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Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
Roots of World War I
 German Unification
 Germany consisted of many small “Germanic” Kingdoms
 There were as many as 500
 During the Napoleonic Wars, the French had forced Germany
into a semi-unified tribute state to France
 This was the first instance of German unification in the
modern era
 The most powerful of the Kingdoms was Prussia
 Located today in Northern Germany along the Baltic
Sea
 Prussia was led by King Wilhelm and his chief minister, Otto
Von Bismarck
 Bismarck was a proponent of unification
 Felt that a strong/industrial German Empire could
establish dominance in Central Europe
 Wanted to create a buffer state Between
Britain/France to the West and Russia to the East
 Germany was successfully unified in 1871
 Created the German Empire, headed by Kaiser William
I or “Wilhelm”
19th Century European Rivalries
 Franco-Prussian (German) War of 1870-1871
 Purpose: The succession to the throne of Spain by a German
Prince
 France felt besieged to its South (Spain) and East (Germany)
 Unified German states defeated France and ended its
dominance in Central Europe, creating a bitter peace
 France’s Alsace-Lorraine region was seized by
Germany
 Ended the reign of Napoleon III and the 2nd French
Empire
 Kaiser Wilhelm I dies in 1888 leaving the throne of Germany
to his son, Frederick
Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
 Frederick died of cancer after 3 months, leaving the
throne to his son, Wilhelm II
 Wilhelm II had an inflated sense of his “destiny” and
sought a policy of aggression towards his neighbors
 Had unrealistic military schemes to expand the
“prestige” of Germany
 Russia
 Autocrat Czar Alexander III dies leaving the throne of Russia
to his son Nicholas II
 Nicholas was a sensitive man who did not want the
leadership role in Russia
 He was inept at handling conflict, both at the national
and international level
 With Nicholas’ issues, Germany formally retracted
their “ties” of friendship
All Ties Lead to Britain
 Queen Victoria
 Longest serving monarch in British history
 Died in 1901 and had ruled Britain since 1837
 Most of her decedents made up the courts of Europe
 She was seen as a stabilizing personality between
squabbling cousins in other countries
 She had cousins, nephews, nieces, etc on the thrones of
Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia
 She was succeeded by King Edward VII
 Despite being 59 years old when he became King,
Edward did not wield the same “matriarchal” power as
his mother
 Edward VII died nine years later, leaving the throne to
his son, George V
 George V was the first cousin to Russian Czar Nicholas
II and German Kaiser Wilhelm II
 Each cousin sought alliances to increase the prestige of their
selective empires
Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
 In order to build the prestige Edward and George both
had the “dreadnought” class battleships commissioned
Pursuing Prestige
 Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
 Purpose: Stemmed from rival imperial ambitions over
Manchuria (Northern China) and Korea
 Both Japan and Russia claimed these lands
 No East Asian country had ever defeated a European power
in war
 Russia, with its massive resources, felt it could “teach”
the Japanese a lesson
 The war was a chance for Czar Nicholas II to flex his
muscles and establish Russia’s supremacy
 Much of the world watched…
 After a year of fighting the Japanese had decimated the
Russian navy and had occupied both Manchuria and Korea
 Nicholas II was humiliated and Russia’s strength dwindled
 Russian losses amounted to 52,000 dead from combat,
18,000 from disease and an additional 72,000
captured by the Japanese
Protest and Alliances
 Russian Bloody Sunday Massacre, 1905
 Cause: Unarmed Russian peasants attempted to present
Nicholas II with a petition to increase public care and better
job opportunities
 Location: Winter Palace in St. Petersburg
 Result: Russian Imperial Guards, on orders given by
Nicholas II fired on the crowd killing 1,000 petitioners
 Czarist regime was undermined as it demonstrated a
detachment or lack of care for common Russian people
 Led to the rise of radical Russian activist, Vladimir
Lenin
Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
 Began to slowly weaken the Czar, resulting in the 1917
Russian Revolution
 Followed on the heels of the disastrous defeat in
the Russo-Japanese War
 European Alliances
 Russia, in order to maintain its empire allied with France
and Great Britain
 Germany had alliances with Austria-Hungary, Italy, and the
Ottoman Empire
 Rival camps began a arms race
 This involved the construction of warships, the
manufacture of modern machine guns, the creation of
tanks, and of airplanes.
Lead Up to War
 Alliances
 The complex web of alliances required an ally to declare war
if one of their kin were attacked
 Essentially, all nations on both sides had an immediate
obligation to join
 The Powder Keg
 June 28, 1914 = Crown Prince of the Austria-Hungarian
Empire, Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo
 His wife is also assassinated
 Shot by Bosnian-Serb nationalist named Gavrilo
Princip, a 19 year old
 Later died in prison from tuberculosis
 Retribution
 The Austrians, inflamed by the assassination, declare
war on Serbia
 Russia, an ally of Serbia, declares war on AustriaHungary and mobilizes its entire armed forces
 Germany mobilizes and declares war on Russia
 France mobilizes and declares war on Germany
Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
 Germany declares war on Neutral Belgium and
uses her territory in a plan to quickly defeat
France
 Britain declares war on Germany for the
violation of Belgian neutrality
The War Begins
 First major engagements
 Battle of the Frontiers: An attempt by the French to invade
Germany results in 27,000 deaths
 Battle of Tannenberg is fought on the Eastern front as
Germany, led by General Paul Von Hindenburg routed the
Russian army
 Battle bought time for the French who regrouped and
held off the German invasion at the Marne
 Trench Warfare
 In September of 1914 the first trenches are built
 Why: Trenches served as a response to the new nature
of warfare
 Open battlefield charges made no sense
 World War I was the first war to feature extensive use
of machine guns of varying caliber, Gatling guns, and
poison gas
 Trenches gave troops a false sense of security
 Zones between enemy trenches became known as “No
Man’s Land” where bomb craters and barbed wire
reigned supreme
 Consequences
 Trenches were poorly maintained
 Raw sewage mixed with rain water, rats, carcasses,
rotten food, and spent ammunition
 Disease was widespread, feet would rot off in what was
known as “trench foot”
Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
Beginnings, Cont.
 Optimism
 Despite setback on both sides there was widespread
support for the war throughout Europe
 Many troops were sent off, anticipating the war to be over by
Christmas
 In fact, many leaders made it their objective to have
“this nasty little affair” resolved by year’s end
 The key to achieving this was a fast ramp up of
mechanized troops
 This would lead to an invasion
 From here, a treaty of surrender would be
exacted from the loser
 Finally, the troops would be able to return home
 A civilized war
 Many of the monarchs felt this was a score to be settled
among gentlemen
 The war would spare civilians of trauma and
destruction
 Battles would be pre-selected in isolated fields and
woods
 None of the early-war optimism would come to fruition
Increasing the Conflict
 Total war reigns supreme
 In 1915, Germany bombards Britain using Zeppelins
 British propaganda worked to inflame civilians to join the
war when Zeppelins were termed “baby killers”
 Germany declares unrestricted submarine warfare along the
British coast
 A German U-boat (submarine) sinks the British
passenger liner, Lusitania killing 1,192 people
 First torpedoing of an ocean liner
 Nearly brought the United States into the war
 Germany promised a warning before a ship was to be sunk
Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
 The appeased the Americans, for the moment
 Battle of Gallipoli is fought in the Ottoman Empire in which
British and French soldiers suffer defeat at the hands of the
Ottomans
 This will be the last major Allied defeat against
Ottoman Empire
Weapons of Terror
 The Zeppelin
 What it is: A massive airship (blimp), armed with 50-calibur
machine guns and incendiary bombs
 Used to bomb Paris and London
 Had little effect on the cities, yet struck psychological
terror into civilians
 Poison Gas
 Used initially by the British in 1915
 Shifting winds caused the gas to blow back at the
British, resulting in 60,000 deaths
 “Mustard” gas employed by the Germans
 Essential, it was a nerve gas that caused neurological
shock and a drawn out and painful death as your
nervous system effectively boiled from the inside out
 Gas masks were invented and perfected as a response
 Airplane
 Initially unarmed and used for surveillance
 Equipped with machine guns and used for aerial combat
against other planes
 Eventually equipped with bombs and additional guns
 Used to bomb villages, cities, airfields, trenches, troop
deployments, ships, and just about anything else
 Effective in striking fear into civilians
 Most planes were small, wooden-framed and canvaswrapped bi-planes
 The Germans had a more maneuverable tri-plane
called a Fokker
Modern World – Mr. Fregly
World War I, Pt. 1: Causes
January 6, 2014
 Planes eventually became larger by war’s end to
accommodate heavier bombs