Snapshot of WWI1. Roughly 10 million deaths between1914-1918.

2. First Industrialized War: newweapons meet old military assumptions with devastating effect.

3. Overturns political, economic &social systems in Europe (For example: Primary cause of the Russian Revolution; Dramatically shifts gender roles).

4. Unresolved causes of WWI & the“Peace” Treaty of Versailles sow the seeds of World War II.

5. In hindsight, WWI is considered acatastrophic failure of leadership & totally avoidable, an utterly pointless waste of life.

Causes of World War I

ImperialismOne powerful nation controlling another usually smaller or weaker nation for economic resources & political power.

At the end of the 19th century, the “Great Powers” of Europe were in a cut-throat competition with each other to gain control of Asia & Africa.

Great Britain & Germany were the two most economically and militarily powerful countries in the world. Each of them wanted to control the most global territory & the most resources in order to be the political & economic super power.

France, Russia, Austria-Hungary & Italy also wished to compete for territory in oder to have access to as many resources & as much political power as possible.

! Control of a government & society by a military class that pursues an a!ressive military policy of expansion.

! Often militarism is reinforced by a culture that glorifies their own national identity (often expressed as racism) & the use of force.

! In the late 19th century & early 20th c., the “Great Powers” of Europe pursued aggressive policies of territorial expansion for natural resources & military power.

! This expansion was a primary cause of World War I.

Militarism

1.How much does military spending increase on average among the Great Powers between 1880 & 1914?2. Predict one domestic consequence of an increase in military spending for these countries.3. Predict one international consequence of this increase in military spending for these countries.

! A belief in the superiority of your own country or culture over others. This attitude is often combined with the belief that your country or culture should actively demonstrate your greatness to the world through competition.

! In the 20th century when so much of the globe was dominated by a handful of “Great Powers”, nationalism was also expressed by smaller or weaker countries & cultures as the belief that they should not be dominated by the “Great Powers”.

Nationalism

! In Europe on the brink of World War I, nationalism was often expressed as hatred toward other countries & cultures.

! In Germany, a song called “The Hymn of Hate” became popular during the war:

“Hate by water & hate by land. Hate of the heart & hate of the hand. We love as one. We hate as one. We have but one foe alone-- England.”

Nationalism

Tangled Alliances