• Most Significant event in World History
– WWI – European War with roughly 10 million dead
– WWII – Fighting on 6 out of 7 Continents and near 55 million dead (1/2 were civilians)
• Viewed as a Drama/Tragedy (Good vs. Evil)
• Giants of figures
– Roosevelt
– Hitler
– Churchill

• How to study an event like World War II
– Don’t Glorify War
– Understand how the stage was set
– Understanding the enormity of the war
– Emphasis on the values that won the war
– Personal connections
– Connections to today
Handout 1: Considerations when Teaching/Learning WWII
History
• Where does our prior knowledge come from?
– Oral history?
– Literature?
– Film?
Handout 2: Dale Dye : On
Point in Hollywood

• World War I
– 1914 – peace shattered by assassination of Francis
Ferdinand (heir to the Austrian throne – the
Hapsburg Empire)
– 1908 – Austria annexed the Balkans (which included the city of Sarajevo)
• Ferdinand went to Sarajevo to improve relations between the Hapsburgs and the Slavic people of Bosnia

– Russians
– Ukrainians
– Belarus
– Poles
– Czechs
– Slovaks
– Bulgarians
– Yugo Slavs
– Serbs
Within the Balkans
-Greeks
-- Macedonia
-- Romania
-Bosnia
-Slovenia
-Croatia

• MAIN (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism,
Nationalism)
– Nationalism is the love that hates
– Serbs have a secret society (The Black Hand) and planned to assassinate Francis Ferdinand on his trip to
Sarajevo
• Other Causes
– German / French Rivalry
– Russian / Austrian Rivalry
– Question about the Balkans
– Balance of power in Europe
– Imperialism / Colonialism

• Empires in 1914
– British, French (not Empires in name, but posses large colonial claims)
– Ottoman Empire (Turks) (Sick Man of Europe)
• Balkans
– Russian Empire
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Estonia
• Poland
• Ukraine
• Belarus
– Austrian Empire
• Hungary
• Checks
• Slovaks
• Parts of later Yugoslavia
– Germany? Where do they fit?

• German / French Rivalry
– 1871 a New unified Germany established by Otto
Von Bismark
• Rise of New Germany will create an imbalance of power in Europe – result in the fall of France?
• Germany takes territory of Alsace and Lorraine from the French
• France wants them back as well as revenge
• After 1871 Bismark will conserve what he has and isolate the French from any ally
– France needed allies to make any type of war on Germany

• Bismark wants to prevent any attack by France
– Creates an alliance in 1882 (Germany, Austria,
Italy)
• Bismark believes that he doesn’t need to worry about
England – they won’t act unless the balance of power is changed and they are threatned
• The Kaiser William I dies – William II comes to power
• William II comes in conflict with Bismark and forces him to resign
• William II becomes his own foreign minister – and doesn’t renew a peace treaty with Russia in 1888

• Franco / Russian alliance in 1894
– A military alliance
– Both are afraid of the Germans
• In the 1890s Britain began to see Germany as a threat
– Wm II wanted to build up the German navy
– The naval race began and Britain abandoned its
“splendid isolationism” puts aside differences with
France and Russia
– Form the Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia)

• Imperialism
– “Advanced” countries taking over less “advanced”
– 1 st World countries will take over 3 rd World countries (Marxist idea)
– Economic motives? – May be not
• Diamonds in Africa
– Prestige
• Anybody who is somebody has colonies
– Idealistic
• Christianize and modernize the 3 rd World countries

• Africa
– Britain: Egypt, Suez Canal – which led straight to India
– Italy: Libya
– French: Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia
• Asia
– British: Malaya (including Singapore) , Hong Kong
– French: Indo-China (includes Laos, Vietnam)
– Dutch: East Indies (Indonesia)
– US: Philippians, Guam
– German: Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands

• Ottoman Empire controlling the Balkans
– Turks have taken over the Empire – Balkans hate them because they were Muslim
– In the late 1800s referred to as the “Sick Man of Europe” – a sign of the Turks slipping
• Big powers are getting interested in the Balkans
– Russia and Austria both interested in the straits (warm water ports for Russia)
– Most people there are Slavic (Serbs) (Russia is the big
Slavic Father)
• Similar root language and religion (orthodox)
• 1908 Austria annexed Bosnia

• Most aggressive Balkan country is Serbia
– In 1878 Serbia became independent with very aggressive leaders
– Have a desire to establish a grater Serbian state
– This is a threat to Austria (annex Bosnia in 1908 which has mostly Serbs living there)

• Leaders are not going to solve rising tensions between countries
– Not determined to avoid war
• Assassination in Serbia
– The assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife tied to Serbia
– Austria can now militarily take over – but wont act without approval of Germany
• Germany issues them a blank check

• In 1914, a Serbian nationalist killed the Austro-
Hungarian heir to the throne (Archduke Franz
Ferdinand). The domino-effect began where:
– Austria declared war on Serbia, which was supported by Russia,
– Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary and Germany, which declared war on Russia and France, then invaded neutral Belgium, and pulled Britain into the war and igniting World War I.
• Americans were thankful that the Atlantic Ocean separated the warring Europeans from the U.S.

• The German Schlieffen Plan
– Germany’s plan to fight a two front war
– Attack France first (through neutral Belgium)
• knock France out of the war
• Then attack the “slow mobilizing” Russia
– Germans came very close to achieving this plan
• Germans were stopped just outside France

• Germany and France are now stalemated
– From October 1914 until March 1918 the front line did not move more than 10 miles in either direction
• “No Man’s Land”
• One continuous front from Switzerland to the North
Sea
• A defensive war with technology (machine gun)

•
•
•
•
•
• Russian Revolution
– After Tannenberg Disaster Russians fall into a Communist Revolution
* On Aug. 13, 1914 - Russians invade East Prussia from the south and east
* This attack was a distraction for the Allies on the
Western Front
* Germans quickly encircle and destroy Russian troops
* 30,000 Russians killed, 92,000 captured
* German casualties at 13,000

• Lusitania - sunk by German U-Boat (sub)
– Was a British passenger liner (accused of carrying war supplies for Britain from U.S.
– killed 128 Americans
– Germans had warned Allies in the newspaper
• Zimmerman Note
– German foreign minister sent telegram to Mexico wanting them to join the Central Powers
– Mexico would get New Mexico, Texas, Arizona

• April 2, 1917
• President Wilson asks Congress for declaration of war
• Wilson wants to “Make the world safe for
Democracy”
• The U.S. tips the scales and ends the stalemate in Europe http://www.firstworldwar.co
m/audio/overthere.htm