Transcript World War I - WorldHistoryPriessnitz

World War I
Nick R. Priessnitz
 In
1871, the ranks of the great
powers included Germany, France,
Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and
Italy

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
Germany: By 1871, German’s chancellor, Otto
von Bismarck, regarded Germany a satisfied
power
Germany had achieved national unification and
had no further territorial ambitions (in Western
Europe) – Germany’s goal at this point was to
promote its economic development and maintain
its position as the most powerful state on the
European continent
Peace and stability in Europe was necessary, in
Bismarck’s view, by isolating France
 France:
Desired to regain access to
Alsace and Lorraine (which it had lost
to Germany) – check the next slide
for a map of Alsace and Lorraine
 The French were too weak to
challenge Germany without an ally

Great Britain: Wanted to maintain its
isolation from the affairs of the European
continent, however…
– Britain’s overseas empire at this point was
large and Germany had begun to show interest
in expanding its overseas colonization as well –
this along with Germany’s effort to build up a
comparable naval fleet close to the level of the
British Empire was threatening
– Britain’s imperial ambitions in Africa and Asia
also conflicted with those of France (check out the
next slide for a map on 19th century imperialism)
Austria: Sought to limit growing Slavic
nationalism within its own borders – Slavic
nationalism threatened its survival
 Russia – continued its expansionist
policies in an effort to advance its power
in both East Asia and in the Balkans

– However, this was a period of instability for
Russia. The Tsar’s grip over his country was
significantly weak – He knew a military victory
might strengthen his rule politically
 Italy:
Sought opportunities to
advance its claims to great-power
status. Its efforts to build a North
African empire led to disputes with
France
The Sarajevo Crisis

On June 24th, the final crisis began at Sarajevo,
the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia
– A South Slav nationalist, Gavril Princip, assassinated
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian
throne, and his wife
– A secret South Slav nationalist organization, Union or
Death, also known as the Black Hand, had planned the
assassination and had assisted Princip in carrying it out
– Why was he assassinated? Serbian militants were
seeking Serbian independence – the division and
“picking apart” of the Balkans by the Ottomans,
Russians, Germans, and the Austrians laid the
foundation for these countries/empires to go to war
– It was believed that Serbian officials were aware of the
plot against the Archduke but did nothing to warn or
prevent it
Convinced that the Serbian government
bore responsibility for the assassination,
Austria determined to settle accounts with
Serbia
 The Austrians declared war on the Balkan
country of Serbia on July 28th 1914
 Germany had indicated its readiness to
support Austria fully – they almost
seemed to be encouraging the Austrians
to move against Serbia, whatever the risk
of a general war might be

 It
was impossible for the Russians to
accept a setback in the Balkans –
they were determined to back Serbia
 July 30 Tsar Nicholas II ordered a
general mobilization of his armies
– Germany responded by sending Russia
an ultimatum – demanding an end to
Russian mobilization or war
– The Russians refused and Germany
declared war on Russia on August 1
 Germany
asked the French
government how they would respond
in the event of a Russo-German war
– France responded that it would act
in accordance with its interests
– August 3 – Germany declared war on
France

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The Schlieffen Plan: this German strategy called
for a massive attack on France – the Germans
needed to remove France as a threat first before
dealing with Russia – the plan called for a quick
mobilization of German troops against France and
then they could concentrate their efforts on
Russian mobilization
Of course, Germany had decided to enter France
by way of Belgium – this violated Belgian
neutrality which the European powers had
guaranteed by treaty in 1839
When German troops invaded Belgium on August
3, Great Britain declared war on Germany the
following day

WW1 Documentary Video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbmgQ_LoOc
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Assignment: Please do the DBQ for Chapter
25 located on pages 1086 and 1087 of
your text
- assignment should be typed, double
spaced, times new roman, 12 size font –
use the video from above as well as the
pictures from your text to assist you in
constructing your essay