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World War 1
Worldwide Crisis in Europe
The Causes of World War 1
• In the early 1900s tension began to grow
among the European powers
• Nationalism was the root of the cause of most
of the tension in Europe.
– Nationalism—an intense loyalty to one’s country
• Nationalism was what led to the creation of
unified countries, like Germany and Italy (refer
to your Nationalism and Nation-States notes)
• The actions of Germany and Italy concerned
older countries in Europe
– For example, Britain and France felt it was
challenging their power
The Race for Empires
• Problems in Europe also grew because of their
race to imperialize Africa, Asia, and other parts of
the world (see your Age of Imperialism notes)
• Britain and France already possessed large
overseas empires and wanted to expand even
more
• Germany, Italy, and Russia wanted to increase
their empires, too
• Because the world was running out of areas to
imperialize, nations began to conflict with one
another.
Military Build Up
• As nations competed for colonies,
protectorates, and spheres of influence, they
built up their armies and navies.
– If one country built up their army, its rival felt
threatened and built up their own; it was a cycle!
• Europeans were caught up in the spirit of
militarism
– Militarism—fascination with war and the military
• Germany, France, and Russia developed huge
armies
– They used conscription to fill their armies with
soldiers
• Conscription—requiring citizens to serve in the military for a
certain period of time
– In the U.S. this was referred to as “The Draft”
• Britain had the world’s largest and most powerful
navy
• In the early 1900s, Germany began to build up it’s
navy
• The British saw this as a threat and began to build
even more warships
• A bitter rivalry began between Britain and
Germany.
Forming Alliances
• As militarism grew, nations began to make
alliances
– alliances—defense agreements to help each other if
war/trouble broke out
• By 1914 two major alliances had formed between
the countries
• The Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary,
and Italy
• The Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia
– Entente (pronounced ahn-tahnt)—an understanding
among nations
• Alliances usually help to keep peace by
creating a balance of power.
– A balance of power keeps any one country from
becoming too powerful.
• But, Europe’s alliances actually created a great
danger.
– An attack on one nation was all that was needed
to trigger a war involving many countries!
• Europe was like a barrel of gunpowder, a
single spark would set it off.
The Balkan Crisis
• The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires had ruled
the Balkans (people living on the Balkan Peninsula)
• As nationalism spread, groups within these empires
demanded independence.
– The Slavs: a term used for several smaller groups of
Balkans (Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, and Slovenes); they all
wanted independence.
– The Serbs were the first smaller group to win their
freedom, they formed a state called Serbia
• They believed their mission was to unite all of the South Slavs
• The Russians backed the Slavs.
• The Austro-Hungarians didn’t like that the Serbs were
trying to get the rest of the Slavs to leave their empire
and join Serbia.
• The Austro-Hungarians wanted to limit Serbia’s
growth and power, so they took over a
neighboring country, Bosnia.
– The Serbs were furious because Bosnia was supposed
to join their country!
• With Russia’s support, the Serbs prepared for
war.
• But, it didn’t happen…yet; King William II of
Germany demanded that Russia accept the
Austro-Hungarians takeover of Serbia, or they
would face war with Germany (Russia and Serbia
did NOT want that)
– Russia backed down, but felt humiliated (a bitter
rivalry with Germany started)
• Although war was avoided this time, Europeans
expected it would break out in the Balkan region
to go to war soon.
The War Begins
• The spark that finally set off World War 1 was
lit in Sarajevo (a small town in Bosnia)
• There, in June 1914, a man named Gavrilo
Princip shot and killed Archduke Franz
Ferdinand (he was an heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary)
• Princip was a member of a secret nationalist
group called The Black Hand
– They did not like the Austro-Hungarians
• Austro-Hungary blamed Serbia for the archduke’s
death and declared war on Serbia
• Russia began mobilization (assembly and
movement) of its troops.
– By mobilizing Russia showed it was willing to fight
for Serbia
• Germany declared it would fight for AustriaHungary
• France entered and sided with Russia
• German troops had to go through Belgium to
attack France, but this led to another country
joining the war
– Britain had promised to help Belgium stay out of the
fight, so once Germans set foot on Belgium soil,
Britain declared war on Germany
Alliance Name Changes
• The Allies: In 1914 it was France, Russia,
Great Britain. Italy joined in 1915
• The Central Powers: Austria-Hungary,
Germany, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
The Fight
• Most of the fighting took place on the Western
Front, a battle zone between France and
Germany.
– French and British stopped a German advance in Sept.
1914. The battle to hold the Germans continued for 3
years, they barely advanced any.
• Troops, on both sides, dug themselves into the
ground in trenches protected by barbed wire.
• This kind of fighting is called Trench Warfare
– Soldiers had to climb out of trenches and cross open
land while machine guns and artillery (like modern
cannons) fired at them.
• In major battles, several hundred thousands were
killed or wounded.
A New Kind of War
• WWI, also called The Great War, was very
different from earlier wars.
• Both sides developed new, powerful weapons
– Machine guns fired bullets at rapid speeds
– Huge artillery guns fired shells out more than 75mi
– Submarines attacked ships
• Poison gases were used for the first time
– So were tanks and flame-throwers and early versions
of airplanes
Government Control
• Supplies had to be made and bought for millions of
soldiers
• To do this, governments decided what civilians could
and couldn’t buy.
– They used rationing (a system of limited the amount of
foods/materials in use.)
– They also controlled trade and took over industries and
railroads.
• Gov. also wanted to control public opinion. Wartime
govs. used propaganda.
– Propaganda—biased government
information/advertising
America Enters the War
• When the war began, President Woodrow
Wilson said the U.S. wasn’t supporting either
side.
• But, many of Wilson’s advisors supported Britain
and they believed an Allied victory was the only
way to keep balance in the world.
– So, the U.S. lowered loans to Germany and gave the
Allies lots of money through loans
– We also gave the Allies food and equipment.
• Germany didn’t have as much food, supplies, or
money.
• The British dealt Germany another blow by
imposing a blockade on Germany
– blockade—using warships to stop goods/people from
leaving/entering a country.
• The Germans fought back by using the world’s first
ocean going submarines (Germans called them UBoats)
• Germany warned Britain that they would sink any
ship sailing the waters around Britain.
– Despite the warning, the British cruise ship Lusitania
entered the war zone.
– A U-boat fired on it killing 1,200 passengers,
including…128 AMERICANS.
U.S. Declares War
• Jan. 1917: Germany contacts Mexico to see if it would
join the Central Powers if the U.S. declared war.
– They promised Mexico it would regain Texas, New Mexico,
and Arizona
• The British intercepted the message and told the US!
• Feb. 1917: Germany starts sinking boats without
warning again, including 6 AMERICAN merchant ships
WITHOUT warning
• April 6th, 1917 President Wilson asked Congress to
declare war on Germany.
The War Ends
• Warships carried wave after wave of American
troops to Europe and Allied hopes soared
– This was the help they needed to end the war!
• Nov. 1917: Russia pulls out of the war.
• Germany strengthened its army and marched
towards Paris in 1918.
• Jun. 1918-American and French troops block the
march
• Oct. 1918, The Battle of the Argonne Forest:
Americans launch a massive attack on Germany
– America suffered major losses, but destroyed the
German defenses
• Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was
in chaos
• German emperor stepped down after the
navy threatened a mutiny and a revolt broke
out in Berlin.
• Nov. 11, 1918-Germany signed an armistice
(cease-fire) and the war was over!
Treaty of Versailles
• In Jan. peace talks began at Versailles (remember
from your French Revolution notes?)
• Main figures were:
– U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister
David Lloyd George, French Premier Georges Clemenceau,
and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando.
• Pres. Wilson presented the 14 point plan
– Plan stated that national groups in Europe should form
their own countries
– Also called for League of Nations, an organization in
which member nations would cooperate to keep peace
• The treaty stripped Germany of most of its
armed forces and required the Germans to
pay reparations of $33 BILLION to the Allies
– Reparations—war damages
• President Wilson went back to the U.S. to
convince the gov. to join the League of
Nations, but they rejected it
– They were worried it would cause us to fight in
more wars
– Result: U.S. was left out of the League of Nations
New Nations in Europe
• WWI and treaties redrew the map of Europe
– Germany and Russia lost territory
– Austro-Hungarian empire disappeared completely
• Lands from these 3 empires became nationstates: Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Poland,
Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary
• Serbia became Yugoslavia
• These countries were all unstable because
different groups of people, with different ideas
were now living together.
So what happened to the Ottomans?
• Allies decided to break up the Ottoman
Empire (since they sided with the Central
Powers)
• Only area left to the Ottomans (who
controlled much of the Middle East) was
Turkey.
The Russian Revolution
• In the early 1900s many Russians were discontent
– Urban workers had terrible lives, peasants paid high taxes,
middle class wanted voice in gov.
• 1905—uprising took place before the czar’s palace in
St. Petersburg
• Czar Nicholas agreed to change some things and
created a duma (national assembly), but eventually,
in the midst of World War 1 (1917), he was
overthrown
– 300 year dynasty came to an end
– Members of the duma formed a provisional (temporary)
government and Alexander Kerensky served as its leader
Vladimir Lenin
• Many Russians were unhappy with the new
government and formed soviets
– Soviet—a committee to represent interests (this term
came to represent a sect of people thought)
• Soviets and provisional gov. became locked in a
political battle
• Members of Soviets were workers and peasants who
believed in socialism
– The most radical Soviets were called Bolsheviks their
leader was Vladimir Lenin
– He promised to take Russia out of the war and give all land
to the peasants.
Russian Government
• Oct. 1917: Bolsheviks took over Russia’s two largest
cities: St. Petersburg and Moscow
• Nov. 1917: they took over the Winter Palace and the
government.
• Lenin took control of the government
• Lenin signed peace treaty with Germany and took
Russia out of the war.
• Bolsheviks became known as Communists (also known
as Reds) and Leon Trosky formed the Red Army
• There was civil war in Russia between the Reds and
their enemies (known as the whites).
• The Whites wanted Russia to continue to fight in the
war (the Allies sent them aide) but the Reds defeated
them and Lenin stayed in power.