Transcript Unit 6: World War I

World War I
The Road to The Great War
The Road to the Great War
• At the turn of the 20th century the race between the
imperial powers (Great Britain, France, Germany,
Russia, Japan, and the United States) to create the
largest empire brought the imperial powers into
direct conflict, called The Great War (World War I).
– The “War to End all Wars” or “War to Make the World Safe
for Democracy”.
• The M.A.I.N. issues that led to the Great War were:
Militarism, Alliance System, Imperialism, and
Nationalism.
Militarism
• The issue of Militarism developed from the imperial nations
striving to protect and expand their colonial possessions.
• The imperial nations developed large navies due to the
influence of Alfred T. Mahan’s “Influence of Sea Power on
History”, stating that nations to be strong and powerful must
dominate the seas.
• European countries such as Germany also established
universal male conscription (forcing all men into military
training and service) LARGE ARMY!
• The growth of large navies and armies led to a general arms
race (to contain large stores of war matériel) among the
imperial powers.
• The imperial powers also created strategic plans in case war
broke out. (Schlieffen Plan of Germany)
Alliance System
• Leading up to the Great War as the imperial system
spread, the Imperial nations began to make trade
alliances and military preparedness alliances that where
extremely interconnected.
• The Imperial nations of Europe joined into two main
groups or “blocs”:
– Triple Alliance - Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Italy
– Triple Entente – Great Britain, France, and Russia.
• The Alliance System was to create a “Balance of Power”
between the imperial nations, hoping that as long as
their strengths were equal no one would start war.
Imperialism
• The rise of the Imperial nations and Imperialism itself
caused many issues to develop within the world.
• The arms race (militarism), trade and military treaties
(Alliance System), and the rise of nationalism were all side
effects of the Imperial system.
• As the imperial nations carved out their empires, they did
so by dominating over other groups of people, who over
time grew tired of imperial rule and wanted autonomy (the
ability to control oneself)
• The strive for self- determination (ability to determines
ones on fate), self-government ,and want for
independence created a wave of nationalism (identity
with one’s nation/ ethic group) in Europe.
Nationalism
• The imperial powers exerted their form of nationalism
through “racial superiority”, that directly conflicted with
the smaller nationalities’ strive for equality and
independence.
• The greatest move for self-determination grew from the
Balkan Peninsula area due to the growing weakness of
the Ottoman Empire (Turkey); with the Greeks, Serbians,
Montenegrins, Romanians, and Serbians leading the
main revolts.
• Many of the small ethic Slavs (Serbs, Bosnians, Croats,
and Slovenes) also pushed aggressively for selfdetermination for the creation of their own nationstates and Pan-Slavism. ( Powder Keg of Europe)
To Advert War
• The nations of Europe were not blind to the effects of
Imperialism and the possibility of war, which led to
international peace movements.
• To lead the way to peace Alfred Nobel (invented
dynamite) established an international peace prize,
“Nobel Peace Prize”.
• In 1898 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia called together a
disarmament Conference at the Hague (Netherlands) to
create a Permanent Court of Arbitration, set rules of
engagement, and hopefully to end the arms race.
• Many of the imperial nations used arbitration to advert
war, but the smaller nationalities did not feel they would
be given a fair hearing.
Assassination
• The struggles within the Balkan Peninsula developed
into the Great War over the issue of Bosnian
independence.
• The state of Serbia (Slav) wanted Bosnia (Slav) to be able
to separate from the Austro-Hungarian empire; a
Serbian nationalist organization, the Black Hand,
planned to assassinate the Arch-Duke of Austro-Hungary
Franz Ferdinand.
• On 28 June 1914, in Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia) the
assassin Gavrilo Princip, killed Arch-Duke Franz
Ferdinand and his wife, developing a standoff between
Serbia and Austria-Hungary. (triggered movement to
war)
War
• Austria-Hungary (supported by Germany) delivered an
ultimatum to Serbia (supported by Russia) to deliver the
Black Hand, which Serbia refused.
• The Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, July 28
1914, and by August 5th all the imperial powers but the
United States had chosen sides and the world was at
war, The Great War.
• As each nation was joining the war, they moved toward
mobilization (readying troops for war) pushing each
other further into conflict dividing into two camps:
– Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman
Empire
– Allied Powers – Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy
To the Great War
M.A.I.N.I.A
War
Franz Ferdinand
Gavrilo Princip
The Great War
• The Great War was fought on three main fronts:
Western Front (mostly fought in France), Eastern
Front (mostly fought in boarder area between
Russia and Germany), and Naval Front
(submarine and ship warfare in Atlantic Ocean
and North Sea)
• Other smaller campaigns included North Africa,
Middle East, Balkans, Pacific Ocean, and Asia.
• The war included the imperials and their
colonies, truly making it a World War.
The Great War
The War Begins
• The Germans launched the first offensive following
the Schlieffen Plan to quickly attack France and then
launch a full scale attack on Russia.
• The Germans attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914
then moved into northern France, but were stopped
by a joint effort of the French and British at the First
Battle of the Marne (30 miles from Paris), halting the
German advance turning the conflict into a bloody
stalemate (situation where neither side can
advance).
• The war between 1914-1917 in the Western Front
would be fought for less than 50 miles of land.
Leaders of War
Central Powers:
Allied Powers:
George V [Br]
Victor Emmanuel
II [It]
Wilhelm II [Ger]
Franz Josef [A-H]
Pres. Poincare [Fr]
Nicholas II [Rs]
Enver Pasha
[Turkey]
COMBATNTS IN GREAT WAR
(by date of entry)
THE ALLIES
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
Serbia
Russia
France
Belgium
British Empire
Montenegro
Japan
Italy
San Marino
French
The Central Powers
Austria-Hungary
Germany
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
British
Portugal
Romania
United States
Cuba
Panama
Greece
Siam
Liberia
China
Brazil
Guatemala
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Haiti
Honduras
German
Russian
Maximum total mobilized
strength
Allies:
42 million Troops
Central Powers:
23 million troops
America and the War
• At the beginning of the Great War, Wilson
addressed the nation to be “impartial in
thought as well as in action” declaring
American neutrality (not choosing a side
in a conflict).
• In being a neutral nation American businessmen and
bankers could trade or give loans to any belligerent
(combatant) nation. (More to allies than central
powers)
• The issue of freedom of the seas in concern to trade
would become a major problem moving America
away from neutrality to belligerency
The “Mexican Problem”
• America leading up the Great War was not focused on
the problems of Europe due to our sentiment towards
isolationism (national policy against being entangled in
international economic or political issues) focusing on
the Western Hemisphere and our role in it (Monroe
Doctrine/ Roosevelt Corollary)
• The main issue that concerned America was the
Mexican Revolution “Civil War” (1910- 1920)
• American businessmen had over the years invested
large amounts of capital in Mexico extracted raw
materials, the fear of losing this capital and the war
crossing the boarder led to American
attention/intervention.
The “Mexican Problem”
• The war began when long time dictator Porfirio Diaz
was overthrown by liberal wealthy landowner
Francisco Madero. (pushed nationalization).
• Shortly after Madero was assassinated by one of his
generals Victoriano Huerta (1913) supported by
American businessmen.
• President Woodrow Wilson refused to recognize the
Huerta regime and used diplomatic, economic, and
military intervention (captured the port city of Vera
Cruz)to have Huerta removed replaced by
Venustiano Carranza, but refused to back him as
well.
The “Mexican Problem”
• Wilson then supported a general from
Northern Mexico, Franciso “Pancho” Villa,
but then recognized the Carranza
government alienating Villa.
• To get Americans directly involved in the conflict Villa
raided towns along the boarder in Texas and New
Mexico burning buildings and killing Americans.
• Wilson stationed 110,000 national
guardsmen along the boarder and
sent General John J. Pershing and 12,000
soldiers into Northern Mexico to capture Villa.
The “Mexican Problem”
• The American army could not capture Villa, but it did
led to a skirmish between the Mexican and American
armies, but full scale war was adverted.
• The failure to capture Villa, fear of full scale war with
Mexico, and issues moving America towards war in
Europe, Wilson called back Pershing in 1917 to send
Pershing and the American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
to Europe and enter the Great War.
1914