WWI
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Hohenzollern leader of Germany
Quirky
Grew up in age of nationalism
Makes foreign policy decisions based on nationalism
Fires Otto von Bismarck
Wants for Germany to become more friendly to Austria-Hungary
German-Russian alliance expires
Russia has been publicly dumped
Little does he know, Austria-Hungary has been on the decline for centuries
Currently struggling with independence movements
Shaky ground
Serbian Conflict
Austria-Hungary controls a part of Serbia, while the Ottoman Empire controls the other part
AH declares that they control all of Serbia
1912, Austria annexes Serbians, dissolving independence
Serbian nationalists are strongly against this
The Triple Alliance
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy
The Triple Entente
France
Russia
Britain
Franz Ferdinand’s Assassination
Hapsburgs decide to flex on Serbia
Archduke Franz Ferdinand (future emperor) visits Sarajevo to display power of monarchy on a Serbian holiday
The Black Hand
Nationalist group that is more militant and resists Ferdinand’s visit
Plan to assassinate Franz Ferdinand
Set up an ambush along route that the motorcade will arrive
Archduke’s security team decides to never travel the same route twice
Thwarts the black hand’s plan and decide to dissolve
Gavrilo Princip comes across the motorcade stationary
Motorcade had gotten lost and had stopped to try to figure out their route
Sees the opportunity, shoots Franz Ferdinand and his wife (possibly pregnant)
Austria-Hungary makes several demands, including the rounding up of nationalists and the arrest of Princip
Serbia attempts to comply in fear of war, but nothing satisfies Austria-Hungary
Germany is encouraging A-H
Declaration of War- July 28th, 1914
Austria declares war on Serbia
Russia comes to the aid of all Slavic peoples, including Serbia, declaring war on A-H
Forces Germany to declare war on Russia and their ally, France
France declares war on Germany and so does their ally, Britain
Germany was now nervous because it had an enemy on each side- fighting on two, opposite fronts
Best strategy is to eliminate one out as soon as possible
Russia is the weakest, but they last the longest in wars, so France is the only option to end things quickly
Germany-> France
The Von Schlieffen Plan
Knock France out of the war quickly by conquering Paris
But you can’t just jump into the middle of the jungle- you have to strike at a weak point in the defenses
French-Belgian border
If you attack the French here, you have to go through Belgium (neutral)
“Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry, we’ll make things right when the war is over”
Get through belgium and be closer to Paris than the French army, which is focused along the German border
Germany-> Belgium
Put into place on August 4, 1914- German forces enter Belgium
Unthinkable: suckerpunched a smaller, neutral neighbor
PR nightmare, they look like the playground bully
Stories are spread about the horrors done by the German soldiers
Snatching babies away from mothers, throwing them in the air, and impaling them on their bayonets
Most aren’t credible, but the rest of the world believed it
German forces are successful, but had not counted on delays caused by Belgian Defenses
Italy leaves the Triple A;liance due to Belgian invasion
Entering France
German forces invade Northern France in late August
France in Trouble
French armies poised on the german border caught off guard by the attack through Belgium
Father away from Paris than Germany
Race to Paris
Parisians freak out in French
Germans win by reaching the northern suburbs of Paris
Brief Panic, but relieved by French army entering towards the southern suburbs
Uh oh! We’re in the middle! Paris is the battleground
France will need a miracle……………………
Taxi Cabs
Ride to French army, load up as many soldiers as possible, and drop them off to the north, and go back to get more soldiers
September 7, French army is able to attack the German army
Though french attacks are futile, they are able to stop the Germans and put them in danger of being cut off
Germans cut back their lines while French continue near-suicidal attacks, pushing Germans further back to regroup
Germans have fallen back all the way to Northern France
Germans take up positions in trenches, French attack ferociously
In response to the little effect, French dig their own trenches
Trench Warfare
War on the western front characterized by trenches and stalemates for four years
24/7 fighting and threat of attack
Conditions worsen
Takes significant toll on soldiers
No plan for basics
Sanitation
Fresh water
Food
The dead
No man’s land
Not safe to retrieve bodies
High rates of disease among soldiers
Armies of rats feast on the dead
When it gets cold, hordes of rats flood into living quarters
Rainwater fills the ground
Ankle-knee deep water
High rates of infection
Trench foot
Emergency services are completely overwhelmed
Eastern Front
Bulk of german army is bogged down in france, the Russians become an even bigger threat
Large Russian army has made its way to Germany by August 1914
Two generals assemble a tiny army out of straggling soldiers and take a stand against the Russians
Russia typically uses numbers to overwhelm their enemy, however they are undertrained and ill-equipped
Some russian soldiers don’t have weapons
Battle of Tannenberg
Numbers don’t really help you when the enemy has machine guns
Soldiers told to link arms and run into enemy lines
Horrific defeat for Russians
Farthest west the Russians will ever get
Prompts a slow retreat back to Russia for the next three years
Russia suffers more than any other country by end of the war
5.5 million casualties
1914 ends in stalemate
Germans have to shift focus of the war
1915
The war widens in 1915
Ottomans enter
Ottomans want revenge against britain and france from the Crimean War
Central Powers
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria (randomly)
Quadruple Alliance
British were not phased
Reinforcements from colonies
Especially Australia
Simple plan: park navy off coast of Istanbul, send in Australians, walk into Ottoman capital to knock them out quickly
Australian soldiers ordered to charge into enemy lines
Gallipoli
250,000 Australian troops die in 10 months
No headway
Successful in the end but not worth the cost
Unconventional Methods
British are failing and choose to use new tactics
Encourage arabs to rebel against the ottomans with the promise of independence
Modern middle eastern countries
Lawrence of Arabia
Lived and is accepted among arabs and is successful in convincing them to revolt
Germany -> Britain
Germans now have to force Britain out of the war
Battle of Jutland
Largest naval battle up until this point
Germans fail to break the British blockade in the Baltic Sea
Use new form of naval technology
“U-Boots”/Submarines used to subvert blockade and attack cargo ships
Highly effective- no way of locating them beneath the water
Countered by British Q ship
Merchant vessels with false cargo containers
Only the sides of cargo containers concealing cannon
Wait to be targeted by U-Boots, use cannon to shoot at U-Boot
Germans begin using unrestricted U-Boot warfare
No longer warn British, don’t even surface
Torpedoes
British start putting supplies on passenger ships because the germans aren’t targeting them
Germans warn them that they will start targeting passenger ships, and they do
Lusitania torpedoed- May 1915
Passenger ship sunk by Germans
1200 people die
Wash up in Ireland, mass burials
Include a number of Americans
Prompts the US to speak on the war
Threatening to enter the war, forcing Germany to back off from unrestricted U-Boot warfare
Lets Britain off the hook
Worsens German image
Germans go back to drawing board on how to end the war
No longer trying to force Britain out of the war
Steadily advance throughout Eastern Europe
Enter Japan
Gets to pick their side, and pick the British, French and Russians
Declares war on Germany and seizes German colonies in China
Poison Gas
Germans develop gas canisters in artillery that release clouds of gas that chemically burn everything it touches
When inhaled, inside of lungs would blisters and victim suffocates on their own fluid
Used in the western front at French trenches
French retaliate with their own poison gas
However, France has fallen substantially
Leaders were not paying attention to wind, which would pick up their poison gas and blow it back on them
Use of gas masks for protection
Bleed France Dry
1915 starting to end, and Germans shift again
Back to the French
Who are desperate to get rid of the Germans
Near-suicidal attacks
Plan is to secure an area of French defense, fortify it, and wait for French to counter-attack
To inflict so many casualties they would “bleed France dry”
Push France towards negotiated peace
Assault-squads
Storm troopers
Essentially diversion forces allowing main German army to enter battle without taking heavy casualties
1916
Battle of Verdun- February 1916
French enter basements and upper floors of buildings
Germans respond with flamethrowers and let loose
Grotesque results
German soldier describes French victims of flamethrowers as melting like tin soldiers
Germans realize they need more men and funnel in reinforcements, as do the French
The Meat Grinder
Men funnelled in, none of them coming out
Over three weeks
Germans realize that France and Germany have both been bled dry
Pull back to original lines
France suffered 600,000 casualties
Germany suffered 500,000 casualties
Nothing has changed
Meanwhile, Britain believing that Germany is now weakened, launched frontal attacks against the German front lines in June
Battle of the Somme
Britain loses 60,000 in one day, fails to take any trenches
Nothing has changed
Enter Italy
Italy declares war on Germany, but quickly defeated by German invasion
1917
Germany makes its final plan to end the war
Germany -> Russia
The Plan
Germany feels they have a trick up their sleeve, complicated, Hail Mary plan:
Resume unrestricted U-Boot warfare
Even though it will probably tick of the USA
“Okay what do we do if the Americans come into the war”
“They will probably come in, but they’re an ocean away, they have a small army, so we’ll have a little bit of time, and if we wrap things up in Europe, we can negotiate a peace”
To buy more time, germans decide that if they could Mexico to keep the USA busy if they declare war on Germany
Channel all war resources into ending the war with Russia with a ~secret weapon~
Once Russia’s out, they can focus on Britain and France before the USA arrives
Mutiny in French armies, all time low morale
Americans are ticked off by phase one, but aren’t ready for war
Things change when the British present the Americans with an intercepted message from Germany to German ambassador in Mexico
Zimmerman note
Instructions to inform Mexico that if they went to war with the USA, Germany would make sure they regained their territory that they lost in the Mexican-American war
American public is outraged and call for a declaration of war
USA declares war on Germany in April, 1917
Germany’s like “ok wtv we gotta wrap things up now”
Germany’s Secret Weapon
Releases same month as USA war declaration
Russian who’s been expelled from Russia, living in Switzerland, due to political ideology
Vladimir Lenin
“Look if we can get you into Russia, and you were to gain control, you could compensate us by signing a ceasefire”
Put him on a train, release him into the wild
Russia Revolts
Democratic revolution
Forces Tsar, Nicholas II, to abdicate
Romanovs are no more
Russian people don’t like democratic government
Bolshevik revolution overthrows Russian government in October 1917
Russia withdraws from WW1
Germans bring all resources against British and French
Getting USA intelligence that US troops were still mobilizing
They should have time!
1918
In spring, Germany is ready for its final push
British and French are preparing to give way in face of German juggernaut
German troops pour into the gap between French and British armies
“Divide and conquer”
Seem to be winning!
Belleau Wood
Area of Ardennes forest, defended by Allies
German army closes in on defenders
Defenders are fighting with an intense resolve
Every attack is stopped
Germans refer to them as Teufelhunden
“These defenders fought like hounds from hell”
Translates to devil dogs
Defenders are US Marines
After identifying them as Americans, Germans realize that their last gamble had failed
“If the Americans are here, that means they’re in other parts of France”
Germans file back into their trenches and take up defenses in their positions
War lasts a few more months, but Germans have 0 chance
More Americans arrive in trench lines
Facing off fresh enemy
Back in Germany, they’re facing the same discontent
Democrats in Germany
Kaiser Wilhelm has nothing to maintain order
Berlin Revolts
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates
Hohenzollerns are no more
Germany is declared a republic
Immediately sign a ceasefire
Armistice Day- November 11, 1918
Veteran’s day
Victorious Allies meet at Versailles to discuss terms
Create a treaty ending WW1
President Wilson has a plan
14 Points
Four main ideas
Freedom of the seas
End of Secret Alliances
Self-Determination
League of Nations
Britain and France are like “who do you think you are”
Shows up last year of the war, creates peace agreement, while Britain and France have been fighting the whole time
Reject most of Wilson’s plan
They want to kick Germany a little bit
League of Nations is maintained though
Only USA opposes League of Nations lol
New countries made
Poland, Czechoslovakia
Austria-Hungary
Hapsburg Dynasty ended
They own a hotel now
Territory taken away to form Yugoslavia
Austria and Hungary are officially separated
Russia
Total chaos
Land is taken from them too
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, all independent
Poland
Prussia+Russia=Poland
Treaty of Versailles
More punishments for Germany
All colonies lost and divided by the victors
Army limited to 100,000
Rhineland a demilitarized zone
No German soldier is allowed to set foot in
No alliance with Austria
$33 Billion (big B) dollars for reparations
Contemporary dollars
War-Guilt Clause
Germany must admit the war was their fault
“Why you hitting yourself?”
A man with a funny mustache gets pretty upset about this
And his name rhymes with schmitler