The Great War 1914–1918

World History

Militarism •Militarism—definition:

Development & Glorification of a

STANDING ARMY

Issues:

• COST of DEFENDING

COLONIES leads to HUGE

military spending

• Feel need to use military

nations have built up

• By 1890, Germany has biggest

army in Europe

• then begins NAVAL ARMS

RACE w/ England

NEXT

Causes of World War I

General Hindenburg, Emperor Wilhelm II

(the Kaiser) and General Ludendorff

ALLIANCES

Bismarck’s Diplomacy: Alliances will keep Germany out of war

• Knows France wants revenge for 1866 defeat

• Isolates France w/ alliances, BUT . . .

• Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm fires Bismarck

–Kaiser wants militarism over diplomacy. He forms the:

• TRIPLE ALLIANCE: GERMANY, AUSTRIA-

HUNGARY, ITALY

Alliances

• Build-up of German navy alarms Britain

• TRIPLE ENTENTE: BRITAIN, FRANCE,

RUSSIA

• Two-front war now a threat to Germany (exactly what Bismarck wanted to avoid)

• Alliance- countries would defend one another

• Entente- countries would not fight one another

Alliances ala Venn

Alliance System • Triple Entente or Allies: France, Britain, Russia

• Triple Alliance or Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

(plus Ottoman Empire)

• Alliances GIVE SECURITY; Make nations more unwilling to tip balance

of power

http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/

IMPERIALISM: Strong nations seek to

dominate other countries politically, economically,

& socially

• NEED RAW MATERIALS & MARKETS TO SELL

THEIR FINISHED GOODS

• NATIONS COME INTO CONFLICT DEFENDING

“THEIR” COLONIES AROUND THE WORLD

NEXT

MNENOMIC TIP FOR CAUSES OF WWI

• M—militarism

• A—alliances

• I—imperialism

• N--nationalism

Roots of War

The Messy Balkans

• Many small nations with very different cultures, languages, and histories

• Concentration of Slavs—a common heritage with some cultural similarities

• “Slav” is a category like Hispanic, Arab, Germanic

• Remember—Russia is a Slavic nation too!

• The “powder keg” of Europe

• A history of conflict and ethnic divides made future conflict likely

All you need is one

little spark

and….BOOM!

Crisis in the Balkans

A Restless Region

• New nation of Serbia made up largely of Slavs

• Austria-Hungary annexes Slavic region Bosnia and Herzegovina (1908)

• Serbia outraged, sees itself as rightful ruler of Slavic lands

A Shot Rings Throughout Europe

• Serbian rebel kills Austro-Hungarian royal official in June 1914

• Austria declares war on Serbia; Russia comes to aid of Serbia

The Assassination • Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of A-H, and his wife Sophie were

traveling to Sarajevo, a Slavic city close to the Serbian border.

• FF was shot point-blank by a 19-year old Slav, Gavrilo Princip

A-H used this as

an excuse to

impose drastic

demands and

declare war on

Serbia!

Assasination Plunges Europe into War

Armies on the March

• Russian troops to borders with Austria/Germany

• Germany declares war on Russia, attacks France

– Knows Russia’s lack of industrialization means it will mobilize (be ready to fight) slowly

• Great Britain declares war on Germany

The Two Sides

Central Powers Allied Powers

• Germany

• Austria-Hungary

• Ottoman Empire

• Bulgaria

• Countries located in the “center” of Europe

• Russia

• France

• Great Britain

• Japan

• Italy (leaves the Tr. All. & joins Allies)

The Western Front

• The area of France from the North Sea to the Swiss border (500 miles!)

• Constant fighting but little movement (a stalemate)

• Trench warfare- each side dug miles of trenches

– Some protection from enemy fire

– Mud everywhere, rats & disease

• No man’s land- the area between opposing trenches

– This area is where most die during war

– New weapons only lead to more deaths

War in the Trenches

Trench warfare

• Battles = many deaths, small land gains

• Life in trenches is miserable, difficult, unsanitary

• New weapons only lead to more deaths

Russia Struggles

• Russia’s war effort suffering by 1916; many casualties, few supplies

• Huge size of Russian army keeps it formidable

The Eastern Front

• Area along the German and Russian border

• Russians and Serbs battled Germans and Austro-Hungarians

• Russia was NOT INDUSTRIALIZED, so supplies were severely limited (large population led it to “waste men”)

• Distracted Germany; forced a two front war

RASPUTIN

New Technology

• Poison gas—caused blindness, severe blisters, or death by choking

• Machine gun—fires many rounds automatically

• Submarine—cannot be seen without sonar, used torpedoes to attack ships

• Planes—used in war for the first time; only 850 at first; not the weapon they will later become

• Tank—huge, versatile armored vehicle (primitive compared to today’s tanks)

A Global Conflict

The Gallipoli Campaign

• Allies move to capture entrance to Black Sea to defeat Ottoman Empire

• Effort ends in costly Allied defeat

Battles in Africa and Asia

• Allies take German holdings in Asia, Africa

• Britain and France use their colonial subjects to help in war effort

War Affects the World

• Germany seeks to control Atlantic to stop supplies to Britain

• Germany uses unrestricted submarine warfare (subs sink any ship in enemy waters w/o warning)

• Sinking of Lusitania angers U.S.

• Effort to enlist Mexico anger U.S.

• 1917 U.S. declares war on Germany

America Joins the Ranks

War Affects the Home Front

Governments Wage Total War

• Total war — devote all resources to war

• Governments take control of economy

• Nations turn to rationing — limiting purchases of war-related goods

Women and the War

• At home, thousands of women fill jobs previously held by men; many = war nurses

Near the End of the War

Russia 1917: 2 Revolutions!

• 1st Rev: Women’s Bread March starts riots which remove Czar Romanov from power

• 2nd Rev: Brings COMMUNISM to Russia under Lenin--overthrows democratically elected Gov’t—(1918 Russian/German treaty = Russia leaves WWI

• U.S. enters war (1917), Allies win; armistice—end of fighting—signed 11/11/11 1918

A Flawed Peace

• Group of leaders known as the Big Four dominate

Peace Talks

• Wilson proposes Fourteen Points

– Free trade, end secret alliances, military buildups

– Promotes self-determination right of people to govern own nation

• Envisions international peace-keeping

The Versailles Treaty

• Britain, France oppose Wilson; want to punish Germany

• Treaty of Versailles

– Germany must accept blame for starting war (War Guilt Clause); must pay huge reparations (damages)

– creates League of Nations

• Versailles treaty changes the look of Europe

– Austria, Bulgaria, Ottoman all lose

– New countries created in southeastern Europe; Russia gives up land

P

Europe before WWI

Europe after WWI

How WWI changes face of

Europe geographically:

• Poland

• Czechoslovakia

• Hungary

• Finland

• Estonia

• Latvia

• Lithuania

• Yugoslavia

• Other countries

enlarged/reduced

Before After

Treaty of Versailles creates bad feelings on both sides

• German people feel betrayed & bitter when forced to take SOLE blame for war

• Germany hit with huge reparations ($ payments to Allies for war damage)

• Colonies express anger over not getting independence after helping Allies

• Japan, Italy criticize agreement; gain less land than they want

• America never signs Treaty of Versailles

– Senate opposes League of Nations

Costs of War

• 10 million soldiers died as a result of the war

• 21 million were wounded

• Countless civilians died from starvation, disease, or from the war

• “Next Generation” w/ their new ideas and promise of a new future are killed off

• Economic impact—HUGE financial cost ($338 billion!)

– Farmland, homes, villages, towns destroyed

•Austria, Hungary,

Czechoslovakia,

Yugoslavia, Turkey

•Middle East was

given to the GB and

FR

New countries created:

•Finland, Estonia, Latvia,

Lithuania, Poland