Chapter 12 World War I

Section 1 World War I Breaks Out

Causes of the War

Growth of nationalism in the central European region of the Balkans

The Ottoman Empire (later known as Turkey) gained control of the Balkans in the 1400s and ruled the area until the 1800s

Four main ethnic groups-Albanians, Greeks, Romanians, and Slavs

Nationalism and territorial rivalries Greece revolted in 1820s and

Romania followed in 1859 Following a war between Russia and

the Ottoman Empire in 1878, Bulgarians, Montenegrins, and Serbs each staked their claims to nationhood

Austria-Hungary occupied the small Balkan kingdoms of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Nationalism continued…

Serbia saw Bosnia as part of its territory

Austria-Hungary’s 1908 annexation of the territories produced open hostility

Serbia’s growing strength threatened Austria-Hungary’s control in the Balkans

This encouraged the Slavs to push for independence

Militarism and alliances

Leaders of major European countries believed that disputes would ultimately be settled on the battlefield

As a result, they engaged in an arms race

In this dangerous atmosphere, leaders formed alliances with other nations, each promising to aid the other in case of attack by a third power

Alliances continued… Germany ,Austria-Hungary, Italy France, Russia, Great Britain The alliances avoided war for a time

but created the risk that a single incident could trigger a major war

WWI map of Europe

The Great War Begins

In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, visited Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital

A Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated the archduke and his wife

Austria-Hungary quickly declared war on Serbia

Russia, with a large Slav population, honored its alliance with Serbia

Global War

The Allied Powers of Britain, France, and Russia were pitted against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria

Italy remained neutral until 1915 , when it joined the Allies

Eventually some 30 nations took sides in the Great War

Germany’s strategy

Called for massive strike against France to defeat it quickly, leaving British forces stranded on the English Channel

Germany then focused its attention on defeating the Russians

Schlieffen Plan

Called for German forces to avoid the heavily defended French-German border by invading France through Belgium

German troops poured into Belgium on the night of August 3-4, 1914

The small Belgian army put up unexpectedly strong resistance, giving the French and British time to rush troops into battle

The German invasion forced the Allies back to the Marne River in France

First Battle of the Marne That September, the Allies pushed

the German lines back some 40 miles

As 1914 drew to a close, leaders of both sides realized that there would be no quick victory

The War Reaches a Stalemate Leaders on both sides originally

thought this would be a quick victory Instead, each side battered and

bloodied the other in a brutal stalemate

Trench warfare

By 1915 both armies occupied trenches along a front for hundreds of miles from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland

The war remained in a stalemate throughout 1915

Each side prepared massive offensives for 1916

Trench warfare video

“bleed the French army white” Germans launched a huge offensive in Feb.

1916 The Germans targeted the fortified French city

of Verdun The battle began with 21-hour artillery barrage

in which more than 1 million shells were fired Then, 1 million German soldiers advanced on

some 200,000 French defenders For months, the battle raged back and forth The longest battle of the war, the two sides

suffered nearly 2 million casualties, half of them deaths

Allied Powers launch offensive In July 1916, the Allied Powers

launched an offensive near the Somme River in northern France

Battle of the Somme-British forces suffered some 60,000 causalities in a single day

This four-month battle left more than 1 million dead and wounded

Maps and Battles of WWI

WWI maps of trenches

New Weapons

Deadly new weapons added to the horror of trench warfare

Machine guns fired hundreds of rounds per minute

The Allies introduced tanks at the Battle of the Somme

Poison gas Submarines and airplanes