Download The Causes of the First World War

The Causes of the
First World War
A slow march to war
The First World War is sometimes referred to as
The Great War or The War to End All Wars. It began in
the summer of 1914 and ended in the fall of 1918.
Tensions had built up, over many years, between the
powerful nations of Europe. There were four long-term
causes for all the tension:
•Militarism
•Alliances
•Imperialism
•Nationalism
The M.A.I.N. Causes
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
Imperialism
•The practice of
establishing and
controlling
colonies
•Competition is
fierce and Britain
and France are in
the lead
Nationalism
•The patriotic feelings for one’s
country or ethnic group
•Many colonies are seeking
independence
•Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman
Empire are made up of many different
ethnic groups
Militarism
-The glorification of the military.
- A willingness to use the military.
Artillery/Scale of War
•Artillery pieces had become much more
powerful. Battlefields got bigger as the range of
artillery pieces got bigger. Larger battlefields,
made it impossible for commanders to alter plans
once they had been set in motion.
War was highly attractive to
the generation of Europeans
before 1914.
• Europeans had not fought a major war since
1815, so they had forgotten how horrible wars
could be.
•The small wars they had fought were short and
did not have heavy casualties.
•Winning a war was seen as a quick and easy
way to accomplish something for the nation.
Big Ass Cannon
Mobilization Plans
•The side who got the most men in the field, the
earliest, gave their side the advantage.
•Each nation opted for drafting masses of men,
and for rapid mobilization plans to utilize them.
Barbed Wire
•Barbed wire made it difficult for attackers to get
to the men they wished to attack. This gave the
machine gun and artillery crews more time to
shoot the soldiers attacking them.
Alliances
A network of agreements that commit
countries to support each other, specifically in
times of war.
Setting the Stage
• Several factors made a European war likely.
• Constant military build up/success of mobilization.
• Rivalry due to colonization
• Nationalism and the strive for prestige
• Above all, Europeans made alliances which ended
the possibility of traditional two country warfare.
• Alliances grew out of a fear of France.
The Schlieffen Plan
• Germany, like the rest of Europe, felt a war was coming,
and made a battle plan early.
• Germany had a big problem, if war broke out, they would
most likely be attacked from 2 directions.
• Their plan was that as soon as fighting began, they must
immediately invade and conquer France by surprise, then
focus on the other side of Europe.
• Thought it would take Russia, and other larger countries longer to
mobilize, buying them time to take over France.
• Would most likely attack through Belgium, less defended.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJXAcl8D51Y
•Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to the
throne of the AustroHungarian Empire
married a woman,
Countess Sophie Cotek,
who was unacceptable
to Emperor Franz Joseph and the rest of the Austrian
nobility. As a result, Franz Ferdinand liked to get his
wife out of the capital, Vienna, whenever possible so
that she could receive the royal treatment he felt she
deserved.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his
wife pay an unfortunate visit to
Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Add Sarajevo and Serbia to map.
•The Serbian terrorists group, The
Black Hand, wanted to assassinate
Archduke Ferdinand and his wife.
One of the members of The Black
Hand threw a bomb into the car
Ferdinand was riding in. The
bomb was thrown out of the car
before it could explode.
The numbers indicate the
location where assassins
were stationed along the
parade route.
The place where the bomb exploded
Franz Ferdinand and Countess
Sophie arrive safely at Sarajevo’s
city hall.
•Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife got back into their
car to drive to the hospital – to check on the people hurt when
the assassin’s bomb exploded. The driver of their car took a
wrong turn. As the driver stopped the car to turn around, one
of the members of The Black Hand rushed up to the car and
shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.
The place where the assassin shot
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife.
A Tragic Wrong Turn
The assassin was caught
just seconds after he shot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_tNXFbx0
the Archduke and his wife.
VY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC_26YX
MZd4
The Situation Continued…
• Austria annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne,
is assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914. In retaliation, the
Austro-Hungarian Empire invades Serbia.
• Looks to Russia For help
• Austria is upset and must get backing from what
country?
• Germany b/c knows Serbia is backed by Russia
•
•
•
•
Germany gives “blank check” to Austria
Austria offers Serbia an ultimatum and Serbia accepts
Austria rejects ultimatum and invades Serbia
http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_AustroHungarian_Ultimatum_to_Serbia_%28English_translati
on%29
The Situation Continued…
• Russian troops align along Austria/German border
• Germany declares war on Russia b/c fearful Russia will
declare war on them
• Who is Russia allied with?
• France
• Von Schlieffen Plan says attack on Western front, then Eastern
front.
• French troops aligned along border, so how invade?
• Through Belgium and down to Paris
• Belgium neutral, so Great Britain and Italy declare war
• German troops blockade Britain, sink Lusitania (and
other causes), get America involved in WWI
Reading…
Franz Ferdinand’s
Car of Death
• Path to War
• Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
• Russia mobilizes to help Serbia
• Germany declares war on Russia and then its
ally France-invades through Belgium.
• Britain declares war on Germany for
violating the neutrality of Belgium
• Britain calls for soldiers from former and
current colonies, including Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, India
• Italy backs out of Triple Alliance due to
German attack, saying it was only for
defensive purposes
• First is neutral and then joins the Allies
• Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria join Germany
and Austria-Hungary to form the Central
Powers
The Dominoes Fall
II. A European conflict becomes a true world
war
• European powers fight for control of
African colonies as battles spread to
Africa
• Allies fight Ottoman Empire to gain
access to the Black Sea and assist Arab
nationalists fighting the Ottoman Empire
for control of territory in the Middle East
• Japan declares war on Germany and seizes
Asian colonies
•
• Western Front
• French troops able to force retreat of invading
German forces at the Marne in September
1914
• Germany realizes it must fight a two-front
war
• Trench Warfare
• Each side developed a series of mazelike trenches
• Attacks took place in “No Man’s Land”, the area
between the trenches
• Conditions were bad: mud, trench foot, rats,
disease
• Little land is exchanged with high rates of
casualties
Reading…
Trench Warfare
Going Over the Top
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=RRv56gsqkzs&fe
ature=related&safety_m
ode=true&persist_safety
Trench systems
Trench Warfare &
Weapons
Troops in Action
Places for
soldiers to hide.
Bunkers, dug
deep
underground,
provided
protection
during artillery
bombardments.
Trench Rats
•
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRv56g
sqkzs&feature=related&safety_mode=true
&persist_safety_mode=1
Miserable living conditions; rats, lice, mud.
Dead people became the floor. Trenchfoot.
Activity
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go0LprJwxaw
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KzqzIR8x4U&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
• http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=zJZttzblHFQ&feature=rel
ated Weapons DETAILS
• Poison Gas DETAILS
IV. New Technology Changes Warfare
• Technology at the outset of war
•
•
Europeans still planned on a fairly quick
war
Mounted cavalry was making its final
appearance
•
New weapons change warfare
•
Machine Guns: placed in positions to
guard trenches
•
•
Crossing “No Man’s Land” nearly impossible
Helps cause stalemate on Western front
• Poison Gas: most feared weapon of
war
• Introduced by Germans at Bolimow in
East and Ypres, Belgium on Western
Front
• Most casualties were not fatal, but
crippling
• Mustard Gas: damage to skin and lungs
• Chlorine/Phosgene: damages lungs by
internal blistering, causing lung
flooding and suffocation
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY
-3BNnbV_o&feature=related
•
Weapon: Poison gas
Use: Terrorize enemy troops.
Inflicts crippling and fatal
injuries.
Increased the barbarism of the war.
Caused blindness, choking,
vomiting, blisters.
•
Airplanes: move from spying to outright
warfare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4wI
Qt6vhw&feature=related&safety_mode=tr
ue&persist_safety_mode=1 Initially used
for photographing enemy positions
•
•
Adapted to drop bombs, then mounted with
guns
Submarines: brought naval warfare to new
level
•
•
•
Introduced by the Germans and called U-Boats
Destroyed ships carrying supplies with
torpedoes
German policy of unrestricted submarine
warfare helps cause US entry into World War I
The German U - boats in Kiel in May 1914.
This is a view of the control room of a German Uboat used in World War 1.
World War I
III. U.S. Involvement in the War
• President Wilson claims neutrality at the
beginning of the war
•
•
•
Wilson wins reelection in 1916,
campaigning that “He kept us out
of the war”
Wilson wants to avoid US entanglement in
Europe and issues caused by revolution in
Mexico and crisis with Pancho Villa
US attempts to continue trade as a neutral
party
•
Citizens begin taking sides
•
•
•
•
Many in US favored Allies, due to
connection to Britain by culture and France
as a past ally
Many in Midwest strongly favor Germany
due to heritage
Recent immigrants often torn, as many
came from Eastern and Southern Europe
Propaganda from Europe that reached US
often pro-British or anti-German
•
Economic factors for the War
•
•
•
•
US traded much more with Allies
American banks loaned nearly $2 billion to Allies
that would only be paid back if Allies are
victorious
German submarine warfare harmed US trade
Political and military causes
•
Submarine Warfare: unannounced sinking of trade
vessels against law and caused loss of American
life
•
•
Lusitania: British passenger ship destroyed in 1915,
killing 128 Americans
Wilson gets Germany to temporarily end strategy after
second incident (Sussex)
New York Times Headline
New York Tribune Headline
Reading…
“Calls the Situation
Critical”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRygTO3pyUY&feature=related&s
afety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
• Baltimore, Md. on the sinking of the Lusitania
•
Zimmerman Telegram: from Germany
advising Mexico to attack the US if it
declares war on Germany (Jan. 1917)
•
•
•
•
•
US/Mexican relations strained due to attack on
New Mexico by Pancho Villa
Germany offers to help Mexico recapture
territory lost in Mexican-American War
Germany wants to keep US occupied to provide
time to defeat Britain and France
Telegram is intercepted by British and given to
US
Germany resumes unrestricted submarine
warfare in Feb. 1917, sinking six US ships
Zimmerman
Telegram
Reading:
The Zimmerman Note
America Joins the Ranks
World War I
IV. United States in World War I
• Declaration of War
•
•
Wilson asks Congress to declare war on
April 2, 1917
Congress votes to declare war on Germany
(82-6 Senate and 373-50 House)
Readings…
•Declaration of War
•“If We Don’t Lick the
Huns Now”
World War I
•
US mobilization for war
•
•
•
To protect troops, US uses convoy system
of merchant, troop transport, and warships
to get troops across Atlantic
US soldiers “doughboys” arrive in France
in late 1917 and boost both Allied morale
and numbers
Nearly 2 million US soldiers will fight in
World War I
•
US military action in World War I
•
US enters the war near beginning of German
offensive
•
Russia withdraws from war after Bolshevik revolution,
essentially ending the war on the Eastern Front
•
•
•
•
•
3.3 million killed, 4.9 million military wounded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd51pue58U0&safety_
mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
Germany concentrates nearly all troops in the West
Germany advances to almost 40 miles of Paris but turned
back at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood
US involved in massive counterattack in the Argonne
Forest, eventually driving a hole in the German lines
V. The American Home Front
• Mobilization for war
•
•
Conscription (draft): Selective Service
created using a lottery and draft boards to
select soldiers
Control of supplies
•
Rationing used to reduce civilian consumption
•
•
Herbert Hoover leads increased food production and
decreased consumption
Energy concerns caused introduction of daylight
savings time and factory restrictions
16th Amendment
• The Congress shall have power to lay and collect
taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived,
without apportionment among the several States
and without regard to any census or enumeration.
• The origins of the 16th Amendment (1913) date
back to 1895, when the Supreme Court declared a
federal income tax unconstitutional. To overturn
this decision, this amendment authorizes an
income tax that is levied on a direct basis.
• Paying for the war ($32 billion or $44 million a
day)
• US raised income taxes, allowed by 16th
Amendment
• War bonds: sold to Americans paid for $20 billion
• Changing populations
• African Americans and Hispanics
• Great Migration: African Americans moved to the
North to take jobs that were vacated by white
workers going to war
• Political turmoil in Mexico and job opportunities
spike large immigration by Hispanics
• African Americans and Hispanics joined the military
in segregated units
• Women
• Over 1 million join workforce,
although most leave after the
war
• Women enlisted or hired by
military for mainly clerical
and support positions
• Army Nursing Corps only
women sent overseas
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XonhwLrAUVs&safety_mode=true&persist_s
afety_mode=1
Women in the Work Force
• Turn to women to
work in factories and
build products for war
•
•
Social and political issues
Restricting anti-war actions and speech
•
Climate of suspicion surrounded country,
especially immigrants or those of German
descent
•
Espionage Act of 1917: penalized those spying
or interfering with the war effort
•
•
Schenck v. United States: Charles Schenck
unsuccessfully argued that free speech protected
distribution of anti-draft materials
• Free speech can not constitute a “clear and
present danger” and wartime allowed more
restrictive circumstances
Sedition Act of 1918: made it illegal to publicly
express opposition to the war
Readings
The U.S. Sedition Act
Make America Safe for Democracy
First
Robert La Follette Demands His
Rights (1917)
•
Economic and worker issues
•
•
•
•
Increased production for World War I causes
inflation
Conflicts increase between unions and owners
Large strikes occur throughout US, including
the general strike (all workers) in Seattle
Increased labor concerns raise fear of the spread
of socialism and help lead to the Red Scare in
1920s
Ending of WWI
• Germany and its allies are exhausted
• All fighting has taken place Outside of Germany to this
point.
• Seeing very little damage done at home, Germany
calls for an end to the war
• Returning German Soldiers treated as heroes
• Cease-Fire agreed on November 8th 1918
• Goes into effect 3 days later at 11am.
• France and Britain deal with Germany harshly,
and threaten to restart war if Germany does no
accept Treaty of Versailles
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouw3OdcL5G
I&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
The Ending of World War I and its
Consequences
I. Ending of World War I
• Popular misconception is that World War I ended
with just the Treaty of Versailles
• Ended with a series of treaties between the Allies
and separate members of the Central Powers
• War on Eastern Front ended earlier with Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk, where Russia gave vast territory to
Central Powers
II. Treaty of Versailles (November 11, 1918)
• Ended war between Allies and Germany only
• Germany and Russia given no say in treaty
• Each of the major Allied Powers came in with
different goals
• France: punish Germany for the war
• Britain: decrease German power and punish, but leave
it enough to counterbalance France
• Italy: Obtain territory promised at outset of war
• United States: Achieve a lasting peace in Europe as
planned through Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Discussion…
• President Woodrow
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
• Fourteen Points
• A League of Nations would help resolve
international disputes to avoid future wars
• Self-determination to allow ethnic groups
formerly part of larger empires to determine
status as new nations
• Restoration of territories seized by
European powers previous to the war
• Wilson is forced to concede many goals
about a less harsh settlement in order to
obtain the League of Nations
Peace, Diplomacy & Reparation
• Results of the Treaty of Versailles
• Germany must accept total blame for war and
pay $32 billion in war reparations
• Germans lose territory to creation of new European
nations and enemies
• Germany must demilitarize
• Germany loses African and Chinese colonies
• Germany is both crippled economically and
politically angry, helping lead to World War II
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj_eiyBsSSc&fe
ature=related
• US fails to ratify Treaty of Versailles
• Many in US fearful of League of Nations as
an entangling international alliance
• US Senate fails to approve Treaty of
Versailles
• US does not join League of Nations,
lessening the overall strength of the
organization
Wilson’s Last Days
• Recognition of Armenia as independent
• Armenians were subjected to genocidal actions
during the war
• Armenians were a Christian minority viewed as
siding with Russia in the war
• Forced marches to camps with high death rates,
rape, robbery, murder were all used against the
Armenians
• Nearly one million Armenians were killed
• Lack of prosecution viewed as partially influential on later
Holocaust
• Today though viewed by many as a genocide, including
20 nations and 39 US states (including MO, but not US as
a whole)
Armenian Genocide…
Did it really happen? Was it the world’s first genocide?
A telegram sent by
Ambassador Henry
Morgenthau Sr. to the
State Department on
July 16, 1915
describes the
massacres as a
"campaign of race
extermination."
Armenian Genocide…
Did it really happen? Was it the world’s first genocide?
The bodies of dead Armenians lie in a grove of trees in eastern
Ottoman Empire, 1915.
Armenian Genocide…
Did it really happen? Was it the world’s first genocide?
Starving Armenian children
Armenian Genocide…
Did it really happen? Was it the world’s first genocide?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YomWds4VVzY&feature=related&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbjCyOjmT
S8
Aftermath of the War
• Germany is left devastated by the treaty.
• German citizens angry at Allies
• German money left worthless due to inflation
• Inflation causes massive depression.
• Wilson breaks ties with England and France getting his
League of Nations passed.
• US takes a policy of isolation
• Japan’s Power in the Pacific is unchecked by Russia
because of the Bolshevik Revolution
• Desperate German citizens begin to look everywhere for
help.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTuIzGe2Nz8