ww1 history
World War 1 and the Russian Revolution
Key Questions
What were the main causes of WW1?
What were the alliances and why were they formed?
What were the main battles and specifics?
Why did the US get involved?
What was the impact of WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles?
tense relations between:
Germany and France (Franco-Prussian War)
Germany and Russia (Germany wanted to dominate Central Europe)
Germany and Great Britain (British beat Spanish armada in 1588 and has been top naval power since, Germany wants be the best as well)
Germany is new and is challenging the social ladder of Europe
Rulers of Europe (who are all cousins)-
King George- Britain
Kaiser Wilhelm- Germany
Tzar Nicholas- Russia
Wilhelm and Nicholas were the closest and would write letters to each other and call each other Willy and Nicky
Kaiser and Tzar are just ways to say “Caesar” in different languages
they all wanted to portray themselves as strong rulers just like Caesar but ended up ruining their countries (with the exception of George)
Alliances-
Triple Alliance (Central Powers)- Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Ottoman Empire
Triple Entente (Allied Powers)- Great Britain, France, and Russia
enemies of Central Powers
Britain and France put aside their differences to target Germany
Austro-Hungarian problems-
Franz-Joseph was a weak ruler
Nationalism was popping up in the southern provinces in ethnic groups that wanted their own nations because they thought they were better than everyone else
June 28, 1914- Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia were assassinated, which meant Franz-Joseph actually had to deal with stuff
Gavrilo Princip was the assassin who was a member of the Serbian nationalistic group called the Black Hand
Black Hand was seen as heroes by Serbians and terrorists by Austro-Hungarians
Austro-Hungary sent notice to Serbia that they had to follow demands or there would be war
July 28, 1914- the Great War (AKA WW1) starts
German Plan- Von Schlieffen Plan
destroy France quickly, then turn and fight Russia
invade Belgium to avoid French forts on the border
Great Britain spoke up and reminded them that Belgium could be neutral and that they promised to protect Belgian neutrality
The War on Land-
The First Stage- Germany fights through France, almost to Paris
Miracle on the Marne- French army and civilians stop Germany from taking the capital (Paris)
if this hadn’t happened WW1 would’ve ended there
The Von Schlieffen plan failed because they didn’t capture Paris/destroy France and because Russia mobilized too fast (they thought they would take 6-18 months but actually took a month and a half)
the war becomes stagnant due to German failure and instead turns into trench warfare
trench warfare- armies dug holes (trenches) to hide in on Western front and attacked the other side from there
neither side was able to get the upper hand because they didn’t want to leave their trenches and started using bombs and snipers instead
the trenches were full of poopies and dead bodies and mud and men were supposed to live out of them
military strategists were at a loss and new weapons like machine guns, poisonous gas (now a war crime), armored tanks and huge artillery
technology didn’t change war but made it deadlier
Battle of Tannenberg-
August 1914
Germany wins over Russian forces which are stronger
Germans lose 14,000
Russians lose 170,000
The War at Sea-
Germany had 2nd most powerful navy in the world, with British fleet being first and 3x larger than Germany’s
new weapons emerged in 1915, like submarines, bombers, synced machine guns that wouldn’t hit the propeller of the plane, tanks, etc.
Gallipoli Campaign-
controlled by Ottoman Turks and blocked the path to the Black Sea, which was Russia’s only not frozen over port
whoever won the peninsula got to control Constantinople/Istanbul
French and British troops (and troops from their colonies) invaded in February 1915
fighting became a stalemate and turned into trench warfare
they withdrew later in the war
Treaty of London-
France, Russia, Italy, and Britain secretly meet in London in April
Italy was technically allied with Austro-Hungarian powers and the others wanted them on their side
they offered Italy tons of land from the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires
Italy agrees to join them and opens a third front to weaken Central Powers
Italians had gas masks activated with peepee
from July-December, Italians fought like 12 battles along the Isonzo River
sometimes they were good but sometimes they were bad
Britain announces blockade of major German ports in March to starve Germany into surrendering
Germany had the best under-the-sea fleets of U-boats
they could sink vessels that carried supplies for the Triple Entente
they sunk the Lusitania with a bunch of passengers (including 128 Americans) on May 7, 1915
they apologized for this and restricted U-boat activity to the Atlantic and only attacked military vessels, avoiding war
Great Britain would switch out their flags for Americans to avoid being attacked (which is now a war crime)
massive French fort/city Verdun is attacked by Germany in February 1916 and each side loses at least 300,000 men
Germany wanted to “bleed France white” aka make them lose as much as possible
Battle at the Somme-
river valley in France that was attacked by British in July 1916
there were over 1 million casualties and the battle last anywhere from 5-15 months
over 20,000 British died in the first day, majority in the first hour which makes it the deadliest battle for the British
Germans moved 4 miles closer to Paris but Verdun still held
British moved 5 miles closer to Berlin
they lost so many soldiers just to gain basically nothing and the forest they were in was completely deforested by fighting
Battle of Jutland Peninsula-
major naval battle between British and German navy that ended in a draw
Germans lost 11 ships and 2,500 sailors while British lost 14 ships and 6,200 sailors
Allies were determined to beat Ottoman Empire despite failure at Gallipoli
Middle Eastern conflicts led by the French Foreign Legion got Allies control of Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Damascus
German colonies in Africa and Asia were being attacked because countries were trying to take colonies and land from other countries
Japan and Britain conquered German colonies in Asia
Britain and Russia used colonies to fight for them
India, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Indochina, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand all sent troops and supplies to Europe
revolutions that protested ineffective leadership, food shortages, and involvement in the war broke out across Russia, causing their 400-year old monarchy to end and Russia to withdraw from the war
Nicholas abdicated on March 15, 1917 “voluntarily”
he was arrested and assassinated with his entire family
Vladimir Lenin took control and lead Communist/Bolshevik revolution
he took power, set up Soviet Union, and made peace with Germany through treaty
Russia agreed to surrender a ton of land (Germany didn’t get all of it but whatever)
United States enters-
Germany decides to resume unrestricted submarine activity because they really needed to win
they shot down ANY vessel from any nation that was around Britain
Germany believed they could eliminate Britain before US got involved
Britain intercepted the Zimmerman telegram
Zimmerman telegram- telegram sent to German ambassador to Mexico from Berlin that said Germany would give Mexico back American territories taken from them and 3 trillion dollars if they joined the Triple Alliance
stories of German atrocities got back to US (they weren’t actually happening)
there were 2 telegraph lines leading to America connected to Great Britain and Germany
British cut German line and spread propaganda in America since that was America’s only way of getting info, making everyone anti-German
Woodrow Wilson wanted to make the world “safe for democracy” and decided to fight against the countries in the Triple Alliance with absolute monarchies and unrestricted power after Russia left the war and lost their monarchy
Wilson asked for declaration of war from Congress on April 2, 1917 and everyone votes yes, with Wilson signing it on April 8
we officially enter the Allied Powers/Triple Entente
Nivelle Offensive-
French attack in April 1917 that was intended to end war for Allies
it was solely French and involved 1.2 million French soldiers, with 10,000 casualties expected
they wanted to overwhelm the Germans in their trench with their numbers by creeping near it and shooting them
there were 120,000 French casualties
Battle of Caporetto-
Italians vs combined German-Austrian forces
was a massive failure for Italians and had 300,000 Italian casualties
this was ok because Italians were used as a distraction
2nd Battle of the Marne-
Germany got to focus on the West because of Russia’s withdrawal
Germans launched a massive attack in France in March 1918 with 600,000 soldiers
began with largest artillery attack in the whole war with millions of shells
Germans crushed all in their path and reached the Marne River by May
victory seemed to be in reach because they could see Paris, however, Germans were exhausted and completely out of resources
American troops of 140,000 soldiers waited in Paris and launched a counterattack
this defeated Germany and turned the war in favor of the Allies, with the battle reaching a climax by July
US attacked with 350 tanks and over 2 million American soldiers
Collapse of Central Powers and the End of the War-
Bulgarians (who joined Central Powers) and Ottoman-Turks surrendered
Austrian-Hungarian revolutions start, bringing the collapse of the empire and ceasefire
Germany was the only country left, but the German government forced Kaiser Wilhelm to abdicate on November 7, 1918
the war ends on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 as an armistice is made
Peace and the Aftereffects of the War-
the Allies meet at Versailles
US send the president Woodrow Wilson, British send George Clemenceau, Britain ends prime minister David Lloyd George, and Italy sends Vittorio Orlando
Germans aren’t invited because they lost and don’t get to negotiate
they adopted a League of Nations that was intended to prevent future wars where they would talk it out instead of just rushing to war
Germany got punished but Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires weren’t punished because they were no longer existent
many new nations were made based off of nationalities and ethnicities
parts of Germany, Austria-Hungary Empire, Ottoman Empire, and parts of Russia were divided up into smaller countries
Treaty of Versailles didn’t establish peace that well
US Congress actually rejected it and the League of Nations
Germany had a lasting bitterness for the rest of Europe as they were portrayed as the villains
all of Europe was plunged into political and economic chaos, especially Germany who dealt with extreme hyperinflation (their bread was 1 billion marks!!!)
WW2 erupted 20 years later
Hitler promised to fix the economy and the German people’s lives so everyone voted for him and the Nazi Party