The First World War

What? World War I was a war fought by a lot of countries, which is why it is called a "world" war. Other names it has been called are The Great War and The War to End all Wars. 135 countries took part in World War I, and more than 15 million deaths happened during this time. World War I was the first war where tanks, Airplanes, and submarines, or underwater boats (U-boats) were used as common weapons.

Who? Central Powers: Allies: Russia France Great Britain Italy Japan United States (1917) Germany Austria-Hungary Turkey Bulgaria Allies are friends, those who join or unite in agreement and help or support each other.

WWI started in 1914 and it ended in 1918. When? WWI started in 1914 and it ended in 1918. The war was ended by the signing of many different treaties, the most important being the Treaty of Versailles.

The First World War: Where?

SOME INTERESTING FACTS… In 1916 in the Italian Alps a winter avalanche killed 10,000 men. In four years of conflict on the Italian Alpine Front 50,000 soldiers killed by avalances. During World War One, 230 soldiers died for each hour of the four and a quarter years it continued. WWI FIRSTS… First war to be fought on 3 continents. First use of chlorine & mustard gas. First use of the flame thrower. First tank battle. First use of mass airplanes. First use of x-ray in the military. First use of a blood bank. First use of guide dogs by blinded soldiers. First use of trillion in estimating war costs. It is estimated that over 800,000 horses were killed in the line of duty with the British Forces on the Belgium Front. In Great Britian at the end of the war there were 250,000 wounded soldiers who suffered total or partial amputation.

WORDS YOU NEED TO KNOW… Glossary Alliances Agreements or promises to defend and help another country. Imperialism Trying to build up an empire. Empire Where a powerful country controls several less powerful countries. Militarism Building up armed forces and getting ready for war. Nationalism Having pride in your country and being ready to defend it.

The main causes of the war will be discussed in this section. The First World War: Why? The first world war began in August 1914. It was directly triggered by the assassination of the Austrian archduke, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, on 28th June 1914 by Bosnian revolutionary, Gavrilo Princip. This event was, however, simply the trigger that set off declarations of war. The actual causes of the war are more complicated and are still debated by historians today. The main causes of the war will be discussed in this section. Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his Wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg one hour before their deaths, June 28, 1914

CAUSES There are many different reasons why WWI broke out in 1914. There were long term causes and short term causes. We have already had a look at the trigger cause that acted to spark the outbreak of the war. We will look into this in more detail later, first we will look at the long term causes of WWI.

A RACE FOR COLONIES - IMPERIALISM LONG TERM CAUSE 1 A RACE FOR COLONIES - IMPERIALISM Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa. With the rise of industrialism countries needed new markets. The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany who had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only had small areas of Africa. This made the Germans Jealous and they wanted to have a bigger empire.

A RACE TO BE THE BIGGEST AND BEST - NATIONALISM LONG TERM CAUSE 2 A RACE TO BE THE BIGGEST AND BEST - NATIONALISM Nationalism means being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one's own country. The European countries were competing to be the best, the richest, the most powerful and the strongest nations – they were prepared to go to war to show their power. The British in particular were proud of their power. Britain became very rich through manufacturing, but Germany had begun to catch up and was producing iron, steel, coal and cars. By the beginning of the 20th Century, Britain no longer had the economic lead in Europe.

A RACE TO BE THE BIGGEST AND BEST - MILITARISM LONG TERM CAUSE 3 A RACE TO BE THE BIGGEST AND BEST - MILITARISM Militarism means that the army and military forces are given a high profile by the government. The growing European divide had led to an arms race between the main countries. The armies of both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas.

LONG TERM CAUSE 4 A RACE TO RULE THE SEAS The main enemies and rivals in Europe were Britain and Germany. They bath wanted to build and keep big empires and to do this they needed big navies. Britain has the strongest navy in the world. It used the navy to protect its coastline, its large overseas empire and its trade routes across the world. The German Kaiser vowed he would build a great navy to challenge Britain's. The British Then introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in 1906. The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships and U-Boats. This was called a “Naval Race” with both sides trying to outbuild each other.