1. The Home Front: The Impact of Total War
Total War: the complete mobilization of a nation’s resources and people
War impacted lives of each member of society
Industrialized war: workers, supplies = troops
Governments took increased control
Conscription used to build massive armies
Freedom of speech restricted in times of war
Free markets gave way to planned economies
The manipulation of public opinion
Authoritarian regimes used force to fight unrest
Propaganda used to win over hearts & minds
Total war meant opportunities for women
Employed at jobs once thought beyond them
Paved way for post-war women’s suffrage mov’t

6. The Treaty of Versailles: A Lasting Peace?
Paris Peace Conference began Jan, 1919
Delegates of victorious nations (except Russia)
US Prez Wilson touted his Fourteen Points plan
Open diplomacy, arms reduction, self-determination
Britain and France entered meetings wanting revenge and to keep Germany weak
Germany signed Treaty of Versailles
Germans considered it a harsh peace settlement
Article 231 “War Guilt Clause”: Germany started it
Germans forced to pay reparations for damages
Limited size & location of German army & navy
Lost territory, including prized Alsace & Lorraine
Map of Eastern Europe redrawn by nationalism
Imposed democratic regimes in former kingdoms
League of Nations designed to prevent WWII
Nations could use diplomacy to settle disputes
The need for security on the Continent led France to support a buffer soon of new nations between Russia and Germany, carved out of the former Austrian Empire. German territory along the French border was demilitarized out of same concern for protection.

7. Lenin and the Russian Revolution
Absolutist Russia led by Czar Nicholas II
Despite his complete lack of training, czar insisted on leading Russian military effort
Woefully ill-equipped army lacked weaponry
Public lost confidence in royal leadership
Odd story of Czarista Alexandra & Rasputin
Demonstrators in Petrograd protest breadlines
March Revolution: czar forced to step down, shot
Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party
Russian Marxists dedicated to violent revolution
Lenin: controlling “soviets” key to taking power
October (1918) Revolution: Bolsheviks marched on St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace, seized power
Bolsheviks renamed Communists, survived internal & external attacks to create USSR
This Soviet propaganda poster reads “Lenin Lived, Lenin Lives, Lenin Will Live”, suggesting the lasting legacy of Lenin among the Soviet people.

8. Economic Hardships: From Bad to Worse
1920s: Uneasy Peace & Uncertain Security
League of Nations left weak without USA
Congress refused to approve Treaty of Versailles
Remaining members mixed about use of force
Germany unable to pay reparations to France
Led to French occupation of industrial Ruhr Valley
Inflation crippled German economy, democracy
Dawes Plan introduced to settle economic dispute; American help/loans to Germany
1929: Great Depression erodes economies
Caused by economic downturn in individual national economies, international financial crisis
Prices fell rapidly due to overproduction
Underconsumption due to falling wages
US investors had been propping up European economies, much of that capital lost in Crash
Extreme unemployment led to growing tensions, criticism of the democracy & free-market system
The chart above demonstrates the tremendous inflation that crippled the Germany economy in the years following the Treaty of Versailles.