Transcript The Road to War - Blue Valley Schools

Long Term Causes of The Great War
Militarism
• growth
of large mass
armies – war would be
highly destructive
•Most armies had
doubled in size
between 1890 and
1914
•Most armies filled with
peasants
•Influence of military
leaders grew – lack of
flexibility in military
plans creates problems
– forces European
political leaders to
make decisions for
military reasons
instead of political
reasons
Alliances
• Two
Imperialism
loose alliances • rivalries over
colonial and
• Triple Alliance –
commercial interests
Germany, Austriaintensified
Hungary, Italy
• Triple Entente –
Russia, Britain,
France
•Believed that their
allies were important
and that their
security depended
on supporting those
allies, even when
they took foolish
risks
Nationalism
•System of nationstates led to
competition not
cooperation
•Each country
viewed itself as
sovereign, subject to
no higher interest or
authority
• Motivated by own
self-interest and
success
•Not all ethnic
groups had
achieved
nationhood
The Road to War: Part II
Triple Alliance—Germany, Austria, Italy
Triple Entente—France, Britain, Russia
June 28,
1914
Assassination
of Archduke
Franz
Ferdinand by
Serbian
nationalist
July 23
Austria asks for
German support—
they respond with
“blank check” =
full support
Austrian
leaders issue
ultimatum to
Serbia—
extreme
demands
 Serbia
rejects
Why does
this matter?
July 28
Austria declares war
on Serbia

Who are Serbia’s
friends? Why does
this matter?
What is in the ultimatum?
What does “blank check” mean?
July 29
Russian Tsar
Nicholas II
orders partial
mobilization
against
Austria 
military
leaders say
that army
would be in
chaos with
partial
mobilization
Russia
orders full
mobilization
—Germany
says Russia
must halt
mobilization
within 12
hours
Aug1
Aug 2
Germans
declare war
on Russia
Germany issued
ultimatum to
Belgium
demanding the
right for troops to
pass through
Belgium
Aug 3
Germans
declared war
on France
Aug 4
Britain declared war on
Germany because of
violation of Belgian
neutrality
Schlieffen Plan—
-based on assumption of 2 front war with France and Russia
-called for minimal troop deployment against Russia while
most of the army makes rapid invasion of western France
through neutral Belgium—quick defeat—then move troops
into Russia
Why is this a problem?
Who were the two
sides?
Central—AustriaHungary, Germany,
Ottoman Empire
(1914), Bulgaria
Allied—Britain,
France, Russia,
U.S.(1917), Italy
(1915)
Europe in 1914
World War I map
• Interactive map
http://www.wadsworth.com/history_d/speci
al_features/ext/duiker_maps/swfs/ds22_2.
html
What was the mood in
1914-1915?
What was the mood in 1914-1915?
• Enthusiastic
• Domestic differences set aside
• Nationalism stronger than socialist
concerns
What were the
illusions that people
had about this war?
What were the illusions that people had
about this war?
• War would be over in a few weeks
• In age of modern industry, war would
destroy a nation’s economy in months
Why were they
committed to the war?
Why were they committed to the war?
• Release from humdrum of life
• Glorious adventure
• Redemptive effect—abandon
preoccupation with material life
Describe the fighting
on the Western front?
Describe the fighting on the Western
front?
• First Battle of Marne—French/British
stopped Germans
-war becomes stalemate
Daily Life in Trenches
Readings about life
“no man’s land”
in the trenches
barbed wire, mud, dying men
poison gas
rats
1 out of 4 weeks in front-line trenches, 1 in reserve, 2 behind lines
boredom
“live and let live”
How was the Eastern front different?
•
More mobility
• High cost in lives lost
-Russians defeated at Tannenberg and
Masurian Lakes
1916-1917: The Great Slaughter
• Trench warfare
• Tried to break through enemy lines with
artillery barrage then come out of trenches
- rarely worked because of machine guns
What was the involvement of the United
States?
• Tried to remain neutral
• Germans using unrestricted submarine warfare
• Lusitania—1915, British ship sunk with over 100
Americans on board
• When Germans returned to unrestricted
submarine warfare, then U.S. joined the war
April 6, 1917
• Gave psychological boost
How did governments
deal with the war?
Political, Economic,
Social
How did governments deal with the
war?
Centralization of
govt. powers
Economic regimentation
• mass
conscription
• govt. controlled price,
wages, and rents 
regulation of imports and
exports nationalization of
transportation systems and
industries
• keeping skilled
workers in
factories to
produce munitions
• capitalism set aside
•rationing food and
materials
• Essentially: planned
economies directed by govt.
agencies
Manipulation of public
opinion
• propaganda
How did the
governments in
Germany, Britain,
France, Russia, Italy,
and A-H deal with the
war?
The War Effort
Germany
Britain
France (least
successful)
Russia/Italy/Austria
-most successful in
economy
-organized War Raw
Materials Board
-not successful rationing
of food (750,000
civilians died of
hunger during WWI)
Govt.
Paul von Hindenburg
and Erich
Ludendorff basically
became military
dictators  in
1916—required all
male
noncombatants
between 17 and 60
to work only in jobs
crucial to war efforts
-tried to keep limited
govt. interference in
economy but
couldn’t
-created Ministry of
Munitions under
David Lloyd George
-rationed food and
imposed rent
controls
-struggled because of
German occupation
in northeastern
France (lost 75% of
coal, 80% of steel
making)
-strained relationship
between civil and
military authorities
-1917—Georges
Clemenceau
established clear
civilian control of
total war govt.
-less success
Russia/Austria
-economies couldn’t
support
-hard time with internal
cohesion needed
for long war
Italy
-lacked public
enthusiasm and
industrial resources
needed
Describe public order
and public opinion
Public Order and Public Opinion?
• Patriotism replaced by dissatisfaction
• Strike activity increased as war dragged
on
• Liberals and Socialists were main
opponents to the war
• Authoritarian AND parliamentary regimes
relied on expansion of police powers to
stifle internal dissent
What was the social
impact of the war?
What was the social impact of the war?
• End to unemployment
• Cooperation with unions by govts.
• New roles for women – took on new jobs
because men were fighting in the war (wages
still low, men still resistant – women removed
quickly from jobs after the war is over)
• Right to vote (Germany/Austria immediately after
the war, Britain 1918, US 1920)
• WWI was “social leveler” – all social classes
suffered high casualties
What was the economic
impact of the war?
What was the economic impact of the war?
• Owners of large industries that
manufactured weapons benefited
• Wartime govts. favored large industries
helping with the war effort
• Growing inflation – full employment + high
demand for scarce consumer goods =
prices go up
• Unskilled workers couldn’t keep up with
inflation
Territorial changes in Europe &
Middle East Post WWI
• http://www.wadsworth.com/history_d/speci
al_features/ext/duiker_maps/swfs/ds22_3.
html
Events in Russia
1917-1921
What issues existed at the beginning of the war?
• Lacked competent military leadership
• Industry couldn’t produce weapons
needed for the war
• Millions of soldiers killed in war
• Many still hoped for constitutional
monarchy
• Influence of Rasputin
March Revolution (March 1917)
Who was involved?
Women, factory workers
Causes?
-bread rationing
-women and workers calling for general strike because of high
bread prices and unhappy with government.
WWI Connection: lack of supplies, poor morale among troops,
large casualties– public opinion turned against the monarch
Important Events
-10,000 women marched through Petrograd- “Peace & Bread” –
soon joined by other workers, factories have to be shut down
-Nicholas II had ordered troops to disperse crowds and shoot if
necessary
-many soldiers joined the demonstration– refused to fire on
crowd
Results
-Duma took over governmental responsibility and established a
provisional government (March 15)
-Tsar abdicated the same day
--Soviets (councils of workers) began to form (ex. Petrograd
Soviet)
Mensheviks– wanted the Social Democratic Party to be a mass
electoral socialist part based on Western model – ultimate goal
=socialist state (willing to cooperate temporarily in a
parliamentary democracy while working toward this goal)
Bolsheviks– leader V.I. Lenin, dedicated to violent revolution that
would destroy capitalist system, “Peace, land, bread”
Bolshevik Revolution
Who was involved?
Pro Soviet, Pro Bolshevik forces VS. Provisional Government
Causes?
-Bolsheviks wanted Russia to withdraw from war
-unstable government
-V.I. Lenin: *April Theses: Maintained that soviets of soldiers, workers, and
peasants were instruments of power and overthrow provisional government to
move toward socialism
- wanted to end war
-redistribution of all land to peasants
-transfer of factories/industries from capitalists to committees of workers
-relegation of power from provisional government to soviets
“Peace, Land, Bread”, “Worker Control of Production”, “All Power to the Soviets”
Important Events
- Nov. 6 Pro-Soviet, Pro-Bolshevik forces took control of Petrograd
- provisional government quickly collapsed with little bloodshed
-Lenin became head of Council of People’s Commissars
-Trotsky was foreign minister
-Stalin was nationalities minister
-Bolsheviks were renamed Communists
Results
-Land nationalized and turned over to local rural Soviets– gave Bolsheviks peasant
support
-turned over control of factories to committees of workers
-social changes:
-legalized divorce, equality of men/women
-set up women’s bureau (to go to parts of Russia to explain new social changes)
-Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: gave up eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and Baltic
Provinces
Russian Civil War 1918-1921
Who was involved?
Reds (Bolsheviks) VS> Whites (anti-Bolsheviks, some favored
Tsar, some favored liberal/democratic = no common goal, some
Allied troops sent in hopes of bringing Russia back into the war)
Causes?
-Opposition to Bolsheviks – from groups loyal to Tsar, also from
bourgeois and aristocratic liberals and anti-Lenin socialists
(including Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries)
- Want Russians back in war
Important Events
-White forces were driven back
-Tsar and his family murdered
- Bolsheviks (Red Army) had become well-disciplined and
formidable fighting force
Results
-Bolsheviks (Communists, Reds) triumph
-”War Communism” meant nationalization of banks and most
industries, forcible acquisition of grain from peasants,
centralization of State administration under Bolsheviks (during the
civil war)
-Cheka– Red (Bolshevik) secret police unit used to murder &
terrorize opponents
-Increase in Russian patriotism
-Russia now centralized state dominated by a single party– hostile
to Allies
Last Year of War
• Last German offensive to break stalemate
= Second Battle of Marne
• Germans defeated with help of lots of
American troops on side of the Allies
• Germans established a republic under
Fredrich Ebert – agreed to armistice in
November 1918
What happened in Germany?
• Socialist revolts
• By December 1918 – 2 parallel
governments existed = parliamentary
republic proclaimed by majority Social
Democrats AND revolutionary socialist
republic declared by radicals
• By January 1919 – Republic was saved =
Weimar Republic
What happened in Austria-Hungary?
• Ethnic minorities still wanted national
independence
• Independent republics for Austria,
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia
Allied and Associated Powers
Country
Russia
Britain
France
Forces
12,000,000
8,904,467
8,410,000
Killed
1,700,000
908,371
1,357,800
Wounded
4,950,000
2,090,212
4,266,000
Italy
U.S.
Japan
5,615,000
4,355,000
800,000
650,000
116,516
300
947,000
204,002
907
Romania
Serbia
Belgium
750,000
707,343
267,000
335,706
45,000
13,716
120,000
133,148
44,686
Greece
Portugal
Montenegro
230,000
100,000
50,000
5,000
7,222
3,000
21,000
13,751
10,000
Central Powers
Country
Forces
Killed
Wounded
Germany
11,000,000 1,773,700
4,216,058
AustriaHungary
Turkey
7,800,000
1,200,000
3,620,000
2,850,000
325,000
400,000
Bulgaria
1,200,000
87,500
152,390
WWI Casualty and Death Tables
• http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/cas
death_pop.html
Paris Peace Conference 1919
• Allies were the victors, 27 nations represented, most important
decisions made by the “Big Three” – US, Britain, France --- Italy part
of the “Big Four” but not as involved, Germany not invited, Russia
dealing with civil war
• Wilson (U.S. President) outlined “Fourteen Points” – open
covenants of peace, absolute freedom of navigation of the seas,
self-determination of people, free trade, reduction of arms, League
of Nations
• British want the Germans “to pay” for the war
• France wants revenge and security against German aggression
(demilitarized Germany, German reparations to pay for the war,
Rhineland as a buffer state) --- Woodrow Wilson sees this as
vindictive
• Fear that Bolshevik Revolution will spread to other European
countries
The Final Product: The Treaty
of Versailles
Territorial Losses
Germany lost 13 percent of its territory and 12 percent of its population. The
important Saar industrial region was placed under League of Nations control
until 1935. East Prussia was cut off from the rest of German to provide the new
Polish state with access to the sea. Finally, Germany surrendered its overseas
colonies.
Demilitarization
The German army was reduced to 100,000 men, the nation’s naval fleet was
severely curtailed (including the banning of U-boats), and its air force was
eliminated. Fearing further German aggression, the French insisted on the
demilitarization of the Rhineland, adjacent to France.
War Guilt
In perhaps the most controversial provision of the treaty, Germany was forced
to accept “full responsibility” for the war via Article 231.
Reparations
Based on the War Guilt clause, the Allies in 1921set a reparations amount for
the German government of 132 billion marks (some $33 billion), a figure most
German observers considered exorbitant.
League of Nations
To promote collective security, the Allies agreed to Wilson’s idea of a League of
Nations. However, because the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty, the
United States never joined, and the new Soviet Union and Germany were
initially excluded.
The Treaties at the end of the Great
War
• 5 separate treaties with defeated nations (Germany,
Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire)
• Treaty of Versailles with Germany is MOST important
• Germans unhappy with Article 231 – “War Guilt Clause”
– declared Germany (and Austria) responsible for
starting the war and ordered Germany to pay reparations
for damage (in 1921 decided it would be $33 billion,
annual installments of $2.5 billion)
• Germany had to reduce army to 100,000 men, cut back
navy, eliminate air force
• Lost Alsace and Lorraine to France and sections of
Prussia to new Polish state
• Rhineland established as demilitarized zone
Other Treaties – effects on the map
• Austria & Hungary separated
• Created Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland,
Czechoslovakia
• Romania gained land from Russia, Hungary and
Bulgaria
• Serbia formed the basis of the new Yugoslavia
• Difficult to draw boundaries along “neat ethnic lines”
• Ottoman Empire was dismembered and Allies
recognized independence of Arab states
• After the war --- France took control of Lebanon, Syria mandates
• Britain took control of Iraq and Palestine – mandates
• Mandates – nation officially administered a territory on
behalf of the League of Nations
Europe 1914
Europe 1919