World War I

WW1 // Stream 1

Towards the end of the Victorian Age, a continuation of it was seen in the differences in the lower, middle and upper class.

Strikes and revolts were prevalent during this time period. These patterns will later be seen in WW1. 

Those fighting in the War consist of the lower and middle class. Post-WW1, there is much self searching amongst them.

Tension in Europe - The world has become smaller. There become less and less colonies to take over as more and more colonies are taken over. 

Pacifism - There is a call for pacifism during this time. Pacifism was the desire to not fight or engage in conflict/harm.

Hague Tribunal - A court system dealing with international laws, primarily against humanity.

Aggressive Nationalism - Tensions in Europe led to aggressive nationalism, a very unsafe and dangerous form of nationalism. It stemmed from the belief that one’s culture/nation will and should aggressively follow/enact its beliefs and policies on other nations. It created blind faith in doing harm to others, and was seen in much of Eastern Europe.

Additionally, aggressive nationalism led people into the call to arms. 

France and Germany - Both nations had a long-lasting conflict. Examples of their resentment can be seen in the Franco-Prussian War. 

Pan-Slavism - Slavic nationalism.
^^ The word “Pan” usually represents “Nationalism”.

Eastern Europe has several Slavic nations that seek independence, creating animosity and dubbing them as the “Powder keg of Europe” due to their intense nationalism. The title stems from gunpowder, which is very explosive.

Russia is the big brother slavic nation.

Rivalries in Europe -

1. Competition for colonies, due to a lack of land for conquest.

2. Protect your land with guns, leading to the rise of militarism and the arms race. Who can build the bigger killer of people?

3. Glorification of the military. Conquest, etc. 

Alliances get tangled up - Many countries begin getting involved in conflicts, messing up the alliances that were made.

Triple Alliance - The first strong alliance. Formed with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. In time, the treaty will lapse.

Central Powers - The next major alliance. Formed with Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy.

Allies - France, Russia. 

Entente - A form of alliance. It’s a semi-alliance, where a nation MIGHT help another nation if they are in need. Kind of, maybe.

WW1 // Stream #2

The Black Hand - A Serbian Nationalist Terrorist group fighting for Serbian self rule/independence. Eventually, their beliefs reached the common man / some of those in Serbian leadership.

Gavrilo Princip - An assassin / member of the black hand.

Francis Ferdinand - An Austrian Archduke in line to become the emperor. Stanch conservative, but is oddly open to Serbian autonomy.

Ferdinand takes a trip to Sarajevo with his wife on June 28th, a historical date representing the day in which Serbia was conquered by Ottoman Turks. He travels there in 2 caravans.

The black hand is tipped off on the information of their trip, and attacks the cars. The first car is bombed, and the latter, with Ferdinand, drives off, later returning back to visit car 1 with a U-turn. Gavrilo, who was knocked unconscious during the attack, wakes up, and shots both Ferdinand and his wife dead.

The controversy of this event starts off as no big deal, but then slowly gets heated. Serbia begins talking to Russia, and an ultimatum, or a final set of demands, is issued by Austria to avoid war:

1. An end to anti-Austrian sentiment.

2. All those involved in the assassination of Ferdinand must be punished.

3. Austria must be part of the investigation.

The third rule ensures that anything Serbia hides in the investigation will be discovered by Austria (As there are members of the black hand at play in the government). In light of this, countries begin mobilizing for war. Russia goes first, then Austria, then France.

Mobilize - To prepare for combat/war.

Could cooler heads have prevailed for this situation? Possibly. But that is not what happens. Every country believes that they are in the right, when it is the complete opposite.

Germany launches the Schlieffen Plan.

Neutrality - The act of having nothing to do with the war.

Trench Warfare - Trenches are built by the French to avoid bloodshed. They are 6-10 feet down into the ground.

No Man’s Land - The land between 2 trenches.

Belgium started off as neutral, but was attacked by Germany to get to France. England joins the allies.

There is now a race to the ocean. Every country is trying to outflank each other, and countries seek to do this by going from the side.

Fun Fact: The WW1 Christmas truce actually happened.

Stalemate - A deadlock in which neither side is able to defeat each other.

To break the trench warfare stalemate, airplanes are made. They are flammable, and pilots are not given parachutes. They are first used for reconnaissance, and then they were used for dogfights, in which planes shoot each other out of the sky. Then they placed machine guns on airplanes. 

Red Baron - A Junker in WW1 who killed 80 people. He was tailed by 2 Canadian airplanes and was shot down.

Despite the airplanes being used in war now, the stalemate was not broken.

Zeppelin - An airship. It was large, like a blimp. Zeppelins had 4-6 air sacs filled with flammable hydrogen, making them flying bombs. They were dubbed “Baby Killers” by the British.

Incendiary bullets - Bullets encased in magnesium. Causes big booms when it hits nitrogen.

Zeppelin technology died with the Hindenburg crashing.

Tanks - Sit on a track. They go 3-5 miles per hour, and British tanks house 5 people. They were devised to break the stalemate on the Western Front. At first they were very successful, but they had shortcomings, and it took time to perfect tanks.

Gas - Chlorine was the first poisonous gas used in WW1.

Stinky Bill - A mask similar to a duck bill, where there are chemicals inside a canvas, and you have to dunk it into ammonia / urine.

Mustard Gas - Had a yellow hue. Attaches to moisture like sweat, burning very badly.

Submarines / Uboats - Invented and used by the Germans. Houses 9-12 people, propelled by diesel which recharges its battery. Its engine does not like water, so if water seeps in, it explodes. 

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare - Started by the Germans, it was warfare in which any kind of boat with a flag was sunk immediately. This led to the sinking of the Lucetania.

The Lucetania was a cruise liner the size of the Titanic, but also not a warship. It was hit with a torpedo off the Ireland Coast. Germany saw this and had to soften up, restricting its submarine warfare.

America is neutral and sells supplies to everyone who seeks it.

Automatic Machine Gun - Very deadly. Cut men down in the hundreds of thousands. It was a part of the Mechanized (Machine) War. It used shells. 

There are 2 major battles:

1. Battle of Verdun - German offensive into the town of Verdun. The French had a hard time holding back the Germans.

2. Battle of Somme - Initiated to release pressure on the French. In the North.

On the first day of the Battle of Somme, Britain had its worst casualty rate. 60,000 men were dead or injured, being a huge blow. Britain had almost 40 hours of shelling, and missed most of them.

WW1 became a global conflict as England went to its colonies for help, support, and resources. Turkey joins the central powers. This shows us that, yes, we can spread destruction.

Turkey had a weak central government, so the French and the British attempted to utilize it by attacking Istanbul. The cruiser sent there was rocked, showing that the Turks were ready.

They then send soldiers to the beaches, marching by foot to Gallipoli. Mainly fought by Italy, Burmese, Antac, and Australian/New Zealand troops. 

Again, the Turks were ready, and shell the British, leading to many deaths.

Distenary spreads in the British, through bacteria on flies.

T. Lawrence - A British agent that worked with Saudi Arabian tribes to side with the British in WW1. He offered that if they sided with the British to take out the Turks, they’d gain independence. This didn’t happen, England gave no independence.

WW1 // Stream 3

Total War - All your resources go into the war effort. All unnecessary material should go to the war effort.

Countries are running out of supplies for war.

Conscription - A draft requiring all able bodied men to be a part of the military, forcibly.

Propaganda - A way for a nation to make itself look good and defame the enemy.

Atrocity - Crimes/Harm done to innocent people.

The US remains neutral with isolationist policies. It sells supplies and goods to every country that requests it.

President Wilson, the current President, is an intellect. However, he is a stanch bigot and racist. He takes apart progressions for minorities, especially for Africans.

In 1918 England began to face many damages from the war. America gets into the war.

Wilson made 14 points, ideas he believed should be international for guaranteed international future peace.

One of the points includes self-determination of nations: nations should be able to choose their form of government (In Eastern Europe) Eventually this belief will be picked up by the UN. But, Wilson didn’t truly mean this.

In 1917 Russia had the largest military but the worst infrastructure. A lack of food is prevalent, and the stalemate is not withstood. The Tsar himself leads the military, and is also cousins with the King of England and the Kaiser of Germany. 

There is a stalemate in the West and East. The Czar gets hemophilia, and is miraculously cured by Rasputin the mad monk. Later, he becomes part of the staff, and gets more privilege.

It was only in 1916 that the Czar issued helmets to soldiers. Germany wants to sneak Lenin into Russia. Lenin was a communist leader who preached to end monarchies and capitalist systems, along with forming a communist country. He is there to destabilize Russia.

The Czar abdicated in 1917, giving power to the Duma, who made the terrible mistake of continuing the war effort.

Bolsheviks - Communist Revolutionary group in Russia.
Red Guards - An extension of the Boshiviks, their private army.

Soviets - Members of the Boshiviks in districts, towns, and cities.

The BVoshibiks led an attack on and successfully took over the Duma. They signed an agreement with the Germans, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. 

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - Gave a lot of Russian Territory to the Germans, such as Poland.

This caused panic in the West, as now Germany can focus solely on the Western front. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare is then brought back.

The US remains isolationist as the war is cut off from them. However, the British intercept the Zimmerman note, written by Arthur Zimmerman, a German ambassador to Mexico.

The Zimmerman Note - A note from Germany to Mexico. It stated that if Mexico joined the war and attacked the US, Germany could help gain back its Northern territories. 

The note was intercepted by the British. Upon seeing it, the US declares war on Germany, but is not yet ready for War. Their uniform copied the British, and they still had wooden machine guns. They tell France they will not be ready for war until 1919, 2 years later.

Certain civil liberties were revoked during the war. An example is Shenk vs US, a freedom of speech case.

Shenk was giving out anti-war pamphlets outside a military recruitment case, and was arrested. The case went to the supreme court, who disagreed, stating “Words are not harmful, however, handing out pamphlets of them outside a recruitment office is like yelling fire inside a crowded theater. It creates a clear and present danger.” This statement is used quite often in the present day. 

Going Over There - Propaganda song used to motivate people to join the war effort.

In January of 1918, the Germans launched an offensive. It was led by storm troopers.

Storm Troopers - Soldiers specially trained to infiltrate no man's land. 

Stormtroopers are successful at first, but don’t last for long. However, their appearance creates panic in Britain and France. The 2 rush the US to mobilize faster.

General Persian only wants US officers leading US soldiers. However, the French and British ask for more soldiers, receiving African American soldiers. This results in cultural diffusion. Race and war cancels racism.

WW1 // Stream #4

The Austrian emperor dies and his son makes deals with the Allies. Austria is not well, and has a messy army.

Germany cannot financially keep going in the war alongside Turkey and Austrias weakness. Additionally, the Allies have new resources coming in due to the US.

Disenchanted with the military, the German Kaiser abdicated. 

Reichstag - The name of the new German legislature, they are somewhat liberal. 

Germany is working at an armistice, which is an agreement to stop fighting, but not to surrender. 

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, World War I comes to a close. It is left to The Big Three to figure out the current situation of the world.

The Big Three: 

1. President Wilson of the United States.

2. President Clemenceu of France.

3. Prime Minister George of England.

American Statistics of the War:
50,000 US troops killed in Battle

205,000 US troops injured.

Influenza - The pandemic of 1916. It was a deadly strain of the flu, dubbed the Spanish flu. Essentially, it cooked your insides, popping your cell membranes. It was an airborne domestic and international problem.

Treaty of Versailles - Aspects of the 14 points. 

Mandate - Territory (Colony) Not ready for independence.

Vimer Republic - A section of the Reichstag.

Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, taking responsibility for everything the war. They are forced to pay reparations equalling to ~30 billion US dollars.

Reparations - Payment for war damages.

Later on in World War II, reparations will be used as an excuse.

League of Nations - Created by President Wilson, and should be an institution for world peace. It is NOT the UN.

The League of Nations has no policing action/authority. It put economic sanctions that congress would not ratify. Additionally, congress stated that officers during the war only wanted glory at the cost of American lives. This is the reason they refused to join the League of Nations.

Eventually, the League of Nations goes on without the US.

Wilson has a stroke and passes away without the country knowing. His wife signed his papers for him.