world war 1
World War I
(1914 to 1918)
Reasons why World War I broke out
Overview of the long-term causes:
Nationalism
Growth of industrial economies
A race to rule the seas
European colonisation and the growth of European Empires
Nationalism
At the end of the 1800s there was great rivalry amongst the countries in Europe as to who was the most powerful.
Patriotism is love of one's country.
Nationalism goes further than patriotism, it encourages people in a country to think they are better than other countries and makes people prepared to go to war for their country.
growth of industrial economies
Britain was the first country in the world to become industrialised.
Britain had become very rich through the slave trade and then through manufacturing products from raw materials obtained from its colonies.
Germany soon caught up with Britain and also began industrialising.
By the end of the 1800s Britain was no longer the only economically powerful country in Europe.
A race to control the seas
Tension began growing between Britain & Germany.
Both countries had colonies in other parts of the world and needed powerful navies in order to protect existing colonies and gain even more colonies.
In the early 20th century, Britain had the most powerful navy as it was exposed throughout being an island nation.
Britain also used its navy to protect its trade routes around the world.
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany decided to challenge British supremacy at sea and began rivalling Britain’s naval strength.
Both sides became involved in a naval race building bigger and better battleships in order to rule the seas.
Immediate causes of World War I: Assassination of Archduke of Austria at Sarajevo
The Balkans
Events in the Balkans in Eastern Europe were the immediate cause of the outbreak of World War I.
The small country of Serbia had been part of the Turkish Empire but gained its independence in a war against the Turks.
Serbia encouraged Croatia and Bosnia to break free from Austria.
Austria held on to its territories in the Balkans and was looking for a reason to attack Serbia and annex it as part of the Austrian Empire.
Assassination of Archduke of Austria at Sarajevo
Many Bosnians wanted to be independent of Austria.
Serbs who supported the Bosnians who were against Austria, formed a secret organisation called the Black Hand that was prepared to use violent means to rid the Balkans of Austrian control.
In June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited the city of Sarajevo, capital city of Bosnia where he was very unpopular.
Gavrilo Princip a 19-year-old peasant and member of the Black Hand, was prepared to assassinate the Archduke, as he was ill with tuberculosis and knew that he would die soon.
Gavrilo Princip
Assassinated the Archduke of Austria.
He was imprisoned for 20 years as he was too young to be executed.
He died in prison at the age of 24.
Countries in Europe that fought:
Allied Powers vs Central Powers
War breaks out in 1914
When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, Austria had the excuse they were seeking and soon declared war on Serbia.
This war spiralled into a world war from 1914 to 1918 and is considered to be one of the most devastating wars ever.
On the side of Austria were Germany and Turkey - together they were the Central Powers.
Opposing the Central Powers were the Allied Powers made up of Russia, France, Britain, Italy and the USA (joined in1917).
Sequence of events that led to the war between Austria & Serbia developing into a world war
Russia soon joined the war on the side of Serbia.
Owing to an agreement between Russia & France, that they would support each other in the event of a war, France joined the war too.
Austria had a similar agreement with Germany, which brought the Germans into the war.
Germany invaded Belgium on their way to attack France.
Britain felt threatened by this and declared war on Germany.
Italy then joined the war on the side of the Allies.
Turkey entered the war on the side of the Central Powers.
The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War 1, was around 40 million. There were 20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. The total number of deaths includes 9.7 million military personnel and about 10 million civilians
Aspects of experience in World War I
Both the Allied and Central Powers believed that they would defeat the other side within a matter of months.
The war however, lasted 4 years.
Conscription in Britain
Three million young men joined the British army at the beginning of the war.
By 1916, millions of soldiers had died or been injured, and the army was running short of personnel
Men were not freely volunteering like before, so compulsory military conscription was enforced.
At first, only single men were conscripted; but later, even married men, under the age of 50.
Propaganda in Britain
The British government embarked on a propaganda campaign to encourage men to join the army.
Propaganda is defined as information, especially of a biassed or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.
The British public were misled by many untruths to solicit their support.Atrocities by German soldiers were concocted and blown out of proportion to stir up the emotions of prospective soldiers and gain the support of the general public.
Conscientious objectors
Men who refused to fight in the war were called conscientious objectors, citing religion as the main reason.
A white feather was a symbol of cowardice used by the British to indicate that someone did not want to fight in the army.
An organisation called the Order of the White Feather was founded and aimed to shame men into joining the British army.
Women gave men a white feather if they were not wearing a uniform.
Because the war was going to go on for a long time, the British government became more aggressive towards conscientious objectors.
As the number of British deaths and injuries on the Western Front increased, the British army needed more and more soldiers.
Conscientious objectors had to go before a military court to explain why they believed they should not have to fight.
The army feared that their action might spur more men into becoming conscientious objectors.
Consequently, many conscientious objectors were sent to jail.
Others went to the Western Front to help the wounded.
Trench Warfare on the Western Front
One of the horrors of WWI was trench warfare.
Trenches were long holes in the ground where soldiers hid from enemy gunfire.
Soldiers on the allied side dug trenches on the French border.
Soldiers on the Central Powers side dug trenches on the German border.
Many soldiers fighting in the trenches suffered from trench foot.
Soldiers in the trenches endured constant shell-fire.
Conditions were dreadful with the sights and sounds of death all around.
Many eventually developed a reaction which doctors called shell-shock.
Early symptoms included fatigue, irritability, dizziness, lack of concentration and headaches.
Music and Poetry about World War I
Music about World War I
In times of war, songs try to boost patriotism and soldier morale, mourn losses and generate support at home.
World War I resulted in the creation of many popular songs about wartime themes.
Songs were an inspiration to the young men who were being sent to fight the war and to those at home worried about their loved ones.
Poetry about World War I
There were many books and poems written about World War I.
Two of the most famous WWI poets were Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.
Sassoon fought on the Western Front and after being wounded in 1917, was sent back to England.
He, like many others, became very angry about the inhumanity of the war and the exceedingly harsh conditions young soldiers were subjected to.
World War I and South Africa
South Africa went to war against Germany on the side of Britain.
There was no compulsory military conscription in South Africa.
Both black and white men joined the army voluntarily.
According to Apartheid laws, Black soldiers were not allowed to carry weapons.
African, Coloured and Indian men were non-combatant.
Black soldiers in WWI were segregated from white soldiers and were not allowed to carry weapons. They dug trenches, carried stretchers and repaired roads.
Battle of Delville Wood, 1916
South African soldiers fought in other parts of Africa and Europe.
One of the deadliest battles of the war was fought at Delville Wood, a small forest on the Western Front in France.
Over 3000 South Africans went to battle.
Only 755 men survived.
The aim of the battle was to capture the wood from the Germans so that the Allies could launch an attack into Germany.
The South African regiment managed to clear the Southern end of the wood of German forces.
The Sinking of the Mendi, 1917
The SS Mendi was a troop ship carrying members of the South African Native Labour Corps (SANLC).
The SANLC was a group of black South Africans recruited as non-combatants.
The ship was on its way to France where the SANLC members were going to the trenches on the Western Front.
The Mendi stopped in England and was heading across the English Channel when it sank.
823 members of the SANLC were on board, most from the rural areas of the Eastern Cape.
The white South Africans were officers.
The Mendi was sailing in thick fog when it was struck and cut almost in half by the SS Darro an empty meat ship that was bound for Argentina.
Few of the men on the Mendi could swim and the crew of the Darro made no attempt to rescue anyone.
The investigation into the accident found that the captain of the Darro, Henry W. Stump, was speeding and was not sounding the fog warning signals.
The Mendi disaster was one of South Africa's most tragic incidents of WWI, second perhaps only to the Battle of Delville Wood.
The Mendi has given its name to South Africa's highest award for courage, the Order of the Mendi Decoration for Bravery bestowed by the president on South African citizens who have performed extraordinary acts of bravery.
A total of 616 South Africans including 607 black troops serving in the SA NLC died when the steamship sank in the English Channel on the way to France on 21 February 1917
Women in Britain during World War I
Changing Roles of Women in the Workplace in Britain in World War I
In Britain before WWI, most women stayed at home and looked after their families.
Women gained opportunities both socially and economically during WWI as they took up jobs previously held by men who were now at the front.
The war offered women more opportunities in the paid job market.
It opened a wider range of jobs for female workers.
The advantages were higher wages, better working conditions and that women became more independent of men.
There was an increase in female trade union membership.
Emily Pankhurst and the Campaign for the Vote for Women in Britain
At the beginning of WWI, the British parliament made the laws.
Only rich men voted to elect male members of parliament.
Women did not have the right to vote.
The fight for women's votes began as early as 1832.
But by the early 20th century many women were unhappy with the progress that had been made using the tactics of petitioning and letter writing.
Emily Pankhurst, the leader of the Suffragette movement for the rights of women, adopted a more radical approach.
The Suffragettes campaigned by using violence and civil disobedience to get public attention and went to prison for their cause.
In prison they went on hunger strikes and were cruelly force-fed by the police.
The Suffragettes smashed the windows of government buildings, shops and the windows of the house of the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.
They disrupted the leisure time of rich men by setting fire to golf clubhouses, cricket grounds and racecourse stands.
One woman even threw herself in front of the King's horse during a horse race; she was killed.
At the end of the war in 1918 women got the right to vote.
They had to be 30 years old to vote while men could vote at the age of 21.
The Suffragettes used to chain themselves to the railings of important government buildings in order to give themselves more time to make speeches before the police could cut them free and take them to the nearest police station to be arrested.
The Defeat of Germany and the Treaty of Versailles
WWI ended on 11 November 1918.
Just before the end of the war the government of Kaiser Wilhelm II collapsed, and he was no longer King of Germany.
Allied propaganda during the war had shown him as a monster and some of the allies wanted him hanged.
However, he was allowed to go into exile and lived in the Netherlands for the rest of his life.
A new government, formed in the city of Weimar, called the Weimar Republic took over in Germany.
The countries that defeated Germany in the war wanted revenge.
The leaders of Germany and the Allies met and signed the Treaty of Versailles.
The treaty contained an agreement on the punishments for Germany.
Separate treaties were signed with Austria and Turkey.
Summary of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles:
Germany lost land.
Germany had to sign a War Guilt Clause that said they were to blame for the war.
Germany could have a small army and navy; but, no military air force.
Germany had to pay millions of Marks as reparations to the Allied Powers.
The terms of the treaty were dictated to Germany; they did not have a say.