Download The War to End All Wars WHAP/Napp “The war began in August

The War to End All Wars
WHAP/Napp
“The war began in August 1914 and was expected to be won before Christmas or
soon after. When the Germans and their ally, the Austro-Hungarians, clashed with
the Russians in eastern Europe, and the Germans fought the French and British
armies on the plains of northern France, and the Austrians fought the Serbs, the
war seemed to be moving swiftly towards an early conclusion. Germany was the
early winner but casualties were huge.
The firepower of the latest machine guns, and of the heavy guns drawn by horses,
was so devastating that soldiers advancing towards the enemy were mown down in
their thousands, and the thousands who replaced them were mown down. In the
space of a few months, on most battlefields, soldiers had to dig hundreds of
kilometers of trenches and arrange walls of barbed wire for their own protection.
The long battlefield trench, deep enough for a soldier to stand upright and not be
seen by the enemy nearby, was really a form of shield.
So the opposing armies ceased to move swiftly as in past wars, and the war became
defensive. Any attempt by one army to leave the shelter of the trenches and storm
forward usually led to the capture of only a tiny strip of ground – before the rain of
shells and bullets from the opposite line of trenches forced a retreat. On such days
the deaths were counted in the thousands.
It was also a far-flung war and that sharpened its impact. The spread of French,
British, German and other European colonies had increased the risk that a
European war would become a global war; and indeed in the 18th century a total of
five wars could have been called global, though most of the fighting was centered in
Europe. Even the War of American Independence from 1775 to 1783 had been a
global war. In 1914 the presence of new German colonies in lands as far apart as
northern China, Western Samoa, New Guinea and East Africa and the presence of
rival British and French colonies nearby served as a fuse that carried the war
almost instantly from Europe to remote tropical harbors. Indeed it was a world war
in 1914, when the main colonial battles occurred, much more than it was in 1918.
On the other hand, the Second World War was more global in its last year than in
its first year.” ~ A Short History of the World
Main Points of Passage:
Notes:
I. Overview
A. World War I (July 1914 - November 1918)known as the Great War
B. War killed up to 10 million soldiersBetween 3 to 5 million civilians
perished, mainly of disease and starvation caused by war
C. Cost $32 billion (almost $400 billion in current economic terms)
D. Shattered Europe politically, economically, and culturally
I. Four great empires – German Reich, Russia’s tsarist regime, AustriaHungary’s Habsburg dynasty, and Ottoman Empire –destroyed
II. New Attitudes
A. Spirit of optimism and faith in progress vanished, replaced by fear, anxiety
B. Social changes  final decline of aristocracy, rise of middle and lower
classes, greater democratization, complete industrialization of Europe
C. And granting of suffrage to women in most Western nations
D. A fundamental shift in global powerbecoming clear that Europe would not
be able to continue in its position of preeminence for much longer
E. U.S.A. on its way to becoming the world’s powerhouse
F. W.W. I considered to be the true beginning of the 20th century
III. Causes
A. Militarism, alliance systems, imperialism, and nationalism (MAIN)
B. Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) versus Triple
Entente (France, Russia, and Britain)
C. Italyweak link and would actually change sides during World War I
D. War began in Balkans, famously known as the “powder keg of Europe”
E. Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne,
and his wife Sophie, on June 28, 1914, in Bosnian city of Sarajevo
F. Killer was a Bosnian student of Serb descent and a member of a terrorist
group that received money and arms from Serbia
G. Austria blamed Serbia for the murders
H. On July 23, Austria handed Serbia an ultimatum, a list of humiliating
demands, and threatened to declare war if Serbia did not agree to all them
I. Slavic Russia, “big brother” to Serbs, intervenedlike clockwork, alliance
system went into operation
IV. The War
A. During war, members of Triple Entente were known as Allies
B. In 1917, United States also joined Allied war effort
C. But Russia dropped out of war when the Bolsheviks came to power
D. On other sideCentral PowersGermany and Austria-Hungary, members
of the Triple Alliance, minus Italyjoined by Bulgaria and Ottomans
E. Germany’s war plan – Schlieffen Plan – but failed
F. Germany’s difficulty lay in two-front ground warOn one front, Germany
fought France and Allied forceson other, fought Russia and Allies
G. Schlieffen Plan: Germany would send 75 percent of army against France, in
order to capture Paris and knock France out of war in six weeks
H. Rest of German army, along with Austrians, would defend against Russia,
which was expected to take months to mobilize fully
I. To catch French off guard, main attackthrough neutral Belgium
J. Illegal invasion of Belgium and deaths of many civilians ensured that Britain
would join the war on side of Allies
K. But Schlieffen Plan failedAlthough German troops came within sight of
Paris, the French army made a heroic stand at the Marne River
L. During rest of 1914, two European fronts, Western Front and Eastern Front
M. Western Fronttrench warfarestalematehundreds of thousands of
casualties, but no useful outcomesalso mud, lice, rats, disease, and dead bodies
N. Eastern Frontwas much longerRussians found themselves in terrible
troubleRussia was cut off from its allies; had to fight the war without assistance
O. And Vladimir Lenin and Bolsheviks promised, “bread, peace, and land” –
quickly pulled Russia out of the war once in power
P. Germany’s success with submarine warfare brought U.S. into the war in 1917
Q. T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, persuaded Arab princes
to rise up against Ottoman masters
R. Before that, in 1915, Ottomans carried out 20th-century’s first campaign of
genocide, massacring somewhere between 500,000 and 2 million Armenians
S. 1917Zimmerman telegramGermany tried to convince Mexico to declare
war on the United States by offering land at end of wartelegram intercepted
T. The war came to an end on November 11, 1918
U. Paris Peace Conference, from 1919 to 1920Wilson of U.S., David Lloyd
George of Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Vittorio Orlando of Italy
V. The Allies drew up five treaties, one for each defeated power Treaty of
Versailles was agreement reached with Germany and signed on June 28, 1919
X. Germany was blamed for the war (a “war guilt” clause), forced to pay
reparations, and lost its coloniespaved way for another war
Complete the Review Quilt Below (Place Key Points in Each Box):
Causes of WWI:
Effects of WWI:
Incidence in the
Alliance System:
Balkans:
WWI and
Women:
WWI and
Empires:
Triple Alliance:
Triple Entente:
Archduke Francis
Ferdinand:
Schlieffen Plan:
Invasion of Belgium:
Italy and the War:
U.S.A. and the
War:
Russia and the
War:
Ottoman Empire and Treaty of
the War:
Versailles:
Questions:
 How did the First World War change European views of European societies?
 Describe the chronology of the war (from causes to actual fighting).
 What was the Schlieffen Plan and how did it affect the outcome of the war?
 Compare and contrast the Western and Eastern Fronts.
 Describe how the actions of Italy, the U.S.A., and Russia impacted the outcome of
the war.
 Discuss the Treaty of Versailles and its impact on world history.
1. Which of the following events could
4. Which of the following is most true
BEST be used as evidence to support
about combat on the Western and
the argument that Germany was to
Eastern fronts?
blame for World War I?
(A) Fighting on the Eastern Front
(A) The assassination of Francis
degenerated into stalemate,
Ferdinand
whereas conditions on the
(B) The harshness of the Austrian
Western Front were much more
ultimatum to Serbia
fluid
(C) The Germans’ “blank check” to
(B) Fighting on the Western Front
Austria
degenerated into stalemate,
(D) The Anglo-German naval race
whereas conditions on the
(E) The Zimmerman telegram
Eastern Front were much more
fluid.
2. Which of the following BEST
(C) Conditions on both fronts were
describes the Schlieffen Plan?
roughly the same.
(A) A massive attack on and rapid
(D) The level of technology on the
defeat of France, then a singleEastern Front was significantly
front war with Russia
higher than on the Western
(B) A massive attack on and rapid
Front.
defeat of Russia, then a single(E) There were no aircraft used on
front war with France
the Eastern Front.
(C) The devotion of equal force and
attention to France and Russia
5. What was the most useful type of
at the same time
naval vessel deployed during World
(D) A total focus on the strategic
War I?
threat posed by Britain’s royal
(A) The battleship
Navy
(B) The battle cruiser
(E) A Flanking move directed
(C) The submarine
against Serbia, which might
(D) The destroyer
otherwise knock Austria out of
(E) The aircraft carrier
the war
6. What British guerrilla leader
3. Where was the Germans’ initial
captured the world’s imagination by
drive towards Paris halted?
stirring up Arab revolt against the
(A) The Aisne
Ottoman Empire?
(B) Verdun
(A) D.H. Lawrence
(C) The Somme
(B) T.E. Lawrence
(D) Ypres
(C) Richard Francis Burton
(E) The Marne
Thesis Statement: Comparative: Germany and Russia during the First World War
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