World War I

Long-term Causes of WWI

M.A.N.I.A. : Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism

Militarism:

  • 1880s, rise in the glorification of the military and keeping an army prepared for war

  • The European powers expanding their armies and navies at a rapid pace

  • Result was an arms race (Countries start to build up their militaries (soldiers, weaponry) in order to out-compete other countries)

  • The Biggest rivalry was between Britain & Germany

Alliances:

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

  • Started with Otto von Bismark (Chancellor of Germany; starts to create alliances with other countries because they are landlocked)

  • Dual Alliance: Germany & Austria-Hungary would aid each other if Russia attacked

  • Triple Alliance: added Italy (now Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) if France attacked, the other 2 countries would defend Italy

  • France-Italian Alliance: secret alliance, Italy would remain neutral if Germany attacked France

  • Triple Entente: Great Britain, France & Russia, ensured Great Britain would not fight against them

Nationalism:

  • A deep devotion to one’s country

  • Germany: united under Bismarck and now an industrialized giant

  • France: horribly bitter about their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1871), thus revenge against Germany

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

  • Austria-Hungary: fearful of nationalism because they rule over many minority populations (revolts)

Imperialism:

  • Competitive with each other for colonies

  • Effect: rivalry and mistrust of one another

Immediate Causes of WWI

  • People:

    • Archduke Franz Ferdinand

      • Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne who was assasinated

    • Gavrilo Princip

      • Serbian nationalist/terrorist who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, triggering the outbreak of World War I.

    • Kaiser Wilhelm II

      • Ruler of Germany during WWI

    • King George V

      • Monarch of Great Britain during WWI

    • Tsar Nicholas II

      • Tsar of Russia during WWI

  • Entry of each country into the war

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

    • Austria-Hungary: declared war on Serbia b/c their ultimatum was not accepted

    • Germany: promised Austria Hungary a “blank check” due to their previous alliance

    • Russia: was ignored by Germany and Austria refused to back down, they also pledged to defend Slaivc states (Serbia)

    • France: got involved due to the Triple Entente

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

Schlieffen Plan (purpose, tactics, problems, what really happened)

  • Purpose: to avoid a 2-front war for Germany

  • Tactic: march through neural Belgium, into France

  • Problems:

    • Has to be accomplished within 6 weeks so that they can defeat France and then prepare to attack Russia

    • Also depended upon Russia mobilizing slowly

  • Meant Great britain would get involved b/c of Belgium’s neutrality

  • What really happened:

    • Failed b/c Russia mobilized too quickly

    • Stalemate with the development of trenches


Trench Warfare

  • Types of trenches

    • Front line: firing and attacking the enemy

    • Support: men and supplies that were

    • ReserveL contained men and supplies that were available in emergencies

    • Communication: allowed movement of messages, supplies and men among the trenches

  • Three week rotation schedule

    • Purpose: keep soldiers morale high and keep them fresh

    • One week in the front, one week in support, one week in reserve (rotation)

  • Characteristics of “no man’s land”

    • Land in between the trenches

    • Huge craters by shelling

    • Barbed wire

    • All vegetation was destroyed

    • Gunfire (dangerous and impossible to move)

  • Movements at the front

    • Daytime attacks were very dangerous and would result in death

    • Attacks took place before dawn

    • Gas was more effective in the morning

    • At night men conducted raids, investigated the layout of the terrain and to eavesdrop on the enemy

  • Weapons of WWI (virtual exploration)

    • Poison gas

    • Machine guns

    • Tanks

WWI on the Homefront, Colonies & the Ottomans

Vocabulary

  • Total warfare

    • Channeling a nation’s resources into the war effort

  • Rationing 

    • When people are given a fixed amount of food to buy

  • Propaganda 

    • Designed to persuade and keep up moral for war

  • Economic changes 

    • Draft

    • Raised taxes and borrowed money (war bonds)

    • Rationed food

    • Set prices and outlawed strikes

  • Impact on women

    • Took over men’s jobs at home

    • Worked in industry and manufacturing

    • Joined the military as nurses

    • Gave them pride and confidence

    • After the war had to give up their jobs

    • Helped them win 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

      • incited fear

      • joined crowd

      • either with us or against us

      • heroic image

      • demonizing the enemy

      • moral duty and guilt

  • Why Europe relied on their colonial subjects

    • They were low on men and neede more

  • Tasks of the men of the colonies\

    • Manual labor

    • Fighting in Europe and Africa

    • Collecting ammunition

    • clearing the battle field (dead or injured men)

    • digging trenches

    • loading or off-loading ships at docks

  • Treatment of men by Great Britain versus France

    • Great Britain segregated troops/units versus France did not

  • Long-term effect of the use of colonized men

    • Independence Movements 

    • They wanted freedom from Europe/mother country

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

    • Friction with Trip;e Entente due to the Ottomans hidinging German warships

    • Long-standing hostility to Russia

    • Early German victories

  • Why the Ottomans launched the Armenian Genocide

    • Suspicious that the Christrian Armenians were secretly supporting Russia

    • They were not “Turkish” enough

  • Why the Ottomans surrendered in WWI

    • Due to economic pressure

    • Desertions (soldiers were leaving the battlefield)

    • Bulgaria surrendered first

The Changing Tide of War

  • Vocabulary

    • Unrestricted submarine warfare

      • The German policy of U-boats sinking American and British passenger liners

    • Zimmermann Telegram

      • Telegram that brought immediate entry of the US into the war

    • Armistice

      • Agreement to end fighting

    People

    • Vladimir Lenin

      • Leader of Russia after the revolution

    • Woodrow Wilson

      • President of America during WWI

    Concepts

    • Russia during WWI

      • Factories did not produced enough

      • Transportation system broke down thus they couldn’t move supplies to the front

      • Soldiers were hungry and poor or no equipment

      • Massive amounts of soldiers died because they lacked equipment

      • Nicholas II was a horrible cummonder

      • Food and fuel shortages at ghom

    • Russian Revolution

      • Duma wanged a constitutional monarchy 

      • Nicholas II wanted to be absolutist

      • Nicvholas II was overthrown and replace by the Bolsheviks by the Provisional government (republic) the replaced by Lenin (Bolshevik)

      • Lenin pulls out of WWI which leads to Germany only having to concentrate on their western front

    • US Entry in the War

      • Zimmerman Telegram/Note

    • What happened to monarchies after WWI

      • Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary all lost their monarchies

      • Great Britain was the only monarch to survive