World War I ‘The War to End All Wars’

Goal = Understand Causes MILITARIZATION – with Imperialism & Nationalism thrown in for fun ! In 1914, their armed forces stood like this: Germany: 2,200,000 soldiers, 97 warships Austria-Hungary: 810,000 soldiers, 28 warships. Italy: 750,000 soldiers, 36 warships France: 1,125,000 soldiers, 62 warships Russia: 1,200,000 soldiers, 30 warships Great Britain: 711,000 soldiers, 185 warships

ALLIANCES

ART AS HISTORY Cartoons Are Instructive

ONE SPARK STARTS IT ALL Take one Archduke – heir to the throne of the Austrian- Hungarian Empire – Franz Ferdinand.

... Add One Anarchist The ‘Black Hand’ Gavrilo Princip

... & a few bullets...

And the forces of war begin. Austria-Hungary's reaction to the death of their heir (who was in any case not greatly beloved by the Emperor, Franz Josef, or his government) was three weeks in coming. Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand (whether she was or not remains unclear, but it appears unlikely), the Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans. It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia which, in the extent of its demand that the assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty. Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was moved to comment that he had "never before seen one State address to another independent State a document of so formidable a character." Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia.

The Body Count Russia 1,700,000 dead & 2,500,000 ‘missing’; Germany 1,773,700 dead & 1,152,800 ‘missing’; Great Britain 908,371 dead & 191,652 ‘missing; France 1,375,800 dead & 537,000 ‘missing’; Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 dead & 2,200,000 ‘missing’; Italy 650,000 dead & 600,000 ‘missing’; USA 126,000 dead & 4,526 ‘missing’; Turkey 325,000 dead & 250,000 ‘missing’; Bulgaria 87,500 dead & 27,029 ‘missing’; Japan dead & 3 ‘missing’; Romania 335,706 dead & 80,000 ‘missing’; Serbia 45,000 dead & 152,958 ‘missing’; Belgium 13,716 dead & 34,659 ‘missing’; Greece 5,000 dead & 1,000 ‘missing’; Portugal 7,222 dead & 12,318 ‘missing’; Montenegro 3,000 dead & 7,000 ‘missing’. PLUS – over 42,678,000 wounded...with new injuries !

What Type of Injuries? #1 Shrapnel from Bombs– 60% of casualties were results of artillery fire. Those that survived generally kept pieces of metal from a shelling. Both sides escalated sizes of warheads & guns.

#2 Bullets – 35 % of casualties were results of firearms...primarily the machine gun.

#3 Gas – 185,000 cases recorded. No reports of long term effects from exposure and/or ‘missing’ after chemical attack.

German U-Boat Attacks Alienate the USA

US Congressional Declaration of War – April 2, 1917

War Declared by the Central Powers & Observer

March, 1918 – Treaty of Brest – Litovsk – Russia out of WWI

Da Players

The Carving Up of Germany

The Carving Up of the Austrian- Hungarian Empire

Ottoman Empire Carved Up

14 Points & a League of Nations