Download World War I Notes Outline-0

World War I
The Pursuit of Peace
 1896, the first modern Olympics was held in Athens. Its founder hoped to
promote “love of peace and respect for life.”
 Alfred Nobel: Invented Dynamite to be used for advancing society. Instead
the military turned it into a weapon.
 Pacifism: Opposition to all war.
 1899, many world leaders attended the first Universal Peace Conference in
the Netherlands. They established the Hague Tribunal, which was a World
Court to settle disputes between nations. The court could not force nations
to submit their disputes, nor enforce its rulings. Still, this was a step toward
keeping the peace.
Tension Between European Powers
 3 Key Factors that help develop rivalries among Euro-powers:
1. Economic Rivalry: Germany had experienced rapid economic growth and
by the mid 1900’s, is the industrial leader in Europe taking over for the old
leader, Great Britain.
2. Imperialism: In 1905 and 1911, competition for colonies brought France
and Germany to the brink of war.
Imperialism: domination by one country of political, economic, or cultural
life of another country or region.
3. Militarism: With international tensions on the rise, the great powers start
to really expand their army and navy’s. Military leaders become more
important and make more decisions.
Aggressive Nationalism
Western Europe
 France and Germany: After the Franco-Prussian War, the Germans
remained and occupied border states around the French nations. By 1900,
the German military machine was the leading power in Europe with
aggressive leaders. France has a strong nationalistic spirit also so they want
a shot at the Germans after the Franco-Prussian War.
Eastern Europe
 Russia is the leading power and a strong Slavic state (strong Nationalism).
Felt it was their duty to protect all Slavic states. The feeling of nationalism
is still changing territories in southeastern Europe.
 Austria-Hungary was worried about rebellions among its many ethnic
groups.
 The Ottoman Empire was dealing with newly found border nations of
Serbia and Greece.
Standing Armies in Europe in 1914
Russia: 6 million
Germany: 4.5 million
France: 4 million
Austria/Hungary: 3 million
Great Britain: 800,000
Assassination in Sarajevo
 The start of WWI revolves around Francis Ferdinand. He was the Archduke
of Austria-Hungary. Announced that he would visit Sarajevo which was the
capital of Bosnia.
 News spread throughout Bosnia and Sarajevo about this visit and it enraged
many Serbian nationalists. They viewed Austria-Hungary as the foreign
oppressor.
 Members of the Serbian terrorist group (more commonly known as the
Black Hand) vowed to take action.
 On June 28th, 1914, Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, rode through Sarajevo in
an open car. Stationed along the route were members of the “Black Hand”.
As the Archduke went by, they tossed a bomb at the car, but missed and
injured an officer in another car.
 Later that day, Ferdinand wanted to go visit the officer that was injured. As
the car left, a man jumped out and fired 2 shots into the backseat of the
car. The shots killed Ferdinand and his wife.
 The news of his nephew’s death got back to the Emperor of the Austrian
Empire, Francis Joseph.
 Austria sent Serbia a sweeping Ultimatum (Final Set of Demands):
1. Serbia must end all anti-Austrian demonstrations.
2. Punish any Serbs involved in his nephew’s murder plot.
3. Let Austria be involved in any investigation
 For the most part, Serbia refused to agree to all ultimatums and Austria
Declared war on Serbia in July of 1914. The alliances start to pick sides.
Alliances Form
 Austria Hungary: After the death of Francis Ferdinand, Kaiser Wilhelm II
(ruler of Germany) wrote Austria and instructed to take a firm stand against
Serbia. Wilhelm II assured that Austria had the full support of Germany’s
war machine.
 Serbia: The Serbs, being a Slavic state, sought help from Russia Czar
Nicholas II. He wrote a letter to Austria asking to soften his demands on
Serbia. When this failed, Russia began to mobilize (prepare military forces
for war). Germany responded by declaring war on Russia.
 Russia: Called on France after Germany declared war on them. France saw
this as a way to avenge their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. The French
told Russia that it would support her with all military actions. Germany
demanded that France keep out of the conflict, but France refused, and
Germany declared war on France.
 Italy and Great Britain: Remain neutral (which means a policy of supporting
neither side in a war) for the time being.
 Distrust led the great powers to sign treaties with each other to develop
allies. These alliances were intended to create powerful combinations that
no one would dare attack. When the dust settled there were 2 alliances.
 Central Powers:
Austria/Hungary
Germany
Allies:
Great Britain
France
Russia
 The growth of rival alliance systems increased international tensions.
The Great War
 Newspapers in Europe called it the “Great War”. It was the largest conflict
in military history up to that time.
France: mobilized 8.5 million
Britain: mobilized 9 million
Russia: mobilized 12 million
Germany: mobilized 11 million
 During the course of WWI; 1 in every 4 died in action.
 This was a new kind of war, far deadlier than any ever fought before.
The Schlieffen Plan
 Alfred von Schlieffen developed a plan to attack France and not fight a two
front war. Schiliefeen figured that Russia’s lumbering military would be
slow to mobilize. Under this plan, Germany first had to defeat France
quickly, then concentrate on defeating Russia in the East.
 The plan called for the German army to march down south through Belguim
and invade France from behind. One Problem; Belgium was neutral.
Nations at war cannot invade neutral nations.
 Germany invaded Belgium anyways. When they did this Great Britain
declared war on Germany.
The Western Front
 As the war began, the German forces swept through Belgium toward Paris.
The German Generals soon violated the Schlieffen Plan because Russia and
mobilized its troops much faster than expected. This forced the Germans
to shift some troops to the east. That move made the Western front much
weaker for the Germans.
 In September of 1914, British troops reached France and joined the French
troops in the fight for the western front. The British and French won some
battles during the next month or two.
 Both sides then dug in for the winter. They didn’t know that the conflict
was going to turn into a long bloody conflict in which the battle lines
remained unchanged for four years.
Stalemate: a dead lock in which neither side can defeat the other. Why did
this happen? Trench Warfare!!!
 On the western front, the warring armies burrowed into a vast system of
trenches that stretched from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel.
 An underground network of trenches linked bunkers, communications and
storage bunkers. In these trenches, millions of soldiers roasted in hot
European summers and froze during the severely cold winters.
 They shared their food with rats and their living quarters with lice.
 Between the trenches (which were only a few hundred yards apart) lay “No
Man’s Land”. From the Swiss border to the English Channel, the land is
littered with bomb shells and every tree and structure is gone for 400 miles
long, 300 yards wide.
 One side would charge across and try to overrun the enemy, and would get
cut-down. The other side would counter attack with the same results.
 In 1916, both the allies and the central powers launched massive offenses
to try and break the stalemate.
 The Germans tried to break the French line at Verdun. The French troops
held strong, the struggle lasted for 11 months. In all, Germans and French,
over 500,000 men lost their lives.
 The Allies offensive came at the Somme River. In one day of grisly battle
60,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded.
 In the 5 month battle at the Somme River, over 1 million soldiers were
killed, without either side gaining an advantage.
Technology of Weapons
 Although the gas was a dreaded weapon of destruction, it was also very
unpredictable. Shifting winds on the battle field could send the poison gas
right back at its sender.
 Tank: In 1916, Britain introduced new weapon called the armored tank.
Mounted with guns, the tanks were designed to break the lines of the
enemy defense. However the tanks were very slow moving and after a
short time broke down.
 Planes: Both sides used aircrafts. At first planes were simply used to
observe enemy troops movement. Later, both sides equipped their
airplanes with machine guns.
 Pilots were known as flying aces and they battled each other in the sky.
These battles were called dogfights. Although spectacular to watch, they
had little effect on the war itself.
 Submarines: Were much more important. German Submarines roamed
the Atlantic Ocean. These early subs were called U-Boat. These
underwater weapons did tremendous damage to the allied side. Sinking
merchant ships loaded with supplies bound for Britain.
 To counteract the U-Boats, the allies organized convoys (groups of
merchant ships protected by warships).
 Unrestricted submarine warfare: This is what brings the United States into
WWI.
 Machine Gun: Mowed down waves of soldiers, making it nearly impossible
to advance across “No Man’s Land”
 Artillery: Allowed troops to shell enemy lines and cities from more than 10
miles away.
 Poison Gas: Blinded and choked its victims and caused agonizing burns and
blisters.
Eastern Front
 In August 1914, Russian armies pushed into Eastern Germany winning many
battles until the Battle of Tannenburg, where the Russians would suffer one
of the worst defeats in the war and have to retreat. After that defeat, the
Germans pushed back to Russia and the armies in the east began fighting
on Russian land. Russia was the least industrialized power in the war. The
army was not even well equipped. But they had a lot of people.
Costs of the War





The human and material costs of WWI were staggering.
More than 8.5 million people were dead.
Double that number were wounded, many handicapped for life.
Famine threatened many regions.
The devastation was made even worse in 1918 by a deadly Pandemic
(spread of a disease across an entire region, country, or continent).
 This happened to be influenza. This flu swept around the world, killing over
20 million more people.
 Financial Burden: From France to Russia, homes, farms, factories, roads,
and buildings have been bombed into rubble.
The Big Three
 The leader of the Free World was Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA
talked of Democracy and the advantages of it.
 Wilson, along with British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, and French
leader Georges Clemenceau were faced with many issues such as creating
new boundaries in Europe and also created the League of Nations.
 In June of 1919, “The Big Three” meet with leaders of the defeated nations
at Versailles, outside of Paris, France. The Germans were ordered to sign
the Treaty of Versailles.
 The Treaty read that the Germans were to blame for the war. They were
ordered to pay huge war reparations, not only for war damages, but also
pensions for millions of allied soldiers, or their widows and families.
 The total cost of the war reparations for Germany came to 30 billion
dollars. Most of these demands were to weaken Germany.
 To help pay for the war, the allies created reparations (payments for war
damages). The allies blamed the central powers for the war and insisted
they pay war reparations.
 Political Turmoil: Under the stress of the war, governments had collapsed
in Russia, Germany, Austria Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire.
 Communism will be the choice of philosophy for many leaders. Also will be
a huge rise in dictators and totalitarianism.
Theme:
Start of WWI
Core Content:
SS-H-5.3.6
SS-H-5.3.3
Key Terms:
Black Hand Ultimatum
Mobilize
Neutrality
Schlieffen Plan
Key Names:
Francis Ferdinand (Archduke)
Francis Joseph (Emperor)
Kaiser William II
Czar Nicholas II
Alfred von Schlieffen
Key Places:
Austria-Hungary
Bosnia
Sarajevo (Capital of Bosnia)
Serbia
Belgium
Russia
France
Italy
Great Britain