LEGAL HISTORY II

TEACHING GUIDE Nr. 6 “The suicide of Europe: 1914-1945 “

Introduction:

How was it possible that the almighty European nations at the beginning of the XXth century collapsed in 4 decades, from 1914 to 1945? This is what we are going to deal with today. There are two causes to this amazing state of things. First of all the nation-model state itself that as we know led to violent as different states tried to impose their hegemony and fight for a bigger part of the colonial cake. France, Prussia, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the rest of European states ended up fighting each other in an apocalyptic conflict that destroyed them. One example would be enough to realize the horror of the conflict. The 22 august 1914, in one single day, in a few hours, 27.000 French soldiers were killed. It is the bloodiest battle in French History. It is the same amount of soldiers killed in the War of Algeria between 1954 and 1962. And half of the total US soldiers killed in the Vietnam War (1964-1975). 900 French soldiers were killed daily during the 1.556 days that the War lasted (1.4 million).

First World War was nevertheless the first step towards the almost complete destruction of Europe in World War Two. It was the consequence of the totalitarian approach that was the result of the Soviet revolution and its contrary reactions: Italian Fascism and German Nazism. Where did this come from?

The liberal model of the state allowed the western nation-states to achieve unprecedented levels of economic and technological development, exponentially bolstered by a series of inventions and innovations facilitating the triumph of capitalism. These major advances and burgeoning wealth, however, were not equally shared by society's different strata. Beneath an extraordinarily rich ruling class the vast majority of the people struggled just to survive. This growing and glaring contrast between rich and poor generated the “social question,” a conflict addressed by a series of “socialist” thinkers who denounced the exploitation of the working class and proposed a fairer redistribution of wealth. In the wake of the Communist Manifesto (1848) the proletarians intensified their efforts to organize and transform the social order, whether via revolution or the progressive triumph of universal suffrage and other reforms. The trauma of World War I and the triumph of the Russian Revolution knocked the liberal state back on its heels. In some countries parliamentary democracies were replaced by totalitarian regimes that sought to impose their model around the world, generating tensions that would lead to World War II.

I. Text: You have to look in the book (A History of Western Public Law. Between Nation and State) the following texts:

Chapter 16: Paragraph 16.10 pp. 533-536Chapter 17: Paragraphs 17.1 to 17.7 pp. 557-597.

II. Basic chronology:

1914, June 28 Sarajevo assassinationSeptember 5-12 Battle of Marne. Beginning of Trench warfare

1916 (February-December) Battle of Verdun

1917 (May) French mutinies. October: Soviet revolution.

1918 (March) Treaty of Brest Litovsk.

November 11, Compiègne’s Armistice.

1919 (January) Spartacist Revolution

(March) Foundation of Kommintern

June 28 Treaty of Versailles

July: Weimar Constitution.

1922 (October) March on Rome (Mussolini) (December) Creation of the Soviet Union.

1924 (January) Death of Lenin (June) Assasination of Matteotti

1927 Stalin seizes power (XV Congress of the SUCP).

1929 (October) Wall street crisis.

1932 First election of FDR in the US.

1933 (January) Hitler appointed chancellor (March) Enabling Act

1934 (July) Night of the Long Knives

1936 Beginning of the Moscow trials (Stalin’s Great Purges).

1938 (March) Austrian Anschluss

(September) Munich Agreement (Sudetenland).

1939 (August) Non Agression Pact (Hitler and Stalin) (September 1) German’s invasion of Poland. Beginning of WWII. (September 7) Russian invasion of Poland.

1940 (April-May) Katyn Massacre (June) France surrenders to Germany.

1941 (June) The Wehrmacht invades Russia (December) Pearl Harbor.

1942 (January) Wansee Conference

1943 (January) Von Paulus surrenders at Stalingrad. (July) Mussolini is dismissed.

1944 (June 6) Landing of the Allies at Normandy.

1945 (May 7) Unconditional surrender of Germany. (August) Atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

IV. Statistics:

One way to understand the violence and slaughter that occurred in the Great War is to examine the number of casualties aand deaths. Exact figures are still in dispute, because of different definitions used each category, the questionable accuracy of the recording system used and the loss or destruction of a number of official documents. The data in the tables below reflect numbers from several sources and are consistant with most experts' current estimates.

CountryTotal

Mobilized Forces

Killed WoundedPrisoners

and Missing

Total Casualties

Casualties as % of Forces

ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS

Russia 12,000,000 1,700,000 4,950,000 2,500,000 9,150,000 76.3British Empire 8,904,467 908,371 2,090,212 191,652 3,190,235 35.8

France 8,410,000 1,357,800 4,266,000 537,000 6,160,800 73.3Italy 5,615,000 650,000 947,000 600,000 2,197,000 39.1United States 4,355,000 116,516 204,002 4,500 323,018 7.1

Japan 800,000 300 907 3 1,210 0.2Romania 750,000 335,706 120,000 80,000 535,706 71.4Serbia 707,343 45,000 133,148 152,958 331,106 46.8Belgium 267,000 13,716 44,686 34,659 93,061 34.9Greece 230,000 5,000 21,000 1,000 27,000 11.7

Portugal 100,000 7,222 13,751 12,318 33,291 33.3Montenegro 50,000 3,000 10,000 7,000 20,000 40.0TOTAL 42,188,810 5,142,631 12,800,706 4,121,090 22,062,427 52.3

ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS

Germany 11,000,000 1,773,700 4,216,058 1,152,800 7,142,558 64.9Austria-Hungary 7,800,000 1,200,000 3,620,000 2,200,000 7,020,000 90.0

Turkey 2,850,000 325,000 400,000 250,000 975,000 34.2Bulgaria 1,200,000 87,500 152,390 27,029 266,919 22.2TOTAL 22,850,000 3,386,200 8,388,448 3,629,829 15,404,477 67.4

GRAND TOTAL 65,038,810 8,528,831 21,189,154 7,750,919 37,466,904 57.5

War Number Serving

Battle Deaths

Disease & Accidents

Wounded

Total Casualties

Revolutionary War NA 4,435 NA 6,188 NAWar of 1812 286,730 2,260 NA 4,505 NAMexican War 78,718 1,733 11,550 4,152 17,435Civil War 2,213,363 140,414 224,097 281,881 646,392Spanish-American War 306,760 385 2,061 1,662 4,108

World War I 4,743,826 53,513 63,195 204,002 320,710*World War II 16,353,659 292,131 115,185 670,846 1,078,162Korean War 5,764,143 33,651 NA 103,284 NAVietnam War 8,744,000 47,369 10,799 153,303 211,147Persian Gulf War 467,539 148 145 467 760NA = Not available* Does not include the number of soldiers missing in actionSource: U.S. Department of Justice

Excerpted from : www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html

III. Exercises corresponding to "Teaching guide nr. 6"

A. MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Mark all the right answers. The First World War:

a) Was the last confrontation between European national statesb) Brought an end to European Hegemonyc) Undermined confidence in the Liberal parliamentary system

d) Highlighted the need for greater international cooperatione) Ended with the complete military defeat of Germany

2. Mark the Wrong answer. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germans imposed their will on:

a) Czechsb) Polesc) Serbsd) Ruthenianse) Slovenes

3. Mark the Wrong answer. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungarians imposed their will on:

a) Czechsb) Slovaksc) Romaniansd) Serbse) Croats

4. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavilo Princip in Sarajevo on June 28 1914 the Francis Joseph Government sent on July 23d 1914 an ultimatum to Serbia to punish the authors. All were accepted except the two following ones:

a) Serbia renounce to the attitude of protest and opposition to Vienna's governmentb) To undertake judicial proceedings against the responsibles of the plot of the 28th of Junec) The participation of Austro-Hungarian officials in the investigation of the shootingd) To controll traffic of arms and explosives across the frontiere) To ban Pan-Serbian propaganda

5. The First World War started officially when the 28 July 1914:

a) Germany declared War on Russiab) Austro-Hungary declared war on Russiac) Germany declared war on Franced) Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbiae) Germany declared war on the United Kingdom

6. Who was the first country to premobilize its troops at the eve of First World War?:

a) Russiab) Austro-Hungaryc) Serbiad) Germany

e) France

7. Germany invaded Belgium in what was the first military act of First World War on:

a) 28 July 1914b) 31 July 1914c) 2 August 1914d) 3 August 1914e) 4 August 1914

8. How many countries did fight in First World War?:

a) 24b) 28c) 30d) 32e) 34

9. Which one of the following countries was not in the "Entente" powers side:

a) Italyb) Portugalc) Bulgariad) Canadae) Japan

10. Looking at the Statistics on nr IV answer the following question: How many soldiers fought in WWI?

a) 50 millionb) 55 millionc) 60 milliond) 65 millione) 70 million

11. Mark the wrong answer. In WWI the number of casualties by country was:

a) 9 million of Russian soldiersb) 7 million of German soldiersc) 7 million of Austrian soldiersd) 6 million of French soldierse) 5 million of British soldiers

12. The country that suffered the highest percentage of casualties among its soldiers (90%) in WWI was:

a) Austro-Hungarian Empire

b) Russiac) Germanyd) Francee) British Empire

13. In WWI the average number of French soldiers that were killed daily was:

a) 500 b) 600c) 700d) 800e) 900

14. The first country in which Women could vote was:

a) Finlandb) Swedenc) Australiad) Norwaye) New Zealand 15. The steam engine was invented by:

a) Denis Papinb) Robert Louis Stevensonc) Thomas Newcomend) Antoine de Lavoisiere) James Wat

16. Which of the following inventions were due to Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)?:

a) Electric Telegraphb) Light bulbc) Telephoned) Phonographe) Kinetoscope

17. Which of the following names has no relationship with the invention of photography?

a) Thomas Alva Edisonb) Nicéphore Nièpcec) George Eastmand) Louis Daguerree) Henry Fox Talbot

18. The first film screening took place in Paris when Auguste and Louis Lumière showed their first short film "Workers leaving the

Lumière factory" which lasted 6.5 minutes. This crucial première took place on:

a) 1875b) 1879c) 1888d) 1895e) 1898

19. The wireless transmission of sound and the appearance of the radio was an invention due to:

a) Alexander Graham Bellb) Thomas Alva Edisonc) Samuel Morsed) Heinrich Herze) Guglielmo Marconi

20. Which of the following names had nothing to do with the discovery and use of electricity:

a) Alexander Graham Bellb) James Clerk Maxwellc) Heinrich Herzd) Zénobe Grammee) Marcel Deprez21. The first four-stroke gasoline engine was built in 1876 by:

a) Jean Lenoirb) Henry Fordc) Nikolaus August Ottod) Karl Benze) Fernando Forest

22. The first car factories in the history of automobile started in:

a) Englandb) United Statesc) Spaind) Germanye) France

23. The first aircraft to fly in front of an audience had as pilot:

a) Antoine de Saint-Exupéryb) Alberto Santos Dumontc) Orville Wrightd) Charles Lindberge) Wilbur Wright

24. Iphone was commercialized by Steve Jobs in :

a) 2001b) 2003c) 2005d) 2007e) 2010

25. The first PC (Personal computer) was commercialized by Steve Jobs through Apple in:

a) 1973b) 1976c) 1979d) 1981e) 1983

26. Mark the wrong answer. The growing middle class got progressively political participation through successive electoral reforms in England in the 19th century. The main ones were:

a) 1820b) 1832c) 1867d) 1872e) 1884

27. Between 1580 and 1815, 3 million Europeans had migrated to America. In the period 1815-1860, 5 more million had left the Old continent to the New world. Between 1860 and 1927 the number of European immigrants that reached America was of:

a) 17 millionb) 20 millionc) 25 milliond) 27 millione) 32 million

28. Mark the wrong answer. Universal male suffrage was achieved in:

a) The UK in 1884b) France 1848-1875c) Spain 1868-1890d) Prussia 1850 e) The United States in 1820's for white men

29. Which of the following figures should be considered Romantic Socialists?

a) François Noël Babeufb) Count of Saint Simonc) Pierre Proudhond) Charles Fouriere) Louis Blanc

30. In the mid 19th century, as a result of the French Revolution France had a large number of small land owners. Only another Western country was in the same situation. This country was:

a) Prussiab) Spainc) The United Statesd) The United Kingdome) Italy

31. Social democracy was born after the failure of the Paris Commune in 1871 and the Hague Congress of 1872 in which Marx expelled Bakunin from the Socialist International. Social democracy led to the foundation of the first Mass Political parties. Which one of the following socialist parties were founded in the 19th century: (3 answers)

a) The German Socialist Workers Partyb) The French SFIOc) The Spanish PSOEd) The English Labour Partye) The Italian Socialist Party

32. Which ones of the following Socialist parties appeared in the 20th century?: (3 answers)

a) The German Socialist Workers Partyb) The French SFIOc) The Spanish PSOEd) The English Labour Partye) The Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party

33. The first country in which social protection was state funded and did not rely only on workers and employers was:

a) Prussiab) The United Kingdomc) Franced) Austriae) Spain

34. The first Western constitution that featured not only individual rights but also "social rights" was the:

a) United States Bill of rights of 1791b) French constitution of 1848c) Prussian Constitution of 1871d) Spanish constitution of 1876e) Mexican constitution of 1917

35. Social democracy in Russia was defended in the Second Congress of Russia's Social Democratic Labour Party of 1902 by:

a) Trotskyb) Leninc) Martovd) Kámeneve) Stalin

36. Iosiv Dzugashvily was the pseudonym of :

a) Leninb) Trotskyc) Kámenevd) Zinovieve) None of them

37. Mark who were the leaders of the Spartacist Uprising of January 1919 in Germany:

a) Karl Liebknechtb) August Bebelc) Wilhelm Liebknechtd) Friedrich Eberte) Rosa Luxemburg

38. The "Maikäfer" ("Beetle" in German) was the first affordable car constructed in Europe following the idea of Henry Ford with his "T" model. The original idea of constructing a "family car", the future "Volkswagen" was due to:

a) Josef Ganzb) Albert Speerc) Ferdinand Porsched) Herman Göringe) Joseph Goebbels

39. Benito Mussolini took the head of the Government in Italy as a consequence of:

a) The Acerbo Lawb) A decision of Victor Emmanuel IIIc) A military Coupd) The March on Rome

e) A vote of no confidence of the Italian Legislative Assembly

40. Hitler got to power:

a) Through the Beer Hall Putschb) Thanks to the Enabling Actc) After the Reichstag Fired) By democratic electionse) Thanks to the Decree for the protection of German People and the State 41. How many constitutions were approved in Russia between 1917 and 1991?:

a) Oneb) Twoc) Threed) Foure) Five

42. Which of the following books was not written by Carl Schmitt:

a) The Struggle for Lawb) The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracyc) The Concept of the Politicald) Legality and Legitimacye) Political Theology

43. The idea of "vertical unions" in which the principle of class struggle would be replaced by that of corporate promotion was imposed in Europe by:

a) Francob) Leon Blumc) Mussolinid) Hitlere) Pétain

44. The first country where was introduced a public national system of medicine was: a) Primo de Rivera's Spainb) The Soviet Unionc) Mussolini's Italyd) The United Kingdome) Hitler's Germany

45. Which ones of the following European leaders got to power through democratic elections or by a confidence vote of Parliament:

a) Adolf Hitlerb) Léon Blumc) Miguel Primo de Riverad) Benito Mussolinie) Philippe Pétain

46. In which European country during the Interbellum period (1919-1939) social measures were taken by a leftist government:

a) Austriab) Italyc) Spaind) Francee) Portugal

47. In which European country the Church's social doctrine of popes Leo XIII and Pio XI served as inspiration for promulgating a corporatist constitution?:

a) Austriab) Italyc) Spaind) Francee) Portugal

48. In which of the following European countries there were no "fascist" party during Interbellum period (1919-1939)?

a) Spainb) Italyc) Germanyd) Francee) The United Kingdom

49. Mark the wrong answer. The Popular Front :

a) Was an idea of Stalin for expanding communist influence in Europeb) Governed France in 1937c) Won the 1933 elections in Spain d) Governed Spain during the Spanish Civil Ware) Enabled the election of Manuel Azaña as President of the Spanish Republic

50. Which one of the following events was decisive for provoking the beginning of the Second World War?

a) The Austrian Anschlussb) The annexation of the Sudetenlandc) The Munich Agreement

d) The Non-Agression Pact between Hitler and Staline) None of them

B. CONCRETE QUESTIONS

1. Who was Franz Ferdinand? What was his relationship with the Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz Joseph?

2. By who and why Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Chotek were killed on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo?

3. How did the Austro-Hungarian empire try to prevent the rise of nationalisms?

4. How did nationalist in the Austro-Hungarian Empire tried to impose the independence of their own nation-state?

5. Why the troops of the Triple Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary started WWI in disadvantage compared to the armies of the "Entente cordiale"? What were the plans of German generals to overcome this difficulty?

6. Why the mobile warfare gives way to Trench Warfare in September 1914 in the Western front in WWI?

7. Who were the "poilus"? Why they were called that nickname?

8. Why do we call WWI an Apocalyptic Conflict?

10. Why State power was strengthen as a result of WWI?

11. What was the "urbanization" of the Western World in the 19th century? What were its causes and how it did affect social equilibrium?

12. Explain what is the "proletariat"

13. When and why European workers became "class conscious"?

14. Why Marx and Engels were the "perfect team"?

15. What was the essential difference between the 1830 and the 1848's French revolutions?

16. Why Alexis de Tocqueville was against the principle that "social rights" should be included in the 1848's French constitution?

17. Why do you think that laws of social protection were made for the first time in Bismarck's Prussia?

18. Why was decisive the Second Congress of Russia's Social Democratic Labour Party of 1902?

19. Why Germany's High Staff Generals in WWI were decisive in Soviet Revolution of October 1917?

20. In which way Soviet Revolution of October 1917 affected WWI?

21. In which way Soviet Revolution of October 1917 transformed politically European Socialist movements?

22. Explain what was the "Third way" that appeared in Western European after the Soviet Revolution of 1917.

23. What was the nature of Soviet constitutions? Think of how 1936's Stalin's constitution differed from an ordinary Western constitution.

24. Why do public law professors called the actual political parties the "New Princes"? In which way parties like CPSU and NSDAP were responsible for this state of things?

25. How did Carl Schmitt justified the establishment of all powerful regimes?

26. What was the essential principle of the "New Deal"? In which way it was somehow "revolutionary" in the US Constitutional tradition?

27. Why totalitarianism triumphed in many European countries as a result of the Soviet Revolution?

28. Why we could say that Japan was responsible for the Russian revolution?

29. What caused the end of the Second Spanish Republic and the beginning of the Spanish civil war? Think of how the Republican legality was broken for the first time, by who and why?

30. Why Hitler's Dictatorship could be considered "Legal"?

31. Did the Spanish Second Republic survived after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War?

C. CONCEPTS

Central Powers / Triple entente / Sarajevo / Franz Ferdinand / Gavrilo Princip / Serbia / Bosnia / Balkans / Austro-Hungarian Empire

/ Conscription / Mobile Warfare / Bataille of Marne / Trench Warfare / Battle of Gallipoli / poilus / Battle of Verdun / Battle of Somme / Nivelle Offensive / French Mutinies / Treaty of Brest Litovsk / Compiègne’s Armistice (11 November 1918) / Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919)

Laissez faire / Social Question / Bizmarck’s Sozialpolitik / Communist Manifesto / Proletariat (4th Estate) / International / IWA / Paris Commune / Socialdemocracy / Bolshevik / Soviet / 1905 Russian Revolution / April Theses (Lenin) / 1917 Russian Revolutions / Spartacist Revolution / Kommintern / Weimar Republic / March on Rome / Fascism / Beer Hall Putsch (Munich) / Acerbo Law / Giacomo Matteotti / NSDAP / Reichstag Fire / Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz) / Night of Long Knives (Nacht der langen Messer) / Sturmabteilung / Geheime Staatspolizei / Schutzstaffel / Anschluss / Lebensraum / Wehrmacht / Munich Agreement (September 30, 1938) / Non Agression Pact (August 23, 1939) / Katyn Massacre / Endlösung / Wannsee Conference / New Deal / Popular Front / Junta de Defensa nacional

D. GENERAL QUESTIONS

1. Explain briefly why the assassination in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 of the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Ferdinand (b. in 1863) led to World War I?

2. How many countries did end up fighting in WWI? How many soldiers were killed, wounded or maimed? How many civilians? What were the two main phases of the conflict?Which were the bloodiest battles?

3. Why 1917 was a crucial year in WWI? Describe all the events that made this year decisive in the result of the war.

4. What were the consequences of World War I from the perspective of European constitutional history?

5. Describe briefly what is the “Social Question” and what led to it? 6. Which were the main consequences of the Social Question from the perspective of European constitutional and political history? Concentrate on the period 1848-1914.

7. Was Bismarck a Socialist? Give concrete arguments in your answer.

8. Why can we say that Lenin was opposed to Marx as far as the way both approached the solution of the Social Question? Think of why Marx changed his approach after 1871.

9. Why did Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest Litovsk (March 3, 1918) with Germany? Think of his theoretical reasons.

10. What was the reaction to the Soviet Revolution in Western Europe? Think of the political consequences.

11. Explain why it is possible to say that Mussolini’s Fascism and Hitler’s Nazism were “perfectly legal Dictatorships”.

12. How did Carl Schmitt justify the German National Socialist approach? Explain clearly his arguments.

13. Explain the idea of “Vertical unions” developed by Mussolini’s fascism and accepted by the Francoist regimen. Do you think it is a good or a bad idea?

14. Was Hitler a Socialist? Give some concrete examples

15. Explain which was the reaction of PSOE Secretary General Francisco Largo Caballero to the Right’s victory in the Spanish elections of November 1933. Why it was one of the causes of the sparking of the Spanish Civil War in 1936?

E. ESSAY: Prepare a structured plan in two parts and two subparts, and write a 700 words essay developing the following idea: Do social protection of the poor justify the establishment of an authoritarian regime? Give concrete examples taken from chapter 17. Think of the debate between regulation versus deregulation and if the State should intervene in the economy imposing social rights, the inequality debate and the tendency towards the establishment of a contemporary oligarchic regime.

F. COMPULSERY READING:

Today I will not oblige you to analyze a newspaper article. Today I ask you to read a whole book. Not for this week. You will have until March 31, the day of the second evaluation test. It is one of the best books of one of the best European writers Stephan Zweig (1881-1942). Famous for his biographies, this Austrian writer is one of the most prolific writers in German. The most translated after Goethe.

The book is Die Welt von Gestern. Erinnerungen eines Europäers ("The World of yesterday. Memories of a European"). It is a posthumous book, as it was first published in 1944, two years after Zweig's death. The author and his wife committed suicide in Petrópolis (Brazil) where they had escaped from Hitler. They killed themselves because they thought that Nazi dictatorship was

irreversible. The World of yesterday is a sort of testament, a sort of autobiography where Zweig he describes the World where he was born and how it changed because of the First World War and the advent of Hitler. One of the crucial books for understanding the 20th century.

If you cannot read it in German (what a pity, as Zweig's German is outstanding) please buy and English edition. I have seen second hand one's in Amazon really cheap. It is a book that deserves being in your personal library. You have also a Spanish edition by "El acantilado". For the laziest.

You will have to write an analysis enphasizing how Zweig describes the transformation of Europe specially in the Interbellum period (1919-1939) focusing in two points: the rise of totalitarisms and the impact on European intellectuals. Illustrate your arguments with examples taken from the book. Maximum 1000 words (500 words for each part).