Download WWI NOTES 1914-1916

Background
• August 1914 – 1918
• The GREAT war; the “war to end all wars”
• Involved most nations of the world
"The Great War was without precedent ... never
had so many nations taken up arms at a single time.
Never had the battlefield been so vast… never had
the fighting been so gruesome..."
Causes of WWI
There are four *MAIN* causes…
“M”ilitarism
• Def: the glorification of war and the
military
• Security depended on technology, skill,
and readiness of forces
– Conscription
– Universal military training
“A”lliances
• Triple Entente
– France
– England (and all of the
Commonwealth)
– Russia (would leave in
1917 b/c of Revolution)
– Serbia
• Triple Alliance
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–
–
–
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy
Turkey
• Neutral
– Belgium – and other
nations not mentioned in
entente or Alliance.
– USA (would enter near the
end of 1917)
“I”MPERIALISM
• Industrialization brought competition for
new markets and to establish or expand
global empires
• Competition = hostility as countries
crossed each other while trying to
accomplish their goals.
“N”ATIONALISM
• France – revenge against Germany for loss of
Alsace-Lorraine in Franco-Russian War (1870 –
1871)
• Austria – Hungary
– Pan-slavis; Serbian Slavs supported and wanted to
form a “Yugoslav” nation
– A-H annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina (a Slavic territory)
– Serbia turned to Russia, their protector
– Russia made a deal with A-H – let them have B-H
– A-H didn’t keep deal and Russia is bitter
• Balkans – Serbian wanted Albania but failed
WORLD WAR I BEGINS
The “Spark”
• Europe had become a “Powder Keg,”
needing only a “spark” to touch off war
• In 1914, that “spark” was provided,
causing the outbreak of WWI.
Steps Leading to War
1. Archduke Frances Ferdinand is
assassinated by Gavrilo Princip
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

June 28, 1914
In Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Black Hand
2. The emperor of A-H, Franz Joseph blamed
Serbia. Got German support to retaliate
(July 5)
3. A-H gave Serbia an ultimatum (July 23)


A-H army enter Serbia to stop unrest
Lead assassination investigation
4. Serbian response was rejected and A-H
declares War (July 28)
5. Mobilization begins; system of alliances
set into motion
The Balkans
The War 1914 - 1916
By Aug 1914 the stage is set
• Central Powers
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–
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Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
*Italy remained neutral…
• Allied Powers
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–
–
–
–
–
–
GB
FR
Russia
Serbia
Belgium
Japan
Montenegro
Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan = Germany’s Plan of attack (1905)
1. Attack France through neutral Belgium
2. Complete in 6 weeks
3. Move to the Eastern Front to fight Russia
Problems
1. Belgium was heavily fortified
2. Strong resistance so German advance was
delayed
3. Russia mobilized quicker than expected
4. Met British forces in N FR
The Battle of the Marne
1. September 5, 1914
2. Lasted 4 days
3. French pushed Germans back 50 miles
from Paris
4. Significance:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Saved Paris
Boosted French morale
Ended Schlieffen Plan
Made it clear that there would be no easy winner
Early Russian Disaster
1. Aug. 13 Russia attacked Prussia;
successful
2. End of August – Battle of Tannenberg
A. Germans divided and destroyed Russians
B. 30,000 Russians killed; 92,000 taken prisoner
C. 13,000 Germans killed
*NEVER RECOVERED
Stalemate
1. November 1914 the war = stalemate
2. Belligerent nations adjusted plans
A. Civilians entered war effort
B. Newspapers exaggerated victories
C. Governments used propaganda
3. 1915 War of attrition was being used so build
trenches for protection
A. 2 parallel 500 mile long ditches from Switz. to North Sea
B. The area in b/wn “No Man’s Land”
C. Soldiers suffered from boredom, terror, rats, mud, cold,
disease
4. 1915 Germans introduced poison gas
Western Front:
1. Battle of Verdun (February 1916)
A. Germans launched surprise attack against
France in the NE
B. Lasted 6 months before the Germans w/drew
C. Results: Inconclusive, but on of the bloodiest
battles; ½ million dead
2. Battle of Somme (later 1916)
A. France launched attack against Germans along
the Somme River Valley
B. Results: Inconclusive and deadly
C. The British introduced tanks
The Eastern Front
1. More mobile – terrain didn’t favor trench
warfare
2. Russia
A. Least industrialized; did not have resources or
skills to fight a modern war
B. Many casualties
C. Lost many guns and ammunition
3. 1916 offensive against Austria-Hungary
A. Early success
B. Internal problems led to Russian collapse in 1917
The Southern Front
1. Orchestrated by Winston Churchill, head of
British Navy
2. Goal = occupy the Dardanelles Strait
A. Supply Russia
B. Strengthen Serbia
C. Aid in the collapse of A-H
3. Initial attempt failed in 1915
4. In the Battle of Gallipoli (April 1915 to Jan
1916) the Turks were able to force the allies’
w/drawal
Submarine Warfare
1. Germans introduced submarine warfare to
wear down the British sea power.
A. GB was the strongest
B. Naval blockades
2. German submarines = U Boats
3. 1915 – unrestricted submarine warfare
A. May 1915 they sank the Lusitania
B. 1200 killed, 128 were Americans
4. Woodrow Wilson threatens Germany; on Sept
1, 1915 Germany promised to halt submarine
warfare
The Home Front (Woodrow Wilson)
1. American public-opinion was split
A. Irish-Ams were anti-British
B. German-Ams sided with Germans
C. English, Scots, favored the Allies
2. Feb 1, 1917 Germans resumed
unrestricted sub-warfare
3. Feb 3, 1917 Wilson broke all ties w/
Germany
4. Feb 24, 1917 British intelligence
intercepts the Zimmerman Message
A. Mexico would support Central Powers
B. GERM would help MEX regain NM, TX, and AZ
5. March 1917 the message was printed in
American NPs
6. March 1917, 4 more Am vessels were
sank
7. April 2, 1917 Wilson asks Congress to
declare war “to make the world safe for
democracy.”
A. April 6 - Declaration of War
B. U.S begins mobilization
US Involvement
1. May 8, 1917 Selective Service Act
A.
B.
C.
By June 5 9.5 million men 21-30 registered
By end 4 million were drafted
Would bring unity!
2. American Expeditionary Force
A.
B.
General John J. Pershing
Built docks, RRs, telephone and telegraph lines, camps,
ammunition dumps, sheds, hospitals
3. 10,000 women worked in hospitals
4. Convoy System
The End of the War
Turning the Tide
1. The U.S. Enters the War
A. Boosted Allied morale
B. Resources: industrial and human
C. convoys delivered supplies
2. April 1917 the Great Britain launches a
major offensive at Flanders.
A. No clear victor
B. Huge casualties for both sides; running out of
men!
3. Total War
A. Definition = directing all people and resources to
the war effort.
B. G’vmts:
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•
•
•
•
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increased their powers
raised larger armies
increased taxes
placed controls on the economies
censored the press
rationed goods
C. Women
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Factory work
Improved women’s rights
End of the War
1. In July 1918 the Allies had a major
breakthrough on the Western Front
A. Stopped German offensive that had almost taken
Paris
B. Pushed the Germans back to the border of
Germany
C. Sept 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II w/drw German
forces from FR
2. The rest of the Central Powers collapsed
3. On Nov 9, 1918 the German Kaiser
abdicated the throne and a German
Republic was proclaimed
4. On Nov 11, 1918 the Germans signed an
armistice
Restoring the Peace
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
1. Wilson had a plan for peace b4 the war ended
2. The plan included:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Intern’tl freedom of the seas, trade
Limitations on arms
End to secret alliances
Settlement of colonial claims
Right of self-rule by all nations
Establishment of a “general assembly of nations”
3. Reservations:
A. Great Britain - trade
B. France - reparations
Paris Peace Conference
1.
2.
3.
4.
January 1919
27 nations met in Paris
Central Powers not invited
Most decisions were made by “Big Four”
A.
B.
C.
D.
US – Wilson
GB – David Lloyd George
FR – Georges Clemenceau
IT – Vittorio Orlando
5. Divided Goals
A. US – League of Nations
B. GB, FR, IT – make Germany pay
Treaty of Versailles
(June 28, 1919)
1. Limited size of German army
2. Banned conscription and making of major
weapons
3. Reduced German landholdings
4. Rejected the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
5. Reestablished an independent Poland
6. Took Germany’s overseas colonies and gave
to the allies
7. German reparations to allies
Other Settlements
1. New nations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Yugoslavia
2. A-H was divided and borders were redrawn
3. Middle East countries did not received
independence but became mandates
Effects of the Great War
Human Cost
1.
2.
3.
4.
Human misery became commonplace
9 million soldiers died
21 million were wounded
13 million civilians dead of disease and
starvation
5. Mass genocide of Armenians by Turks
A. Turks were angry about Armenian support for Allies and
fearful of nationalism
B. Left them in desert
C. Villages destroyed, people shot
Economic Costs
• Millions were left homeless
• European cities devastated (FR)
• Germany was weakened, humiliated by
the Treaty
Social Costs
1. Many people became minorities w/in new
nations
2. Loss of independence for some
The Russian Revolution
Introduction
Czar Nicholas II
May 18, 1868 – July 17, 1918
Background
1. Crowned on Nov 7, 1894
2. Married Princess Alex of Hesse; crowned
Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna.
A. Born in Germany
B. Granddaughter of Queen Victoria of GB
3. Five children: Olga Tatiana, Maria,
Anastasia, Alexei
Policy Making and Actions
1. Suppressed reform and persecuted
minorities (like his father)
2. Critics = relied too heavily on advisors
3. The Revolution of 1905 was the first sign
of political unrest
A. Began on “Bloody Sunday” – troops fired on
workers marching in the capital
B. Caused peasant revolts, workers’ strikes, & naval
defiance
C. The Duma – national parliament – was
established but hostile toward Nicholas. He
disbanded after 10 weeks.
4. WWI caught Nicholas off guard
A. Wanted to only fight Austria, hoping to avoid war
with Germany
B. Nicholas led the army directly, leaving domestic
issues to his wife
C. The people were wary of the Germany born
Czarina nd her advisor, Rasputin.
Rasputin: The Mad Monk
1. Born the son of a Siberian farmer
2. Claimed he had vision from god, and became
a wandering monk and healer
3. The Czarina brought him into the family to help
heal her son
4. When Nicholas was gone Rasputin influenced
the czarina and filled g’mt positions with his
supporters
5. In 1916 a group of conspirators platted
Rasputin’s murder. It took 3 tries!
The Fall of the Czar
1. March 8, 1917 the people of Russia
demanded food, and end to war ,and
“down with the czar”
2. Troops were ordered to control riots, but
soldiers joined in!
3. On March 15, 1917 Nicholas II abdicated
his throne, ending the 300 years reign of
the Romanov Family.
The Russian Revolution
The New Government
The Provisional Government
1. With Nicholas gone, the Provisional
G’vmt was established.
A. A temporary central government
B. Later in the yr., there would be elections for a
constitutional assembly and a permanent
government
C. Mostly middle-class Duma reps.
2. Struggle for Power
A. Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’
Deputies challenged the prov. g’vmt for power.
B. In 1903 they split:
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Mensheviks
Bolsheviks
C. Alexander Kerensky was a member of both
3. The Rise of Soviets
A. Petrograd served as a model
B. Three point program: peace, transfer of land to
peasants, control of factories by workers
C. Gained popularity w/ war efforts and declining
economy
D. Provisional G’vmt lost support when it couldn’t
grant reforms
Vladimir Lenin Comes to Power
1. By 1917 the Mensheviks = majority
A. Believed a revolution should be the work of the
masses so no plans yet…
2. Bolsheviks believed that a small group
would lead a g’vmt takeover
A. Leader = Vladimir Lenin
B. Wanted to spread revolution worldwide
3. Lenin
A. Background
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Middle class family
Brother was involved in a plot to kill Alexander III; hung
Bro’s death committed him to revolution
1895 – arrested and sent to Siberia; lived in Germany
afterwards
B. After march Revolution of 1917, Lenin returned
to Russia in a “sealed” train to lead a Bolshevik
Revolution
•
Slogan: “Peace, Land, and Bread”; “All power to the
Soviets”