Russian Revolution and the World Wars

The 20th century was shaped by these three upheavals. NDA tests dates, causes, key persons, and outcomes.

Russian Revolution (1917)

• Causes:
  • Autocratic Tsarist regime (Nicholas II).
  • Defeats in WW1; high casualties.
  • Severe famine and economic collapse.
  • Marxist-Leninist ideology growing.
  • 1905 Revolution (failed) had created October Manifesto and Duma — but Tsar reasserted power.
• February Revolution (March 1917 in Gregorian calendar): Tsar Nicholas II abdicated. Provisional Government formed under Prince Lvov, later Alexander Kerensky.
• April Theses: Lenin returned from exile; demanded "All power to the Soviets."
• October Revolution (November 1917 in Gregorian): Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky seized power in Petrograd. Storming of Winter Palace.
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Mar 1918): Russia withdrew from WW1; ceded territory to Germany.
• Russian Civil War (1918-21): Reds (Bolsheviks) vs Whites (anti-Bolshevik coalition, supported by Britain, France, USA, Japan). Reds won.
• USSR established 30 December 1922.
• Lenin died 1924. Stalin emerged as leader by 1928.

First World War (1914-1918)

• Trigger: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip (Serbian nationalist), 28 June 1914.
• Sides:
  • Allies: France, Britain, Russia (till 1917), Italy (from 1915), Japan, USA (from 1917).
  • Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria.
• Key fronts: Western Front (France-Belgium, mostly trench warfare). Eastern Front. Italian Front. Ottoman Front (Gallipoli).
• Russia exited (Mar 1918, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). USA entered (April 1917 after Lusitania sinking and Zimmermann Telegram).
• Armistice: 11 November 1918 (now Armistice Day).
• Treaty of Versailles (June 1919): Germany blamed for the war ("War Guilt Clause"). Heavy reparations. Lost territories. Demilitarised Rhineland. Restricted army.
• League of Nations (1920): Wilson's brainchild. Without USA (rejected by Senate). Failed in 1930s.
• Casualties: ~16 million dead.

Inter-War Period (1919-1939)

• Great Depression (1929): Wall Street Crash → world economic collapse.
• Rise of Fascism: Mussolini (Italy, 1922), Hitler (Germany, 1933).
• Spanish Civil War (1936-39): Franco's nationalists defeated republicans; foreshadowed WW2.
• Manchurian Incident (1931): Japan invaded Manchuria.
• Munich Agreement (1938): Britain and France appeased Hitler over Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.
• Nazi-Soviet Pact (Aug 1939): Hitler and Stalin signed non-aggression pact with secret partition of Poland.

Second World War (1939-1945)

• Start: Germany invaded Poland, 1 September 1939. Britain and France declared war.
• Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan (+ Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland).
• Allies: Britain, France, Soviet Union (from June 1941, after Hitler attacked), USA (from December 1941, after Pearl Harbor), China.
• Phases:
  • 1939-40: Germany overran Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, France.
  • 1940-41: Battle of Britain (RAF saved Britain). Germany's Operation Barbarossa (Jun 1941) attacked USSR.
  • Dec 1941: Pearl Harbor — USA entered war.
  • 1942-43: Turning points — Stalingrad (USSR's victory), Midway (USA defeated Japan's navy), El Alamein (Allies in N Africa).
  • 1944: D-Day (Normandy landings, 6 June). Allied advance through France.
  • 1945: Soviets took Berlin. Hitler suicide (30 April). Germany surrendered 8 May (V-E Day). Atomic bombs on Hiroshima (6 Aug) and Nagasaki (9 Aug). Japan surrendered 15 August (V-J Day).
• Casualties: ~70-85 million dead (about 3% of world population).
• Holocaust: Nazi systematic murder of ~6 million Jews and millions of others.

United Nations and Post-War Order

• UN founded 24 October 1945. 51 founding members. India one of them.
• UN Charter signed 26 June 1945, San Francisco.
• Security Council: 5 permanent members (US, USSR, UK, France, China) + 10 elected. Veto power for permanent members.
• Bretton Woods (1944): IMF and World Bank established for post-war economic order.
• Decolonisation: Britain, France weakened by war. Indian independence (1947). Indonesia from Dutch (1949). Most of Africa by 1960s.
• Cold War (1945-1991): US vs USSR rivalry. NATO (1949) vs Warsaw Pact (1955). Berlin Wall (1961-89). Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). Korea, Vietnam wars.

NDA PYQ Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

Who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand?

Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb member of the Black Hand secret society. Killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie at Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Triggered the chain of declarations leading to WW1.

What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

Peace treaty between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers signed 3 March 1918. Russia withdrew from WW1, ceding Ukraine, Finland, Baltic states, Belarus. Annulled when Germany lost the war in November 1918.

What caused the Great Depression?

Multiple factors: Wall Street Crash (Oct 1929), banking failures, agricultural overproduction, high tariffs (Smoot-Hawley), unequal wealth distribution. By 1932, ~25% US unemployment. Recovered slowly through New Deal (1933+) and WW2 spending.

Why did the League of Nations fail?

No USA (rejected by Senate). No enforcement mechanism. Major powers ignored it (Italy invaded Ethiopia 1935; Japan invaded Manchuria 1931). Replaced by UN in 1945, which has more powers and US membership.

What was the Holocaust?

The systematic Nazi German murder of approximately 6 million Jews and millions of others (Roma, disabled people, Soviet POWs, Polish civilians, political prisoners) during WW2. Concentration camps: Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka, etc. Recognised internationally as the most monstrous mass-killing of the 20th century.

Related Topics

NDA HistoryIndustrial Revolution NDA HistoryAmerican & French Revolutions NDA HistoryPost-Independence NDAHistory — Full Syllabus