Download The Triple Alliance

The First World War
a.k.a.
The Great War
The War to end all Wars
S
“MAIN” Causes
of the Great War
• Militarism
• Alliances
• Imperialism
• Nationalism
Great Powers of Europe
S The Great Powers of Europe were:
S Great Britain
S Germany
S France
S Russia
S Austria-Hungary
S What makes a country a “great power”?
How did a country become
‘Great’?
S Large army and navy
S Strong ruler
S Had to control a large empire
S Empire building was a big thing in the 19th Century
S know as Imperialism…think colonies
S It had to have strong industries at home
S Did a country need all these things to become a
‘Great Power’?
MAIN Causes
S Militarism – policy of building up an army to prepare for
war.
S Alliances
S Imperialism – policy of a stronger nation extending control
over weaker nations.
S Nationalism
Great Britain
S At the beginning of the 20th Century, Britain was the
greatest power in the world
S She was very rich and was a powerful industrialized
country
S Britain had the largest and most powerful navy
S She had the largest overseas empire
S The British Empire covered over a quarter of the
world’s surface
Empire: Land outside the border of a nation which is
controlled by that nation. These are called colonies
and a group of colonies make up an empire.
The British
Empire
Germany
S But soon Germany began to compete against Britain
for this title
S Germany had a larger population that Britain
S Many of her industries were more advanced in
comparison to Britain
S She had more natural resources
S Germany was expanding her trade throughout the world:
by 1913 she was selling more goods in Europe than
Britain
S Germany’s Army was on the increase
S This began to worry Britain
The German
Overseas Empire
France
S France had been one of the most important
countries in Europe until 1870-71
S Franco-Prussian War: France was defeated and had to
hand over Alsace and Lorraine
S France was not as industrialised as Germany or
Britain as she produced less
S She had a large empire and army
S France wanted revenge for 1870-71
The French
Empire
Russia
S At this time Russia was the largest country in
the world!
S It had a population of 159 million
S She didn’t need an overseas empire
S
Her empire was on her doorstep and consisted of many
different peoples and languages
S Russia had a large army
S Russia wasn’t as industrialized as the other
Great Powers
Austria-Hungary
S Austria-Hungary was a large empire in the center
of Europe and consisted of many different people
groups – some of whom did not get along
S Many of these groups had their own language,
customs and way of life: this made the Empire
difficult to rule
S Many of these groups wanted to be independent
from Austria-Hungary – this was known as
nationalism
Nationalism
S Militarism
S Alliances
S Imperialism
S Nationalism -
a feeling of pride in one’s country. A
belief that there is something special about the people who
live there, their language and customs.
S Extreme nationalism led to wanting independence, or led to
powerful countries wanting to prove their greatness to
others.
So why did this system
contribute to the war?
S There is a contest to be the biggest, most powerful
country on earth. Two ways to achieve that is to make
a large military and many colonies. (militarism and
imperialism)
S Some colonies wanted their independence and all the
countries believed they were “the best” (nationalism)
S All it would take was for one ‘Great Power’ to do
something that wasn’t deemed acceptable by the
other for issues to arise
Country
Britain
Germany
Russia
AustriaHungary
France
Population
40.8
million
65 million
159 million
50
million
39.6
million
Number of
Colonies
56
10
/
/
29
Population of
colonies
390
million
15 million
/
/
58 million
Size of army
700,000
4,200,000
1,200,000
Size of navy
388
281
166
67
207
Coal output
each year
(million tonnes)
292
277
36.2
47
40
Steel output
each year
(million tonnes)
11
14
3.6
5
4.6
800,000 3,700,000
Militarism
Increase in spending on military 19101914
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%
The need for Allies
S Militarism
S Alliances – an agreement formed
between nations for their mutual benefit
S Imperialism
S Nationalism
S What do we mean when we speak of allies and alliances?
S Why do countries need alliances?
The situation in 1914
You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent a war in Europe, two
super blocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on
one side; and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other.
The idea was to have two vast, opposing armies, each acting
as the other's deterrent. That way, there could never be a
war.
Blackadder Goes Forth
The Triple Entente
(Allies)
The Triple Alliance
(Central Powers)
S
Germany
S
Great Britain
S
Austria-Hungry
S
France
S
Italy – changes sides before
the war
S
Russia
Formation of the Triple
Alliance
S In 1879, Bismarck (German leader) was afraid the
Russia would attack Germany so he signed an alliance
with Austria-Hungry
S They agreed that they would help each other militarily
if Russia attacked either one of them
S This was known as the Dual Alliance
S Italy joined the Dual Alliance in 1882, making it the
Triple Alliance
S This time the alliance was directed against France
Formation of the Triple
Entente
S France and Russia were worried about the alliances which
had been made against them
S So they decided to form their own alliance in 1895: Franco-
Russian Alliance
S Both France and Russia promised to help each other if they
were attacked by another power
S Now it was Britain’s turn to get worried, they needed an
alliance too.
So by 1907, two opposing
camps formed:
The Triple Alliance
(Central Powers)
The Triple Entente
(Allies)
S
Germany
S
Great Britain
S
Austria-Hungry
S
France
S
Italy
S
Russia
S
Remember: An Entente means a friendly understanding – it is not a
military alliance
S
The Triple Alliance was a military Agreement. The Triple Entente
was not
So if the alliances were
designed to discourage war, why
did one break out?
S In a way, the alliance system made war more likely
S When one of the members of either alliance declared war,
the other members would lend their support
S This had the potential to mean that when a country in one
alliance went to war against a country in the other alliance,
all the countries would get involved to support their allies
S Domino effect
S This is what happened in the summer of 1914
MAIN Causes Review
• Militarism
• Alliances
• Imperialism
• Nationalism
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
S
Born: 18 Dec. 1863
S
Position: Heir to the AustroHungarian throne
S
Died: 28 Jun. 1914
S
Cause of Death: Assassination
– gun shot in the neck
Why was he in Sarajevo?
S Franz Ferdinand and his wife had been invited to
inspect the troops stationed there
S Little did he know that a terrorist group fighting with
the aim of uniting Bosnia with Serbia, the Black Hand,
had planned to kill him
S There were 7 assassins involved – each armed with a
gun, bomb and a cyanide pill
S Franz Ferdinand arrived at 10am, June 28, 1914 and
proceeded to make his way to the Town Hall in a
motorcade
Assassination attempts 1 & 2
S The Black Hand knew the route which Ferdinand was going
to take, so they positioned the 7 assassins along the
roadside
S The first assassin failed to kill him as he lost his nerve
S He used the excuse that a policeman was standing near him
S The next assassin threw his bomb at the car
S However Ferdinand’s driver saw the bomb and accelerated –
it blew up under the car behind
S The assassin took his pill and jumped into the river but he
failed to die – the pill just made him vomit and the river
wasn’t deep enough to drown him
S The driver sped up to get to the town hall safely and the
remaining assassins called the plot off
Third time’s the charm
S Ferdinand insisted upon going to the hospital to visit those
injured in the blast so they got back into the car and drove
off
S One of the assassins, Gavrilo Princip, had decided to go to a
café after they called off the assassination plot
S To his amazement, Ferdinand’s car drove past him – the
driver had taken a wrong turn!
S The driver then turned the car around and this time Princip
was ready
S As soon as the car passed, he pulled out his gun and shot
the Archduke and his wife – both died later that day
S Princip, then turned his gun on himself but a member of the
public stopped him and the police arrested him
The spark that lit the fuse
S Austria-Hungary interrogated those involved and
found out that the organizers were hiding in Serbia
S They demanded that Serbia hand them over so they
could be tried, that Serbia takes the blame for the
assassination and to allow Austria-Hungary to police antiAustrian groups in Serbia
S Serbia refused to do so, and after gaining support and
approval from Germany, Austria-Hungary declared war
on Serbia on July 28
S This began the domino effect
Road to War
More Dominoes
War Begins
S By August 12, a month and a half after the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, 8 countries have declared war
on one another.
S The world is at war!