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15-1: The Road to WWI 15-2: The War 15-3: War and Revolution 15-4: The Peace Settlement
First cause of WWI
Archduke Francis Ferdinand’s assassination in Sarajevo (1914) which lead to Austria-Serbia conflict
MAININ (Long term causes)
Militarism, Alliences, Imperalism, Mass politics, intellectual justification, and nationalism
Brinkmanship
Each nation state regarded itself as sovereign, subject to no higher interest or authority, each state was motivated by its own self interest and success
Triple Alliance VS Triple Entente
Rivalries over colonial, industrial, and commercial interests- imperialist expansion , they believed that alliances were important and depended on security support from them
Militarism
Aggressive military preparedness, large armies based on mass conscription and complex, inflexible plans for mobilization, military leaders grew in strength=drew complex plans for quickly mobilizing men in event of war
Conscription
A military draft- militaries doubled in size between 1890-1914
June 28 1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian heir to throne, was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Princip
Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909-1917. Pursued a policy of détente with Britain but ultimately failed.
Blank check
promise of support from GERMANY to AUSTRIA-HUNGRAY after Ferdinand's assassination; Austria-Hungary sought reprisals against SERBIA
Ultimatum
given to Serbs from Austrians. Denounced Serbian nationalistic activity. Made a lot of demands, and the Serbs accepted 5 completely, 4 pending discussion...only rejected one outright: that the Austro-Hungarian gov. send representatives to investigate
Mobilization
Organization of troops and supplies for service in time of war
Alfred von Schlieffen
Chief of the German general staff from 1891 to 1906. He outlined Germany's war plan by defeating the French and standing on the defensive against Russia all in a six week period.
Schlieffen plan
• Designed and named after Count Alfred Von Schlieffen
• Plan was to move quickly through France and capture Paris and knock France out of the war to avoid a two front war
• Failed due to changing in the numbers by the current general
• Was ineffective in quickly defeating France, as was desired.
War enthusiasm
Many europeans went to war with enthusiasm, lots of government propaganda helped with enthusiasm, mid class and countryside peasants were less eager, socialists put strikes on hold for war efforts, many believed that the war would end in a matter of weeks (home by Christmas)
War in the west (Germany)
The schlieffen plan called for Germany to proceed through Belgium (enact plan to avoid 2 front war) Aug 4th- German troops crossed into Belgium where they burned villages, killed civilians, and destroyed parts of Louvain, in sep Germans reached Marne river but were stopped by British who quickly mobilized
Joseph Joffre
French comander, stopped Germans at the first battle of the Marne - Germans fell back, war turned into a stalemate
Stalemate
The war turned into this for the French and Germany armies--neither could get the other out of the trenches they had begun digging for shelter, so they were in a lock of sorts
Trench warfare
opposing forces attack and counterattack from a relatively permanent system of trenches protected by barbed wire, constant attacks, extended from the English Channel to frotiers of Switzerland
Battle of Tannenberg
Russian army defeated on August 30, engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first month of World War. Resulted in DESTRUCTION OF RUSSIA. Kept Russia unstable until 1915. Notable for fast rail movements by the Germans, enabling them to concentrate against two Russian armies in turn, and also for the failure of the Russians to encode their radio messages
Battle of Masurian Lakes
a German offensive in the Eastern Front. pushed the Russian First Army back across its entire front, eventually ejecting it from Germany. German victory., September 15, established military reputations for Paul von Hindenburg
No mans land
The land between opposing trenches during World War I, It was horrible bc of dead bodies, rats, and bombs
Battle of Verdun
Battle fought between French and German armies from February to December 1916; more than 700,000 people died - one of the most costly battles of the WWI.
Battle of the Somme
A 1916 WWI (1914-1918) battle between German and British forces. Ending in a stalemate, the bitter three-month conflict is notable for the high number of casualties- 1.25 million men killed or wounded - and the first use of tanks in warfare.
Battle of Ypres
Ended the "Race to the Sea"
Battle of Gallipoli
A poorly planned and badly executed Allied campaign to capture the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli during 1915 in World War I. Intended to open up a sea lane to the Russians through the Black Sea, the attempt failed with more than 50 percent casualties on both sides. British and French operation was mounted to capture Istanbul. The attempt failed, heavy casualties on both sides.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
1915 German gov declared the area around British Isels a war zone and threatened to torpedo ships caught in it
Lusitania
May 7th 1915, 100+ Americans lost their lives which caused the Germans to modify their submarine warfare
What brought the US in the war?
April 6 1917, The return of unrestricted submarine warfare brought the US into the war
Zeppelins
Giant airships used by Germans to bomb London and eastern England
Total War
Warfare in which all of a nations resources- including civilians at home and soldiers in the field mobilized for the war effort, brought and end to unemployment
Nationalization
Process of converting a business/industry from private ownership to government , control, and ownership. govs in Europe shifted towards compuls employment and planned economies to mobilize resources for war efforts
Walter Rathenau
Head of German General Electric Company, used business methods to organize the War Raw Materials board- allocate strategic raw materials to produce the goods that were most needed
Auxiliary Service Law
System of complete mobilization for total war- Dec 2 1916, required all male noncombatans ages 17-60 to work in jobs crucial to war effort
Georges Clemenceau
French war government leader(strong), clear civilian control of a total war government
The Defense of the Realm Act
Allowed public authorities to arrest dissenters and censor newspapers
Tsarina Alexandra
German princess, married to Nicholas II, well educated, protected her husband, under influence of Rasputin
Rasputin
A Siberian peasant, stopped the bleeding of Alexandra’s hemophiliac son (regarded as a holy man), power behind the throne-interfered w gov affairs
March Revolution
March 8- 10,000 women marched through Petrograd shouting: “Peace and Bread, Down with the autocracy” and soon more workers joined, shutting down factories, Nicholas ordered troops to disperse the crowd (shooting if necessary)
Provisional Government
Government put in place after Tsar Nicholas II was abdicated and before a new gov/tsar was put in place, constitutional democrats were responsible for establishing this, represented mid class + liberal aristocratic minority, passed reforms= universal suffrage, civil equality, 8 hour work days
Soviets
Council of workers + soldiers deputies formed throughout Russia (1917) played important role in Bolshevik Rev + authority of provisional gov
Mensheviks
Wanted the social democrats to be a mass electoral socialist party based on western model, willing to cooperate w Parlimentory democracy = working for socialist state
Bolsheviks
Russian social democrats, worked to overthrow provisional gov, promised end to war, redistribution of all land to peasants and transfer of factories + industries from capitalist to committees of workers=”Peace, Land and Bread”
Vladimir Ulianov
Dedicated enemy of tarist Russia bc his brother got killed for planning to kill the tsar, group: liberation of the working class, leader of Bolsheviks, dedicated to violent rev
April Thesis
Issued by Lenin April 20th, blueprint for revolutionary action based on his own version of Marxist theory, Russia moves directly into socialism
Army Order NO. 1
Issued by the Petrograd soviet in March to all Russian military forces- encouraged them to remove their officers and replace them with committees of “elected representatives of the lower ranks” of the army
Alexander Kerensky
Moderate socialist, became prime minister in the provisional gov (July 1917). He refused to confiscate land holdings and felt that continuation of war was most important.
Leon Trotsky
Chairman of Petrograd soviet, Supporter of Lenin who helped in the takeover of Petrograd and the Bolshevik revolution
November 11, 1918:
an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies, ending World War I.
Big 4
American (Wilson), Britain (Lloyd George), France (Clemenceau), and Italy (Vittorio Orlando)
League of Nations
Wilson wanted to create the league to prevent future wars, Jan 25 1919 the conference adopted the principle of the League of Nations with Wilson agreeing to make territory arrangements
The Treaty of Versailles
Victorious allies wrote the treaty without German involvement, signed June 28 1919
War Guilt Clause
Article 231: declared that Germany + Austria were responsible for starting WWI and ordered Germany to pay reparations for the damage the Allies had suffered through bc of the war
Mandates
A nation officially administered a territory on behalf of the League of Nations=France took control over Lebanon+Syria, Britain received Iraq+Palestine
Note 
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