The Great War
World War I
Causes of the War
 The rise of Germany as a great power
changed the balance of power in Europe,
the alliance systems that developed
attempted to deal with this but turned
Europe into two armed camps.
 Nationalist unrest caused conflict and
internal divisions.
 Arms race contributed to tensions.
The Alliance Systems
 The Three Emperors League
– The key to German preeminence
was keeping France isolated.
– Bismarck negotiated an alliance
in 1872 (Dreikaiserbund).
– The alliance joined Germany,
Austria, and Russia to cooperate
to maintain peace and the status
quo.
Franz Josef
The Russo-Turkish War
 After revolt in Turkish controlled Bulgaria in
1876, Russia went to war with the Ottomans.
 The Treaty of San Stefano (1878) established
Serbia, Montenegro and Rumania as states and
autonomy to Bulgaria.
 The increased influence of Russia in the Balkans
and the Mediterranean threatened Austrian and
British interests.
Congress of Berlin
 Powers met to avoid war in
Berlin in 1878.
 The Treaty of Berlin reduced
Russian influence in the region
by giving Austria domination of
Bosnia and the British control of
Cyprus.
 The compromise avoided war,
but angered the Russians by
reducing their war gains.
The Alliance Systems
 The Dual Alliance
– The Austro-Russian conflict ended the Three
Emperors’ League.
– Bismarck created an alliance with Austria in
1879.
 Revival of the Three Emperors
– Bismarck continued negotiations and revived
the league in 1881, this again ended in 1887.
The Alliance Systems
 The Triple Alliance (1882)
– Italian anger over French control over Tunisia made
them ally with Germany and Austria.
– Germany’s alliances with Austria, Russia, Italy and
good relations with UK isolated France.
 Franco-Russian Alliance
– With the dismissal of Bismarck, Germany did not
renew its alliance with Russia.
– In 1894, France negotiated and secret alliance with
Russia, primarily aimed at Britain in the Med.
Anglo-German Relations
 In the 1890s, relations between Germany
and Britain began to deteriorate.
 Germany’s support for the Boers in South
Africa angered the British.
 The development of a high seas fleet by
Germans threatened British naval
dominance.
The Alliance Systems
 Anglo-French Entente
– The French and British determined they each
needed allies, especially in dealing with
colonial matter (Fashoda Crisis, Boer War)
– The Entente Cordiale was negotiated in 1904,
leading to increased cooperation.
 Italian-French Agreement
– Italy and France came to an secret agreement
on colonial policy in North Africa.
– This further weakened Germany’s position.
The First Moroccan Crisis
 Germany provoked a crisis with France
over French protectorate in Morocco.
 German calls for Moroccan independence
were denied by Britain, Russia, and Italy at
the Algeciras Conference in 1906.
 Germany’s belligerent attitude brought
France, Britain and Russia closer together.
The Alliance Systems
 Anglo-Russian Entente
– Britain and Russia came to an agreement on
their spheres of control in Central Asia in 1907
 Triple Entente
– The agreement between Britain and Russia
completed the process of alliances between the
two nations and France.
– The Triple Alliance now faced the Triple
Entente, with the Entente being the more
powerful.
The Bosnian Crisis
 Austria wished to annex Bosnia and came
to an agreement with Russia that gave
them control of the Turkish straits in 1908.
 The Austrians moved too fast and angered
the Russians and the Serbians who hoped
to annex Bosnia themselves.
 Germany pledged to support Austria and
Russia backed down in the spring of 1909.
The Second Moroccan Crisis
 In 1911, Germany again opposed the
creation of a French Moroccan
protectorate.
 The French and Germans came to a
territorial agreement which eased tensions.
 In 1912, the British began concentrating
their navy in the North Sea and the French
in the Mediterranean to deal with the
German threat.
The First Balkan War
 Italy’s defeat of Turkey in war in 1912 gave
encouragement to Balkan states.
 Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece
formed the Balkan League and went to war with
Turkey in 1912.
 The 1913 Treaty of London had Turkey lose all
of its European territory (except on the straits)
and the creation of Albania (against Russian and
Serbian objections).
The Second Balkan War
 Arguments over territory led to war that
had Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Rumania,
and Turkey defeating Bulgaria.
 The Treaty of Bucharest (Aug. 1913) had
Bulgaria cede territory.
 Russia continued to be frustrated at the
situation and supported Serbia, while
Germany supported Austria,
The Sarajevo Crisis
 On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo
Princip, a member of the
Serbian nationalist group The
Black Hand, assassinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir
to the Austrian throne) and his
wife in Sarajevo.
 Austria blamed Serbia for
backing the murder (Serbia did
not support it, but they did not
stop it either).
Franz Ferdinand
The Outbreak of War
 Austria made diplomatic demands that the
Serbs could not accept (though they were
willing to negotiate).
 Austria was determined to deal with Serbia
and declared war on July 28, 1914.
 Germany had given Austria a “blank
check” of support in the matter and
appeared ready to go to war.
The Outbreak of War
 Russia was not going to let its ally in the
Balkans, Serbia, be defeated. So Tsar
Nicholas II began mobilizing on July 30.
 Germany demanded the Russians halt.
When they refused, Germany declared war
on Russia on August 1.
The Outbreak of War
 Germany asked France its intentions. The French
said they would follow their interests.
 On August 3rd, Germany declared war on France.
 The Germans, going by the Schlieffen Plan,
invaded neutral Belgium to quickly defeat France
before Russia could mobilize.
 In response, Britain declared war on Germany on
August 4th.
 So began the Great War.
Europe on the Eve of World War I
Unexpected yet inevitable
 Most early 20th century Europeans believed
an all out European war was unlikely.
 Economic growth and interdependence in
trade and finance brought European states
and the entire world closer than ever
before.
 Communications, advances in travel and
tourism allowed people to appreciate other
nations and cultures.
Unexpected yet inevitable
 Despite growing interdependence, no
international organization existed to diffuse crises
(each state was sovereign.)
 Most European nations increased the size of their
armies, navies, and armaments.
 Nations planned for war an instituted mandatory
service requirements.
 With heightened nationalism, most people
welcomed war in 1914 in euphoria and the belief
in quick victory (and little knowledge of war’s
effects).
A War on Two Fronts
 The Germans
faced a war on
two fronts on
opposite sides of
their nation;
against Britain
and France in the
west and Russia
in the East.
The Schlieffen Plan
 The German plan was developed
by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen in
1905 in the event of a war against
France and Russia.
 It called for invasion of neutral
Belgium and a defeat of France by
taking Paris in 6 weeks.
 The Russians would be slow to
mobilize, so Germany could then
move its troops to the east.
War in the West
 Failure of the Schlieffen Plan
– German General Helmuth von Moltke led his
troops through a heavily defended area of
Belgium, slowing their advance.
– The British forces sent to help the French
further slowed the German advance.
– The Russians mobilized faster than expected,
necessitating the move of two German
divisions to the Eastern Front.
War in the West
 Battle of the Marne (Sept. 1914)
– The French reorganized and launched a
counterattack against the Germans.
– On Sept. 5, the German and French Armies
met in northern France near the Marne
River.
– The French were able to push the Germans
back 50 miles and saved Paris from attack.
War in the West
 Stalemate
– In late 1914, each army tried to outflank
the other to gain ground without success.
– Despite heavy losses on both sides there
were no major breakthroughs.
– In 1915, the war in the west settled into a
stable front the stretched from the Swiss
border to the North Sea coast.
Trench Warfare
 With the stability
of the front lines,
the war moved into
trenches dug by
armies on both
sides, stretching
for over 500 miles.
Trench Warfare
 Soldiers lived in
the trenches for
weeks faced with
filth, rats, regular
artillery attacks,
and the danger of
poison gas
attacks.
Trench Warfare
 A “no-man’s-land”
existed between
the trenches of the
two armies.
 Soldiers would go
“over the top” of
their trenches and
attempt to storm
the other line, often
being cut down by
machine gun fire.
Impact of New Technology
Machine Gun
 The introduction
of the machine gun
forced soldiers into
the trenches to
avoid being killed.
 Many still were
however when
they attempted to
charge enemy
lines.
War in the West
 Battle of Verdun
– In Feb. 1916, Germany
attempted an assault on
the French stronghold at
Verdun.
– They failed, going on the
defensive in July, but
continuing the battle until
December.
– At Verdun, the French lost
over 540,000 men, while
the Germans lost over
430,000.
War in the West
 Battle of the Somme
– In July 1916, the British and
French launched an assault
along 38 miles of the Somme
River.
– By November, the Allies had
only advanced 7 miles and the
British lost 400,000 men while
the French lost 200,000 (the
Germans lost 650,000)
Impact of New Technology
Poison Gas
 The French were
the first to use
gas, but it was
not poisonous.
 The Germans
first used poison
gas at the Battle
of Ypres in 1915.
 All other nations
soon followed in
using gas in war.
Impact of New Technology
Tanks
 Tanks were first
used by the
British in the
Battle of the
Somme in 1916.
 The early tanks
were to slow and
not well armed,
but they foretold
how tanks could
be used as
weapons in the
future.
Impact of New Technology
Airplane
 The introduction
of the airplane
allowed for
reconnaissance of
enemy positions,
bombing of
enemy positions,
and the first airto-air combat
known as “dog
fighting.”
Air Ace - The Red Baron
 Captain Manfred
Freiherr von Richthofen
was the greatest ace of
World War I.
 He had over 80 victories.
 He was killed in combat
on April 21, 1918, only
months before the end of
the war.
War in the East
 Eastern Front – Battle of Tannenberg
– On August 13th, Russians invaded East
Prussia (present day Poland) faster that the
Germans expected.
– The two armies met at Tannenberg and the
Russian successes ended.
– 30,000 Russian soldiers were killed and
92,000 were taken prisoner.
War in the East
 Russia did have some
success against Austria in
taking Galicia.
 But the Germans
advanced into Russian
Poland, taking Warsaw.
 Russian offensives against
the Austrians remained
indecisive and they
continued to lose territory
to the Germans.
War in the East
 Continued failures in the war forced Tsar
Nicholas II to take direct command of the
army in September 1915.
 A Russian advance against Austria in June
1916 was halted with German assistance.
 Rumania entered the war against Austria in
August, but was defeated and Rumania
was occupied by Austria.
War in the East
 By the end of 1916, the Russian army began
to crumble do to lack of supplies, men and
effective leadership.
 The revolutions of 1917 eventually ended
any possibility of continued Russian fighting.
 The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended the war
between Russian and the Central Powers in
March 1918.
The Italian Front
 Italy stayed out of the war at the beginning.
 The allies convinced her to join them through the
Treaty of London which promised Italy Austrian
and Turkish territory and land in Africa.
 In May 1915, Italy attacked Austria.
 Italy was unsuccessful and Austria defeated her at
Caporetto in 1917.
 The British and French then rushed in troops to
stabilize the front.
The Gallipoli Campaign
 Nov. 1914 the Ottomans
entered the war supporting the
Central Powers, closing the
Turkish Straits to allied
shipping.
 Winston Churchill, First Lord
of the Admiralty, organized an
amphibious campaign against
the Gallipoli Peninsula in Feb
1915.
 The force of British and
ANZACs failed and they
withdrew in January 1916.
War in the Middle East
 Russians succeeded in turning
back a Turkish offensive in the
Caucasus in 1915, but the Turks
massacred and deported the
Armenians.
 The British took Baghdad and
Jerusalem in 1917, hoping to
open a route to Russia.
 The British were successful in
pushing the Arabs to revolt with
the help of British Colonel T.E.
Lawrence.
T.E. Lawrence
War at Sea
 The Battle of Jutland
– British and Germans were
wary to use their fleets in
battle.
– On May 31, 1916 they finally
met at Jutland.
– There was no clear winner in
the greatest battleship battle
ever.
– British blockade continued
and Germany denied access
to the Baltic.
War at Sea
 Submarine Warfare
– In Feb. 1915 Germany began
unrestricted submarine
warfare to starve out Britain.
– In May, the British liner
Lusitania was sunk, killing
139 Americans, protests had
the Germans put restrictions
on their campaign.
– German loses persuaded them
to renew their campaign in
Feb. 1917
Changes in Leadership
 Britain
– PM Herbert Asquith resigned in Dec. 1916 and
was replaced by fellow liberal David Lloyd
George, aka the “Welsh Wizard.”
 France
– In Nov. 1917 Georges Clemenceau became
French premier, giving France determined
leadership.
Propaganda
 As the war came
to a stalemate
and the
casualties piled
up, governments
had to find ways
to keep the
support of their
people.
 They turned to
propaganda to
do this.
Propaganda
Entry of the United States
 Tensions between the U.S. and Germany had
grown throughout the war, but most citizens and
President Wilson were determined to remain
neutral.
 In March, 1917 the British intercepted the
Zimmerman Telegram.
– German foreign minister Zimmerman had proposed to
Mexico to attack the United States, in which in would
receive the U.S. Southwest and prevent U.S. entry in
the European War.
– This enraged public opinion, and in April, 1917 the
U.S. declared war on Germany.
American Entry
 With the revelation of the
Zimmerman Telegram, the U.S.
declared war on Germany in
April, 1917.
 It took nearly a year for U.S.
forces to be assembled and
arrive in any great numbers in
France under the command of
General John J. “Black Jack”
Pershing.
The Allied Advance
 In March 1918, with peace achieved in the east,
the Germans attempted on final offensive in
France.
 The united command of British, Americans and
French under French Gen. Foch counterattacked
in July.
 A German retreat began, culminating on Aug. 8th
when British tanks broke through at Amiens.
The Armistice
 On Sept 30, Bulgaria signed an armistice.
 Turkey capitulated on Oct. 30th
 Austria surrendered on Nov. 3rd.
 Alone and exhausted, Germany signed
armistice at 5am Nov. 11, 1918 – to go into
effect at 11am that same day, when the
guns of World War I fell silent.
The Paris Peace Conference
 The peace conference began in Jan.
1919.
 Delegates representing 32 nations
attended.
 Meeting dominated by the Big
Four:
–
–
–
–
Woodrow Wilson of the United States
Georges Clemenceau of France
David Lloyd George of the UK
Vittorio Orlando of Italy
(Germany and Russia were not
represented)
The Paris Peace Conference
 Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”
– Peace plan proposed by Wilson
– Called for open diplomacy, open seas, free
trade, arms reduction, national selfdetermination and the creation of the League
of Nations.
– European allies had major reservations for
Wilson’s “peace without victory” plan.
The Paris Peace Conference
 Allies had plans of their own…
– Clemenceau wanted security guarantees and
war reparations to rebuild northern France.
– Lloyd George wanted the continental balance
of power restored so Britain could focus on its
empire.
– Orlando wanted to gain as much territory for
Italy as possible.
The Versailles Treaty
 The peace settlement with Germany.
 The Rhineland
– France wanted the Rhineland to become a
separate buffer state, Wilson objected.
– Instead, the Rhineland was occupied by allied
troops for a period of 15 years.
– The region would also remain permanently
demilitarized.
The Versailles Treaty
 Alsace and Lorraine
– Alsace and Lorraine was returned to control of
France (had been taken by Germany in 1871)
 The Saar
– The coal-rich area was placed under control of
the League of Nations, with the coal going to
France.
– In a plebiscite, people of the Saar voted to
return to German control in 1935.
The Versailles Treaty
 Poland
– Germany lost territory to France, Belgium and
Denmark, but lost the most territory to the new
state of Poland.
– East Prussia was separated from the rest of
Germany by the Polish Corridor, giving
Poland access to the Baltic sea.
The Versailles Treaty
 Disarmament and Reparations
– The German army was restricted to 100,000 men.
– The navy was a coastal defense force.
– Germany had no air force, tanks, or submarines.
 Clause 231
– Germany and its allies were made to accept
responsibility for the war.
 The treaty was signed at the Hall of Mirrors on
June 28, 1919.
The Mandate System
 Colonial territories of the Central Powers
fell into the hands of the allies under
mandates.
– Africa – German territories went to France,
Britain and South Africa
– The Pacific – German islands went to Japan,
Australia, and New Zealand.
– Middle East – Ottoman territories of Syria,
and Lebanon went to France, Iraq, Palestine an
Jordan went to Britain.
Italy’s Claims
 Italy’s claims of territories caused conflict
at the Paris Peace Conference.
 Italy desired territories of Austria that
became part of the new Yugoslavia.
 This caused resentment among Italian
nationalists.
The League of Nations
 Wilson’s major push was the creation of a
international body to avoid war.
 The League consisted of a Council,
Assembly and Secretariat headquartered in
Geneva, as well as a World Court in the
Hague.
 The U.S. Senate failed to ratify the treaty
and the U.S. never joined the league.
Self Determination
 One of Wilson’s major principles put into
effect in Eastern Europe.
– Austria-Hungary was divided into states of
Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and
Yugoslavia (joined with Serbia and
Montenegro).
– Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania gained
independence from Russia.
– Poland was created from German, Austrian
and Russian territory (won more in 1920 war)
Effects of the War
 The number of World
War I casualties (military
and civilian) was about
40 million - over 19
million deaths and 21
million wounded. This
includes 9.7 million
military deaths and about
10.0 million civilian
deaths.
Effects of the War
 European idea of progress was shattered,
culture of pessimism would prevail.
 European hegemony was broken,
economic and military power on the
decline.
 The war irrevocably changed European
political scene (Russian Rev., Irish Revolt)
 The war and the failed peace led to
economic depression and the rise of
fascism (Mussolini and Hitler.)