Causes of WWI Long Term Causes w

Causes of WWI

Long Term Causes w Economic Competition – The race for markets, spheres of influence, and raw materials. w Expansionist Rivalries Struggle for political colonies and strategic locations. w Militarism – Policy of glorifying the military and staying prepared for war w Nationalism – Extreme dedication and loyalty to one’s country

Short Term Causes w Entangling alliances pulled everyone into the war w Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria Hungary, and Italy) w Germany gave Austria Hungary a “blank check” w Triple Entente (England, France, and Russia) – Treaty of Friendship w Each “concerned” about power of others

June 28 in Sarajevo Archduke Franz Ferdinand is Assassinated w Heir to the throne of Austria Hungary, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand & wife, Sophie von Chotkovato, are assassinated on June 28, 1914 w Assassin is Gavrilo Princip, a member of the “Young Bosnians”, a group aligned with the Serbian terrorist group, “The Black Hand”.

The Assassin Gavrilo Princip The Assassins Locations: 28 th June, 1914 1 Muhamed Mehmedbasic 5 Gavrilo Princip (morning) 2 Nedjelko Cabrinovic 6 Gavrilo Princip (afternoon) 3 Vaso Cubrilovic 7 Trifko Grabez 4 Cvijetko Popovic 8 Danilo Ilic

Domino Effect w (1) June 28, 1914 – Austrian Archduke Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia w A H issues an ultimatum to allow Austria forces to investigate and stop anti Austrian activities

Domino Effect w (2) Serbia accepts most of the ultimatum, but Austria Hungary declares war on 28 July 1914. w (3) Russia announces the mobilization of their army to defend Serbia w (4) Germany declares war on Russia on Aug. 1 st

Domino Effect • (5) France declares war on Germany on Aug 3 rd w (6) Germany invades Belgium to attack France on Aug 4 th w (7) Britain declares war on Germany on Aug 4 th

Domino Effect w Italy decides that its chances to gain land is better with France, Britain, and Russia w Most of the fighting takes place in Western Europe, even though the conflict started in the Balkans in Eastern Europe

European Military Alliances 1914

The U. S. and WWI w United States – President Woodrow Wilson declared a U. S. policy of absolute neutrality – The official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare forced the U. S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.

6 July, 1914 The 'Blank Check' w …Finally, as far as concerns Serbia, His Majesty, of course, cannot interfere in the dispute now going on between Austria Hungary and that country, as it is a matter not within his competence. The Emperor Francis Joseph may, however, rest assured that His Majesty will faithfully stand by Austria Hungary, as is required by the obligations of his alliance and of his ancient friendship. BETHMANN HOLLWEG

UNRAVELING THE ORIGINS OF THE ALLIANCES

Otto Von Bismarck w Bismarck, first Prime Minister of Prussia and then Chancellor of the German Empire (once he had assembled it), set about the construction of Germany through high politics judiciously assisted by war against Austria and France. w Desired to achieve the creation of a German Empire out of the collection of smaller German states largely led by Austria's influence

Otto Von Bismarck w engineered war with Austria in 1866 over disputed territory in the duchy of Holstein (much against the wishes of his own Kaiser). w “ 7 Weeks War” w Bismarck extracted from Austria not only Schleswig and Holstein, but also Hanover, Hesse, Nassau and Frankfurt, creating the North German Federation

Otto Von Bismarck w Now to unite the south of Germany under the Prussian Banner w Bismarck will create another war, this time w/France w Franco Prussian War of 1871 w France lost Alsace and Lorraine, was forced to pay reparations (around $1 billion today), and the southern German states agreed to an alliance with their northern counterparts, .

Bismarck's Need for Alliances w Having achieved his aim, he now wanted to protect it. w He was acutely aware that France would be itching for revenge. w Regaining Alsace and Lorraine will be one of the main objective for France in 1914

The Three Emperors League & Dual Alliance w 1873, the Three Emperors League, which tied Germany, Austria Hungary and Russia to each other's aid in time of war. w Only lasted until Russia's withdrawal five years later in 1878, leaving Bismarck with a new Dual Alliance with Austria Hungary in 1879. w Russia left b/c at the Congress of Vienna, Bismarck tried to maintain peace betw. England Russia

The Triple Alliance w Two years after Germany and Austria Hungary concluded their agreement, Italy was brought into the fold with the signing of the Triple Alliance in 1881. w Besides the usual support for each other, they also agreed that should any of the three determine to launch a 'preventative' war (a euphemism if ever there was one), the others would remain neutral.

British Emergence From Splendid Isolation w Wilhelm II, proved far more ambitious in establishing "a place in the sun" for Germany. w Wilhelm, encouraged by naval minister Tirpitz, embarked upon a massive shipbuilding exercise intended to produce a naval fleet the equal of Britain's w Determined to outstrip Germany, ENG succeeded, building in just 14 months a record the enormous Dreadnought battleship, completed in December 1906. By the time war was declared in 1914 Germany could muster 29 battleships, Britain 49.

HMS Dreadnought Battleship 1906

Cordial Agreements: Britain, France - and Russia w Two years later Britain signed the Entente Cordiale with France. w This 1904 agreement finally resolved numerous leftover colonial squabbles. w Three years on, in 1907, Russia joined what became known as the Triple Entente

The Balkans 1908 w Balkans had been sought after by Germany, Russia, etc. w Two important events in 1908: – Young Turks Rebellion – A H annexes Bosnia Herzegovina

The Balkan Wars 1912 13 w By the early 20 th century, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire w The Second Balkan War broke out on 16 June 1913 when Bulgaria was dissatisfied over the division of the spoils in Macedonia, made in secret by its former allies, Serbia and Greece w Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria lost most of the territories it had gained in the First Balkan War.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand w A reactionary, wants to reestablish absolutism w Favored Slav unity to offset Hungarian influences. w Third Balkan War underway in 1914: A H vs. Serbia

A Family Affair w The British monarch George V's predecessor, Edward VII, was the German Kaiser's uncle and, via his wife's sister, uncle of the Russian Tsar as well. w His niece, Alexandra, was the Tsar's wife. w http: //www. royalist. info/execute/tree? p erson=699

The Great War 1914 1918 The Practice of Industrial Warfare

The Western/ Franco Belgian Front

Aims of WWI w Germany: annex Russian territory, northern parts of France, Luxembourg w A H: regain control of ethnic minority groups w/in its borders, and more land in the Balkans. w Russia: Slav protectorate, Poland, Annex Ukrainian part of A H, reorg A H w France & England: Constatinople, Alsace and Lorrain, New borders w/ GER, divide up Ottoman lands.

Germany and the Schlieffen Plan w w named after Count Alfred von Schlieffen was both offensive and defensive in nature. Assumed a two front war Schlieffen assumed largely correctly, as it turned out that it would take six weeks or longer for the Russians to effectively mobilize their forces w Schlieffen devised a strategy for knocking France out of the war within those six weeks – Commit most troops to invade Paris, leaving just enough to hold back the Russians – Once France was defeated, troops head back east to face russia. – Wilhelm II “Paris for lunch, St. Petersburg for dinner…. ”

France’s Plan XVII w Purely offensive in nature w made extensive use of the belief in the mystical élan vital (fighting spirit) w called for an advance by four French Armies into Alsace Lorraine w Northern forces advanced into Germany via the southern Ardennes forests, or else move north east into Luxembourg and Belgium. w French command assumed Brit involvement would keep GER from invading Belgium.

GER’s Schlieffen Plan and FRA’s Plan XVII

Weaknesses of Schlieffen Plan and Plan XVII w French attack on Alsace's and Lorraine was a debacle. w Schlieffen Plan almost worked – The timing was not the problem though – Getting supplies to such a large force deep w/in French territory became an insurmountabale obstacle.

Austria-Hungary: Plans B and R w Austria Hungary assumed that the coming war would be limited to Serbia. w Plan B (for Balkans) detailed the requirement for six Austro Hungarian armies in the field, three to invade Serbia, with a further three guarding the Russian border to dissuade an attack from that quarter. w Plan R (for Russia) essentially revised Plan B, allowing for a greater volume of troops to guard against Russian assistance for the Serbs in the south, whilst assuming German activity in the north.

Russia: Plans G, A and 19 w two very different plans for war w Plan G assumed that Germany would launch the war with a full scale attack against Russia w Plan 19 or Plan A: – Assumed GER would invade FRA first – two Russian armies would advance into East Prussia and to Silesia en route to central Germany. Russia would at the same time make use of a fortress defense against invading forces.

The Battle of Liege w the Battle of Liege ran for twelve days from 5 16 August 1914, and resulted in surprisingly heavy losses upon the German invasion force by the numerically heavily outnumbered Belgians. Zeppelin attack over Liege

The First Battle of the Marnes w The German army advanced rapidly and deeply into France w found themselves physically exhausted and far ahead of their supply lines. w Recognizing their vulnerability, the Germans pulled up twenty five miles short of Paris. Now it was France's chance to attack. French General Joffre ordered a stand along the Marne.

“Race to the Sea” and the Beginnings of Trench Warfare w Following the first Battle of the Marne, both sides tried to out flank one another in an effort to swing around the other's defensives. w Began building trenches along the way

Trench Warfare “No Man’s Land”

Trench Warfare

War Is HELL !!

Weapons of the “Great War”: – Tanks – Poison gas – Dogfights – Machine guns

Machine Guns

Krupp’s “Big Bertha” Gun

Tank Prototype “Little Willie”

Airplanes

Dogfights

American Flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker and his plane German Flying Ace, the “Red Baron”

Zeppelins

Flame Throwers Grenade Launchers

Poison Gas

Fighting in the Trenches

Trench Foot

Sacrifices in War

Effects of Modern Weapons “I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke”

Propaganda

Public Opinion and Civil Liberties w The U. S. government used techniques of both patriotic persuasion and legal intimidation to ensure public support for the war effort. w In the beginning many Americans did not feel connected the war in Europe, and many Immigrants would sympathize with their homeland. w Committee on Public Information headed by George Creed. w enlisted the voluntary services of artists, writers, vaudeville performers, and movie stars to depict the heroism of the "boys" (U. S. soldiers) and the villainy of the Kaiser. James Montgomery Flagg’s iconic “Uncle Sam”

The CPI’s Work

Save Food Posters

Buy War Bonds

Anti German Posters

WWI Propaganda

Dissent during WWI

Repression against Dissenters w Nativist groups to take out their prejudices on "disloyal" minorities. One such group, the American Protective League, mounted "Hate the Hun" campaigns and used vigilante action in attacking all things German from the performing of Beethoven’s music to the cooking of sauerkraut. w Espionage Act of 1917: provided for imprisonment of up to 20 years for persons who either tried to incite rebellion in the armed forces or obstruct the operation of the draft.

Repression against Dissenters w w Sedition Act of 1918: went much further by prohibiting anyone from making "disloyal" or "abusive" remarks about the U. S. government. About 2, 000 people were prosecuted under these laws, half of whom were convicted and jailed. Among them was the Socialist leader, Eugene Debs, who was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for speaking against the war. Case of Schenck v. United States. The Supreme Court upheld the constitu tionality of the Espionage Act in a case involving a man who had been imprisoned for distributing pamphlets against the draft. In 1919, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes concluded that the right to free speech could be limited when it repre sented a "clear and present danger" to the public safety. Eugene V. Debs in front of the Atlanta Federal penitentiary were he spent 3 years for his anti-war activities.

Aftermath and Legacy of the “Great War”

The 1918 Treaty of Brest Litovsk w peace treaty that Germany and its allies forced Russia to sign on March 3, 1918. w When Bolsheviks refused the terms at Brest Litovsk w Germany then recognized the independence of Ukraine and made a peace treaty with it. The German armies reopened the war. w Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine; surrendered Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland; and ceded Kars, Ardahan, and Batum to Turkey w November 11, 1918, the Allies forced Germany to renounce the Treaty of Brest Litovsk

Treaty of Brest Litovsk

Interpretations of Treaty of Brest Litovsk w The Central Powers saw it as helpful for their victory. w ENG & FRA were reassured by the entrance of the U. S. into WWI in 1918. w Possibility of revolutions at home remain a threat & source of concern.

Accepting Defeat w GER high command wanted to keep fighting, but they faced mutiny and rebellion. w GER High Command had begun preparing for defeat by setting up a puppet civilian gov’t that could be blamed for surrendering; “stabbed in the back” conspiracy.

Casualties and Death Toll w Conservative figures out the battlefield death toll at a min of 10 mil, w/ perhaphs 30 million more ppl wounded, incapacitated, or dyinf from their wounds. w Casualties: First World War

Before and After

Critical Thinking Questions w What level of destruction do these pictures indicate? What are some emotions evoked when viewing these images w Why is it significant that major civic buildings such as the Courthouse (Palace of Justice), cathedral, and City Hall (Hotel de Ville) were destroyed?

w How long do you think it would take to rebuild these buildings and communities? w How much do you think it would cost? w Can a community ever really recover from such destruction? w How might France's goals for the postwar settlement might differ from U. S. goals. w What might France fear? What would France probably want with respect to Germany? Why? w Would those desires be reasonable? Why or why not? w Why might the U. S. be able to take a more idealistic perspective?

Wilson’s 14 Points w What does Wilson say are the goals of the United States? w What is hope for the world and for the postwar talks? w Read the first paragraph right after the enumeration of the Fourteen Points. w What is Wilson's stated attitude toward Germany? w How would this attitude differ from France's? w Why might the U. S. be more inclined than France to take an idealistic perspective?

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles w The main terms of the Versailles Treaty were: (1) the surrender of all German colonies as League of Nations mandates; (2) the return of Alsace Lorraine to France; (3) cession of Eupen Malmedy to Belgium, Memel to Lithuania, the Hultschin district to Czechoslovakia, (4) Poznania, parts of East Prussia and Upper Silesia to Poland; (5) Danzig to become a free city; (6) plebiscites to be held in northern Schleswig to settle the Danish German frontier; (7) occupation and special status for the Saar under French control;

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles w (8) demilitarization and a fifteen year occupation of the Rhineland; (9) German reparations of £ 6, 600 million; (10) a ban on the union of Germany and Austria; (11) an acceptance of Germany's guilt in causing the war; (11) provision for the trial of the former Kaiser and other war leaders; (12) limitation of Germany's army to 100, 000 men with no conscription, no tanks, no heavy artillery, no poison gas supplies, no aircraft and no airships; (13) the limitation of the German Navy to vessels under 100, 000 tons, with no submarines; Germany signed the Versailles Treaty under protest. The USA Congress refused to ratify the treaty. Many people in France and Britain were angry that there was no trial of the Kaiser or the other war leaders.

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

The Big Three w The three most important politicians there were David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson. Georges Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of France (2 nd right). Woodrow Wilson, the President of America (far right). David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of Britain (far left, talking to Orlando, the Prime Minister of Italy).

What Did They Want? Georges Clemenceau He was the Prime Minister of France. He wanted revenge, and to punish the Germans for what they had done. He wanted to make Germany pay for the damage done during the war. He also wanted to weaken Germany, so France would never be invaded again.

What Did They Want? He was President of America. He was a History professor. He wanted to make the world safe. He wanted to end war by making a fair peace. In 1918, Wilson published ‘Fourteen Points’ saying what he wanted. He said that he wanted disarmament, and a League of Nations (where countries could talk out their problems, without war). He also promised self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe.

What Did They Want? w He was Prime Minister of Great Britain. w He said he would ‘make Germany pay’ – because he knew that was what the British people wanted to hear. w He wanted ‘justice’, but he did not want revenge. He said that the peace must not be harsh – that would just cause another war in a few years time. He tried to get a ‘halfway point’ – a compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau. w He ALSO wanted to expand the British Empire, maintain British control of the seas, and increase Britain's trade

German Reply Memorandum w What objections does Germany raise to the treaty? w Are these objections valid? w Should the Allies have modified the treaty in any way to address these points?

Hitler's April 17, 1923 speech w Why is Hitler so vitriolic concerning the Weimar Republic? w What does he blame the Weimar Republic for? w What other goals does he link to the elimination of the treaty? w What imagery does he use? w What actions is he alluding to at the end? w How might this speech appeal to the emotions of the listener? w Consider how the treaty may have contributed to the rise of Nazism, and by extension, World War II. Would Hitler have been able to give such a powerful speech or to find a receptive audience if the treaty had been different?

Was the Treaty of Versailles fair?