Europe in 1914

LEARNING INTENTION: Use historical facts to describe the German experiences of the Great War

Germany during World War 1:

A Great Empire thrust into Crisis

Declaration of War

• Germans were generally euphoric at declaration of war: ‘Nationalistic fervour’ (Fischer 1995)

• Expected it to be over by Christmas (Schlieffen Plan)• Won Franco-Prussian War, considered themselves to have the

finest military in Europe

Declaration of war announced publically in Odeonsplatz, Germany

As the War dragged on...• Exports from other countries blocked: Led to starvation, collapse of

banks • Political stress: Poorer didn’t receive ‘war credits’• 1915 – 1916: Over 1 million Germans die on the Western Front

through failure of the Schlieffen Plan• Throughout the war:

• Many more people, including civilians, suffered psychological damage

Mobilised: 13,240,000 Dead: 1,808,555 Wounded: 4,248,158

Missing/POW: 1,152,800

The Empire Crumbles

‘The general staff tell me nothing and never asks me advice. If the people of Germany think that I am the supreme commander, they are gravely mistaken. I drink tea, saw wood and go for walks.’ (Willhelm 1916 in Fischer 1995:43)

• By 1916, military commanders Paul Von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff assumed control of the German war effort, undermining both the Reichstag and the Emperor

• Upon the surrender of the Triple Alliance, the Western Powers did not deal with Kaiser or the Reichstag: they wanted to deal with the heads of the military

• The Kaiser abdicated the throne on November 9, 1918

A crushing defeat:

• Forced to remove troops from Alsace/Lorraine• Many Germans refused to believe they had been defeated:

Believed they could have won had the ‘November Criminals’ not agreed to cease-fire

• Others looked to lay blame: Jews, Communists and pacifists

‘A generation of (German) young people had bled to death on the battlefields of western and eastern Europe; and those who had survived were permanently scarred by their wartime experiences, lacking the psychological resources needed to build a stable and peaceful society.’(Fischer 1995:42)

‘A generation of political extremists roamed the landscape in search of a messianic leader who would... restore a collective sense of purpose (in Germany) that had disappeared with the old authorities’ (Fischer 1995:43).

EXTENDED ANSWER REPONSE PRACTICE

Using three or four points, explain German's experience during World War 1.Use Evidence to support your answer

Introductory sentence

Response to the declaration of war

As the war dragged on

The crumbling of the empire

A crushing defeat

EXTENSION: Visual Source Analysis: Write a paragraph explaining what this image tells us about Hitler’s response to the announcement of WW1.