The Great War1914-1918

Europe 1914

Long-Term Causes

Nationalism Strong in Balkan Peninsula▪ Many smaller nations gaining

independence from Ottoman Empire (Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Romania)

▪ A-H threatening to annex them

▪ Russia happy to support Slavic nationalism (only to take them over later)

Economic Competition▪ GB and Germany relations

become tense due to economic rivalry

▪ Rivalries encourage strong sense of pride

BALKAN PENINSULA

Political Changes

Germany Unification in 1871 Threatened by France and Russia on borders

France Economy declines due to Franco-Prussian War After Nap III falls, political chaos

Russia Massive industrialization under Nicholas II

GB Losing industrial edge to Germany Laying low but fearful of German militarism

Imperialism

Leads to economic and egotistical competition

International economy and no ability to Police it

Rivalries develop b/w Great Powers over land and wealth

Tension over territories in Africa

Militarism

Glorification of armed strength War seen as solution to international

problems No major wars within 30 years +▪ military leaders restless and eager to prove

superiority with new weapons▪ “boys and their toys”

Germany building massive, modern army▪ Anti-war Social Dems vs. German Imperial

Gov’t(needed to prove their power)▪ Creates anxiety in other Great Powers

Alliances

Alliances

Year? Name the Treaty/Alliance

Countries?

Alliances

1879- Dual Alliance: Germany and A-H 1882-Triple Alliance: Germany, A-H , Italy 1887- Reinsurance Treaty: Germany &

Russia Lapses due to new Kaiser

1894-France and Russia become allies 1904-France and GB become allies 1907-Triple Entente: France, Russia & GB

1907: Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente

Alliances

Immediate Cause

1908: Austria annexes Bosnia Large Slavic population Outraged Slavic leaders

looking to self-rule; talk of war

June, 1914: Nationalism peaks in the Balkans Serbs gaining

confidence and looking to challenge Austrian presence in region

Immediate Cause

June 28, 1914 Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand

visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia Serbs use this opportunity to challenge

Austrians Archduke and wife shot at point-blank

range▪ Killer- Gavrilo Princip of the “Black Hand”

Murder causes A-H to go after Serbia with complete support from Germany▪ “blank check” support

Timeline of Immediate Cause

June 28-assassination of Archduke July 5-Germany issues “blank check” July 23- July 25-Serbia responds to ultimatum

How? July 28- August 1- August 3- August 4-

Bravo, Belgium!

Crime of the Ages…”Who Did It?”

Crime of the Ages…Who Did it?

Schlieffen Plan (1906)

the plan was to win the two-front war by first quickly beating France before Russia would be able to mobilize against Germany

depended on Germany's ability to invade France before France could fully mobilize its troops to defend itself, and then to turn on Russia, seen as the slowest of the three to mobilize, before the Russians were ready

The Powers that be…

Triple Alliance

•Central Powers

• Germany, Austria –Hungary, Ottomans

Triple Entente

•Allied Powers

• Russia, France, Great BritainWhat happened to Italy?

The Battle of the Marne-Sept. 1914

Located just east of Paris along the Marne River

GOAL: Allies to push the Germans back from Paris

Allied forces are successful

Schlieffen Plan ruined Slow moving battle Both sides “dig in”

Why?

Battle of the Marne 1914

New Tools of War

Machine Gun Maxim Gun 600 rounds per

minute Most devastating

effect on how the war was fought

Forced men into trenches

New Tools of War

Poison Gas Heavier than air; good

to use against trench warfare Tear Gas: eye irritant Mustard Gas: skin

irritant Chlorine: eyes, nose,

lung irritant that could cause asphyxiation

Used to force troops to break ranks

Only 4% related-deaths

Poison Gas

New Tools of War

Submarine (U-boats) Only used by

Germans US and GB had

technology but chose not to use it; “ungentlemanly”

Very effective in sinking GB and US ships

Very influential in bringing US into the war

New Tools of War

Tanks Used to move through

“no man’s land” in trench warfare

Improvement of armored trucks that got stuck in the mud

1916: Developed into “tanks”

Late 1917: more effective tanks finally developed

1916

1918

New Tools of War

Airplanes Made out of

canvas and wood Flew up to 100

mph Early use for

reconnaissance Dog-fights began

after mounting machine guns

Trench Warfare

After the Battle of the Marne (1914) it was evident soldiers were not equipped to protect themselves from rapid gunfire…so the dug in…

Trench warfare begins

Trenches

Elaborate system of trenches zigzagged along the Western Front (France)

Used by both Allies and Germans

Only front line soldiers fought in trenches 4 days on, 4 days

off depending on conditions

Trench System

Trenches

Trenches

It was said you could smell the trenches way before you could see

them.

Trenches

Trenches were used on the Western Front only

Not new to war use not commonly used in European wars

Created stalemate on the Western Front…dragging war on for years

Wet Trenches

Very wet and poor sanitary conditions in trenches

Many soldiers came down with trench foot and other diseases

More men died from disease than from combat

Trench Foot

Mild Case of Trench Foot

Severe Case of Trench Foot

Battle of the Somme-July 1916

GOAL: Allies to push Germans lines further back from Paris and Verdun Fought near Verdun, in Somme River

Valley in France One of the bloodiest battles of the war 1.5 millions lives lost British gained little more that 5 miles at

the deepst point of penetration of German lines

Realization that this was a “war of attrition”

Battle of the Somme

Total War

All countries resources go to the war effort▪ Civilians: men drafted to fight; women take

on male-roles back home▪ Government: control of the economy

increases▪ Rationing items: limiting its use by civilians▪ Controlling industrial production to increase war

materials

▪ Propaganda: one-sided promotional information▪ Government controls the news—national security▪ Promotes all positive information to keep up morale

& support

Eastern Front

Russia vs. Austria-Hungary, Germany, Ottomans, Bulgaria

Trench warfare not used…Russia lacked technology ; best weapon…MEN!

Problem for Allies: Russia cut off from Allied support Many failed efforts to help send relief to

Russia Italy finally joins Allies 1915

Battle of Tannenberg-August 1914

August, 1914 Russians easily

defeated by Germans

Russians lost many supplies and land

Allies feared that Russia may not hold their own

Gallipoli Campaign - 1915 GOAL: Allies use

new member –Italy– to gain supply access to Russia Use Italy as stepping

stone into Ottoman territory

Campaign a failure Russia remains

isolated

Gallipoli Campaign

Lawrence of Arabia

Major contribution was convincing Arab leaders to co-ordinate their revolt to aid British interests against the Ottomans, a Central Power; successful

He sought to convince his superiors in the British Gov’t that Arab independence was in their interests

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare Germans used this

strategy of torpedoing ships without warning

Effective in sinking many British naval and cargo ships

GOAL: weaken GB and cut-off their supply lines

Sinking of the Lusitania –May 7, 1915

Largest, fastest ocean liner torpedoed and sunk in 18 minutes off the coast of Ireland.

killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard 138 Americans

Generated much hatred towards Germans

Theory: GB left it as a sitting duck hoping to have US loss of life and bring US into the war against Germany

US does not declare war but give stern warning to Germans

forcing Germans to end UNRESTRICTED Submarine

warfare

RMS Lusitania

Lusitania

Russia Out of the War

1917: Russia fighting on Eastern Front for 3 years on the DEFENSIVE 2 million dead; 6

million deserters People wanted

peace; Czar Nicholas II refuses to pull out of war

Russia Out of the War- Nov 1917 Germans secretly help

set up Communist Revolution in Russia as a diversion Sent in Russian exile

Vladimir Lenin Forces Czar Nicholas II to

abdicate Once in Communists in

place; Russia surrenders to Germany- ends war in East▪ Treaty of Brest-Litovsk-

Russia surrenders land to Germany & Germans leave Russia alone

Zimmerman Telegram

January, 1917 Germans begin unrestricted sub warfare

again; needed weaken GB; knew it might bring in US

Precaution: Instigate a war with Mexico against the US to prevent US involvement in WWI

German Foreign Secretary, Zimmerman, sends telegram to Ambassador in Mexico pledging support for a war against US Intercepted and US declares war on April

2, 1917

Zimmerman Telegram

Some Promise! April 1917

US Enters the War

April 2, 1917- US declares war on Germany

Allies have advantage US have fresh troops arriving to Western

Front 250,000/month by late spring

Germany left with young, weak army; young boys very scared and inexperienced

Battle of the Marne-Fall 1918 Allies Goal: push Germans out of

France completely Allies much stronger Germany refuses to surrender but

can’t hold their own; largest artillery barrage of entire war…but not enough

Bulgarians, Turks sue for peace A-H has its own revolution…pulls out of

war Germany left alone to fight Allies

End of War to End All Wars Germany Navy mutinies; Germany

very close to revolution November 9, 1918- Kaiser Wilhelm II

abdicates the throne November 11, 1918- Germany signs

an armistice with Allies Armistice: agreement to stop fighting Signed on a RR car outside of Paris Known as Armistice Day but currently

know as…?

November 11, 1918- Armistice Day

Paris, Nov 11, 1918

Treaty of Versailles- 1919 January 1918- President Woodrow Wilson

drew up his FOURTEEN POINTS to global peace: End to secret treaties Freedom of the seas Reduction of armaments Redrawing European boundaries with

respect to ethnicities #14: International Political Organization

to prevent war (League of Nations)

Treaty of Versailles

Big Three (four) US, GB, France

(Italy) Met with 70

delegates from 27 countries

Met at Versailles in Hall of Mirrors

Signed June 28, 1919 Exactly 5 years

after assassination of Archduke

Treaty of Versailles

Germany gets slammed Lost all colonies Rhineland occupied by

French for 15 years Austria remain

independent Sudetenland to

Czechoslovakia No navy No artillery, subs, planes Standing army of

100,000

Treaty of Versailles

THE GUILT CLAUSE: Germany forced to take full blame Must pay reparations of $31 billion over

33 years

This was most devastating for German people…taking full blame for the actions of their “war monger” Kaiser

Lesson from Congress of Vienna???

League of Nations

Goal: to prevent global war and promote peace and diplomacy

Permanent members: France, GB Italy 42 other allied nations members

US never joins; Wilson’s idea, Congress wants to remain isolated and in control

Weak…why?

New Nations Created

West Ottoman Empire becomes Turkey rest becomes Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Transjordan

Austria Hungary Poland Czechoslovakia Yugoslavia (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes) Estonia Latvia Lithuania Finland

New Nations Created

Central Powers Military Deaths Germany-

2,050,897 A-H-1,100,000 Bulgaria-87,500 Ottomans-771,844

Total- 4,010,241

Allied Powers Military Deaths British Empire-

1,114,914 France- 1,397,800 Russia- 1,811,000 Italy- 651,000 Serbia- 275,000 Romania- 250,00 United States-

116,708 Others-99,000

Total: 5,711,696