1914-1918

Pre–War Planning

Von Schlieffen Czar Nicholas II

General Joffre

Pre–War Planning

1. The Von Schlieffen Plan

a. Count Alfred Von Schlieffen designed a Two-

Front German War plan in 1907

b. Germany feared a two front war with France

and Russia

c. He said Germany must defeat the French

before Russian mobilization was complete

i. France must fall in 14 days

2. Problems with the plan

a. assumes a two-front war will occur

b. violates Belgium and Luxembourg

c. assumes the defeat of France will be

easy

Pre–War Planning

1. Plan Seventeen

a. Joffre was an old French war hero

b. France feared Germany since German

unification in the 1800’s

i. Germany won land along the Fr-German border

c. Joffre’s plan was to counter-act anything that

the Germans do

Pre–War Planning

3. Russian mobilization

a. The Russian army is run by the Czar

b. Generals were often incompetent

c. The Russian army had a reputation of

being disorganized and poorly

equipped

d. The Russian Plan was to mobilize all

soldiers as quick as possible

The Shot Heard Around the World

June 28, 1914

"What is the good of your speeches? I come

to Sarajevo on a visit, and I get bombs

thrown at me. It is outrageous!"

Archduke Franz Ferdinand interrupting the Mayor's

welcome speech at Sarajevo's city hall, 28 June 1914.

1. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz

Ferdinand and his wife, heir to the

Austria-Hungary Empire were

assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia

a. The assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a member

of the Black Hand

b. Some Bosnians wanted their independence

from the Austro-Hungarian Empire

2. The assassination led to a chain of

events that eventually led to The Great

War

Impact of the Assassination

1. Austria-Hungary gets a blank check from Germany

a. Unconditional support

2. Austria- Hungary sends an ultimatum to Serbia

a. Let A-H investigate the assassination

b. Let the assassin be prosecuted in A-H

c. Stop anti-Austrian feeling in Bosnia

d. Bosnia has 48 hours to respond

Arrest of Gavrilo Princip

3. Serbia consults Russia, Russia consults

France

4. Russia gives its support to Serbia

5. Serbia rejects the A-H ultimatum

The World goes to War

Green – Allies

Gold – Central Powers

Grey – neutral countries

Phases of the War

1. The Stalemate (1914-1916)

a. Battle of the Frontiers

b. Battle of Ypres

c. Verdun

d. Marne

e. Somme

f. Gallipoli

g. Tannenberg

h. Unrestricted German Submarine Warfare

2. The Crucial Year (1917)

a. Passchendaele ( Third Battle of Ypres)

b. Russia Withdraws from the War

c. USA enters the War

d. Vimy Ridge

3. The Year of Victory (1918)

a. Kaiserschlacht

b. Black Day for the German Army

c. The Armistice