Download Lsn 25 World War I

World War I
Theme: Causes and Results of Global
War
Lsn 18
Agenda
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Causes
Schlieffen Plan
Trench Warfare
Attempts to break the stalemate
– Gas
– Peripheral Operations: Gallipoli
– Frontal Assaults at Verdun and the Somme
– Hutier tactics
– Tanks
– American Involvement
• Technological Developments
• Surrender and Settlement
Causes of World War I
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Colonial disputes
Nationalism
Alliances
Militarism
Colonialism
• Virtually all the major powers were engaged in a
scramble for empire to bolster their economies
• The fiercest competition was between Britain and
Germany and between France and Germany
Nationalism
• The French Revolution had spread nationalism
throughout most of Europe
– The idea that people with the same ethnic origins,
language, and political ideals had the right to form
sovereign states through the process of selfdetermination
• Nationalist aspirations of subject minorities
threatened to tear apart the multinational
empires of the Ottomans, Hapsburgs, and
Russians
– Such a development would affect the regional
balance of power
Nationalism: Austria-Hungary
• Poles, Czechs,
Slovaks, Serbs, Croats,
and Slovenes all had
nationalist aspirations,
especially the Serbs
• The Serbs were
strongly supported by
the Russians as part of
the pan-Slavic
movement
• The Austria-Hungarians
were strongly
supported by the
Germans
Nationalism: Assassination of
Ferdinand
• Archduke Francis Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary went on a visit to
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
which Austria-Hungary had
annexed in 1908
• Sarajevo was a hotbed of panSerbian nationalism
• As he drove through Sarajevo on
June 28, 1914, seven assassins
from the terrorist group Black
Hand waited for him
– The Black Hand advocated for a
greater Serbia
Archduke
Ferdinand
and his family
Nationalism: Assassination of
Ferdinand
• Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Ferdinand
• Austria issued an ultimatum to Serbia
demanding that Austrian officials take part in any
investigation of people found on Serbian territory
connected to the assassination
• Serbia refused this demand as a violation of its
sovereignty
• On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia
– A tangled alliance system then began to realize itself
Triple Alliance
• Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the
Dual Alliance in 1879, committing the two
states to mutual assistance in the event of
attack by France or Russia.
• The Dual Alliance was expanded into the
Triple Alliance in 1882 when Italy joined.
– Italy proved to be an equivocal partner,
declaring itself neutral when the war began
and ultimately siding with the Allies
Triple Entente
• The Triple Alliance was counter-balanced by the
Triple Entente of France, Russia, and Britain.
• As a result, by 1907 Europe was divided into two
armed and tense camps.
Tangled Alliances
• So…
– When Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia on July 28, the next day Russia began
mobilizing to defend its Serbian ally
– Then, in consideration of mobilization
timetables, Russia also mobilized against
Germany
– In response, Germany declared war on
Russia on Aug 1
Tangled Alliances
• It continues…
– France starts to mobilize on behalf of its ally Russia
– On Aug 3, Germany declares war on France and also
begins to attack through neutral Belgium to France in
accordance with its war plan
– Belgium protests to the signatories of the 1839 treaty
guaranteeing its neutrality
– When Germany refused Britain’s (one of the treaty
signatories) ultimatum on Aug 4, Britain declared war
on Germany
Militarism
• The reason all this
happened so fast was
the advanced state of
militarism
– World War I was the
first war in which the
opponents went to war
with detailed and
precise plans that had
been written years
before the outbreak of
hostilities
• “Mobilization means
war” (German
ambassador to the
Russians)
• War Plans
– Austria: Attack Russia, Italy, or
the Balkans (Variants R, I, and
B)
– Russia: Attack Austria-Hungary
(Plan A) or defend against
Germany (Plan G)
– Germany: Attack France before
Russia could mobilize
(Schlieffen Plan)
– France: Attack Germany (Plan
XVII)
– Great Britain: Deploy BEF
The Plans
• French Plan XVII
disregarded Belgian
frontier (thought
Germans wouldn’t
violate Belgian
neutrality)
• Schlieffen Plan had
its main effort
through Belgium
Schlieffen Plan
• The Schlieffen plan sent a
powerful right wing through
western Belgium, the
Netherlands, and northern
France in a gigantic wheeling
movement
• The idea was to destroy
France before Russia could
mount an effective offensive
against the weak German
forces in the east and thus
avoid fighting a two-front war
Alfred von Schlieffen
(1833-1913), chief of the
German general staff
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Moltke’s Modifications to the
Schlieffen Plan
• Helmuth von Moltke replaced Schlieffen as chief
of the general staff in 1906 and modified
Schlieffen’s original plan
– Weakened the right wing and strengthened the left
• Moved four and a half corps from the west to the
east to protect East Prussia
• Modified sweep of right wing so that Germans would
not violate the Netherlands’ neutrality
• Added a counterattack mission to the left wing
– Violated Schlieffen’s dying words to “Keep the right
wing strong”
Problems with the German Plan
• Became inflexible “war by
timetable”
– Required enormous
logistical effort to move
men and equipment from
Aachen to around Paris in
a little more than five
weeks
– Committed Germany to a
two front war
• Necessitated attacking
before Russia or
France could seize the
initiative (even if
Germany wasn’t ready)
Result
Schlieffen Plan worked initially but stalled due to logistical
demands; static warfare began
Trench Warfare
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Gas
• Various efforts were
made to break the
stalemate
• The Germans first
used gas against
the Russians on Jan
13, 1915 with little
effect
• They were more
successful at Ypres
on Aug 15
Even German dogs were
outfitted with gas masks
Dulce et Decorum Est
(“Sweet and Fitting it is to Die for One’s
Country”)
Gas! GAS! Quick boys! – An
ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just
in time:
But someone still was yelling
out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in
fire or lime. –
Dim, through the misty panes
and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw
him drowning
-- Wilfred Owen
“Gassed” by John
Singer Sargent
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Peripheral Operations
• Ottoman Empire entered
the war on the side of the
Central Powers on Oct 31,
1914 (Remember from
Lesson 14)
• Seen, especially with the
British, as a new theater
that offered an alternative
to the deadlock on the
Western Front
• End result was a series of
operations on the
periphery of Europe
Peripheral Operations: Gallipoli
• On April 25, 1915, the Allies
launched the Gallipoli
campaign.
• Mustafa Kemal told the Turkish
defenders, “I am not ordering
you to attack. I am ordering
you to die. In the time it takes
us to die, other forces and
commanders can come and
take our place.”
– Remember Kemal from Lsn
14
• On January 16, 1916, the
Allies admitted defeat and
withdrew.
ANZAC Forces on
Gallipoli
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Frontal Attacks
• On Feb 21, 1916, the
Germans launched a
massive attack on
Verdun which was
preceded by a 12-hour
bombardment
• Fighting continued until
December 19 and
caused over an
estimated 700,000 dead,
wounded and missing
• The battlefield was
smaller than ten square
kilometers
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Frontal Assaults
• On July 1, the British
launched an offensive
along the Somme River
to try to divert German
troops from Verdun
• On the first day, 60,000
British soldiers were
killed, wounded, or
captured.
• When the attack halted
in November, the Allies
and the Germans had
each suffered more
than 600,000
casualties.
German casualties at the
Battle of the Somme
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Hutier Tactics
• Short, violent artillery prep
as storm troops advance
to assault positions
• Storm troops infiltrate
through main defenses to
objectives in the rear
• Artillery shifts to fix enemy
• Follow on forces reduce
bypassed pockets of
resistance
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Tanks
• The British began
developing tanks in
1914 and used them
in small numbers at
the Somme on Sept
15, 1916
– Achieved little in
this initial
employment
• The Battle of Cambrai
on Nov 20, 1917
marked the first large
scale use of tanks
with 474
British Mark I tank of the
type used during the
Battle of the Somme
Attempts to Break the Stalemate:
Tanks
• At Cambrai, the British
gained initial surprise and
advanced three miles by
the end of the first day
– Deepest penetration into
German lines on the
Western Front since the
beginning of trench warfare
• On the second day, the
British continued to
advance but the Germans
brought up four more
divisions
• On the third day, the
British began losing what
ground they had gained
Breaking the Stalemate:
American Entry
• In 1914, the American
public was firmly opposed
to intervening in the war
• The mood began to
change in 1915, when the
Germans sunk the British
passenger liner Lusitania,
killing 1,198, including 128
US citizens
• Still in 1916, Woodrow
Wilson was reelected
President with the slogan,
“He Kept Us Out of War”
Between Feb 14 and Sept 18,
1915, the Germans practiced
“unrestricted submarine
warfare.” Any Allied ship in the
seas around the British Isles
would be sunk without warning.
German Miscalculation
• Germany resumed unrestricted
submarine warfare in early 1917
– Notified US of decision Jan 31
– Sunk several US ships in Feb
and Mar
• US declared war on April 6, 1917
– At the same time Russia was
withdrawing from the war
(Remember from Lesson 11),
the US was entering
• Germany failed to end war before
the US entered it
American Involvement: Command
Issues
• British and French wanted the
Americans attached to armies of
other nations (Amalgamation)
– Committing the Americans to
combat in small units rather
than waiting for them to
organize and train as
divisions and corps would get
them into the fight more
quickly
• Pershing resisted, arguing that
national pride and a separate
American contribution to victory
overshadowed the logistical and
preparation problems
John Pershing,
commander of the
American
Expeditionary Force
Technological Advances from
World War I
• The industrialization of
society we studied in
Lesson 6 would generate
many military applications
of new technology
• In 1915 British Admiral
Jacky Fisher wrote, “The
war is going to be won by
inventions.”
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Machine gun
Rapid fire artillery
Airplanes
Internal combustion
engine
Tanks
Zeppelins
Gas
Flamethrowers
World War I Airplanes
148th American Aero Squadron
Petite Sythe, France. (August 6,
1918)
Baron Manfred von Richthofen,
the Red Baron, was credited
with 80 confirmed kills
World War I Vehicles
T. E. Lawrence used a fleet of nine Rolls-Royce armored
cars and tenders specially adapted for desert warfare.
World War I Zeppelin
World War I Flamethrower
Surrender
• Eventually, the Allies overwhelmed the
Germans with men and equipment
– “Americans and tanks”
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Bulgaria surrendered Sept 30, 1918
The Ottomans Oct 30
Austria-Hungary Nov 4
Germany Nov 11
– “Armistice Day” was replaced by “Veterans’ Day”
by Act of Congress on May 24, 1954
Paris Peace Conference
• The victorious powers
met in Paris in 1919 to
determine the postwar
settlement
• Representatives from the
Central Powers were not
invited to attend
• The Russians were not
invited to attend
• The French, British, and
Americans dominated the
conference
Georges Clemenceau (France),
Lloyd George (Britain), and
Woodrow Wilson (US) at
Versailles
Fourteen Points
• Wilson had announced his “Fourteen Points” as a
proposed basis for the armistice a year before the
Paris Peace Conference opened. He envisioned:
– Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at,
– Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas in peace
and in war,
– The removal of all economic barriers and the
establishment of an equality of trade conditions among
all nations,
– Adequate guarantees for a reduction in national
armaments,
– Adjustments of colonial disputes to give equal weight
to the interests of the controlling government and the
colonial population, and
– A call for “a general association of nations”
Fourteen Points
• Many perceived Wilson’s Fourteen Points as
excessively idealistic
• For the Allies, they conflicted with the secret
wartime agreements they had made to
distribute among themselves territories and
possessions of the defeated nations
• For the defeated powers, the harsh treaties
that would be latter imposed upon them
certainly seemed to violate the spirit of the
Fourteen Points
Treaty of Versailles (1919)
• In contrast to Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the
French especially wanted harsh terms imposed
on the Germans
– Wanted to destroy or permanently weaken Germany as
a threat
• The Treaty of Versailles denied the Germans a
navy and air force and limited the size of their
army to 100,000 troops
• Prevented Germany and Austria from entering
any sort of political union
• Required the payment of war reparations
– Harsh terms of the treaty would eventually facilitate
Hitler’s rise to power
League of Nations
• Wilson’s call for “a general association of nations”
resulted in the Covenant of the League of Nations with
42 original members
• This new world organization would be rendered
ineffective by two flaws:
– Though designed to solve international disputes
through arbitration, it had no power to enforce its
decisions
– Its basic premise of collective security never
materialized because at any given time one or more
of the great powers did not belong to the League
League of Nations
• The US never
joined the League
because the
Senate rejected it
• By 1940 the
League had
dismantled
• Nonetheless it
established the
pattern for and
served as a model
for the United
Nations
1919 British cartoon criticizing
the failure of the United States
to join the League of Nations
Europe Before and After World War I
Africa Before and After World War I
Next
• World War II