Pre World War I

Unresolved Tensions

I. Competition for Africa

• North Africa

• Fashoda Affair

• Boer War

• Moroccan Crisis• 1905 Algeciras

• 1911 French Protectorate

II. Nationalism in Eastern Europe

• Russification

• Pan Slavism

• Balkan Crisis-Serbia and collapse of the Ottoman Empire

Balkans

1. Crimean War 1853-56

2. Russo-Turkish War 1877-78

3. Bosnian Crisis 1908

4. Balkan crisis 1912-1913

5. Turkish nationalism-Young Turks

The Causes of WWI

•Militarism

•Alliances

•Imperialism

•Nationalism

•Significant individuals

Militarism

• Germany was competing with the UK to build battleships.

• The British feared an attack on their Empire

Militarism

• Germany was competing with Russia and France to expand their armies

1880

1914

• Germany 1.3m 5.0m

• France0.73m 4.0m

• Russia 0.40m 1.2m

Alliances

• By 1914 all the major powers were linked by a system of alliances.

• The alliances made it more likely that a war would start.

• Once started, the alliances made it more likely to spread.

Alliances

• Triple Entente• Triple Alliance

Imperialism

• All the great powers were competing for colonies / territory.

• The British feared Germany in Africa.

• The Austrians feared Serbia / Russia in the Balkans

Nationalism

• This was an age when all nations wanted to assert their power and independence.

• In Europe Slavs, aided by Serbia and Russia, wanted to be free of Austrian rule.

Serbia’s national flag

Significant Individuals

• Kaiser Wilhelm II

• Built up German army and navy

• Aggressive foreign policy

• Determined to make Germany a top nation.

• Distrusted by other powers

“Germany must have its place in the sun”“The world belongs to the strong.”

Significant Individuals

• Count Berchtold

• Austrian Prime Minister.

• During the July Crisis, decided on a very tough ultimatum for Serbia

“Were the Serbs to agree to all the demands, this would not be to my liking”

Significant Individuals

• Bethmann Hollweg• German Prime Minister• Gave very strong support

to Austria during the July crisis while Kaiser was cruising on his yacht

• Germany issues a “blank check”

“The Austrian demands are moderate. Any interference by Britain, France and Russia would be followed by incalculable consequences”

The Crisis

• 28 June 1914• Heir to Austrian

throne Franz Ferdinand visits Sarajevo.

• Capital of Bosnia, recently grabbed by Austria.

• Hotbed of Slav nationalism

Seal of the Black Hand group

The Crisis

• “Black Hand” terrorists attack the Arch Duke

• Bomb attempt fails in morning

• Gavrilo Princip shoots Archduke and wife in the afternoon.

• Austrians blame Serbia for supporting terrorists.

The Crisis

• Austrians, supported by Germany, send Serbia a tough ultimatum.

• Serbia agrees to all but two terms of the ultimatum.

• Russia mobilises her troops to support Serbia

• Germany demands that Russia stands her armies down.

• Germany declares war on Russia

“Demands must be put to Serbia that would be wholly impossible for them to accept …”

Why did Britain get involved?

• Britain had Ententes with France and Russia.

• Only “friendly agreements” but French and Russians given impression Britain would fight.

• The Schlieffen Plan

Sir Edward GreyBritish Foreign Secretary … “There’s some devilry going on in Berlin”

The Schlieffen Plan

• Germany’s military plan to defeat France and Russia.

• “Knock out blow” aimed at France first.

• Avoid French defences by invasion of Belgium.

• Germans thought Britain would not intervene.

Britain’s Reaction• 1838- UK had signed a

Treaty to protect Belgium.

• Britain also scared of Germany controlling Channel ports.

• Did not want Germany to defeat France and dominate Europe. Britain next?

• UK issued ultimatum to Germany to withdraw troops from Belgium. War declared August 4 1914

Propaganda

GERMANY USA

Propaganda

FRANCE

Total Warfare

• Soldiers• Private Citizens

• Production• Economy

Two Fronts (oh yeah and Italy)Western Front

• Western Front - The Western Front followed a line between France and Germany through Belgium

• The French and British fought on one side against the Germans, eventually joined by Americans in 1917.

• The war bogged down quickly, with both sides digging trenches, and fighting from them until the war ended in 1918.

Technologies

• The stalemate occurred partly because new technology; machine guns and poison gas; made any offensive attack so lethal that the army had to retreat to trenches.

• Attacks were followed by counter-attacks that resulted in huge casualties.

• Each side simply hoped that the other would run out of young men first.

• That happened when the United States entered the war, and Germany could not match the combined forces on the Western Front.

Trench Warfare

Eastern Front

• Eastern Front - was on the opposite side of Germany from the Western Front.

• Germany and Austria-Hungary fought Russia along a much more fluid battle line.

• Central Powers overran Serbia, Albania, and Romania. • Russians took the offensive in Prussia, but by the summer of 1915

combined Germany and Austrian forces drove the Russian armies back eastward across Poland, and eventually back into Russia's borders.

• Russia's armies were poorly led and badly equipped, with the tsar sending men into battle without guns, food, or shoes.

• Mass desertions and loss of confidence in the tsar led to chaos in Russia, where a communist-inspired group called the Bolsheviks eventually took over the government and assassinated the tsar.

Eastern Front• Russians took the offensive in Prussia, but by the summer

of 1915 combined Germany and Austrian forces drove the Russian armies back eastward across Poland, and eventually back into Russia's borders.

• Russia's armies were poorly led and badly equipped, with the tsar sending men into battle without guns, food, or shoes.

• Mass desertions and loss of confidence in the tsar led to chaos in Russia, where a communist-inspired group called the Bolsheviks eventually took over the government and assassinated the tsar.

• War ends of the Eastern Front with the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 3 March 1918.

United States Joins• Sinking of the Lusitania

– May 7, 1915

• German U-Boats• Angered Americans• America will join

the war April 2, 1917

Withdrawal and End

• Russia withdrew from the war in 1917.

• This released German soldiers to transfer to the Western Front.

• U.S. soldiers supplemented French and British soldiers on the West so that the stalemate was finally broken.

• The armistice occurring in November 1918.

Net Effect

• The net effect of the war was the slaughter of a huge portion of a generation of young men, primarily from Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, England, and France.

• Arguably, Europe never fully recovered from the loss.

Effects

• What was the effect on areas other than Europe?

• Gallipoli• India• China• South America