The World at War “The lights are going out all over Europe: we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” Sir Edward Grey English Foreign secretary Monday, March 8, 1914 (4 months prior to outbreak of WWI)

“The Great War” Begins (RCQs. Day 2 #10)  Austria: must subdue Serbian separatism – July 23, 1914: 10-pt. Ultimatum to Serbia  Austria receives “blank check” from Germany July 25: William II & Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg – Mobilization begins – War is declared Austria vs Serbia, July 28; vs. Russia, July 30 Russia & France mobilized – Germany declares war vs. Russia, Aug 1 / vs. Belgium, Aug 3  Germany’s Von Schlieffen Plan: Germany invades Belgium & violates Belgian Neutrality treaty of 1839 – France declares war, Aug 4 2-front: knock out France through Belgium, then on to Russia – trains troops for two fronts – Result Great Britain declares war on Germany, Aug 4 Aug 23 Japan (GB ally) declares war on Germany  (RCQs. Day 3 #1 & 2) – Click for Schlieffen Plan Map

Technology and Warfare The Great Arms Race !!!! (RCQs. Day 3 #3 (last question)  Weapons were ahead of tactics – Machine guns – Barbed wire – Trench warfare – Hand Grenades – Heavy artillery – Tanks (Somme) – Gas Warfare – mustard and nerve gas (see. CfL, 66-67) British munitions plant

Trench Warfare on the Western Front

Machine Guns and Grenade Launchers

Trench Warfare (show scene 3 of Joyeux Noel)

Western Front: focused in France ( RCQs. Day 3 #3) Battle of the Marne: September 6-10, 1914 – GB & Fr halt German advance on Paris, spoil Schlieffen Plan First Battle of Ypres : Oct. 14, Trench Warfare / Second Battle of Ypres: April 22, first use of poison gas (RCQs. Day 3 # 8) Battle of the Somme, 1916 : Allied offensive 8 miles gained ½ men die per inch; “I am staring at a sunlit picture of hell” Siegfried Sassoon Battle of Verdun, 1916 : German offensive Third Battle of Ypres ( Passchendaele): July stalemate continues – in water! Second Battle of the Marne : March-August, 1918 – last decisive round of battles (w/ involvement of USA)

Third Battle of Ypres: Passchendaele

 Almost exclusively fought in the trenches  Very little movement or capturing of enemy territory Western Front

The War in the Air German Aircraft US 94th

The War at Sea  Heavy battleships – “Dreadnought” – Competition with these ships began in the 1890s – Each nation built heavier and larger ships  Submarines – Germans = unlimited use – sparks US conflict

Eastern Front Eastern Front & Beyond: (RCQs. Day 3 #4, - 7) Battle of Tannenburg – Aug. 30, 1914 (Gens. Hindenburg & Ludendorff) Battle of Masurian Lakes – Sept. 9, 1914 Italy 1915 – abandons Germany & joins Allies by declaring war on Austria-Hungary Gallipoli – British & Australians vs. Turks – April 1915 Ottoman Empire: Lawrence of Arabia—in 1917 British Col. T.E. Lawrence encourages Arabic revolts against Ottomans

Sinking of the Lusitania (RCQs. Day 3 #9) Germany sinks Lusitania – May 7, civilians, including 128 U.S. citizens killed Great Britain and USA force Germany to adopt limited use of submarines Jan Germany returns to unrestricted use of subs – by April 1917 USA enters WWI!

The United States Weighs In  Jan. 1917: Wilson pushes for “peace without victory”  America not involved directly until April 6, 1917  (RCQs. Day 3 #10)  Major incidents: – Zimmerman Tele. 2/17: Germans use US telegraph lines to tell Mexico they’ll help regain territories – Naval blockade Jan 1917 resume unrestricted sub warfare (against non- military vessels)

The Final Year(s) of the Great War 1917…little hope… BUT… 1917…Russian Revolution begins 1918…Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (btw. Germany and Russia) Germany can move West! 1918…US offensive – 2 nd Battle of the Marne Aug 8, 1918 German General Lundendorff admits defeat October 6, 1918 German gov’t. requests armistice talks

Germany defeated…  Germany’s defeat – yes…Sept – Arguments over armistice --- soldiers revolt, est. revolutionary councils (“soviets”) – Wilhelm abdicates – flees to Holland  Nov. 11, 1918: Friedrich Ebert declares German Republic and armistice Kaiser Wilhelm II Abdicates 11/9/18

 Victors – Great Britain – France – United States – Italy – Belgium – Portugal Difficulty in Making Peace  Directly Defeated – Germany – Austria-Hungary – Ottoman Empire – Bulgaria  Indirectly Defeated – Russia

Major Personalities Georges Clemenceau “The Tiger” Woodrow Wilson David Lloyd George “squeeze the orange until the pips squeak” Italy: Vittorio Orlando

Versailles: a difficult peace  January 1919 – Paris – US, France, Great Britain, (Italy) +23 others – No Germany or Russia  The fight begins: – France: desire to punish Germany Demilitarized Rhineland as buffer state – Woodrow Wilson: desire for “Peace without Victors” League of Nations (Jan 25, 1919); “open covenants of peace”, reduction of armaments; self-determination – GB: prevent France’s “buffer state”; make Germans pay $$  In the End – 5 sep. treaties w/ G, Au, Hu, Bu & OE

Results  Results: Germany is blamed for the war (Article 231 War Guilt Clause) – Army can be no bigger than 100,000 – Reparations: for causing war - 32 billion dollars – Navy to be no larger than 24 ships – no subs – No new developments in air force – Demilitarize the Rhine area (but not a buffer state) – Lost 27,500 square miles of land League of Nations (Alsace Lorraine, part of Prussia)  New nations—imperialism continues – Austria/Hungary: Austria / Hungary / Czechoslovakia / Romania / Poland / Yugoslavia – “Polish Corridor” to Baltic – France: Lebanon / Syria – GB: Iraq / Palestine (w/Jewish Nat'l. home) – Japan: Germany’s holdings in China

Mandate: Countries would administer a territory on behalf of the League of Nations. But what about self-determination?

Results  The beginning of the end of 19 th century imperialism…  Total number dead - over 9 million – France 1,500,000Britain 1,000,000 – Italy 500,000US 116,708 – Russia 1,700,000Germany 2,000,000 – Austria 1,250,000  A peace…made in quicksand (see Treaty of Versailles, pg of APEH Book 2 workbook)