Build up to WWI

Causes of the Great War• Tensions were running high by 1914 for

many reasons

1. Industrialization

• With the new technologies available all over the world, the major powers were able to mass produce weapons and military vehicles.

• The build up of military equipment made countries very suspicious of each other

• The “Dreadnought race” was a full-out competition between Germany and Great Britain over who had the most navy vessels

2. Alliances

• As the countries in Europe began to get paranoid over the build up of weapons, they decided to make secret alliances with each other.

• Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance

• France, Russia, and Britain united in the Triple Entente (Entente Cordial)

• These alliances were military agreements to back each other up if “push came to shove”

3. Imperialism

• All the European superpowers were anxious to stay rich and powerful.

• Everyone of them was eyeing up the world and “shopping” for colonies.

• With the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire, they were each eager to grab hold of the area and exploit the resources and people.

• New colonies = new materials/resources= MONEY!

4.Nationalism

• It was a time when every powerful nation felt that it was a “god-given right to rule the world”

• People thought they were morally and intellectually superior to others

• Smaller ethnic groups under the control of the superpowers started to feel their own sense of nationalism, “the natives were growing restless”

5. Assassination

• “The shot heard ‘round the world”• June 28th 1914 Archduke of Austria-Hungary,

Franz Ferdinand (and his wife Sophie) was killed while visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia.

• The assassin, Gavrilo Princep, was from the Serbian terrorist group called the Black Hand

• With the death of the archduke, the alliances fell into place and war was declared

Franz and Sophie

Gavrilo Princep

How does the death of some random Archduke cause a world

war?• In order to understand everyone’s

involvement, we need to look at the Ottoman Empire

• By 1914 this empire was crumbling due to racial/ethnic tensions

Power Struggle

• Each superpower wanted to get their hands on the area for different reasons

• 1. Russia wanted access to the Mediterranean for trading purposes = money

• 2. Austria-Hungary wanted to expand and prevent Russia from gaining power

• 3. Britain wanted to support the Ottomans and keep Russia away

• 4. Germany just wanted stability in the area for its new railway.

Picking a Pony……

• In order to get what they wanted, the superpowers chose sides

• The Russians backed the Serbians and the Bulgarians (Slavs), seeing as they shared a common language and religion.

• The A-H empire stirred the pot and encouraged conflict between Slavic and non-Slavic peoples.

Austria makes its move…

• Austria-Hungary decided to add Bosnia-Hercegovina to its empire. Russia was fine with this as long as they received free naval movement.

• Austria added the area before formally agreeing with Russia.

• Moreover, the Serbians wanted to invade the area and “free” the Bosians from imperial rule.

Conflicts escalate….

• A series on battles between Baltic countries, and the threat of Serbian invasion, A-H called in its ally, Germany. Germany issued its “blank cheque” or its military guarantee.

• Russia, angry at A-H, backed the Serbs.• The death of Franz Ferdinand by a Serb

was the last straw. Austria declared war on Serbia and the alliances fell into place.

Recap as a Class…..

The Schlieffen Plan

• Now that the “world” was at war, Germany had to create a battle plan that would eliminate fighting two enemies at once.

Enemy here >>>>>>>>>>

Enemy here

<<<<<<<<<

Schlieffen Plan con’t

Alfred von Schlieffen

Germany’s military strategist, Alfred von Schliefffen, created

Germany’s plan of attack. He based his plan on the assumption that Russia would not mobilize its

troops for six weeks, and that Britain would not

actually come through and defend France and

Belgium. He was wrong.

The plan was to sweep through Belgium and take over Paris before the troops were ready, then turn and be ready to face the Russians.

Unfortunately for Schlieffen, British, French, and Belgian troops put up more of a fight than expected. Germany did NOT take Paris, and Russia

was already attacking on the east.

Battle of the Marne

• The Allies and the Germans collided at the Marne river in France and both sides set up a series of trenches that would comprise the Western Front.

• The war was officially in full swing and would become a war of attrition.

Review Questions

• What was the “shot heard round the world”?

• What countries comprised the Triple Entente? the Triple Alliance?

• Name the four underlying causes of the Great War.

• What was the Schlieffen plan? Why did it fail?