Transcript File

The World at War
World War I
M.A.I.N causes of WWI
• M – Militarism
• A – Alliances
• I –Imperialism
• N – Nationalism
Militarism
• 1800’s was marked by a rise in Militarism,
the glorification of the military.
• This grew out of the way of thinking called Social
Darwinism, “survival of the fittest”.
• Competition led to arms race and large expansion in
armies and navies.
• Germany, France and Britain all spent a great deal
of their nation’s funding on their navies.
• Military leaders gained more power as governments
turned towards them for advice.
Militarism: Expenses
Total Defense Expenditures for the Great
Powers [Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br., Rus.]
in millions of £s.
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1914
94
130
154
268
289
398
1910-1914 Increase in
Defense Expenditures
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%
Alliances
• Distrust among nations lead to signing of secret
treaties, pledging to defend one another.
• Alliance, formal agreement between two or more
nations or powers to cooperate and come to one
another’s defense.
• In 1882, foreseeing the competition of nations, Otto
Van Bismark formed the alliances with Italy and
Austria-Hungary
• In 1914, the war erupted and Germany and
Austria-Hungary formed the Central Powers.
Alliances
• In 1894, France and Russia formed an alliance
• France signed an entente, a nonbinding agreement
to follow common policies
• This lead to close diplomatic and military ties
• Germany signed a treaty with the Ottoman empire,
while Britain drew close to building relations with
Japan.
• France, Russia and Britain would later come
together and form the alliance called the Triple
Entente or Allied Powers.
Imperialism
• Imperialism, domination of one country of the
political, economic, or cultural life of another country
or region.
• There was a competition of colonies between
France and Germany.
• Germany wanted to prevent France from imposing a
protectorate on Morocco.
• A protectorate is where a larger country promises to
protect a smaller country.
Nationalism
•Nationalism, a deep feeling of pride and devotion
to one’s nation, was spreading throughout all of
Europe.
• This created competition and rivalry between
nations for territory and markets on a global scale.
- Ex. France & Germany fighting over AlsaceLorraine. (Strategic locations and rich in iron
resources)
•Germany was proud of empires military and
industrial leadership.
•France yearned to regain supremacy in Europe
and was bitter about defeat in Franco-Prussian war.
Aggressive Nationalism
•Britain felt threatened by German’s rapid economic
growth. By 1900’s Germany’s factories were outproducing Britain’s older ones.
•Germany was upset because they felt no respect
from the other great powers.
•Russia developed a strong sense of nationalism
called Pan-Slavism, all Slavic peoples shared a
common nationality.
- As the largest Slavic country, it’s duty was to
protect all Slavs.
Balkans = Powder Keg
•Austria-Hungary feared nationalism because they
were a multinational empire with many minority
populations. Nationalism could turn into rebellions.
•Ottoman Turkey felt threatened by newly created
nations such as Serbia and Greece.
•1912 – Several Balkan states attacked Turkey.
Years later new Balkan states were fighting among
themselves over the spoils of war.
•The battles of the Balkan wars created tension in
the area. This area would later be called the
“powder keg” of Europe because it would be the
spark that would lead to an explosion.
Pan-Slavism: The Balkans, 1914
The
“Powder Keg”
of Europe
The Spark that set off a War
• The spark that set off the chain reaction was the
assassination of Austria-Hungary’s, Archduke Franz
Ferdinand.
• The Archduke was visiting in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia.
Bosnia was home to several Slavs and Serbians.
• Royal visit upset Serbian nationalist because the day of
the visit happened to be the same day in 1912, when
Serbia freed itself from Turkish rule.
• Assassination was carried out by Serbian terrorist group
called Unity or Death, most commonly known as the
Black Hand.
Assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand
• Gavirlo Pincip shot and killed the Archduke
Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie.
• The death of his nephew stunned Austrian
emperor, Frances Joseph. He was still
reluctant to go to war but government saw
things differently.
• Austria-Hungary saw this as an opportunity to
crush Serbia for good.
• Austria sent Serbia a hefty ultimatum, or
final set of demands.
The Assassin
Austria’s Ultimatum
Terms of the ultimatum:
1.
2.
3.
Serbia must end all anti-Austrian agitation
Must punish any Serbian official involved in the murder
Must let Austria join the investigation
•
Serbia, agreed to most, but not all of the terms. They
refused to let Austria join the investigation
•
This gave Austria the opportunity it had been waiting
on. On July 28, Austria declared war on Serbia.
!
This type of conflict was familiar in the Balkan area but
diplomatic ties drew great powers deeper into the
conflict.
Retaliation
• Austria-Hungary might not have pushed Serbia into war
without the backing from its ally, Germany.
• In Berlin, Kaiser William II was horrified by the event and
advised Francis Joseph to stand firm toward Serbia.
- Germany’s emperor assured full support, thus giving
William II of Austria a “blank check”
• In retaliation, Serbia called upon Russia, the champion
of Slavic nations. Russia’s czar,
-Nicholas II, urged Austria to soften demands but the plea
failed.
• Russia then begins to mobilize, or prepare military
forces for war.
Retaliation
• Germany responded by declaring war on Russia.
• Russia, in turn, appealed to its ally, France. French
nationalists were eager for revenge of the FrancoPrussian war.
• Hesitant at first, France ended up giving Russia the
same kind of backing German offered Austria.
• Germany demanded France stay out the conflict,
but France refused.
• On August 3, 1914, Germany declared war on
France
The Schlieffen Plan
• Years earlier, General Alfred von Schlieffen
developed a plan of attack against France.
• The Schlieffen Plan was designed to avoid a twofront war against France on the west and Russia on
the east.
• Schlieffen reasoned Russia’s meek military would
be slow to mobilize.
• Under this plan, Germany would defeat France first
on the western front and then turn all efforts toward
Russia.
Britain Enters the War
• Up till now, Italy and Britain remained uncommitted. Italy
chose to remain neutral for the time being. Neutrality is a
policy of supporting neither side in a war.
• To ensure a quick victory, the plan required Germany to
march through Belgium, then swing south behind French
lines. On August 3, Germany invades Belgium.
• Conflict rose because Britain and other European
powers had signed a treaty guaranteeing Belgian
neutrality.
• Enraged by the invasion of Belgium, Britain declared war
of Germany.
Nations’ Reasoning
• Austria-Hungary wanted to punish Serbia for
encouraging terrorism
• Germany felt it must stand by its only
dependable ally, Austria-Hungary
• Russia saw the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia as
an effort to oppress Slavic people
• France feared if they didn’t support Russia now,
they would face Germany alone later
• Britain was committed to protect Belgium and
feared their powerful rival, Germany
War on Two Fronts:
Western Front
• Germany soon violated the Schlieffen Plan as
Russia mobilized more quickly than expected.
• Russian forces won a few small victories in eastern
Prussia and Germany decided to shift some of their
troops to the eastern front.
-
This weakened German forces in the west.
• At the battle of Marne in France, French and British
forces pushed back the German offensive.
• This crushed Germany’s hope for a quick victory
and lengthened the conflict out into a deadly
stalemate, a deadlock in which neither side is able
to defeat the other.
Western Front: Trench Warfare
• Trench Warfare was a vast system of trenches,
stretching from the Swiss frontier to the English
Channel. An underground network linking bunkers,
communications, and gun emplacements.
• Soldiers roasted in the summer sun and froze during
the long winters. Trenches were full of rats and lice.
• The area of land between opposing trench lines was
called the “no man’s land”
• Both sides battled back and forth over a few
hundred yards of territory. Battle lines in France would
remain unchanged for four years
Important Battles
Battle of Verdun
• 1916, both Allies and Central Powers launched
massive offensives to break the stalemate at the
battle of Verdun.
• French defenders held strong during the 11-month
struggle and cost more than half-million casualties
on both sides.
Battle of Somme
• Allied offense at the Somme River was even more
costly. In a single day, 60,000 British soldiers were
killed or wounded. In the five-month battle, over a
million soldiers were killed, without either side
winning an advantage.
Technology in Modern Warfare
Modern weapons added greatly to the destructiveness
of the war.
• Machine Guns: Fired bullets rapidly and mowed
down soldiers, making it nearly impossible to
advance across “no man’s land”
• Heavy artillery allowed troops to shell enemy lines
and cities from more than 10 miles away.
• 1915, Germany began using poisonous gas.
Blinded or chocked victims or caused agonizing
burns and blisters.
! Gas was an uncertain weapon because shifting
winds could blow gas back on the side who
launched it.
Machine Gun
Big Bertha: Heavy Artillery
Poisonous Gas
Technology in Modern Warfare
• Tanks:1916, Britain introduced armored tanks. Able
to move across broken ground and barbed wire.
Moved slow and broke down often. Did little to break
stalemate.
Aircraft:
• German’s used zeppelins, large gas-filled balloons,
to bomb the English.
• Airplanes: used by both sides. At first used mainly
for reconnaissance.Later, were equipped with a
mounted machine gun.
! Known for their “dogfights in the sky”. Spectacular
but had little effect on course of war. One of the
most famous pilots from this time period was
Germany’s, Red Baron.
Technology in Modern Warfare
• Submarines: German U-boats, or submarines did
tremendous damage to the Allied side, sinking
merchant ships that carried vital supplies to Britain.
• British began to use convoys, or groups of merchant
ships protected by warships.
• Nations realized that a modern, mechanized war
required total commitment of their whole society.
• This is what we today call total war, the channeling
of a nation’s entire resources into a war effort.
Global Conflict: Eastern Europe
• August 1914, Russian armies pushed into eastern
Germany.
• Then, at the battle of Tannenberg, Russia suffered
one of the worst defeats of the war and caused
them to retreat.
• Russia was the least industrialized of the great
powers and was poorly equipped to fight a modern
war.
• Troops sometimes lacked even rifles but were
commanded to still fight.
Global Conflict: Southern Europe
• 1915, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and
helped crush its old Balkan rival Serbia.
• That same year, Italy declared war on AustriaHungary and, later on Germany. Italy had signed a
secret treaty with the Allies to gain Austrian-ruled
lands inhabited by Italians.
• 1917, Austrians and Germans launched a major
offensive against the Italian position at Caporetto.
Italian troops retreated in disarray.
• British and French troops came in and stopped the
Central Powers’ advance.
• Caporetto would prove to be just as disastrous for
Italy as Tannenberg had been for Russia.
Global Conflict: Outside of Europe
• Japan, allied with Britain, used the war as an excuse
to seize German outposts in China and islands in
the Pacific. It also tried to impose a protectorate on
China.
• The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in
1914.
- Turks closed off the Dardanelles, a vital strait
connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
• 1915, Allies sent massive force of British, Indian,
Australian, and New Zealander troops to Gallipoli.
• 1916, after 10 months and 200,000 casualties, the
Allies withdrew from Dardanelles.
Global Conflict: Middle East
• Turks were hit hard in the Middle East.
• Arab nationalists revolted against Ottoman rule.
• Britain sent Colonel T.E. Lawrence, “Lawrence
of Arabia” to support Arabs using guerilla
attacks and blowing up bridges
• Turks would eventually lose a great deal of
territory to the Arabs, including the city of
Baghdad.
Calling upon the Colonies
• Allies overran scattered German colonies and
dominions for troops, laborers, and supplies.
• Canada, Australia and New Zealand sent troops to
Britain’s aid.
• Colonial recruits from British India and French West
Africa fought on European battlefields.
! People of the colonies had mixed feelings about
supporting the imperial powers.
- Some felt the imperial powers were only using them
and would go back to ruling over them after the war.
+ Others thought their support in the war would be a
step toward citizenship or independence.
War’s Impact on Nations
Economic Impact:
• Both sides set up systems of recruit, arm transport,
and supply. Armies numbered in the millions.
• All nations except Britain imposed universal military
conscription, or “the draft”, which required all young
men to be ready for military or other service.
• Germany set up a system of forced civilian labor as
well.
War’s Impact on Nations
How to raise funds for war:
• Governments raised taxes and borrowed
huge amounts of money to pay the costs
of war.
• Rationed food and other products, from
boots to gasoline.
• Price setting and forbidding of strikes.
War’s Impact on the Media
• Total war required controlling public opinion.
• Aim was to keep complete casualty figures and
other discouraging news from reaching the people.
• Censors on press, literature, motion pictures, and
arts
• Both sides waged propaganda wars. Propaganda is
the spreading of ideas to promote a cause or to
damage an opposing cause.
• Allied propaganda played up Germany’s invasion of
Belgium, described them as barbarians.
• Germany encouraged feelings of hated toward their
enemies. `
Women in World War I
• As millions of men left to fight in the war, women took
over their jobs and kept national economies going.
• Many worked in war industries, manufacturing weapons
and supplies. Some joined branches of armed forces or
served as nurses
• In Britain, the Women’s Land Army went to the fields to
grow food for their nation.
• Gave women a new sense of pride and confidence.
• Most lost their jobs when men returned home from
fighting but helped challenge the traditional view of
women in many societies.
• Helped in the effort of winning women’s suffrage in the
United States.
French Women in a Factory
German Women in a Factory
Russian Female Soldiers
Collapsing Morale
• By 1917, morale of both troops and
civilians had plunged.
• Germany was sending 15 year old recruits
to the lines
• Britain was on the brink of bankruptcy
• High casualty reports, food shortages, and
failure of generals to win promised
victories led to calls for peace.
Russia pulls out of the War
• Russia had been hit hard by three years of war.
• Incompetent generals and corruption destroyed public
confidence.
• March 1917, bread riots in St. Petersburg mushrooms
into revolution that brought down Russian monarchy.
• At first Allies welcomed the overthrow of czar in hopes of
a democratic government and stronger ally would follow.
This would not happen.
• A year later, V.I. Lenin came to power, promising to pull
Russian troops out of the war.
• 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with
Germany and ended participation in World War I.
Change of Line-up
• With Russia, out of the war, Germany could
concentrate its forces on the Western Front.
• As Germany stood ready for the breakthrough
they had been looking for, several incidents
caused by the Germans would alter the course
of the war and eventually lead the United States
to entering World War I
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
• German submarine attacks on merchant and passenger
ships carrying American citizens would help encourage
the United States to become involved in the war.
• President Woodrow Wilson wanted to keep America out
of the war and stated they had a right to safe travel on
the seas.
• In May 1915 a German submarine torpedoed the British
liner, Lusitania. Almost 1,200 passengers were killed,
including 128 Americans.
• Germany justified attack, arguing Lusitania was carrying
weapons.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
• Wilson threatened to cut off relations with Germany
and so Germany agreed to restrict its submarine
campaign. Before attacking they would warn the
ship and let neutral passengers escape.
• December 1916, however, Germany announced
that it would resume unrestricted submarine warfare.
Woodrow Wilson denounced Germany.
• Many American citizens supported the Allies,
sympathizing with British & French democracy
• Being a melting pot, some Americans had cultural
ties with other European nations: German
Americans favored Central Powers, Irish resented
British rule over Ireland and Russian Jewish
Americans did not want to be allies with the czar
Zimmerman Telegram
• In early 1917, British intercepted a message from
the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman, to
his ambassador in Mexico. Zimmerman promised
that, in return for Mexican support, Germany would
Mexico, “reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico,
Texas, and Arizona.
• Britain revealed telegram to America and intensified
anti-German feelings in the U.S.
• In April 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war
on Germany.
United States Enters WWI
• United States needed months to recruit, train, supply,
and transport a modern army.
• Aided in the Western Front with good fighters and
financial aid.
Wilson the Peacekeeper
• In 1918, Wilson created the Fourteen Points, list of terms
for resolving WWI and future wars
• Aimed at freedom of seas, free trade, large-scale
reductions of arms and an end to secret treaties
• For Eastern Europe, Wilson favored self-determination,
the right of people to choose their own form of
government.
The End is Near
• Final showdown happened early in 1918.
• Germans launched huge offensive and pushed
Allies back 40 miles by July.
• This exhausted the Germans though, and the Allies
launched a counterattack, slowly driving German
force back across France and Belgium.
• In Germany, the people demonstrated their
frustrations to the monarch as uprisings exploded
among hungry city dwellers.
• German commanders, advised the Kaiser to
absolve, as the czar had done.
The End is Near
• In November, William II fled to exile in the
Netherlands.
• The new German government sought an
armistice, or agreement to end fighting, with the
Allies at 11 A.M. on November 11, 1918.
• By autumn, Austria-Hungary was also reeling
toward collapse.
• Subject nationalists revolted and splintered the
empire of the Hapsburgs
The Costs of War
• By the end, more than 8.5 million people were dead after
the war. Double that with wounded
• Also in 1918, a influenza pandemic, a spread of a
disease across a county, continent, or in this case whole
world, would kill more than 20 million people.
• Unrest also swept through Europe’s colonial empires.
African and Asian soldiers had discovered that imperial
powers were not as invincible as they seemed. Colonial
troops returned home more cynical toward Europeans
and with renewed hopes for independence.
Financial Costs
• In France and Russia, homes, farms, factories,
roads and churches had been shelled into rubble.
• The Allies blamed the conflict on their defeated foes
and insisted that the losers make reparations, or
payments for war damage.
• Central Powers were stunned, they had viewed the
armistice as a cease-fire rather than a surrender.
They then looked for scapegoats on whom they
could blame their defeat.
• The total costs of reparations would be close to $30
billion.
The Paris Peace Conference
•
Allied leaders met to discuss what should be done at the Paris
Peace Conference
The Big Three:
1.
President Woodrow Wilson (American): pushed his fourteen
points
2.
David Lloyd George (British): knew his people demanded harsh
punishment for Germany. Promised to build a postwar Britain
(would cost lots of money though)
3.
Georges Clemenceau (French) “the tiger” held a fierce antiGerman war policy. His main goal was to weaken Germany so
that it could never again pose as a threat to France
Treaty of Versailles
•
June 1919, peacemakers summoned representatives of the
new German Republic to the palace of Versailles outside of
Paris.
Terms of the Treaty of Versailles:
1. Forced Germany to assume full blame for causing the war
2. Imposed huge reparations that would put an already
damaged German economy under staggering burden ($30
billion overall)
* Reparations not only covered destruction caused by war, but
also pensions of millions of Allied soldiers, or widows or
families.
3. Limited the size of the once-feared German military
4. Returned Alsace and Lorraine to France and stripped
Germany of all overseas colonies
Self-Determination Creates new
Nations in Eastern Europe
Out of Russian, German, and Austrian old lands:
• Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia Baltic states were
created
• Poland regained independence after 100 years of
foreign rule
Out of old Hapsburg heartland:
• Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary were created
• In the Balkans -Yugoslavia was dominated by
Serbia
Self-determination Causes Problems
• Vittorio Orlando, (Italian prime minister) insisted Allies
honor secret agreement to give Italy lands once ruled by
Austria-Hungary. Problem is this violated selfdetermination
• Many people who had been ruled by Russia, AustriaHungary, or the Ottoman empire now demanded national
states of their own.
• This made it impossible to satisfy all because the
territories claimed by these peoples often overlapped.
• Wilson had to compromise with his fourteen points but
stood firm on one –
He created the League of Nations, based on the idea of
collective security, a system in which a group of nations
acts as one to preserve the peace of all.
Limitations to Self-Determination
Applied to only parts of Europe
• Outside of Europe, victorious Allies added to their
overseas empires. The treaties created a system of
mandates, territories administered by western
powers.
• Britain and France gained mandates over German
colonies in Africa and Ottoman lands in the Middle
East.
• In theory, mandates were to be held and
modernized until they were able to “stand alone”
• In practice, they became European colonies.
• From Africa to the Middle East and across Asia,
colonized people felt betrayed.
Aftermath Leaves Tension
• Italy was angry because it did not get all the lands
promised in its secret treaty with the Allies.
• Japan protested the refusal of western nations to
recognize its claims in China.
• At the same time, China was forced to accept former
German holdings.
• Russia was excluded from the peace talks, resented
the establishment of Poland and three Baltic states
on lands that had been part of the Russian empire.
A Step Toward Global Peace
• The League of Nations was created out of the Paris
Peace Conference.
• More than 40 nations joined the League and agreed
to negotiate disputes rather than resort to war
• Promised to take common action – economic and
military – against any aggressor
• Unfortunately, Wilson could not convince his own
Senate to ratify the treaty, and the United States
never joined the League.