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IAL / IAS - Unit 1: Option 1C - Germany, 1918 - 45
DATE: September 25, 2016
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book):
c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
WEB RESOURCE:
Germany and the Outbreak of WWI Reconsidered Michael
Epkenhans spoke about reconsidering the role of Germany in the
outbreak of World War I. 57 min 41 sec
https://www.c-span.org/video/?320608-2/germany-outbreak-wwi-reconsidered
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
RESEARCH:
1. Germany was harshly punished for its role in WWI. Clause 231
(War Guilt) from the Treaty of Versailles lays the full blame of the
war on Germany. To understand Weimar Germany we must have
insight into Germany from 1912 - 1918.
Read through pages 26 - 45. Make a list of reasons and events
that shed light on the role Germany played in the outbreak of
WWI. Consider the following:
a) Were the German offensive - instigators looking for
annexation and expansion?
b) Were the German defensive - fearful of encirclement?
c) Had countries, ‘slithered’ into war (an inevitable ending to
years to militarism, alliances and nationalism)?
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 1 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
1. Pre-WWI alliance system was formed, in part by:
Revanche (revenge) - France was motivated by the loss of AlsaceLorraine and the
humiliation of 1870.
Dreikaiserbund, (the
League of Three
Emperors)1881- an
attempt by von
Bismarck to further
isolate France by
establishing a defensive alliance between Austria-Hungary, Russia
and Germany.
KD NOTES 2 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
2. Relationship between Britain and Germany - Kaiser’s views and
actions antognised Britain.
• Kaiser Wilhelm II (grandson of QV), he both loved and loathed
Britain.
• 1896 - antagonised British public - telegram to President
Kruger of the South African Republic.
• Flottenpolitik and Navy Laws (1898, 1900, 1906) were a direct
challenge to British naval supremacy, and spark a naval race.
• 1906 - British battleship HMS dreadnought (ten 12 inch guns).
• German support for the Boers - 1899-1902.
• 1901 - possibility of an Anglo-German alliance, but Britain must
commit to the Triple Alliance.
• Britain ended its isolation formed alliances - Japan (1902),
France (1904) and Russian (1907).
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 3 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
3. Limits to Germany’s Weltpolitik (world politics) • Did not achieve much in terms of new territory.
• 1897 - German and China - lease for the port of Kiaochow.
• 1898 - Germany brought Pacific islands of the Carolines and
the Marianas from Spain.
• 1899 - agreement with Britain - Germany takes some of
eastern Samoan islands.
• Constantinople to Baghdad railway - but not much territorial
success.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 4 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
4. Competition for Morocco • Germany - economic interests in Tangier (NW Morocco).
• French - discussed greater influence with Britain and Italy.
• Germans - hoped to drive a wedge between Britain and France,
but the opposite happened.
• Friendship Treaty of Björkö - signed by the Kaiser and the Tsar
in July 1905. BUT - Russian foreign office did not want the close
friendship with France to be damaged.
• Humiliation for the Germans - head of the Political Office at the
Foreign Ministry, Friedrich von Holstein, was forced to resign.
• Impact on Germany’s military and political leaders - only
Austria-Hungary supported Germany.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 5 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
5. German reaction to Encirclement • The two Moroccan Crisis’ (1905 and 1911) impacted Germany’s
military and political leaders - only Austria-Hungary supported
Germany.
• British HMS Dreadnought (1906) posed a real threat - many in
Germany feared encirclement.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 6 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
6. German attempts to divide Britain and France:
• Germany miscalculates rivalry between Britain, France and
Russia - based on rivalries of Britain and France in Africa, and
Britain and Russia in Asia.
• 1907 - Britain and Russian entente.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 7 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
7. Naval Race - British see advantage to maintain superiority.
• Naval Race - von Bülow and Bethmann-Hollweg tried to
persuade the Kaiser to come to some agreement, BUT he
would not comprise.
• March 1909 - British budget to build nine dreadnoughts.
• Haldane Mission - British Secretary of War, Richard Haldane
traveled to Germany in February 1912 to discuss limiting the
number of ships both sides could build.
• Germany demands British neutrality in any future European
land war. British refuse.
• As a result - Kaiser and Tirpitz increased the size of the fleet.
• March 1912 - the Germans published a new Naval Bill
proposing further expansion.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 8 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
8. Events unfold in the Balkans - ‘Slavdom’ vs ‘Germandom’
• Through the alliance with the Habsburg Empire, Germany was
drawn into the politics of the Balkans.
• Ottoman influence in the Balkans was on the decline.
• Russia and the Habsburg Empire stake claims.
• Serbs assert national identity and independence.
• Russian Pan-Slavism - was popular (Russian - Serbian alliance).
• 1906 - Pig War - Austrians blocked the import of Serbian pigs
• October 1908 - Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed.
• The Bosnia Herzegovina crisis was that Russia had been
damaged and Germany had been involved.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
Map of Europe during WWI
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 9 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
8. Events unfold in the Balkans - ‘Slavdom’ vs ‘Germandom’
• 1911 - Italy attacked the Ottomans in Libya.
• Balkan League - of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro,
with the purpose of seizing territory from the collapsing
Ottoman Empire.
• October 1912 - Balkan League attacks Ottomans.
• Austrians horrified by Serbs invasion of Albania.
• November 1912 - Austria demanded the creation of an
independent Albania - Serbs ignored the Austrians.
• December 10, 1912 - Kaiser spoke to the Swiss Ambassador
about how racial war and the war of ‘Slavdom’ against
‘Germandom’ was now unavoidable.
• 1913 - Treaty of London - ended the First Balkans War.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 10 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
9. Blank Cheque • 1913 - German Army Bill - increased the army’s size by 170,000
troops.
• A brief Second Balkans War between the countries of the
Balkans League saw Serbia emerge strengthened.
• May 15, 1914 - Memo by Count von Waldersee,
(Quartermaster-General in the German General Staff) - fears
that Entente powers were also increasing the size of their
armies and were catching up.
• July 5, 1914 - Austrian diplomat Count Hoyos travelled to Berlin
seeking Germany’s support for action against Serbia. The
Kaiser and the German government including Chancellor
Bethmann-Hollweg offered unconditional support in what
became known as the ‘Blank Cheque’.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 11 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
10. Assessing Germany’s responsibility for WWI:
• Treaty of Versailles (1919) placed all the blame for WWI on
Germany (Clause 231).
• Historiographical Revolution - Fritz Fischer, 1961:
• His book Griff nach der Weltmacht (Germany’s Aims in the
First World War) he drew the following conclusions:
 Germany had gone to war to achieve European and
worldwide domination - Weltmacht (world power).
 It linked foreign and domestic policy by suggesting that the
proposed annexations were seen as a means of
maintaining domestic dominance.
KD NOTES 12 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
11. Purpose and intent of the Kaiser’s ‘War Council’ • Dec 8, 1912 - ‘War Council’ - meeting with the Kaiser and top
military advisers (Kaiser, von Molkte, Admiral von Tirpitz and
Admiral von Müller).
• The Kaiser insisted - Austria-Hungary should be supported
against Serbia.
• If Russia decided to fight, Austria would be supported in by
Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania, which would leave
Germany free to deal with France on land and Britain at sea.
• von Molkte thought the war against Russia was inevitable and
the sooner the better.
• Tirpitz suggested that the navy needed another 12 to 18
months to prepare the fleet and for the Kiel Canal to have
opened to allow large German naval vessels passage from the
Baltic into the North Sea.
TOPIC: Extent of German Responsibility for WWI
OBJECTIVES - Pages 26 - 45 (Unit 3 Book): c) Evaluate the role Germany played in the outbreak of WWI.
KD NOTES 13 - Pages 26 - 45 Unit 3 Book:
12. Policies in Germany had been dominated by:
• Primat der Aussenpolitik - dominance of foreign policy
• Primat der Innenpolitik - the dominance of internal policy on
foreign policy
IAL / IAS - Unit 1: Option 1C - Germany, 1918 - 45
DATE: September 28, 2016
TOPIC: WWI and Germany
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book):
d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
WEB RESOURCES:
1. Weimar Republic: What Impact Did WW1 Have On Germany? 4 min 23 sec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjZspjxp538
2. Great War – The Political Impact of WWI
http://study.com/academy/lesson/economic-social-political-consequences-ofthe-great-war.html
3. Collapse – Weimar Republic
http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-weimar-republic-strengths-weaknessescollapse.html
TOPIC: WWI and Germany
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
RESEARCH:
Germany signed a ceasefire on November 11, 1918 at 11:00.
Although they technically did not surrender, Germany was clearly
defeated.
Read through pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book). Discover the impact WWI
had on Germany. Consider what they ‘expected’ and what reality
they faced.
Make sure to gauge the political, social, economic and military
costs.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 1:
1. WWI was ultimately a catastrophe for Germany.
• Lack of raw materials, labour shortage, hunger, huge casualties
(low morale), strikes and political polarisation.
2. Reactions
• Demonstrations against the war were held - 28th and 29th July
in Berlin (100,000 people).
• Government presented it as - defensive campaign against Slav
aggression - morally right.
• Reichstag also passed an Enabling Act known as the
Burgfreiden (concept of national unity based on shared suffering).
• Reichstag delegated all of its legislative power to the
Bundesrat, which was to rule the Home Front by emergency
legislation (800 laws).
August 2, 1914 – The famous WWI photo showing a much
younger Hitler celebrating WWI’s outbreak in Odeonsplatz,
Munich, is most likely fake.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 2:
3. Military Industrial Complex
• War Ministry took over the bureaucratic function of running
the war.
• Corporations were set up under the control of the War
Materials Section of the War Ministry to ensure the supply of
raw materials for the war effort.
4. Events of 1914
• Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes - victories that turned the
two commanders (Hindenburg and Ludendorff) into heroes.
• September - first Battle of the Marne (Germans within shelling
distance of Paris).
• Stalemate forming - trenches and 650,000 German casualties
on both fronts by the end of 1914.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 3:
5. German Options for 1915 - Where to Focus:
• 1915 - New Chief Commander of the General Staff was Erich
Von Falkenhayn.
• Debate for Germans on where to focus - to win a decisive
victory on Western Front or the Eastern Front.
• Could not knock Russia out of the war.
• Conclusions from 1915 - Falkenhayn’s key to German victory
lay on the Western Front and in knocking the British out of the
war with the use of an aggressive submarines campaign.
 Lusitania, 1915
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 4:
6. Food and Shortages
• Before the war, Germany was not self-sufficient in food; in
1914 it imported around 25% of what it consumed.
• State's response was to assume control for the regulation and
distribution of food.
• January 1915 - Imperial Grain Corporation - set up by the
Bundesrat to administer the rationing and distribution of grain.
• 1916 - War Food Office - no powers.
• 1915 - 9 million pigs.
• Shortage of labour - conscription drained the countryside of up
to a third of its labour force (50% of agricultural workforce had been called up to
serve in the German armed forces).
• Substitute/Ersatz goods - Ersatz coffee made from tree bark or
Ersatz sausages, which contained no meat.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 5:
7. Limited Opposition
• August 1914 - SPD and trade unions supported the war.
• SPD deputy, Karl Liebknecht, voted against war credits.
• Some radicals, including Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg,
argued that the only way to peace was through revolution.
8. 1916 - Attrition and De-facto Military Rule
• Falkenhayn (Commander of the General Staff ) - concluded that the war could
be won only thought attrition and endurance (Ermittlung).
• February 1916 - Verdun - wearing down French - 700,000
casualties from both sides lost for no gain.
• May 1916 - war at sea - Jutland
• Galicia - Russians launched successful attack against Austria
known as the Brusilov Offensive.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 6:
9. Hindenburg Programme - TOTAL WAR
• Appointment of Hindenburg as head of the Oberste
Heeresleitung (OHL, or Supreme Army Command) and
Ludendorff as Chief of Staff marked the beginnings of a defacto military dictatorship that was to last until the end of the
war.
• Ludendorff was now the most powerful man in Germany.
• Some constraints - Kaiser still needed to be consulted,
bureaucracy ran the war effort, and Reichstag still held
budgetary control.
• Hindenburg Programme - Total War - mobilisation of all
resources within a nation, human and otherwise, for the war
effort.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 7:
9. Hindenburg Programme - TOTAL WAR
• All Germany’s resources were to be mobilised for the war
effort, and all non-essential industries were to be shut down.
• Dec 1916 - Auxiliary Labour Law - approved by Reichstag
 compulsory for all German males between 17 and 60.
 Form of forced labour
• Auxiliary Labour Law failed to mobilise large numbers of extra
men because they did not exist.
• Hindenburg Programme placed an even greater strain on the
already stretched supply of raw materials.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 8:
10. Shortages Hit Home
• Shortages of fuel and raw materials were made worse by the
desperately cold winter of 1916-17.
• The freezing of Germany’s rivers and railways in the winter of
1916-17 made transportation problems worse.
• Shortage of animal fats and coal meant a shortage of soap.
• Clothing was in short supply.
• Dimmed street lights, and cut back on trams.
• Catastrophic potato harvest (54 million tons to 25.1 million).
• Psychological damage and considerable hunger.
• Turnips became known as the Ersatz potato.
• Polonaise - a slow dance that was associated with queuing by
women for rationed food.
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 9:
Resources of Allied and Central Powers 1917
Allies
Central
Powers
Aeroplanes
3,163
1,500
Field Guns
19,456
14,730
Heavy Artillery
11,476
9,130
Machine Guns
6,276
20,042
17,312,000
10,610,000
Military Personnel
(w/reserves)
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 10:
11. 1917 - Unrestricted Submarine Warfare - USA • January 1917 - Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided to use
unrestricted submarine warfare vs Britain.
• Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, among others, objected to it,
with fears it would lead to American involvement.
• British adopt convoy system.
• April 1917 - USA declared war on Germany.
• this was a very important event in the polarisation of German
politics. The US was a democracy, and for those who believed
in a greater democracy in Germany, the US was not a natural
enemy.
• 1914-1918: 13.2 million German men mobilised
 2,050,000 killed
and 4,150,000 injured
TOPIC: WWI and Germany
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 11:
12. Costs and Options
• Growing numbers, inside and outside the Reichstag, felt that it
was time to negotiate a peace without victory rather than wait
for a victorious peace.
• In the debate on war credits in the Reichstag at the start of July
1917, the Centre Party and majority SPD tried to acquire more
money to the search of a peace without victory.
• September 1917 - ‘The German Fatherland Party’ was founded
and supported by Ludendorff, Tirpitz and other leading military
figures. It promoted the cause of a victorious peace through
the type of excessive annexation of territory.
• Rival pressure group - Peace League for Freedom and
Fatherland, which promoted the idea of a more moderate
peace.
TOPIC: WWI and Germany
OBJECTIVES - Pages 49 - 65 (Unit 3 Book): d) Describe the impact of WWI on Germany.
KD NOTES 12:
13. Opposing Visions to end the War
• September 1918 - surrender of Bulgaria shook Ludendorff.
• September 29, 1918 - Ludendorff demanded the government
entered into armistice talks with the Allies and U.S.
• October 4 - Prince Max of Baden was chosen as Chancellor and
immediately formed a coalition government, which included
members of the Centre and Progressive parties and the socialist SPD.
• Prince Max began the process of negotiations.
• Prospect of defeat and peace sparked mutiny in the naval ports of
Wilhelmshaven (Oct 29) and Kiel (Nov 2).
• Allies demanded abdication of the Kaiser.
• Friedrich Ebert of the SPD became the Chancellor with a government
consisting of the SPD and USPD.
• November 11 - armistice signed at Compiègne, France.
HW REVIEW:
PPQ# 7. What restrictions were placed on Germany’s armaments? (4)
Army limited to 100,000
Conscription banned
Not allowed armoured vehicles and military aircraft forbidden
Navy reduced to six small battleships, submarines were banned
and only 15,000 sailors allowed
Rhineland was de-militarized
A military alliance with Austria was FORBIDDEN (no Anschluss).