World War I
MR. BREDBERG
FALL 2011
Today’s Objectives
 I will be able to understand, analyze, explain the
significance of, and discuss the reasons for American
entry into World War I, the nature of Trench
Warfare, and reasons for the success of the Entente’s
forces.
Causes of World War I
Scramble for African Colonies!
Relentless Nationalism!
French Revanchism!
Arms Race!
Secret Alliances!
CAUSES OF THE WAR


LONG TERM
 NATIONALISM
 Rivalry between Great Powers for Status, Influence
 Germany, Austria
 France, Great Britain, Russia
 Nationalist Aspirations
 Balkan States sought to united same peoples in one state
 Balkan nationalism posed threat to Russia, Austria, Turkey
 Competition between national economies for profit
 IMPERIALISM
 The competition for foreign empires in Africa, Asia
 Rivalry for influence in independent nations
 Competition for markets
 MILITARISM, NAVALISM
 Nationalism demanded modern armies and navies
 Arms race ensued
 Nations could not permit rival to have better military
 ALLIANCES
 Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria, Italy – Rumania, Bulgaria, Turkey
 Triple Entente: France, Russia, Great Britain – Serbia, Belgium
 Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902
SHORT TERM
 July 24, 1914: Serb Black Hand member assassinates heir to the Austrian Throne
 Austria picks a fight with Serbia, who calls on Russia for assistance
 Austria asks Germany for help; Russia asks France for help
 Germany attacks France through Belgium without declaration of war
 European leaders allowed war to begin because they believed it would be quick, decisive
World War I: Map
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Attitude on the Eve of the War
WAR IN EUROPE
 Germany's War Plan
 Germany
called for a swift defeat of France, longer war
with Russia
 Invaded neutral Belgium, Luxembourg without
declaration of war
 Failure to defeat France set stage for 3 years of stalemate
 Military dictatorship gradually replaced Kaiser, German
Reichstag on running war
 Allied War Plans
 French planned to attack into Alsace-Lorraine to recover
lost land
 French military planners spoke of elan and e’spririt de
corps to overcome technology, German
 Russia was to swiftly mobilize and attack Germany,
Austria in the east
War in Europe
 Western Front
Soldiers dug trenches length of the front; machine guns and artillery
dominate battlefield
 Neither side could advance against the other's defenses.
 Allies and Germans both began to use technology to break deadlock
 Both sides imposed blockades on the other using navies, submarines
 Eastern Front
 Aristocratic officers, peasant soldiers of Russia unprepared; Germany had
world’s most modern army
 Virtual destruction of the tsarist armies and steady loss of territory to
Germany
 Nicholas II, who had taken direct control of the front, incompetent
 Germany quickly developed a war of maneuver: no static front
 Italian and Balkan Fronts
 Russia did well against the Austro-Hungarians
 Bulgaria joins Central Powers in 1915
 Serbia, Montenegro overrun by Central Powers in 1915
 Italy joined allies to gain territory but did very poorly.
 Rumania joined allies to regain Transylvania and quickly overrun

TECHNOLOGY AT WAR
 Role of Technology


Allies, Central Powers tried to break stalemate using new weapons
New weapons include:




Germans: Submarines, poisonous gas, bombers, fighters
Allies: Tanks, destroyers, mass produced freighters
Both sides had to develop new foods, techniques to replace what was lost due to
failed trade
German unrestricted submarine warfare led to American entry to the war
in 1917
 Technology was one way conflict became a total war
The Fighter
The Tank
The Machine Gun
The Bomber
The Zeppelin
The Submarine or U-Boat
Weapons of World War I: Machine Gun
Weapons of World War I: Maxim Gun
Weapons of World War I: Artillery
Weapons of World War I: Artillery
World War I Tactics: Trench Warfare
World War I: Life in the Trench
Constant Attack!
Trench Foot
Rats!
How can we
use science
to break the
stalemate?
Trench Foot
World War I Tactics: Gas!
World War I Tactics: Over the top!
World War I Tactics: Tanks
Gas Deployed
 Men blinded by a gas attack.
World War I Tactics: Trench Warfare
No way to easily drive an enemy from their trenches.
Only way to take an enemy trench: Throw enormous amounts of
men into enemy machine guns until they break.
New technologies are not up to the task!
By 1917, hundreds of thousands of
soldiers are defecting from all sides.
Decimation is introduced.
MIDDLE EAST & WORLD WAR I
 The Ottoman Empire
Sided with Germany as UK, Russia had proven enemies
Allies try to force way through Dardanelles
 Needed to open supply route to Russia
 Gallipoli was a disaster for ANZAC troops used
 Cost UK support amongst Australia, New Zealand
 British invade Middle East
 Used Indian, colonial troops
 Twin pushes - through Palestine, Iraq
 Capture Jerssalem, Baghdad before 1918
 Russia and the Turks
 Russian armies drove Turks back into Anatolia
 Christians welcomed Russians
 Germans rushed to aid Turks, stop Russian advances
 Military failures led to a genocidal assault on Armenian
Christians,


MIDDLE EAST AND WWI
 Arab Revolt
 Ottomans
ruled Hejaz (Mecca, Medina) and south coast
of Persian Gulf
 Arabs under Shariff of Hejaz rose in rebellion against
Turks
 Seek Arab state(s), independence
 With British aid, cut railways in region
 Move up into Jordan, Syria from desert
 Capture Damascus before British arrive
 Allied Promises
 French, British promise Arabs independence after war
 Secretly made plans to partition area amongst Allies
(Sykes-Pikot Treaty)
 Promised Jews a homeland too (Balfour Declaration)
A WORLD AT WAR
 The War Outside Europe
Fighting spread to the colonies
 Troops from the colonies were recruited for war in
Europe
 British naval power contributed greatly to the
globalization of the war
 The Indian Army provided much of Britain’s overseas
armies for all fronts
 Indian Army instrumental in Mesopotamia, Africa
 Asia-Pacific
 Japan seized German possessions in Asia , Pacific
 China joined war to get voice at peace conference
 China sent 100,000 porters to Europe to free up troops
 Germans sent their East Asian fleet on cruise to raid
commerce in Pacific, Indian Ocean

A WORLD AT WAR
Africa
 Allies quickly overran all German colonies except East Africa
 Germans in East Africa led by a military genius who was never
defeated
 Germans invaded Belgian Congo, British East Africa, and
Mozamibique
 The Dominions contributed supplies and troops to the British
effort
 Many African divisions served in Europe, Middle East
 The United States
 Germany made a major mistake with unrestricted submarine warfare
– US hated it
 Germany made a major mistake with Zimmerman Telegraph to
Mexico
 The U.S. entry into the war made it a major global power
 U.S. supplies and troops led Germany to believe it needed to launch a
major offensive.

Russian Revolution!
There is only 1 rifle for every 3 soldiers!
Millions of Russian soldiers are being
massacred regularly by the Germans.
Russian generals are
totally incompetent.
Russian Revolution
Russia Leaves the War!
Why would America want to get involved??
Reasons for American Entry: Uboats and the
Lusitania
Reasons for American Entry:
Zimmermann Telegram
Reasons for American Entry: Banks
American businesses
were able to sell weapons
and loan money to the
countries fighting the
war.
American banks had
loaned $25 million to
Germany.
American banks had
loaned $2 billion to
Britain and France.
Reasons for American Entry: Problems
Millions of immigrants live in
the United States that are
from Germany, the AustrianHungarian Empire, and
Ireland.
Less than 35% of Americans
support the war.
WHY are they fighting the
war in the first place?
How To Get Americans to Fight?
Propaganda!
How to get Americans to fight? Arrest
Dissenters!
Frank Montgomery
DEBS
HAYWOOD
CUMMINGS
Eugene Debs “Canton Speech” as read by Mark
Ruffalo
Pro-War Paranoia!
Dauschunds are renamed “Liberty Pups!”
Sauerkraut is renamed “Liberty
Cabbage!”
The teaching of the German language
was outlawed in many states!
Many German-Americans
anglicized their names!
THE HOME FRONTS
 The Home Fronts in Europe
Soldiers at front became angry with political leaders
Disturbed by civilians who continued to support the war
Governments
 Took direct control of many industries
 Rise of strong centralized state bureaucracies
 Made use of sophisticated propaganda
 Workers and Women
 Unions, socialist leaders increasingly tied to government;
workers rejected support of war
 Labor protests in Russia helped spark the fall of the Tsar
 Women's participation in labor force increased
 Many pushed out of work after war ended
 Participation in the war effort helped them gain vote in
Britain, Germany, and the USA.



The End of the War
 The Return to Offensive Warfare
Failure of April 1918 offensive by the Germans
 US troops arrived quicker than expected and halted German
advance
 Collapse of Austrians, Bulgars, Turks led Germany to agree
to armistice in November 1918
 Revolution in Germany 1918 – 1919
 Soviet, Socialist revolutions lead to collapse of German
empire, creation of a Republic
 Many Germans came to blame the civilian government that
replaced the Kaiser.
 Cost
 Immense destruction in Europe and very high death tolls (10
million)
 Allies owed billions to the US: had to collect billions in
reparations from Germany
 Compounded by worldwide influenza epidemic that killed 50
million more.

Now what?
War’s over… now
what?
PARIS PEACE TREATIES
 14 Points
Woodrow Wilson's plan for a non-punitive peace
 Germany agreed to an armistice based on 14 Points
 Thwarted by the Entente allies
 Britain and France demanded reparations
 Demanded a treaty that blamed Germany for the war
 Paris Peace Conference, 1919
 Allied leaders assembled in Paris
 Germany was deliberately humiliated
 Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empires were dismembered
 Russia not invited as Allies were at war with Bolshevism
 Colonies of European Nations, China
 Largely ignored
 Envoys were often not even consulted

NEW BORDERS:
COLLAPSE OF FOUR EMPIRES
THE LEAGUE
OF NATIONS
 Wilson’s 14th Point
 Only part of the 14th Points enacted
 US Senate did not ratify the treaty
 USSR, former Central Power nations
were not admitted
 The League of Nations
 Goal: International organization for
nations to consult, avoid war
 Reality: had no real power to enforce
peace, punish aggressors
 Reality: France, UK dominate
 Colonies not represented
RISE OF NATIONALISM IN AFRICA,
ASIA
 World War I impacted colonies
Colonial Contribution
 African, Asian troops conscripted for European armies
 Battles of Marne (1914) won with assistance of
Senegalese troops
 British conquer Middle East largely using Indian Army
 Colonies served as important sources of food, raw
materials
 During the course of the war
 European vulnerability became evident
 European troops withdrawn from colonies for European
fronts
 Administrative personnel were recalled
 Africans, Asians filled posts previously reserved for
Europeans

RISE OF NATIONALISM
To maintain support Europeans made many
promises
 Promised independence
 But they often failed to fulfill them after the war
 War cast doubts on claims of European
superiority
 Its disruptions bolstered nationalist movements.
 Africa, Southwest Asia, Asia ignored at Paris Peace
 German colonies divided amongst victors as
mandates
 Ho Chi Minh attends the peace conference,
seeking independence for Vietnam; Ignored.
 Arabs in Turkish Empire become mandates of
UK, France

INDIA
 Nationalist Challenge to the British Raj


India colonized long before Africa, Asia
 Was first to establish independence movements
 Western-educated minorities organized politically
 Sought to bring about the end or modification of colonial
regimes
Indian National Congress
 Regional associations of Western-educated Indians
 Most often urbanized elite
 Formed Indian National Congress party in 1885
 Primary function of early party was to present grievances to
British
 Most of the issues concerned the Indian elite, not the poor
 Despite limited aims, Congress party allowed the formation of
Indian identity
INDIA
 Social Foundations of a Mass Movement
British economic and social policies
 Helped the Congress party attract a mass following
 Marginalized all Indians including elite
 Indians
 Supported the massive costs for the colonial army,
high-salaried bureaucrats
 Tolerated the importation of British-manufactured
goods.
 Problems among the peasantry including shortfalls of
food supplies
 Induced nationalists to blame the British policies
 Encouraged peasants to shift from the production of
food to commercial crops.

 Indian troops of the British Empire, in France
during WWI
 Indian troops of the British Empire, near the front.
3rd Lahore Division.
 Indian Sikh troops in WWI.
INDIAN OPTIONS
 The Rise of Militant Nationalism



Some nationalists such as B. G. Tilak emphasized Hindusim
 Tilak, supporters used Hindu religious festivals as means of
recruitment.
 Tilak urged the boycott of British manufactured goods
 Tilak's conservative Hinduism frightened moderates, Muslims, Sikhs
 Tilak's support for violence led to his arrest, deportation
Some Hindus
 Embraced terrorism as a means of ending British rule
 Terrorist groups favored secret organizations
 Targeted British officials and public buildings
 British suppression, lack of mass support reduced threats
 Peaceful schemes for protest drew support from Tilak, terrorists
 Congress Party lawyers emerged as leaders of nationalist movement
All India Muslim League and Muhammad Ali Jinnah
 League founded in 1906 to represent Muslim interests
 Jinnah joined in 1916 and helped bring Congress Party and League
together
INDIAN OPTIONS
 The Emergence of Gandhi and the Nationalist Struggle



India played a significant role in World War I
 Even the nationalist leaders of India supported the war effort
 Wartime inflation reduced standards of living among the Indian peasants
 Produced famine in some regions.
Following the war
 Nationalists were frustrated by the British refusal to move directly toward
independence.
 Initial promise of the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1919
 Offset by the Rowlatt Act, which limited Indian civil rights.
Frustrations led to the Rise of Gandhi
 Permitted Gandhi to build a nationwide protest against colonialism
 Gandhi combined the qualities of a Hindu mystic with the acumen of a
Western-educated lawyer
 Both peasants and the middle classes supported his leadership
 His boycotts, campaigns of civil resistance made him acceptable to both
radical, moderate nationalists
 As a Hindu mystic, Gandhi could mobilize widespread support for his
movement
WAR, NATIONALISM IN THE MIDDLE
EAST
 In the years after World War I


Ottoman rule collapsed
 Old Ottoman state to be partitions between Allies, Greeks,
Armenians
 Only a small Turkish state built around Ankara remained
 Constantinople placed under international control
 Greeks seek more lands in Asia Minor, invade rump Turkish state
Rise of Turkish Nationalism
 Turks rally to Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal): organizes, arms Turkish
armies
 Drive Greek armies out of Asia Minor
 Negotiates with Allies for return of Turkish lands
 Abolishes Caliphate, Sultanate in 1922 and creates a republic
 Begins process of westernization, modernization of Turkish state,
culture
 Massive liberties granted to women – first such move in Middle
East
WAR, NATIONALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST
 Arabia
Wahhabist State in Central Arabia Prior to World War I
 Wahhabis were puritanical religious fanatics
 Sought to cleanse Islam of all foreign influences
 Religious sect allied to Saud family ruling central
Arabia
 Arab Uprising against Turks
 Began in Hejaz (region containing Mecca and Medina)
under Hashemite Emirs
 After World War I Wahhabists conquer Hejaz and expel
pro-British Hashemite emirs
 Create unified Arabian state called Saudi Arabia
 British make Hashemite emirs rulers of Transjordan and
Iraqi mandates

NATIONALISM IN EGYPT

The British and Egypt
 British occupation in 1882 following Ahmad Orabi Rebellion
 Left the Egyptians with both Turkish khedives, British overlords
 British left Khedival government in place but ran Egyptian foreign policy, defense
 Lord Cromer directed British policy in Egypt.
 Attempted economic reforms to reduce debts, improve irrigation, public works.
 The masses of the Egyptian population realized little benefit from the changes.
 Ayan (greater landlords) able to extend control farther into the countryside
 The great estates came to monopolize most Egyptian land
 Small landholders reduced to tenancy.
 Resistance to the British administration of Egypt
 Resistance by the elite
 Emerged from within the lower officer ranks of Egyptian army,
 Emerged from within the ranks of the Egyptian business classes
 Journalists were particularly prominent in the nationalist movement
 Journalists attacked the British administration and British racial attitudes
 Three nationalist parties were created
NATIONALISM IN EGYPT
To forestall more violent nationalist movements
 The British granted a new constitution to Egypt
 Allowed parliamentary representation
 When World War I broke out, the British suspended the
constitution and imposed martial law
 Revolt in Egypt 1919
 Martial law in Egypt during World War I imposed great hardships on
the peasantry
 British refusal to allow Egyptian delegation to attend the peace
conferences
 This touched off a rebellion but British able to regain control
 British forced to recognize nationalist Wafd party under Sa'd Zaghlul
 Between 1922 and 1936
 British forces were progressively withdrawn to the Suez Canal zone
 They reserved their right to defend their interests in Egypt
 The Wafd party failed to enact significant social or economic
reforms.

ARAB MANDATES
 Entente powers broke promises made to Arabs
Allies promised Arabs independent states in Middle East
following War
 Sikes-Pikot Treaty
 Divided Middle East between Allied Nations
 Gave Arab lands to European powers
 Arabs expected independent Arab states
 British and French forces occupied Ottoman empire
 Created artificial states within the League of Nations
 Called Mandates, placed under control of British, French
 Allies were supposed to prepare Arabs for independence
 French did not, British did

 Ottoman troops in WWI, preparing for a possible gas
attack.
ARAB MANDATES
In Syria, Iraq, Lebanon
 Arab resistance to the mandate system was common
 British eventually placed Hashemite King on Iraqi throne
 Palestine, Balfour Declaration and Zionism
 Zionist movement largely Eastern Europe until 1894
 Zionists were Jews seeking to create Jewish homeland in Palestine
 Theodor Herzl
 Mobilized West European Zionism
 Formed the World Zionist Organization
 British Foreign Minister Balfour promised Zionists in 1917 support for
Jewish homeland
 Pogroms against Jewish communities accelerated migration to Palestine
 Both Zionism, British takeover of Palestine seemed to violate assurances
 Rising Arab opposition caused the British to limit Zionist settlement in
Palestine
 Zionists thus began to arm themselves in order to resist both British, Arab
opposition
 Arabs in Palestine remained without a voice concerning the fate of their
region.

PROMISES MADE,
PROMISES BROKEN
AFRICA
 During World War I
Most Western-educated African elites remained loyal to the colonial
regimes.
 The war effort disrupted African economies
 Drew heavily on African manpower: Senegalese, West African, South
African troops helped allies
 German resistance led to a guerrilla war in East Africa for four years
 Women assumed many traditionally male roles during war
 After the war
 Europeans kept few promises of economic improvement
 This led to strikes and civil disobedience
 Tariffs and restrictions to trade hurt weak African economies
 Dissatisfaction with colonialism spread
 First nationalist movements appeared in Africa in the 1920s
 Emerged in the guise of unworkable pan-African organizations
 Charismatic African-American leaders had significant roles in the
formation of pan-African movements

 The Tirailleurs Senegalais were West African Colonial
Army troops who fought for the French during World
War I
 West African French Imperial Troops in World War I
AFRICA


In French Africa
 A literary genre, négritude arose
 Celebrated black culture as an attack on European racist attitudes
 Influenced by the Harlem Renaissance in the US; Surrealism, World
Socialism
 Movement was very influential in Caribbean, Brazil, too linking areas
of African diaspora
 French Africans often took path of assimilation into French culture AS
BLACKS to gain rights
 Little involvement of Africans in any aspect of colonial government –
reserved for French Europeans
In British colonies
 British utilized African policemen, lower bureaucrats, civil servants,
magistrates
 Their influence in colonial government grew to form a nationalist and
Pan-African movement
 Actual political parties were slow to emerge
 Political associations began the process of developing a mass base and
agitating for political reform
 Educated African elite and businessmen often became spokesmen for
nationalist movements
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
 Changing Realities
World War I undermined Europe's global dominance
 At end of war the United States was clearly the greatest world
power
 Rise of United States and Japan in world influence
 First non-European powers to do so broke European monopoly
 Communism as Anti-Imperialism
 Revolution broke out in Russia and the East
 Soviet state challenged traditional western dominance
 Offered an alternative to western capitalist, democratic models
 Socialism as Change
 Socialists gained ground in the western democracies
 Replaced more traditional conservatives and liberals

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
 Changes in Gender Roles
Gender roles changed dramatically in Western Europe, in Russia
 Began to change in Eastern Europe, Turkey
 During war, many women allowed to assume economic roles which they had
never had
 After World War I many Western states gave women the vote
 The War Encouraged Economic Changes
 Increased industrialization in the US and changing industries in war powers
significant
 Export by Latin American nations added non-European nations to the
Global Economic scene
 Beginning of Decolonialization
 The empires of the Entente nations actually grew but change had begun
 Liberation movements gained ground as a result of the war
 Successful nationalist revolutions in Saudi Arabia and Turkey offered hope
 Indian independence movement had gained in influence
 Africans granted roles during war which they had not had before
