1. The Russian Revolution
The Treaty of Versailles
Worldwide Depression
The Rise of Nazism

2.  Before 1917, Russia was an
autocracy; ruled by a Czar who
had absolute power. The last of
the Czars was Nicholas II.
 During WWI, Russia did not do
well. Millions of people were
killed, wounded or missing.
 Citizens did not have enough
food.
 Soldiers did not have enough
clothes, shoes, or weapons.
 The Czar ignored the signs that
people were unhappy and saw no
need to change things.

3.  Inearly 1917, there were riots in the streets.
 Women, factory workers, and farmers
shouting for change outnumbered the
police.
 Russia pulled its military out of WWI to deal
with the escalating issues at home.
 The military could not keep the peace.
 Many in the Czar’s army turned against the
rulers and the Czar and his family were
captured.

5. A government was set up to try to run the
country.
 However, there were too many problems.
 Later in the year, there was another
revolution. Communist led by Lenin took
control.
 The Czar and his family were executed and
Lenin renamed the country the Soviet Union.
 The new Soviet Union signed a peace treaty
with Germany and gave up a large amount
of land that was good for farming with many
natural resources.

7.  Britain : 750,000 soldiers killed; 1,500,000 wounded
France : 1,400,000 soldiers killed; 2,500,000 wounded
Belgium : 50,000 soldiers killed
Italy : 600,000 soldiers killed
Russia : 1,700,000 soldiers killed
America : 116,000 soldiers killed
 Those who had fought against the Allies suffered heavy
casualties as well:
 Germany : 2,000,000 soldiers killed
Austria-Hungary : 1,200,000 soldiers killed
Turkey : 325,000 soldiers killed
Bulgaria : 100,000 soldiers killed

8.  Vast areas of north-
eastern Europe had
been reduced to
rubble.
 Flanders in Belgium
had been all but
destroyed with the
ancient city of Ypres
being devastated.
 The homes of 750,000
French people were
destroyed and the
infrastructure of this
region had also been
severely damaged.
 Roads, coal mines,
telegraph poles had
all been destroyed
and such a loss
greatly hindered the
area's ability to
function normally.

9.  The victors from World War One were in
no mood to be charitable to the defeated
nations and Germany in particular was
held responsible for the war and its
consequences.
 During mid-1918, Europe was hit by
Spanish flu and an estimated 25 million
people died. This added to the feeling of
bitterness that ran through Europe and
this anger was primarily directed at
Germany.

10.  At the end of WWI, leaders from the countries
involved in the war met in Paris, France at the
Versailles ( pronounced Ver-sai) Palace to write
the treaty.
 The Treaty of Versailles explained what the
winners would gain and what the losers would
lose.

11.  Many of the winning countries blamed
Germany for the war and they wanted
Germans to be punished severely.
 France and Great Britain wanted to make
sure that Germany could not attack them
again.
 Their goal was to make Germany a weak
country.
 On a positive note: A League of Nation
was created to keep world peace.

12.  Germany lost important territory,
including lands rich in natural resources.
 Germany lost all of its colonies.
 The Emperor Wilhelm II was put on trial
for war crimes.
 Germany had to reduce the size of their
army and navy.
 Germany had to pay a large sum of
money to be used to help the civilians
who lost property because of the war.

14.  After WWI, most countries in the world
began to prosper. Americans enjoyed a
time called “The Roaring Twenties”.
 People felt good about the economy.
They believed that they had a change to
do well.
 In 1929, the good times ended.

16.  In the fall of 1929, the United
States experienced a stock
market crash.
 The value of stocks people held in
the companies began a quick and
steep drop.
 Stockholders realized that they
were in danger of losing
everything they owned. They
began to sell their stocks as fast
as they could.
 Since there were more sellers
than buyers, the prices continued
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17.  Businesses found they could no longer
sell their goods because people had less
money to spend.
 The businesses could not pay their debts
and they had to close. This meant that
workers lost their jobs.
 These events happened so quickly that a
panic occurred.

18.  People tried to get to their banks to get
their money and they tried to sell their
stocks for any amount they could get.
 Panic selling and a “run on the banks”
caused the economy of the United States
come to a halt.
 Farmers who could not get money to pay
their loans lost their farms.

19.  Businesses around the world traded with
America.
 When the United States stopped buying
goods, it hurt businesses in other countries.
 When U.S. banks closed, banks in other
countries were hurt too.
 Stockholders in other countries began to
sell their stocks for low prices. They could
not sell their stocks in American companies
for any price.

20.  What followed was called a worldwide
economic depression.
 As businesses and factories closed one
by one, buying and selling almost
stopped.
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22.  Germany faced many problems after
WWI. It had lost lands that contained
valuable natural resources.
 About 2 ½ million Germans had lost their
lives. About 4 million were wounded.
 The industry and farms in the country
had been destroyed. Highways, bridges,
and railroads had to be rebuilt.

23.  The German government worked to solve
the country’s problems. However, they
country had another obstacles.
 It had to pay back the Allied countries for
the war. Millions of dollars were leaving
Germany for France and Great Britain.
 Germany was forbidden to have a large
army or navy so many military people
lost their jobs.

24.  Prices went up as goods became scarce.
Basic items such as food and clothing
were not always available.
 Men had trouble finding jobs to support
their families.
 As things got worse, people blamed the
government. They wanted their leaders
to find solutions to their problems.

25.  Then, the stock market crashed in the
United States.
 This made conditions worse for Germans.
 Businesses and people around the world
stopped buying as much.
 They were worried about losing their
money.
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26.  Adolf Hitler came on the scene with a big
plan.
 He and his followers, called the National
Socialist or Nazi Party said they could fix the
problems in Germany.
 They blamed the Treaty of Versailles for
many of the problems.
 They also said that Jews in the country were
controlling the banks and money.
 They blamed the Jews for the fact that many
Germans were not able to make a good
living.

27.  Hitler was named
Chancellor of
Germany in 1933.
 He made sure that
laws were quickly
passed to give
him more power.
 Soon he had
complete control
of the
government.
 He had the power
of a dictator.

28.  He and the Nazis began to work to
rebuild Germany’s military.
 He opened factories to build weapons.
 He put unemployed people to work
building a superior highway system.
 The economy improved for a time, but
people lost many of their civil rights.

29.  The Nazis continued to build their military power.
 Germans who spoke against them were put in
prison or murdered.
 As Hitler’s strength grew, he made plans to go to
war.
 In 1936, Hitler sent troops into some of
Germany’s former territory.
 By 1938, German troops controlled Austria and
Czechoslovakia.

30.  Other European countries protested, but
did nothing to stop Hitler.
 In 1939, Germany invaded Poland.
 With that, France and Great Britain
decided something must be done.
 They declared war on Germany, and
World War II began.