The Great War
1914–1918
World History
Causes of World War I
Militarism
•Militarism—definition:
Development & Glorification of a
STANDING ARMY
Issues:
• COST of DEFENDING General Hindenburg, Emperor Wilhelm II
(the Kaiser) and General Ludendorff
COLONIES leads to HUGE
military spending
• Feel need to use military
nations have built up
• By 1890, Germany has biggest
army in Europe
• then begins NAVAL ARMS NEXT
ALLIANCES
Bismarck’s Diplomacy: Alliances
will keep Germany out of war
• Knows France wants revenge for 1866 defeat
• Isolates France w/ alliances, BUT . . .
• Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm fires Bismarck
–Kaiser wants militarism over diplomacy.
He forms the:
• TRIPLE ALLIANCE: GERMANY, AUSTRIA-
HUNGARY, ITALY
Alliances
• Build-up of German navy alarms Britain
• TRIPLE ENTENTE: BRITAIN, FRANCE,
RUSSIA
• Two-front war now a threat to Germany
(exactly what Bismarck wanted to avoid)
• Alliance- countries would defend one another
• Entente- countries would not fight one another
Alliances ala Venn
[Link]
Alliance System
• Triple Entente or Allies: France, Britain, Russia
• Triple Alliance or Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
(plus Ottoman Empire)
• Alliances GIVE SECURITY; Make nations more unwilling to tip balance
of power
IMPERIALISM: Strong nations seek to
dominate other countries politically, economically,
& socially
• NEED RAW MATERIALS & MARKETS TO SELL
THEIR FINISHED GOODS
• NATIONS COME INTO CONFLICT DEFENDING
“THEIR” COLONIES AROUND THE WORLD
NEXT
MNENOMIC TIP FOR CAUSES OF
WWI
• M—militarism
• A—alliances
• I—imperialism
• N--nationalism
Roots of War
The Messy Balkans
• Many small nations with very different cultures,
languages, and histories
• Concentration of Slavs—a common heritage with
some cultural similarities
• “Slav” is a category like Hispanic, Arab,
Germanic
• Remember—Russia is a Slavic nation too!
All you need is one
little spark
and….BOOM!
• The “powder keg” of Europe
• A history of conflict and ethnic divides made
future conflict likely
Crisis in the Balkans
A Restless Region
• New nation of Serbia made up largely of Slavs
• Austria-Hungary annexes Slavic region Bosnia and
Herzegovina (1908)
• Serbia outraged, sees itself as rightful ruler of Slavic lands
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
• Serbian rebel kills Austro-Hungarian royal official in June
1914
• Austria declares war on Serbia; Russia comes to aid of
Serbia
The Assassination
• Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of A-H, and his wife Sophie were
traveling to Sarajevo, a Slavic city close to the Serbian border.
• FF was shot point-blank by a 19-year old Slav,
Gavrilo Princip
A-H used this as
an excuse to
impose drastic
demands and
declare war on
Serbia!
Assasination Plunges Europe into
War
Armies on the March
• Russian troops to borders with Austria/Germany
• Germany declares war on Russia, attacks France
– Knows Russia’s lack of industrialization means it
will mobilize (be ready to fight) slowly
• Great Britain declares war on Germany
The Two Sides
Central Powers Allied Powers
• Russia
• Germany • France
• Austria-Hungary • Great Britain
• Ottoman Empire • Japan
• Bulgaria • Italy (leaves the Tr.
• Countries located in All. & joins Allies)
the “center” of
Europe
The Western Front
• The area of France from the North Sea to the Swiss border (500
miles!)
• Constant fighting but little movement (a stalemate)
• Trench warfare- each side dug miles of trenches
– Some protection from enemy fire
– Mud everywhere, rats & disease
• No man’s land- the area between opposing trenches
– This area is where most die during war
– New weapons only lead to more deaths
War in the Trenches
Trench warfare
• Battles = many deaths, small land gains
• Life in trenches is miserable, difficult, unsanitary
• New weapons only lead to more deaths
Russia Struggles
• Russia’s war effort suffering by 1916; many
casualties, few supplies
• Huge size of Russian army keeps it formidable
The Eastern Front
• Area along the German and Russian border
• Russians and Serbs battled Germans and Austro-
Hungarians
• Russia was NOT INDUSTRIALIZED, so supplies were
severely limited (large population led it to “waste men”)
• Distracted Germany; forced a two front war
RASPUTIN
New Technology
• Poison gas—caused blindness, severe blisters, or death by choking
• Machine gun—fires many rounds automatically
• Submarine—cannot be seen without sonar, used torpedoes to
attack ships
• Planes—used in war for the first time; only 850 at first; not the
weapon they will later become
• Tank—huge, versatile armored vehicle (primitive compared to
today’s tanks)
A Global Conflict
The Gallipoli Campaign
• Allies move to capture entrance to Black Sea
to defeat Ottoman Empire
• Effort ends in costly Allied defeat
Battles in Africa and Asia
• Allies take German holdings in Asia, Africa
• Britain and France use their colonial subjects
to help in war effort
War Affects the World
• Germany seeks to control Atlantic to stop
supplies to Britain
• Germany uses unrestricted submarine
warfare (subs sink any ship in enemy
waters w/o warning)
• Sinking of Lusitania angers U.S.
• Effort to enlist Mexico anger U.S.
• 1917 U.S. declares war on Germany
America Joins the Ranks
War Affects the Home Front
Governments Wage Total War
• Total war — devote all resources to war
• Governments take control of economy
• Nations turn to rationing — limiting
purchases of war-related goods
Women and the War
• At home, thousands of women fill jobs
previously held by men; many = war nurses
Near the End of the War
Russia 1917: 2 Revolutions!
• 1st Rev: Women’s Bread March starts riots
which remove Czar Romanov from power
• 2nd Rev: Brings COMMUNISM to Russia
under Lenin--overthrows democratically
elected Gov’t—(1918 Russian/German treaty
= Russia leaves WWI
• U.S. enters war (1917), Allies win;
armistice—end of fighting—signed 11/11/11
1918
A Flawed Peace
• Group of leaders known
as the Big Four dominate
Peace Talks
• Wilson proposes
Fourteen Points
– Free trade, end secret
alliances, military
buildups
– Promotes
self-determination
right of people to govern own nation
• Envisions international peace-keeping
The Versailles Treaty
• Britain, France oppose Wilson; want to punish
Germany
• Treaty of Versailles
– Germany must accept blame for starting
war (War Guilt Clause); must pay huge
reparations (damages)
– creates League of Nations
• Versailles treaty changes the look of Europe
– Austria, Bulgaria, Ottoman all lose
– New countries created in southeastern
Europe; Russia gives up land
Europe before WWI
P
Europe after WWI
Before After
How WWI changes face of
Europe geographically:
• Poland
• Czechoslovakia
• Hungary
• Finland
• Estonia
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Yugoslavia
• Other countries
enlarged/reduced
Treaty of Versailles creates bad
feelings on both sides
• German people feel betrayed & bitter when forced
to take SOLE blame for war
• Germany hit with huge reparations ($ payments to
Allies for war damage)
• Colonies express anger over not getting
independence after helping Allies
• Japan, Italy criticize agreement; gain less land than
they want
• America never signs Treaty of Versailles
– Senate opposes League of Nations
Costs of War
• 10 million soldiers died as a result of the war
• 21 million were wounded
• Countless civilians died from starvation, disease, or from the
war
• “Next Generation” w/ their new ideas and promise of a new
future are killed off
• Economic impact—HUGE financial cost ($338 billion!)
– Farmland, homes, villages, towns destroyed
New countries created:
•Finland, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland
•Austria, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia,
Yugoslavia, Turkey
•Middle East was
given to the GB and
FR
