UNIT 8 - 4º Bil

The First World War

1 - War and revolution (1914-23)

1870-1914 Period of uneasy peace in Europe. Rivalries continued between countries and two main alliances are the result.

In July 1914 the WWI began, the two alliances fought.

Industry reconverted to manufacture weapons and military equipment.

Society also changed due to the war. Women began to work in factories while men fought in the war.

1 - War and revolution (1914-23)

The origin of the Russian revolution

was in its participation in the WWI.

Spain remained neutral during the Great War.

The Avant-garde movement influenced art during this period.

2 - The First World War

2.1. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR-Tension during the uneasy peace.

-Rivalries to recover territories, for example France over Alsace-Lorraine against Germany, or the Balkan crisis between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

-Economic rivalries, above all between Great Britain (former industrial power) and Germany (current), which led to a hard fight to control international trade.

-Colonial interests, for example, the moroccan crisis (Germany tried to get colonies from other countries).

2.1. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR

-Arms race, Britain and Germany began a naval arms race.

-Another cause was the formation of two blocs of opposing alliances:

.1882 The Triple Entente: Great Britain, France and the Russian Empire.

.1907 The Triple Alliance: the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

The final cause. 1914

The assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by a Yugoslav nationalist in Sarajevo (Bosnia) was the trigger.

It resulted in a Habsburg ultimatum against the Kingdom of Serbia. Several alliances formed over the previous decades were invoked, so, within weeks, the major powers were at war; via their colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world.

On 28 July, the conflict opened with the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, followed by the German invasion of Belgium, Luxembourg and France; and a Russian attack against Germany.

2.2. The war's participants and phases

-PARTICIPANTS IN THE WAR: during the war several countries joined both groups:

-Triple Entente (GB, France and Russia, plus Serbia): Japan, Romania, the USA, Greece and Portugal. They were known as the Allied Powers.

-Triple Alliance (Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy): the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Italy was neutral at the beginning and then changed to the Triple Entente. They were known as the Central Powers.

2.2. The war's participants and phases

PHASES OF THE WAR - There were three phases:In July 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on

Serbia.

1- Initial German offensives 1914: rapid attacks to Belgium (neutral) and France, and prevent actions against Russia.

2- Trench warfare and new allies (1915-17): period of trench warfare, followed by the entrance of the USA in war (with the Allies). The Russian Empire began to collapse.

3- Allied victories and the armistice 1918: Russia withdrew from the war. After a political revolution Germany signed the armistice on November 1918.

The war's participants

Activities

Exercises 2, 3 and 5 on page 163._____________________________________________

-Animated Map: The Western Front, 1914 - 1918

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/western_front/index_embed.shtml

-Good web about WWI: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/

3- Economy and society during the war

THE WAR ECONOMY

-Economic activity was focused in providing arm forces with all the necessary equipment and facilities.

-Recent inventions were used (telephone, telegraph, armoured tanks, new weapons, etc.)

-Production of consumer goods decreased, so there were shortages of some products and prices increased.

Governments established rationing

systems, and black markets appeared.

3- Economy and society during the war

SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE WAR

-Women and men suffered different effects during the war:

.Men had to participate in the war (voluntarily or not).

.Women had to work in offices and factories.

-Advertising was used to publicize the war and make patriotism in order to convince

more men to enlist the army.

-After the war women began to fight for

their rights. The suffragettes were an example.

Activities

Exercises 8, 9, 10 and 11 on page 167.

4 - The post-war world4.1. The peace settlement

-After the armistice in 1918, the Allied Powers met at the Paris Peace Conference (1919) to decide the conditions that would be imposed to the defeated Central Powers.

-Reconciliation proposed by Wilson (USA) was rejected.

-They signed a series of treaties known as the Paris Peace Treaties, that remodelled the map of Europe with new borders and countries, and imposed war guilt and harsh financial penalties on Germany. The defeated Central Powers' colonial empires would be parceled between and mandated to the victorious colonial empires.

-The League of Nations was created to maintain world peace.

The peace treaties

"The Big Four" during the Paris Peace Conference (from left to right, David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, George Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson).

The peace treaties

The following treaties were prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (with, in parentheses, the affected countries):

• the Treaty of Versailles, 1919, 28 June (the German Empire in Weimar Republic form)

• the Treaty of Saint-Germain, 10 September 1919, (Austria)

• the Treaty of Neuilly, 27 November 1919, (Bulgaria)

• the Treaty of Trianon, 4 June 1920, (Hungary)

• the Treaty of Sèvres, 10 August 1920; subsequently revised by the Treaty of Lausanne, 24 June 1923, (Ottoman Empire).

Treaty of Versailles, June 1919

-It ended the state of war between Germany and

the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919.

-Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the

most important and controversial required

Germany to accept responsibility for causing the war (along with Austria and Hungary), later known as the War-Guilt clauses.

-Another term was to disarm, and also to make substantial territorial concessions, and pay heavy reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers.

The League of Nations

It was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the WWI.

It was the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.

Its primary goals included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament, and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Other issues included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human and drug trafficking, arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe.

At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members.

Activities

Exercises 12, 13 and 14 on page 167.

4.2. The consequences of the First World War

-Death and injury: lots of young men died in the war, and there were lots of injuries: cripples, disabled people, orphans...

-Material destruction: material losses above all in European territories that made great damage to economy.

-Economic decline: Europe became in heavy debt with the USA.

-New European states: due to the treaties of peace Europe's map changed dramatically.

-Colonial changes: colonies from the Central Powers became mandate territories after the war.

-Social changes: Women became included in the labour market. Middle classes impoverished, and a new figure emerged: the old soldier or veteran.

Activity

Exercise 15 on page 167.