The War to End all Wars: WWI

Tarantino WWI

MAIN Causes of World War I

M

Militarism

A

Alliances

I

Imperialism

N

Nationalism

Militarism

Militarism

Following the Industrial Revolution, military technology and the ability to mass produce weaponry improved greatly

As countries competed economically, major European powers began to compete in military stockpiling as well

Military stockpiling created a great rivalry between the powerful Great Britain and the quickly emerging power, Germany

Alliances

Alliances

European powers made alliances, promising to militarily support other countries, as a way of protecting themselves and seeking an advantage

Alliances would greatly increase the size and destruction of World War I

Without alliances WWI would have just been another regional skirmish

Imperialism

Imperialism

The European powers had created great rivalries in their attempts to colonize as much of the world as possible

These economic and territorial tensions created bad blood between countries

Oversees colonies gave resources and soldiers to the war, making the war a worldwide affair

Nationalism

Nationalism

Intense loyalty and pride for one’s country helped fuel the excitement for a war

More importantly, many ethnic minorities still sought a national homeland

Many of these ethnic minorities were located on the Balkan Peninsula

Trouble in the Balkans

As the Ottoman Empire was weakening, it struggled to maintain control of the Balkan Peninsula

Many of the ethnic groups of the Balkan Peninsula were excited by this and took this opportunity to break free and establish their own countries

However, Austria-Hungary saw this as an opportunity to expand over more land, thereby preventing the sovereignty of many of the Slavic groups located on the Balkan peninsula

Back to Alliances

Being the largest of the Slavic countries, Russia saw it as its duty to ally with the newly independent Slavic nations.

Especially Serbia, a growing force who wanted to annex Bosnia & Herzegovina, territories held by Austria-Hungary

Russia also allied itself with France

Austria-Hungary allied itself with Germany, a country that shared many ethnic and cultural characteristics

The Spark: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On June 28, 1914 the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo, with his wife Sophie, to inspect the imperial armed forces of this territory annexed in 1908

Gavrilo Princip, a member of a Serbian Terrorist group known as the Black Hand, shot Franz Ferdinand and his wife

On July 28, 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia sparking a chain reaction that erupted into the deadliest, most gruesome war the world had ever seen

Alliances, again

Russia, immediately stepped in on the side of Serbia Russia’s ally, France, then declared war as well Germany declared in war in support of their ally, Austria-

Hungary This split Europe into 2 camps

Triple Entente France Russia Later (1914)… Great Britain Much Later (1917)… The United States

Central Powers Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire

Rush to War

Europe had not seen a large scale war since the fall of Napoleon

Consequently, warfare had been glorified in Europe

Soldiers on both sides rushed to enlist to go to War

They feared they would miss this glorious adventure

Soldiers ran off to war exclaiming to their loved ones “I’ll be home by Christmas”

Schlieffen Plan

In an effort to avoid fighting a two front war, Germany sought to quickly defeat France and then turn its forces on Russia before they could mobilize

To do this, Germany marched through a neutral Belgium, thus violating their neutrality

This angered Great Britain, who stepped in on the side of the Triple Entente

Germany was nearly successful in defeating France, but they stalled about 30 miles outside Paris, where nearly zero progress was made for the next 4 years

Stalemate: Trench Warfare

Technology had created a stalemate, where neither side could advance or gain an advantage

The machine gun prevented large scale advances over open fields

Generals found their military tactics outdated and became very frustrated

Both sides dug into trenches, where neither side won or lost much land in the next 4 years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=decZP5PfrVM

Trench Warfare

The soldiers lived in trenches dug into the ground

Any movement above the trench would invite heavy fire from opposing snipers

Both sides lived in these terrible trenches surrounded by death

In between each sides trench was a middle ground called no man’s land

Occasionally, frustrated generals would order their men to go “Over the Top” in an assault on the opposing trench which often resulted in mass death

Technology Kills

Airplane At first the planes were used mainly for observation, but later

individual combat occurred.

Automatic Machine Gun Few gunners could now mow down waves of soldiers. This

created a 4 year stalemate

Mustard Gas The effects were so devastating that after the war this weapon

was outlawed in warfare.

Submarine German U-Boats with torpedoes were used to destroy Allied

Shipping

Before & After Mustard Gas

Disillusionment with war

“You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

Sneak home and pray you’ll never know

the hell where youth and laughter go”

–British Poet Siegfried Sassoon

By 1917, the morale of both troops and civilians had plunged in all countries

Both sides saw death in numbers they could have never imagined before

Total War

As a result of modern, mechanized war, societies saw that war would require the total commitment of their whole society for producing supplies, money, morale, and manpower

This was known as “Total War”

Total War often depended on Propaganda:

The spreading of ideas to promote a cause or to damage an opposing cause. These ideas are usually promoted with emotional images and often promote emotion over reason

Often false stories were spread of atrocities that never happened

Propaganda

Russia Exits

Revolution broke out in Russia as stories of incompetent generals, widespread corruption, and massive death reached civilians who were dealing with food shortages.

Russia, was proven to be far behind in industrialization, which prevented them from being a major force in the war.

In a strategic maneuver, the Germans sent the formerly exiled communist revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, back to Russia

Czar Nicholas II abdicated

Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, officially exiting the war

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

With Russia out, Germany could focus all their energy on the Western front

Germans sank commercial sea liners of enemy nations that carried weapons under their innocent passengers

128 Americans were killed on the Lusitania

The Zimmerman telegram was sent in early 1917, from Germany to Mexico.

In this, Germany promised that in return for Mexican support in the war, Germany would help Mexico “reconquer the lost territory of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona”

U.S. Declares War

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson pledged to make the “World safe for Democracy” and congress agreed to enter the war

By 1918, 2 Million fresh, confident American soldiers had joined the war-weary Allied troops

Equally important, the U.S. lent financial aid to the allies (France & Great Britain)

The End

In March of 1918,the Germans launched a huge offensive pushing the Allies back 40 miles.

The Allies launched a counterattack pushing the Germans back into France & Belgium

German Generals advised Kaiser William II that war could not be won

The Kaiser fled to exile in the Netherlands

On November 11, 1918 the new German government sought an armistice to end fighting with the Allies

Casualties

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/FWWcasualties.htm

Add Armenian for next year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtETJ0Pt4g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNdRUvtr2zM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAm4IfdAS8Q