Lesson 5 World War I: The Lights Go Out Across Europe

Lesson 5

World War I:The Lights Go Out Across Europe

Lesson Objectives

• Understand and be able to discuss the major causes of World War I.

• Be able to describe the opening moves of the war in Europe.

• Be able to describe the Schlieffen Plan and its modifications prior to August 1914.

• Begin to understand why the opening moves of the war did not go as anyone planned.

Why Do We Study WW I?

Maybe if we can understand it better, we can come nearer to being what the men of the time were not, masters of our destiny.

AJP TaylorThe First World War: An Illustrated History

The Great IllusionNorman Angell , 1910

Held that economic interdependence

of major powers made war “futile”

Economic effects to all would be harmful

Did not say war was impossible

1872-1967

Total War

… and thus become legitimate military targets 1

Total war: one in which the whole population and all the resources of the combatants are committed to complete victory

1. Hugh BichenoOxford Companion to Military History

… and in which the laws of war are disregarded. 2

2. Oxford Essential Dictionary of Military Terms

REVIEW

Phases of World War I

1914 - Maneuver and Frustration

1915 - Search for New Solutions

1916 - Attrition

1917 - Desperation and Anticipation

1918 - Dénouement

Preview

Causes of WW I

Nationalism

• Common language, culture, identity

• France, Germany, Balkans

• Strong sense of bond among people

Causes of WW I

German Nationalism

8German States – 1740-1866German States – 1866-1871

Causes of WW I

German Nationalism

Germany came “late to the European table”

Sought her legitimate “place in the sun”

Causes of WW I

Nationalism

• Belief that a strong military is critical to the security and prosperity of a nation

• Military considerations paramount

• Fed by success of Prussia/Germany

Militarism

• Dominate government, particularly diplomacy

Causes of WW I

Nationalism

Militarism

Interlocking Alliances

Alliances

1839: Treaty of London (Britain guaranteed Belgian neutrality)

1879: Dual Alliance (Germany & Austria-Hungary)

1882: Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy)

1894: Dual Entente (France, Russia)

1904: Entente Cordiale (France, Britain)

1907: Triple Entente (France, Britain, Russia)

• secret pact

Alliances of 1914

Triple Alliance Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

Triple Entente

France, Britain, Russia

• Italy did not go to war in 1914

• Germany - Austria-Hungary Central Powers

• Became core of the Allied Powers 13

Causes of WW I

Nationalism

Militarism

Interlocking Alliances

Grad Students:

What underlying issue(s) may have linked all of these causes?

Major PowerStrategic Goals

Why did each of the powers go to war?

France Revanche (revenge)

“Think of it always, speak of it never.”

The humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War

France Revanche (revenge)

Germany “Place in the sun”

Austro-Hungary Expand into Balkans

Russia Re-establish itself after 1905 defeat

Expand into Balkans

Great Britain Maintain European balance of power

Natural Frontiers

The World At War

The Players

Alfred Graf von Schlieffen1833-1913

Chief, German Imperial General Staff 1891-190520

The Players

Helmuth von Moltke

Von Moltke the Elder

1800-1891

1848-1916

Chief, German Imperial General Staff 1906-1914

von Moltke the Younger

Hero of Franco-Prussian War

The Spirit of Èlan

The Soldiers

“Le pantalon rouge’23

The Soldiers

French “Poilu” 1914 (“hairy one”) 24

The Soldiers

French “Poilu” 191525

The Soldiers

French “Poilus” 26

The Soldiers

British “Tommy” - 191427

The Soldiers

Ypres, 1917 28

The Soldiers

German Infantry - 191429

The Soldiers

German Soldier30

The Soldiers

Russian Soldier - 1914 31

The Soldiers

Russian Cossack Cavalry - 1914

Europe, August 1914

Poised for war

What was the chief concern of each power?

The Plans

German Schlieffen Plan (1905)

Designed to avoid a two-front war

"When you march into France, let the last manon the right brush the Channel with his sleeve"

German Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen

Bold envelopment through Belgium

Assumptions:

• Britain would not support Belgium

• Belgium would not resist

• Quick, decisive victory (short war)

• Russia would be slow to mobilize • six weeks or more

The Plans

German Schlieffen Plan (1905)

Modified by von Moltke the Younger

“Keep the right strong”

Alleged to be von Schlieffen’s dying words, 1913

German “Schlieffen Plan” (1906)

• Did not enter Holland

• Withheld 10 divisions in East Prussia

German army understrength in 1914

• Plan required 100 divisions

• Only 80 divisions available

“Keep the right strong”

The Plans

French Plan XVII (1913)

Attack into Germany to recover Alsace & Lorraine

Assumed:

• Superiority of French soldier

• Germany would honor Belgian neutrality (threat of Britain)

The Plans

The Dominoes Fall

June 28 - Assassination in Sarajevo

July 23 - Austria sent ultimatum to Serbia

July 25 - Serbia accepted all but one condition

July 28 - Austria-Hungary declared war upon Serbia.

July 29 - The Russian army mobilized.

Aug 1 - Germany declared war on Russia.

Aug 3 - Germany declared war on France.

Aug 4 - Germany declared war on and invaded Belgium.

Aug 4 - Britain declared war upon Germany.

Aug 6 – Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.

Aug 12 - France and Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary.

• Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serb Nationalist

"The lights are going out all over Europe.We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

Edward GreyBritish foreign secretary, August 3, 1914

The Dominoes Fall

"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013

(2:50)

Mobilization - August 1914

Berlin42

Paris43

Berlin students on their way to enlist

London - Enlistment Office45

A Last Chance

Germany learned Britain might stay out

• One hour prior to first attack

Von Molke told Kaiser attack could not stop

“Your uncle would have given me a different answer.”

Schlieffen Plan

As Planned 47

Schlieffen Plan

As Played Out 48

Western Front

Animated MapThe Western FrontWar Times Journal

Battle of the Frontiers - August 1914

The Players

Reigned 1909-1934

Fiercely resisted German invasion

Albert I of Belgium1875-1934

Led Belgian army throughout war

Leopold III1901-1983

Reigned 1934-1951

Fiercely resisted Germans in 1940

Served as private in Belgian army, WW I

Battle in Belgium

Location of Key Belgian Forts51

Battle in Belgium

Forts Around Liège52

Belgium Forts

Big Bertha

42 cm Siege Howitzer 54

Big Bertha

42 cm Siege Howitzer

Big Bertha

Battle in Belgium

Liège fell August 16th

Siege of Liège - August 5 - 16, 1914

• Delayed tight German schedule58

British Expeditionary Force

Battle of Mons, Aug 23-24,1914

( BEF )

~90,000 men

· Infantry, cavalry

To continent < 3 weeks

Moved to southern Belgium

· South of Mons

Schlieffen Plan

As Planned -1905

As Executed - August 1914

When you march into France, let the last man on the right brush the channel with his sleeve.

Count Alfred von Schlieffen

Keep the right wing strong.

Count Alfred von Schlieffen,On his deathbed

Failure of the Schlieffen Plan

(3:49)

Battle of the Frontiers

62Video (6:08)

Battle (animated map - French)

August 14-24, 1914

Retreat (animated)

Race to the Sea

September – October 1914BBC

Animation 63

Race to the Sea

September – October 1914Wikipedia

A series of flanking moves

Why Did the German Plan Fail?

Communications

Belgian resistance

Logistics

Op Tempo (fatigue)

Fog of War

No naval involvement in plan

Faulty assumptions

Eastern Front

Russia’s Geopolitical Challenge

Stratfor (YouTube 1:29)

Eastern Front

1 & 2. Russia invaded East Prussia August 7th, much sooner than Germany anticipated

August 22: von Moltke replaced commander in East Prussia (Gen. von Prittwitz) with General Paul von Hindenburg

Hindenburg

3. German counterattack isolated and destroyed the two attacking Russian armies:

• Battle of Tannenberg (Aug. 23 - Sep 3)

• First Battle of the Masurian Lakes (Sep 9-14)

Opening Moves

Eastern FrontBattle of Tannenberg –

August 23-30, 1914

Eastern Front

4. Austro-Hungary invaded Russia

Opening Moves

5. Russia repulsed attack and captured all of province of Galacia

The World War

Fronts of the Great War

National Grid for Learning (Wales) 71

Thesis

The significance of the Schlieffen Plan is not that it failed or why it failed but that its very existence may have caused World War I.

“Use It or Loose It”

SIOPSingle Integrated Operational Plan

America’s Nuclear War Plan

Fast Forward 48 years:

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

SIOP: America’s Nuclear War Plan

Available on YouTube (38:17 – 41:42)

Lesson 6

WW I: Tactics Technology & Attrition

Lesson Objectives

• Understand the tactics employed in the opening months of the war and their incompatibility with the weapon technology of the period.

• Understand and be able to discuss the efforts to break the stalemate on the Western Front.

• Be able to list and discuss the impact of the new technology employed during the war.

• Understand the issues involved with the shift in prospects from a short war to a long war.

• Describe the outlooks for each of the Allied and Central powers as a consequences of the 1916 Western Front battles of attrition.

Lesson 5 World War I: The Lights Go Out Across Europe

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