Fall 2014 Part 4

WWI



World War I has been called the Great War. WWI was about a global war, which centered mostly in Europe. It started from July 28, 1914 to November 1918. The war very bloody with more than 9 million combatants being killed and 7 million civilians died as a result of the war. The large casualty rate was due to more TECHNOLOGICAL sophistication of warfare and the stalemate. It was one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history. The war was an inter-imperialist war when the ALLIEDand the Central Powers fought each other for geopolitical power in the world. The Allied Forces were based on the Triple Entente of the UK, France, the Russian Empire, and other nations. America joined the Allied forces later on after the sinking of the Lusitania. The Central Powers involved Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. The war began after decades of conflict between the Triple Entente and the Central Powers. Austria-Hungary also dealt with the former territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This angered the Kingdom of Serbia, because Serbian nationalists wanted to maintain their cultural, political powerbase in that region. The Balkan League fought the Ottoman Empire (which was weakening) in the First Balkan War from 1912 to 1913. On June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo. He was killed by the assassin Gavrilo Princip. He was part of a group of a six assassin team (whose names are Cvjetko Popović, Gavrilo Princip, Muhamed Mehmedbašić, Nedeljko Čabrinović, Trifko Grabež, Vaso Čubrilović). The Black Hand organization was involved in the assassination. Later, Austria-Hungary sends an ultimatum to Serbia. The Serbian response is seen as unsatisfactory. By July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Russia mobilizes. Germany soon declares war on Russia. On August 1, Germany and the Ottoman Empire sign a secret alliance treaty. Germany declares on France. The UK declares war on Germany on August 4, 1914. Webster Tarpley has written about King Edward VII using deception in stirring WWI into supporting UK imperial interests instead of legitimate aims. WWI was definitely started as a product of rival capitalist states competing for the world’s resources. During the War, Russia was an ally of France. The Allied Powers wanted to contain the influence of Germany in the world stage.


The interimperialist war of World War One was brutal and bloody. It was called the Great War. There was the July crisis. Russia first issued a general mobilization of its troops. They mobilized against Germany on July 30th, 1914 too. Germany responded when Germany declared a "state of danger of war." This also led to the general mobilization in Austria-Hungary on August 4. Kaiser Wilhelm II asked his cousin, Tsar Nicolas II, to suspend the Russian general mobilization. When he refused, Germany issued an ultimatum demanding the arrest of its mobilization and commitment not to support Serbia. Another was sent to France, asking her not to support Russia if it were to come to the defense of Serbia. On August 1, after the Russian response, Germany mobilized and declared war on Russia. Soon, Germany and France fought each other. Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914 as well. There was confusion among the Central Powers. Germany wanted Austro-Hungary to attack Russia while Austria Hungary wanted Germany to attack Russia. This caused the Austro-Hungarian Army to divide its forces between Russian and Serbian fronts. Austria invaded and fought the Serbian Army in the Battle of Cer and the Battle of Kolubara starting in August 12. Serbia won the Austro-Hungarian invasion of 1914. It was a huge upset. WWI involved battles in Africa and Asia as well. Trench warfare existed when people used new TECHNOLOGY like gas warfare and the tank. Tanks were first used in combat by the British during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette (part of the wider Somme offensive) on 15 September 1916, with only partial success. However, their effectiveness would grow as the war progressed; the Germans employed only small numbers of their own design, supplemented by captured Allied tanks. The Germans used chlorine gas for the first time on the Western front on April 22, 1915. In the next 2 years, WWI was almost a stalemate among all sides. The British Empire and the French suffered more casualties between 1915 and 1917, because both sides were heavily invested in trench warfare. In February 1916 the Germans attacked the French defensive positions at Verdun. Running until December 1916, the battle saw initial German gains, before French counterattacks returned matters to near their starting point. Casualties were greater for the French, but the Germans bled heavily as well, with anywhere from 700,000 to 975,000 causalities suffered between the French and the Germans.




WWI from 1915 to 1918 evolved quickly. Germany on February 4, 1915 declared a submarine blockade of Great Britain. In any ship approaching England, was considered a legitimate target. German U-Boats have targeted Allied forces. The Allies forces also battle for nine months in the area of Gallipoli in the Turkish peninsula. They did this to divide up the Central Powers and gain access to the Western front. By December 28, the Allies withdrawal troops form Gallipoli. The U-boat sinks the Lusitania in May 7, 1915, which killed 1,198 civilians including 128 Americans. Germany soon ceased to sink ships with warning, but the U.S. declared war on the Central Powers. At first President Woodrow Wilson campaigned to get America out of the war. Both sides used gas in warfare. Sir Douglas Haig becomes commander of British Expeditionary Force. The 1916 Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of the war. It was fought to a draw and both sides suffered about one million casualties. The Battle of Jutland, which was a naval engagement, saw no clear winner. In July 1 to November 18, 1916 there was the Battle of the Simme. About one million people died and it was a breakthrough for the Allies. The British introduced the tank, which was an effective weapon but far too few to make much of a difference. The Zimmerman telegram caused a stir in America. It was a telegram from Reich Foreign Secretary Zimmerman to Mexico urging Mexico to into a war against the United States (especially in the Southwest). Later, Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare on February 1, 1917. During this time, the Russian Revolution is taking place with a provisional government declared and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicating from the throne. April 6, 1917 was the time when President Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war with Imperial Germany. A draft from the Selective Service Act comes abut. Many French troops use a mutiny over conditions in the battlefield in April to June of 1917. The first wave of American Expeditionary Force comes to France in July 3, 1917. The American troops fight in trench warfare by October 23, 1917. Kerensky’s provincial government in Russia is overthrown by the Bolsheviks, who are led by Lenin. Leon Trotsky represents the new Russian government and he signs an armistice with Germany. On December 9, 1917, the British capture Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks and its Arabic allies. This signals a new era in human history. In 1918, the Great War CONTINUES. The German offensive from March 21, 1918 was stopped by late June. British and Australian troops stop the German advance near Amiens in April 25, 1918.


1918 was the year of the end of WWI. During this time, two waves of influenza spread globally. That epidemic ended in 1919. These waves killed more people than the war did. On January 8, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson declared his 14 points as the path to permanent world peace. The deal was that WWI was extremely destructive and it was a war that was not witnessed before his human history during that time. So, many people wanted to establish a policy, a program, and an organization to end all wars in general. On March 21, 1918, the Germans launched its first of five offensives. This was done before American troops were in the trenches. The German advance was stopped in late June. The Red Baron or Baron von Richtofen was killed in an air dog fight on April 22, 1918. The German advance was stooped near Amiens by British and Australian troops by April 25. German shells land on Paris in May 23, 1918. American forces stop the Germans on the banks of the Marne near Paris at Chateau-Thierry on May 31, 1918. German troops were being shipped from the Eastern to Western Front to desert in large numbers from their transport trains in July. Former Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, children, and members of his entourage were murdered by the Bolsheviks on July 16-17, 1918. President Wilson agrees to co-operate with Allies in sending volunteer troops to Russia. The Allied counter offensives finally on Somme push the Germany army back and into retreat by August 8, 1918. Allied forces break through German fortifications at the Hindenburg line on September. Then, the German sailors had done mutiny at port when they are asked to sail and fight a hopeless naval battle (on October 28). The Turks sign the armistice on October 30. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates on November 9 and a new German republic is founded the next day. At eleven o’clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the war ends as Germany and the Allies sign an armistice. American soldiers and others celebrate the end of the war. The Paris Peace Conference comes afterwards on January 18, 1919. Wilson comes to Europe. Delegates from 27 nations were assigned to 52 commissions, which held 1,646 sessions to prepare reports, with the help of many experts, on topics ranging from prisoners of war, to undersea cables, to international aviation, to responsibility for the war. Their recommendations in the conference transform into the Treaty of Versailles. The major powers (of France, Britain Italy, the U.S., and Japan) ruled the conference. Other treaties came ending by 1923 with the Treaty of Lausanne. Japan proposed a provision in the Covenant of the League of Nations to advance racial equality among nations, but it was rejected. The League of Nations was weakened and it was not strong because of many reasons. The conference divided up territories and punished Germany with huge reparations. The problems with the League of Nations, fascism rising globally, etc. set the stage for WWII.

Conclusion

The truth about this issue of domestic violence is known in plain fashion. It is obvious that Enough is Enough. If a man or anyone sees a woman or female being mistreated, then that person has the right to speak up about it and stand up for black females. We see the truth in plain view. We should always view a black woman being mistreated as equivalent to someone mistreating our mothers. We won't stand for anyone being disrespectful to our mothers and we should never stand for any other Sister being mistreated either. There has been less coverage (shown by the media) about black women being missing than white women being missing. Black women day by day do suffer discrimination, pay inequalities, sexual harassment, and other injustices. No one should ignore this issue or minimize how black women have suffered not only in America but worldwide. No woman of any color should suffer domestic violence at all. No one of any gender should be abused either. There must be a revolutionary change in the world. Black men suffer in society too in real life, but there can be no minimization of society’s treatment of black women at all. Domestic violence is a global epidemic. No one can be a revolutionary and support domestic violence. You can’t love black women if you call black women out of their names, slander black women, and believe in perverted, false stereotypes about black women. Since, we are one people; we can’t be free totally unless black women are liberated too. Black men should do more to not only defend black women, but fight back against the evils that harm both black men and black women. No gender should be mistreated at all. There is no way that we can have justice unless black women have justice too. The family of Michael Brown deserves all of the support in the world. Their courage and their motivating words of fighting for justice should inspire us all. If they want to push for body cameras for cops, then that is their right as concerned citizens who want a change in society. There is nothing wrong with body cameras on cops at all. Freedom loving people globally support the legitimate efforts of the Michael Brown family completely. Yes, WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.

We have to deal with reality. Both parties have long depended on large, corporate donations. By the late 1920’s, the top one-twentieth of one percent, which was less than 40,000 people owned 30 percent of all U.S. savings. The Great DEPRESSION came about. Since a large portion of the bourgeoisie’s wealth was maintained in stock, the crash of 1929 hurt the balance sheets of the wealthy. Four-fifths of the Rockefeller fortune disappeared. Corporate profits were $10 billion in 1929, but in 1932 there was a loss of $2.3 billion. The Rockefellers were still unimaginably wealthy. The New Deal gave a series of reforms that created a social safety net system. The reactionary capitalists denounced the New Deal. Yet, the bourgeois representatives used these reforms as a means to save capitalism in America in the midst of class struggle. There were thousands of labor strikes in the 1930’s alone. In 1934, there were more than 2,000 strikes. Among the most well-known ones were three citywide strikes in San Francisco, Toledo and Minneapolis. WWII also strengthened U.S. capitalism against its European rivals. The Cold War afterwards has shown the imperialism of the West and the horrors of Stalin’s bureaucratic rule. Immediately after WWII, unions were at their peak. The American economy reached its zenith by the 1960’s. U.S. imperialism’s defeat in Vietnam in the 1970s was both costly and embarrassing for the American rulers. The signal event of this union-busting was Ronald Reagan’s firing of the striking PATCO air traffic controllers in 1981. Last year, there were 16 percent fewer workers in unions than in 1983. Only 11.2 percent of private-sector manufacturing workers are today members of unions, which is worse than it was in the 1920s. Today, the bourgeoisie is made up of computer related industries like the robber barons of old. In American capitalism, the ruling class is heavily white while black capitalists are very small. The concessions given as a product of civil rights struggle came in response to the U.S. imperialist policies overseas. The government wanted to promote themselves as upright when they weren’t. The establishment allows the middle class and the rich of the black community to flourish while the poor has experience a widening of the income gap. True equality is not just about just treatment. It is about jobs, decent housing, and adequate schools. The working class and the poor should be the ones that can lead revolutionary change in society.



There are many protesters in Hong Kong. Many of them are fighting against the evil of neoliberalism. The protesters want free elections in 2017. The event is more than between an authoritarian state and citizens wanting to be free. Many human beings in Hong Kong want social justice and democracy. Many Hong Kong residents are angry at how Beijing is having interference in domestic affairs whether immigration from China, encroachments on the freedom of the press, and the nationalistic-propagandistic “moral and national education” program. We see that people in Hong Kong still suffer massive poverty. Inequality in Hong Kong has risen to levels among the highest in the world. According to the City University of Hong Kong professor has said, one in five people of Hong Kong live below the poverty line. Wages have not increased in line with inflation, which means that they have falling in real terms. The minimum wage, only introduced in 2010, is set at HK$28 (US$3.60) an hour – less than half of that even in the United States. There are no collective bargaining RIGHTS , no unemployment benefits and no pension. The average workweek is 49 hours – in case you thought 40 was rough. Housing prices are among the highest in the world. Even the neoliberal Economist placed Hong Kong top of its crony capitalism index by some distance. So, the people of Hong Kong have every right to voice their views and oppose neoliberalism. We know that the oligarchy found in HSBC and oligarch Li Ka-shing don’t want economic justice in Hong Kong. HSBC is one of the world’s largest accounting firms. Thousands of protesters are in central Hong Kong. The protesters want the resignation of Chief Executive Leung Chung-ying. The Chinese National People’s Congress said that the 2017 election would be restricted to candidates vetted by a nomination committee stacked with pro-Beijing appointees. We should be careful. This movement should be independent and not be part of an U.S. engineered color revolution in Hong Kong. People need freedom not neo-colonialism from the West. The good news is that these protests are not similar to the color Revolutions of Europe. The protests should disagree with the POLICE state methods of the Chinese regime and oppose any intervention by imperialism too. So, this movement must be independent and pro-poor and pro-working class. The people of Hong Kong have the right to have real democracy and not to be ruled by any colonial rulers.


 By Timothy