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CHAPTER Twenty-four World War I Introduction • A twentieth-century war • The expectations and reality of war The July Crisis • Alliances • Triple Entente (Allied Powers)—Britain, France, and Russia • Triple Alliance (Central Powers)—Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy The July Crisis • Threats to peace • • • • Economic, military, and political advantage Scramble for colonies The arms race Technology The July Crisis • The Balkans • The Austro-Hungarians and the Ottomans • Great powers tried to avoid direct intervention • The First Balkan War (1912) • Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Montenegro against the Ottomans • The Second Balkan War (1913) • Fought over the spoils of the 1912 war The July Crisis • The Austro-Hungarian Empire—the Dual Monarchy • Ethnic conflict • Bosnian Serbs hoped to secede and join the independent kingdom of Serbia • The Bosnian Serb underground war The July Crisis • Summer 1914 • June 28, 1914—Franz Ferdinand and his wife assassinated at Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip • July—Austria issued an ultimatum • A punitive campaign to restore order in Bosnia and crush Serbia • The demands were deliberately unreasonable • The Serbs mobilized their army • July 28, 1914—Austria declared war • Austria saw the conflict as a chance to reassert its authority • Russia saw the conflict as a way to regain the tsar’s authority • July 30, 1914—Russia mobilized its troops to fight Austria and Germany The July Crisis • Diplomatic maneuvers • Germany • Detailed war plans • Kaiser Wilhelm II sent an ultimatum to Russia • • • • • Germany demanded to know French intentions August 1, 1914—Germany declared war on Russia August 3, 1914—Germany declared war on France August 4, 1914—Germany invaded Belgium The British response • Secret pacts with France • August 4—Britain reluctantly entered the war against Germany • A “tragedy of miscalculation” • Little diplomatic communication • Austrian mismanagement • The lure of the first strike The Marne and its Consequences • General observations • War as national glory and spiritual renewal • War put centuries of progress at risk • Bankers and financiers were most opposed to war—financial chaos would result • For the young there was the excitement of enlistment • “Over by Christmas” • A short, limited, and decisive war • Size and bigger armies • Speed and quick offensives The Marne and its Consequences • German war plans • Schlieffen and von Moltke • Attack France first, neutralize the Western Front, then attack Russia • Problems • The plan overestimated physical and logistical capabilities • The speed of movement was too much for the troops • Supply lines could not keep up • The resistance of the Belgian army • Frequent changes made to the plan • Troops sent to the Eastern Front • Attacked Paris from the northeast instead of the southwest The Marne and its Consequences • The Battle of the Marne • • • • • Joffre led the Germans into a trap British and French counteroffensives German retreat The race to the sea The Western Front • The Great Powers dug in • Trench warfare Stalemate, 1915 • The search for new partners • Ottomans joined Germany and Austria in 1914 • Italy joined the Allies in May 1915 • Major effect was to expand the war geographically Stalemate, 1915 • Gallipoli and naval warfare • Turkish intervention • Threatened Russia’s supply lines • Endangered British control of the Suez Canal • Churchill argued for a naval offensive in the Dardanelles • Gallipoli landing (April 25, 1915) • Incompetent naval leadership • Lacked adequate planning, supply lines, and maps • Fought for seven months and then the British withdrew • Major Allied defeat Stalemate, 1915 • A war of attrition • The nature of modern war • The total mobilization of resources • The Allies imposed a naval blockade on Germany • Germany responded with submarine warfare • Germans sank the Lusitania (May 7, 1915) • Almost 1,200 killed • Provoked the animosity of the United States • The blockade strained Germany’s national economy Stalemate, 1915 • Trench warfare • Life in the trenches—the “scratch holes” • Twenty-five thousand miles of trenches along the Western Front • Attack, support, and reserve trenches • “Wastage” • Seven thousand British soldiers killed daily Stalemate, 1915 • Trench warfare • New weapons • Artillery, machine guns, and barbed wire • Exploding bullets and liquid fire • Poison gas • First used by the Germans at the second battle of Ypres (April 1915) • Physically devastating and psychologically disturbing • Gas took more lives but did not alter the stalemate Slaughter in the Trenches: The Great Battles, 1916–1917 • General observations • Bloodiest battles occurred during 1916– 1917 • Military planners refused to alter traditional offensive strategies • The “cult of the offensive” • Poor communication between command and the front line • Firepower outpaced mobility Slaughter in the Trenches: The Great Battles, 1916–1917 • Verdun (February 1916) • Verdun as symbol of French strength • Germany’s goal was to break French morale • The battle • One million shells fired on the first day • Ten-month struggle • Offensive and counteroffensive • By June, 400,000 French and German soldiers were killed • The advantage fell to the French, but there was no clear victor Slaughter in the Trenches: The Great Battles, 1916–1917 • The Somme (June–November 1916) • Britain on the offensive • The idea was to destroy the German trenches • German trenches withstood the attack • Brutal fighting • Hand-to-hand combat • Twenty thousand British killed on the first day • By November, 1.1 million British, German, and French soldiers were dead • Neither side won Slaughter in the Trenches: The Great Battles, 1916–1917 • Other battles War of Empires • Europe’s colonies provided soldiers and material support • Britain and France • Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa • One and a half million Indian troops served as British forces (Western Front and Middle East) War of Empires • Britain and France • French Empire (North and West Africa) sent 607,000 to fight with the Allies • Colonies as theaters for armed engagement • • • • • Allies pushed the Turks out of Egypt in 1916 Lawrence of Arabia British encourage Arab nationalism Balfour Declaration and European Zionism War drew Europe into the Middle East War of Empires • The Irish revolt • British vulnerability • Sinn Féin (“Ourselves Alone”) • Formed in 1900 for Irish independence • Home rule bill passed Parliament (1912) • “Irish question” tabled with outbreak of war • The Easter Revolt (1916) • Dublin • Revolt as military disaster • The British executed the rebels in public War of Empires • The Irish revolt • New home rule bill (1920) • Dominion status granted to Catholic Ireland in 1921 • Civil war • Irish Free State established (1937) • Irish Republic (1945) The Home Front • The costs of war—money and manpower • Mobilizing the home front • Single goal of military victory • Total war • Civilians were essential to the war economy • Produced munitions • Purchased war bonds • Tax hikes, inflation, and material privation (rationing) The Home Front • Women in the war • Women as symbols of change • Massive numbers entered the munitions industry • Women entered clerical and service sectors • New opportunities • Breaking down restrictions • Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth The Home Front • Women in the war • Long-term changes • Women sent home after the war • Governments pass “natalist” policies • Encouraging women to marry and raise children • Birth control • Universal suffrage—Britain (1918), United States (1919), France (1945) The Home Front • Mobilizing resources • Mobilizing men and money • Conscription • France called up 8 million men (two-thirds of the population of men aged eighteen to forty) • British introduced conscription in 1916 • Financing the war • Allies borrowed from Britain, who borrowed from the United States • Germany printed its own money • Dramatic rise in inflation The Home Front • The strains of war, 1917 • Declining morale of the troops • Troops saw their commanders’ strategies as futile • On the home front • Shortages of basic supplies (clothing, food, and fuel) • From restraint to direct control • Government regulation of working hours and wages • Political dissent, violence, and large-scale riots • Industrial strikes • Governments pushed to their limits The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • Disillusionment with Nicholas II as general The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • World War I and the February Revolution • Russia was unable to sustain the political strains of extended warfare • Russian army was poorly trained and undersupplied • Domestic discontent • Nicholas faced liberal opposition from the Duma • Soldiers were unwilling to fight • Militant labor movement and a rebellious urban population The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • World War I and the February Revolution • February 23, 1917—International Women’s Day (Petrograd) • Women marched demanding food, fuel, and political reform • Within a few days, a mass strike of 300,000 people • Nicholas sent in the police and military • Sixty thousand troops stationed in Petrograd sided with the revolt • Nicholas abdicated on March 2, 1917 The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • World War I and the February Revolution • New centers of power • Provisional government (mostly middle-class leaders in the Duma) • Wanted to establish a democratic system under constitutional rule • The Soviet • Pressed for social reform and the redistribution of land • Desired a negotiated settlement with Germany and Austria The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • The Bolsheviks and the October Revolution • Bolsheviks • Favored a centralized party of active revolutionaries • Revolution would lead to a socialist regime • February–October 1917 • Bolshevik demands • An immediate end to the war • Improvement in working conditions • Redistribution of aristocratic lands to the peasantry The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • The Bolsheviks and the October Revolution • October 1917 • Lenin announced that “all power has passed to the Soviets” (October 25) • Provisional government flees the Winter Palace • A quick and bloodless revolution The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • The Bolsheviks and the October Revolution • The Bolsheviks in power • Moved against all political opposition • Expelled parties who disagreed with the Bolsheviks • The one-party dictatorship • Peasant soldiers returned home • The redistribution of land, the nationalization of banks, and workers’ control of factories The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • The Bolsheviks and the October Revolution • The Bolsheviks and the war • Negotiated a separate treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk (March 1918) • Russia surrendered the Ukraine, Georgia, Finland, Polish territories, and the Baltic states • Led to civil war The Russian Revolutions of 1917 • The Bolsheviks and the October Revolution • John Reed and “ten days that shook the world” • The Allies—the revolution allowed Germany to win the war on the Eastern Front • Conservatives—feared a wave of revolution sweeping away other regimes • Socialists—startled to see a regime gain control so quickly in such a backward country The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • With Russia out of the war, Germany concentrated its efforts on the Western Front • The Allies feared Germany would win the war before the United States entered the war (April 1917) The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • Allied counteroffensive (July and August) • • • • • New tanks and the “creeping barrage” American troops The German army was pushed into Belgium The dismantling of the Central Powers Germany fought alone The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • Germany surrendered on November 3, 1918 • • • • On the verge of civil war Bavarian republic (November 8) Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated The war officially came to an end on November 11, 1918 The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • The United States as a world power • A fast and efficient wartime bureaucracy • Three hundred thousand soldiers shipped “over there” per month • Food and supplies • American intervention prompted by unrestricted warfare by German U-boats The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • The United States as a world power • Woodrow Wilson • • • • Making the world safe for democracy Banishing autocracy and militarism Establishing a league of nations Maintaining the international balance of power The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • The peace settlement • Gone were the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and German empires • Rise of the United States as world power • Thirty nations attended the conference (January 1919) • More countries had investments in the war • Delegates attended to redress national as well as international issues • Conflicting aims made the peace process difficult The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • The peace settlement • David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando, and Woodrow Wilson • Five treaties were signed, one with each of the defeated nations • Woodrow Wilson and the Fourteen Points • • • • • An end to secret diplomacy Freedom of the seas Removal of international tariffs Reduction of national armaments League of Nations The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • The peace settlement • German losses • • • • • • • Alsace-Lorraine to France Gave up territories to Denmark and Poland Gave coal mines in the Saar to France for fifteen years Danzig put under the control of the League of Nations Abolition of the air force, reduced the navy Capped the army at 100,000 volunteers All soldiers and fortifications to be removed from the Rhine valley • Article 231 • The “war-guilt” provision • Reparations The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • The peace settlement • Other treaties • Based on Allies’ strategic interests and on the principle of self-determination • Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were created • Poland was reestablished • Austria was separated from Hungary • Boundaries did not follow ethnic divisions • Guaranteed future problems of the 1930s • The Ottoman Empire • The creation of modern Turkey • The “mandate system” • Continued attitude of western superiority The Road to German Defeat, 1918 • The peace settlement • Covenant of the League of Nations • An arbiter of world peace? Conclusion • • • • Nine million dead The “lost generation” Global political and social discontent Economic consequences—Europe displaced as the center of the world economy • The rise of the United States and Japan • Disillusionment and the decline of liberal democracy This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint for Chapter 24. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/wciv_16e/brief