AP European History - Chapter 27: WWI
WWI 1914-1918
I.
1
Long Term Causes of World War I
A.
Formation of Alliances
1. Bismarck attempted to preserve peace in Europe following the
unification of Germany in 1871.
a.
fearing revenge by France for the losses in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, and
the growing tension between the empires of Austria-Hungary and Russia over
conflicting interest in the Balkans – Bismarck created the Three Emperors’ League
in 1873.
i. Three Emperors’ League: Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary linked together
in an alliance against radical movements.
b.
Congress of Berlin, 1878 – Bismarck preserved peace in Europe following Russian victories
over the declining Ottoman Empire.
i. Austria obtained the right to “occupy and administer” the Ottoman provinces of
Bosnia & Herzegovinia.
ii. Independent Balkan states (Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria) were carved out
of the disintegrating Ottoman Empire.
c.
Austrian-German Alliance, 1879 – defensive military alliance in response to the Russian
nationalist who were infuriated by Bismarck’s balancing efforts.
d.
Alliance of the Three Emperors, 1881 – Bismarck convinced Russia & Austria to join into a
secret alliance with Germany to neutralize tensions b/w the two nations over the Balkans.
e.
Triple Alliance of 1882 – Italy joined with Austria & Germany due to growing tensions b/w
Italy & France.
i. established a principle of cooperation b/w the 3 nations in any further
division of the Ottoman Empire.
ii. pledged friendly neutrality in case one of the three found itself at war with
as fourth power.
iii. 1887 – Russia opted out of the Alliance of the Three Emperors due to new
tensions in the Balkans – Bismarck established a German-Russian
Reinsurance Treaty (promised neutrality if the other was attacked)
2. Rival Alliances develop
a.
1890 – William II of Germany dismissed Bismarck & refused to renew the
Reinsurance Treaty with Russia.
b.
Russian-French Alliance, 1891 – republican France initiated an alliance with absolutist
Russia which became a military alliance in 1894.
c.
Anglo-German rivalry developed in the 1890’s due to:
i. commercial rivalry in world markets b/w Germany & Great Britain had
increased in the 1890’s
ii. Germany’s decision in 1900 to expand its battle fleet posed a challenge to
Britain’s naval superiority.
iii. Boer War exposed anti-British sentiments especially in Germany, and
made Britain aware of its exposed position in the world due to imperialism.
d.
Anglo-French Entente of 1904 - French and British relations improved in early 1900 when
France agreed to accept British rule in Egypt in exchange for British support of French plans
to dominate Morocco in North Africa.
i. Germany attempted to drive a wedge between Britain & France at the
Algeciras Conference of 1906 over the Morocco question.
a) Germany’s crude bullying at the conference only drove Britain &
France closer.
AP European History - Chapter 27: WWI
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e.
B.
Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907 – settled disputes b/w Russia & Britain over claims in
Persia and central Asia.
i. Germany fearing “encirclement” and a block to its development as a world
power - was persuaded by admiral Tirpitz and German nationalist to add
big-gun battle ships to its growing navy.
War in the Balkans
1. Balkan nationalism led to the Balkan Wars:
a.
First Balkan War, 1912 – The Balkan states of Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria joined to
take Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire.
i. Serbia then quarreled with Bulgaria over the newly claimed territories.
b.
Second Balkan War, 1913 – b/w Serbia and Bulgaria which resulted in Austria stepping in to force
Serbia to give up Albania, but more importantly the Balkan wars had succeed in completely
destroying the Ottoman Empire in Europe.
c.
The Austrian-Hungarian empire felt threatened by the victories of the nationalist in the Balkans
which could eventually threaten the unification of their own empire.
2. The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand (heir to the
Austrian-Hungarian thrones) & his wife Sophia.
a.
June 28, 1914 – Serbian nationalist (Black Hand) in Sarajevo, Bosnia, assassinated the Archduke
and his wife while on a visit to the region.
i. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination and sought to punish
the Balkan state.
ii. July 23, 1914 – Austria presented Serbia with an unconditional ultimatum:
a) the Serbian government was to stop any subversion in Austria & end any
anti-Austrian propaganda in Serbia w/in 48 hours.
b) an investigation of the assassination would be conducted by a joint
commission of Austrian and Serbian officials with in Serbia.
c) the demands amounted to Austrian control of Serbia.
b.
Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914 – due to Serbia’s slow response.
2. The Third Balkan War – Austrian-Hungarian invasion of Serbia
a.
Emperor William II of Germany pledged unconditional support for Austria-Hungary in the
war – giving Austria a “blank check” in urging them to take aggressive measures.
b.
Russia – long time supporter & protector of Slavic peoples in the Balkans (Pan-Slavism)
i. Tsar Nicholas II ordered the mobilization of the army against Austria-Hungary
following the Austrian bombardment of the Serbian city, Belgrade.
ii. due to complications of mobilizing the Russian army against Austria & not
Germany at the same time – Russia mobilized against both on July 29th,
effectively declaring war against both nations.
c.
Schlieffen Plan – created by German general Count Alfred von Schlieffen.
i. a plan that in the event of war on two fronts (East & West) – Germany would attack
the French in the West in a lightening attack through neutral Belgium – knocking
France out of the war. Germany would then turn on the slower to mobilize Russia in
the East.
ii. August 3, 1914 – the German army invaded France through neutral Belgium igniting
WWI.
AP European History - Chapter 27: WWI
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II.
World War (The Great War)
A.
Western Front
1.
B.
The First Battle of the Marne
a.
Triple Entente – Great Britain joined with Russia & France in an alliance against Germany and
her allies following the German invasion of neutral Belgium – a violation of Belgian neutrality
established in 1839.
i. Schlieffen Plan is weakened – Germany had not planned on Britain entering the war
which slowed their advance in the North to capture Paris, and French forces along the
Alsace-Lorraine were not sucked into Germany when the German army in the South
failed to retreat luring the French into Germany to be cut-off and destroyed.
b.
The Battle of the Marne – French forces (1 million) joined by 100,000 British soldiers retreated in
order in front of the 1.5 million German soldiers advancing along a massive front line in the heat of
the summer.
i. September 6 – French forces attacked a gap in the German front at the valley of the
Marne in a 3-day battle stopping the German advance and saving Paris.
c.
Stalemate on the Western Front – trenches dug by both sides to protect soldiers from
machinegun fire stretched from the North Sea at the Belgian-French border to the northern border
of neutral Switzerland.
i. Trench warfare – heavy barrages of artillery to soften the enemy lines would be
followed by massive infantry attacks where men went “over the top” of the trench into
the machinegun fire of the opposing side.
ii. Results: heavy casualties with miniscule gains of land became the pattern of war on
the western front.
a) Battle of the Somme – during the summer of 1916, British & French gained an
insignificant 125 square miles at the cost of 600,000 dead or wounded &
500,000 German casualties.
b) Battle of Verdun, 1916 – unsuccessful German campaign against Verdun cost
700,000 casualties on both sides.
c) Battle of Passchendaele, 1917 – British lost 400,000 men to gain 50 miles in
Belgium.
d.
Effects of War – millions of young men were killed, wounded, or suffered shell shock – crippling
an entire generation of possible future leaders – creating an embittered & disillusioned generation
of survivors.
The Eastern Front & Widening of the War
1.
The Eastern Front
a.
The Russian army was defeated at the Battles of Tannenberg & the Masurian Lakes in
August & September of 1914 by German Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich
Ludendorff – ending the Russian threat in Germany.
b.
Austrian & German forces defeated Serbian & Russian armies in the Balkans and forced the
Russian army to retreat deep into their own territory in 1915.
i. 2.5 million Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in 1915.
c.
Italy declared its neutrality in 1914 leaving the Triple Alliance due to Austrian aggression in the
Balkans – then joined the Triple Entente in May 1915 when promised Austrian territory.
d.
Bulgaria joined with the Triple Alliance in Sept. 1915 to settle old scores with Serbia.
e.
Central Powers – an alliance that included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman
Empire controlled all of the Balkans except Greece by 1915.
i. Gallipoli – failed campaign by an Allied coalition force of British, Australian, New Zealand,
and Indian soldiers to capture the Dardanelles Strait from the Ottoman Empire.
a) purpose of the campaign was to open a desperately needed supply lines to Russia,
defeat the Turks in Asia Minor, and open a new front in Central Europe.
AP European History - Chapter 27: WWI
2.
III.
Global War
Great Britain, France, and Japan seized German colonies in Africa & East Asia.
b.
United States – declared war on Germany in April, 1917 due to conflicts between the two nations
at sea.
i. British & French naval blockades of the Central Powers resulted in Germany using submarine
warfare to strike back at the Triple Entente and any nation who supported them.
ii. Lusitania – British passenger liner secretly carrying arms and munitions to Great Britain was
sunk by a German U-Boat in 1915, killing 139 Americans – President Woodrow Wilson’s
protest resulted in a relaxation of German U-Boat attacks to prevent war with the United
States.
iii. By late 1917 – Germany was convinced its new submarine could starve Great Britain out
before the U.S. could come to its aid and restored it unrestricted submarine warfare tactic.
iv. The United States responded by declaring war against Germany in 1917.
The Home Front & Mobilizing for Total War
A.
Waging “total war”
1.
2.
4
a.
Free-market capitalism was abandoned for the duration of the war
& replaced by planned economies commanded by the established
political leadership.
a.
Government regulations included rationing, price and wage controls, as well as restrictions
on worker’s freedom of movement.
b.
The economy of total war blurred the old distinction b/w soldier and civilian.
i. The war was a war of whole peoples & entire populations – loser would be the society who
cracked first.
ii. Command economies of the war proved as successful examples of socialism and
contributed to its rising influence in European nations during the 1930’s.
c.
Synthetic materials were developed to alleviate shortages:
i. Synthetic nitrates served two purposes during the war – fertilizer for agriculture, and
explosives for weaponry.
a) nitrates were also developed as poisonous gas that would be used in large quantities on
the front line.
d.
Auxiliary Service Law, 1916– required all German males b/w 17 and 60 to work only jobs
considered critical to the war effort.
i. women went to work in the factories & children gathered scrap materials for the war effort.
The Social Impact of War
a. War time demand for labor resulted in social changes:
i. greater power and prestige for labor unions who cooperated with government on work
rules, wages, and production schedules – in return they were given real participation in
important decisions.
b.
Role of women changed – large numbers left home & the domestic service to become the
driving work force behind the war effort.
i. the war greatly expanded the range of women’s activities and changed attitudes toward
women.
a) women gained the right to vote in many western nations following the war.
b) women showed a growing spirit of independence by bobbing their hair, wearing shorted
skirts, and smoking in public.
c.
Greater social equality – the war helped to blur class distinctions & lessen the gap b/w the rich
and the poor.
i. bottom 3rd of the population generally lived better than they ever had due to shortage
of labor.
AP European History - Chapter 27: WWI
3.
Growing Political Tensions on the home front
a.
IV.
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During the first two years of the war both soldiers and civilians supported their governments out
of a sense of national pride and unity in facing a common enemy.
i. governments used censorship of newspapers, letters, and public addresses to control
public opinion about the war.
ii. governments used propaganda to maintain popular support.
b.
By 1916 the strain of war led to anti-war protest, strikes, and revolts.
i. Easter Rebellion – Irish nationalist attempted to gain independence from a war consumed
Great Britain.
c.
Soldier morale declined and mutinies as well as refusals to fight were answered with promises of
tough military justice for careless military commanders and no more grand offensives.
i. France – new general in chief Henri Philippe Pétain restored order in the ranks and wartime
leader Georges Clemenceau established a virtual dictatorship punishing those who
proposed a compromise with Germany.
ii. Austria – death of Emperor Francis Joseph led to conflicts b/w nationalities and the threat of
revolution.
The Russian Revolution of 1917
A.
The end of Tsar rule in Russia
1.
1914 – the Russian war effort was resolute under Tsar Nicholas II
who vowed “never to make peace as long as the enemy stood on
Russian soil.”
a.
2.
Strain of war in 1915 took its toll.
a.
b.
3.
4.
Conservatives hoped for expansion into the Balkans & Liberals believed an alliance with Britain &
France would bring democratic reforms to Russia.
Russian army suffered massive casualties to the superiorly trained & equipped German army.
Russian peasant soldiers poorly trained and equipped were often sent to the front line without a
weapon – told to find their arms among the dead.
i. 2 million casualties alone in 1915 – but the Russian army continued to fight until 1917.
Russian mobilization for total war was less effective than other
warring nations.
a.
Limitations of the Dumas effectiveness due to the insistence of Tsar Nicholas II to maintain his
inheritance of supreme royal power.
i. a movement in 1915 to put the power of government in the hands of the Duma was rejected
by the Tsar who adjourned the Duma and then traveled to the front lines to rally the troops.
ii. the Tsarina – Alexandria attempted to run the government in his absence with the aid of her
trusted friend Rasputin who claimed to have healing powers.
a) The Tsar’s son Alexis suffered from the blood disease hemophilia – which only Rasputin
seemed to be able to heal.
b) in an attempt to stop rumors of a love affair b/w Rasputin and the Empress – members of
the Aristocracy murdered Rasputin.
b.
Bread shortages in Petrograd resulted in riots which spread throughout the city.
i. soldiers ordered by the Tsar to stop the riots instead joined with the revolutionary crowd.
ii. the Duma responded by establishing a provisional government on March 12, 1917.
iii. Tsar Nicholas abdicated his throne 3 days later.
The Provisional Government in Russia
a.
The provisional government quickly established equality before the law; freedom of religion,
speech, and assembly; right of unions to organize and strike, and the rest of the classic liberal
program.
b.
Led by agrarian socialist Alexander Kerensky, the reorganized government refused land reform
in hopes of continuing the war effort.
AP European History - Chapter 27: WWI
c.
B.
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Petrograd Soviet - a huge fluctuating mass meeting of two to three thousand workers, soldiers,
and socialist intellectuals who saw themselves as the counter government that suspiciously
watched the actions of the provisional government.
i. they issued radical orders that undermined the provisional government:
a) Army Order No. 1 - issued to all Russian military forces, it stripped officers of their
authority and placed power in the hands of elected committees of common soldier.
 the order led to a total collapse of army discipline where masses of peasant soldiers
simply walked off the front line to return to their villages and seize lands they felt
entitled to.
Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution
1.
2.
Lenin’s rise to power in Russia
a.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin – student of Marxian doctrines, he was imprisoned in Siberia for 3 years
before being released where he then moved to western Europe where he developed his own
interpretations of Marxian thought.
i. he stressed that capitalism could be destroyed only by violent revolution.
ii. that socialist revolution was possible in backward Russia.
iii. the necessity of a highly disciplined workers’ party led by dedicated elite intellectuals like
Lenin himself would not stop until revolution brought it to power.
b.
Lenin demanded a small disciplined elitist party, his opponents in the Russian Social Democratic
Labor Party argued for a more democratic party with mass membership.
i. The Russian party of Marxian socialism split into two camps:
1) Bolsheviks – Majority Group: Lenin’s elitist party
2) Mensheviks – Minority Group: those who opposed Lenin.
c.
April 1917: Germany granted Lenin safe passage across Germany and back into Russia – in hopes
of disrupting the Russian war effort.
i. Lenin immediately attacked the provisional government with radical slogans:
a) “All power to the soviets”; “All land to the peasants”; “Stop the war now.”
ii. Leon Trotsky – Lenin’s right hand man plotted the Bolshevik takeover of the government:
1) convinced the Petrograd Soviet to form a special military-revolutionary committee & to
make him the leader of it – effectively giving the Bolsheviks military power in the capital.
2) led the Bolsheviks in a coup of the provisional government & placed Lenin at the head of
the new government.
Dictatorship & Civil War
a.
Lenin’s new government ratified the revolutionary changes made by the peasants and urban
workers of Russia:
i. Lenin’s first law gave the land to the peasants (in reality it approved what had already been
done by the peasant themselves)
ii. Urban workers were given direct control of individual factories.
b.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918: Lenin who wanted peace at any price gave into German
demands by giving up all of Russia’s western territories, ending the war with Germany.
c.
Lenin promised a freely elected Constituent Assembly – but when the Bolsheviks won lees than ¼
of the seats in the Assembly – Lenin ordered Bolshevik soldiers to disband the Assembly.
i. Lenin wanted a one-party government – the Communist (Reds)
c.
The White Army - Opposition to the Bolsheviks (Communist) organized by military leaders in the
South attacked the Reds in 1918 & Civil War erupted in Russia.
i. by the spring of 1920 the Reds had defeated the Whites establishing the dictatorship of Lenin
and the Communist Party.
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V.
The End of WWI & the Treaty of Versailles
A.
The defeat of the Central Powers
1.
2.
C.
Following the defeat of Russia – Germany went on the offensive in
the West.
a.
Second Battle of the Marne, July 1918 – The last great German offensive was stopped by allied
forces reinforced by 140,000 fesh American soldiers.
1) 2 million American soldiers who joined the western front by August 1918.
b.
Kaiser William II formed a new liberal government to negotiate an armistice in Oct. 1918.
1) Nov. 3 German sailors in Kiel mutinied and soon revolutionary groups of soldiers and
workers formed throughout Europe in opposition to the government.
2) Nov. 3 – Austria-Hungary surrendered to the allies
3) Kaiser William II abdicated his throne and fled to Holland.
c.
Armistice: Germany claimed itself a republic on Nov. 9th & agreed to Allied terms of surrender.
1) On the 11th day of the 11th month at 11AM WWI ended.
Post War breakup of Austria-Hungary and the German Republic:
a.
The Habsburg empire perished with the end of the war dividing into several independent nations.
i. Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia.
b.
The German Revolution of 1918 resulted in liberals and moderate socialist taking control of the
German government following the fall of their authoritarian monarchy – like the Russian revolution
of 1917.
i. although the radicals lost to the more moderate socialist preventing a complete revolution due
to many factors including the fact that Allied armies still occupied Germany at the end of the
war.
The Treaty of Versailles (January – June 1919)
1.
27 victorious nations led by the “Big Four” – United States, Great
Britain, France, and Italy.
a.
Germany was not allowed to attend & Russia was unable to attend due to Civil War.
b.
President Woodrow Wilson of the United States came prepared with his peace proposal of
Fourteen Points.
i. His peace plan called for “self-determination of peoples” where nations would be formed by
the will of the people and NOT outside nations.
ii. Wilson’s greatest concern was the establishment of a League of Nations – a permanent
international organization that could protect member states from aggression & avert future
wars.
Georges Clemenceau “The Tiger” of France & David Lloyd George of Great Britain were
primarily concerned with punishing Germany.
i. Clemenceau wanted revenge but also to lasting security for France:
1) he wanted a demilitarized zone (The Rhineland) that would serve as a future buffer to
German aggression and to permanently weaken Germany with it population of 60 million
compared to France’s 40 million.
2) unable to secure the Rhineland as a French buffer state – Clemenceau was able to form
a formal defensive alliance with the United States and Great Britain.
c.
2.
Terms of the Treaty:
a.
German colonies were given to France , Britain, and Japan as League of Nations mandates.
b.
German territorial loses in Europe:
i. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France
ii. Polish state was established which included the Polish corridor (separated Eastern Prussia
from Germany)
iii. Germany had to limit the size of its army to 100,000 men & could NOT build any fortification in
the Rhineland.
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iv. Germany along with Austria was formerly blamed for the war in Article 241 – and had to pay
war reparations equal to that of civilian damages caused by the war.
3.
c.
German representatives of the ruling moderate Social Democrats and the Catholic party signed the
peace agreement on June 28,1919.
i. Germany did not agree with the harsh terms but was forced to sign due to a continued Allied
naval blockade which was starving the German population.
d.
Imperialism continued through the Treaty – France & Great Britain took Turkish lands in Southwest
Asia & Japan took German territories in China. Self-determination only applied to European
peoples not non-European.
American Rejection of the Versailles Treaty
a.
U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles w/o changes in the articles creating the
League of Nations.
i. key issue: the League’s power to require member states to take collective action against
aggression.
ii. opposition in congress led by Henry Cabot Lodge – believed the League’s requirement gave
away Congress’s constitutional right to declare war.
iii. Wilson’s unwillingness to compromise with Congressional changes led to the United States
Not joining the League as well as a refusal to join the defensive alliance with G.B. & France.
b.
The United States turned its back on Europe and became isolationist – in response Great Britain
rejected its defensive alliance with France leaving France all alone.
i. The Western alliance had collapsed & a plan for permanent peace was replaced by a fragile
truce.