8.1-8.4

The Causes for the Great War (Leading up to 1914)

MANIA - Causes of WWI

  • Militarism: Aggressive build-up of a nation's armed forces.
  • Alliances: Nations formed partnerships for protection.
  • Nationalism: Belief in one's nation's superiority.
  • Imperialism: Stronger nations taking over weaker ones.
  • Assassination: Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Militarism

  • Massive build-up of armed forces to deter rivals (Arms Race).
  • A nation’s armed forces become the dominant force in national policy making.
  • Germany became a nation in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War.
  • Chancellor Otto von Bismarck worked to prevent war after Germany's creation.
  • 1890: Kaiser Wilhelm II removed Bismarck and focused on military build-up, especially the navy.

Military Build-up (1880-1914)

  • Germany: 1.3 million to 5.0 million soldiers
  • France: 0.73 million to 4.0 million soldiers
  • Russia: 0.40 million to 1.2 million soldiers

Defense Spending

  • Total Defense Expenditures for the Great Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, France, Great Britain, Russia) in millions of pounds:
    • 1870: 94
    • 1880: 130
    • 1890: 154
    • 1900: 268
    • 1910: 289
    • 1914: 398
  • 1910-1914 Increase in Defense Expenditures:
    • France: 10%
    • Britain: 13%
    • Russia: 39%
    • Germany: 73%

Alliances

  • Britain initially did not want to ally with anyone.
  • 1904: Britain signed the Entente Cordiale (“Friendly Agreement”) with France.
    • Britain realized isolation was not ideal.
    • Britain's relationship with Germany soured.
      • Germans supported the Boers in the Boer Wars.
      • German military spending had quadrupled between 1874-1890.

Specific Alliances

  1. Three Emperors’ League (1873): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia
  2. Dual Alliance (1879): Germany & Austria-Hungary
  3. Triple Alliance (1882): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
  4. Reinsurance Treaty (1887): Restored relations between Germany & Russia
  5. Franco-Russian Alliance (1894)
  6. The Entente Cordiale (1904): Great Britain & France
  7. The Triple Entente (1907): Great Britain, France, & Russia

Creating the Triple Entente

  • France and Russia allied due to France's unease with Germany and a low birthrate.
  • France needed a nation with a high birthrate for a long war: Russia.
  • Germany planned to quickly defeat France (in 2 weeks).

Nationalism

  • Ottoman Empire ruled the Balkan area for 400 years.
  • Balkans: Albanians, Greeks, Romanians, and Slavs.
  • Each group struggled for independence.
  • Bosnia: Area of great hostility and diversity.
  • Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia in 1908.
  • Serbia wanted Bosnia as their territory.
  • This became an area of conflict.

Imperialism

  • New Imperialism: Expansion of Western control between 1870 and 1900.
  • Led to conflicts among European nations.
  • Berlin Conference: regulated European colonization and trade in Africa.

The Powder Keg

  • Bismarck: "If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans."
  • All that was needed was a spark.

Assassination

  • Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Duchess Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28th, 1914.

THE BLACK HAND

  • Serbian nationalist group.
  • Objective: Creation of a Greater Serbia through violence.

Domino Effect

  • Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for Ferdinand’s death and declared war on Serbia.
  • Germany pledged support for Austria-Hungary.
  • Russia pledged support for Serbia.
  • Germany declared war on Russia.
  • France pledged support for Russia.
  • Germany declared war on France.
  • Germany invaded Belgium on the way to France.
  • Great Britain supported Belgium and declared war on Germany.

The Players

  • Allied Powers: Nicholas II [Russia], George V [Britain], Victor Emmanuel II [Italy], Pres. Poincare [France]

  • Central Powers: Wilhelm II [Germany], Enver Pasha [Turkey], Franz Josef [Austria-Hungary]

  • Central Powers

    • Germany
    • Austria-Hungary
    • Italy (until 1915)
    • Ottoman Empire
    • Bulgaria

  • Allied Powers - 1914

    • Russia
    • Serbia
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Great Britain

  • 1915

    • Add Italy

  • 1917

    • Remove Russia
    • Add US

Eastern Front

  • Fighting began in August 1914.
  • By 1915, Germany had taken most of the land.
  • Germans began to run low on supplies.
  • In 1916, the Russian army rallied and regained land.
  • 1 million soldiers had died, and support back home lessened.
  • Soldiers refused to fight, fearing a government takeover in Moscow.

Western Front

  • Germany caught in a two-front war due to underestimating Russian and French mobilization.
  • Quick stalemate on the Western Front.
  • Trench Warfare.

Schlieffen Plan

  • Germany’s war plan, drawn up in 1905 by Count Alfred von Schlieffen.
  • Assumed Russia would take weeks to mobilize.
  • Goal: Avoid war on both fronts by quickly attacking France and then confronting Russia.

Home Front

  • Sustaining the war required mobilizing men and food to the front.
  • Rationing of food became compulsory in GB in early 1917, including price controls & coupons.
  • Over 1 million women stepped into traditionally male professions in GB.

1917 – Turning Points

  • Two essential events:
    • Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
    • USA entered the war
  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended the war between Russia and Germany on March 3rd, 1918.
  • Ceded Russia's claims on Finland, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, and Lithuania.

US Enters the War

  • 1916: US President Woodrow Wilson reelected on a platform of keeping the US out of war.
  • May 7, 1915: German U-boat sunk the British luxury liner the Lusitania; 128 Americans died.
  • 1917: Zimmerman Telegram - Germans offered to help the Mexican government invade America.

Protests & Rebellions

  • Easter Rebellion - 1916 - Ireland: Irish upset at Home Rule, resulting in a week of fighting and 1300+ deaths.
  • Armenian Genocide -1915 - Ottoman Empire: Deportation or killing of Armenian Christians.
  • Arab revolts - Ottoman Empire: Muslim Arab countries rebelled against Ottoman rule with British support to get their Pacific territories.
  • Japan declared war on Germany - 1914

Armistice Day

  • November 11, 1918: A representative from the provisional government signed an armistice ending the war.

Casualties

  • 74 million soldiers mobilized
    • 48 million Allies: 18 million casualties
    • 25.5 million Central Powers: 12.4 million casualties
  • 8.5 million killed
  • 22 million wounded (7 million permanently disabled)
  • 12.6 million deaths from “war-related” causes

Russian Revolution

  • 1917: Soldiers were leaving lines and revolutions rocked Russia (February and October).
  • The Russian monarchy fell in February and was replaced by a republic.

Russia is Knocked Out

  • By 1917, Russia’s economy was crippled with shortages and inflation.
  • Czar Nicholas II took personal command of the army, his wife was running the country.
  • November 1917: Russian Communists overthrew the Provisional Government.
  • March 1918: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended their involvement in WWI.

Appeals of Communism

  • Promised:
    • to end the war
    • free bread
    • independence and ownership by workers
    • classless society
  • Far left-wing ideology.
  • Communism conflicted with the Liberal ideology of Capitalism.

Civil War at Home

  • Mensheviks:
    • “Minority”
    • Thought a slow road to Communism was better.
    • Encouraged a peaceful solution
    • Leon Trotsky was a leader
  • Bolsheviks:
    • “Majority”
    • Wanted a quick move to Marxist Communism - violent overthrow
    • Didn’t agree with Marx that 100 years of Capitalism was needed
    • Vladimir Lenin was primary leader
    • They formed the Communist Party

March Revolution

  • March 8, 1917
  • Women worked in war industries and waited in long lines for food.
  • 10,000 women protested for “peace and bread”.

Provisional Government

  • Duma met on March 12
  • Tsar abdicated
  • Duma set up a provisional government representing the middle and upper class who wanted the war to continue.

Lenin Returns

  • Lenin had been exiled to Siberia in 1897, was living in Switzerland
  • Returned to Russia in April 1917

Bolshevik Revolution

  • Trotsky and Lenin joined forces
  • November 6-7 Bolsheviks took control of the Winter Palace, Provisional Government
  • March 3, 1918: Bolsheviks ended their involvement in the war
  • July 1918 - Tsar Nicholas and his family were executed

Civil War

  • Several forces contested Communist control of the government:
    • Red Army (Communists)
    • White Army (Members of the middle and upper classes)
  • Red Army won in 1921

New Economic Policy

  • Economy was destroyed after years of war.
  • Peasants were not cooperating with the new government.
  • Plan to industrialize under Communism.
  • Introduced capitalism.
    • peasants could sell produce at markets
    • private property allowed

Peace Settlement

Treaty of Versailles

  • The peace settlement signed after WWI ended on June 28, 1919, at the Versailles Palace in France.
  • The Big Four:
    • David Lloyd George of England
    • Woodrow Wilson of USA
    • Georges Clemenceau of France
    • Vittorio Orlando of Italy
    • Major Questions: How to pay for the damages? Who all should be at the negotiation table?

Weimar Republic

  • Germany’s New Government signed the Treaty, making many people upset.
  • They had no military and a bad economy.

Attitudes Towards Germany

  • Britain’s Attitude:
    • Germany should be punished, but not severely to prevent a Communist uprising.
    • The British public wanted severe repercussions.
  • France’s Attitude:
    • Germany should be brought to its knees to prevent future wars.
    • Germany had destroyed the north-east corner of France displacing 750,000 French people.
  • USA Attitudes:
    • The American public wanted to be isolated from Europe, wanted limited input on the Treaty.
    • Wilson wanted Germany to be punished but in a way that would lead to reconciliation, not revenge.

14 Points

  • Wilson promoted his “14 Points”:
    • Self-determination: ethnicity should determine national boundaries.
    • Open treaties instead of secret alliances.
    • The League of Nations would arbitrate all future international disputes.

What did the Treaty do to Germany?

  • Took away vast amounts of land
    • Alsace-Lorraine went to France.
    • Recreation of Poland.
    • Danzig became a free city controlled by the League of Nations (giving Poland a seaport).
    • Areas received from Russia became free nations (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
    • German colonies became mandates under the control of the League of Nations.
      • in practice this usually meant Britain and France

GERMAN MILITARY

  • Germany’s army reduced to 100,000 men and no tanks.
  • Germany was not allowed to have an air force and only 6 naval ships.
  • A DMZ (demilitarized zone) was established along the Rhine river, Germany was not allowed to cross over.

3 CRITICAL ASPECTS OF THE TREATY

  • Germany had to agree that they were fully responsible for the war.
  • Since Germany was responsible for the war, it had to pay full reparations. (132 {billion} in gold)
  • A League of Nations was established to keep world peace; however, the United States did not join.

Main Goals of the League of Nations

  • Stop future wars
  • Reduce armaments
  • Open covenants of peace
  • Help poor nations

Main Failures of the League of Nations

  • Suspicions among members.
  • US Senate refused to join.
  • No one wanted to disarm.

AUSTRIAN EMPIRE WAS DIVIDED

  • Austro-Hungarian Empire broken up by the Allies
  • New nations formed from territory
    • Austria
    • Hungary
    • Yugoslavia
    • Czechoslovakia

OTTOMAN EMPIRE COLLAPSED

  • The Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918.
  • Mandate System
    • Former Ottoman territories came under the control of European powers.
  • Turkey
    • Nation formed from what remained of the Ottoman Empire.

LEGACY OF VERSAILLES

  • Germany was economically at risk and humiliated.
  • Hyperinflation loomed.
  • Italy was angry that it did not get the land promised to it.
  • The Soviet Union was angry about losing land and not being allowed to be represented and heard at the conference.
  • Japan was angry that its contributions to the war were not recognized and that it was ignored.
  • The Mandate countries were mad they were taken over by a new power.