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Who wanted this war anyway? Causes of World War I Slide 2 Slide 3 Video Clip Slide 4 Alliances My dad can beat up your dad Slide 5 Triple Alliance Germany Rivalry with France and England Austria/Hungary Rivalry with Russia, Serbia, and Italy Italy Rivalry with France and Italy Ottoman Empire Rivalry with England Slide 6 Triple Entente Russia Had lost face by losing the war to Japan France Lost territory to Germany Britain Looking to protect its trade empire Slide 7 Schlieffen Plan Assumed that if Germany was at war with Russia it was also at war with France Relied on two things: Russia would be slow to mobilize Using rapid troop movements Germany would be able to quickly defeat France Slide 8 Schlieffen Plan The moment Russia started to mobilize its troops a world war was guaranteed Germany either had to declare war on France AND Russia or admit defeat prior to a shot being fired Slide 9 Nationalism I am better than you! Slide 10 The Big Three Weltpolitik or the desire for world power was popular in Germany France wanted revenge for the loss of Alsace and Lorraine England wanted to maintain its position as the leading imperial power Slide 11 Balkans Serbia wanted Austria- Hungary out of the Balkans Serbia wanted to form a Slavic state called Yugoslavia where they would be the main power Austria-Hungary was looking to maintain its power in the region Russia was looking to gain power by being seen as the protector of the Slavs Slide 12 Assassination On June 28, 1914 Austrian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a 17 year Bosnian Serb student According to their statements at trial the goal of the assassination was a symbolic act of protest Slide 13 Who was to blame? The Bosnian Serbs who did the killing had no real plan and had in fact originally planned to kill the local governor The Austrian-Hungarians ignored advice that said this was a very bad time to visit Serbian intelligence officers provided the conspirators with information and weapons Slide 14 How did this lead to war? Austrians acted out against Slavs by arresting them and destroying their businesses Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government for the assassination Austria-Hungary sought out the support of its ally Germany before taking any action at all Austrian-Hungarian demands of Serbia were deliberately designed to be to offensive for Serbia to accept and gave a 48 hour deadline Serbia initially stated that they could accept the demands with a few minor issues However when it became clear that Russia would support Serbia they stopped negotiating with Austria-Hungary Slide 15 Imperialism My country is bigger than yours Slide 16 Colonies around the World in 1914 Slide 17 Imperialism Imperialism had for Europe provided a period of relative peace Wars were fought far away and were very short European countries competed with each other to have the most colonies Colonies provided European nations with a way of showing how powerful they were Slide 18 Militarism Why arms races are bad Slide 19 Naval Race 1906 - 1914 In 1906 the British navy completed the HMS Dreadnought This ship was so revolutionary that all ships before it were classes as pre-dreadnought Germany and England then proceeded to get into a race to see who could produce the most of this new type of ship Slide 20 Military Spending In the years leading to WW I both Germany and France saw their armies more than double in size Prior to 1914 85% of French men military age and 50% of Germany men had served in either the army or navy All the major powers except England had conscription Percentage Increase in Military Spending 1890-1913 Size of Peacetime Army 1914 Britain117430,000 France92970,000 Russia191,500,000 Germany158760,000 Austria Hungary 160480,000 Slide 21 Everyone is Afraid Germany had long had the most powerful army in Europe German naval development was a threat to England Germany feared be encircled by enemies Austria-Hungary feared losing its place in the world Slide 22 Now off to the trenches The End