Transcript Lsn 15 World War I

World War I
Lsn 15
Agenda
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Causes
Schlieffen Plan
Trench Warfare
Attempts to break the stalemate
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Gas
Peripheral Operations
Frontal Assaults at Verdun and the Somme
Tanks
American Involvement
• Technological Developments
• American Entry
• Surrender and Settlement
Causes of World War I
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Colonial disputes
Nationalism
Alliances
Militarism
Colonialism
• Virtually all the major powers were engaged in a
scramble for empire to bolster their economies
• The fiercest competition was between Britain and
Germany and between France and Germany
Nationalism
• The French Revolution had spread nationalism
throughout most of Europe
– The idea that people with the same ethnic origins,
language, and political ideals had the right to form
sovereign states through the process of selfdetermination
• Nationalist aspirations of subject minorities
threatened to tear apart the multinational
empires of the Ottomans, Hapsburgs, and
Russians
– Such a development would affect the regional
balance of power
Nationalism: Austria-Hungary
• Poles, Czechs,
Slovaks, Serbs, Croats,
and Slovenes all had
nationalist aspirations,
especially the Serbs
• The Serbs were
strongly supported by
the Russians as part of
the pan-Slavic
movement
• The Austria-Hungarians
were strongly
supported by the
Germans
Nationalism: Assassination of
Ferdinand
• Archduke Francis Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary went on a visit to
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
which Austria-Hungary had
annexed in 1908
• Sarajevo was a hotbed of panSerbian nationalism
• As he drove through Sarajevo on
June 28, 1914, seven assassins
from the terrorist group Black
Hand waited for him
– The Black Hand advocated for a
greater Serbia
Archduke Ferdinand
and his family
Nationalism: Assassination of
Ferdinand
• Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Ferdinand
• Austria issued an ultimatum to Serbia
demanding that Austrian officials take part in any
investigation of people found on Serbian territory
connected to the assassination
• Serbia refused this demand as a violation of its
sovereignty
• On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia
– A tangled alliance system then began to realize itself
Triple Alliance
• Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the
Dual Alliance in 1879, committing the two
states to mutual assistance in the event of
attack by France or Russia.
• The Dual Alliance was expanded into the
Triple Alliance in 1882 when Italy joined.
– Italy proved to be an equivocal partner,
declaring itself neutral when the war began
and ultimately siding with the Allies
Triple Entente
• The Triple Alliance was counter-balanced by the
Triple Entente of France, Russia, and Britain.
• As a result, by 1907 Europe was divided into two
armed and rather fearful camps.
Tangled Alliances
• So…
– When Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia on July 28, on July 29 Russia began
mobilizing to defend its Serbian ally
– Then, in consideration of mobilization
timetables, Russia also mobilized against
Germany
– In response, Germany declared war on
Russia on Aug 1
Tangled Alliances
• It continues…
– France started to mobilize on
behalf of its ally Russia
– On Aug 3, Germany declared
war on France and also began to
attack through neutral Belgium
to France in accordance with its
war plan
– Belgium protested to the
signatories of the 1839 treaty
guaranteeing its neutrality
– When Germany refused Britain
(one of the treaty signatories)
ultimatum on Aug 4, Britain
declared war on Germany
Militarism
• The reason all this
happened so fast was
the advanced state of
militarism
– World War I was the
first war in which the
opponents went to war
with detailed and
precise plans that had
been written years
before the outbreak of
hostilities
• “Mobilization means
war” (German
ambassador to the
Russians)
• War Plans
– Austria: Attack Russia, Italy, or
the Balkans (Variants R, I, and
B)
– Russia: Attack Austria-Hungary
(Plan A) or defend against
Germany (Plan G)
– Germany: Attack France before
Russia could mobilize
(Schlieffen Plan)
– France: Attack Germany (Plan
XVII)
– Great Britain: Deploy BEF
The Plans
• French Plan XVII
disregarded Belgian
frontier (thought
Germans wouldn’t
violate Belgian
neutrality)
• In reality, the German
Schlieffen Plan had its
main effort through
Belgium
Schlieffen Plan
• The Schlieffen plan sent a
powerful right wing through
western Belgium, the
Netherlands, and northern
France in a gigantic wheeling
movement
• The idea was to destroy
France before Russia could
mount an effective offensive
against the weak German
forces in the east and thus
avoid fighting a two-front war
Alfred von Schlieffen
(1833-1913), chief of the
German general staff
Moltke’s Modifications to the
Schlieffen Plan
• Helmuth von Moltke replaced Schlieffen as chief of the
general staff in 1906 and modified Schlieffen’s original
plan
– Weakened the right wing and strengthened the left
• Moved four and a half corps from the west to the
east to protect East Prussia
• Modified sweep of right wing so that Germans would
not violate the Netherlands’ neutrality
• Added a counterattack mission to the left wing
– Violated Schlieffen’s dying words to “Keep the right
wing strong”
Problems with the German Plan
• Became inflexible “war
by timetable”
– Required enormous
logistical effort to move
men and equipment from
Aachen to around Paris
in a little more than five
weeks
– Committed Germany to a
two front war
• Necessitated attacking
before Russia or France
could seize the initiative
(even if Germany wasn’t
ready)
Result
Schlieffen Plan worked initially but stalled due to logistical
demands; static warfare began
Trench Warfare
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Gas
• Various efforts were
made to break the
stalemate
• The Germans first
used gas against
the Russians on Jan
13, 1915 with little
effect
• They were more
successful at Ypres
on Aug 15
Even German dogs were
outfitted with gas masks
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Peripheral Operations
• Ottoman Empire entered war on the
side of the Central Powers on Oct 31,
1914
• Seen, especially with the British, as a
new theater that offered an alternative
to the deadlock on the Western Front
• End result is a series of operations on
the periphery of Europe
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Frontal Attacks
• On Feb 21, 1916, the
Germans launched a
massive attack on
Verdun which was
preceded by a 12-hour
bombardment
• Fighting continued until
December 19 and
caused over an
estimated 700,000 dead,
wounded and missing
• The battlefield was
smaller than ten square
kilometers
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Frontal Assaults
• On July 1, the British
launched an offensive
along the Somme River
to try to divert German
troops from Verdun
• On the first day, 60,000
British soldiers were
killed, wounded, or
captured.
• When the attack halted
in November, the Allies
and the Germans had
each suffered more
than 600,000
casualties.
German casualties at the
Battle of the Somme
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Tanks
• The British began
developing tanks in
1914 and used them in
small numbers at the
Somme on Sept 15,
1916
– Achieved little in this
initial employment
• The Battle of Cambrai
on Nov 20, 1917
marked the first large
scale use of tanks with
474
British Mark I tank of the
type used during the
Battle of the Somme
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Tanks
• At Cambrai, the British
gained initial surprise and
advanced three miles by
the end of the first day
– Deepest penetration into
German lines on the
Western Front since the
beginning of trench warfare
• On the second day, the
British continued to
advance but the Germans
brought up four more
divisions
• On the third day, the
British began losing what
ground they had gained
Technological Advances from
World War I
• The industrialization of
society in the 19th
Century would generate
many military applications
of new technology
• In 1915 British Admiral
Jacky Fisher wrote, “The
war is going to be won by
inventions.”
• Example of war
becoming more total
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Machine gun
Rapid fire artillery
Airplanes
Internal combustion
engine
Tanks
Zeppelins
Gas
Flamethrowers
World War I Airplanes
148th American Aero Squadron
Petite Sythe, France. (August 6,
1918)
Baron Manfred von Richthofen,
the Red Baron, was credited
with 80 confirmed kills
World War I Vehicles
T. E. Lawrence used a fleet of nine Rolls-Royce armored
cars and tenders specially adapted for desert warfare.
World War I Zeppelin
World War I Flamethrower
Breaking the Stalemate:
American Entry
• In 1914, the American
public was firmly opposed
to intervening in the war
• The mood began to
change in 1915, when the
Germans sunk the British
passenger liner Lusitania,
killing 1,198, including 128
US citizens
• Still in 1916, Woodrow
Wilson was reelected
President with the slogan,
“He Kept Us Out of War”
Between Feb 14 and Sept
18, 1915, the Germans
practiced “unrestricted
submarine warfare.” Any
Allied ship in the seas around
the British Isles would be
sunk without warning.
Russia Leaves the War
• Russia was experiencing social
and political unrest and growing
war-weary
• The Bolsheviks seized power
through the Russian Revolution
and ended Russia’s
involvement in World War I by
signing the treaty of BrestLitorsk with Germany on March
3, 1918
• In the midst of World War I,
Britain, France, Japan, and the
US all sent troops and supplies
to aid the “Whites” in their
struggle against the “Reds” but
the Whites were defeated in
1920
1919 Bolshevik poster
showing the three White
generals as vicious dogs
under the control of the US,
France, and Britain.
German Miscalculation
• Germany resumed unrestricted
submarine warfare in early 1917
– Notified US of decision Jan 31
– Sunk several US ships in Feb
and Mar
• US declared war on April 6, 1917
– At the same time Russia was
withdrawing from the war, the
US was entering
• Germany failed to end war before
the US entered it
Role of the US Navy
• The entry of the US into
the war coincided with
the highest loss rate of
Allied ships during the
war
– Long-distance ocean
shipping was
particularly
vulnerable
• It became obvious that
the US Navy’s role
would not be in largescale battles with
opposing fleets but
rather in protecting
shipping
German U-boat
Role of the US Navy
• This was not the role the Navy
had anticipated and meant the
Navy would need less
battleships and cruisers and
more destroyers and antisubmarine craft
• Rear Admiral William Sims
challenged the British
assessment that the situation
was “hopeless” and instead
proposed a convoy system to
protect ships
Role of the US Navy
• Not just the British, but many
US naval officers opposed
the convoy system
– It meant concentrating forces
around slow moving and
difficult to control convoys
instead of the offensive action
that Mahan had advocated
• Most convoys had 20 or 30
ships, moving in four to six
columns
• Navy escorts patrolled the
flanks and, in the case of
particularly slow convoys, the
front
Role of the US Navy
• Sims’ convoy system
showed immediate
results
– By the end of 1917
losses were just 1/5
what they had been in
April
• By the summer of
1917, about 50,000
troops were arriving in
Europe each month
• By 1918, about
250,000 were arriving
each month
American Involvement: Command
Issues
• British and French wanted the
Americans attached to armies
of other nations
(amalgamation)
– Committing the Americans
to combat in small units
rather than waiting for them
to organize and train as
divisions and corps would
get them into the fight more
quickly
• Pershing resisted, arguing
that national pride and a
separate American
contribution to victory
overshadowed the logistical
and preparation problems
John Pershing,
commander of the
American
Expeditionary Force
The AEF
• In order to field the AEF, the US had to
overcome numerous challenges
– On April 6, 1917 the Army had only 127,588
active soldiers and 80,446 National
Guardsmen
– No active units larger than a regiment existed
– Severe shortages in uniforms, weapons, and
equipment existed
• Some new soldiers would have to train in coveralls
and used wooden sticks to simulate weapons
The AEF
• On May 18, 1917, the US passed the
Selective Service Act
• By the time of the armistice in November
1918, the US Army had 3,685,458
soldiers, an increase of more than 17
times its April 1917 strength
Overwhelming the Germans
• On July 18, 1918 the Allies
began a series of
counterattacks designed to
take advantage of their new
strength and seize the
initiative from the Germans
• Nine American divisions
participated as part of three
French armies (rather than
as an independent force)
• The Germans were forced
out of their Marne River
salient
Overwhelming the Germans
• The initiative had now shifted to the Allies
• Ludendorff called August 8, the first day of the next
Battle of Amiens, a “black day for the German army”
because it marked a turning point in the conduct of
Allied operations and inaugurated the relatively open
form of warfare that would characterize the last
months of the war
• The Allies were now getting stronger while Germany
could only get weaker
• The Kaiser called a conference of his military leaders
on August 14 and announced, “We have reached the
limits of our endurance”
Overwhelming the Germans
• The rapidly
deteriorating
German situation
surprised the Allies,
but they determined
to press their gains
with two
simultaneous
attacks that would
advance and turn
inward like giant
pincers
St. Mihiel
• The American contribution was the attack of
Pershing’s First Army against the St. Mihiel
salient on September 12
• The fighting included the greatest concentration
of aircraft during the war
– Colonel Billy Mitchell commanded 1,481 Allied
planes against only 283 German planes
• First Army met little resistance as the Germans
had already begun withdrawing and the salient
was captured in two days
Meuse-Argonne
• After St. Mihiel, the
French and Americans
conducted the MeuseArgonne offensive
• American inexperience
showed throughout the
offensive and casualties
were high, but
ultimately the
Americans were able to
cross the Meuse River
before the Germans
could reestablish their
defense there
Meuse River
St. Mihiel
SGT Alvin York
• Conscientious
objector from
Tennessee; drafted
and assigned to the
82nd
• Battalion commander
gave York two weeks’
leave to search his
soul about serving
• York returned having
decided to serve
SGT York
• Won the Medal of Honor for
heroism in the Argonne
Forest Oct 8, 1918
• York’s battalion received fire
from German machine guns
and York’s 16-man platoon
was sent to flank the enemy
• Nine Americans, to include
the platoon leader and the
other two corporals, were
killed our wounded
• York was the only remaining
unhurt leader
SGT York
• York’s platoon was now trapped and under fire within
25 yards of the enemy’s machine guns
• York was an expert marksman. He began shooting at
the nearest position, knowing the enemy would
expose themselves to return fire. One by one, he hit
every enemy soldier who popped his head up
SGT York
• After York killed over a dozen enemy, six
Germans charged him with fixed bayonets.
• York shot the last man first, than the 5th,
4th, etc so the soldiers in front didn’t see
their comrades fall.
• Then he turned his attention to the
machine guns.
SGT York
• Between shots, York, by himself, called for the
Germans to surrender
• The German commander, seeing York had
single-handedly killed over 20 Germans,
offered to surrender.
• Now York, with seven friendly soldiers
wounded, had dozens of enemy prisoners to
evacuate from an isolated position behind
enemy lines.
• As he began moving these prisoners, other
Germans start surrendering.
• By the time it was over, York had taken a total
of 132 prisoners and put 35 machine guns out
of action.
Breaking the Hindenburg Line
• At the same time, other
Allied offensives
breached the Hindenburg
Line in October and
forced the Germans to
withdraw
• German morale was at
the point of breaking and
on September 29,
Hindenburg and
Ludendorff told the Kaiser
that Germany had to
request an armistice
Surrender
• In the end, the Allies had
overwhelmed the
Germans with men and
equipment
– “Americans and
tanks”
• Bulgaria surrendered
Sept 30, 1918
• The Ottomans Oct 30
• Austria-Hungary Nov 4
• Germany Nov 11
– “Armistice Day” was
replaced by
“Veterans’ Day” by
Act of Congress on
May 24, 1954
Paris Peace Conference
• The victorious powers
met in Paris in 1919 to
determine the postwar
settlement
• Representatives from the
Central Powers were not
invited to attend
• The Russians were not
invited to attend
• The French, British, and
Americans dominated the
conference
Georges Clemenceau (France),
Lloyd George (Britain), and
Woodrow Wilson (US) at
Versailles
Treaty of Versailles (1919)
• Woodrow Wilson
proposed a generous
“Fourteen Points”
designed to focus on
international
cooperation and
peace, but the French
especially wanted
harsh terms imposed
on the Germans
– Wanted to destroy or
permanently weaken
Germany as a threat
Treaty of Versailles (1919)
• The resulting Treaty of Versailles denied the
Germans a navy and air force and limited the
size of their army to 100,000 troops
– Prevented Germany and Austria from entering any
sort of political union
– Required the payment of war reparations
• German protest against the Treaty of Versailles
will lead to Hitler’s rise to power and World War
II
Next
• World War II