World War 11914-1918

What were the four main causes that led to ‘The Great

war’?

Alliances

Imperialism

Militarism

Nationalism

(Bonus) The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Mutual DefenseAlliances

Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that would pull them into battle. Thus, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World War 1, the following allainces existed:

Russia and Serbia

Germany and Austria-Hungary

France and Russia

Britain and France and Belgium

Japan and Britain

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.

ImperialismImperialism is when a country increases their power and wealth by bringing additional territories under their control. Before World War 1, Africa and parts of Asia were points of contention amongst the European countries. This was especially true because of the raw materials these areas could provide. The increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in confrontation that helped push the world into World War I.

You could easily say it is the most important cause of WW1, because it helped to create a build-up of tension in Europe and outside of Europe, and through imperialism, the three other causes were able to affect the beginnings of the war.

MilitarismAs the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved to war.

A competition between two or more parties to have the best armed forces.

The race was particularly serious between 1900 and 1914, as the international situation became much worse than before.

Arms Race

Nationalism

Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Austria Hungary but instead be part of Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War. But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each country tried to prove their dominance and power.

Was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at the unity of all the Slavic people. This idea was wildly popular with Russia, and to that end, many of Russia's actions centered around that.

For instance, Russia supported Serbia in WWI because of pan-slavism; Russia also took control of other Slavic countries for this reason. The Soviet Union was basically the ultimate expression of pan-Slavism.

Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania , Montenegro, Russia

Pan-Slavism

Assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The immediate cause of World War I that made all the aforementioned items come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of Austria-Hungary. This was in protest to Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina. This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize due to its alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus began the expansion of the war to include all those involved in the mutual defense alliances

1914

The countries of the Allies included Russia, France, British Empire, Italy, United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Greece, Portugal and Montenegro

The countries of the Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria

Triple EntenteTriple Entente, an informal alliance among Great Britain, France, and Russia in the period before World War I. It opposed the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The Triple Entente was based on three bilateral agreements. The Dual Alliance (1894) between France and Russia was a political and military alliance; each nation promised to support the other in the event of an attack by one or all of the members of the Triple Alliance. The Entente Cordiale (1904) settled a number of disputes between France and Great Britain, clearing the way for closer Anglo-French cooperation. In 1907 Britain and Russia negotiated a similar agreement. After World War I broke out, the Entente powers signed a formal military alliance. They fought together until 1917, when Russia withdrew from the war

Battle of Verdum

The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War One. The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. It was to make General Philippe Petain a hero in France.

Battle of Verdun, 1916, resulted in over a million casualties in ten months.

The French were able to push back the Germans. The Germans and French were both left incredibly weakened and it took the arrival of the US later in 1917 to change the tide of the war for the Allies.

Trench warfare - a type of warfare in which opposing armies face each other in entrenched positions

Trenches were infested with millions of rats, frogs and lice

LusitaniaLusitania - On May 7, 1915, the ship neared the coast of Ireland. At 2:10 in the afternoon a torpedo fired by the German submarine U 20 slammed into her side. A mysterious second explosion ripped the liner apart. Chaos reigned. The ship listed so badly and quickly that lifeboats crashed into passengers crowded on deck, or dumped their loads into the water. Most passengers never had a chance. Within 18 minutes the giant ship slipped beneath the sea. One thousand one hundred nineteen of the 1,924 aboard died. The dead included 128 Americans.

The AmericansThe sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 helped bring the US into the war. Germany’s invitation to help support the Mexican’s fight against the Americans also played a big role in the US joining the war.

US entered the war on April 6, 1917.

The U.S. was in the war in actual combat for only seven and a half months during which time 116,000 were killed and 204,000 were wounded.

To increase the size of the U.S. Army during WWI, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which was also known as the conscription or draft, in May 1917. By the end of the war, 2.7 million men were drafted. Another 1.3 million volunteered.

Armistice

In the context of the First World War 'the armistice' is generally referred to in context of the agreement between the Germans and the Allies to end the war on November 11, 1918.

The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after WW1had ended.

1918

WW1 factsWas known as the Great war before WW2 happened as it was supposed to be the war to end all wars

More than 65 million men from 30 countries fought in WWI. Nearly 10 million died. The Allies (The Entente Powers) lost about 6 million soldiers. The Central Powers lost about 4 million. 21,219,452 were wounded. 7,750,919 were made prisoners.

Over 200,000 men died in the trenches of WW1

80,000 British troops suffered from shell-shock

First Known use of chemical weapons (mustard Gas)

Russia faced more casualties than any other nation in WW1, their total casualties were 9,150,000.

Russia mobilized 12 million men during the war; France 8.4 million; Britain 8.9 million; Germany 11 million; Austria-Hungary 7.8 million; Italy 5.6 million; and the USA 4.3 million.

So, the total casualties of World War 1 were 37,508,686 which makes 57.6% of the total troops that were mobilized.

Hitler fought in ww1 in the German Army. 10)Hitler wasn´t happy about the armistice which left Germany destitute and lead to him gaining power so WW1 leads Into WW2...