Road To WW1

Road to WW1

(Long term) MANI/A (short term)

M

Militarism

A

Alliance System

N

Nationalism

A

Short term/immediate cause (the spark)

Assassination

Militarism

Conscription was a military draft that was a regular practice in most Western countries

Army numbers skyrocketed

Militarism was the preparation for war in an aggressive sense

Forced leaders to make choices based on the military rather than politics

Nationalism - as a unifying force

European Nationalism

Began with awareness of common cultural identity

Common language

Common heritage

Common traditions

Became focus of political loyalty - governments should coincide with nationalities

Serfs loyal to lord

Subjects loyal to monarch

Citizens loyal to nation

Political borders should coincide with cultural borders

Becomes unifying force for some

Germany

Italy

Becomes dividing force for others (multinational empires)

Ottoman Empire

Austro/Hungarian Empire

German Unification

Germans spread throughout German states, Prussia, and Austrian Empire

Otto Von Bismarck

Made Chancellor of Prussia in 1862

Basically Prime Minister

“The Architect” who would engineer the unification of Germany

Unite German states under Prussian rule

Realpolitik

Aggressive political policies that elevate the needs of the state above all else

After rapid military build-up, Prussia defeated France in Franco-Prussian War in 1870 (third of three wars)

Big victory for Prussia

Playing chess on a European chess board

German unification 1871

Rallied around Prussia

Germans WANTED to be a part of Prussia

Prussian king William made Kaiser William 1

German industrialization

Exceeds all others in Europe

When Germany was born, they were a superpower

Had good resources, and Bismarck pushed industrialization

Bismarck developed alliances with Austria and Russia for security

Don’t let anyone get too powerful

Germany posed a threat, wanted to deter people from attacking

Collective Defensive Alliances

Italian Unification

Italian peninsula divided into city state, papal states, and regions controlled by Austria and France

Unified by language, traditions, and legacy of Rome

King of Sardinia

Victor Emmanual II

The former areas of the Prussians, Lombardi and Venicia ruled by him now

Habitants were glad to be rid of the Austrians

Guiseppe Garibaldi

Forms Red Shirts

Invade Sicily, takes it, and gives it to Victor

People voted and wanted to be ruled by Victor Emmanual

Papal States are the only left

French lost control of Rome in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, unifying Italian peninsula

Bismarck GAVE the papal states to the Italians so they could unite Italy

After this, the Church was at odds with Italy

Nationalism - as a dividing force

Nat. as a threat to Austro-Hungarian Empire

Less than ¼ of 50 million subjects were German speaking Austrians

75% didn’t feel like they belonged with their rulers

Almost ½ Slavic (Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes)

Hapsburg family tolerated no liberal reform

“Rule and change nothing”

No rights, no voice of people

Francis I - doesn’t see the people as people, sees them as subjects

Doesn’t view them as humans, just pawns

Newspapers couldn’t print the word constitution

Little industrial development

More feudal system

Some reform took place in 1848 with Francis Joseph, and he ruled until 1916

Franz Ferdinand was his nephew who was assassinated

Bosnia - Herzegovina had been Ottoman Territory, but annexed Austria in 1909

Nat’l as a threat to the Ottoman Empire

Stretched from eastern Europe to North Africa, over to Middle East

Bu 1880s the “Sick man of Europe”

Because the empire was decaying

Austria and Russia pushed their borders

They lost a lot of land, and Austria and Prussia were on their heels

Balkan states pushed for independence, with Serbia gaining independence in 1817

Bosnia - Herzegovina occupied, then annexed by Austria,

This angered Serbia

Slavic nation thought it should rule over it due to Slavic peoples living there

Europe - Connected and Divided

Bismarck and Peace

After the Franco-Prussian War (1870)

Germany

United and powerful

Population doubled when they became a country

Easy access to coal and iron (big for industrialization

France -

Defeated, demoralized, and resentful

Bismarck knows the neighbors of Germany feel threatened

Balance of power

Secure peace - Bismarck’s way of securing peace was through collective and defensive alliances

Germany, A-H, Russia (Italy would come later

Kaiser William II and Germany’s “rightful place in the sun”

Kaiser William II fired Bismarck because he wanted a shift in foreign policy

Kaiser wanted more aggressive expansionism, overseas empire, but Bismarck wasn’t like that

Russia gets dropped from the alliance

Didn’t renew the alliance when it expired

Not like they weren’t getting along, but they didn’t resign it (didn’t strain relationship)

Nobody wanted a permanent alliance because you’ll always get dragged in, tied down

Opposing Alliances (1907)

Triple Alliance (Central Powers)

Germany

Austria - Hungary

Italy

Didn’t actually go to war, so Ottoman Empire came instead

Triple Alliance, but when they went to war became Central Powers

Entente Cordiale (the Allies)

Russia

Great Britain

France

Detente - speaking on matters where they disagree

Entente - speaking where they agree

The Schlieffen Plan

Germany has to account for two front war

A-H felt staring force because of nationalism

Many nations wanted freedom

Europe’s Dysfunctional Family

Kaiser Wilhelm II - Germany

King George V - Britain

Czar Nicholas II - Russia

All first cousins

6 other relatives on other thrones

Don’t really need an alliance, family will look out for each other

Militarism

Conscription was a military draft that was a regular practice in most Western countries

Army numbers skyrocketed

Militarism was the preparation for war in an aggressive sense

To be used for foreign policy

Most people thought if they build a big army, it would be intimidating and they could avoid war

Never thought it would come to war

Deterrent

Forced leaders to make choices based on the military rather than politics

Military leaders more powerful than country leaders

Russia had most men, but France and Germany were close in leaders

Germany great power since it was born (Otto Von Bismarck)

All countries made large mistake

Wars always fought by men, WW1 fought by machines

First industrialized war

Not a war with tactics, just technology

Russia was least industrialized, so even with most men, at a disadvantage

Navy’s received a lot of funding because they needed to get to Africa and Asia

Alliances

Nobody would attack because it meant attacking many countries rather than just one

Everyone had plans, cast in stone

Germany allied with and Italy

Germany would get stuck on a two front war

The Outbreak of War - Summer 1914

The Serbian Problem

Many areas wanted to free themselves from the Ottoman Empire for the longest time

A-H vs Russia had an ongoing rivalry, and they both wanted control over the newly emancipated states

Serbia (Russian supported) wanted a large, independent, Slavic state in the Balkans, but A-H was opposed to it

The British and other European powers felt there was a war coming on

Assassination in Sarajevo

Archduke FF of A-H went to Sarajevo with his wife

Members of the Black Hand (conspirators) waited and planned to kill the archduke and his wife

They set off a bomb behind his car, and later on in the day a 19 year old, Gavrilo Princip shot the archduke and his wife on June 28

Austria Hungary Responds

Austria gave a list of demands and one month to complete

All those responsible will be brought to justice

Blank Check

Sign name, etc, but not the amount of money

Germany sent one to A-H saying they have full German support

A-H didn’t know if Serbs had been directly involved in the assassination

A-H wanted to attack Serbia, but were worried Russia would stick up for Serbia, so they called in Germany for their own side

William II of Germany completely supported A-H, and on July 28, A-H went to war with Serbia

Russia Mobilize

Russia backed up Serbia in total confidence

Czar Nicky ordered partial mobilization of their army against A-H

Mobilization

Assembling troops and supplies to prepare for war

Couldn’t “partially”mobilize because it would cause chaos

Chose full mobilization, and knew this would be seen as an act of war

The Conflict Broadens

Germany reacted quickly, and told Russia to stop their mobilization, and since Russia ignored, Germany declared war

Schlieffen plan called for a two front war against the alliance between France and Russia

Schlieffen Plan

Some go to russia (diversion), but most army attack France from the coast line

Couldn’t attack Russia, so declared war on France

Also made Belgium (neutral nation) let German troops pass through

This made Great Britain declare war on Germany

Britain was allied with France and Russia, and they wanted to keep those alliances

Focused on their own world power