“The Great War” “A war to end all wars” World War One: Basic Facts A monumental event of...
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Transcript of “The Great War” “A war to end all wars” World War One: Basic Facts A monumental event of...
“The Great War”
“A war to end all wars”
World War One: Basic Facts• A monumental event of heavy artillery and trench
fighting• 37.5 million casualties (15 million soldiers killed)• Chemical weapons (poison gas) deployed• Four empires destroyed
– German– Austria-Hungarian– Russian– Ottoman
Nationalism
Imperialism
Alliances
Militarism
International Anarchy
The Great Powers
Great Britain
Germany
Austria
Russia
Italy
France
The Major Players: 1914-17
The Major Players: 1914-17
Nicholas II Nicholas II [Rus][Rus]
Nicholas II Nicholas II [Rus][Rus]
George V [Br]George V [Br]George V [Br]George V [Br]
Pres. Poincare Pres. Poincare [Fr][Fr]
Pres. Poincare Pres. Poincare [Fr][Fr]
Allied PowersAllied Powers::Allied PowersAllied Powers::
Franz Josef [A-H]Franz Josef [A-H]Franz Josef [A-H]Franz Josef [A-H]
Wilhelm II [Ger]Wilhelm II [Ger]Wilhelm II [Ger]Wilhelm II [Ger]
Victor Emmanuel Victor Emmanuel II [It]II [It]
Victor Emmanuel Victor Emmanuel II [It]II [It]
Central PowersCentral Powers::Central PowersCentral Powers::
Enver PashaEnver Pasha[Turkey][Turkey]
Enver PashaEnver Pasha[Turkey][Turkey]
Background: German Unification
• War with Denmark (1864)
• War with Austria (1866)
• War with France (1870-1)
II. Aggressive NationalismGermany became a military and industrial power, while the French were bitter about losing Alsace and Lorraine
The French were especially bitter about their 1871 defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the German occupation of the border provinces of Alsace
and Lorraine
Bismarck’s Revived Concert(1870-1890)
II. Aggressive NationalismRussia sponsored Pan-Slavism and felt that it had a duty to lead and defend all Slavs
II. Aggressive NationalismAustria-Hungary worried that nationalism might lead to rebellion within its empire
II. Aggressive Nationalism
Ottoman Turkey felt threatened by new nations on its borders
Kaiser Wilhelm II:Moroccan Crises
• Crisis One (1905-6)– German opposition to
French claims
• Crisis Two (1911)– Gunboat diplomacy
II. Aggressive Nationalism
By 1914, the Balkans were the "powder keg of Europe"
Austria-Hungary’s Franz Josef:The Bosnian Crisis (1908)
• Young Turks come to power
• Bulgaria claims independence
• Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina
Balkan Crises
• First war (1912): Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece against Turkey
• Second war (1913) Serbia, Greece, and Romania against Bulgaria
Bismarck’s Revived Concert(1870-1890)
The Three Emperors’ League (1872)
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78
The Dual Alliance
The Triple Alliance
The Reinsurance Treaty (1887)
The Franco-Russian Alliance (1894)
Deterioration of Anglo-German Relations
The Anglo-French Entente (1904)
The Anglo-Russian Entente (1907)
The Triple Entente
III. Rivalries Among European Powers
There was a rise in militarism and nations expanded their armies and navies
Competing explanations
Realism: Balance of Power
• Classical Realists: State leaders locked themselves into inflexible alliances
• Neo-Realists: Germany’s rise upset the existing balance of power
Realism: Balance of Threat
• Stephen Walt: Perceptions (not merely resources) matter
Liberalism: Domestic Politics
• Domestic conflict in Germany and UK
– Germany: class divisions lead “iron and rye coalition” to launch “social imperialism”
– UK: divisions with Liberal Party led to waffling
Constructivism: Nationalism
• Pan-Slavism challenged two empires
• Anti-Slavic sentiment in Germany
• Stronger than family ties
Marxism-Leninism: Imperialism
• Monopoly capitalism
• Imperalism: Competing for overseas territories
• Problems with this explanation
Sarajevo, Bosnia – June 28, 1914
COUNTRIES TAKE A SIDE
• Shocked Francis Joseph blames Serbia, feels serb gov’t knew of the plot
• Believed that Serbia wanted south Slav empire
• Wanted to deal harshly with the Serbs
• Needed German backing first• Kaiser Wilhelm II told Austria
that Germany would support any action they saw fit
• Essentially giving Austria a blank check to do anything.
AUSTRIA ANSWERS SERBIA
• Austria sends Serbia a severe ultimatum or final set of demands 7/23/14
• Serbia must end all anti-Austrian agitation and punish and Serbian official involved in the murder.
• Dismiss all officials hostile to Austria-Hungary• Allow Austrian officials into Serbia to investigate the
Archduke’s murder themselves• Serbia agrees to all of the terms except the last, rejecting it
as an infringement on Serbian sovereignty.• 7/28/14 Austria balk at Serbia and declare war on the Serbs
July 28, 1914 – Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
July 30, 1914 – Russia prepared to defend Serbia
August 1, 1914 – Germany declares war on Russia
August 3, 1914 – Germany declared war on France
August 3, 1914 – Germany invaded neutral Belgium
August 4, 1914 – British declared war on Germany
Ready Since 1905
Response to possibility of a Two front war
France on the West
Russia on the East
Paris in Six Weeks
March Against Russia
German Atrocities in Belgium
German Atrocities in Belgium
II. The Conflict WidensOutraged by the invasion of Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany
"The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”
British politician Sir Edward Grey
German trench
FRENCH STRONGHOLD AT VERDUN.
- IDEA WAS TO BLEED FRANCE TO DEATH AND BREAK THERE SPIRIT
German first assault, February 21, artillery bombardment,
-five months of fighting causes
-430,000 German dead
-540,000 French dead
-Germans bleed French white but, not to death and hurt there military in the end
THEY
SHALL NOT PASS
FRENCH HOLD THE LINE.
-FORCE GERMAN STALEMATE
-CREATE PROBLEMS FOR GERMAN HIGH COMMAND
Somme, France
Tennenberg
German army quickly isolates and destroys the Russian forces, at the end of August.
Galicia Austria, ends the war for Russia
OTTOMAN EMPIRE SIDES WITH GERMNY. CLOSE DARDANELLES TO ALLIED SHIPPING
BRITAIN GOES TO OPEN AREA AND WINDS UP STAYING FOR A YEAR AND LOSING 65,000 MEN
American Neutrality• Wilson—neither threatened vital
American interest• American against the war Pacifists,
Isolationists, Socialist• Edward M. House and Robert
Lansing– Wilson’s pro-British advisors
• William Jennings Bryan– Against pro-British tilt
• Germany had no advocates in government
• British blockade of Germany– Violates American neutrality, Wilson
protests
(c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
U.S. Enters the War (1917)
British navy blocks German coast and starves people
Germany counters with U-boats
British Big naval advantage countered by hidden boats
RAF (British) aviators
Downed German Zeppelin
Submarine Warfare• Unterseeboot (U-boat)• Lusitania (May 1915)
– 1198 killed, 128 Americans
– Germans had warned the passenger was a target
• Bryan resigns when Wilson refuses to criticize both British blockade and U-boats
• Sussex pledge (1916)• 1916 preparedness measures
(c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
German Escalation
• Russia’s imminent collapse• Germany concentrates on Britain and
France– Renew U-boat war
• "Zimmerman telegram“• American declaration of war: “make the
world safe for democracy”
(c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved
American Intervention
• Russian revolution (1917)– Vladimir Lenin and Bolshevik Party
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)– Publication of secret Allied treaties
• German 1918 offensive• American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
– John J. Pershing
• Allied 1918 offensive• Armistice 11-11-1918
(c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved