Transcript Topic 1: 20th Century Warfare

Topic 1: 20th Century Warfare
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Different types of 20th Century warfare
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Origins and Causes of War
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Nature of 20th Century Wars
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Effects and Results
o Civil, guerrilla, limited, revolutionary
o Total war
o Long-term and short-term causes, failure of diplomacy
o Economic, ideological, political, religious causes
o Technological developments, tactics and strategies: air, sea and land
o The home front, the role of women
o Resistance and revolutionary movements
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Treaties, and wars ending without treaties
Political repercussions, territorial changes
Social and cultural effects, changes in the status of women
Post-war economic problems
Accepted Historical Perspectives on the cause of
WWI:
• Long term:
– Balance of power: Germany and Italy upsetting the “old
European” status quo.
– Competition created by imperialism
– Aging and putrid empires created chaos as they crumbled:
Ottoman, Austrian, Russian
Accepted Historical Perspectives on the cause of
WWI:
• Long term causes continued:
– England monopolizing the world’s finances
– Alliance system which was set to default to war
– German nationalism is the theory which was trumpeted
after the war, but not before.
Diplomacy and Alliances
• By 1900, a united Germany produced more
steel than Britain and France combined.
– Germany felt it needed and deserved “a place in
the sun”.
– German goods are sold, colonial competition
begins and some countries look to the German
Empire as a friend and protector.
Diplomacy and Alliances
• The Triple Alliance:
– In 1879 Germany enters into a military alliance
with Austria-Hungary.
– An alliance with Italy is added in 1882.
• (This alliance ends before WWI)
– To be safe, a “reinsurance” treaty is also signed
with Russia.
• (This alliance lapses over time)
Diplomacy and Alliances
• In 1894 France forms an agreement with Russia.
While the countries are different ideologically, France
feels the pressure of the Triple Alliance.
• By this time, Europe is divided in two camps:
– German-Austrian-Italian
– Franco-Russian
Diplomacy and Alliances
What about Britain?
– Britain prided itself on a “splendid isolation”.
– Begins to feel pressure by a growing German navy
– Enters into a loose entente cordiale with France and
Russia, but refused to make any military commitments.
Failure of Diplomacy
– Germany encourages Moroccan independence in an
attempt to break the Entente, which makes it stronger
– Crisis in the Balkans as the Ottoman Empire crumbles:
religious and political differences and begin to fuel unrest.
– The result was two wars in the Balkans, in which Austria
ultimately denied Serbian expansion to the sea.
Short-term Causes
• The Union of Death also known as The Black
Hand assassinates Archduke Franz Ferdinand
in Sarajevo.
– Gavrilo Princip was the assassin who pulled the
trigger.
– Ferdinand’s last words: “Sophie dear, Sophie dear,
don’t die! Stay alive for our children!”
Short-term Causes
Events that followed:
– Austria decides to crush Serbian independence.
– Germany gives Austria a “blank check” and
encouragement to be firm.
– The Serbs counted on Russian support
– The Russians in turn counted on France who were terrified
to face a war with Germany alone, give a “blank check” to
Russia.
Germany’s Blank Cheque to AustriaHungary:
• “In the meantime His Majesty desires to say
that he is not blind to the danger which
threatens Austria-Hungary and thus the Triple
Alliance as a result of the Russian and Serbian
Pan-Slavic agitation.”
Serbia’s Response to Austria-Hungary
• (Preamble) ...[Serbia] cannot be held responsible for
manifestations of a private character, such as articles
in the press and the peaceable work of societies ...
[The Serbian government] have been pained and
surprised at the statements, according to which
members of the Kingdom of Serbia are supposed to
have participated in the preparations of the crime...
War Begins
– Russia mobilizes it’s army to the German and Austrian
boarders.
– Germany demands an end to mobilization of troops, gets
no answer and declares war on Russia on August 1, 1914.
– Germany also declares war on France on August 3, 1914.
– Britain declares war on Germany on August 4 only after
neutral Belgium is invaded.
For you to consider:
– The effects of alliances, international markets,
industrialism, imperialism/colonialism and
nationalism during this time period.
– Other economic, ideological, political and religious
causes of the war.
– Was this war truly inevitable? Were there
possible steps that could have been taken to avoid
war?
Nature of 20th Century War: War on
Land
• The Schlieffen Plan:
– Germany’s plan to use the excellent rail system to
get troops quickly into France through Belgium
and then turn “leisurely” to Russia.
– During the Battle of the Marne, German troops
are forced to retreat, France would not fall in a
single blow.
Technology in war
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Aviation was barely beginning
Motor transport was new, few tanks until late in the war
Poison, tear and mustard gas used
The most deadly weapon of the early war was the new
machine gun, which made it impossible for soldiers to
advance across open fields.
– This resulted in a long stalemate in the trenches.
Trench Warfare
• From autumn 1914-spring 1918
• 1/3 of all Allied casualties were sustained in
trenches.
– Rats--eating human remains could grow as big as
cats. A single rat could produce 900 offspring a year.
– Lice!
– Trench Fever--severe pain followed by a high fever
– Frogs, slugs and horned beetles.
– Trench Foot-infection of the feet caused by the cold,
wet and unsanitary conditions of the trenches.
Trench Warfare continued…
– Patrolling the dangerous areas of no-man’s land
(the area between trenches)
– Boredom
– The smell--rotting carcases, overflowing latrines,
dried sweat, rotting feet, lingering odor of poison
gas and other smells of cooking/daily life.
Nature of 20th Century War: War at
Sea
• Land armies seemed helpless and both sides looked
to the sea:
– The British impose a strict naval blockade, which divided
good into two categories: contraband and noncontraband.
– The British tried to stop all goods going to Germany in an
attempt to starve out the enemy.
– Neutral countries were not allowed to enter any German
ports.
War at Sea continued..
• Germany attempts to blockade Britain mainly
through the use of submarines.
– Britain seems helpless to submarine attacks at first.
– Submarines were a new technology and it was hard to tell
what kind of ship they were attacking.
– The Lusitania is torpedoed off the Irish coast on May 7,
1915, killing 118 American citizens.
New Allies Needed
• As the stalemate continued, countries begin to
search for new allies:
– In 1914, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria in 1915 join
with Germany and Austria.
– Both sides court Italy, the treaty of London promises Italy
expanded territory.
– Germany promises an independent Poland
– In 1914, Japan declares war on Germany
– In the crumbling Ottoman Empire, many groups hope for
independence.
The Question of the United States
• President Wilson is reelected in 1916 with the slogan
“he kept us out of war”
– Wilson could not see getting involved with either side, but
he personally supported Britain and France.
– He urged true neutrality, but the American people were
divided.
• Many people had been born in Europe or were children of
immigrants
• Several events lead to U.S. involvement….
The United States goes to war
– Germany announced unrestricted submarine
warfare.
– The Zimmerman telegram, January 16, 1917,
convinces Americans of German aggressiveness.
– On April 6, 1917 President Wilson went to
Congress for a declaration of war- “to make the
world safe for democracy”.
For you to consider:
• Other technological developments in WWI.
• What was happening on the home front
during this time?
• What was the role of women?
Roles of women
Economic and social impact
Causes, practices and effect of warsWWI
US Women
• The more than 25,000 US women who served
in Europe in World War I did so on an
entrepreneurial basis, especially before 1917.
• They helped nurse the wounded, provide food
and other supplies to the military, serve as
telephone operators (the “Hello Girls”),
entertain troops, and work as journalists.
• In World War I, 13,000 women enlisted in the
US Navy, mostly doing clerical work.
• United States mobilized substantial numbers
of women into war-related industries, and into
the workplace generally to make male workers
available for military use
Britain
• The World Wars shook up gender relations,
but only temporarily.
• Individual British women in the World Wars
found new freedoms and opportunities in
wartime.
• In World War I Britain, about 1 million mostly
lower-class women worked in munitions jobs
Russia
• During World War I, some Russian women
took part in combat even during the Czarist
period. These women, motivated by a
combination of patriotism and a desire to
escape a drab existence, mostly joined up
dressed as men.
In the end…
• Both wars put conventional views about
gender roles under strain,” but no permanent
change occurred in hostility to women in
male-dominated jobs, the devaluation of
female labor, and the female-only
responsibility for home life.
The Economic Impact of World War I
• Ruined Europe’s 19th century economic
development
• “The war literally and metaphorically blew
up the achievements of a century of
economic advance.” (Niall Ferguson)
– Loss of trade
– Loss of foreign investments
– Subsequent losses due to economic instability
Cost of World War I
Country
Great Britain
France
Germany
Italy
Russia
USA
Financial cost
(1918)
33,334,012,000
24,265,583,000
33,775,000,000
12,413,998,000
22,293,950,000
22,625,253,000
Germany
• Value of German trade with USA fell from 68 million to 10
million in one year
• Agricultural production fell about 50-70%
• Industrial output fell 40% from 1914-1918
• Following the war, reparations repayments devalued the
German economy
• Many people had saved marks during the war and
afterwards billions of dollars reentered the economy
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This situation led to hyperinflation
January 1918
$1 US = 5.21 German Marks
December 1923 $1 US = 4,200,000,000,000
Value of German currency fell
Great Britain and the United States
• Previous to World War I, Great Britain dominated as the
world’s creditor
– During the war Britain became heavily indebted to the US
– United States emerged from the war as a rival to Britain as a
financial superpower (Niall Ferguson)
– World’s financial center shifted from London to New York
• US no longer was a debtor and became a creditor nation
– The war stimulated the US economy
• Increased employment and wages
• Brought great profit to industry
Weaponry of WWI
Causes, practices and effects of wars
Flamethrower
• Spread fire by launching burning fuel.
• Used sparingly at the beginning of the war
and then seen as successful.
• They were undeniably useful when used at
short-range, but were of limited wider
effectiveness, especially once the British and
French had overcome their initial alarm at
their use.
• During the war the
Germans launched in
excess of 650
flamethrower attacks; no
numbers exist for British
or French attacks.
• By the close of the war
flamethrower use had
been extended to use on
tanks, a policy carried
forward to World War
Two.
Grenades
• As with most things at the start of the war in
August 1914, the Germans were ahead of the
pack in terms of grenade development. Even
as war began the Germans had 70,000 hand
grenades in readiness, along with a further
106,000 rifle grenades.
• Not new weapon, but expanded use.
Egg grenade
Machine guns
• First major war use.
• Early machine guns would rapidly overheat
and become inoperative without the aid of
cooling mechanisms; they were consequently
fired in short rather than sustained bursts.
• Water cooled machine guns would still
overheat relatively quickly (sometimes within
two minutes)
• In response to the
increasing success of
machine guns mounted on
aircraft it was perhaps
inevitable that machine
guns should similarly be
developed as anti-aircraft
devices (in France and Italy),
sometimes mounted on
vehicles. Similarly machine
guns began to be added to
warships as a useful
addition to naval
armaments.
Poison gas
• Considered uncivilized
prior to World War One,
the development and
use of poison gas was
necessitated by the
requirement of wartime
armies to find new ways
of overcoming the
stalemate of
unexpected trench
warfare.
• The Germans' use of chlorine gas provoked immediate
widespread condemnation, and certainly damaged
German relations with the neutral powers, including
the U.S. The gas attacks were placed to rapid
propaganda use by the British although they planned
to respond in kind.
• Once the Allies had recovered from the initial shock of
the Germans' practical application of poison gas
warfare, a determination existed to exact retaliatory
revenge at the earliest opportunity. The British were
the first to respond.
• Although gas claimed a notable number of
casualties during its early use, once the crucial
element of surprise had been lost the overall
number of casualties quickly diminished. Indeed,
deaths from gas after about May 1915 were
relatively rare.
• In large part this was because of the increasing
effectiveness of the methods used to protect
against poison gas. Gas never turned out to be
the weapon that turned the tide of the war, as
was often predicted.
Rifles
• Despite advances in machine gun, mortar and
grenade technology, all remained relatively
unwieldy and cumbersome in comparison to
the rifle, which remained the most crucial,
ever-present infantry weapon throughout
World War One.
• Key weapons on the battlefield because they
are portable and useful in trench warfare
Tanks
• The first combat tank was ready by January
1916.
• By the time the war drew to a close the
British, the first to use them, had produced
some 2,636 tanks. The French produced
rather more, 3,870. The Germans, never
convinced of its merits, and despite their
record for technological innovation, produced
just 20.
• Tanks broke down a lot
• Moved battles out of
trenches and back to
battlefield.
Mortar
• As with the grenade the mortar was yet
another old weapon which found a new lease
of life during World War One.
• A mortar is essentially a short, stumpy tube
designed to fire a projectile at a steep angle
(by definition higher than 45 degrees) so that
it falls straight down on the enemy.
Advantages of mortar use
• The chief advantage of the mortar was that it
could be fired from the (relative) safety of the
trench, avoiding exposure of the mortar crews
to the enemy.
• It was notably lighter and more mobile than
other, larger artillery pieces.
• The very fact that the mortar bomb fell almost
straight down meant that it would (with luck)
land smack in the enemy trench.
• Just as the mortar was
another example of an
ancient weapon given
fresh reign, so too it was
predictable that the
German army, so better
prepared for war than any
of its counterparts in
1914, should have
spotted the enormous
potential of the mortar
some years ahead of the
Great War.
Aircraft
• When war broke out the number of aircraft on all sides
and all fronts was very small. France, for example, had
less than 140 aircraft at the start of the war. By the
end of the war she fielded 4,500 aircraft, more than
any other protagonist. While this may seem an
impressive increase, it does not give a true indication
of the amount of aircraft involved. During the war
France produced no less than 68,000 aircraft. 52,000
of them were lost in battle, a horrendous loss rate of
77%.
• In 1914 it was important that aircraft be easy to fly, as
the amount of training that pilots received was
minimal, to say the least.
Use of aircraft
• Reconnaissance missions
• By October of 1914 many pilots were
experimenting with machine guns (defensive
policy)- fighters
• Strategic bombing is aimed at reducing an
enemy's capacity to make war (offensive policy)bombers
• Ground attacks- aimed at disrupting enemy
forces at or near the front and during the course
of the battle itself. Not planned, by opportunity