Pre World War I
Unresolved
Tensions
"Coffin Nails" was a term used by British soldiers to describe cigarettes.
I. Competition for Africa
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North Africa
Fashoda Affair
Moroccan Crisis
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1905 Algeciras
1911 French Protectorate
•Boer War
II. Nationalism in Eastern Europe
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Russification
Pan Slavism
Balkan Crisis-Serbia and collapse of
the Ottoman Empire
Balkans
Ottomans, Russia & Austria
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Crimean War 1853-56
Russo-Turkish War 1877-78
Bosnian Crisis 1908
Balkan crisis 1912-1913
Turkish nationalism-Young Turks Committee for Union and Progress
The Causes of WWI
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
Significant individuals
Militarism
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Germany was
competing with the
UK to build
battleships.
The British feared an
attack on their
Empire
Militarism
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Germany was
competing with
Russia and France to
expand their armies
1880
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Germany 1.3m
France
0.73m
Russia
0.40m
1914
5.0m
4.0m
1.2m
Alliances
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By 1914 all the major
powers were linked by
a system of alliances.
The alliances made it
more likely that a war
would start.
Once started, the
alliances made it more
likely to spread.
Alliances
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Triple Entente – UK, France &
Russia
Triple Alliance – Germany, AustriaHungry & Italy
Imperialism
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All the great powers were
competing for colonies / territory.
The British feared Germany in
Africa.
The Austrians feared Serbia /
Russia in the Balkans
Nationalism
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This was an age when all nations
wanted to assert their power and
independence.
In Europe Slavs, aided by Serbia
and Russia, wanted to be free of
Austrian rule.
Serbia’s
national
flag
Significant Individuals
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“Germany must have
its place in the sun”
“The world belongs to
the strong.”
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Built up German army
and navy
Aggressive foreign
policy
Determined to make
Germany a top nation.
Distrusted by other
powers
Significant Individuals
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Count Berchtold
Austrian Prime
Minister.
During the July
Crisis, decided
on a very tough
ultimatum for
Serbia
Significant Individuals
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Bethmann Hollweg
German Prime Minister
Gave very strong
support to Austria
during the July crisis
while Kaiser was cruising
on his yacht
Germany issues a “blank
check”
“The Austrian demands
are moderate. Any
interference by Britain,
France and Russia would
be followed by
incalculable
consequences”
The Crisis
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28 June 1914
Heir to Austrian
throne Franz
Ferdinand visits
Sarajevo.
Capital of Bosnia,
recently grabbed
by Austria.
Hotbed of Slav
nationalism
Seal of the
Black Hand
group
The Crisis
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“Black Hand” terrorists attack
the Arch Duke
Bomb attempt fails in morning
Gavrilo Princip shoots
Archduke and wife in the
afternoon.
Austrians blame Serbia for
supporting terrorists.
The Crisis
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Austrians, supported by
Germany, send Serbia a
tough ultimatum.
Serbia agrees to all but
two terms of the
ultimatum.
Russia mobilises her
troops to support Serbia
Germany demands that
Russia stands her armies
down.
Germany declares war on
Russia
“Demands must be
put to Serbia that
would be wholly
impossible for them
to accept …”
Why did Britain get involved?
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Britain had
Ententes with
France and Russia.
Only “friendly
agreements” but
French and
Russians given
impression Britain
would fight.
The Schlieffen Plan
Sir Edward Grey
British Foreign Secretary
… “There’s some devilry
going on in Berlin”
The Schlieffen Plan
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Germany’s military
plan to defeat
France and Russia.
“Knock out blow”
aimed at France
first.
Avoid French
defences by
invasion of
Belgium.
Germans thought
Britain would not
intervene.
Britain’s Reaction
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1838- UK had signed a
Treaty to protect
Belgium.
Britain also scared of
Germany controlling
Channel ports.
Did not want Germany
to defeat France and
dominate Europe.
Britain next?
UK issued ultimatum
to Germany to withdraw
troops from Belgium.
War declared August 4
1914
Propaganda
GERMANY
USA
Propoganda
Australian
Germany
Propaganda
FRANCE
Nationalism – Rupert Brooke
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1914 V: The Soldier
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Mid War – Seigfried Sassoon
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Absolution
The anguish of the earth absolves our eyes
Till beauty shines in all that we can see.
War is our scourge; yet war has made us wise,
And, fighting for our freedom, we are free.
Horror of wounds and anger at the foe,
And loss of things desired; all these must pass.
We are the happy legion, for we know
Time’s but a golden wind that shakes the grass.
There was an hour when we were loth to part
From life we longed to share no less than others.
Now, having claimed this heritage of heart,
What need we more, my comrades and my brothers?
Total Warfare
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Soldiers
Private Citizens
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Production
Economy
Two Fronts (oh yeah and Italy)
Western Front
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Western Front - The Western Front
followed a line between France and
Germany through Belgium
The French and British fought on
one side against the Germans,
eventually joined by Americans in
1917.
The war bogged down quickly, with
both sides digging trenches, and
fighting from them until the war
ended in 1918.
Trench Warfare
Technologies
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The stalemate occurred partly because new
technology; machine guns and poison gas; made any
offensive attack so lethal that the army had to
retreat to trenches.
Attacks were followed by counter-attacks that
resulted in huge casualties.
Each side simply hoped that the other would run out
of young men first.
That happened when the United States entered the
war, and Germany could not match the combined
forces on the Western Front.
Casualties From Gas - The
Numbers
Country
Austria-Hungary
British Empire
France
Germany
Italy
Russia
USA
Others
Total
Casualties
100,000
188,706
190,000
200,000
60,000
419,340
72,807
10,000
Death
3,000
8,109
8,000
9,000
4,627
56,000
1,462
1,000
Eastern Front
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Eastern Front - was on the opposite side of Germany
from the Western Front.
Germany and Austria-Hungary fought Russia along a
much more fluid battle line.
Central Powers overran Serbia, Albania, and Romania.
Russians took the offensive in Prussia, but by the
summer of 1915 combined Germany and Austrian
forces drove the Russian armies back eastward across
Poland, and eventually back into Russia's borders.
Russia's armies were poorly led and badly equipped,
with the tsar sending men into battle without guns,
food, or shoes.
Mass desertions and loss of confidence in the tsar led
to chaos in Russia, where a communist-inspired group
called the Bolsheviks eventually took over the
government and assassinated the tsar.
Eastern Front
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Russians took the offensive in Prussia, but by the
summer of 1915 combined Germany and Austrian
forces drove the Russian armies back eastward
across Poland, and eventually back into Russia's
borders.
Russia's armies were poorly led and badly equipped,
with the tsar sending men into battle without guns,
food, or shoes.
Mass desertions and loss of confidence in the tsar
led to chaos in Russia, where a communist-inspired
group called the Bolsheviks eventually took over the
government and assassinated the tsar.
War ends of the Eastern Front with the signing of
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 3 March 1918.
United States Joins
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Sinking of the Lusitania
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May 7, 1915
German U-Boats
Angered Americans
America will join
the war April 2, 1917
Withdrawal and End
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Russia withdrew from
the war in 1917.
This released German
soldiers to transfer to
the Western Front.
U.S. soldiers
supplemented French
and British soldiers on
the West so that the
stalemate was finally
broken.
The armistice
occurring in November
1918.
Net Effect
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The net effect of the
war was the slaughter
of a huge portion of a
generation of young
men, primarily from
Russia, Germany,
Austria-Hungary,
England, and France.
Arguably, Europe never
fully recovered from
the loss.
Effects
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What was the
effect on areas
other than
Europe?
Gallipoli
India
China
South America