Transcript WWI - Mr. Tripler

World War I
Causes of World War I
MAIN

Militarism
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Alliances – agreements between nations to provide aid and protect on another
Imperialism – when one country takes over another country economically and

- policy of building up a strong military to prepare for war
politically.

Nationalism – extreme pride in one’s country

The Spark
Assassination – of Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand
Militarism
Percentage Increase in
Military Spending
1890-1913
France
92%
Britain
117%
Russia
19%
Germany
158%
Size of Peacetime Army 1914
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Britain
France
Russia
Germany
Austria Hungary
430,000
970,000
1,500,000
760,000
480,000
The armies of both France and Germany had more
than doubled between 1870 and 1914.
Navy Buildup

In 1880
Tones of Military Shipping
Germany
Britain

88.000
650,00
In 1910
Germany
Britain
964,000
174,000
The Launch of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 made matters
worse – the ship was fast, heavily armored with powerful
guns and it made all previous battleships obsolete.
Army Participation
Over 85% of men of military age in
France and 50% in Germany had
served in the army or navy.
France had the highest proportion
of its population in the army.
The crisis before 1914

1905 - Moroccan Crisis
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Germany announced her
support for Moroccan
independence
Conference allowed France
to retain possession.
1911 Germany again
protested Frances
possession – Germany
was persuaded to back
down for part of French
Congo

1908 - Bosnian Crisis
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Austria-Hungary took over
the former Turkish province
of Bosnia
Angering Serbians who felt
it should be theirs
Serbia and Russia
mobilized for war but was
was avoided because
Russia backed down
War in the Balkans
between 1911-1912 –
Austria-Hungary intervened
and forced Serbia to give
up some of its acquisitions
Tension between Serbia
and Austria-Hungary would
stay high till World War I
Alliances
1879 - The Dual Alliance
Germany and Austria-Hungary made an alliance to protect themselves from Russia.
1881 - Austro-Serbian Alliance
Austria-Hungary made an alliance with Serbia to stop Russia gaining control of Serbia.
1882 - The Triple Alliance
Germany and Austria- Hungary made an alliance with Italy to stop Italy from taking sides
with Russia.
1914 - Triple Entente (no separate peace)
Britain, Russia and France agreed not to sign for peace separately.
1894 - Franco-Russian Alliance
Russia formed an alliance with France to protect herself against Germany and AustriaHungary.
1907 - Triple Entente
This was made between Russia, France and Britain to counter the increasing threat from
Germany.
1907 - Anglo-Russian Entente
This was an agreement between Britain and Russia.
1904 - Entente Cordiale
This was an agreement, but not a formal alliance, between France and Britain.
Alliances
Triple Alliance
Triple Entente
Imperialism
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Great Britain, Germany and France needed foreign
markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by
the Industrial Revolution.
These countries competed for economic expansion in
Africa. Although Britain and France resolved their
differences in Africa, several crises foreshadowing the
war involved the clash of Germany against Britain and
France in North Africa.
In the Middle East, the crumbling Ottoman Empire was
alluring to Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and Russia.
European
Conquest of
Africa
Nationalism

At the settlement of the Congress of Vienna in
1815, the principle of nationalism was ignored in
favor of preserving the peace. Germany and Italy
were left as divided states, but strong nationalist
movements and revolutions led to the unification
of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871.
Another result was that France lost AlsaceLorraine to Germany, and regaining it was a major
goal of the French. Nationalism posed a problem
for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, areas
comprised of many conflicting national groups.
The ardent Pan Slavism of Serbia and Russia's
willingness to support its Slavic brother conflicted
with Austria-Hungary's Pan-Germanism.
Nationalism at play
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Weltpolitik or the desire for world power status was very
popular in Germany.
The French desire for revenge over Alsace and Lorraine
was very strong.
In Britain Imperialism and support for the Empire was
very evident. This nationalism meant that there was little
resistance to war in these countries.
A P J Taylor wrote “the people of Europe leapt
willingly into war.”
The
“Spark”
Assassination
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and
Duchess Sophie at Sarajevo, Bosnia,
on June 28th, 1914.
Austrian
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand was
killed in Bosnia by
a Serbian
nationalist group
called the Black
Hand who
believed that
Bosnia should
belong to Serbia.
Domino Effect
Austria blamed Serbia for Ferdinand’s death and declared
war on Serbia.
Germany pledged their support for Austria -Hungary.
Russia pledged their support for Serbia.
Domino Effect
Germany declares war on Russia.
France pledges their support for Russia.
Germany declares war on France.
Germany invades Belgium on the way to France.
Great Britain supports Belgium and declares war on Germany.
Allied Powers
Central Powers
World War I
World War I begins
The Schlieffen Plan

German plan to avoid defeat from Russia by
taking out France first and then fight
Russians.
 Smash
France in 30 days before Russia
could respond with troops
 Go through Belgium to surround French
troops, defeat the French and then rush to
Poland front on the German rail system to
face Russia
 Once Russia began to mobilize, Germany
had to attack France.
World War I
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Russia wanted to stop 15 days into the 30
day time table/Germany did not want to risk
it
On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war
on Russia and implemented the Schlieffen
Plan.
Once they invaded Belgium (August 4,
1914) on their way to France, Great Britain
joined the war.
War as Celebration

Everyone believed that it would be a short
war.
 (6
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

weeks)
News of war was greeted by most
Europeans with great enthusiasm and with
outpourings of patriotism and nationalism.
For decades, state-directed education had
indoctrinated youth with nationalist attitudes,
beliefs, and myths designed to promote
social cohesion.
Thus, Europe marched off to war with great
Stalemate

The war quickly became a stalemate.
 Trench
warfare led to this stalemate --- Defense was
as strong or stronger than offense (military tactics
had not kept up with military technology)
 New military technology (machine guns, aerial
bombing, poison gas, flame throwers, land mines,
armored tanks)
 Yet European armies had prepared only for offensive
warfare.

Throughout the war we would see armies go
“over the top” out of the trenches in an
offensive.
Stalemate

The Germans could not quickly secure
victory over the French, however, because
the Russian army mobilized faster than
anticipated and the Germans had to divert
troops to the Eastern Front.
 The
Germans had great success against the
Russians; however, the resources needed to
fight on the Eastern Front ensured that the
stalemate on the Western front would continue.

The result was a deadlock that neither side
could break.
Empire at War
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The horrors of war reached across
continents.
The sprawling Ottoman Empire battled
British- and Russian-led forces in Egypt, Iraq,
and the Caucasus.
In East Asia, Japan declared war on
Germany and seized German possessions in
China.
The British and French conscripted colonial
subjects:
 India:
1 million soldiers to Allies. (60,000 died)
 Africa: more than 1 million soldiers, 3 million
U.S. Involvement
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The U.S. declared war on Germany in April
1917.
Many reasons: unrestricted submarine warfare
(Lusitania), Zimmerman telegram, British
propaganda, the Russian Revolution
With America’s entry, the war was transformed
(at least according to Woodrow Wilson) into a
moral crusade: an ideological conflict between
democracy and autocracy.
He had been able to claim that because of the
Armistice:
November 11, 1918

In March 1918, Russians sign separate peace with
Germans (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
 With
Russia out of the war, the Germans prepared for a
decisive offensive before the U.S. could land sufficient
troops in France to help the Allies.

A war of attrition now favored the Allies, who could count
on American supplies and manpower.
 Without
an immediate and decisive victory, Germany could
not win the war.

The offensive failed. Fearing an Allied invasion of
Germany, Kaiser William II abdicates and flees to
Holland. A new German Republic is organized that
signed an armistice on November 11, 1918, ending the
Cost of the war

15 million people were killed.
 About
1/3 of the soldiers that fought in the
war were wounded.

The economic cost was severe.
 Estimates
put the damage at about 100
trillion modern U.S. dollars.
 The European economy was left in
shambles and the U.S. emerged as the
dominant world economic power.
What new weapons were used
in WWI?
Machine gun
 Poison gas
 Submarine
 Airplane
 Tank
 Why these weapons? Why now?
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION!!
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What were the results?
Germany surrendered.
 Allies impose Treaty of Versailles.

 Declares
Germany guilty for war.
 Germany must pay reparations to Allies.
This sets the stage for WWII!
 League of Nations formed to try to prevent
war in the future.
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Casualties?

Total troops mobilized by all countries in WW1
65,038,810

Total troops dead from all countries in WW1
8,556,315
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Total troops wounded from all countries in WW1
21,219,452
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Total missing or POWs
7,750,945
The Spanish Flu (Influenza) 1918
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Struck in the trenches of the western front and then
flourished when soldiers returned home.
It became the greatest public health disaster of
modern history
 The
pandemic killed between 22 and 30 million people
worldwide, or roughly twice as many as had died during
the fighting
 In Spain, it killed roughly 40 percent of the population (8
million), thus giving it the name of the Spanish Influenza.
 British colonial troops carried it to India where it killed 12
million.
 No disease, plague, war, famine, or natural catastrophe in
world history had killed so many people in such a short
Russian Revolution
Signs of Unrest
Peasants unhappy with low standard of
living.
 Upper classes resentful of influence of
foreign countries.
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Some wanted
 Democratic
system
 Constitutional monarchy like England
 Socialism
V.I. Lenin

Devoted life to setting up a socialist state.
 A student

of Marxism
Two groups of Russian Marxists
– more time needed for
industrialization before a revolution would be
successful
 Bolsheviks – Secret group that would help
stage a proletariat revolution (Lenin a part of
this group.)
 Mensheviks
Revolution of 1905
Series of revolts after defeat in war with
Japan.
 January – workers attack royal palace
 Czar Nicholas II – Issued October
Manifesto

Duma-Russia’s first parliament
 Revolutionaries still unhappy
 Czar keeps power to veto the Duma
 Forms
March Revolution - 1917
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Unplanned
Soldiers were ordered
to shoot striking
workers, they instead,
shot their officers
Leads to provisional
parliamentary
government.
Bolshevik Revolution
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November 1917
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Lead by Leon Trotsky with support from
Lenin
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Seized power, arrested members of the
provisional government
New Government under Lenin
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Bolsheviks now communists
Proclaims dictatorship
New government lead by Politburo
All other political parties banned
Opposed organized religion
Called for communist revolutions in other countries.
Use terror tactics
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Secret police
 Executes thousands who opposed communism.