Chapter 12World War I

Section 1

World War I

Breaks Out

Nationalism and territorial rivalries Nationalism was strong in the central region of the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) gained control of the Balkans in

the 1400’s. The Balkans were made up of four main ethnic groups the Albanians, Greeks, Romanians and the Slavs. The Balkans were struggling for independence.

Greece began a successful revolt against Turkish rule in the 1820’s. Romania followed suit in 1859

Thanks to a war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1878, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia staked their claim to nationhood

Soon-after, Austria-Hungary occupied the small Balkan kingdoms of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Serbia saw Bosnia as part of their rightful territory and their growing strength threatened Austria-Hungary’s territories in the Balkans.

Militarism and alliances Because of larger European countries common

practice of taking over smaller ones, relationships between nations were driven by a strong sense of {militarism- the glorification of military strength}

As a result Europe became involved in an arms race. Each country trying to form larger armies and build bigger weapons than their rivals

Nation’s leaders formed alliances with other nations each promising aid in the case of an attack

Germany, Austria and Italy formed one alliance while France, Russia and Great Britain formed another

The alliances avoided war for some time but the threat of war was hanging in balance

The Great War Begins In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the

throne of Austria-Hungary was assonated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip in the streets of Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnia)

Austria-Hungary quickly declared war on Serbia. Germany quickly offered support to Austria, and Russia honored its alliance with Serbia

The alliance system turned a local conflict into global war. The Allied Powers- Britain, France and Russia were pitted against the {Central Powers- Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria}

Italy remained neutral until 1915. Then it sided with the Allies

Eventually, some 30 nations took sides in the Great War

Archduke Franz Ferdinand & Gavrilo Princip

Continued… Germany’s military strategy was to launch a massive attack on

France to defeat it quickly, and to just leave British forces stranded on the other side of the English Channel

With France and Britain out of the way, Germany would set its sights on Russia

Known as the {Schlieffen Plan- Germany called for forces to invade France through Belgium} German troops invaded Belgium August 3-4 1914. The invasion pushed the Allies back to the Marne River

But that September the Allied Powers pushed back. In the First Battle of the Marne in France, German lines were pushed back some 40 miles

{German Kaiser Wilhelm II told his troops they would be home “before the leaves have fallen from the trees” } but later leaders of both sides realized there would be no quick ending

The War Reaches a Stalemate By early 1915 both armies occupied trenches along a

front running for hundreds of miles from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland.

The two sides were separated by {the front line, a thin strip of bombed out area strewn with barbed wire and land mines known as No-Man’s-Land}

A new type of fighting known as {trench warfare emerged on the western front. In which troops rushed across no-man’s-land into enemy fire}

Determined to break the stalemate both sides planned massive attacks {In Feb. of 1916 The Germans struck first targeting the French city of Verdun.}

The battle raged back and forth for months. In July the Allies launched an attack near the Somme River in France.

No-Man’s-Land

Continued….

In the Battle of the Somme, British forces alone lost 60,000 soldiers in one single day

The four month long battle left more than one million dead or wounded.

At the same time in Verdun, the longest battle of the war, the two sides suffered more than 1 million casualties, more than half of them deaths

For soldiers who avoided death, the trenches were a nightmare. Rats and lice were prevalent. Rain flooded the trenches and disease and unsanitary conditions bred disease and sickness that claimed almost as many lives as the fighting did

New Weapons New deadly weapons added to the horror of trench

warfare Machine guns that fired hundreds of rounds per

minute {In the Battle of Somme, the Allies introduced tanks to

warfare} Perhaps the most feared, poisonous gasses.

{Important objects in a soldier’s pack included a bayonet, a blanket and a gas mask}

Submarines and airplanes were also widely used The most successful and famous ace pilot was the

German Baron Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron. He had a reported 80 kills

The top American ace was Edward Rickenbacker, with 26 kills

Baron Manfred von Richthofen

Review Questions What is the the glorification of military strength? Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and

Bulgaria Were collectively known as what? What Plan called for German forces to invade

France through Belgium? Who told his troops “they would be home before the

leaves have fallen from the trees”? a thin strip of bombed out area strewn with barbed

wire and land mines was known as what? In Feb. of 1916 The Germans struck first targeting

what French city?