WWI

A Local Conflict

Goes Global

GPS Standards: SSWH16 The student will demonstrate an understanding of long

term causes of World War I and its global impact.b. Describe the conditions on the war front for soldiers, including the Battle of

Verdun.c. Explain the major decisions made in the Versailles Treaty, including

Germanreparations and the mandate system that replaced Ottoman control.d. Analyze the destabilization of Europe in the collapse of the great empires,

includingthe Romanov and Hapsburg dynasties.

Underlying Causes“MANIA”

Militarism Alliances Nationalism Imperialism Anarchy (international)

Militarism & Arms RaceMilitarism & Arms Race

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914

94 130 154 268 289 398

1910-1914 Increase in Defense

Expenditures

France 10%

Britain 13%

Russia 39%

Germany

73%

Total Defense Expenditures for the Great Powers [Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br.,

Rus.] in millions of £s.

Militarism: Glorification of War & Military

Build up of large reserve armies Mobilization - organize resources for combat (triggers

other nations mobilizing) Naval Expansion - William II (GR) fires Bismarck and

expands navy wants to be equal to G.B. (most powerful) G.B. feels threatens, expands, develops new

battleship – DreadnoughtConscription: calling up of civilians for military service.

The idea was national security depended n a strong military.

Alliances - Defense Agreements Among Nations

Three Emperors’ League: (1881) Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary - doesn’t last b/c of A-H rivalry with Russia in Balkans

Triple Alliance - (1882) Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary - attempt to isolate France

Triple Entente - (1907) France, Russia, G.B. Entente: Friendly understanding

between nations

Nationalism - Extreme Pride in One’s Nation or Desire

to Form a Nation

French Nationalists sought revenge against Germany for loss of Alsace-Lorraine. a border province lost to the French during the Franco-Prussian war 1870-1.

Slavic Nationalism - Pan-Slavism: Unify all Slavic people under one empire

Slavic Nationalism• Slavic peoples in Austria-Hungary wanted their

own land a southern-Slavic land or Yugoslavia.

• Serbia, one of the largest Slavic nation supported them.

• Worried Austria-Hungary; who feared this might spur more nationalistic feelings of Slavs in Austria-Hungary.

• 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Slavic territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Nationalism Cont.

Page 843 in your text book.

• Serbia asked Russia for help. Weakened by the Russo-Japanese war. Russia instead made an agreement with Austria-Hungary and did nothing to help Serbia.

• Austria-Hungary moved before the deal was set

and angered Russia.

• 1st Balkan war 1912 Goal was to acquire Albania which would give Serbia the water outlet they needed. Serbia won the war but did not gain Albania.

• 2nd Balkan war Albania gained their independence, frustrating Serbian ambitions once again. Russia called on again and still unable to assist. Embarrassed Russia.

Big Brother Russia

Imperialism - domination of one country by another

• Germany and France came close to war over control of Morocco

• Germany wanted to create Berlin to Baghdad Railway - caused resentment among British and Russians• British feared interference with India and reduce

traffic thru Suez Canal

Anarchy International Anarchy Nations of Europe pursue policies

without regard for the wishes of their neighbors

Crisis - No international organization to monitor

Immediate Causes of WWI

Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of A-H (June 28, 1914) by Gavrilo Princip - member of Serbian nationalist group “Black Hand” -or Union Of Death

Why the Assassination?

Ferdinand planned to give Slavs of Bosnia-Herzegovina a voice in the gov’t equal to that of Austro-Hungarians

This threatened the movement for a separate Slavic state

Archduke Franz Ferdinand & His Family

Archduke Franz Ferdinand & His Family

The Assassination: SarajevoThe Assassination: Sarajevo

The Assassin: The Assassin:

GavriloPrincipGavriloPrincip

What Happens Next?

A-H hold Serbians responsible A-H seeks assurance (backup)

from Germany in event of war Germany issues “Blank

Check” to A-HWilliam II gives full support to any actions A-H might take against Serbia

A-H issues ultimatum (set of final conditions that must be accepted to avoid severe consequences) to Serbia

Demands that Serbia allow A-H officials into country to suppress all subversive movements & conduct investigation

Gives Serbia 48 hours to agree or face war Serbia does not agree to all parts

A-H declares war on Serbia! (July 28, 1914)

Tensions Build!!

Other Countries Get Involved

Russia (friend of the Serbs) mobilizes troops along borders of Germany & A-H

Germany warns Russia to stop - they don’t!

Germany issues ultimatum to France – 18 hours to decide if it would support Russia – France said it would support Russia

What a

Tangled

Web We

Weave…

Declarations of War

Germany declares war on Russia (Aug 1, 1914)

Germany declares war on France (Aug 3, 1914)

Great Britain still hoped to remain neutral and not go to war, but…

Germany demands passage across Beligium to fight France (*Part of Schlieffen Plan)

British protest demand made by Germany upon neutral nation of Belgium 1839 Treaty signed by

G.B., Russia, France & Germany guaranteed Belgium’s neutrality

Germany Invades Belgium!

Germany invades Beligium

G.B. demands they withdraw

Germany responds calling treaty,

“a scrap of paper” G.B. declares war

on Germany (Aug 4, 1914)

Soldiers Mobilized

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

France Germany Russia Britain

Mil

lio

ns

*The Schlieffen Plan

General Schlieffen 1905 Germany’s invasion of

Belgium was part of this plan

Germany had enemies to East & West & did not want to fight a war on both fronts at the same time

Believed Russia would be slow to mobilize and that they could fight & defeat France (W. Front) first in 6 weeks & then fight Russia on Eastern Front

•Saw the problems faced by fighting a two front war.

•Thought that Russia would be slow to mobilize so the idea/plan was to make it to Paris, through Belgium in 6 weeks then go east against Russia before they could mobilize.

Problems with the Plan in WW I•Belgium more heavily fortified gave strong

resistance.•Russia Mobilized quickly.•The British and French fought well•The French attacked from Alsace-Lorraine

Schlieffen Plan

Expectations

Both sides thought the war would be a quick ordeal…

Kaiser told his soldiers, “you’ll be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees.”

They underestimated the role industrialization would play in this war.

French troups marched off

shouting, “We’ll be home by

Christmas”

• Russia had to support Serbia because they did not and could not before in the Balkan wars.

• Russia knew Germany would fight with Austria-Hungary but was assured that France would fight Germany alongside Russia.

• July 30th 1914 Czar Nicholas II mobilized the Russian army against Austria-Hungary and Germany, Austria-Hungary did the same against Russia; France and Britain were then forced to show their hand.

• July 31st 1914 Germany issued an ultimatum to Russia and France and demanded them to demobilize.

• France had 18 hours to comply or be forced to fight.

• The British wanted to negotiate and Germany hoped they would.

A European War Key Points

• Central powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire (what was left) and Bulgaria.

• Allied Powers: Britain, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, later Japan and Montenegro.

Changing face of Alliances

• Calvary and horse drawn carriages gave way to motorized vehicles.

• Larger, more powerful armored ships.

• Poison Gas, Machine Gun, Tank, Submarines also first used in warfare.

• The length of the war was underestimated; there were shortages and only enough ammunition for 6 months.

Changes in Warfare of old

The War Begins Marne• September 5th

• The French pushed the Germans back 50 miles from Paris, the morale was high. Battle of the Marne Map

• Significance of the Battle was the abandonment of the Schlieffen Plan.

• This would not be a quick or easy war.

• Key Point: Russia sent troops to help France before they had totally mobilized. Russia attacked East Prussia and diverter the attack on France.

Battle of the Marne

To Save ParisSept 5th

The battle of the Marne as seen in a French news-magazine

Tannenberg in Poland

Terrible Russian defeat, which they never fully recovered from.

Germans circled the Russian troops; 30,000 Russian troops killed 92,000 prisoners, the Germans lost 13,000 (Map)

Stalemate

“The Race to the Sea” Germans and the Allies both trying to get to the North Sea to out Flank the other, by November 1914 the war reached a stalemate or deadlock.

As the war progressed there was a need for more ships, guns ammunition and food.

Mobilization of Civilians; Conscription. Use of propaganda (portraying the enemy as

beastly or inhuman) News papers used big headlines for small or

insignificant battles.

The Western FrontThe Western Front

Battle ofTannenberg

Stalemate

“The Race to the Sea” Germans and the Allies both trying to

get to the North Sea to out Flank the other, by November 1914 the war reached a stalemate or deadlock.

The War Drags Out

As the war progressed there was a need for more ships, guns ammunition and food.

Mobilization of Civilians; Conscription. Use of propaganda (portraying the

enemy as beastly or inhuman) News papers used big headlines for small

or insignificant battles.

Propaganda

American Propaganda Poster

Postcards

Go ole soldier and fulfill your duty.Christ the good Shepherd is watching over his flock.O God, your kingdom come, your will be done

On earth, as it is in heaven.

A Multi-Front WarA Multi-Front War

Trench Warfare 1915

The Western Front (from German point of view)

War of Attrition, wearing down the enemy Two long trenches dug 500 miles long Half mile to a few yards between

trenches.

The Trenches

The Trenches

In the Trenches

No Mans Land lay between, with barbed wire and land mines.

Weeks spent in the trenches days of boredom mixed with terror form constant bombing.

Knee deep in muddy water led to dysentery and…

Trench Foot

A fungal infection of the feet brought on by prolonged exposure to damp, cold conditions allied to poor environmental hygiene.

Its effects on armies - of all sides - during the early stages of trench warfare, before trench conditions were much improved, could be severe.

Some 20,000 casualties resulting from trench foot were reputed to have been suffered by the British Army alone during the close of 1914.  Patients sometimes had to have toes amputated (following gangrene) such were the effects of the condition.

Over the Top

When the whistle call came the troops went “over the top” or climbed up out of the trench and headed toward the enemy—only to get mowed down by machine gun and rifle fire.

Trenches

British Soldiers in gas masks with machine gun

French Trench yes I know it rhymes

Russian Soldier Caught in No-mans Land

In Flanders FieldsIn Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.— John McCrae

"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most famous poems about World War I, and has been called "the most popular poem" produced by the war.[1] It is written in the form of a French rondeau. Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote it on May 3, 1915, after he witnessed the death of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, the day before. The poem was first published on December 8, that year in Punch magazine.

Churchill and the British Navy Gallipoli Campaign

Churchill headed the Navy and saw the futility of trench warfare but also the need to supply Russia. He favored an offensive on the Dardanelle straits which Turkey Controlled; this strait was the only reasonable means to strengthened Serbia and Russia with supplies. The idea was that the allied could then take Constantinople and take the Ottomans out of the war.

Initially the offensive was working but poor planning and coordination foiled the plan.

The battle of Gallipoli drove the allies back and forced them to end the campaign.

The Turks had a chance to get into entrenched fortified positions. It was impossible to get past them, but many men, mostly Australian and New Zealand troops, were sacrificed in the attempt.

Gallipoli Campaign

Batlle of Ypres 1915 Battle of Ypres, the

Germans first used gas/chemical weapons; Chlorine gas, caused blindness, torn lungs from coughing and eventual death.

Gas Attack Diagrams

Battle of Verdun

German attacked France. French Gen. Petain stated that “they shall

not pass” as he and his men held off the German offensive for 6 months.

The Germans abandoned the campaign. Bloody battle half a million dead on both

sides.

Dead GermansAt Verdun

Battle of the Somme

The British offensive at the Somme River Valley

cost over 1,000,000 casualties The result was a gain of a mere 6 miles

along a 25 foot long stretch of the western front. 

British offensive at the Somme Germans loose 500,000 men, British 400,000 and the French 200,000

British introduced the Tank, did not help during the battle, was unused ineffectively they were too slow and clumsy.

The Eastern Front

German and A-H tried to get Russia out of the war. The Russians had taken huge losses in number of

men killed and weapons lost as well as land losses equal to the size of France.

The Allies promised Russia Constantinople and the Dardanelles after the war.

Russia reorganized their army, attacked Germany with little luck but was successful in attacking A-H.

The Russians capture cities and hundreds of thousands of troops but paid the price losing most weapons and a million troops were killed.

Their continued fighting made Germany split their forces.

On the Seas

British determined to keep shipping lines open and to keep the Germans from invading Great Britain.

Germans wanted to disrupt these lines. Both depended on the sea for supplies and food. Britain blockaded all German controlled ports at

the beginning of the war. Germany got their supplies through neutral

countries, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Germany protested blockades and said they violated international law and called it a “hunger blockade”

Submarine Warfare Germans introduced submarine warfare. At first the U-boats struck only military ships but in 1915 they

began to strike civilian and commercial ships believed to be carrying military goods.

May 1915 Germans sink the British passenger liner Lusitania; 1200 killed including 120 Americans. Germany said the Lusitania was carrying weapons.

After more sinkings President Woodrow Wilson in March of 1916 issued an ultimatum to the Germans, threatening to sever diplomatic relations.

The Germans responded by stopping unrestricted sub warfare for a while.

The only major battle between the British and German fleets occurred in May of 1916. Battle of Jutland off the coast of Denmark, both sides claimed victory but the battle left the Brits in control of the seas.

U14

The United States enters the War

American public opinion divided about the war.

Ex. Many Irish-Americans were anti-British and many German-Americans sided with the Central Powers, other Americans, Scots, English and Scot-Irish favored the Allies.

Most Americans agreed with Wilson that the war was a European conflict. Even events like the Lusitania did not push the U.S. into the conflict.

Isolationism: stay out of European affairs.

The Germans believe that they needed to break the British blockade at all cost and resumed unrestricted sub-warfare. On February 1st 1917 Germany announced they would sink any merchant ship headed to Britain or Western Europe. Wilson then broke off diplomatic ties with Germany.

Don’t mess with Texas…well… you get the idea.

Tensions between the two countries grew worse in March 1917 when U.S. news papers printed the Zimmerman Telegram. A message from the German Foreign minister to his ambassador in Mexico.

The telegram promised that if Mexico’s support they will help Mexico regain New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The British passed the telegram on to the U.S. which fueled anti-German sentiment.

Zimmerman Telegam

Tensions between the two countries grew worse in March 1917 when U.S. news papers printed the Zimmerman Telegram. A message from the German Foreign minister to his ambassador in Mexico. The telegram promised that if Mexico’s support Germany they would help Mexico regain New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The British passed the telegram on to the U.S. which fueled anti-German sentiment.

America In the War

After the sinking of 4 American merchant ships; President Wilson on April 2, 1917, asked congress to declare war on Germany to make the “world safe for democracy”.

America entered the war with financial and military support.

U.S. Enters the War By the time the U.S. entered the war European nations have

been fighting for 3 years with losses totaling more than the wars of the previous 300 years combined.

War effected not only the soldiers but civilians living in towns and cities. No longer were wars just fought between two groups on a field.

Total War: governments in France, Britain, Russia, Germany and Austria put all of their efforts toward winning the war. Governments took control of the economy and told factories what to produce in an effort to assist the in the war effort.

Results: Unemployment was almost wiped out, everyone had a job Goods and items were rationed, giving more to the essential war needs.

Russia Gets Out of the War

Rationing led to unrest in Russia forcing them to withdraw from the war in 1917.

Primed for revolution in Russia. See Book page()

Russia was war weary and had lost 5.5 million soldiers.

Led to Vladimir I. Lenin taking power after the October revolution of 1917 and thus ending Russian involvnemt in the war and signing a peace treaty with Germany.

The End of the War By spring 1918 the Germans now concentrating

their troops only on the western front made a march to Paris getting within 40 miles. The German army was weary and weakened.

140,000 U.S. troops aided the allies in fighting off the Germans in the 2nd battle of the Marne. 2 Million more American troops came in to play and slowly advanced toward Germany.

The Central Powers fall apart the Turks and Austrians surrender, the people turn on Wilhelm II and he steps down, Germany is declared a Republic and signs an armistice, an agreement to stop fighting.

After WW I or WW I… (to be continued)

Allies met and debated, President Wilson, Clemenceau of France, David George of England and Vittorrio Orlando of

Italy. Jan 1918, Wilson unveils his 14 Points plan. Main idea was

Self Determination, people deciding what type of government they would have. Points include: no secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free

trade, reduced size of navy and armies. Proposed a General Association of Nations i.e. the League

of Nations to negotiate conflicts Germany lost their territories in Africa and the Pacific,

which became mandates governed by the L of N.

Treaty of Versalles British and French wanted Germany to

pay reparations and be stripped of military power.

Adopted the 14 Points. Including League of Nations.

Germany lost substantial territory, restricted military operations and weapons

“war guilt” clause Germany had to pay back England and France

New Nations Created

From parts of A-H new countries were created. Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia all independent countries.

Ottomans only kept what is today Turkey. Ottoman lands in SW Asia became Mandates

not independent countries Palestine, Iraq and Transjordan to the British and Syria and Lebanon to France.

Russia who left the party early lost lands to Poland and Romaina.

Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania formerly part of Russia became independent nations.

A Peace Built on Quicksand The U.S. rejected the Treaty Versailles. Many in the U.S. rejected Wilson’s League of

Nations idea, rather still clung to Isolationism. The U.S. worked out it’s own treaty with Germany later on.

Mandates were ran like the old imperialist rule, displeased the people living there.

Japan and Italy both Allied powers gained little land etc.

The War Guilt Clause left a legacy of bitterness and hatred in the hearts of the German people which in turn would lead to …..