World War I: The Great War

Primary Structural Causes: The M.A.I.N. Framework

• After discussing the causes of the Great War ($WWI$), students should be able to identify four primary causes and explain how they brought the war about.

• Militarism: The aggressive buildup and glorification of a nation's military forces and arms capability.

• Alliances: Complex systems of treaties and mutual defense agreements between European powers, ensuring that an attack on one nation would pull its allies into a regional or global conflict.

• Imperialism: Intense competition between European nations for colonial possessions, resources, and influence across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.

• Nationalism: Intense patriotism and the desire for political independence among ethnic groups residing within large, multi-ethnic empires.

• Major Trigger Event: The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire served as the immediate spark for the outbreak of hostilities.

• Diplomatic Failures: The foundational inability of European leaders to resolve international tensions through diplomacy rather than military mobilization.

Geopolitical Alliance Systems and the European Battleground

• To understand the war, it is necessary to identify the setting and the major participants across the European theater.

• Triple Alliance (Central Powers): Primarily composed of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Italy was an original member but did not remain with this coalition during the conflict.

• Triple Entente (Allies): Primarily composed of the United Kingdom ($UK$), France, and Russia. The United States entered this alliance in $1917$.

• Geographic Participants: Notable regions and nations identified on the battleground include Russia, Austria, Serbia, France, Germany, Ottoman Empire, Italy, Romania, Ireland, Bulgaria, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Albania, and Montenegro.

• Strategic Waterways: The Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea.

The Conflict Stagnates: The Western Front

• The Schlieffen Plan: Germany's initial strategic plan to achieve a quick victory in the West by overrunning Belgium and sweeping into France.     * Result: The plan was initially successful until French forces discovered the German army's route.

• The Battle of the Marne (September $5$-$12$, $1914$):     * This battle halted the German advance and signaled the failure of the Schlieffen Plan.     * Outcome: A quick victory in the West became impossible, and the war settled into a long-term stalemate.

• Life in the Trenches: The nature of the war changed into exhaustive trench warfare. Soldiers "slept in the mud, washed in mud, ate mud, and dreamed mud."

• The Battle of Verdun (July, $1916$):     * Recognized as the peak of Trench Warfare, involving massive German attacks.     * Casualties: Approximately $1\,000\,000$ total casualties (injured or killed).     * Death Toll: Between $300\,000$ and $600\,000$ soldiers were killed.     * Outcome: German forces gained only $4\,\text{miles}$ of territory.

• The Battle of the Somme (July-November $1916$):     * On the first day alone, Britain lost $20\,000$ men.     * Total Casualties: Approximately $1\,000\,000$.     * Outcome: British forces gained only $5\,\text{miles}$ of territory.

Conflict on the Eastern Front

• Location: Situated primarily along the border between Germany and Russia.

• Characteristics: Unlike the Western Front, the Eastern Front was more mobile with fewer stalemates and less reliance on extensive trench systems.

• Participants: Millions of troops fought here, primarily involving Russia against the Central Powers.

• Outcome: The Central Powers achieved victory on this front.     * Russia was completely blockaded by enemy forces.     * The Allies were unable to successfully deliver supplies to the Russian military efforts.

Naval Warfare and United States Entry

• The Stalemate Shift: By $1917$, with battles on land in a stalemate, the focus turned to the oceans.

• Economic Blockades: Germany was blockaded by Britain, which caused severe food shortages.

• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare ($USW$): Germany's response to the blockade was to declare all ships around Great Britain as targets for their U-Boats.

• Sinking of the Lusitania ($1915$):     * A British cruise ship sunk by a U-Boat.     * Death Toll: $1\,198$ people died, including $128$ Citizens of the United States.     * Political Impact: President Woodrow Wilson protested, causing Germany to temporarily halt $USW$.

• $1917$ Reinstitution: Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, believing they could starve Britain out of the war before the USA could intervene.

• Zimmerman Telegram: A strategic communication intercepted that influenced the USA towards entry.

• USA Official Entry: The United States declared war and entered the conflict on April $6$, $1917$.

The Allied Victory and the Armistice

• Russia Exits the War: Internal civil unrest and discontent over Czar Nicholas II led to the Czar's abdication on March $15$, $1918$.

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: Russia was required to surrender significant territory, including Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

• The Second Battle of the Marne (July $1918$):     * Germany moved all Eastern troops to the Western Front for a final push to the Marne River.     * The arrival of $2\,000\,000$ American troops was decisive, leading to an Allied victory.

• Termination of Fighting:     * Kaiser Wilhelm II resigned on November $9$, $1918$.     * The Armistice ending the fighting was signed on November $11$, $1918$, in a French General's private train car.

The Treaty of Versailles and Wilson's Fourteen Points

• The Paris Peace Conference ($1918$-$1919$):     * Attended by over $32$ nations.     * Controlled by "The Big Four": David Lloyd George (UK Prime Minister), Vittorio Orlando (Italian Prime Minister), Georges Clemenceau (French Prime Minister), and Woodrow Wilson (US President).     * Noticeably absent from the conference were Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.

• Wilson's Fourteen Points: A plan for a lasting peace, which included:     1. No secret treaties.     2. Freedom of the seas.     3. Equality of trade.     4. Reduction in national militaries.     5. Readjustment of imperial claims (incorporating Self-Determination).     6. Evacuation and return of all Russian territory.     7. Restoration of Belgium.     8. Return of all French territory.     9. Readjustment of Italian borders.     10. Autonomy for the peoples of Austria-Hungary.     11. Evacuation of the Balkans.     12. Sovereignty for Turkey and the Ottoman Empire.     13. Establishment of an independent Polish state.     14. Creation of a League of Nations.

• Article $231$ (War Guilt Clause): "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."

• Penalties for Germany: Acceptance of guilt for the war, payment of heavy reparations, and a drastic reduction in military capability.

Geopolitical Realignment and the Mandate System

• Breakup of Empires: The map of Europe and the Middle East was redrawn.     * From Austria-Hungary: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland were created.     * From the Ottoman Empire: Turkey became independent; Palestine, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, and Lebanon were created as mandates.     * From Russia: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became independent states.

• Definition of a Mandate: A nation officially administered as a territory on behalf of the League of Nations.

• Flaws in the Peace Treaty:     * The USA never signed the treaty and returned to a policy of Isolationism.     * Germany was left bitter and economically devastated.     * Mandated territories in Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific were upset at not being granted independence, viewing the system as continued colonization by Europe.     * Japan and Italy were dissatisfied with the small territorial gains they received.

Questions & Discussion

• Question: Why is the Treaty of Versailles considered the most important treaty of all time?

• Answer: It ended the largest war in history up to that point and is blamed for foundational global issues ranging from the rise of the Nazis to persistent conflicts in the Middle East.

• Question: Attendance Roll: Which major nations were present or absent from the Treaty of Versailles?

• Answer: USA, France, England, and Italy were Present. Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary were Absent.

• Question: What are two primary weaknesses of the League of Nations?

• Answer: 1. The United States, the country that proposed the league, never signed the treaty or joined. 2. It lacked the ability to grant mandated territories the independence they demanded, leading to resentment.

• Question: Contrast the different uses of the term "Mandate."

• Answer: In ancient China, the "Mandate of Heaven" granted the Emperor the right to rule. In modern federal contexts, a "Federal Mandate" dictates actions states must follow (e.g., the Americans with Disabilities Act). In the context of WWI, the League of Nations issued mandates to Britain and France to control lands formerly held by the Ottoman Empire.