World War I: 1914-1918The Great War

4 factors that lead to war!!

Nationalism

•A deep devotion to one’s nation•Caused rivalry among nations•Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain,

Russia, Italy, and France▫Competition for materials and markets▫Territorial disputes (Alsace Lorraine)

▫Balkans – Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians, and other ethnic groups

Imperialism

•European countries were pushed to the brink of war over Africa and Asian areas

•In 1905 and 1911, Germany and France ALMOST fought over Morocco

Militarism

•European arms race•By 1914, all great powers except GB had

a standing army•Militarism – policy of glorifying military

power and keeping an army prepared for war

Tangled Alliances

•Germany’s enemy was France•Bismarck set out to form alliances to

isolate France•1879 – Dual Alliance – Germany and

Austria Hungary•1882 – Triple Alliance – Germany, Austria

Hungary and Italy•Also, Germany made a separate peace

with Russia

•Problems…•Wilhelm II forced Bismarck to resign in

1890•He let the treaty with Russia lapse•Russia then made a treaty with France

•This was dangerous because it set up a situation for a possible two front war for Germany

Wilhelm II

Alliances continued…

•Germany began shipbuilding and competing with Great Britain

•1904 – Great Britain made a treaty with France

•1907 – Great Britain, France, Russia – Triple Entente

•Friendship – didn’t mean they would fight for each other, but they wouldn’t fight against each other

Balkan Peninsula

Balkan Peninsula

•“Powder Keg of Europe”•Ottoman Empire was disintegrating•Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania,

Serbia

•Serbia wanted Slavic nationalism and to unite all Slavs

•Russia (with a large Slavic population) supported Serbia and Slavic Nationalism

•Austria Hungary did not

•1908 – Austria Hungary annexed Bosnia Herzegovina

•These two areas had large Slavic populations

•Russia offered support to Serbia•Serbia had to back down because Austria-

Hungary and Germany were too strong

June 28, 1914

•Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie visited Sarajevo, Bosnia

•Shot by Gavrilo Princip (member of the Serbian Black Hand)

•Serbia was given an ultimatum by AH▫End all anti-Austrian activity▫AH into Serbia to conduct an investigation

▫Agreed to some of it, but not all

Motives For Assassination

•It took place under the knowledge of the Serbian Government

•They had hoped that it would start a war▫Hoped to bring down AH empire

Gavrilo Princip

THE CULPRIT

Archduke Francis Ferdinand

The Archduke and Sophie

•July 28, 1914 – AH rejected Serbia’s offer and declared war

•Russia began mobilizing troops on Austria and Germany’s border

TIMELINE

Schlieffen Plan•Germany’s ultimate idea•Through a series of invasions they would

blitz through France and Capture Paris in a matter of days

•Germany decided to go through Belgium to get to France

•Belgium was neutral•August 4, 1914 – Great Britain declared

war on Germany

After the war began…

•Central Powers – Germany, Austria Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria (Triple Alliance)

•Allied Powers – Great Britain, France, Russiajoined by Japan and Italy (9 months later) (Triple Entente)

Western Front

•Deadlocked region along northern France•Stretched 500 miles from North Sea to

Switzerland

1st Battle of the Marne

•September, 1914 – pushed Germans back

•Proved that the Schlieffen Plan failed

•By then, Russia had invaded on the East

•TWO FRONT WAR

Trench Warfare

•By early 1915 – parallel trenches•Small land gains•Stalemate

•No Man’s Land – area between trenches

New technology caused the stalemate•Machine guns•Poison Gas•Armored Tanks•Larger Artillery

•February 1916 – Battle of Verdun – each side lost 300,000 men (Germans gained 4 miles)

•July 1916 – Battle of Somme – each side suffered over half million casualties (British gained 5 miles)

Eastern Front

•Battlefield between Germany and Russia• •By 1916 – Russia’s war effort was near

collapse•Russia wasn’t industrialized

Allied strategy (Gallipoli Campaign)•Attempt to create a supply line through

the Dardanelles to Russia•The Dardanelles was a strait owned by

the Ottoman Empire

•February 1915•Soon became a stalemate and by the end

of the year the Allies gave up there

•Allied powers decided to attack German colonies in Africa and stir up trouble in the Ottoman areas

•Japan took over German areas in China and took German Pacific island colonies

United States

•German attempted to inflict a naval blockade around Great Britain

•The British had already put a blockade in place around Germany

•Germans controlled the Atlantic and any trade with Great Britain

•Unrestricted submarine warfare – January 1917 – Germany announced that any ship around Britain would be sunk without warning

•The Germans had attempted this before•May 1915 – Lusitania (British passenger

liner) sunk•1,198 people died (128 AMERICANS)•Claimed the ship was carrying munitions•Woodrow Wilson protested and Germany

relented

•1917 – three American ships were sunk

•February 1917 – telegram from German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman to the German ambassador in Mexico (intercepted by the British)

•Asking Mexico to side with the Central Powers in exchange for helping Mexico get back lands it lost

April 2, 1917 •Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare

war

•By 1917 – Europe had lost more men than all the wars in the previous three centuries

•Total war – all resources▫Factories were told what to produce▫Rationing – small amounts of certain goods

could be purchased▫Censored news▫Propaganda – one sided info to keep morale up

•Women replaced men in factories, offices, and shops

Russia

•March 1917 – •Civil unrest in Russia due to war

shortages of food and fuel•Czar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15•Provisional Government established –

pledged to keep fighting•By 1917 – 5.5 million soldiers wounded,

killed, or prisoner

•November 1917 – Vladimir Lenin – Bolshevik Revolution

•March 1918 – Treaty of Brest Litovsk – ended the war with Germany gave Germany large portions of land

Second Battle of the Marne

•July 1918 •Allied forces began advancing steadily

toward Germany

•November 9 – Kaiser William II – forced to step down (Germany declared a republic)

•November 11 – the war ended•Armistice – agreement to stop fighting

•January 18, 1919•Paris Peace Conference – at the palace of

Versailles•Big Four – England, France, US, Italy•England – David Lloyd George•France – Georges Clemenceau•US – Woodrow Wilson•Italy – Vittorio Orlando

•Germany and Russia were not represented!!

•Wilson’s plan for peace - FOURTEEN POINTS▫Outlined a plan for achieving and keeping

peace▫1. end to secret treaties▫2. freedom of the seas▫3. free trade▫4. reduced armies and navies▫5. self determination▫6. League of Nations

•Self determination – allowing people to decide for themselves under what government they wish to live

•League of Nations – peace organization

•France and England want to punish Germany

•Treaty of Versailles – June 28, 1919•Between Germany and Allies

•Dictat of Versailles – Dictated treaty

Germany punished

•Lost land and was limited to a military of only 100,000 men for security purposes

•Article 231 – War Guilt Clause•Germany had to pay a huge reparations

bill to the Allies

•The League of Nations took over German colonies as mandates

New Countries

•Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia

•Turkey, Palestine, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon

•Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

•POLAND reappears on the map

•US rejected the treaty… Never sign it

•8.5 million soldiers died•21 million wounded

•$338 billion cost