Causes of World War I

• Structural reasons:– Political & economic rivalry between European

powers– Rigid alliances between European powers– Arms race– Military planning over diplomatic manouver

• Immediate reasons:– Ongoing crisis in the Balkans– Little diplomatic communication– Miscalculation

The July Crisis

A. Alliances 1. Triple Entente (Allied Powers): Britain, France, and Russia 2. Triple Alliance (Central Powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary,

and Italy

The Outbreak of World War I• Timeline of Major Events• June 1914: assasination of Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip

• July Crisis: Austria and Russia get ready for war

• July 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

• August 1914: Germany declares war on Russia and France

• August 1914: German occupation of Belgium

• August 1914: Britain declares war on Germany

World War I

• 1914: Battle of Marne• 1915: Gallipoli: Threatened Russia's supply lines • 1916: Battle of Verdun & Battle of Somme• 1915-1916: Stalemate on the Western front• 1917: Revolution in Russia• November 1918: Germany surrenders• 1919-1920: Negotiations in Paris

Ottoman Entry into World War I

• Fear of international isolation

• Ottomans approached France and Britain for an alliance – failed

• July 1914: Ottoman alliance with Germany

• Miscalculation: expected war with Russia only• Expectation of a short war with decisive German victory

• Goeben and Breslau bought from Germans, despite British protests

Ottoman Entry into World War I

• October 1914: Serbia declares war on the Ottoman Empire

• November 1914: Declaration of war (jihad) against Entente Powers

• May 1915: Deportation of Armenians (Tehcir)

• May 1916: Sykes-Picot Agreement

Ottoman Entry into World War I

• 1894-1896 incidents• 1909 Adana pogrom• Armenian nationalism & World War I• Deportation of Armenians: started in the war zone, but

continued in other parts of Anatolia as well• Was it a military necessity?• What was the intention of deportations? • What was the degree of government involvement?• Special Organization (Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa) and CUP archives

destroyed

Ottoman Empire in World War I

• Offensive strategy, recommended by German officers– Attacks against the British and Russians in the Suez Canal and

Caucasus: both failed

• Conditions on the trenches– Many soldiers died not as a result of war but as a result of

diseases, cold, etc.– Desertions: More than half a million deserters at the end of

the war

Ottoman Empire in World War I

• Allied offensives:

• 1915: Gallipoli Campaign– to cut off German aid to the Ottoman Empire and to

strengthen the Russian front

• Sharif Husayn and Arab independence in the South

The Home Front

The strains of war, 1917 1. Declining morale of the troops

a. Troops see their commanders’ strategy as futileb. Rise in number of mutiniesc. Self-mutilation d. “War neuroses”

2. On the home fronta. Shortages of basic supplies (clothing, food, and fuel)b. Price of bread and potatoes soaredc. Political dissent, violence, and large-scale riots d. Industrial strikes

Global Importance of WWI• New weapons

a. Artillery, machine guns, and barbed wire b. Poison gas

i. First used by the Germans at the second battle of Ypres (April 1915)

ii. Physically devastating and psychologically disturbing• 74 million soldiers mobilized– 6,000 persons killed per day for 1500 days– Nine million dead

• The “lost generation”• Global political and social discontent• The decline of liberal democracy

The Road to German Defeat, 1918

Transformation: The Peace Settlement

1. Woodrow Wilson and the Fourteen Pointsa. Wilsonian idealism

i. An end to secret treatiesii. Freedom of the seasiii. Reduction of national armamentsiv. League of Nations

The Road to German Defeat, 1918

Transformation: The Peace Settlement1. Conflicting aims made the peace process difficult2. Five treaties were signed, one with each of the defeated

nations

3. German lossesa. Gave up territories to Denmark, Poland and Franceb. Abolition of the air force, reduced the navy and land forcesc. Article 231

i. The “war-guilt” provision and reparations

The Road to German Defeat, 1918Transformation: The Peace Settlement

1. Other treatiesa. Based on Allies’ strategic interests and on the principle of self-

determinationi. Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were createdii. Poland was reestablishediii. Austria was separated from Hungary

b. Boundaries did not follow ethnic divisionsi. Guaranteed future problems of the 1930s

c. The Ottoman Empirei. The creation of modern Turkeyii. The “mandate system”

Global Importance of WWI• Economic consequences: Europe lost its place as the center of the

world economy

• The rise of the United States and Japan

• Self-determination for ethnic minorities

• Demise of empires, rise of nation-states

• Revolution in Russia

• Relocation and massacre of ethnic minorities: Jews in Russia & Armenians in the Ottoman Empire

Armistice of Moudros

• 31 October 1918, between British army and Ottoman delegation led by Hüseyin Rauf Bey

– Military occupation of the Straits– Demobilization of Ottoman army– Entente powers controlled railways, telegraph lines– Entente powers had the right to occupy anywhere in

the Ottoman Empire if considered necessary

Post-War Situation• Enver, Cemal Talat Pashas, Bahaeddin Şakir and Dr.

Nazım left Istanbul on a German warship

• Power vacuum in Istanbul after CUP leaders left– Sultan Vahdettin (Mehmet VI)– Liberals, led by Damat Ferit Pasha– Representatives of the Entente powers in Istanbul– Unionists (CUP members)• Still controlled the parliament, army, postal services,

bureaucracy

Post-War Situation• Sultan Vahdettin: tried to appease the British to secure a better

peace treaty– Failed– Gave importance to the preservation of the dynasty, rather than

the independence of Anatolia– Anti-nationalist, anti-CUP– Appointed anti-CUP cabinets– Damat Ferit Pasha cabinets• Strongly against resistance in Anatolia

– Successors of Damat Ferit Pasha (Ali Rıza Pasha) tried to cooperate with the Anatolian resistance

Resistance in Anatolia• Resistance movement in Anatolia

– CUP leadership already prepared the network before the end of the war

– Creation of a new institution named Karakol (the Guard)• Kara Vasıf and Kara Kemal, both CUP members• To protect CUP members after the war• Strengthening resistance in Anatolia by sending arms, men and

money

– The establishment of regional societies for the defense of national rights

Resistance in Anatolia

• Greek invasion of the region around İzmir (May 1919)– War continued until August 1922 and ended with a

decisive Greek defeat

• Disagreements between Entente Powers about creating spheres of influence in Ottoman territories

Post-War Situation• January 1920: The Parliament issued the National Pact

(Misak-ı Milli)• National Pact (Misak-ı Milli):– Territorial integrity of the regions with an Ottoman Muslim

majority– The fate of Arab regions to be decided by a plebiscite– Plebiscite for Batum, Kars, Ardahan, Western Thrace– The security of Istanbul and the Straits– Minority rights to be determined by treaties with European

powers

• Wide definition of Turkishness in the document

Post-War Situation• Entente occupation of Istanbul: March 1920– To put pressure on nationalist resistance in Anatolia

• Dissolution of the parliament (Meclis-i Mebusan): April 1920– Nationalists were suppressed– Political activity was prevented– Still, public demonstrations on behalf of Anatolian resistance

Istanbul under Occupation

• City under Entente control, but this control is limited– Large number of officials sympathetic to the nationalist cause– Occupying forces had limited information about the extent of

the resistance movement– Frictions between Entente Powers, especially French and British

in Istanbul• Caused difficulty in administering the city

– Difficult life conditions – shortages of food, fuel, coal in the capital

– Large number of refugees• Including Russians who fled from the Bolshevik Revolution

Istanbul under Occupation

• Nationalists successful in smuggling arms and men to Anatolia

– Karakol organization particularly instrumental– Karakol mobilized officials and officers supportive of the Anatolian

resistance– The need for a reliable leader for the resistance: Mustafa Kemal

• Detached from Enver Pasha’s wartime policies• Served as an officer in Gallipoli and Palestinian front during WWI

– Mustafa Kemal was appointed by the Damat Ferit government to Anatolia as an inspector to pacify the Black Sea coasts

– May 19, 1919: Mustafa Kemal in Anatolia

Peace Negotiations• Wartime secret agreements: Istanbul and Straits promised to

Russians (1915)• Southwestern Anatolia promised to Italy (1915)• Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916): divided Arab populated regions

between France and Britain• Agreements between Entente Powers contradicted with

promises made to local populations• Conflicting promises to different nations• Finally, large parts of Syria under French control; Palestine and

Iraq under British control

Peace Negotiations• Final peace settlement with the Ottomans: Sèvres Peace

Treaty (August 1920)• Harsh terms• Thrace & Aegean coasts given to Greece• Southwest Anatolia to Italy• Straits became internationalized• French and British mandates in the Arab provinces• Nationalist resistance leaders in Anatolia rejected the treaty• Britain unlikely to occupy Anatolia – left the task to Greeks