Transcript Alliances of World War I - MsCampbell

A Family Affair
Czar Nicholas II of Russia
Kaiser Wilhelm II of
Germany
King George V of England
Building the fire pit – Europe
Close quarters and tension in Europe
Imagine a United States, where each state is an individual country.
How long would it take United Colorado to invade United New
Mexico?
How long would it take Germany to invade France and Russia to
invade Germany and Britain to invade Europe?
The Logs
Nationalism-The belief that national interests and national unity
should be placed ahead of global cooperation and that a nation’s
foreign affairs should be guided by its own self-interest.
*Often, it was expressed as competitiveness with, and even
antagonism toward, other nations.
Militarism- The policy of building up armed forces in aggressive
preparedness for war.
Imperialism- The policy of extending a nation’s authority over other
countries by economic, political, or military means.
Alliances- A close association of nations or other groups formed to
advance common interests.
Alliances of World War I
Austria Hungry-Germany(and her colonies)-Italy
Russia-France( and her colonies)-Britain
(and her colonies/dominions:
Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand,
and South Africa)-Japan
Gasoline – Secret Alliance
between
Serbia and
Russia!!!!
The Match
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie on June 28,
1914 in Sarajevo.
June 28, 1914: Ferdinand is assassinated in Bosnia-Herzegovina by a Serbian
nationalist secret society called the Black Hands. Austria-Hungry debates for
3 weeks how to react finally implicates Serbia with the Archdukes
assassination, and opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the
Serbians and cement their influence and power in the Balkans.
One Thing Led to Another
following remarkable sequence of events that led to the 'Great War‘
July 28th: Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum
(which in the event was almost entirely appeasing: however her jibbing over a couple
of minor clauses gave Austria-Hungary her sought-after cue) declared war on Serbia
on 28 July 1914.
Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in her
defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.
August 1st: Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian
mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning
declared war on Russia.
•August 3rd: France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany
and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3
August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the
shortest possible route.
•August 4th: Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed
a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4
August. Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was
obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty.
With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to
Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium's defense later that
day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
•With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously
offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India,
New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
•Japan, honoring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on
23 August 1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on
Japan.
•Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid
entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both.
In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the
event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared
instead a policy of neutrality. The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined
the conflict by siding with the Triple Entente. against her two former allies.
•United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute
neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of
unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's
commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards
the Allies led by Britain and France) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on
6 April 1917.
By the end of World War I, there will be nothing left in
Europe but a smoldering fire pit
Propaganda Posters
UK
UK
UK
Australia
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
U.S.
Romania
UK
German soldier
pointing at viewer.
"You, too, should join
the Reichswehr.
Therefore, sign up at
the next enlistment
post, ReichswehrGruppen-Kommando
no. 4 (Bavarian),
Möhl, Major
General."
Sarms of British planes
bombing a factory. "What
England wants!" Poster
quotes from British Labour
party leader Johnson-Hicks
which appeared in the Daily
Telegraph, Jan. 3, 1918:
"One must bomb the Rhine
industrial area day by day
with hundreds of airplanes,
until the cure [destruction of
German industrial
production] has occurred."
German soldier, with
gas mask hanging
from his neck, gazing
into the distance. Text
reads: Help us
triumph! Subscribe to
the War Loan.
Propaganda Assignment:
Using the perspective of the country you were assigned to during
our alliance game, create your own propaganda poster.
Due tomorrow so don’t waste time!
Military Tactics
In order to understand the horrors of WWI trench warfare, one
must first have a basic understanding of military tactics as they
developed over the centuries. In ancient times battles on open
ground were usually won by the side with the greatest numbers
of troops. The larger army overwhelming the smaller army by
sheer force of numbers. This led to the creation of defensive
positions placing obstacles in the way of attacking forces in
order to slow the attackers giving the defenders an advantage.
Defensive positions can be created by taking advantage of
natural terrain such as hills and mountains, by using natural
cover such as a forest or ditch or by building artificial
fortifications such as trench works, fortresses and castles. It
generally requires a much greater force to overrun and capture
a reinforced enemy position in battle the attacking force taking
heavy casualties during their assault on the enemy position.
Thus a smaller defending force can often repel a much larger
force of attackers. The ground between the attacking forces lines
and the lines of the defenders is known as “No Mans Land”
crossing this ground is the deadliest part of battle.
Trench Warfare
Because of the evolution of the machine gun, opposing
sides were forced to “dig in,” instead of charging the
enemy.
War of Attrition
=
Last Man
Standing
Wins
While a fortified
enemy position can
be weakened by
concentrated
artillery and
weapons fire it is
necessary to over
run and occupy
enemy positions in
order to capture
ground and defeat
the enemy.
World War One produced tactics in which
opposing armies faced each other across
fortified trenches often for months at a
time. Being unable to advance and
capture enemy positions. Attempted
assaults on opposing trenches resulted in
massive slaughter on both sides. Modern
technology only added to the horrors of
these conditions.
At the age of 92, Arthur Savage was asked about his memories
of life on the Western Front.
“My memories are of sheer terror and the horror of seeing men
sobbing because they had trench foot that had turned
gangrenous. They knew they were going to lose a leg.
Memories of lice in your clothing driving you crazy. Filth and
lack of privacy. Of huge rats that showed no fear of you as
they stole your food rations. And cold deep wet mud
everywhere. And of course, corpses. I'd never seen a dead body
before I went to war. But in the trenches the dead are lying all
around you. You could be talking to the fellow next to you
when suddenly he'd be hit by a sniper and fall dead beside
you. And there he‘d stay for days.”
An aerial reconnaissance
photograph of the
opposing trenches and noman's land between Loos
and Hulluch in Artois,
France, taken at 7.15 am,
22 July 1917. German
trenches are at the right
and bottom, British
trenches are at the top left.
The vertical line to the left
of centre indicates the
course of a pre-war road or
track.
Australian
sniper using a
periscope rifle
at Gallipoli,
1915. He is
aided by a
spotter with a
periscope. The
men are
believed to
belong to the
Australian 2nd
Light Horse
Regiment and
the location is
probably
Quinn's Post.
Trench Foot
Trench Foot
Technology changing the face
of War
By the time of WWI
scientific technology had
very much changed the
nature of the battlefield.
With the development of
motorized transportation,
chemical weapons, combat
aircraft, tank warfare,
effective artillery, and the
widespread deployment of
the machine gun with
frontline units. All warring
factions during WWI were
pretty well equally armed in
terms of weapons and
technology
Use of motorized transportation and railroads
allowed frontline positions to be rapidly
reinforced with men and supplies
Weapons
Artillery
The battlefields of WWI saw the widespread
deployment of modern and very effective artillery. Due
to the development of motorized transport it became
much easier to quickly deploy more and larger artillery
pieces to the battle front. Life in the trenches meant
being subjected to near constant artillery
bombardment. The heavy artillery pieces were also
capable of delivering poison gas shells onto enemy
positions. Soldiers of WWI often developed a condition
known as “Shell Shock” brought about due to constant
exposure to artillery fire and the stresses of trench
warfare.
Machine Guns and Artillery
Machine guns and artillery
changed warfare forever.
The Machine Gun: During WWI the machine gun was treated as
a light artillery weapon used by soldiers. The machineguns of this
era were water cooled, meaning that the barrel was surrounded
by a water jacket which kept the barrel cool and prolonged
accuracy and barrel life. Water cooled guns also required keeping
buckets of water on hand. These weapons were relatively heavy
and required usually a five man crew per weapon to maintain and
transport the weapon and ammunition.
WWI saw the widest
deployment of machineguns
of any previous war. The
machine gun combined with
the infantryman’s rifle and
support artillery were the
primary defenses of the
trenches. Attacking forces
had to face a wall of machine
gun, rifle, and artillery fire
while advancing on enemy
trenches.
British 18 pounder field gun
British Vickers Machine Gun
“Aeroplanes”
Red Baron
A new hazard facing the soldier of WWI was and aspect of
being bombed or fired upon by enemy aircraft. Aircraft
were a new development and were used for both attack and
reconnaissance missions. Airplanes were also used to spy on
the opposing trenches and to drop bombs into the trenches.
There were also daring aerial dog-fights.
British Bomber
aircraft of WWI
Tanks
Armored fighting vehicles were a new technology
developed during WWI. Their armor allowed them to
withstand small arms fire, and they were often used to
provide cover for infantry movements and to over run
and destroy enemy machine gun positions. They doubled
as mobile artillery and machine guns.
Tanks were
invented to drive
through no man’s
land, over barbed
wire, and over
the trenches.
A battle tank of WWI
Chemical Warfare
Gas burned the eyes, skin and lungs.
Chemical weapons “poison gas” At the time of WWI
Germany dominated the chemical industry. They were the
first to develop chemical weapons in the form of poison gas.
Some of these poisons were blistering agents such as Mustard
Gas, and Chlorine Gas. Later in the war early forms of nerve
gasses were created and deployed. Soon the Triple Entente
retaliated by deploying their own chemical weapons. Often
an assault on an enemy position was preceded by a gas attack
in order to weaken the enemy defenders.
Medical and Health Conditions
Life in the trenches along with primitive
medical facilities was another factor that
magnified the horrors of WWI.
Living conditions in the trenches brought about additional risks in
terms of health. Lack of refrigerated food storage and unsanitary
conditions brought on such things as food poisoning and dysentery
along with exposure to contagious disease such as tuberculosis. An
influenza outbreak in Italy in 1917 spread across Europe and the
Atlantic rivaling the plagues of the Middle Ages.
Medical corps carrying wounded in WWI.
Antibiotic drugs were nonexistent at the time and even minor
battlefield wounds could produce life threatening infection
combined with lack of sanitation at combat medical facilities.
Evacuating badly wounded soldiers to more advanced facilities
was often not possible. Surgeons neglected to scrub up or
change into clean surgical attire between surgeries performed
on wounded soldiers. Battlefields strewn with corpses attracted
millions of rats which infested the trenches along with lice which
spread even more disease.
Medical facility set up in WWI trench
The U.S. Enters the War
The Sinking of the Lusitania
•When a German U-boat (submarine) sank the Lusitania in 1915, a large passenger
liner with 128 Americans aboard, President Wilson vowed "America was too proud to
fight," and demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied.
•Wilson tried to mediate a compromise settlement; yet no compromise was discovered.
Wilson also repeatedly warned that America would not tolerate unrestricted submarine
warfare because it violated America's rights.
•Wilson was under great
pressure from former
president Teddy Roosevelt,
who denounced German
"piracy" and Wilson's
cowardice. In January 1917
the Germans announced
they would resume
unrestricted submarine
warfare.
The Zimmerman Note
A coded telegram dispatched by
the Foreign Secretary of the
German Empire, Arthur
Zimmermann, on January 19,
1917, to the German ambassador
in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt,
at the height of World War I. It
instructed the ambassador to
approach the Mexican government
with a proposal to form an alliance
against the United States. It was
intercepted and decoded by the
British and its contents hastened
the entry of the United States into
World War I.
Other Reasons
•
•
•
•
To make the world a safe place for democracy
Common culture with Britain
Propaganda
Shorten the war
US Senate declared war on April 4, 1917
The entry of the U.S. into the War came none too soon for the
Triple Entente (Allies). In the summer of 1917 the Triple
Entente launched an offensive to break the deadlock on the
western front. It failed, shattering the Allied troops’ already
shaky morale. That fall, mutinies broke out in French units all
along the western front.
The War at Home
• Selective Service Act
• Mobilizing the economy
– Labor, war bonds, conservation of scarce resources
• Volunteerism
Oppressing Opposition
Espionage Act (1917)
•President Wilson was afraid that widespread dissent (negative public opinion) in
a time of war constituted a threat to American victory.
•A federal law passed shortly after entering World War I, which made it a crime
for a person to intentionally interfere with the operation or success of the armed
forces or to promote the success of its enemies.
• It was punishable by a maximum $USD 10,000 fine and 20 years in prison.
Sedition Act (1918)
•An amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917
•A reaction to the over throwing of the Russian Tsar in 1917
•Forbade Americans to use "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language"
about the United States government, flag, or armed forces during war; and
allowed the Postmaster General to deny mail delivery to dissenters of government
policy during wartime.
The Aftermath
After Four Years of Blood Shed,
8,538,315 people had died
In total there were around 22 million casualties.
(Allied Deaths 5,152,115, Central Deaths 3,386,200, U.S. deaths 126,000)
Allied-52.3% chance of being a casualty
Central- 57.6% chance of being a casualty
And all of Europe was heavily in debt
•Allied Powers $125,690,477,000
–U.S. $22,625,253,000
•Central Powers $60,643,160,000
The End of the War
1918-The Final Year
•German military high command attempt one final large-scale offensive on the
Western Front. A near success, its ultimate failure led to a series of sweeping
successes by the Allies beginning in the summer of 1918.
•By autumn the German Army was no longer able to continue fighting. With
revolution imminent in Germany, its political leadership petitioned for an
armistice. Which took effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh
month.
•The war was over, and with its end many of the European dynasties fell.
1919
•Immediately after the war, the victors met in Paris and negotiated the Versailles
Treaty.
•Germany was kept under a food blockade until it signed the treaty, which declared
that Germany (and Austria-Hungary) were guilty of starting the war and therefore had
to pay all its costs.
The Costs of War
Destruction
How do you put Europe back
together?
Russia (Triple Entente)
•The destruction of WWI and the determination of the Russian economy led to
widespread rioting in the major cities.
•The Romanovr (Romanoff) dynasty is over thrown in 1917 throwing Russia into a
Revolution
•A Marxist political faction called the Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd and
Moscow under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin
•In a last attempt to gain back control a loose confederation of anti-socialist
monarchist and bourgeois forces known as the White Army fight back throwing Russia
into a bloody civil war against the Bolsheviks Red Army
•The Red Army triumphed and in 1922 the Soviet Union is founded.
And so the Age of Communism in Russia Began
France (Triple Entente)
•Fighting on the Western Front (mostly in France) will cause vast destruction.
•The government and the people will blame Germany for the war and insist that they
pay for rebuilding France.
United Kingdom (Triple Entente)
•In the United Kingdom, funding the war had an economic cost. From being the world's
largest overseas investor, it became one of its biggest debtors with interest payments
forming around 40% of all government spending. Inflation more than doubled between
1914 and its peak in 1920, while the value of the Pound Sterling fell by 61.2%.
•Less concrete changes include the growing assertiveness of Commonwealth nations.
Battles such as Gallipoli for Australia and New Zealand, and Vimy Ridge for Canada led
to increased national pride and a greater reluctance to remain subordinate to Britain,
leading to the growth of diplomatic autonomy in the 1920s and will eventually pull away
from Britain and gain their independence.
•Colonies such as India and Nigeria also became increasingly assertive because of their
participation in the war. The populations in these countries became increasingly aware of
their own power and Britain's fragility.
Ottoman Empire (Central Powers)
After WWI, the Ottoman Empire was parceled
out to the European colonial powers becoming
the modern states of Syria, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon and Palestine (later Israel). France
became the 'protectorate' of Syria, Lebanon,
Algeria, Morocco, & Tunisia; Britain of Egypt,
Sudan, Jordan, Palestine; and Italy of Libya
Austria-Hungry (Central Powers)
•With the war having turned decisively against the Central Powers, the peoples of the AustroHungarian Empire lost faith in it, and even before the armistice in November, radical
nationalism had already led to several declarations of independence in September and October
1918.
•Originally the Allies had hoped to maintain Austria-Hungary (although reduced) as a
counterbalance to German power in central Europe but there was not hope the empire had
been decimated and the following was established:
•Establishment of the new republics of Austria and Hungary
•Exile of the Habsburg family.
•The new republics of Austria and Hungary were established and greatly reduced in size.
•Division of Austria-Hungary into:
•Czechoslovakia
•Poland.
•The South Tyrol and Trieste were granted to Italy.
•Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia-Slavonia, Dalmatia Slovenia, and Vojvodina were joined
with Serbia and Montenegro to form the Kingdom of the Serbs,
•Croats and Slovenes, later became Yugoslavia.
United States (Triple Entente)
•In the USA, disillusioned by the failure of the war to achieve the high ideals promised by
President Woodrow Wilson, the American people chose isolationism
•After an initial recession the U.S. enjoyed several years of unbalanced prosperity until the
1929 Stock Market crash.
•However, American commercial interests did finance Germany's rebuilding and reparations
efforts, at least until the onset of the Great Depression. The close relationships between
American and German businesses became somewhat of an embarrassment after the Nazis
took over Germany in 1933.
Germany (Central Powers)
•In November 1918, the second German Revolution broke out, and Emperor Wilhelm II
and all German ruling princes abdicated. An armistice was signed on November 11,
putting an end to the war. Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919,
whose unexpectedly high demands were perceived as humiliating in Germany
•Treaty of Versailles
•Included in the 440 articles of the treaty were the demands that Germany officially
accept responsibility for starting the war and pay heavy economic reparations.
•The treaty also included a clause to create the League of Nations. The US Senate
never ratified this treaty and the US did not join the League, despite President
Wilson's active campaigning in support of the League. The United States negotiated a
separate peace with Germany, finalized in August 1921.
• The Treaty of Versailles would inevitably force Germany into a great economic depression,
leaving the country vulnerable to radical political parties..
And so the rise of Hitler and the Third Rich began…
The actions of one man, Gavrilo Princip, and the Black Hands would
send Europe into World War I and eventually World War II.
A Flawed Peace