CAUSESCOURSEEFFECTS

World War I

MAIN Causes

MilitarismAlliance SystemImperialism of Western PowersNationalism of Eastern peoples

Militarism

Britain- largest navy in worldGermany- spent more on army & navy than

all other countries in Europe End up with 2nd largest navy & largest army

British navy creates Dreadnoughts (considered direct threat by Germans

Who respond w/unterseebooten (u-boats)Germany also creates Schlieffen Plan in case

of 2 Front War

Alliances

Dual Alliance- Bismarck engineers alliance b/t Germany & Austria

France & Russia enter into Entente Cordiale

Germany worriesBritain resolves differences w/ France &

Russia enter into another entente with France creating Triple Entente

Germany now hedged in. Convinces Italy to join Dual Alliance (with A-H) making it Triple Alliance

Imperialism in Africa

Germany begins claiming empire in Africa results in arguments w/ Great Britain, the Dutch, & France Moroccan Crisis I: (1905) provokes tension when

Kaiser Wilhelm visits Algeria tells residents they should be independent- France cries foul. Conference is called & rest of world (all white) agree w/ France -Germany backs down

Moroccan Crisis II: (1911) Germ sends a gunboat to Algeria to protest French occupation. Sees it will get no support from rest of world, compromised- Algeria is Fr. Protect. & Germ gets parts of Fr. Congo.

Imperialism in Eastern Europe

Austria-Hungary begins increasing its empire into Eastern Europe Balkans Crisis I:(1908) A-H annexes Bosnia-Herz .

Serbia cries foul & Russia supports them. Germ sides w/ A-H. Serbia backs down.

Balkan Crisis II: (1912-13) Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, & Greece all seize land from O.E. Austria intervenes & forces creation of Albania. Russia & Serbia draw closer together

Nationalism

All the different ethnic groups in Austria-Hungary wanted their own country- when Hungary achieved limited autonomy they were angry and resentful

Serbians’ desire for a greater Empire led to increased diplomatic forays w/ Bosnia

The spark: Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinates Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Serbia is blamed.

Arrest of Gavrilo Princip

Chain of Events

Don’t copy this stuff down! We’ll summarize it all in one sentence for your class notes

A-H sends ultimatum to Serbia asking for list of demands which impinge on sovereignty.Serbia looks to Russia for help. She agrees.A-H calls on Germany for assistance in case of war. Wilhelm not aware of provocative tone of telegraph agrees.Russia turns to France for support. She agrees.7/28 A-H declares war on Serbia. 7/30-Russia mobilizes.8/1-Germany declares war on Russia. 8/3- then France.When Belgium refuses German request to cross territory, she invades, which causes Britain to enter the war- 8/48/6- A-H declares war on Russia

It’s on!

Course

WWI divides Europe into 2 camps Central Powers

A-H Germ O.E.

(Bulgaria joins in 1915 to get revenge against Serbia) Allies

France GB Russia Serbia Belgium 25 other nations

•Japan joined in 1914 to acquire land in Pacific

•Italy remained neutral on the grounds that Germany had provoked war violating the defensive nature of the Triple Alliance

•US joined in 1917

German Strategy & the Western Front

Schlieffen Plan to protect against 2 front attack. Sweep through n. France & Belgium in the West,

defeat it in 6 wks- then turn to Russia. Transport troops from West to East for a much longer,

harder battle.W/in 3 wks Germs 30 m from Paris, but defense of

Belgians, rapid mobilization of Russians forced Germ to send troops back east sooner than planned.

Western Front

@ Battle of Marne (9/5-10/1914), the French fought back (using Parisian taxies to move troops); Germs forced to retreat. Paris was saved

Hope for quick war dashed as both sides settled into trenches @ Battle of Somme (7/1/16-11/18) a mill men were

lost (the Brits lost 60K in one day)

@ Verdun, over 700K were lost @ Passchendaele Brits lost 250K for 5.0 square miles of

Belgian Flanders

Eastern Front

This front not as trench-ridden as West- so more mobile.

In beginning, Russians pushed into Germ, but under Gens. Paul von Hindenburg (later

president of Weimar Repub) & Eric Ludendorff the Germs defeated Russians @ Tannenburg (30,000 Russians lost & 225,000 were lost in the fall of 1914)

By 1915 over 2.5 million Russian soldiers were either killed, wounded, or taken prisoner

B/c of losses, poor leadership of govt & lack of food among pop & soldiers, a coup against the tsar was hatched in 3/17.

By 11/17, a Communist govt was installedComms withdrew from war by signing

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, giving away chunks of their land to Germany

Eastern FrontEastern Front

Southern Front

In southeastern Europe, the Brits attacked the O.E.

Under Winston Churchill (1st Lord of the Admiralty) the Gallipoli Campaign was organized- designed to strike at Germany & A-H through the Dardanelles & Balkans.

Complete failure: ANZAC (Australian & New Zealand Army

Corps) troops were killed, Gallipoli was never taken & Churchill resigned.

New Ways O’ Killin’

The First Technological War

Machine Gun Lewis Guns- 500 shells/minute

Large artillery- “Big Bertha” Cannons (Krupp) 15 miles away (by ’18, shelling Paris from 70 miles away)

Tanks 1st used at Battle of Somme by Brits

U-Boats After Dreadnoughts, Germans focused on these to break Brit blockade

Poison Gas 1st used by Germans at Ypres, eventually both sides used it

Airplanes Manfred von Richthofen- most famous ace

Zeppelins Dirigible bombers could level building in seconds; susceptible to ground

fire Radios

1st used to communicate battlefield messages

The Tide Turns

1917: Brits intercept Germ telegram to Mexico offering support if Mex enters war on Germ side (Zimmerman Note)

US, already angry over Lusitania’s sinking in ’15, now fighting mad

Germ resumes unrestricted submarine warfare & US enters war in 4/6/17- bring 2 million to France

US troops stem tide in Argonne Forest in Sep-Nov of ‘18

By fall of ‘18, OE & Bulgaria had sued for peace & A-H’s govt has collapsed as its subject nationalities finally revolted against Aus-Hun hegemony

In Nov, generals convinced the Kaiser to abdicate & he fled to Holland. A provisional govt (Weimar Repub) was created which sued for peace, based on WW’s 14 Points.

The leaders met in Paris to discuss the post war world.

Conclusion of HostilitiesConclusion of Hostilities

The Big Four

All men came to the table with competing goals Woodrow Wilson- a “just peace” (“peace without victory”) &

model world through League of Nations Lloyd George- preserve GB’s empire & maintain Britain’s

naval & industrial superiority Vittorio Orlando- regain Italian territories from Austria &

claim colonies in Africa & M.E. Clemenceau- revenge for loss of Alsace& Lorraine;

protection against future invasionsRussia & Japan were excluded: 1st b/c she had dropped out &

signed a treaty w/ the enemy & the 2nd b/c she was not European.

Italy ended up walking out of the Conference in disgust when her demands were not met.

GB & France thought the US was unrealistic-they wanted security (& indemnity!)

Provisions of T of V

War-Guilt Clause- Germany accepts full blame for WWI

Germany pays all costs of the war in Allied countries (including civilian damages, pensions for widows, etc.) estimated to be 33 billion over 30 yrs.

Germany loses her colonies; Alsace& Lorraine to France; Schleswig to Denmark, E. Prussia to Poland

German army & navy reduced to 100K & prohibited manufacturing armored cars, tanks, submarines, airplanes, and poison gas

The Rhineland was a demilitarized zone & was occupied by the Allies

Austria required to recognize independence of Czechoslovakia, Austria & Hungary now 2 separate nations

Poland independent nation (from Russia, Germany, & Austria) Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, & Finland

Yugoslavia created in Balkans & dominated by the Serbs

Other Treaties (italicized not important)

Trianon: Hungary loses 1/3 of territory to Romania, Yugo, & Czech (anything not Magyar)

Neuilly: Bulgaria lost land to Yugo & GreeceSevres: The OE is liquidated.

Iraq, Palestine (& Jordan) became British mandates The British promised a Jewish homeland in Palestine with the

Balfour Declaration, when Arabs protested they issued various “White Papers” which attempted to ameliorate the mess by limiting Jewish migration & creating the kingdom of Transjordan out of Palestine

Syria (& Lebanon) became French mandates Turkey became independent nation

Impact of the WWI

Versailles had the opposite of Wilson’s desired effect. Germany felt betrayed & used it as excuse as a

rallying cry for renewed militarism under the Nazis Russia felt betrayed at being excluded Italy felt betrayed at not getting all the colonies it

had been promised France felt isolated when GB backed out of a

defensive alliance w/ her. Wilson felt betrayed by the Europeans who had

subverted his dream In the colonies, people from Africa throughout the

M.E felt their European leaders had betrayed them for their own self-interests

Impact of the WWI

10 million soldiers were dead & 20 million were wounded

The O.E. was destroyed. The Hohenzollern Dynasty of Germany, the Habsburg

Dynasty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, & the Romanov Dynasty of Russia had all collapsed

Russia was no more: the USSR had replaced itThe economies of Europe were ruined & America

was now a world bankerThe world retreated into an isolationist pose for

a generation.