AP European HistoryFebruary 27-March 2 2017

Don't forget to complete your AP applications for next year and, for those of your coming to AP US History, you can simply submit a past Euro paper (essay)

The book All Quiet on the Western Front will be due Friday March 31st but remember that you will not have many free nights during the next few weeks to complete it. I'd work on it over spring break.

The possible date for the next unit test Thursday before Spring Break (MC-SA) and In-class essay the Friday. To minimize the materials for the test the discussion of the Versailles Treaty will be held over to the next Unit on the 1920s and 1930s (after spring break)

MONDAY and TUESDAY Examine Imperialism in Africa late 19th-early 20th century (INT-8,9,11)(SP-6,13,14,17,18)(IS-8) Examine the key factors leading to WWI INT-8,9,11)(SP-6,13,14,17,18)(IS-8)

Materials Strategy/FormatPPT and DVD Lecture-discussion L.CCR.2-3

Student Skill TypesChronologic Reasoning (1,3)Periodization (2)Comp/Context (5)Historical Arguments (7)

Interpretation/Synthesis (8, 9)

Introduction

Today, we will begin our “march” toward WWI (see what I did there ;). You are already aware that the origins of this conflict were imperialism and that Bismarck and Jules Ferry both had warned that tensions in Africa could lead to a general war. For the next two days we will look at events in Africa and how this helped to start WWI. Then, we will look at the factors leading to war itself.

From 1900 – 1914 life in Europe seemed generally positive. In fact, the mood among the general population was fairly optimistic. Little did they know that this was" le fin de belle epoche." The middle class enjoyed its new prosperity enjoying culture and opportunities once only reserved for the aristocracy. Education and literacy had grown among all classes. For the working classes there was also a higher standard of living and many of the rights that once made socialism and communism strong were now won. The focus of radicalism generally shifted more to the east where industry and civil rights were lagging behind as unusual.

The last major war fought on the continent was the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71. The last major war involving alliances were the Crimean War in 1852 – 1856 but that was generally fought in the Balkans and modern day Russia, not all over Europe. In fact, one has to travel back to the Napoleonic Wars to find a conflict involving major powers pitted against each other. In reality this was ultimately everyone against Napoleon. In reality, the Seven Years War is a closer approximation because it was a global conflict fought between major alliances in what ultimately became a winner take all conflict.

Though as we saw before the break, trouble was brewing and imperialism lay at the heart of this conflict. Nationalism and militarism also played major roles as major powers competed for colonies, national pride and military power to protect them both.

Today and tomorrow our objective is mostly to discuss the background issues that started the war. Some of the background tensions we have already mentioned but, since the spring break intervened, a review is probably warranted. Also, it seems important to discuss them again in the vein of the war itself. Clearly an assassination of a state leader causes turbulence but it alone did not start the First World War. There were serious tensions mounting and these set the stage for events to come.

Berlin Conference and the Eastern Question

1. You will recall that Bismarck hosted the Berlin Conference to organize rules for the colonization of Africa. This partitioned Africa into zones of control. He hoped that this would pacify the great powers and provide stability in an increasingly hostile situation. Generally, this worked but in a few famous cases (Boer War and Fashoda incident) tensions grew.

2. In a similar vein to the situation in Africa was what came to be called the “Eastern Question.” This related to the constant weakening of the Ottoman Empire. There were two important dynamics at work here. Austria-Hungary and Russia both had designs on the Balkans region. It was long known that as the Ottoman influence waned control over the region would weaken. Both Austro-Hungarians and Russians looked to grab up the newly freed territories. A second dynamic was how Britain viewed the situation because any shifting might impact their position in India. As we will see later, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire had direct implications on the Middle East (some of which reverberate to this day)

3. For the Austro-Hungarians taking over control of the region meant ports on the Adriatic and other economic gains (the area around modern day Serbia is very coal and iron rich). But there was another perhaps more powerful factor for the Russians. Though they had long hoped to dominate the region as an outlet to the Adriatic (“windows to the west”) but now a more racially motivated idea intensified the issue. Pan-slavism was an idea that all Slavic people should band together for common cause. Russia saw itself as the major leader in this idea and believed that this had major implications for the region. As recently as the 1870s Germany, A-H, and Russia had all been in the Three Emperors League together. By the 1880s Russia had dropped out of the League but still signed a Treaty of Reassurance with Germany that in any future conflict with another major power, the signatories would remain neutral. However, by the turn of the century, tensions were escalating (see below for details of the new diplomatic shifts).

The Alliance system develops

1. At this point it would seem that the British had just as much to fear from France as they did from Germany. In fact as we have seen Russia was always a constant concern. We saw the Fashoda incident in 1902 almost resulted in a war between France and Britain. The British had already quite unwillingly were forced to declare war on Russia in the 1850s over the “line of communication” to India. But now Germany was on Britain’s radar for several reasons.

a. The Kruger Telegram had stoked anti-German feelings because not only was the Boer War an unpopular conflict, it seemed obvious that Germany was meddling in affairs outside of their own spheres of influence in Africa.

b. The rise of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1888 introduced a new era of colonial plans for Germany and a far more aggressive foreign policy. We already mentioned that Bismarck had generally been against the idea but organized the Berlin Conference because he feared what might happen if there was no planning.

c. But what really concerned Britain was the escalation in construction of a German Navy (Kriegsmarine) that might one day compete with the British Royal Navy. Once again Bismarck was against the idea believing that it was unnecessary to generate unwanted hostilities. In 1894 Bismarck was dismissed and would die four years later.

2. In the 1890s Alliances were already starting to form. IN some cases, these agreements were based on secrecy and assumptions

a. By 1894 a political and military pact between France and Russia that was one of the basic European alignments of the pre–World War I era. In the event of war, France wanted support against Germany, and Russia against Austria-Hungary. The alliance was formalized through an exchange of letters in order to preserve secrecy, and it was to be in force as long as the opposing Triple Alliance. The alliance was renewed and strengthened in 1899 and 1912

b. French fears and anger over 1870-71had led in part to the formalization of this agreement. They understood that at all cost Germany would likely not want to face a two-front war. Clearly their logical conclusion was a failure.

c. For the Russians their anger was partly over the over the “Eastern Question” and lands that they coveted from the dying Ottoman Empire. Even though fifty years before France had been against them on this question the Franco-Prussian War and an independent Italy had reshuffled the deck.

d. In a related move Italy would be used to threaten France with a two-front conflict. Like some of the other European powers, it wanted to set up colonies and build up an overseas empire. With this aim in mind, Italy joined the Austro-German alliance to form the Triple Alliance, partly in anger at the French seizure of Tunisia in 1881, which many Italians had seen as a potential colony, partly to guarantee herself support in case of foreign aggression: the main alliance compelled any signatory country to support the other parties if two other countries attacked. At the time, most European countries tried to ensure similar guarantees, and because of the Tunisian crisis Italy found no other big potential ally than her historical enemy, Austria–Hungary. That power stood in the way of Italia Irredentia particularly related to the important Adriatic port city of Trieste.

3. The First Morocco Crisis 1905 a. The defeat and Revolution of 1905 in Russia emboldened Kaiser Wilhelm II to attempt to

weakened French imperial ideas in Africa. Germany's first attempt to capitalize on this situation was the first Moroccan crisis of 1905. In January 1905 the French sought to impose reforms on Morocco, thus seeking to turn Morocco into a French protectorate (more direct form of control). Since this could damage German commerce in the region the Germans had a legitimate concern -

but this did not justify the Kaiser going there in person, and landing at Tangier in March 1905. In April the Germans called for an international conference on Morocco, and a guarantee of German commercial freedom in Morocco.

b. This was aimed at France but it unintentionally hit Britain too. The Morocco Crisis disrupted the Anglo-French Entente, formed in April 1904. The Entente Cordiale, as it was known, was originally intended not as an alliance against Germany but as a settlement of long-standing imperialist rivalries between Britain and France in North Africa. By its terms, Britain could pursue its interests in Egypt, while France was free to expand westward from Algeria into Morocco, the last territory that remained independent in the region. France subsequently signed an agreement with Spain dividing Morocco into spheres of influence, with France receiving the greater part.

c. This cemented what had been a general agreement of aims. The British decided in 1907 to formalize a treaty of cooperation with Russia (though not a military alliance). This was very important because this is what created the Triple Entente (called the Allies in US History)

The Second Morocco Crisis (also known as the Agadir Crisis)

1. In n the wake of the Kaiser’s appearance, an international conference convened in Algeciras, Spain, in January 1906 to conclude an agreement about Morocco. The resulting convention awarded France a controlling interest in Moroccan affairs, but guaranteed equality of trade and economic freedom for every nation and limited any colonial action by any nation without consultation with the other signatories. A Second Moroccan Crisis flared in April 1911, when the French pushed troops into the country, claiming to be defending the sultan against riots that had erupted in Fez but actually violating the terms of the Algeciras convention. In response, Germany sent its own warship, the Panther, which arrived in the port of Agadir on May 21, intensifying the enmity between the two nations and, by extension, their allies

2. Coming only about three years before the eruption of war, this event was seen as an important precursor toward tensions. Even the U.S. started to see Germany as a potential aggressor. (tensions between the US and Germany had already briefly flared over control of the Samoan Islands in 1899).

The Spark that Ignites the War

World War One erupted because of tensions in the Balkans. Order in the region depended on the cooperation of two competing powers, Russia and Austria-Hungary. The slumping Austria-Hungary--in which small minorities (Germans in Austria, Magyars in Hungary) attempted to control large populations of restless Slavs--worried for its future as a great power, and in 1908 it annexed the twin Balkan provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This grab for territory and control angered the newly independent Balkan nation of Serbia--who considered Bosnia a Serb homeland. Upstart Serbia then doubled its territory in back-to-back Balkan wars against the Ottomans (1912 and 1913), further threatening Austro-Hungarian supremacy in the region. Previously Russia had agreed to pr0tect Serbian independence.

Russia had entered into an alliance with France--angry over German annexation of their lands in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71--and Great Britain, whose legendary naval dominance was threatened by Germany's growing navy. This Triple Entente, squared off against the German-Austro-Hungarian alliance, meant that any regional conflict had the potential to turn into a general European war.

Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a great friend of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and heir to the Austrian throne from his aging father Franz Joseph, met with him in mid-June 1914 to discuss the tense situation in the Balkans. Two weeks later, on June 28, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were in Sarajevo to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. When 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip and his fellow members of the nationalist Young Bosnia movement learned of the archduke's planned visit, they took action: Supplied with weapons by a Serbian terrorist organization called the Black Hand, Princip and his cohorts traveled to Sarajevo in time for the archduke's visit.

The royal couple was touring the city in an open car, with surprisingly little security; one of the nationalists threw a bomb at their car, but it rolled off the back of the vehicle, wounding an army officer and some bystanders. Later that day, the imperial car took a wrong turn near where Princip happened to be standing. Seeing his chance, Princip fired into the car, shooting Franz Ferdinand and Sophie at point-blank range. He then turned the gun on himself, but was tackled by a mob of bystanders who restrained him until

the police arrived. The archduke and his wife were rushed away to seek medical attention, but both died within the hour.

Conclusion In order to maintain its credibility as a force in the Balkan region (let alone its status as a great power),

Austria-Hungary needed to enforce its authority in the face of such an insolent crime. However, with the threat of Russian intervention looming and its army unprepared for a large-scale war, it required Germany's help to back up its words with force. Emperor Franz Josef wrote a personal letter to Kaiser Wilhelm requesting his support, and on July 6 German Chancellor Theobald Bethmann Hollweg informed Austrian representatives that Vienna had Germany's full support (sometimes known as the “blank check”)

On July 23, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador to Serbia delivered an ultimatum: The Serbian government must take steps to wipe out terrorist organizations within its borders (sounds familiar huh), suppress anti-Austrian propaganda and accept an independent investigation by the Austro-Hungarian government into Franz Ferdinand's assassination, or face military action. The Serbians acquiesced to nearly all of these demands. But that was not enough. After Serbia appealed to Russia for help, the czar's government began moving towards mobilization of its army, believing that Germany was using the crisis as an excuse to launch a preventive war in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28. On August 1, after hearing news of Russia's general mobilization, Germany declared war on Russia. The German army then launched its attack on Russia's ally, France, through Belgium, violating Belgian neutrality and bringing Great Britain into the war as well.

Synthesis Point: Meanwhile in the U.S. Isolation was a long American tradition. Since the days of George Washington, Americans struggled to

remain protected by the mighty oceans on its border. When European conflicts erupted, as they frequently did, many in the United States claimed exceptionalism. America was different. Why get involved in Europe's self-destruction?

In the early days of the war, as Britain and France struggled against Germany, American leaders decided it was in the national interest to continue trade with all sides as before. A neutral nation cannot impose an embargo on one side and continue trade with the other and retain its neutral status. In addition, United States merchants and manufacturers feared that a boycott would cripple the American economy. Great Britain, with its powerful navy, had different ideas. A major part of the British strategy was to impose a blockade on Germany. American trade with the Central Powers simply could not be permitted. The results of the blockade were astonishing. Trade with England and France more than tripled between 1914 and 1916, while trade with Germany was cut by over ninety percent. It was this situation that prompted submarine warfare by the Germans against Americans at sea. In 1916 Woodrow Wilson campaigned that if he were re-elected then he could keep the U.S. out of the war…. however, he knew it would be hard to do.

Homework due Wednesday in classComplete the following primary sources in your textbookPrimary source 24.1 pp: 794 – 795 Q1-3Living in the Past: The Immigrant Experience pp: 800-801 Q1-2Primary Source 24.2 Nativism in the US page 802 Q1-2Primary Source 24.3 White Man’s Burden page 24.3 Q1-2Bring your text book tomorrow

WEDNESDAY (TEXTBOOK REQUIRED) Analyze Primary/Secondary sources on Imperialism and World War I(INT-8,9,11)(SP-6,13,14,17,18)(IS-8)

Materials Strategy/FormatText and source packet Docs analysis W.CCR.1-2

Student Skill Types

Comp/Context (5)Historical Arguments (7) Interpretation/Synthesis (8, 9)

Instructions Today in class we will be analyzing a variety of primary and secondary sources related to imperialism and

the coming of World War One. Most of these will be in the textbook. This assignment will be due today.

Homework Major quiz tomorrow on African Imperialism and the start of World War I. See web-class notes and pp:

824- 830 (stop at Stalemate and Slaughter) This will also include from the pdf The British and Egypt: The Classic Pattern I will toss a few MC questions into the mix

THURSDAY Pass the Quiz on African Imperialism and the coming of WWI(INT-8,9,11)(SP-6,13,14,17,18)(IS-8)

Materials Strategy/FormatQuiz forms Assessment – Review

Instructions Today you conquer my quiz on African Imperialism and the start of WWI. I omitted Asian imperialism

from this assessment. This is not to imply a lack of importance but simply a way to torture you a bit less. Be aware that this quiz will look a bit like a test with some MC questions.

HomeworkNone or Read All Quiet on the Western Front

FRIDAY Examine the escalation of the conflict 1914 - 1916 (INT-9, 11)(SP-6, 13, 14, 17, 18)(IS-8)

Materials Format/StrategyPPT Lecture-discussion L.CCR.2-3

Student Skill TypesChronological Reasoning (1,2,3)Comparison and Context (4)Historical Arguments (6)Historical Interpretation (8)

Introduction

1. We have seen that the scope and scale of this conflict became immense over time because of the alliance system. The number of troops involved made the death toll potentially high.

2. However, to sum up the major reason for a death toll in the 20,000,000 range we really have to analyze several other factors

a. The expansion of technology (The Vertical Battlefield)b. The stalling of tactics (poor training, leadership, and strategies)

3. We will start our discussion of this subject with a look at the basic war plans for each side and then look at the new technology available.

ProcedureThe Western Front and the Von Schlieffan Plan1. “Let the last man on the right brush the English channel with his sleeve.”

Von Scheiffen

2. While Bismarck was still chancellor of Germany he had commissioned the army to formulate a plan to fight a potential two-front war involving both Russia and France simultaneously. His plan was quite simple. Fight a delaying action against the Russians in the east while launching a huge offensive against France through the Low Countries. Do you see any flaws in this plan? By the turn of the century, the plan had been formalized to include the realities of the new alliances with Austria-Hungary and Italy

3. The Austrians and Italians should force the French to protect part of the frontier thus opening up a front on the Low Countries. The Germans understood that this action would possibly bring Britain into the war (treaties with the Benelux nations) but figured that the war would end as soon as they threatened Paris

4. Von Schlieffan’s plan called for speed and surprise coupled with the traditional slowness of the Russians. As it turned out the commander of the German Army von Moltke made a serious error as he strengthened the left wing of the invasion force by taking troops from the right. This would allow the bulk of French and then British forces to plug the gap in the line. German forces got to within about 40 miles of Paris! However one of the coolest events in military history saved France. The “Taxi Cab Army” saved Paris at the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. The failure of this advance created trench warfare and the static nature of war on the western front.

The Eastern Front and Southern Front

1. Russia mobilized much faster than expected. This forced the Germans to move more troops to the east. Despite initial successes against the A-H forces the Russian offensive stalled for predictable reasons: poor leadership and lack of supplies.

2. The Battles of Tannenburg and Mausurian Lakes crushed the Russians and effectively limited their ability to fight in 1915. The Ottomans seeing an opportunity gained from a weakened Russia joined the Central Powers. This fateful decision would result in the end of one of the old empires in history and bring lasting tensions to the Middle East.

3. The Italians though they had treaties with both A-H and Germany never really entered the war and both sides tried to sway the Italians. In 1915, Italy had signed the secret Treaty of London. In this treaty Britain had offered Italy large sections of territory in the Adriatic Sea region (Tyrol, Dalmatia and Istria). Such an offer was too tempting for Italy to refuse. Britain and France wanted Italy to join in on their side so that a new front could open up t the south of the Western Front. The plan was to split still further the Central Powers so that its power on the Western and Eastern Fronts was weakened. The plan was logical. The part Italy had to play in it required military success. This success was never forthcoming. But in October 1917 came the disaster of Caporetto. In this battle, in fact a series of battles, the Italians had to fight the whole Austrian Army and 7 divisions of German troops. The Italian Army lost 300,000 men. By the end of the war in 1918, 600,000 Italians were dead, 950,000 were wounded and 250,000 were crippled for life. The war cost more than the government had spent in the previous 50 years – and Italy had only been in the war three years.

The Middle East

1. In a move similar to the Italians switching sides, the Allies had hoped to attack and quickly defeat the Ottomans forcing Germany and A-H to further divide their army. The Battle of Gallipoli was planned to bring about a swift victory. Allied leaders, including Winston Churchill and Lord Kitchener, scoured their maps to find a way around the impasse. The Dardanelles Strait leading from the Mediterranean to Istanbul caught their eye. A successful attack in this area could open a sea lane to the Russians through the Black Sea, provide a base for attacking the Central Powers through what Churchill described as the "soft underbelly of Europe", and divert enemy attention from the Western Front. (He will say the same thing in WWII about North Africa).

2. The Campaign was a fiasco, poorly planned and badly executed; it called for an amphibious landing but with the Turks occupying the high ground. It began in February 1915 with an unsuccessful naval attempt to force a passage up the Dardanelles. The flotilla retreated after sustaining heavy damage from Turkish guns lining both shores and from mines strewn across the channel. Casualties were high - approximately 252,000 or 52% for the British/French while the Ottoman Turks suffered about 300,000 casualties or a rate of 60%. The failed campaign gained little and badly tarnished both Churchill's and Kitchener's reputations.

3. The British then tried to use an unusual approach for an imperialist power, fomenting a revolution among subjected peoples. The Arab peoples had long chaffed under Ottoman rule (largely ineffective and very corrupt). The British supported a plan formulated by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) who helped to organize a rebellion that split Turkish control and eventually captured Damascus. The promise to the Arabs was self-determination but this as we shall see was largely denied at the war’s end.

The Technology of War

One of the reasons why WWI was so much more devastating was the nature of technology versus the slowness of tactics. To some degree the major powers were fighting tactics pioneered by Napoleon in an era of automatic weapons.

1. The Machine Gun (Mauser and Maxim Guns) was the most devastating weapon of the war. Never before could a single machine gun crew (2-3 men) wipeout whole regiments. This is one of the reasons why trench warfare developed.

2. Heavy Artillery was nothing new in war but the size of the guns dwarfed all others. The Paris Gun dubbed Big Bertha by the Brits could hurl a ton and half shell almost 80 miles in certain conditions. They were not very effective but they were more a psychological weapon.

3. Most of the weapons invented involved breaching the enemy’s trench. The Germans developed chlorine gas and mustard gas and first unleashed it at the Battle of Ypres. The weapon was more effective than anyone realized. The Germans, had they been more prepared could have drove right through the breaks in the lines. But they didn’t attack with enough men. The British invented tanks called Matilda but it was too slow to be effective. However, just like the poison gas attack it was successful but the attacks failed. The next war would see great improvements.

4. For the first time aircraft were used as weapons of war. Fighter planes first developed as scout planes and the first actual air to air dog fight was really more of a “flyby shooting” as one pilot took out a rifle and shot the other pilot. For the purpose of bombing, blimps (dirigibles or zeppelins) and bombers. Like the tank, aerial bombing would have to wait for the next war.

5. The War at Sea was marked by only one real naval battle using a powerful class of ships called dreadnoughts, the Battle of Jutland. In this fight, the Germans actually sank more British vessels. However, what Germany lost could not be replaced. Instead, the Germans pioneered tactics with U-boats (submarines) than would nearly break the British ability to get supplies from the U.S. (more on this next week)

Conclusion

So as we see the inability of the forces to cope with changes played a large role in developing trench warfare. Next week will see the impact of the pivotal year 1917 in the conflict.

Weekend HomeworkRead the section The Homefront for Bell work Monday pp: 837 – 842 (you can omit the Primary source)