WWI killed approximately 9-10 million soldiers and 8 million civilians. Another 21 million were wounded. Four empires (Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman) collapsed. The 1918 influenza pandemic, spread partly by the war, killed perhaps 50 million more worldwide. The generation of young men who fought the war was decimated in many European countries. The psychological wound of WWI shaped European cultural and political life for decades. Maria should recognize that the scale of WWI was unprecedented and helped set the tone for everything that followed.

III. The Russian Revolution (1917)

The Russian Revolution is one of the most consequential events of the twentieth century. It produced the first communist state, created an ideological adversary that shaped the next seventy years of global politics, and provided a model for revolutionary movements throughout the world. Maria should understand its causes, its two phases, and its outcomes.