World War I

World War 1 (Click here to download):

Plot:

1914 (June) Archduke Ferdinand assassinated by a member of Black Hand society. In July 1914, Austria declares war on Serbia; World War I begins.

Timeline:

1915 (Jan.) Trench warfare under way on western front

1915 (Feb.) Gallipoli campaign starts in Turkey.

1916 (Feb.) French and Germans begin battle at Verdun.

1917 (April) United States enters war

1918 (Nov.) Allies defeat Central Powers; war ends.

Reasons for World War 1:

MANIA

Militarism

Assassination

Nationalism

Imperialism

The Steady Rise of Nationalism:

One such force was nationalism, or a deep devotion to one’s nation. Nationalism can serve as a unifying force within a country. However, it also can cause intense competition between nations, with each seeking to overpower the other. By the turn of the 20th century, a fierce rivalry indeed had developed among Europe’s Great Powers. Those nations were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and France.

This increasing rivalry among European nations stemmed from several sources. Competition for materials and markets was one. Great Britain, home of the Industrial Revolution, had long been Europe’s leader in industry, finance, and shipping. Nationalistic rivalries also grew out of territorial disputes.

Imperialism:

Another force that helped set the stage for war in Europe was imperialism. The nations of Europe competed fiercely for colonies in Africa and Asia. The quest for colonies sometimes pushed European nations to the brink of war. In 1905 and again in 1911, Germany and France nearly fought over who would control Morocco, in northern Africa. With most of Europe supporting France. Germany eventually backed down. As European countries continued to compete for overseas empires, their sense of rivalry and mistrust of one another deepened.

The Growth of Militarism:

Beginning in the 1890s, increasing nationalism led to a dangerous European arms race. The nations of Europe believed that to be truly great, they needed to have a powerful military. By 1914, all the Great Powers except Britain had large standing armies. In addition, military experts stressed the importance of being able to quickly mobilize, or organize and move troops in case of a war. Generals in each country developed highly detailed plans for such a mobilization. The policy of glorifying military power and keeping an army prepared for war was known as militarism. Having a large and strong standing army made citizens feel patriotic.

Course of Action:

Great Britain began to enlarge its own fleet. In 1904, Britain formed an entente, or alliance, with France. In 1907, Britain made another entente, this time with both France and Russia. The Triple Entente, as it was called, did not bind Britain to fight with France and Russia. However, it did almost certainly ensure that Britain would not fight against them. By 1907, two rival camps existed in Europe. On one side was the Triple Alliance—Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. On the other side was the Triple Entente—Great Britain, France, and Russia. A dispute between two rival powers could draw the entire continent into war.

By 1914, Europe was divided into two rival camps. One alliance, the Triple Entente, included Great Britain, France, and Russia. The other, known as the Triple Alliance, included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia set off a chain reaction within the alliance system. The countries of Europe followed through on their numerous and complex pledges to support one another. As a result, nearly all the nations of Europe soon were drawn into the war.

A Chain Reaction:

In response to Austria’s declaration of war, Russia, Serbia’s ally, began moving its army toward the Russian-Austrian border. Expecting Germany to join Austria, Russia also mobilized along the German border. Czar Nicholas II of Russia told the Kaiser that the maneuvers were just a precaution. Yet to Germany, Russia’s mobilization amounted to a declaration of war. On August 1, the German government declared war on Russia. Russia looked to its ally France for help. Germany, however, did not even wait for France to react. Two days after declaring war on Russia, Germany also declared war on France. Much of Europe was now locked in battle.

The Schlieffen Plan

Germany quickly put its military plan into effect.

In the event of a two-front war for attacking France and then Russia. The reason given was that Russia—with its lack of railroads— would have difficulty mobilizing its troops. Under the Schlieffen Plan, a large part of the German army would race west, to defeat France, and then return to fight Russia in the east.

Western Front Deadlock:    

Germany’s lightning-quick strike instead turned into a long and bloody stalemate, or deadlock, along the battlefields of France. This deadlocked region in northern France became known as the Western Front.

First Battle of the Marne:

It was perhaps the single most important event of the war. The defeat of the Germans left the Schlieffen Plan in ruins. A quick victory in the west no longer seemed possible. In the east, Russian forces had already invaded Germany. Germany was going to have to fight a long war on two fronts.

Trench Warfare:

By early 1915, opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire. This set the stage for what became known as trench warfare. In this type of warfare, soldiers fought each other from trenches.

New Tools:

New tools of war—machine guns, poison gas, armored tanks, larger artillery—had not delivered the fast-moving war they had expected. All this new technology did was kill huge numbers of people more effectively.

The slaughter reached a peak in 1916. In February, the Germans launched a massive attack against the French near Verdun.

Battle of Somme:

British forces attacked the Germans northwest of Verdun, in the valley of the Somme River.

War on Eastern Front:

This area was a stretch of battlefield along the German and Russian border. Here, Russians and Serbs battled Germans, Austrians, and Turks. The war in the east was a more mobile war than that in the west.

The Germans intensified the submarine warfare that had raged in the Atlantic Ocean since shortly after the war began. In January 1917, the Germans announced that their submarines would sink without warning any ship in the waters around Britain. This policy was called unrestricted submarine warfare.

US enters World War 1: Zimmerman Plan:

The British intercepted a telegram from Germany’s foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German ambassador in Mexico. The message said that Germany would help Mexico “reconquer” the land it had lost to the United States if Mexico would ally itself with Germany. The British decoded the message and gave it to the U.S. government. When the Zimmermann note was made public, Americans called for war against Germany.

The Zimmermann note simply proved to be the last straw. On April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war. The United States entered the war on the side of the Allies.

Allies Win the War:

With the United States finally in the war, the balance, it seemed, was about to tip in the Allies’ favor. Before that happened, however, events in Russia gave Germany a victory on the Eastern Front.

In November 1917, Communist leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin seized power. Lenin insisted on ending his country’s involvement in the war. One of his first acts was to offer Germany a truce. In March 1918, Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended the war between them.

The treaty was extremely hard on Russia. It required the Russian government to surrender lands to Germany that now include Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Even though the treaty became invalid after the war, these nations still gained their independence.

Allies defeat Germany at Second Battle of the Marne.

Treaty of Versailles:

League of Nation:

·        International peace organization;

·        Membership to include Allied war powers and 32 Allied and neutral nations

·        Germany and Russia excluded.

Territorial Losses:

·        Germany returns Alsace-Lorraine to France;

·        French border extended to the west bank of the Rhine River

·        Germany surrenders all of its overseas colonies in Africa and the Pacific.

Military Restrictions:

·        Limits set on the size of the German army

·        Germany prohibited from importing or manufacturing weapons or war materiel

·        Germany forbidden to build or buy submarines or have an air force

War Guilt:

·        Sole responsibility for the war placed on Germany’s Shoulders

·        Germany forced to pay the Allies $33 billion in reparations over 30 years

Drawing of Boundaries:

·        The Russian Empire, which had withdrawn from the war in 1917 after the October Revolution, lost much of its western frontier as the newly independent nationsof Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland were carved from it. Romania took control of Bessarabia in April 1918.

·        Austria-Hungary was partitioned into several successor states, including Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

·        Poland reemerged as an independent country, after more than a century.

·        Russia became the Soviet Union and lost Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, which became independent countries.

·        The Ottoman Empire was soon replaced by Turkey and several other countries in the Middle East.