Four –
*David Lloyd Geroge (GB),
*Vittorio Orlando (It), George Clemencau (Fr), Woodrow Wilson (US) – from left to right
781px-Big_four.jpg

*The following treaties were prepared at the Paris Peace Conference:
•The Treaty of Versailles, 1919, 28 June 1919, (with the German Empire in Weimar Republic form)
•The Treaty of Saint-Germain, 10 September 1919, (with Austria)
•The Treaty of Neuilly, 27 November 1919, (with Bulgaria)
•The Treaty of Trianon, 4 June 1920, (with Hungary)
•The Treaty of Sèvres, 10 August 1920; subsequently revised by the Treaty of Lausanne, 24 June
1923, (with Ottoman Empire)
•After the Treaty of Versailles, treaties with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire
were signed. The negotiation of the latter treaty with the Ottoman Empire was followed by strife,
and a final peace treaty between the Allied Powers and the country that would shortly become the
Republic of Turkey was not signed until 24 July 1923, at Lausanne. Legally, the formal peace
treaties were not complete until the last, the Treaty of Lausanne, was signed. Under its terms, the
Allied forces left Constantinople on 23 August 1923.
•
*
*




•Paris Peace Conference imposed a series of peace treaties on the Central Powers officially ending
the war. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles dealt with Germany and, building on Wilson's 14th point,
brought into being the League of Nations on 28 June 1919.
•
•
*
*

•
•
*
*







•The Czech Lands were constituent part of Habsburg monarchy – no effort to destroy the monarchy
till 1917/1918
•Only a small conspiracy group – The Maffia – cooperation with South Slavs
•Emigrants – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Edvard Beneš and Milan Rastislav Štefánik – 1915 – founded The
Czechoslovak National Council in Paris
•Army in abroad – Legions (France, Italy, Russia) – during 1918 de facto recognized as the allied
army
•T. G. Masaryk travelled around Europe (Geneve, Paris, London), to Russia (summer 1917) and to the
USA – looking for the support for the idea of independent Czechoslovak state
•January 1918 – The Fourteen Points of the US President Woodrow Wilson – the self-determination of
the nations
•10th Point: The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see
safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.
•http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/President_Wilson%27s_Fourteen_Points
•January 1918 – Czech politians in A-H – demand of independence
•July 1918 – The Czechoslovak National Comitee in Prague – Karel Kramář
•October 1918 – the Emperor Charles I (1916–1918) offered the federalisation of Habsburg Monarchy
but its nations refused it
*

tgm.jpg benes_edvard2.jpg



•First Czechoslovak republic was proclaimed on 28th October 28 1918 in Prague
•Consisted of: Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia
•The first Prime Minister – Karel Kramář
•1920 – constitution - plural parliament democracy
•1920 – Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937) was elected the first President (reelected in 1925 and
1929, served till 1935), he was a philosopher and politician, very influential personality, his
wife was American – Charlotte Garrigue, their son Jan Masaryk served later as Czechoslovak Foreign
Minister
•Most important and most influential political party - Republican Party of Agricultural and
Smallholder People - Peasant party, they ussually had a Prime Minister – Antonín Švehla in 1920s,
Jan Malypetr and Milan Hodža in 1930s

•The first Czechoslovak Republic consisted of: Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Carpathian
Ruthenia (Sub-Carpathian Rus)
800px-Czechoslovakia01.png

•Foreign policy – headed by Minister Edvard Beneš from 1918 to 1935 – one of the most important
European diplomats during the interwar period, in 1936 he was elected second President of
Czechoslovakia
•1921 – Little Entente was formed – an alliance of Czechoslovakia, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and
Slovenes and Romania – against Hungary and its revanchism and against restoration of Habsburgs,
Little Entente was supported by France (1924 – Czechoslovak-French Agreement); Little Entente was
an idea of Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Edvard Beneš
•Since 1925 – economic growth, cultural development x great depression since 1930
•Since 1933 – Czechoslovakia was threatened by Nazi Germany →  Border fortification
*

•Czechoslovakia + Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes + Romania
Little_Entente.png


Hanička.jpg 800px-Boudatvrz.jpg



•National minorities – more than 3 million of ethnic Germans were living in Czech lands, they were
called Sudeten Germans
•German minority living in Sudetenland demanded autonomy from the Czech government, claiming they
were suppressed and repressed by the Czech government
•In 1935 Parliamentary elections, the newly founded Sudeten German Party under leadership of Konrad
Henlein, financed with Nazi money, won an upset victory, securing over 2/3 of the Sudeten German
vote, which worsened the diplomatic relations between the Germans and the Czechs
•Since 1937 – isolation of Czechoslovakia in internatioanl polititics
•Policy of appeasement – Great Powers did not want to risk world peace for Czechoslovakia, → 1938 -
this policy resulted in Munich Agreement
*

cr-pohranici.gif
*Sudetenland – areas inhabited by Germans in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia


•Readings:
•TUMA, Oldrich – JINDRA, Jiri (eds.): Czechoslovakia and Romania in the Versailles System. Prague
2006.
•LUKES, Igor: Czechoslovakia Between Stalin and Hitler: The Diplomacy of Edvard Beneš in the 1930s.
New York1996.
•LUKES, Igor – GOLSTEIN, Erich (eds.): The Munich Crisis, 1938: Prelude to WWII. London 1999.
*
*
*
*
*

•Strong revolutionary wave
•Bavaria – Bavarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed in October, defeated in April 1919
•1919 – first elections (winner Social Democratic Party)
•1919 – 1933 – Weimar Republic, parliamentary republic, federation of 16 states
•First President – Friedrich Ebert (Social Democratic Party)
•Serious problems – economical crisis, reparations, restrictions of the area, lost of the colonies,
restrictions of army, navy and air force
•March 1920 – right wing monarchistic Kapp Putsch
•1923 – the new government – Prime Minister (Chancellor) Gustav Stresemann – stabilization of
Golden mark, succesful foreign policy
•1923 – suppression of Hitler-Ludendorff Putsch in Munich, Adolf Hitler was arrested and wrote his
programme book Mein Kampf, his political party NSDAP was banned
•1925 – second President became Paul von Hindenburg
*

weimar-republic-and-the-polish-issue.jpg



•Since 1929 – Great Depression – in Germany very serious effects (1932 – unemployment was 44,5 %),
the growth of extreme nationalism and revanchism
•1932 – NSDAP won the elections, 1933 – Adolf Hitler became a Chancellor
•1934 – Adolf Hitler became a Führer – the head of the state
•1935 – Nüremberg laws – anti-Semitism, the Jews excluded from political, economical and public
life, had to wear a yellow star
•1935 – Germany introduced general military service
•1936 – Germany occupied de-militarized zone in Rheinland
*→ Both were breaching of Versailles Peace Treaty and of Rhineland Pact but only formal prostest of
great powers
•1936 – pact with Italy – Berlin - Rome Axis
•1936 – Anti-Comimmntern Pact – with Japan
•November 9–10, 1938: Crystal Night – pogrom against Jews
*

adolf-hitler.jpg 101PaulHindenburg_II.jpg



•Readings:
•KAES, Anton – JAY, Martin – DIMENDBERG, Edward, (eds.): The Weimar Republic sourcebook. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1994.
•http://books.google.cz/books?id=J4A1gt4-VCsC&printsec=frontcover&hl=cs&source=gbs_ViewAPI&redir_es
c=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
*
*
*

•1919–1934: Republic of Austria, first Chacellor Ignaz Siepel, Austria's government was dominated
by the Christian Social Party
•Country was unstable, economical consequences of the war
•Many paramilitary forces had been formed during the early 1920s  - the clash between right-wing
and left-wing paramilitary forces is known as July Revolt of 1927
•1932 – authoritarian regime of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, austrofascism, E. Dollfuss was
assassinated by Nazi agent who attempted coup d'état in 1934 – July Putch
•New Chancellor – Kurt Schuschnigg – effort to keep Austria´s independence
•1938 – Anschluss: 11th March – German troops crossed Austrian frontiers and Austria was occupied
by Germany
*
*

•The official proclamation of Democratic Republic on November 16 1918, Mihály Károlyi was named as
the republic's Prime Minister
•Area of Hungary was of only one third of pre-war Hungary – dissatisfaction, attpemts to restore
the Great Hungary
•Rapid rise of power of Hungarian Communist Party: Hungarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed on 21st
March 1919 – attpemt to restore the Great Hungary, the head of this republic was Béla Kun,
Hungarian communists wanted to connect with Soviet Russia
•Czechoslovakia and Romania were threatened by Hungarian demands → their armies attacked Hungary
and the Hungarian Soviet Republic was defeated
•New Government – fascist party of Admiral Miklós Horthy
•1920 –  monarchy was restored in Hungary – Miklós Horthy regent
•1921–1931 –  Prime Minister was István Bethlen (till 1931)
*

•Former Emperor of A-H, Charles IV, unsuccessfully attempted to retake Hungary's throne in March
1921
•Hungary's signing of the Treaty of Trianon on 4th June 1920, ratified the country's dismemberment,
limited the size of its armed forces, and required reparations payments
•1920s – the white terror - led to the imprisonment, torture, and execution without trial of
communists, socialists, Jews, leftist intellectuals, sympathizers with the Károlyi and Kun regimes,
and others who threatened the traditional Hungarian political order that the officers sought to
reestablish
•1932–1936: Prime Minister was Guyla Gömbös - the radical right's ascendancy in Hungarian politics
•1939 – Arrow Cross Party (Hungarian Equivalent of Nazi Party) won the elections
•1940 – Hungary joined Tripartite Pact (Germany, Italy and Japan)
*

04.jpg



•Republic of Poland reestablished in 1918
•Several regional conflicts: 1918 – 1919 – Polish – Ukrainian War and border conflicts with
Czechoslovakia - Juanuary 1919 – Seven day war broke out → new demarcation line – the western part
of the disputed territory was given to Czechoslovakia while Poland received the eastern part
•1919 – 1921: Polish-Soviet War – Poland attacked Russia – they wanted to use Russian civil war to
ensure their eastern borders, but later Soviet counteroffensive – they wanted to establish Soviet
Republic in Poland; August 1920 – the battle of Warsaw - the Soviet troops were defeated → Peace
Treaty of Riga – Poland got parts of Belarus and Ukraine
•1922 – annexation of Vilnius Region from Lithuania







•May 1926 – Coup d´État – Marshall Jozef Piłsudski, he became most influential politician in Poland
and became its de facto a dictator till his death in 1935
•1932 – Non-agression pact with Soviet Union
•October 1938: annexation of Zaolzie, Górna Orawa, Jaworzyna from Czechoslovakia
•31st March1939: military guarantees from United Kingdom and France
•23rd August 1939: non-aggression pact between Soviet Union and Germany: Ribbentrop-Molotow Pact
with a secret military alliance protocol targeting Poland
•1st September – 6th October 1939: Invasion of Poland
*

Polska-ww1-nation.png