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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.
2
Why Do We Study WW I?
3
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
5
… 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
7
Causes of WW I
German Nationalism
8German States – 1740-1866German States – 1866-1871
Causes of WW I
German Nationalism
9
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
10
• Dominate government, particularly diplomacy
Causes of WW I
Nationalism
Militarism
Interlocking Alliances
11
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)
12
• 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
14
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?
15
Major PowerStrategic Goals
France Revanche (revenge)
“Think of it always, speak of it never.”
The humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War
16
Major PowerStrategic Goals
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
17
The World At War
18
The Players
19
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
21
The Spirit of Èlan
22
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
32
Europe, August 1914
Poised for war
33
What was the chief concern of each power?
The Plans
34
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
35
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”
36
The Plans
French Plan XVII (1913)
Attack into Germany to recover Alsace & Lorraine
37
Assumed:
• Superiority of French soldier
• Germany would honor Belgian neutrality (threat of Britain)
The Plans
38
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
40
The Dominoes Fall
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
(2:50)
Mobilization - August 1914
Berlin42
Mobilization - August 1914
Paris43
Mobilization - August 1914
Berlin students on their way to enlist
44
Mobilization - August 1914
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.”
46
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
49
The Players
50
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
53
Big Bertha
42 cm Siege Howitzer 54
Big Bertha
42 cm Siege Howitzer
55
Big Bertha
56
Big Bertha
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013 0:49
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
59
( 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
60
Failure of the Schlieffen Plan
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
(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
64
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
65
Eastern Front
66
Russia’s Geopolitical Challenge
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
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
68
Eastern FrontBattle of Tannenberg –
August 23-30, 1914
69
Eastern Front
4. Austro-Hungary invaded Russia
Opening Moves
5. Russia repulsed attack and captured all of province of Galacia
70
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.
72
“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
"The Circle of Modern War" and logo© Thomas D. Pilsch 2007-2013
Available on YouTube (38:17 – 41:42)
Lesson 6
WW I: Tactics Technology & Attrition
Next:
75
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.
76
End
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