Download MWH The Great War Chapter 13

The Great War
Chapter 13
EQ: What factors set
the stage for a
continental war in
Europe?
Causes of WWI: MAIN
 Militarism
– Glorify military, always be prepared for war
– Aggressively building up a nation’s armed forces;
sometimes gives military more power in gov’t
– Endless planning for war makes war more likely
 Alliances
– Agreements between countries to support each other in
times of need
• Central powers: Germany, Austria Hungary (until
1915 also Italy as Triple Alliance)
• Allies: Russia, France, Great Britain (Triple Entente)
and Serbia
 Imperialism
– Starting in the 1890s a great scramble for
colonies; by 1910 most claimed and fighting
erupts over those that are left
 Nationalism
– Countries act in their own national interest
– Ethnic factions within countries wanted selfrule
The “Spark”
 June 28, 1914
 Archduke Frances
Ferdinand, heir to the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
visits Sarajevo in Bosnia
“powder keg of Europe”
(a recent addition to the AH
Empire)
– Both he and his wife are
assassinated by Gavrilo
Princip, a Serbian nationalist
who believed Bosnia should
be part of Serbia
 Leads to call for war
TO WAR!!!
 July 23, 1914: Austria-Hungry demanded
Serbia allow
– an investigation into the assassination by them
– eliminate terrorist groups in their border
– stop anti-AH propaganda
 Serbia asks for an International Conference
to avoid War
 July 29th- AH declares war
– Russia mobilizes as Serbia’s ally
Do you think?
 Do you think based on the causes that war
was inevitable? Why or why not?
EQ: Why was one
European nation after
another drawn into the
large, industrialized
“great war”?
Think About It
 What does it mean to be neutral?
 How difficult do you think it would be to
stay neutral if two friends of yours were
arguing? Why?
Joining the Fight
 Joined Central Powers
– Ottoman Empire
– Bulgaria
 Joined Allied Powers
– Italy
– Romania
– Japan
Schlieffen Plan
 Germany’s- First strike plan
– to avoid fighting on 2 fronts, plan to knock
France out of the war in 6 wks before Russia
can truly mobilize; then turn to east
Failed
 Germany invades Belgium and gets 30 miles
from Paris; Battle of Marne (1st)
 Germans and British/French forces dig trenches
to keep from giving up land: stalemate
 Russia invades AH Empire and Germany,
Germany fears their early victories and moves
troops from the West to the East ahead of
schedule (They had wanted to capture Paris first),
manage to push back Russian Army
 Creates 2 Fronts: Western and Eastern, divides
the armies of the Central Powers
Western Front
 Stalemate created trench warfare
 Germany dug in, Allies followed suit
 Western Front roughly 500 miles from North Sea
to Swiss border
Water Logged Trenches
Enemy Fire
 Machine guns
 Tanks
• Rapid Fire artillery
• Hand grenades
• Gas warfare
• Chlorine gas 1915-destroy
respiratory organs
• Mustard gas 1917-most
lethal, odorless, 12 hrs to
take effect, stays in soil for
12 wks.
Vickers-600 rounds a
minute
Battles of Horror on the W.
Front
 Battle of Verdun
– February-December
1916
• Each side lost
300,000+ men
 Battle of Somme
– July-November 1916
• 1st day- 20,000 Brits
die
• Each side lost over ½
million
Eastern Front
 In the beginning Russia pushed
into Germany and AustriaHungry but by end of 1914 they
were in retreat
 1916 Russian war effort was
falling apart
– Lack of industrialization
– Allied supplies not reaching
them
 Did continue to tie up the
troops of the Central Powers
Gallipoli Campaign
 Allies wanted to obtain the Dardanelles
Strait
– Gateway to Constantinople and supply line for
Russia
 Feb. 1915- B, F, Australian & NZ troops
made assaults on peninsula
– May
• stalemate
– December
• allies evacuated
Battles in Africa and Asia
 German possessions
were attacked and taken
– Japan: China and Pacific
Island colonies
– British and French:
Africa
• Seized 3 of 4 German
areas
Colonial Troops
 Troops under the control of Britain and
France fought for them in the hopes of
gaining freedom after the war
– India, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria,
Indo-China
U.S. joins the Allies
 U.S. maintains neutrality through late 1916
– Sells war materials to both sides
 Early 1917 U.S. allies itself with Allied Powers-April
1917
– Commonality w/ Allies
– Economics
• Allies owe us $
– Propaganda
– German U-Boat
attacks- unrestricted by
Jan 1917
-Zimmerman Note
- “Make the world safe for democracy”- Wilson
Central Powers Collapse
 July to August 1918- Second Battle of the Marne
– Germany’s last attack- collapses in part due to fresh
American troops
 Fall 1918 Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire agree to peace
 October 1918 Austria-Hungary Empire splinters as
different ethnicities claim independence
 German begs for peace, Allies refuse; want “total
surrender”; push onto German soil
– Last week of October German navy ordered to fight
British navy, mutiny
• Causes mutiny in factories, cities and ports; Kaiser
Wilhelm II flees Germany
 Armistice signed November 11, 1918
Results of the War
 The toll…world wide
– Economic disaster
• Cost $338 billion
– 8 million soldiers killed
– 7 million permanently disabled;
many blind from gas attacks and
thousands from amputations
– 15 million seriously wounded
– 200 million civilian casualties
• Millions of civilians died as well from starvation,
disease or war related injuries
Influenza Epidemic 1918- killed 30 million
worldwide
Answer it…
 How does WWI begin to change the
concept of war?
EQ: Which factors in
the peace settlement of
the Great War helped
cause WWII? What
legacies were left by
WWI?
Think About It
 What do you think the statement… “at
what cost peace” …means?
Group Work
 Compare and Contrast the Treaty of
Versailles with Wilson’s 14 points
– Use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast
Treaty of Versailles
 Germany forced to own
responsibility for war
– European countries wish to
cripple Germany
 Germany to pay reparations
– $33 billion
 Map of Europe redrawn
– 9 new countries
 Limitations placed on
Germany
– Limited military
– Occupation
Legacies of the War

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Change in arts and literature
Armenian Genocide- still not acknowledged in Turkey
Many new countries created in Europe
Legacy of bitterness in Germany due to “war guilt” clause
Mandated areas upset over lack of independence
Japan and Italy wanted more land than they received
Russia lost land- Romania and Poland, Finland, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania
 U.S. rejects Treaty of Versailles
– Mostly over League of Nations/ people want to stay
out of European affairs and problems
– Separate treaty with Germany
 League of Nations had no real power
Answer it…
 The established peace was called “a peace
built on quicksand” by one observer. Do
you agree with this statement? Why or why
not?