La Prima Guerra Mondiale e il contesto storico del XX secolo, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica La Prima Guerra Mondiale e il contesto storico del XX secolo e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! First World War (1914-1918): Turn of the century: ►On Queen Victoria's death, her son Edward VII (1901-10) came to the throne, starting the Edwardian Age, that saw the widespread of industrialization, the increase of population and urban areas and the extension of the transport network. ►On Edward VII's death, his son George V (1910-36) came to the throne. Life in the Georgian Age (1910-14) was characterized by country houses and tea parties in well-kept gardens. The British still thought of itself as the center of the civilized world, but WW1 put an end to the British counterpart of the Belle époque.  Why does the war break out?: Mostly, war happens because of a long period of peace and splendor, in which leaders can save many financial resources to show the world how rich and powerful they are(too much money that needs to be spent). Other causes behind WW1 are: imperialism (=desire of a nation to expand), the nationalistic pride (the feeling of being superior than the other Nations), secret alliances (Countries felt at risk and created alliances to be stronger) and technological progress (Countries needed a reason to test the new weapons – planes, submarines, machine-guns). First World War: Everything started in 1914 when the heir to the Austrian Throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo (Serbia); actually, it was just an excuse. After that, France, Russia and Britain sided with Serbia, against Austria and Germany. During the war a wave of patriotism and hatred of the Germans in Britain obligated King George V to change his German name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the English Windsor. In 1915 Italy entered the war on the side of the allies France and Britain. In 1917 Russia withdrew from WWI, because of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917-20). In 1917 the US president Woodrow Wilson understood that it was impossible for the US to remain neutral and that they were forced to pick aside, entering the war on Britain’s side sending their army to Europe. During the war over 900.000 British soldiers died and 2 million were injured. Britain fought the war mostly in the French trenches, but fighting occurred in the Middle East as well as at sea. For the first time, airplanes, submarines and chemical weapons were used. WW1 was a shock for a generation grown up with patriotic ideals and was not ready for the horrors of war (shell-shock=PTSD). The assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo was populated by Serbs and Bosnians who hated living in the Austria-Hungary territory. When the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, he is killed in his car by some bombs thrown by his assassins (at the second attempt). Austria-Hungary blames Serbia for the murder and announce the intention of war to Germany, since the 2 nations, together with Italy, made (1881) an alliance in order to protect each other in case of an invasion by France. At the same time, France, Britain and Russia formed another alliance, to which Italy joins. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary made an ultimatum to Serbia, that Serbia refused, siding with Russia. Trench war: Trench war is a type of fighting where both sides build deep trenches as a defense against the enemy, the land between the trenches was called “No Man's Land” (often covered with barbed wire and mines). This strategy was mainly used in western front, in France and by the end of 1914, trenches went from the North Sea to Belgium and France. In the trenches lived rats, lice, and frogs (in particular, rats got into the soldiers' food and ate everything, including sleeping soldiers, while the lice caused a disease called Trench Fever). Main events: ►1914: • Archduke F.F., is assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian killer; • Austria-Hungary sends an ultimatum to Serbia, which is rejected; Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia; Russia mobilizes its troops; • Germany declares war on Russia and on France, then invades Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany; • The German army is stopped before Paris by Britain and Frence (First Battle of the Marne); Germans dig in and four years of trench war begin; • Allies defeat the Germans; • The British begin a naval blockade of Germany; the Ottoman Empire declares war on the Allies. ►1915: • The Germans use submarines against Allied merchant ships; • The Allies attack the Ottoman Empire, starting a campaign that lasted eight months and was won by the Ottomans; • Bulgaria enters the war, by declaring war on Serbia. ►1916: • A Battle begins between France and Germany, it lasted until 1916 and was won by France; • The largest naval battle of the war is fought between Britain and Germany in the North Sea. ►1917: • The Russian Revolution begins: Tsar Nicholas II is removed from power; • The US enters the war, declaring war on Germany; • The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrow the Russian government; • The Russians agree to peace with the Central powers, leaving the war. ► 1918: • Germany agrees to an armistice and the fighting comes to an end. ►1919: • The Treaty of Versailles is signed by Germany and WW1 comes to an end. The Twenties and the Thirties: Vote for women and rise of the Labour party: ►During WW1, women replaced men in factories and gave their contribution to the war, and after its end began to claim their rights, such as the right to vote, that was fought for by the Suffragettes, led by Emmeline Pankhurst. They had to use to violence, since their revolts were often shut down by police or male politicians. ►In 1918, all men aged 21, and women over 30, were allowed to vote (number of voters rose from 6 to 16 millions). In 1924 the first Labour Party was created, due to the increasing number of trading unions. The Roaring Twenties: One of the most important decades in regard of social and familiar modernization. In the 20s we see the beginning of new habits such as: cigarette smoking, cinema going, a less regular attendance at church and a more free sexuality. People were obsessed in a continuous research for fun, and this changing lifestyle also influenced the family: families became smaller, both parents worked, a rise in purchasing power (=potere d’acquisto) corresponded to a reduction in the number of children; divorce also became common. Technological development + Wall Street crash and the Great depression: ►We see the introduction and evolution of new technological devices such as: telephone, electricity, motion picture, radio, automobile (Henry Ford’s assembly-line technique started a lower-price production). ►In 1929 there was a sudden crash in the American stock market, the so-called Wall Street Crash. In Britain, the economic decline of the 1920s and the W.S. CRASH contributed to the Great Depression (1929-33: over 3 million people were unemployed). The modernist revolution: Changing ideals: At the beginning of the 20th century people started to found it hard to believe in anything, whether it was religion, art, philosophy, science or progress. The first decade of the century marked the explosion of scientific progress with new discoveries and theories. 1905: Albert Einstein published the Theory of Relativity (it gave another explanation to the formation of the Universe, rather than a religious one); Robert Oppenheimer helped the creation of the first atomic bomb; Friedrich Nietzsche believed that values such as the good, the true and the beautiful were decadent (his theories were later wrongly linked with Nazism and Fascism). • Psychoanalysis: Developed by S. Freud as a treatment for hysteria and neurosis. In his studies he analyzed a new area of the human mind, the unconscious, showing that human mind is made of multiple layers, some of which are hidden; his discoveries were also used by the first writers of the century. Modernism: ► Characteristics: • breakdown of traditional genres; • fragmentation of time and place; • collapse of the traditional plot; • complex language; • reintroduction of myth (freely incorporated into modern art); • adoption of free verse; • Modernist were influenced by the movements of the beginning of the century, such as: Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism, that tried to create their own interpretation of reality. Second World War: Edward VII and George VI: When George V died (1936), was succeeded by his son, Edward VIII, that abdicated after only 10 months in order to marry an American divorcee, Mrs. Wallis Simpson; he was succeeded by his brother, George VI (1936-52), who ruled Britain in the difficult years of World War II. Towards WW2: