The Long Peace and the Big Troubles

yourworstnightmare

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The Long Peace and the Big Troubles:


Prelude: The Dangerous Years 1914-17


In June 28th 1914 the Austrian heir presumptive Franz Ferdinand survived a clumsy assassination attempt by Serb nationalists in Sarajevo, the capital of the Bosnian province of Austria- Hungary. It was one of many incidents in Europe during the dangerous years 1914-17. The European Powers were divided in two blocks. United Kingdom, France and Russia formed the Triple Entente that which was mainly aimed towards Germany. Russia was worried about Germany's growing influence, and feared German designs on the western provinces of the Russian Empire, France wanted her lost territory of Alsace- Lorraine back, and wanted to once again become the sole dominant power of Continental Western Europe. The United Kingdom saw the emerging German fleet as a threat to their domination of the sea. Germany on the other hand formed a counter alliance called the Central Powers consisting of Germany, Austria- Hungary and Italy. However this alliance was much less stable. While German- Austrian and German- Italian relations were good, Italy and Austria considered each other rivals. Italy wanted Italian speaking territories in Austria- Hungary like Trento and Gorizia to become parts of the Italian nation. Austria on the other hand worried about the Russian supported states on the Balkans, especially Serbia, but also to a degree Romania. Both nations had territorial claims on the Habsburg Dual Monarchy, and Serbia had both Russian and French support. If Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been assassinated that day during the summer of 1914 the very powder keg that was Europe in the mid 1910s could have exploded.


To be honest the nations of Europe really wanted war. The military wanted to test the new advancements in weaponry that had been developed, and all believed they were eons before their neighbors in military technology research. The industrialists were worried about the rising threat of Socialism, and thought the workers needed patriotism and discipline, to remedy the Socialist illness. The old aristocracy wanted glorious battles and sweet victory and thought the world had been in peace far too long. The Germans officers thought they could beat both Russia and France in a couple of months if war broke out, while the French were sure they had learned their lessons from the Franco- Prussian war and could easily beat the Germans if opportunity came. It is actually really surprising the war never came.


Further incidents that nearly started a serious conflict were the Papua incident of March 1915 and the Gorizia incident of September 1915. The Papua incident was the result of dissatisfaction in Australia, esepcially in Queensland that the Australians only controlled the small territory of Papua on the island of New Guinea, and especially the German protectorate of German New Guinea north of the Australian part was disliked. In the minds of many Queenslanders, the German presence on New Guinea was a threat to their economic interests, and the whole eastern part of the island of New Guinea should be Australian. In early March 1915 an armed band of Queenslanders attacked the German wireless station of Bita Paka on the island of New Britain, a station the Queenslanders claimed was used to harass Australian trade. The assault failed of course, but many of the involved fled back to Queensland and Australian authorities declined to hand them over to the Germans. Berlin was furious, London shocked, but in the end none of them decided to take the issue further. Both London and Canberra condemned the attack and arrested the men who had fled back to Australia. Even if they were not handed over to the Germans, Berlin decided to let the issue rest after all of the attackers were behind bars. Of course at the time that happened Berlin had a much larger crisis on hand.


In September 17th 1915 the Italian daredevil and poet Gabriele d'Annuzio had together with a band of irregulars marched into the city of Gorizia on the Austrian side of the border and agitated the local population to rise up in a revolt against the Habsburg monarchy. D'Annuzio hoped he could get support from the Italian government, and when news of his adventure reached Italy many Italians cheered and considered him a hero. After the Austrian army had taken control of Gorizia, which alrady happened in September 22nd, and the city was placed under martial law and d'Annuzio and his followers arrested, the Italian government under the Conservative Prime Minister Antonio Salandra felt compelled by popular outcry to mobilize the Italian military and have it march to the Austrian border. In a note Italy demanded the release of d'Annuzio and his followers, but the Austrians refused even to discuss the matter. The Austrian government realized that this could set a dangerous example in a multi ethnic empire, and that all troublemakers had to be severely punished. Negotiating with Italy would only cause more people to follow d'Annuzio's example. The situation seemed to get out of hand, and Austria issued general mobilization. For Germany this was a disaster. The German alliance system was falling apart in front of them. The German Foreign Minister Gottlieb von Jagow had been sure Austria and Italy would not go to war while both allied to Germany quickly telegraphed Rome and Vienna to try to sort out the crisis. When it became clear in Rome that Germany would throw their support behind Austria if a war broke out, Salandra felt compelled to back down. This also resulted in his government collapsing and a new Giolitti government being formed. Even though war was avoided, the German alliance system was broken. In November 1915 Italy declared that they considered all their alliances with Austria and Germany being null and void and in January 1916 at a ceremony in Paris, Italy signed an agreement to join the Entente. The balance of power was changed, but war was avoided.


In 1917 however most Europeans were tired of the tensions. The demands of the working class in Western Europe as well as the demand for general reforms in Austria, Germany and Russia forced the European Great Powers to focus on internal policies. Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic, the 28th president of the United States; Woodrow Wilson sought a legacy. He had barely been able to secure reelection in the 1916 elections, but was mostly known for the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, something he was generally disliked for. The Republicans considered him a weakling for not taking a stronger stance against Mexico after the failed Pershing expedition 1916-17, while the left wing of the Democrats lead by William Jennings Bryan considered him a lackey of the bankers on Wall Street. Wilson was looking for something positive to define his second term, when he got an idea from one of his strongest political opponents. It was former president Theodore Roosevelt that first proposed that the US could play a role in diffusing tensions in Europe. Wilson took the bait and proposed a Conference for Peace and Cooperation to be held in Washington DC with the leaders of the European Great Powers. But the problem Wilson faced was that this could be considered a break of the Monroe doctrine that secured US isolationism, which was considered a Bible for foreign relations. Any signs of changing it would be opposed by both Democrats and Republicans and would be disliked by the public. Wilson was able to twist the question and declared a conference for peace was the only way to save the Monroe doctrine. If war started in Europe the US would be under threat. The Republicans of course didn't buy it, and a group lead by the senator from Ohio Warren G. Harding publicly criticized Wilson for breaking the Monroe Doctrine. But ultimately Wilson's standpoint prevailed. The left wing of the Democrats followed William Jennings Bryan, who endorsed anything that could lead to peaceful relations, even though he also had his doubts. In November 10th-19th 1917 Wilson hosted a Conference for the leaders of Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Austria and Russia, and to probably everyone's amazement all these countries sent high ranking officials, but everyone was also ready to talk. Britain was represented by the Foreign Secretary sir Edward Grey, Germany by Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann, France by Prime Minister Aristide Briand, Italy by Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti, Russia by Foregin Minister Boris Stürmer and Austria by the new emperor Franz Ferdiand I. The document, the so called Document for Peace and Cooperation was hailed as the “achievement of a life time”. The European Great Powers promised to respect each other's borders, decrease mobilization and disarm parts of their military. The famous words “No war in our time” was issued of Wilson when he showed of the signed document to journalists. Wilson had got his great achievement and the European Powers an excuse to shift focus to internal matters. The easement of tensions ended the Dangerous Era, but instead sparked the Era of Reforms 1917-1921.
 

yourworstnightmare

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So what is this crap? Well it's an attmept to a (probably) serious timeline (maybe). Anyway, load your shotguns and aim your critic. I'm all ears.
 

yourworstnightmare

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The Era of Reforms: Part 1 Austria- Hungary


The Dual Monarchy of Austria- Hungary was a multi ethnic empire in a terrible shape in 1917. The Washington Conference had removed the fear of foreign treats, but the largest threats to Austria were always from inside the empire. The new emperor Franz Ferdinand I had agreed to reforms but the problem was how far reforms could go on. In Vienna the parliament pressed for a constitution that would radically limit the power of the emperor, and force the government to rely on the support of the Austrian parliament and to end the dominance of the monarch and the archdukes. In Budapest the Magyars wanted to maintain their status as the other half of the empire, with a parliament and their own ministers that was equal with Vienna. The Magyars did not push for independence or dissolution of the empire, but the continuation of the large autonomy of the lands of the crown of St. Stephen. Meanwhile Czechs, Poles, Italians, Croats, Serbs and other ethnic groups within the monarchy pushed for autonomy or self determination. It had become clear to the new emperor that the Dual Monarchy could not survive in it's current shape. A new Ausgleich agreement was needed and this time not just with the Hungarians. But how would the new empire take shape? Franz Ferdinand had earlier supported the idea of a third Slavic dimension to the empire, a solution that was looking more and more impossible. The Slavic groups were spread in different parts of the empire, the Czechs wanted their own state, it wasn't worth it to antagonize Hungary too much and Franz Ferdinand had lost his willingness to support Serbs after the failed assassination attempt in Sarajevo. The next question was which groups to favor and which to ignore, some groups would always end up the losers. Germans in the empire was against what they saw as the threat to the German language as the cultural language. Hungarians were against giving up territory and supporting Italians, Romanians and Serbs could even be dangerous. In the end Franz Ferdinand settled for a solution that would divide the empire in 5 equal parts. When Ausgleich negtiations were called for November 1918 there were a great deal of tensions and uncertainty how it would end.


The 5 parts of the empire after the reforms would be

  1. Austria; with the Austrian heartlands including the Slovenian parts and all the Italian speaking parts of the empire; Trento, Gorizia, Trieste and Istria. The official language would be German and the parliament would be in Vienna.
  2. Bohemia- Moravia: With the Czech lands, the Sudetenland and Austrian Silesia. The official languages were Czech and German and the Sudetenland would have a certain degree of autonomy. The Parliament was to be established in Prague.
  3. Hungary: The old Hungarian part of the empire would only lose Croatia- Slavonia and Hungarian would be the official language of the kingdom. The pleas of Slovaks, Serbs and Romanians were ignored. The parliament was as usual in Budapest.
  4. Galizien- Lodomerien: Consisted of Galizia and Bukovina and Polish and German and parliament was established in Krakow. Romanians and Ukrainians in the territory were ignored.
  5. Croatia: Was created from Croatia- Slavonia, Dalmatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina. The official language would be Croatian and a parliament would be set up in Zagreb. Bosnian Muslims and Serbs were completely ignored.


All the 5 kingdoms would share a monarch and introduce voting right for all adult men. The governments would be lead by Prime Ministers that were appointed by the parliaments, the empire would only share a Foreign Minister and a Minister of Defence that would be appointed by the emperor and accepted by all 5 prime ministers. There would be a common army, but all the kingdoms would also have their own little self defense militia. Calls from liberal German Austrians for a Constitution were ignored. All the parliaments would be bicameral with an elected Lower Chamber and a Upper Chamber where nobles and religious leaders would have a seat. The elections called for summer 1919 went well, and especially in Bohemia, Hungary and Austria many people went to the polls. In Austria the election resulted in the first socialist Prime Minister in Austria when the Social Democrat Karl Renner was appointed Prime Minister. Another issue that came up was a new name for the empire. With 5 equal kingdoms it couldn't be called Austria- Hungary anymore, so it was renamed The Imperial Federation of Central Europe, or as many would call it just the Imperial Federation.


But was everything working well in the new empire? The short answer would be no. Germanization of Slovenian and Italian areas favored by Vienna caused much clashes between Slovenians, Italians and German Austrians. Germans were paid to settle in Slovenian speaking areas and in Italian towns, and German nationalists in the Vienna Parliament boasted about how they'd make Trieste a German city before 1930. Education was also only available in German in the Austrian kingdom, and the language of the parliament was German. In Bohemia there immediately began clashes between Germans and Czechs. The Czech dominated Prague parliament wanted the German language out of Bohemia, and the debates between German and Czech parliamentarians were harsh, especially since the Germans were booed each time they begun speaking in German. Prague also wanted more control of the autonomous Sudetenland and tried to exercise their authority over it, only to meet harsh opposition from the Sudeten Germans and from Vienna. In Vienna German nationalists even suggested a territorial change that would move Sudetenland from the jurisdiction of Prague to the jurisdiction of Vienna, which made relation between Prague and Vienna very tense. Meanwhile the Magyars suppressed the newly awakened Slovak national movement, the Croats harassed Muslim Bosnians and Poles and Germans in Galizien- Lodomerien overruled several Ukrainian protests about disproportional representation. But when the 20s began it was still unsure if Franz Ferdinand's reforms had saved the Habsburg Empire, or just bought it more time.
 

yourworstnightmare

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The Era of Reforms: Part 2 Germany


After the Washington Conference the German Empire also was forced to look at internal affairs. The rising working class rallied to the words of Marxism and demanded huge changes. Meanwhile the German Conservative Party, the DKP, mostly supported by East Elbian Junkers and some industrialists was declining. The Chancellor Georg Michaelis understood the problems, and started to advocate a reform program for Germany, even though he was Conservative. Wilhelm II and most of the Junkers were clearly against his proposals to introduce proportional vote to the Reichstag, and demand universal suffrage in all Reichländer for all elections, meaning local elections in Prussia and Saxony would be democratized. Also the Kaiser's ability to form a government without the Reichtag's support would end. This also meant that the Junker dominance of the Bundesrat was threatened. Georg Michaelis found his allies in the Bavarian centrist Prime Minister Georg von Hertling, who like Michaelis thought the reforms were necessary to hinder the workers from getting more alienated, and von Hertling also saw this as a good chance to increase the influence of Catholics in Germany. In the Reichstag the Social Democrats, the Catholic Centre, the Progressive People's Party and the National Liberal Party all supported the idea of reforms. In May 1918 Prince Maximilian of Baden, Gustav Stresemann and Friedrich Naumann all held speeches to the Reichstag demanding reforms to take place. Wilhelm III felt the pressure to give in, and new laws were quickly passed in the Reichtag and the Bundesrat. Snap electione s were called, where the Social Democrats gained a lot of seats, as did the Catholic Centre. Wilhelm II still wanted a Conservative government and tried to get the DKP and the Free Conservatives to form a minority Coalition with the National Liberal Party. Those talks failed quickly, and the kaiser reluctantly asked the Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert to become Chancellor. The Social Democrats were suffering from a split though, when the more revolutionary socialists protested about getting in power through a election and sharing responsibilities with the monarch and the bourgeoisie. These formed instead the Independent Socialist Party. That forced Ebert to seek a colaition, one he formed with the Catholic Centre and the Progressive People's Party, allowing Hugo Preuss to become Finance Minister and Konstantin Fehrenbach to become Foreign Minister. A more controversial choice was the appointment of Konrad Haenisch as Minister of Defence, forcing the Prussian officers to deal with a Marxist government official.The Bundesrat treid to veto the new government´, but the Kaiser felt pressure to override the veto.


During the first year of the Ebert chancellorship Germany sought to improve relations with France and Britain, as well as keeping the good relations with Austira, or the Imperial Federation, as it now was called. The Germanization policy in areas with a large Polish population continued though. Local elections were called, and in the new Bundesrat the power of the Junkers and other Conservative forces was severely limited. Instead Social Democrats, Catholics and Liberals all increased their influence. However the Junkers would not give up. Upset about the increasing power of the socialists they acted in March 1920. A group calling themselves the Protectors of the Reich consisting of Erich Ludendorff, Paul von Hindenburg, Erich von Falkenhayn and Franz von Papen tried to seize Berlin and launch a coup in March 14th 1920. The coup seemed to be succesful and several member of the Reichtag were arrested. However Ebert had been able to flee, and especially the Conservatives in Bavaria and Western Germany opposed the coup. Even with generals such as Ludendorff, von Hindenburg and von Falkenhayn involved, much of the military decided to stay calm, and even many Junker officers decided not to get involved. In March 26th a riot began in Berlin, and the Protectors of the Reich had troubles controlling the crowds. When orders came that the military would use force to stop the rioting Berliners most soldiers decided to ignore the orders. In March 29th Ebert returned to Berlin and asked the police to arrest all involved in the coup. The four main conspirators all ended up in house arrest.


Next issue was the fact that Wilhelm II hadn't condemned the coup, but according to many sources welcomed it. The Reichstag furiously started to criticize the Kaiser, and the Bavarian Crown Prince Ruprecht suggested that the Kaiser should abdicate. Wilhelm II refused to abdicate until December, when he on Christmas Eve announced he would step down in favor of his son. Thus Wilhelm III became the new Kaiser of Germany in a ceremony January 1st 1921. The coronation on New Year's Day symbolized for many Germans the beginning of a new era.
 
I'm not sure what breaking up Cisleithania without any autonomy for Transylvania or Slovakia does for the stability of the Habsburg Empire. For the most part, non-Germans in the Austrian side of AH had adequate rights and representation. Furthermore, why is there still no general imperial parliament? That was the feature that always confused me about the Ausgleich and it is perpetuated here.
 

yourworstnightmare

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I'm not sure what breaking up Cisleithania without any autonomy for Transylvania or Slovakia does for the stability of the Habsburg Empire. For the most part, non-Germans in the Austrian side of AH had adequate rights and representation. Furthermore, why is there still no general imperial parliament? That was the feature that always confused me about the Ausgleich and it is perpetuated here.
Most ethnic groups wanted their own parliament instead of having to go to Vienna. Austria is not really that stable. As you probably have figured out, the Habsburgs have mostly bought some time. We'll see how the situation will evolve.
 

yourworstnightmare

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The Era of Reforms: Part 3 Russia


The Russian Empire was facing some harsh realities after they left the Washington Conference in 1917. Czar Nikolai II had tried to reinforce autocracy after having temporarily lost full control in the empire after the 1905 revolutions. Russia faced the dual challenge of the increasing demands from ethnic Russians for more political freedoms and for social equality and the increasing demands from other ethnic groups for self determination. The political left was a strong force among the growing working class and had also influenced parts of the peasantry. Nikolai II tried to undermine these demands and arrest dissidents throughout the empire for the rest of 1917 and the first half of 1918. Some of the Czar’s advisors saw this as a bad move, and tensions rose within Russia. The Czar was backed by the very powerful, but old and fragile Ivan Goremykin, who was Nikolai’s choice of Prime Minister. However Goremykin died in mid 1918 and Nikolai sought a successor. After much thought Nikolai announced Alexander Krivoshein as his new Prime Minister. Krivoshein together with his Minister of Interior; Sergei Witte tried to more cooperate with the Duma, particularly with the right- and centrist groups. Arrests ceased, and several of the arrested dissidents, even socialist were freed. When the young Crown Prince Alexei Nikolaevich did in December 1918, Nikolai II was paralyzed by grief and unable to handle state affairs. Not even Grigori Rasputin’s warnings that the government was trying to usurp the empire from the Czar got Nikolai to act. Instead Krivoshein and Witte held meetings with representatives from the Progressist Party, the Constitutional Democrats (Kadets), the Octobrists and the Nationalists to form a constitution for Russia. Krivoshein’s ideas was quite radical, he thought the czar would have to lose some of his powers, the government would be appointed by the Duma, while the Czar would have the right to veto any minister. Fresh elections with new constituencies would be held. Elections would be according to the Majority principle, since Krivoshein feared that a proportional vote would favor the leftists. The State Council would continue as an unelected body of the elite, but their influence would be limited to delay legislation. Further wider autonomy would be granted to Finland and Poland, while other territories would continue be under centralized Russian rule. All adult men in the empire would be given the right to vote, with none restrictions regarding religion, income, ethnic group or class (even though Krivoshein feared the Jews could use this to increase their influence). Nikolai II was of course furious when he heard talks about a constitution, but he felt too weak to do anything about it, and he reluctantly signed it into law on January 18th 1919. Election were held in November 1919, and the results were not what the reformers had hoped for.


The election results forced the right wing parties; Nationalists, Octobrists, Kadets and Progressists into a slight minority. The left consisting of several rivaling groups such as Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks and Trudoviks gained a slight minority. Now the problem arose around forming a government that could be supported by the majority of the Duma and by the Czar. After much deliberation Alexander Kerensky of the Social Revolutionaries was elected as candidate for Prime Minister. He chose to form a collation government with the Trudoviks, Kadets and Progressists, thus forming a Centre- Left coalition. Nikolai II was not happy with the reforms but did not veto any of the appointments. Kerensky chose the Kadet Pavel milyukov as Foreign Minister, the Progressist Pavel Ryabushinsky as Minister of Defense and Viktor Chernov from his own party as Minister of Interior. He also favored Social Revolutinaries for his paick as Minister of Industry: Vadim Rudnev and Minister of Agriculture: Evno Azef. Of course the nomination of Azef caused some disturbance since he was a known terrorist who had helped to organize the Plehve assassination in 1904. The early 20’s became an era where the left wing duma competed for power with the Czar and the State Council. In 1920 the Progressists and Kadets united to the Unified Liberal Party, while the Trudoviks joined with the Social Revolutionaries, which made the government a two- party coalition. A radical land reform bill that was suggested by Kerensky and passed by the Duma, and would have taken land from the landed aristocrats and redistributed it among the peasants was vetoed by the Czar and the State Council. That the land reform bill was not carried through taught the government a bitter lesson, the aristocracy was fighting back, and the early 20s became a battleground between the Duma and the Aristocracy.


In Finland and Poland more autonomy was welcomed. Finland had since 1906 already functioned like a democratic nation within the Russian Empire, the grand principality had universal suffrage for both men and women to the diet, and was much more progressive than the rest of the Russian Empire. That more freedoms were granted was taken as a proof that Russification attempts were finally defeated, and the Finns considered it to be a step in the direction of complete independence from Russia. The left and the right were almost equally represented in the Diet, and the left was almost agressively pressing for reforms. Many right wing Finns almost hoped the Czar would dissolve the Diet, so they wouldn't have to give in to demands for higher salaries and land reforms. Poland was altogether different. Poland had not earlier had the privilegies of an own legislation chamber, and an own Sejm that would have full control of local affairs. The Polish autonomy was the so called Congress Poland territory, or the Kingdom of Poland. That meant many Poles in the Russian Empire was outside this new political entity. In Poland however voting was rigged and the left got almost none seats in the new Sejm. Instead the main conflict was among Constitutionalists and Nationalists-. The Constitutionalists who held a majority supported the union with Russia and sought Russian support to pressure the Imperial Federation to seced Galizia, and hoped that the Polish Kingdom could absorb the Western parts. The Constitutionalists also sought to support Poles in Germany and hoped for Russia to force the Germans to give up land for Poland. Meanwhile the Nationalists wanted to completely break loose of Russia and expand eastwards. The Nationalists saw the creation of a completely independent Poland as the most important issue. The Nationalists also favoured a republic and was generally more Middle Class oriented, while the Constitutionalists was dominated by landed aristocrats.
 

yourworstnightmare

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The Era of Reforms Part 4: France, Britain and Italy


France:
In France the aftermath of the Washington Conference presented a serious problem for the traditional French Republican Parties. Most had supported a confrontational stance towards Germany, and people had frankly grew tired of the chants for war and instead felt drawn to a party that strongly supported Pacifism. The Socialist Party SFIO could capitalize on the new message of peace, while at the same time attract attention to the rights of the workers that had mostly been ignored during the 1910s. Even though SFIO was divided in a battle between the more moderate Léon Blum and the revolutionary Boris Souvarine. The growth of SFIO worried the Republican Parties, that despite strong differences more and more started to pull together. To alienate the left a coalition government lead by the left leaning member of the Radical Party Edouard Herriot was established after the election 1919 where the Republican Parties together had barely defeated SFIO. However serious infightings damaged the coalition government and already during the autumn of 1920 it was imminent that it would fall apart. If new elections were called it became clear that SFIO would win, and the known Conservative statesman and former Prime Minister and Presdent Poincaré stated that France would be doomed if elections were hold anytime soon. When the chaos continued into 1921, general Joseph Joffre reluctantly gathered the army and took control of Paris. Quickly officers in France and the Colonies followed his example, leading SFIO politicians were arrested, and the Centrist and Right Wing politicians welcomed the move. Joseph Joffre declared the Third Republic dissolved in April 15th 1921, and installed a temporary military regime. President Paul Deschanel was allowed to keep his position as president, and the National Assembly was not dissolved. However several SFIO members were behind bars and a military government was in power until 1924.


United Kingdom:
Unlike in France the situation in Britain was in a way calmer. In early 1918 The Representation of the People Act was passed after much debate in both Houses of Parliament, a law that allowed all men over 21 and all women over 30 that owned property to vote in elections. With that Britain had adopted universal male suffrage and even allowed some women to vote. This also meant that the Labour Party arose as a serious contestant in British politics. But the Liberal Democrats and the Tories still both polled better in elections However one of the more serous issues was Ireland. The House of Commons had favored a Home Rule for Ireland, but it was defeated in the House of Lords. Meanwhile 1918 and 1919 were both stained by violent Irish Catholic uprisings against Britain. Irish parliamentarians decided not to attend Parliament in Westminster, and slowly the opinions in the Commons became more anti- Irish. Earlier plans to allow Ireland to become a Commonwealth member were also shelved. But other Commonwealth relations worked better. Plans to make the Dominions equal with Britain were presented on the Imperial Conference 1921. A declaration made Australia, New Zeeland, Canada, Newfoundland and South Africa equal with Britain in a Commonwealth of Nations. Southern Rhodesia and Bechuanaland were added to South Africa. In 1923 the Caribbean Federation, consisting of British Caribbean colonies was elevated to a Dominion and added to the Commonwealth of Nations. Meanwhile South Africa annexed North Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Britain was still the dominant power on the seas by far, and now a member of a strong, growing Commonwealth of Nations. The Irish question remained a hot topic in British politics throughout the 20s.


Italy:
In Italy the irredentist feelings were still high after the Washington Conference. The new better relations between the European powers shook the Giolitti government. Allying with France was not a good move anymore, and Germany had not forgotten Italy's withdrawal from the Central Powers. Many Italians cursed that no war was the worst solution for Italy. However pressure form liberals and socialists forced the Italian government to introduce universal suffrage for men, which made Italy a democratic nation. Meanwhile the Italian Socialist Party PSI was thorned apart by the formation of a revolutionary National Syndicalist Party that sought to establish a corporatist state and force the Imperial Federation to secede Italian speaking areas to Italy. The National Syndicalist Movement was lead by people such as Sergio Panunzio, Alceste de Ambris, Benito Mussolini and Enico Corradini. This group combined Socialism with radical nationalism and supported radical republicans in their call to overthrow the monarchy. Meanwhile the PSI was able to focus on traditional socialist values, such as internationalism and pacifism. After the 1919 elections a minority government under the Italian People's Party leader Luigi Sturzo was formed with liberal support. Sturzo was firmly anti- socialist and a Catholic priest with a very warm relation to Pope Benedict XV. However in the 1921 election the liberal alliance decided to try to form a government and even suggested a coaltion government with PSI. The government under Luigi Facta was never liked, and during the Facta years both the National Syndicalists and the right wing anti-democratic pro-monarchy group in the Senate lead by former officer Pietro Badoglio, who had been suggested for a seat in the Senate by many generals. From the Senate Badoglio mobilized the Italian old right and together with the Catholic Church, several generals and people close to the royal family he openly demanded the king to abolish elections and suspend the parliament. He even slowly started to cooperate with Luigi Sturzo and the Conservative People's Party. Italian democracy was under a serious threat during the early 20s.
 
I'm not sure what breaking up Cisleithania without any autonomy for Transylvania or Slovakia does for the stability of the Habsburg Empire. For the most part, non-Germans in the Austrian side of AH had adequate rights and representation. Furthermore, why is there still no general imperial parliament? That was the feature that always confused me about the Ausgleich and it is perpetuated here.


Franz Josef and his ministers wanted one, but the Magyars wouldn't have it, insisting on a totally separate parliament. The defeat by Prussia left the regime too weak to overrule them, so separate parliaments it was - for Hungary. OTOH, none of the other peoples was strong enough to make such a demand stick.
 

yourworstnightmare

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Franz Josef and his ministers wanted one, but the Magyars wouldn't have it, insisting on a totally separate parliament. The defeat by Prussia left the regime too weak to overrule them, so separate parliaments it was - for Hungary. OTOH, none of the other peoples was strong enough to make such a demand stick.
Yup, and by the 1900s home rule and autonomy was more important for all ethnic groups in Austria than democracy.
 

yourworstnightmare

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Around the World: Part 1 The Ottoman Empire

Even though the Ottoman Empire pretty much had been ignored during the Washington Conference, the resulting ease of tensions, and the waves of reforms in different parts of Europe increased the dissatisfaction with the CUP One-Party rule. In 1919 and 1920 the pressure increased and the Grand Vizier Enver Pasha felt compelled to resign. The One Party system that in the beginning had seemed to work, had through time increased frustration, and Arabs, Armenians and Kurds, who all at first had supported CUP, now felt that the current CUP leadership was corrupt and hostile to non-Turks. Meanwhile the Liberal Union; LU had also made a comeback and was demanding a return to a multi-party system. Election were declared for February 1921 and CUP and LU faced a Socialist Party and a Islamic Religous Party in the elections. Many minorities supported either CUP, that had radically changed it's leadership or ran independent candidates. Especially the Armenians hoped desperately to be able to gain influence in the Parliament. In Costantinople the new era was already called a Third Constitutional Era. However the elections ended in a stalemate, with no clear winner. Meanwhile Armenians protested that they had been harassed during the elections, and in key area where the Armenians shared territory with Turks and Kurds Armenians had been harassed and hindered from voting. The Armenians demanded more autonomy and a larger share of the seats of the Parliament. In Constantinople, where negotiations still were going on about who the next Grand Vizier would be and what the government would look like, worries began to rise that an Armenian rebellion was planned.

The military were sent to the areas heavily populated by Armenians to arrest the ringleaders of the insurrection. The Armenians were completely taken by surprise when the military moved in. The May massacre of 1921 killed at least 50.000 Armenians according to Ottoman sources, or 150.000 according to Armenian sources. The massacre was a mistake by Ottoman officers who thought an armed rebellion was going on when Armenians throughout Eastern Anatolia started to protest against the arrests. However things could have gone worse if not some officers realized they were killing unarmed civilians, and halted the massacre. The parties in Constantinople eager to distance themselves from the massacres promised to investigate the matter and court martial several officers involved. The military hoped for an intervention by Mehmed VI, but the sultan was unintressed in politics, and some officers were CUP members or symphatised with the other parties. Still the military furiously tried to resist any investigation into the May massacre. With the threat from the military in the air, CUP asked one of the officers in the Ottoman Army, who also was one of the CUP leaders; Mustafa Kemal Pasha to accept the position of Grand Vizier and try to ease tensions with the military, while forming a government of national unity. Kemal Pasha only reluctantly agreed, he had no intentions of dealing with the other parties, and had had several feuds with other members of the CUP too. He felt he had a too weak mandate to govern, but realized the Empire was in a crisis. The Kemal Pasha government created the system of governments of National Unity with all parties involved that would paint the Ottoman policies of the early 20s. Kemal Pasha himself only stayed as Grand Vizier for one year, making sure the court martial of the key persons involved in the May massacre went on as planned.

In late 1922 Kemal Pasha resigned, complaining over not having enough power to reform the Ottoman Empire in the way he wanted. He thought that only one party should be in government, and that a more strict party discipline would have to be introduced in CUP to enforce all CUP members to follow the policies of the party leadership. Frustrated that he got none of what he wanted he resigned from office and returned to the army. Meanwhile Mehmed VI had become sick, and when he suddenly passed away in 1923, a power struggle between young prince Mehmed Etrugul Efendi and Mehmed’s cousin and the constitutional Crown Prince Abdülmecid began. Some members of the parliament were afraid of Abdülmecid and wanted to change the law so Mehmed’s son Mehmded Etrugul could succeed instead. But few really wanted a child on the throne and the Islamists favoured Abdülmecid. Many though changing the constitution would mean more trouble and that the powers of the Sultan was effectively curtailed. However with the reign of Abdülmecid II, the military found a Sultan much more interested in power. Still irritated over the Court Martials a failed coup was carried out in 1925. Even though the coup failed due to resistance of several key officers it was clear times were changing. Abdülmecid II had already tried to interfere with politics several times and had the support of the Islamic Party. Elections hadn’t been held in years, partly because CUP were afraid they’d lose more influence to the other parties, and partly because the fear of ethnic, religious or ideologic tensions, combined with some new coup attempt from the army. Inside CUP a radical Turkish Nationalist group called the Turanist Group had also increased influence, which alienated several non- Turkish CUP members. While the chaos within the CUP continued, the Liberals and the Socialists both demanded new elections, and a new Arab Movement was demanding even more autonomy for the Arab parts of the Empire. Late in 1925 a new coup took place, this time it succeeded, but the new Military Government saw itself challenged by an Officer’s opposition led by Kemal Pasha. Abdülmecid II therefore decided to purge several of the opposition officers, in what became known as the bloody year of 1926. The third Constitutional Era was over, but the Ottoman Empire was crumbling.
 
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