World History & Geography II - Unit 9: WWI + Russian Revolution + The Great Depression

Things That Already Occured

• Industrialization

  • increased production, steel, and manufacturing →led to weapons

• Berlin Conference

  • Europeans agreed not to fight, eventually promises were forgotten

Causes of WWI

• M - Militarism

  • a government with a strong military force who are prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests

• A - Alliances

  • divided Europe into competing camps

• I - Imperialism

  • the practice of one country extending it's control over the territory, political system, or economic life of another country

• N - Nationalistic Feelings

  • pride in one’s country that then led to feeling of superiority toward other countries

• Diplomatic Failures

  • countries can’t agree on solutions or find compromise

• Competition

  • over colonies created tensions between European countries

Assassination (June 1914)

Serbian nationalists plan and Gavrilo Princip kills Archduke (prince) Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife

Battle of Tannenberg (Aug. 26-30, 1914)

• Russia v Germany - everyone has something to prove

• While most of the German army was moving towards France, this battle was meant to hold the Russians off

• Germans use railroads to move its troops quickly

• Destroyed the Russian 2nd Army

  • 92,000 captured

  • 78,000 killed or wounded

  • Commanding General committed suicide in embarrassment

Marne (Sept. 1914)

• France & Great Britain v Germany

• Germans wanted Paris

• Germany gets pushed back

• Kills hope for a quick war

The Gallipoli Campaign (Feb. 1915 - Jan. 1916)

• France & Great Britain v The Ottoman Empire

• Allies launch a naval attack hoping to capture Istanbul

• After 8 months of fighting they leave

• Needed a sea access to Russia - didn’t get it

Lusitania (May 7, 1915)

• German sub sinks a British passenger liner - 1198 people die including some Americans

• Does not lead to the USE going to war

• US would get mad at a later date

2nd Battle @ Ypres (April - May 1915)

• First mass use of German Poison Gas on the Western Front

• Canadians crush Germans

• French, Moroccan, and Algerian troops get hit bad (6000 deaths)

• Left the line and ran (4 miles)

• Canadians filled the line and fought back

• All sides used some chemical weapons before being banned

Verdun (Feb. - Dec. 1916)

• Germany v France, one of the bloodiest of the war, it represents the horrors of trench warfare

• 302 days of battle, Germans withdraw but French lose thousands

Battles of the Somme (July - Nov. 1916)

• France & Great Britain v Germany

• Somme is a river, allies were on the offensive - hoping for a victory

• French army will be split because Verdun happens in the middle of it

• British army was better trained by this time (2 years into the war) and used long-range guns and aircraft

• Eventually claimed “victory” but only gained 6 miles

• 1 million killed or wounded

• It is now 1917, Germany is desperate thought they would have won the war by Christmas of 1914

Zimmerman Notes (Jan. 1917)

• Germany sent a telegram to try and get Mexico to attack the US and keep them out of the war

• Mexico doesn’t do it

• Germany had promised land that they wouldn’t actually be able to give Mexico

• Sent in Jan, decoded by the British in Feb, US public was informed on March 1st

• Feb 1st 1917 - Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare, ends Sussex Pledge

USA Enters The War (April 1917)

• In response to German return to unrestricted submarine warfare (and the Zimmerman Notes) US ‘dough-boys” bring much-needed troops and boost spirits

• US then began training troops - the first real fighting that US troops of the AEF (American Expeditionary Force) fought was in Nov - Dec of 1917

• Engaged in 13 battles (Argonne) overall and helped turn the tide of the war

• Provided much needed supplies and tired out the Germans

Russia Leaves (March 3, 1918)

• Treaty of Brest Litovsk

• Russia signs a peace treaty with the Central Powers because it is in the middle of a Revolution

• Basically Acknowledging that “Germany beat them”

• Took away 1/3 of Russia’s population, ½ of her industry, 9/10 of her coal mine

• Russia’s revolution had started a year earlier - new leaders decided war was not their main concern

Moving Towards the End

• By the fall of 1918 the German military was exhausted

• Sailors and soldiers were refusing to follow orders to keep fighting and civilians were talking rebellion

• Kaiser Wilhelm went into exile (hiding in the Netherlands) No more MONARCHY!

War is Over (Nov. 11 1918)

• Armistice Day (Armistice means cease fire agreement), now Veterans Day

• Official end of WWI, Germany loses

Outcomes of WW1

• Colonies participation in the war increased demands for independence

• End of Empires

  • Russian Imperial, Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires

  • France and Great Britain are still powerful

• Enormous cost (of the war) in lives, property, and social disruption

Major Leaders

• Woodrow Wilson

  • Idealist and Reformer - originally neutral

  • April 1917 - “Make the world safe for democracy”

  • Came up with the 14 points and pushed the League of Nations

• Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859 - 1941)

  • Fired Bismark in 1890

  • Started down a more aggressive path or military building and hurting friendships

  • Last German Emperor (British mother)

  • Believed in militarism - expands Navy

  • Envisions a German Empire - but he was related to everyone - so he was torn

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

• Forced Germany to accept guilt for war and loss of territory and pay reparations - Article 231

• Limited the German military - reduce army and navy + eliminate air force - no way to defend themselves

• Alsace and Lorraine returned to France (take in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War)

• Easter Germany converts/is given to Poland

• Map of Eastern Europe redrawn - Russia is not getting back what they gave Germany, but Germany doesn’t get it either

League of Nations

• International cooperative organization - many countries will work together to avoid war and work out their problems diplomatically

• Created specifically to prevent future wars

• United States didn’t join, even though Wilson, a democrat, created it (Republicans voted no in the senate)

• League failed because it did not have power to enforce it’s decisions

The Mandate System

• During WWI France and Great Britain decided to divide up large portions of the Ottoman Empire for themselves

• System was created to “administer the colonies of defeated powers on a temporary basis”

• France and Great Britain became “mandatory powers” in the Middle East and planted seeds for future conflicts in the Middle East