WWI Review

Long-term Causes of WWI

Vocabulary:

  • Triple Entente = GB, France, & Russia, ensured that GB would not fight against them

Concepts:

  • Militarism

    • rise in the glorification of the military and keeping an army prepared for war

    • Result was an arms race (build up militaries at unbelievably fast pace to compete with other countries)

  • Alliances

    • Distrust led to alliances (pledges to defend one another)

  • Nationalism

    • A deep devotion to one's country

    • Germany: Industrialized giant, united, and proud

    • France: wanted revenge against Germany for the Franco-Prussian war

    • Russia: believed they had a duty to defend all slavic people

    • Austria-Hungary: was fearful of nationalism because they ruled over minority populations

  • Imperialism

    • Competition for colonies

    • Effect: rivalry and mistrust of one another

  • The Balkans

    • Referred to as the Powder Keg of Europe

    • because they were a group of countries that wanted independence from Austria-Hungary

Immediate Causes of WWI

Concepts:

  • Entry of each country into the war:

    • Serbia: was issued an ultimatum and refused to accept it

    • Austria-Hungary: declared war on Serbia because their ultimatum was not accepted

    • Germany: promised A-H a “blank check” due to their alliance

    • Russia: was ignored by Germany and A-H refused to back down, they also pledged to defend slavic states (Serbia)

    • France: got involved due to the Triple Entente (alliance with Russia)

    • Great Britain: Triple Entente and they pledged to maintain Belgium’s neutrality which was violated with the Schlieffan Plan

  • Schlieffan Plan

    • Purpose - German plan to avoid a two front war

    • Tactics - march through neutral Belgium into France

    • Problem - has to be accomplished within 6 weeks so that they can defeat France and then prepare to attack Russia, also depended on Russia mobilizing slowly, meant GB would get involved because of Belgium’s neutrality

    • What really happened - Failed because Russia mobilized to quickly, stalemate with the development of trenches

Trench Warfare

Concepts:

  • Types of trenches

    • front-line trench, used for firing and attacking

    • support trench, men and supplies that could immediately assist those in the front-line

    • reserve trench, contained men and supplies that were available in emergencies

    • communication trenches, connected other trenches, allowed movement of messages, supplies, and men

  • Three week rotation schedule

    • purpose: to keep morale as high as possible and to keep the soldiers on the front as fresh as possible

    • week #1: in the front trench

    • week #2: in the support trench

    • week #3: in the reserve trench, men could relax with sports, concerts, in plays

  • Characteristics of “no mans land”

    • land in between the trenches

    • marked with huge craters caused by the shelling

    • nearly all vegetation was destroyed

    • both sides filled this land with barbed wire to slow down any rapid advances by the enemy

    • machine guns and new long-range rifles made movement in this area almost impossible

  • Movements and the front

    • daytime attacks were dangerous and would result in death

    • attacks took place before dawn or right at dawn

    • poison gases tended to be more effective in the mornings

    • when the sun went down, men conducted raids

    • investigate layout of terrain

    • eavesdrop near enemy lines

  • Weapons of WWI

    • poison gases

    • machine guns

    • tanks

WWI on Homefront, the Colonies & the Ottomans

Concepts:

  • Economic changes

    • Draft for army

    • Raised taxes and borrowed money

    • Rationed food

    • Set prices and outlawed strikes

  • Impact on women

    • Took over men’s jobs

    • Worked in Industry and manufacturing

    • Joined the military (nursing)

    • Gave them pride and confidence

    • Problem: after the war they had to give back to jobs

    • helped win them the right to vote

  • Propaganda War

    • created special boards to censor the press

    • Kept casualty figures and depressing news from the people

    • created propaganda (posters) that would bash the other side in print

    • Types: incite fear, join the crowd, either with us or against, heroic image, demonizing the enemy, moral duty, guilt

  • Why Europe relied on their Colonial subjects

    • Europe lost too many men, needed more soldiers

  • Tasks of the men of the colonies

    • carried live ammunition, carry equipment, cleared battlefields, moved supplies, fighting, dog trenches, loaded / unloaded the ships at the ports

  • Treatment of men by Great Britain versus France

    • GB: segregated troops/units

    • France: treated them less poorly

  • Long-Term effect of the use of colonized men

    • riots, push for Independence movements, raised the standard for rights

  • Why the Ottomans became involved in WWI (on the side of Germany)

    • early German victories

    • friction with the Triple Entente arising out of the Ottomans hiding German warships

    • long-standing hostility to Russia

  • Why the Ottomans launched the Armenian Genocide

    • turks were suspicious that the Christian Armenians were secretly supporting the Christian Russians on the Eastern Front and they also felt the Armenians were not “turkish” enough

  • Why the Ottomans surrendered in WWI

    • surrendered to the economic pressure and army desertions (soldiers were leaving the battle field), Bulgaria was the first to surrender

The Changing Tide of War

Concepts:

  • Russia during WWI

    • Transportation can not produce enough

    • Transportation system broke down and can not move supplies to the front

    • Soldiers were hungry with poor equipment

    • Massive amounts of soldiers died because lacked equipment

    • Tsar Nicolas II was a horrible commander and his wife was a horrible ruler to Russia while he was away

    • Food and fuel shortages at home (in Russia)

  • Russian Revolution

    • The Duma insisted on a constitutional monarchy

    • Nicolas II refused and wanted to remain absolutist

    • Overthrown and later killed by the Bolsheviks (communists)

    • Replaced by provisional government (republic) and Lenin who promised peace, land, bread

    • Lenin pulls out of WWI

    • Result: Germany only had to concentrate on the western front

  • US Entry into the War

    • Zimmerman Note/Telegram

  • What happened to monarchies after WWI

    • Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary all lost their monarchies and GB was the only monarchy to survive