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 Land
 Wealth
 Power
 Religion
 Nationalism – Love for your country
A. Liberal mindset in the early 19th Century—maintain
organized European state w/ national lines would lead to
a peaceful Europe.
B. All this did was cause competition in the late 19th
Century (Germany vs. Britain).
C. Diplomacy was not working in Europe. Brinkmanship
was the norm (pressing to the possibility of war). Each
state was motivated by self interests.
“In questions of honor and vital interests, you don’t consult others.”
Kaiser William II
D. Not all ethnic groups had self-determination
(nationhood—Slavic minorities, Irish, Poles).
 Imperialism – Taking other countries land,
money and resources
A. The Scramble for Africa “The White Man’s Burden”
1. Seven European nations will divide up the
continent—leading to jealousies (Spain, Portugal,
Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium)
B. United States – Spanish/American War
1. U.S. newspapers will spark a war in Cuba.
“Remember The Maine!!!” (Yellow Journalism)
2. Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders will help defeat the
Spanish leading to create a Cuban protectorate (lasted for
about 50 years).
3. U.S. will also defeat Spanish in the Philippines (Admiral
Perry and navy sent from China).
4. Emilio Aguinaldo will help U.S. defeat Spanish, but we
then decide this island country would allow trade w/China
easier (we kill 1 out of every 5 Filipinos on the island).
 Imperialism – Taking other countries land, money
and resources
C. The Scramble for Asia
1. Many European countries wanted to establish a Sphere of
influence in Asia (Great Britain, United States, Dutch, Japan,
Russia, Portugal, France, Germany).
2. Secretary of State John Hay will create “Open Door Policy” to
open China for many countries—competition.
 System of Alliances – countries join to deter
attack and help w/ trade.
A. Prior to WWI two major alliances
1. Triple Entente – Great Britain, France, Russia (secret treaty w/
Serbia). Formed to prevent a strong Germany from attacking.
2. Triple Alliance – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy (formed
because of German help to form country.
B. WWI begins 1914
1. Triple Entente – becomes the Allies
2. Triple Alliance – becomes known as the Central Powers. Italy
will claim Neutrality until 1915 when they join the allies and
the Ottoman Empire (seeking land lost during Balkan wars)
will take their place.
 Militarism – Stockpiling of weapons for war
A. This created a situation that if war occurred it would have the
greatest devastation.
B. Conscription became a regular practice prior to WWI (except in
United States and Britain).
Army size:
Germany---------------------------------- 900,000
France_------------------------------------ 900,000
Russia------------------------------------- 1,300,000
Great Britain, Italian, Austria-Hungary --------- 250,000 – 500,000 each
Militarism – Stockpiling of weapons for war.
C. Great Britain and Germany have the financial resources to back a
long major campaign (scary thought—countries w/ large amounts
of resources and not afraid to use them).
 June 28, 1914
--Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo
(Bosnia). Ferdinand was taking the trip as a goodwill tour and to let
the Slavic people that he was going to bring more representation to
their people.
--Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian terrorist from the terrorist group Black
Hand is sent to try and unite Serbia into larger Serbian kingdom
(not sure if gov’t knew).
--Black Hand’s motto = Unity or Death!
Black Hand’s oath to become member:
“I (name), in becoming a member of the organization,
‘Unification or Death,’ do swear by the sun that shines on me,
by the earth that nourishes me, by God, by the blood of my
ancestors, on my honor and my life that from this moment
until my death, I shall be faithful to the regulations of the
organization and that I will be prepared to make any sacrifice
for it. I swear before God, on my honor and on my life, that I
shall carry with me to the grave the organization’s secrets.
May God condemn me and my comrades judge me if I violate
or do not respect, consciously or not, my oath.”
 June 28 dates:
 June 28, 1389 Serbia become controlled
by Ottoman Empire.
 June 28, 1912 Serbia gains
independence from Ottoman Empire.
 June 28, 1914 Assassination of Franz
Ferdinand and Sophie.
 June 28, 1919 Treaty of Versailles
signed.
 July 23, 1914
--Austria’s ultimatum to Serbia. (1) The Serbian gov’t must suppress
all groups that oppose the Austro-Hungarian gov’t; (2) Serbia must
dismiss school teachers and ban books that did not support AustriaHungary; (3) Serbia must dismiss gov’t officials who spoke out
against Austria-Hungary; (4) Austro-Hungarian officials must be
allowed to participate in the trials of those accused in the
assassination. Serbia says yes to first three, but refuses to the
fourth.
 July 28, 1914
--Austria/Hungary declares war on Serbia “A Brisk Summer War”.
--Germany issues a “blank check” to support A/H.
--Russia orders partial mobilization of troops
 July 29, 1914
--Russia orders full mobilization of troops (Germany sees this as an
act of war.
 July 31, 1914
--Germany sends an ultimatum to Russia (Tsar Nicholas, Kaiser
William are cousins along with the King of England).
--Russia refuses.
 August 1, 1914
--Germany declares war on Russia (knew Russia was slow to
mobilize).
 August 3, 1914
--Germany declares war on France
a. The German Schlieffen Plan called for a minimal troop
deployment against Russia while most of the German army
would make a rapid invasion of Western France by way of
neutral Belgium—42 day victory over France).
b. Austria-Hungary had sent 4 armies to Russia and 2 to Serbia
(only had 6) to keep Russia occupied).
c. The Germans would be able to fight a two-front war.
 August 4, 1914
--Great Britain declares war on Germany.
a. Germany had violated the neutrality treaty of
1839 that Britain stated they would defend
against any country violating Belgium
neutrality.
b. Britain really enters war to try and maintain
their world power (problem w/ mobilization—
takes 21 days to move troops to continent).
Summary of the start of WWI
June 28, 1914 – Archduke and Sophie assassinated by
Serbian terrorist.
July 23, 1914 – Austria-Hungary send ultimatum to Serbia.
July 28, 1914 – Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
July 29, 1914 – Russia mobilizes their troops.
July 31, 1914 – German sends ultimatum to Russia.
August 1, 1914 – Germany declares war on Russia.
August 3, 1914 – Germany declares war on France.
August 4, 1914 – German troops invade Belgium.
August 4, 1914 – Great Britain declares war on Germany.
Who is at fault for starting WWI?
 Enthusiasm for war.
A. Almost everyone in August 1914 believed that the war would be
over in a few weeks.
B. European wars since 1815 had in fact ended in a matter of weeks
(forgot about American Civil War—perfect prototype for WWI).
C. Countries thought w/ their massive resources they could fight a
war for many months w/o affecting their national economy.
D. Most believed war would be done by Christmas.
E. War was seen as an exhilarating release from humdrum bourgeois
existence, from a “world grown old and cold and weary.”
F.To many, war meant a glorious adventure and for this reason the
best and the brightest will join (“Flower of Europe”).
It won’t be!!!
 Philosophy prior to WWI
A. Before WWI, civilians (non-combatants) were not targeted.
B. WWI sees a change in philosophy toward civilians—because of
the innovations of the many weapons of WWI.
C. Both Alfred Nobel (creator of dynamite and peace prize—guilt)
and Orville Wright thought their inventions would make warfare
obsolete.
D. Commanders and soldiers thought this war would be over quickly
(Germans thought by Dec. 1914). It became a war of attrition.
 Weapons of WWI
A. Machine Gun
 Fired 40 times faster than the average rifle man. It made the
display of personal courage irrelevant.
 Weapons of WWI
A. Machine Gun
 Killed indiscremently. Like throwing a fishing net.
 Most responsible for turning WWI into a stalemate
on the Western Front!!!
B. Trench Warfare (strategy not a weapon)
 2 major trenches through the Western Front. Each
about 400 miles long—dug by the soldiers.
 Rats, mud, casualties, weather, etc.
C. Poison Gas
 Germans will develop Mustard Gas to be used in
WWI.
 Hitler will be blinded by Mustard Gas (November
1918).
D. Unterseeboot (submarine)
 One reason why the US entered WWI—sinking supply ships.
 1st stealth weapon in war.
 Rules of War concerning submarine:
(1) Come to the surface & raise a flag.
(2) Allow crew off ship.
(3) Sink the ship.
Defeats the Purpose of the Submarine!!!
 Germans are the 1st to use U-boats to perfection. They do a lot
of damage (trade & passenger shipping Lusitania)
E. Airplane
 1st airplanes were used for observation of enemy lines.
 Later they would be used for dogfights and bombing military
targets.
F. Tank
 1st used in the Battle of the Somme. This weapon was NOT
USED extensively in WWI.
 Up until 1916 WWI was a stalemate. Both sides did not have
any decisive battles. The allies planned to change that with a
large scale battle in July of 1916.
 The Germans had dug themselves in on one side of no-mans
land with the allies on the other (U.S. not involved). The allies
would bomb the Germans with 1.5 millions rounds from
canons in the 1st week (bomb them into submission). They
hoped this would break the spirit of the Germans and they
would be killed or would give up.
 1st day of battle 20,000 die (1/3 of Vietnam). Battle lasted four
months with 1.1 million casualties. Machine Gun raises the
question: Is the land worth the amount of lives which will be
lost taking the territory?
The Battle of the Somme killed the
“Flower of Europe”.