Table of Contents

FIRST WORLD WAR ............................................................................2

Introduction:.................................................................................................... 2
Events Leading Up to The Outbreak of War:..................................................... 3
Europe divides into two armed camps: ........................................................................... 3
Other important events: ................................................................................................. 3
Major events during First World War: .............................................................. 4
Causes of the First World War:......................................................................... 4
Mutual Defense Alliances: .............................................................................................. 4
Imperialism: ................................................................................................................... 5
Militarism: ...................................................................................................................... 5
Nationalism: ................................................................................................................... 5
Immediate Cause: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: ....................................... 5
First World War as a Great War: ...................................................................... 6
War and Revolution: ........................................................................................ 7
The Russian Revolution: .................................................................................................. 7
The Popular Revolution: ................................................................................................. 7
The October Revolution: ................................................................................................. 7
Nationalist Revolutions:.................................................................................................. 8
The Spreading Revolution: .............................................................................................. 8
Impact of the First World War:......................................................................... 9
 FIRST WORLD WAR

Introduction:
1. World War I, also called Great War, an international conflict that in 1914–18
embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States,
the Middle East, and other regions. The war pitted the Central Powers—
mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey—against the Allies—
mainly France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United
States. It ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. The war was virtually
unprecedented in the slaughter, carnage, and destruction it caused.
2. World War I was one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical
history. It led to the fall of four great imperial dynasties (in Germany, Russia,
Austria-Hungary, and Turkey), resulted in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia,
and, in its destabilization of European society, laid the groundwork for World
War II.
Events Leading Up to The Outbreak of War:
Europe divides into two armed camps:
1. 1882: Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy
2. 1894: France and Russia sign alliance
3. 1904: Britain and France sign 'Entente Cordiale' (friendly 'getting-together')
4. 1907: Britain and Russia sign agreement.

Other important events:

1. 1897: Admiral Tirpitz's Navy Law - Germany intends to build up fleet
2. 1902: Britain and Japan sign alliance
3. 1904-5: Russo-Japanese War, won by Japan
4. 1905-6: Moroccan Crisis
5. 1906: Britain builds first 'Dreadnought' battleship
6. 1908: Bosnia Crisis
7. 1911: Agadir Crisis
8. 1912: First Balkan War
9. 1914:
a. 28 June: Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo
b. 28 July: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
c. 29 July: Russia orders general mobilization of troops
d. 1 August: Germany declares war on Russia
e. 3 August: Germany declares war on France
 f. 4 August: Britain enters war
g. 6 August: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia

Major events during First World War:

1. The conflict developed on several fronts in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The two
main scenarios were the Western front, where the Germans confronted Britain,
France and, after 1917, the Americans. The second front was the Eastern front in
which the Russians fought against Germans and Austro-Hungarians.
2. After a brief German advance in 1914, the western front was stabilized and a
long and brutal trench warfare started: it was a "war of attrition" (the western
front remained immovable). Meanwhile on the Eastern Front the Germans
advanced but not conclusively.
3. In 1917, two events changed the course of the war: the United States joined the
Allies and Russia, after the Russian revolution, abandoned the conflict and
signed a separate peace.
4. In Germany, people were running short of food and fuel. The German navy
mutinied and there was widespread unrest. On November 9, the German ruler,
Kaiser William II, renounced and on November 11, 1918 an armistice was signed
between Germany and the allies, bringing the fight to an end.
5. In January 1919, the Allies met at the Paris Peace Conference, which formally
ended the war. It drew up the Treaty of Versailles, which imposed a harsh peace
upon Germany and laid the responsibility of starting the conflict squarely on
Germany’s shoulders.

Causes of the First World War:

Mutual Defense Alliances:
1. Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense agreements that
would pull them into battle.
2. Thus, if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them.
Before First World War, the following alliances existed:
a. Russia and Serbia
b. Germany and Austria-Hungary
c. France and Russia
d. Britain and France and
e. Belgium Japan and Britain
 3. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got involved to defend Serbia.
Germany seeing Russia mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then
drawn in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany attacked France
through Belgium pulling Britain into war. Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy
and the United States would enter on the side of the allies.

Imperialism:
1. Imperialism is when a country increases their power and wealth by bringing
additional territories under their control. Before World War I, Africa and parts of
Asia were points of contention amongst the European countries. This was
especially true because of the raw materials these areas could provide. The
increasing competition and desire for greater empires led to an increase in
confrontation that helped push the world into First World War.

Militarism:
2. As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914,
Germany had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and
Germany both greatly increased their navies in this time period. Further, in
Germany and Russia particularly, the military establishment began to have a
greater influence on public policy. This increase in militarism helped push the
countries involved to war.

Nationalism:
3. Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in
Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Austria Hungary but instead be
part of Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War. But in a more
general way, the nationalism of the various countries throughout Europe
contributed not only to the beginning but the extension of the war in Europe.
Each country tried to prove their dominance and power.

Immediate Cause: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand:

4. The immediate cause of World War I that made all the aforementioned items
come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism) was the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, a
Serbian nationalist assassinated him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo,
Bosnia which was part of Austria-Hungary.
5. This was in protest to Austria-Hungary having control of this region. Serbia
wanted to take over Bosnia and Herzegovina. This assassination led to Austria-
Hungary declaring war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize due to its
 alliance with Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus began the
expansion of the war to include all those involved in the mutual defense
alliances.

First World War as a Great War:

1. Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia’s response to her ultimatum declared
war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.
2. Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in
her defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.
3. Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization
as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war
on Russia on 1 August.
4. France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by
extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August.
Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the
shortest possible route.
5. Britain allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a ‘moral
obligation’ upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4
August. Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was
obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year-old treaty.
6. With Germany’s invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King’s appeal
to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium’s defense later
that day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
7. With Britain’s entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously
offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India,
New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
8. United States, President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute
neutrality, an official stance that would last until 1917 when Germany’s policy of
unrestricted submarine warfare-which seriously threatened America’s
commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards
the Allies led by Britain and France)—forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on
6 April 1917.
9. Japan, honoring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on
23 August 1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on
Japan.
 10. Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid
entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both. In
short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria- Hungary only in the
event of a ‘defensive’ war; arguing that their actions were ‘offensive’ she
declared instead a policy of neutrality. The following year, in May 1915, she
finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies.

War and Revolution:

Total war tore apart the social and political fabric of Europe and gave the opportunity
to socialist and nationalist revolutionaries to attempt to create a new Europe.

The Russian Revolution:

1. In Russia, Tsar Nicholas II assumed command of the army at the front. Nicholas
left domestic political affairs in disarray, which quickly destabilized the Russian
government. The lack of strong leadership and the enormous military losses of
the war and extreme hunger added to the growing disaffection of the tsarist
regime.

The Popular Revolution:

1. In March of 1917, the Tsarist regime was overthrown. Two centers of power
emerged in its place. One was the provisional government led by liberals. The
second was the soviets, or councils of workers and soldiers. With the return of
the Russian socialists from exile, they assumed leading roles in the Petrograd
Soviet.
2. The Russian people demanded land, bread, and peace. The Provisional
Government could not satisfy these demands. With German armies deep in
Russian territory, peace seemed impossible.
3. The Provisional Government was committed to liberal principles of respect for
property, so it could only offer a gradual redistribution of royal and monastic
lands. Consequently, the Provisional Government grew unpopular and weaker;
the soldiers deserted in mass, and the peasants began taking over the lands they
wanted.

The October Revolution:

1. In November of 1917 a second revolution led by the Bolsheviks overthrew the
provisional government. The Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin. He argued
that a group of professional revolutionaries could bring about a working-class
revolution in Russia.
 2. The Bolsheviks proclaimed a policy of land partition without compensation to the
estates’ owners. In March of 1918 they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which
brought peace by giving Germany the western territories of Russia. For the next
two years, the Bolsheviks fought a brutal civil war to hold on to power.

Nationalist Revolutions:
1. The collapse of the eastern European and Ottoman Empires made nationalist
revolutions possible. The Habsburg Empire had been plagued by ethnic divisions
for several decades. During the war, groups of Slavic soldiers defected to the
Russian side. With the defeat at the hands of the allied armies, the empire
disintegrated. Nationalist politicians declared Poland, Hungary, and
Czechoslovakia, and other Balkan regions.
2. In the Middle East, the English fostered Arab nationalism with the promise of
post-war independence. At the same time, the British promised in the Balfour
Declaration support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration
was seen by the Palestinian Arabs as a betrayal.
3. The war also stimulated nationalist aspirations in the European empires. The
war blockades eroded the economic connections between the empire and the
European nations. In the British white dominions of Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, and South Africa, the war further enhanced, industrialized, and
diversified their economies, which added to their economic independence.
4. The war also bolstered nationalist movements in India and Egypt. The war led
native leaders to question the right Western leaders had to involve their people
in a war. In India, Mohandas Gandhi turned Indian nationalism into a mass
movement and introduced a new form of revolution by nonviolent protest and
civil disobedience.

The Spreading Revolution:

1. The victory of the Bolsheviks inspired other socialist revolutions in Europe, most
significantly in Germany. A revolution from below led by the Sparticists
attempted to follow the Russian example and rejected the granularization of the
SPD, which was in charge of the postwar government. Sparticist leaders Karl
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg proclaimed Germany a revolutionary communist
state. After a civil war, the SPD defeated the communists.
Impact of the First World War:
1. Economic Impacts: The participating countries spent a lot of money during World
War I. Germany and the United Kingdom spend over 60% of the money
generated by respective economies. Countries were forced to raise taxes and
borrow from their populations. They also created money in order to purchase
guns and other war-related items. Following the war, this resulted in inflation.
2. Political Impacts: Four monarchies were deposed as a result of World War I: Czar
Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, Emperor Charles of Austria, and
the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
a. Old empires gave birth to new countries. Austria-Hungary was divided into
several sovereign states.
b. Poland received land from Russia and Germany. Countries in the Middle
East were handed up to Britain and France.
c. Turkey was formed from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire.
3. Social Impacts: The Great War drastically altered civilization. Because millions of
young men died, birth rates fell (eight million died, millions wounded, maimed,
widows and orphans). Civilians migrated to neighboring nations after losing their
land.
a. Women's roles evolved as well. They played a significant role in the
replacement of males in industries and offices. After the war, several
countries granted women new rights, including the opportunity to vote.
b. The upper classes lost their position as social leaders. Young men and
women from the middle and lower classes desired a say in the formation
of their nation after the war.
4. Treaty of Versailles: On June 28, 1919, World War I officially ended with the
signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was an attempt to
prevent the world from going into another war.
5. The U.S., which had won the war but had not experienced the conflict on its
territory, became a first world power.
6. The mass mobilization of men led to the incorporation of women into the
workforce, which was a major step forward for women's rights.
7. The triumph of the Soviet Revolution (Russian Revolution) and the social crisis
that followed the war encouraged workers in many countries to protest, creating
a pre-revolutionary climate.
8. The extreme nationalism experienced during the war, coupled with fear of a
Communist revolution, encouraged the middle-class populations of some
countries to move to the extreme right. This created a hotbed of fascist
movements.
9. Formation of the League of Nations: The League of Nations was an international
diplomatic group developed after World War I as a way to solve disputes
between countries before they erupted into open warfare. A precursor to the
United Nations, the League achieved some victories but had a mixed record of
success.