Transcript WW I - part 1 and 2x

• Nationalism led to competition and resentment
between nations
• Many fear Germany’s growing power in Europe
• Various ethnic groups resent domination; they want
self-determination and independence (Balkans)
• Russia sees itself as protector of all Slavic peoples
(i.e – Serbs)
The Congress of Vienna, held after Napoleon's exile to Elba, aimed to
sort out problems in Europe. Delegates from Britain, Austria, Prussia and
Russia (the winning allies) decided upon a new Europe but the principles
of nationalism were ignored in favor of preserving the peace.
It left both Germany and Italy as divided states.
Strong nationalist elements led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany in
1871.
The settlement at the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1871) left France angry at the
loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany and keen to regain their lost territory.
Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to differing nationalist
groups, all of whom wanted freedom from the nation-states in which they lived.
Bismarck was a strong nationalist and centered his
policies on the unification of the Germanic peoples.
(language, geographical, cultural ---- Pan-Germanism)
Policy of “blood and iron”….
Wars of Unification (the blood):
• Danish War
• Austro-Prussian War
• Franco-Prussian War
 French fear & resentment
 loss of land to Germany; want it back
Industrial and Imperial Expansion (the iron).
• education of the people “the Fatherland”
• free trade among German states
• build industrial and military might
• build an empire to rival other European nations
Otto Von Bismarck – “The Iron
Chancellor”
Was a movement in the mid 19th
and early 20th century aimed at
unity of all the Slavic peoples.
The main focus was in the Balkans
where the South Slavs had been
ruled and oppressed for centuries
by the two great empires, AustriaHungary and the Ottoman Empire.
This was an age when many Slavic
nations wanted to assert their
power and independence.
In Europe, Slavs wanted to be free
of Austrian rule.
A-H
Empire
Homelands of the Slavic peoples of
Europe. South Slavs are highlighted
in dark green, East Slavs in medium
green, and West Slavs in light green.
Imperialism – when one country takes over another country
economically and politically. European nations building empires
and imposing their will.
•
European nations needed resources, raw materials, and
foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused
by the Industrial Revolution.
•
Many nations competed for colonial expansion in Africa and
Asia.
 Britain and France dominate expansion
 Germany and Italy are late to industrialize and gain
colonies
 Germany and Italy wants to be dominant powers in
the world; starts to compete for colonies
 In the Middle East, the crumbling Ottoman Empire
was alluring to Austria-Hungary, the Balkans and
Russia.
Before 1800, Africa was controlled by numerous African states. By 1914, all of
Africa, with exception of 2 African nations, was under the control or oversight of
European powers.
Which powerful European nation does not have a colony in Asia?
How does each of these cartoons
illustrate the policy of imperialism?
What nations are represented in
the cartoons?
“Colossus of
Rhodes”
Cecil Rhodes was the
driving force behind British
imperialism in Africa.
Question:
“Why is Cecil Rhodes
depicted this way?”
Militarism – the belief or desire of a government or people that
a country should develop and maintain a strong military capability
and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote
national interests; glorification of the military.
•
Cost of building, defending colonies and empires leads to
more military spending to protect a countries' interests
 Some nation-states see this as a threat to their own
national interests
 nation-states around the globe compete in a arms race
•
By 1890, Germany has strongest army on European
continent
 competes with Britain for sea power
 France is worried about German invasion
The Dreadnought:
The first of its kind, the British Royal Navy's Dreadnought had a huge impact when
launched in 1906.
Her design had two revolutionary features; an 'all-big-gun' armament scheme and
steam turbine propulsion.
The arrival of the dreadnoughts renewed the naval arms race, principally between
Britain and Germany but reflected worldwide, as the new class of warships became a
crucial symbol of national power.
1900-1914 Increase in Military
Expenditures
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%
Alliance – An alliance is an agreement between two or more
parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure
common interests.
•
the rise in nationalism across Europe and the increase in
militarism led nation-states to seek security in numbers;
countries signed treaties that promised to defend one
another if under attack…..they hoped this would…..
 act as a deterrence from aggressive nations
 provide a stable balance of power in the region
•
alliance system fails in its intended purpose
 pulls one nation after another into war
Triple Alliance:
•
also called the Central Powers
•
military alliance among Germany, Austria–Hungary, and Italy that lasted from 1882
until the start of World War I in 1914
•
•
the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and Bulgaria join the Central Powers (1914)
Italy leaves to join the Triple Entente (1915)
Triple Entente:
•
also called the Allied Powers or Allies
•
military alliance among Britain, France, and Russia
•
•
•
Italy joins the Allied Powers (1915)
U.S.A joins (1917)
Russia leaves (1917)
• the empire was a mixed bag of many different
ethnic groups, languages, religions and
customs
• Austrians and Hungarians were the two largest
 but together they made up less than 50%
of the population
• the A-H government hated nationalism….it
threatened their power and control
• the government despised Serbians and Serbia
 “The Serbian Menace”
• Serbia wanted to make the Serbians living in
Austria-Hungary, part of a “Greater(Yugo)
Serbia(Slavia)”
• The Black Hand was created in Serbia.

secret organization whose goal it was to unite all
Slavs in the Balkans by any means necessary

the Balkans were considered the “powder keg”
of Europe
What happened on 28 June, 1914?
Left: the Archduke’s blood
stained uniform.
Above: picture of Gavrilo
Princip moments after the
assassination.
The assassin, 19-year-old, Gavrilo Princip, burned with the fire of
Slavic nationalism. He envisioned the death of the Archduke as the key
that would unlock the shackles binding his people to the AustroHungarian Empire.
❧ June 28, 1914 Austro-Hungarian Archduke Francis
Ferdinand shot by Serbian terrorist. Austria demands
Serbia punish terrorists, Serbia not compliant to
demands
❧ Austria declared war on Serbia
❧ Russia mobilized it’s army to protect Serbia
❧ Germany declared war on Russia
❧ France declared war on Germany
❧ Germany declared war on France and begin the
Schlieffen Plan
❧ As Germany invaded Belgium, Great Britain declared
war on Germany; Britain’s declaration brings in the
colonies and the Commonwealth nations around the
globe (World War)
Two bullets would lead to the deaths
of a further 15 to 20 million people!
World War I
ALLIES
CENTRAL POWERS
New Destructive Weapons
America Enters the War
America enters the war on April 2, 1917…so why did the USA declare war on the
Central Powers and trying so hard to stay out of the conflict and European
Affairs….(isolationist/isolationism)
•
•
•
•
Zimmerman telegram
Sinking of the Lusitania - unrestricted submarine warfare
Fear of Communist revolution in Russia (Red Scare) – must protect
democracy
Economic ties to Britain (loaned 2 billion $)
One of the biggest results of WW1 is that America becomes a political, economic,
and military power. (emerging “superpower”)
Russia Leaves the War
Russia leaves the War on in March of 1918 after signing a
peace treaty …. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ….despite being
the first major nation to enter the war, why was Russia
the first to leave?
•
•
•
•
the shortage of food, the lack of military success,
and political instability in Russia …..many people
were very unhappy with the state of the Russian war
effort………3.6 million dead.
civil unrest and army mutinies forced the overthrow
of the Romanov Dynasty (February Revolution)
The provisional gov’t decided to keep Russia in the
war…wrong decision!!
Led by Vladimir Lenin, the communists seized power
in Russia in 1917 (October Revolution)…..promising
PEACE,
LAND,
BREAD!!
Armistice
Armistice:
is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is
not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an
attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace.
Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918 at 11am.
On November 11th
l918, at 10:58 a.m. –
two minutes before the
armistice, George
Price, 28th Canadian
Battalion, was shot and
killed by a German
sniper. Likely the last
allied soldier to be
killed in that war.
Treaty of Versailles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKzZ1OwPXgk
Treaty of Versailles
The Big Four
David Lloyd George –
Great Britain
Vitorrio Orlando -Italy
Woodrow Wilson -USA
George Clemenceau
-- France
Spectrum of National Interest at the Treaty of
Versailles -- Big Four
Revenge – Make Germany Pay!!
(France and Great Britain)
Obtain Lands
(Italy)
Peace Without Victory
(United States)
At the peace conference the members of the Big Four had
separate agendas and vastly different national interests in
mind when dealing with a defeated Germany.
Woodrow Wilson (USA):
 felt that punishing and humiliating Germany would only lead to
problems in the future; wanted a humane treaty
Clemenceau (FRA):
 revenge for past aggressions
 fear of future German aggression and wanted to cripple
Germany
Lloyd George (GB):
 wanted Germany to pay for damages and losses
 maintain naval superiority to support colonies and its empire -powerful Germany navy might threaten that
Orlando (ITA):
 promised land by Allies if switched sides -- never received
Wilson’s 14 Points
1. Open covenants of peace (no secret treaties)
2. Freedom of navigation on the seas
 E.g. End of Ottoman Empire = Dardanelles to be a
free and open waterway
3. Removal of economic barriers (tariffs)
 Less likely to fight with a trading partner
4. Arms reduction
❧ Creation of League of Nations (to settle
disputes….disputes won’t lead to war)
❧ Rearranging boundaries based on selfdetermination (not always followed)
 Impartial adjustment of colonial claims
 Germany evacuate Russia, France, Belgium
 Alsace-Lorraine back to France
 Italy’s borders to be expanded along national
(ethnic) lines – idea of self-determination
 End of Austro-Hungarian empire (leads to creation
of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia based on selfdetermination)
 Creation of Poland (based on self-determination)
Treaty of Versailles con’t.
Germany was forced to sign (diktat…no negotiations) otherwise
hostilities would be renewed.
Main provisions of the treaty:
1. Germany had to accept sole responsibility for the War (one of the
most important and controversial ……later known as the War
Guilt clause)
2. Germany had to disarm
• No draft, no air force
• Army limited to 100,000 men
• Navy limited to 15,000 men
3. Germany had give up substantial territories in Europe and in their
colonies
• Lost all colonies in Africa and Asia
4. Germany had pay reparations to certain countries
• $ 33 Billion (about 400 billion dollars in today's money)
• saddled with unimaginable debt that would plunge the country into
economic hardship
5. Germany and Austria could never unify into one nation - Anschluss
• The new government called the Weimar Republic replaced the 2nd Reich
(formerly led by Wilhelm II who was now holed up in the Netherlands). The
new gov’t did not want to sign the Treaty but in the end did not have a
choice.
• It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was
signed on 28 June, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• A legacy of bitterness would be left that would pave the way for the rise of
Hitler and the Second World War.
The Human Cost Of War
Of the 65 million men who fought in World War 1:
•
•
•
•
•
•
8 million men were killed in battle.
2 million died of illness and disease.
21.2 million were wounded.
7.8 million were taken prisoner or went missing in
action.
6.6 million civilians were killed.
65,000 Canadians lost their lives
3% of the worlds pop died because of the flu epidemic
of 1919-21 (Spanish Flu)
CHANGED FOREVER: EUROPE (1914)
CHANGED FOREVER: EUROPE (1919)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Pfck9xlkM
League of Nations
League Successes
❧ Workers’ rights around the world
❧ Eradication of slavery
❧ Dealing with global health issues like
Malaria
❧ Small international conflicts
❧
❧
❧
❧
1920 Finland vs Sweden (territory)
1923 Italy vs Greece (territory)
1925 Turkey vs Iraq (resources)
1925 Bulgaria vs Greece (territory)
League Failures
1. No armed force (army) to enforce policies
 1931 Japan vs China (territory) – condemnation
 1935 Italy vs Abyssinia (territory) – condemnation and sanctions
2. World powers never joined or left
 USA; USSR; Italy; Germany
3. The rise of nationalism contradicted
internationalism
4. World powers that were apart of the league failed to
support the league in times of major crisis