Transcript Imperialism, Alliances, and War

Imperialism, Alliances, and War
1850-1900
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Europe exercised influence over rest of world:
emigrants streamed out
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almost all of Africa divided b/t European nations,
dominance formed a world economy
Fostered hostility and competition in Europe and a
terrible war that undermined it’s strength
peace settlement disillusioned idealists in the West,
treated Germany harshly
frenzy for imperial expansion destroyed Europe’s
peace, prosperity and dominance
Expansion of European
Power and New Imperialism
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Explosive developments in science industry
agriculture and military powered Europe
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allowed a few Europeans to impose will on others
Europeans had another weapon:
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they thought their way of life was better to everyone else’s
Colonial expansion seen as bad until 1867
contradicted capitalism;
After 1867
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European states spread control over 1/5 world land
area:
New Imperialism
The New Imperialism
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New Imperialism invested capital in less
industrialized country
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transform local economy and culture and
would loan money or intimidate local rulers
Failing that dominant power would
establish more direct political control
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full annexation
Colony
 Protectorate
 ”spheres of influence”
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Motives for the New Imperialism: The
Economic Interpretation
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Lenin: “Imperialism is the monopoly stage
of capitalism”
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European powers didn’t make full monopoly
not many colonies formed
Cultural, Religious, and Social
Interpretations
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Justifications for imperialism
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duty to bring civilization to backward peoples
tool of social policy
Britain
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Joseph Chamberlain argued for empire as
source of profit to finance welfare
some argued colonies would attract a country’s
excess population
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most went to America)
Strategic and Political Interpretations:
the Scramble for Africa
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Great Britain
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Only power w/extensive overseas holdings on
eve of the scramble
Britain purchased major interest in Suez canal
1875
when Egypt troubled, British established
control/advanced into Sudan
North Africa
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Who took over N. Africa
How was the take over of North Africa
unique?
What specific territories were taken over?
Egypt
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Who took over Egypt
How was the take over of Egypt unique?
What issues made Egypt a complicated
territory to control?
What specific territories were taken over?
The Belgian Congo
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Who took over the Congo
How was the take over of the Congo
unique?
What issues made the Congo a
complicated territory to control?
What specific territories were taken over?
France and Smaller Nations
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1830
sent expedition to attack pirates in Algiers
extended their control
took over Algeria, Tunisia, annexed West
Africa, Congo and Madagascar
smaller states acquired new African
colonies
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compelled Britain to expand
political status equated with # of colonies
Germany:
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Bismarck declared protectorates over
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Southwest
East Africa
Togoland
Cameroons
acquired only for diplomatic position
The Irrational Element
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Germany’s annexations started scramble
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areas not profitable/strategic
In Asia, Japan emerged as great power
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Frightened other powers interested in China
Russia, France and Germany forced Japan out of
Liaotung Peninsula
US proposed Open Door Policy 1899
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By turn of century
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became informal protectorate for all of Western Hemisphere
most of world came under industrialized West(except
for Ottoman Empire
fate closely tied w/European developments)
Emergence of the German Empire and
the Alliance Systems (1873-1890)
German Empire revolutionized
diplomacy
 Britain/Russia retained standings
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Austria severely weakened
 nationalism
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threatened disintegration
France damaged by Franco-Prussian
War
 afraid
of new neighbor
Bismarck’s Leadership (1873-1890)
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After 1871, Bismarck declared
Germany satisfied
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didn’t want territory
afraid of war
cooled French resentment
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prevented alliance of France
w/another nation
War in the Balkans
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Bismarck established Three Emperors’
League:
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Germany/ Austria/Russia(1873)
 Collapsed
from Austro-Russian rivalry from
Turkish War in 1875
 Ottoman weakness caused
Serbia/Montenegro/others to rebel
 Russia joined fray
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Ottoman Empire forced to sue for peace:
 Treaty of San Stefano:(1878)
 Russian victory
 got money/land,
 alarmed other powers, jingoism: superpatriotism
The Congress of Berlin
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Disraeli sent fleet to Constantinople
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Britain/Austria/ Russia met at Berlin
under Bismarck
 Bulgaria
reduced,
 Austria-Hungary given
Bosnia/Herzegovina
 some territories divided up
Balkan states annoyed by settlement
 resented Austrian occupation
 south Slavic question a threat to Europe
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German Alliances with Russia and
Austria
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Bismarck made secret treaty w/Austria
Would aid each other if attacked by Russia
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Frightened Russia into bargaining w/Germany
Aimed to resolve conflicts in Balkans
w/Austria
The Triple Alliance
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Italy joined dual Alliance with Austria and
Germany 1882
Bismarck negotiated the Reinsurance
Treaty
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Russia would stay neutral if attacked
William II gained German throne in 1888
Impetuous
 disagreed strongly w/Bismarck, wanted an empire
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Forging of the Triple Entente (1890-1907)
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Franco-Russian Alliance
after Bismarck’s retirement in 1890
 system of alliances collapsed
 succeeded by General Leo von Caprivi
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 alienated
Russia
 drove Russians toward France
 alliance against Germany signed 1894
Britain and Germany
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Germany became enemy in British eyes
 overtook British production
 William II tried to ally w/Britain, but changed his mind
 Barred British attempts to build railroad from Capetown to
Cairo
 other blocking in Africa: wanted to show Britain that
Germany could make trouble for them
Germany got a navy in 1898 under Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz,
 doomed to failure,
 wasted German resources/began naval race w/Britain, they
abandoned friendship
At first, Britain wasn’t concerned
 embarrassed from Boer war
 tried to make Alliance
 Germans refused, held out for greater concessions
The Entente Cordiale
British ended “splendid isolation”
 Allied w/Japan to defend against
Russia,
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settled differences w/France
 after Russo-Japanese War of 1905
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 British
apprehension toward Russia was
lowered
The First Moroccan Crisis
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1905, William II tried instigating
independence in Morocco
challenge to France
 Germans demanded international
conference to show power
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 met
in 1906 in Spain
Austria sided w/Germans
 Spain sided w/Britain/ France:
 Germany overplayed their hand, pushed
France/Britain together
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British Agreement with Russia
 With French support
British made agreement with Russia like
Entente Cordiale
 settled quarrels in Asia
 Triple Entente formed vs. Triple Alliance
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 Germany
felt encircled
let up on Austria in Dual Alliance
 Bismarck’s alliances shattered
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The Road to War (1908-1914)
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Ottoman empire controlled strip of Balkan
Peninsula,
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mostly nationalist Slavs,
wanted Serbia to unite Slavic provinces(Bosnia
especially);
Young Turks brought revolution in Ottoman
Empire 1908
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threatened to revive it and stop European powers
from pouncing on its corpse
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1908,
The Bosnian Crisis
Austria/Russia made deal:
 Russia would support annexation of
Bosnia/Herzogovina if Austria
supported opening of Dardanelles to
Russian warships
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Austria annexed 1st
Russians were refused Dardanelle demand by
Britain/France;
 Serbs frustrated by annexation,
 Triple Entente strained by Britain/France’s
refusal
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The Second Moroccan Crisis
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Germany sent gunboat Panther to Morocco
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angered Britain
turned Entente Cordiale into a de facto alliance
War in the Balkans
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Italy wanted Libya, attacked Ottoman empire,
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– in 1912, many states attacked empire/won
easily
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forced Turkey to cede Libya;/islands, encouraged Balkan
states to attack
dispute over division of territory,
2nd Balkan War in 1913
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Austria determined to suppress Slavs
Serbs retreat
Austrians got better results from brute force than
diplomacy
Causes of World War One
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Although it was the assassination of the Austrian archduke,
Franz Ferdinand that led to the outbreak of world war one
in August 1914, the actual causes of the war were more
complicated
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Complicated Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
Militarism
Sarajevo and Outbreak of War
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Assassin killed Archduke Francis Ferdinand
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(Black Hand) supported by Serbian
government
Germany’s and Austria’s Response
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Germany promised German support on attack on
Austria
July 28- Austria declared war on Serbia
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Russia ordered partial mobilization against Austria
July 30- Austria ordered mobilization against
Russia
Aug 1-3 Germany invaded Luxembourg and
Belgium
Triple Entente Response
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Aug 4- Britain declared war and Germany
invaded France
Strategies and Stalemate
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Allied superior in numbers and financial
resources and command of sea
Central powers advantages of
communication and first attack
New Weapons
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Machine Guns made cavalry redundant
Later on Tanks -- after 1916 -- they made
Trench warfare impossible in later wars.
Chemical Weapons - Mustard Gas
New Diseases - Shell Shock
War in the West
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Schlieffen Plan- going around French defenses
by going through Belgium and going south and
east to crush against German fortresses
Germany defensive war in east
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Schlieffen died and left to Moltke to execute plan
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Hesitant strategy and mistakes led to failure
France and Britain stopped German in Battle of
Marne
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Each side dug in behind a wall of trenches with
machine gun nests and artillery
War in the East
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Hindenburg captured/destroyed entire
Russian army at Battle of Tannenberg and
Masurian Lakes
The Home Front
Popular Support: Most people in the various countries saw the war in
nationalistic/patriotic terms -- White Feathers (chicken/dove) were
given to non-fighting men in Britain
Total War and Economic Mobilization: Mobilizing for total war
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Factories
Munitions
Pub hours in England were shortened
Rationing - especially harsh in Germany
Total control of economic and social life to obtain a common goal
strengthened socialist ideals.
Labor shortages brought about benefits for organized labor.
Role of Women
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Changes drastically as women entered labor force.
Right to vote was granted after the war to women in Britain and
Germany and Austria.
Breaking the Deadlock
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Winston Churchill proposed to attack Ottoman
Empire
Falkenhayn failed at Verdun
Germans responded to British Blockade with
unrestricted sub warfare
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Americans angry after torpedoed Lusitania
Battle of Jutland confirmed British control of sea
Feb 1- Germany announces unrestricted sub
warfare and U.S. breaks diplomatic relations
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Germany had won against Russia, but by 1916
morale had declined,
The United States entered the war.
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The "Lusitania" 1915 1,200 die (inc. 118
Americans)
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Altered American public opinion.
The Zimmerman Telegram
America Enters the War 1917:
Germany had to act quickly before the US forces
built up.
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Spring Offensive by Germany -- March 1918
Russia Revolution
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Tsar adjourned Duma and ruled alone
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March 1917- Petrograd worker demonstrations
Tsar abdicated on Mar. 15
Began to organize soviets, councils of workers
and soldiers
Lenin and the Bolsheviks
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Bolsheviks demanded all political power go
to soviets
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Coup failure and Lenin fled to Finland, and
Leon Trotsky imprisoned
Trotsky organized coup on Nov.6 and
Bolsheviks ruled Russia
Communist Dictatorship
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Bolshevik gov. decrees that nationalized
land turned over to peasant proprietors
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Bolsheviks took Russia out of War
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk- treaty with Germany
that Russia lost vast amounts of territory and
pay much war reparations
Last Push
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Germany pushed for one last offensive
and got no further from Marne
Prince Max of Baden asked for peace on
14 points
End of the Ottomans
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Ottomans under the “Young Turks” had sided
with Germany.
Russian and British forces defeated the
Ottomans
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British aided by the Arabs under the control of
Hussein the sherif of Mecca.
1920 Peace treaty dismantles the Ottomans,
large portions of the empire fell under the
control of England and France.
Turkish nationalists under Ataturk founds the
Republic of Turkey in 1923.
Settlement at Paris
The Allies
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
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The Fourteen Points Jan 8 1918
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Self Determination - was it a good idea (think of
problems with this in Eastern Europe)
Aims of Other Allies
 Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929)
David Lloyd George (1865-1945, PM 1916-1922)
Vittoria Emanuale Orlando, 1860-1952
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Britain:
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France:
Bowed to public opinion at home, and they wanted
reparations.
Wanted the destruction of German Threat and Reparations.
Provisions - The New Europe
Nine new "nation-states": Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Austria, Hungary.
France
- gains Alsace-Lorraine
Germany
- loses territory
Alsace-Lorraine
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Saarland
A lot of Prussia to Poland
Austria-Hungary: An Empire disappears
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Austria - a small state
Hungary - (problem - many Hungarians in Transylvania,
which was given to Romania).
Czechoslovakia - the democratic success story -Czechs,
Slovaks, Moravians (Problem - Germans in Sudetenland)
Balkans
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Yugoslavia - Serbia grows and gains a little empire
over Croats, Slovenes. Dalmatians, Macedonians,
Bosnians, some Hungarians, and Montenegrins
(Problem - Albanians.)
Rumania - gains territory
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Transylvania + Moldavia + many Hungarians.
Gypsies ignored.
Bulgaria
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Loses land to Yugoslavia and Greece
Russia -- loses a lot of land
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Finland
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Poland
Moldavia to Rumania
Colonies: German colonies are divided up.
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Britain gets African lands
Japan gets Asian lands.
Ottoman Empire
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Britain and France divided the Middle East.
Britain renegades on promise made to Arabs.
Greece tried to conquer Western Anatolia
The New Turkey, under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk repulsed
and drove out the Greeks
Reparations
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Germany was to pay $5 Billion per year
until 1921
Then a fixed sum which would be paid off
over 30 years.
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Never paid, and could not be,
Infuriated the Germans.
League of Nations
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A League of Nations to be established to
govern later disputes.
Germany and Russia excluded.
USA would not join.
It never worked.
Germany’s Surrender
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The War Guilt Clause –
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Germany was not instigator of the War, it was
regard as main defeated power.
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"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm, and Germany
accepts, the responsibility for causing all the loss and damage to
which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals
have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon
them by the aggression of Germany and her allies“
Not a complete defeat.
Military Defeat not acknowledged by the army.
Military insisted that the Civil Government bears the
blame.
Made things hard for the new postwar
government.
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Led to UK and USA really leaving France to
enforce the Treaty, - France was unable to this.
Versailles settlement managed to set the scene
for the next war within 25 years.