Chapter 25

The Beginning of the Twentieth-

Century Crisis:

War and Revolution

Europe in 1914©

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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

To what extent and in what ways did Nationalist tension in the Balkans between 1870 and 1914 contribute to the outbreak of the First World War?

What were the conditions, factors, and events that led—both directly and indirectly—to the outbreak of WWI?

“After the first few months of war, the combat on the Western Front was very different from anything strategists on either side had envisioned.” Assess the validity of this statement.

The Outbreak of War

Causes

In the summer of 1914, myriad factors came together to unleash one of the greatest tragedies in world history

19th century Liberalism and nationalism fed intense rivalries especially in Eastern Europe Balkan Peninsula

National honor was a high priority of European leaders

Causes World War I

MilitarismConscription

Influence of military leaders over European leaders created militaristic decisions rather than ones of peace

Alliances Diplomacy based on national states to bring peace

Led to competition instead of cooperation

IndustrialismEconomic competition had created the need for foreign markets to dump surplus products as well as acquire raw materials

Nationalism and warfare was used to remedy domestic social issuesPush by minority groups- including Serbs, Irish, and Poles- for political independence

Socialist labor movement- created internal fear and many politicians and middle class desired to keep these movements underground

• Some historians believe that rallying people in the name of nationalism would hinder the radical socialist/communist movement which preached the overthrowing of governments

Militarism & Arms Race

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914

94 130 154 268 289 398

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

in millions of £s.

1910-1914 Increase in Defense Expenditures

France 10%

Britain 13%

Russia 39%

Germany 73%

The Alliance SystemTriple Entente: Triple Alliance:

Two Armed Camps!Allied Powers: Central Powers:

Industrial Economic & Imperial Rivalries

Aggressive Nationalism

Nationalism (cont.) Pan-Slavism: The Balkans, 1914

The“Powder Keg”of Europe

CAUSES: M.A.I.N.

Militarism

Alliances (Bismarckian)

Industrialism

Nationalism

The Road to World War IThe Outbreak of War: The Summer of 1914

The effects of the Balkan Wars prior to 1914

• Many unsettled questions

A-H still trying to keep control over its Slavic Speaking territories (Bosnia, Herzegovina) created more tension with Russia who aided Serbia

Germany had also, under Kaiser William II began increasing support of A-H.

After the First and 2nd Balkan War, A-H was fixed on crushing Serbian desires for a Serbian Kingdom, ,while Russia was set on promoting this development

• European powers created some of the largest armies known to mankind “militarism.”

Advances in transportation, communication, and public health allowed for armies of nearly one million troops.

With substantial forces, European nations used conscription to force men to join, and governments depended on military leadership to make political decisions

• All of these factors including the rest of the M.A.I.N. created a tension that put all of the major European powers on the “Brink” of war

According to the Treaty of Berlin, declared in 1878,

Austria was granted the power to administer Bosnia

and Herzegovina indefinitely

Bosnia consisted of 3 major ethnic groups- one of

which was the Bosnian Serbs that felt very strong

about Serb nationalism

On October 6, 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and

Herzegovina directly into the Austro-Hungarian

empire.

The annexation caused a stir throughout all of

Europe, especially the Serbs who wanted the

provinces for their own Serb empire.

Also known as Ujedinjenje ili Smrt, ('Union or

Death'), the secret society was founded in

Belgrade

The society adopted the anti-Austrian

propaganda, sabotage, and political murder ideas

of the nationalistic group, Narodna Odbrana

The group included many government officials,

professionals and army officers.

When the Black Hand group discovered that Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria had a scheduled visit to Sarajevo in June of 1914, the Black Hand prepared 3 men to be the assassins: Gavrilo Princip, Nedjelko Cabrinovic and Trifko Grabez

The Serbian government became aware of the assassination plot and tried to intercept the assassins at the border

After that plan failed, they tried to send the Austrians a warning in very vague diplomatic ways that would not expose the Black Hand

The Serbian Minister attempted to warn the Austrians, but they did not perceive it as a warning and continued to Sarajevo

The

“Spark”

Assassination of Archduke Francis

Ferdinand and wife Sophia,

June 28, 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand & His Family

The Spark

On June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke

Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia,

were assassinated in Sarajevo by Bosnian

nationalist Gavrillo Princep.

Archduke Ferdinand accepted the Bosnian’s offer to inspect the

army maneuvers being held outside of Sarajevo

Since it was his anniversary, his wife, Sophie, was permitted to ride

next to him (something that was not permitted on a usual basis)

After inspecting the army, he was to attend a reception held by the

Mayor at the City Hall, so all 6 carts began to ride along Appel

Quay

7 assassins were posted along this road in the crowd of people that

awaited the Archduke

As the crowd began to cheer, Cabrinovic threw the first bomb

directly towards the cart that Archduke Ferdinand was in

As Ferdinand’s driver saw the bomb flying at them, he stepped on

the accelerator, forcing the bomb to bounce off of Ferdinand’s arm

and the hood of the cart and into the street, soon harming a dozen

spectators

Cabrinovic attempted to commit suicide soon after by jumping into

the river after swallowing poison, but he lived and was mobbed by

the angry crowd and arrested

No further action was taken by the other assassins on the rest of the

way to the city hall, but Ferdinand is infuriated, "Mr. Mayor, one

comes here for a visit and is received by bombs! It is outrageous!“

Ferdinand decided to change his plans so that he may visit some of

the injured who were in the hospital due to injuries from the first

bomb instead of going to a Museum as originally planned

Neither the mayor’s driver nor Ferdinand’s driver was aware of the change

in plans and took the route to the Museum on Franz Joseph Street

The driver was finally notified of his wrongdoings and slammed on his

brakes in front of a sandwich shop so that he could reverse onto the main

rode

Princip, in the sandwich store, noticed what had happened and

pulled his gun out, shooting both Ferdinand and Sophie

The Assassination: Sarajevo

The Assassin:

GavriloPrincip

He attempted to turn the gun on himself but he

too was mobbed by the angry witnesses

The poison that he had swallowed, as the

other assassin’s, was not strong enough to kill

He then was arrested by the police

Became severely sick in prison because of the

poison

Bodyguard of Archduke Ferdinand:

"As the car quickly reversed, a thin stream of blood spurted from His Highness's mouth onto my right check. As I was pulling out my handkerchief to wipe the blood away from his mouth, the Duchess cried out to him, 'In Heaven's name, what has happened to you?' At that she slid off the seat and lay on the floor of the car, with her face between his knees. I had no idea that she too was hit and thought she had simply fainted with fright. Then I heard His Imperial Highness say, 'Sopherl, Sopherl, don't die. Stay alive for the children!‘”

Who’s To Blame?

The Major Players: 1914-17

Nicholas II [Rus]

George V [Br]

Pres. Poincare [Fr]

Allied Powers:

Franz Josef [A-H]

Wilhelm II [Ger]

Victor Emmanuel II [It]

Central Powers:

Enver Pasha[Turkey]

The Aftermath of the “Spark”

The Austrian government wanted to use the act o punish all Serbian Nationalists

Emperor William II (“the Kaiser”) gave “full support” to Austria (commonly referred to as the “Blank Check”)

Austria then sent an ultimatum so extreme that Serbia had no choice but to reject it

Austria declared war on Serbia, believing the war would be limited in scope and duration (an obvious miscalculation)

Russian mobilization

Schlieffen Plan

The Aftermath of the “Spark”

Mobilization was complexRussian mobilization- largest army in Europe and made plans for war against Austria

• Tsar Nicholas II was told that a partial mobilization against Austria would be impossible

• Thus he was encouraged to deploy full mobilization against both Austria and Germany

Russia’s mobilization resulted in Germany declaring war on Russia

Russia had a treaty with France and Germany found itself with their worst fear. A two front war.

Schlieffen Plan

The

Schlieffen

Plan

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The Aftermath of the “Spark”Schlieffen Plan

Since the formation of the Triple Entente, Germany faced the possibility of a 2 front war

It’s strategy to deal with such an issue was the Schlieffen Plan

• Called for German army to strike quickly against the French, taking Paris and forcing the French to surrender and then turning quickly to the east and defeating the Russian army before it had a chance to fully mobilize

• This plan forced Germany to declare war on France, which led Great Britain to declare war on Germany because they violated Belgian neutrality as they invaded toward Paris.

In a matter of days, the great powers of the world were at war.

Across the continent, news of the war prompted enthusiasm.

Nationalists welcomed it- even hard socialists favored the war

Propaganda

Because of Germany’s supposed blank check and aggressive pre-meditated Schlieffen Plan, most people labeled them as the architect of the war

Propagandists in all countries conveyed this point and rallied their jingoistic, nationalistic people into fervor.

Example: British over exaggeration of German atrocities in Belgium (Next Slide)

German Atrocities in Belgium

Mobilization

It's a long way to Tipperary,It's a long way to go;It's a long way to Tipperary,To the sweetest girl I know!Goodbye, Piccadilly,Farewell, Leicester Square,It's a long, long way to Tipperary,But my heart's right there!

Home by Christmas!

No major war in 50 years!

Nationalism!

Recruitment Posters

Recruits of the Central Powers

Austro-Hungarians

A German Soldier Says Farewell to

His Mother

New French Recruits

A German Boy Pretends to Be a Soldier

German Poster

Think of Your Children!

Soldiers Mobilized

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

France Germany Russia Britain

Mil

lio

ns

Enthusiasm for war soon ended with the

reality of modern Total War and

stalemate

Eager troops marched off, sure they’d be home for

Christmas

However, soon the Brits and Russians quickly

mobilized

The advance of the Schieffen Plan failed

The Machine Gun completely changed warfare

Deadly efficiency spurred the digging of massive trench

systems that eventually stretched across much of

western Europe

The Western Front:

A “War of Attrition”

A Multi-Front War

The Western Front

The War of theIndustrial

Revolution:New

Technology

Machine Gun

Machine guns, usually

positioned on a flat tripod,

would require a gun crew

of four to six operators.

They had the fire-power of

100 guns.

The 1914 machine gun, in

theory, could fire 400-600

small-caliber rounds per

minute, a figure that was to

more than double by the

war's end, with rounds fed

via a fabric belt or a metal

strip.

Trench Warfare

Trench Warfare

“No Man’s Land”

Poison Gas

The German army were the first to use chlorine gas

at the battle of Ypres in 1915. Chlorine gas causes a

burning sensation in the throat and chest pains.

Death is painful – you suffocate! The problem with

chlorine gas is that the weather must be right. If the

wind is in the wrong direction it could end up

killing your own troops rather than the enemy.

In consequence experiments were undertaken to

deliver the gas payload in artillery shells. This

provided the additional benefits of increasing the

target range as well as the variety of gases released.

Phosgene

Following on the heels of chlorine gas came the use

of phosgene. Phosgene as a weapon was more

potent than chlorine in that while the latter was

potentially deadly it caused the victim to violently

cough and choke.

The War 1916-1917: The Great

Slaughter

Trench warfare

“No-man’s land”

“Softening up” the enemy

Battle of Verdun, 70,000 lost

Battle of the Somme, 1916

• Heaviest one-day loss in WWI

Verdun – February, 1916

German offensive.

Each side had 500,000 casualties.

The Somme – July, 1916

60,000 British soldiers killed in one day.

Over 1,000,000 killed in 5 months.

War Is HELL !!

Sacrifices in War

Krupp’s “Big Bertha” Gun

French Renault Tank

British Tank at Ypres

U-Boats

Allied Ships Sunk by U-Boats

The Airplane

“Squadron Over the Brenta”Max Edler von Poosch, 1917

The Flying Aces of World War I

Eddie

Rickenbacher, US

Francesco

Barraco, It.

Rene Pauk

Fonck, Fr.

Manfred von

Richtoffen, Ger.

[The “Red Baron”]

Willy Coppens de

Holthust, Belg.

Eddie “Mick”

Mannoch, Br.

Curtis-Martin U. S. Aircraft Plant

Looking for the “Red Baron?”

The Zeppelin

FlameThrowers

GrenadeLaunchers

Poison Gas

Machine Gun

Trench Warfare in France

Battle Scene in Northern France

TheEasternFront

The War 1914-195: Illusions &

StalemateGermans scored early victories over the Russians and then joined forces with Austrians to push Russia back

Russian failures

Battle of Tannenberg, August 30, 1914

Battle of Masurian Lakes, September 15, 1914

Austrian failures

Galicia and Serbia

Germans come to Austria’s aid

With over 2 million soldiers dead, Russia was no longer a threat to the Central Powers

Germany turned back to the west.

The Widening of the WarAs the stalemate dragged on, both sides sought additional allies

Ottoman Empire enters the war

Battle of Gallipoli, April 1915

• Allies suffered a disastrous defeat in an attempt to establish a front near Constantinople

Italy enters the war, May 1915, against Austria-Hungary

Bulgaria enters the war, September 1915, on the side of the Central Powers

Middle East

The British led by Lawrence of Arabia (1888-1935) encouraged Arab leaders to revolt against the Ottomans and were promised autonomy if they were defeated

Entry of the United StatesThe United States tried to remain neutral

Sinking of the Lusitania, May 7, 1915

Return to unrestricted submarine warfare January 1917

Zimmerman Note- Germany promises Mexico former holdings for assistance against the U.S.

United States enters the war, April 6, 1917

Bolshevik Revolution, 1917

The Gallipoli Disaster, 1915

The

Eastern

Front,

1914-

1918

Turkish Cavalry in Palestine

T. E. Lawrence & the “Arab Revolt”, 1916-18

The Home Front: The Impact of Total WarGovernments become more centralized

Conscription

Effects on Economics

• Governments directed the economy and manufacturers

Public order and public opinion

• Dealing with unrest

Civil liberties severely curtailed

• Defense of the Real Act

• Propaganda

Social Impact of Total War

Labor benefits

• Labor unions gained more power because a satisfied workforce is need to keep the war machine rolling

New roles for women

• Women took jobs in factories traditionally held by men (offices and heavy industry)

Male concern over wages

Women began to demand equal pay

• Gains for women

Right to vote- many nations believed suffrage would lend a moral dimension to national politics and prevent a further war

Evaluation for Part 1

Question 1

World War I had been called a “Total War” for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

A. Campaigns were fought on every continent

B. It involved the whole civilian population

C. The entire resources of the nations at war were marshaled for the war effort

D. Those not serving in the military, including women, were expected to work in war plants, buy bonds to support the war, and morally back the nation’s aims

E. There were more civilian than military causalties

Question 2

All of the following contributed to the

outbreak of World War I EXCEPT

A. Rival alliances

B. Conflicting colonial aims

C. Slavic nationalism

D. A naval arms race

E. Japanese militarism

Question 3

An important cause of the Anglo-German rivalry from the last decades of the 19th century to 1914 was

A. Competition in world trade and territorial expansion

B. The declining strength of the German navy

C. The conflict over the Berlin to Baghdad railway

D. Britain’s Entente Cordiale with France

E. Traditional enmities between the nations

Question 4

A crucial moment leading up to the outbreak of World War I occurred when

A. Germany mobilized in response to Russia’s declaration of war against Serbia

B. France mobilized in response to Germany’s declaration of war against Britain

C. Austria mobilized in response to Russia’s declaration of war against Serbia

D. Russia mobilized in response to Austria’s declaration of war against Serbia

E. Britain mobilized against in response to France’s declaration of war against Serbia

Question 5

Which of the following statements regarding Italy’s participation in World War I is true?

A. Previously allied with Germany, Italy chose to remain neutral

B. Previously allied with Russia and France, Italy chose to join with Germany

C. Previously allied with Germany, Italy chose to join with the Allied Powers

D. Previously allied with Britain and France, Italy chose to remain neutral

E. Previously allied with the Ottoman Empire, Italy chose to join with the Central Powers

Question 6

Generally speaking, the offensives on the

Western Front

A. Made significant territorial gains

B. Were minor skirmishes

C. Saw the slaughter of massed infantry units

D. Were won by the attacking army

E. Were fought in one or two days

Question 7

After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June of 1914, the infamous “blank check” issued by Germany to Austria

A. Promised support in whatever action Austria took against Russia

B. Was matched by a “blank check” from Russia to Serbia

C. Limited Austria’s response to Serbia

D. Created a rift between Russia and France

E. Brought an ultimatum from Britain to Germany

Question 8

The German Schlieffen Plan failed for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

A. It was based on the strategy of attrition in a drawn-out war

B. Russian mobilization was too swift to allow the “holding action” in the east

C. Belgian resistance to their violated neutrality was stiff

D. German divisions were transferred from France to East Prussia

E. The French counterattack at the Marne was successful

Question 9

War on the Western Front from late 1914 through most of 1918 can be best characterized as

A. A series of clashes over vast areas by mobile armies

B. A stalemate during which offensive operations exacted high casualties

C. A seesaw conflict in which each side repeatedly gained then lost vast areas

D. Spectacular cavalry operation supported by infantry attacks and aircraft bombings

E. A series of tank battles followed up by infantry assaults

Question 10War on the Eastern Front

A. Quickly degenerated into static trench warfare

B. Was similar in character to that on the Western Front

C. Involved a defensive stand by the German armies against the numerically superior Russians

D. Was characterized by decisive German victories, horrific Russian losses, and the acquisition of vast territories

E. Was marked by spectacular Austrian victories against the Turks and the Russians

Question 11

Which was an innovation first employed in World War I?

A. Massed artillery

B. Tank Warfare

C. Naval Blockade

D. Large-scale infantry assaults over a broad front

E. Trench Warfare

Question 12

The belligerent nations directed the war effort by instituting all the following controls on their civilian populations EXCEPT

A. Press censorship

B. Allocation of raw materials for industry

C. Mobilization of industrial output for war production

D. Outlawing of labor strikes

E. Denial of religious freedom

Question 13

What was the three word phrase that described the soldiers leaving the trenches to fight the enemy?

A. Jumping the gun

B. No man’s land

C. Duck and cover

D. Over the top

E. Facing the enemy