Imperialism, World

War, and
Revolution

I. Imperialism
A. Old Imperialism and the
New Imperialism
1. Old Imperialism
a. European powers had
practiced a form of imperialism
between the 16th and 17th
centuries. During this period,
Portugal, the Dutch Republic,
and England built trading-post
empires along the coasts of
Africa, India, and Indonesia.
b. The New World was a
notable exception to this
pattern. Spain established an
enormous empire in Central and
South America while England
colonized the east coast of North
America.

2. New Imperialism
a. Beginning in 1870,
European nations exercised
increasing economic and
political control over Africa and
Asia. No longer content to trade
with other peoples, European
nations now aimed to directly
rule vast regions of the world.
b. The imperialist
powers seized control over
some areas such as German
East Africa and French
Indochina. In other areas, they
established protectorates where
the dependent country had its
own government but was still
subject to the authority of the
imperial power. And finally, the
great powers established
spheres of influence over large
parts of China.

B. Motives for the New Imperialism

1. Industrialists searched for new sources of raw
materials and and new markets for their finished goods.
2. Militarists and nationalists sought power and
prestige.
3. Social Darwinists believed that strong nations
had a natural right to dominate weaker peoples.
4. Missionaries believed that Europeans had a
duty to undertake a civilizing mission to bring
Christianity and the blessings of advanced technology to
less fortunate people.

C. The Scramble for Africa

1. The most aggressive example of the
imperialism took place in Africa.
2. The so-called Scramble for Africa became
so frenetic and rapacious that Otto von Bismarck
called for an international conference at Berlin. The
14 nations that attended the 1885 Berlin Conference
established rules for dividing Africa.
3. Led by Great Britain, France, and Germany,
the European powers successfully partitioned almost
the entire continent of Africa. Only Liberia and
Abyssinia (Ethiopia) remained independent.

D. Consequences of the New

Imperialism
1. Damaged and sometimes
destroyed native cultures.
2. Created a global economy.
3. Intensified European rivalries.

II. The March to War

A. Germany and the New Balance of Power
1. Germanys industrial capacity, population, and
military power all dramatically increased. In 1900, Germany
produced more steel than Great Britain and France
combined. Germanys population increased from 41 million
in 1871 to 64 million in 1910. In contrast, France had just 40
million people in 1910.
2. European leaders from Cardinal Richelieu to Prince
Klemens von Metternich had feared a united Germany. Their
fears now became a reality. As Germanys power surged, its
leaders demanded respect and a new place in the sun.

B. Bismarcks
Network of Alliances
1. The French
were humiliated by
their defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War
and embittered by their
lose of Alsace-Lorraine.
2. In an attempt
to isolate France,
Bismarck formed a
military alliance with
Austria-Hungary in
1879. Three years later,
Italy joined these two
countries, thus forming
the Triple Alliance.
3. In 1887,
Bismarck took yet
another ally away from
France by signing a
treaty with Russia.

C. William IIs Aggressive Policies

1. In 1890, Kaiser William II forced
Bismarck to resign.
2. William II promptly set Germany
on a new course by letting the treaty of
friendship with Russia lapse.
3. William II then challenged
Britains long-standing naval supremacy
by embarking on an expensive program of
naval expansion that poisoned relations
between the two countries.

D. The Formation of the

Triple Entente
1. France immediately
offered Russia financial
investments and diplomatic
friendship with Russia lapse.
The two nations signed a
Franco-Russian Alliance in
1894.
2. Alarmed by
Germanys growing naval
power, Britain abandoned its
policy of splendid
isolation. In 1904, Britain
concluded a series of
agreements with France
collectively called the
Entente Cordiale. With
French support, the British
concluded a similar
agreement with Russia, thus
forming the Triple Entente.

3. Germany tested the Anglo-French treaty

by challenging Frances plan to dominate Morocco.
However, Germanys belligerent actions only
served to draw Britain and France closer together.
4. Two rival alliances now confronted each
other. A dispute between any two powers could
easily escalate into a major war.

E. The Balkan
Powder Keg
1. As the
power of the
Ottoman Empire
receded, the
Balkan Peninsula
became a powder
keg of competing
interests.
2. With the
exception of the
Greeks and the
Romanians, most
of the Balkan
population spoke
the same Slavic
language. Many

3. Bismarck recognized the potential danger of

nationalist aspirations in the Balkans. At the 1878
Congress of Berlin, he tried to reduce tensions by
supporting Serbian Independence and AustriaHungarys right to occupy and administer Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
4. The newly independent nation of Serbia quickly
became the leader of the Pan-Slavic movement. Serbian
leaders hoped to unite the Slavs in the same way
Piedmont had united the Italians and Prussia the
Germans.
5. Austria felt threatened by the growth of Slavic
nationalism within its borders and across the Balkans.
In 1908, the Austrians enraged the Serbs by annexing
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
6. Serbian nationalism threatened Austria and at
the same time, it offered Slavic Russia an opportunity to
advance its interests in the Balkans.
7. Russia and Austria-Hungary were thus on a
collision course in the Balkans. As one Balkan crisis
followed another, Europe tottered on the brink of war.

F. The Outbreak of War

1. On June 28,1914, a 19-year-old
Slav nationalist, Gavrilo Princip,
assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
the heir to the Austrian throne.
2. the assassination set in motion
a series of events that plunged Europe
into war. In August1914, millions of
soldiers marched off to battle, convinced
the war would be over in a few weeks.
*** AP European textbooks devote
lengthy discussions to the complex
sequence of events that led to the
outbreak of WWI. Interestingly, AP Euro
test writers devote very few multiplechoice test questions to this topic. Dont
become bogged down trying to memorize
the details of the Balkan Wars and the
exchange of ultimatums between the
Great Powers. Devote the majority of
your time to studying the consequences
of WWI for the home front, for Russia,
and for postwar Europe.

III. The War in the West

A. The Schlieffen Plan
1. Germany faced the daunting task of simultaneously
fighting France on its western border and Russia along a lengthy
eastern front.
2. In order to prevent a two-front war, General Alfred von
Schlieffen drew up a master plan calling for an all-out attack
against France. The Schlieffen Plan gambled that France could be
knocked out of the war before Russia had a chance to fully
mobilize its forces.
3. A lightening attack on France meant invading neutral
Belgium.
4. Germanys attack on Belgium outraged Britain. On
August 4, 1914, Britain declared war on Germany.

B. Stalemate
1. The Schlieffen Plan narrowly failed, making quick
victory impossible.
2. Both sides now constructed an elaborate system
of trenches stretching more than 600 miles from the
English Channel to the Swiss border.
3. Trench warfare produced a stalemate that lasted
about four years and claimed unprecedented casualties.

C. The Home Front

1. Total War
a. When it became clear that the
war would not be over quickly, governments
mobilized all human and industrial resources
in order to wage total war.
b. Governments tightly controlled
the news and used propaganda to rally public
morale and hatred of the enemy.
2. The role of women
a. As more and more men went to
war, millions of women replaced them in
factories, offices, and shops. WWI marked the
first time that the employment of women was
essential to a sustained war effort.
b. In the decade prior to WWI,
British women led by Emmeline Pankhurst
waged an aggressive campaign for womens

D. All Quiet on the Western Front

1. All Quiet on the Western Front is a
war novel written by Erich Maria Remarque,
a German veteran of WWI.
2. Remarque vividly described the
senseless slaughter and suffering endured
by soldiers on the Western Front.

IV. The Russian Revolution

A. The End of Romanov Rule
1. The poorly equipped Russian army was no match for the
German war machine. By 1917, more than 7 million Russian
soldiers had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.
2. Nicholas II proved to be an inept ruler. As battlefield
losses mounted and shortages of food worsened, Nicholas moved
his headquarters to the front in a futile attempt to rally his
troops.
3. In early 1917, food shortages in Petrograd (formerly St.
Petersburg) led to spontaneous demonstrations and strikes.
4. Nicholas ordered his troops to restore order, but the
soldiers refused and instead supported the demonstrators. On
March 12, 1917, Nicholas II abdicated, ending three centuries of
Romanov rule.

B. The Provisional Government

1. The provisional Government led by Alexander
Kerensky replaced the tsar.
2. Despite mounting losses, the provisional
government continued the war against Germany. This
fateful decision to pursue an unpopular war weakened the
provisional government and played a key role in its demise.
C. Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution
1. While the Russian army was falling apart, the
Germans helped Lenin return to Petrograd. Lenin arrived at
the Finland Station on April 3, 1917, and promptly urged
his followers to overthrow the provisional government.

2. Lenins key ideas

a. Lenin denounced gradual reform, arguing
that capitalism could only be destroyed by class
conflict.
b. Lenin insisted that a communist revolution
was possible in a non industrialized country such as
Russia.
c. Lenin argued that Russias relatively small
working class could not develop a revolutionary class
consciousness. Instead, leadership would have to
come from a highly disciplined group of professional
revolutionaries.
3. Lenins slogan of Peace, Land, and Bread
captured the popular imagination and enabled the
Bolsheviks to win widespread popular support.
4. Lenin sensed that it was time to act. History
will not forgive us, Lenin wrote, if we do not seize
power now. On the night of November 6, 1917, the
Bolsheviks occupied most government buildings. The
next day Lenin proclaimed establishment of a new
Bolshevik government.

D. The Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk
1. Lenin
realized that the
survival of the
Bolshevik regime
depended upon
ending the war with
Germany.
2. In March
1918, the Bolsheviks
reluctantly agreed to
the Treaty of BrestLitovsk. Under the
terms of the treaty,
Russia lost a quarter
of its European
territory and a third

E. Civil War
1. By the summer of 1918,
several White armies attempted
to overthrow the Bolsheviks.
2. Led by Leon Trotsky, the
Bolsheviks responded by forming a
highly disciplined Red Army.
3. The civil war between the
Whites and the Reds lasted from
1918 to 1920. The divided and
poorly led Whites lost to the better
organized Red Army.
*** Lenins pivotal role in the
Russian Revolution has generated a
significant number of multiplechoice questions on the AP EURO
exam. Be sure to study Lenins key
ideas. It is interesting to compare
Lenins decisive leadership with the
weakness and vacillation of Tsar
Nicholas II and Alexander Kerensky.

V. The Peace Settlement

A. The End of World War I
1. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk enabled the Germans
to transfer divisions from the east to help launch a great
spring offensive.
2. Reinforced by newly arrived American troops,
the British and French halted the German offensive.
3. Realizing that defeat was imminent, William II
abdicated his throne and Germany became a republic.
Two days later on November 11, 1918, WWI came to an
end.

B. The Fourteen Points

1. President Woodrow Wilson
became the spokesman for a just and
lasting peace.
2. Wilsons Fourteen Points
included a call for the following:
a. Open diplomacy
b. Freedom of the seas
c. Reduction of national
armaments
d. Return of the AlsaceLorraine to France
e. A free and independent
Poland with access to the sea
f. National self-determination
for oppressed minorities
g. Creation of a general
association of nations to preserve
the peace and security of its members
3. Wilsons idealistic proposals
were undermined by secret treaties
and by a desire to punish Germany.

C. The Paris Peace Conference

1. Although nearly 30 countries were
represented, Great Britain, France, and the United
States made the major decisions.
2. Germany and Austria-Hungary were not
allowed to attend the conference.
3. Russia, which had suffered the greatest loss
of life, was in a civil war and was not invited to attend
the conference.

D. The Treaty of Versailles

1. Germany lost 13 percent of its land, including
Alsace-Lorraine.
2. Germanys territories in Africa and the Pacific
were given as mandates to Britain, France, and Japan.
A mandate was a territory that was administered on
behalf of the League of Nations.
3. Poland once again became an independent
nation. The new Poland received a large strip of
German land called the Polish Corridor. This strip cut
off East Prussia from the rest of Germany and gave
Poland access to the sea.
4. Germanys army was limited to 100,000 men
and forbidden to have artillery, aircraft, or
submarines.
5. The east bank of the Rhine River was to be
demilitarized, and the Allies were to have the right to
occupy the Rhineland for 15 years.
6. Germany was declared guilty of starting the
war and forced to pay huge payments called
reparations.

7. The Allies created a League of Nations to

discuss and settle disputes without resorting to war.
8. The final signing ceremony took place in the
Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, the same room in which
Bismarcks German empire had been proclaimed in
1871.

E. A New Map of Europe

1. Austria-Hungary was dissolved
and the Habsburg monarchy eliminated.
Austria and Hungary became separated
states. In addition, territories from AustriaHungary were given to the newly created
states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
2. The Serbs dominated Yugoslavia.
3. Finland and the three Baltic
states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
emerged from the tsarist empire.