WWI 1914-1918

I. The causes of WWI Nationalism -Balkans 2. Imperialism 3. Militarism 4. Alliance Structure A. Triple Alliance B. Triple Entente All of these are vocabulary words Nationalism- strong belief in superiority of your own nation- or wanting your own nation. -Balkan Peninsula- very tumultuous area of varying nationalities, religions and ethnicities. Very splintered area with high nationalism- all hated each other. Multiple wars in the Balkans Imperialism- taking of colonies- a lot of tension over colonies. Many nations upset at being left out of the choicest colonies Militarism- extreme pride in military glory. All nations start increasing funding for militaries. Willingness to use military to settle disputes Alliance structure- entangling alliances- all it take is one spark to start a slide to war. Main Pre-War Alliances: A. Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary & Italy- Italy will leave alliance in war B.. Triple Entente- Developed by the French- Loose Alliance- France, Russia & England- England is reluctant to join

A. The spark 1. Serbia & the Balkans -The Black Hand 2. Archduke Franz Ferdinand -Too Nice? 3. Sarajevo, Bosnia June 28,1914 -Gavrilo Princip 4. Austria-Hungary's Reaction -Wait -Check on German Alliance Serbia was landlocked after last Balkan War- To be a power needs access to the sea. Wanted Bosnia, which was then part of Austria-Hungary- which had access to the sea. -Black Hand- Pro-Serbian Terrorist group. Linked to military & gov’t. Performed sabotage & assassinations. Tasked with destabilizing Bosnia so Serbia could take it. Archduke- next in line to Austro-Hungarian Throne - Wanted to give Slavs, ethnicity in Bosnia, more rights & autonomy. This went against Serbian goal of destabilizing & taking Bosnia, so Serbia decided he needed to be killed. Where Archduke traveled to view the city & military maneuvers. He is assassinated in his car. - Gavrilo is the Serbian born assassin. Member of Black Hand- is a member of a group of people to try to kill him. Only gets shot because driver makes wrong turn. He is captured on the spot- dies in prison in 1916. 4. At first Austria does little. Obvious who the assassins were and who they were working for. If Austria-Hungary had declared war immediately- may have just had another Balkans War. Instead waits a month- decides it wants all of Serbia. Makes sure that the Germans will back them in a war. Serbia is also getting its alliances together- especially its one with Russia.

B. The chain reaction 1. July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia 2. Russia starts mobilizing- Germany asks them to stop 3. Germany declares war on Russia 4. Germany declares war on France- a main ally of Russia 5. August 3 Germany, following von Schlieffen Plan, invades Belgium 6. Britain declares war on Germany Who was to Blame for WWI? - Felt it must stand behind its ally, Austria Hungary Germany Russia Supported Slavic people & feared Austria-Hungary wanted to rule Slavic People Backed Russia. Felt it needed Russian support to defeat Germany France- Austria-Hungary: Blamed Serbia for terrorism. Wanted to crush Serbian Nationalism. Felt a duty to protect Belgium. Feared a powerful Germany across the English Channel. Britain: After an Ultimatum- Austria-Hungary declares War on Serbia and immediately invades. Serbia is a non-entity for most of the war Mobilizes-prepares for war. Russia knows it will take a long time to prepare for war, lack of industry. Russia does not declare war on Austria, but does pledge support for Serbia. Germany does not want Russia to mobilize because it can jeopardize them, so they ask Russia to stop. Russia continues. Germany declares war on Russia after they do not stop mobilizing. Germany knows if they allow Russia to mobilize and be ready for war then Germany could easily be defeated in a two-front war. Germany declares war on France- France was already preparing to declare war on them. This is due to the German plan to fight a two-front war. Germany declares war on Belgium & invades August 3. Needed to do this to get around French defensive positions. This breaks a treaty between Germany, Great Britain & Belgium Britain asks the Germans to leave Belgium, they do not, so Britain declares war on Germany.

II. Early War of Movement 1914 1. Von Schlieffen Plan 2. Success/Failure of Plan 3. Battle of Tannenberg 4. Battle of the Marne 5. Race to the Sea German Plan to win a two front war. Named for General who developed it in 1880s. Relied upon the Russians to take a long time to mobilize- Russian Economy was very backwards and it would take a long time to prepare- that is why the Germans declared war when the Russians started to mobilize. The plan was to concentrate most of the Army on the French- base the Army in the North & have it march along the coast- to stop British Reinforcement-and then march down on French. Keep all other areas lightly defended. After French defeated turn on Russians and defeat them. Plan was modified multiple times- many saw it as too risky and so some of the forces sent to beef up defenses. Early on, though, Germans very successful- they make huge advances and end up near Paris. In the east the Russians throw two semi-ready & armed armies at the Germans- scare the German commanders who pull some of the forces from the western front. Russian armies destroyed at Battle of Tannenberg, but the Germans have troops now stuck in the east. Marne River outside of Paris. There is a break between the two German wings marching towards Paris- also German soldiers are wearing out. French & British through everything they have at Germans and push them back. Both sides start building trenches- which eventually stretch from Switzerland to the North Sea.

III. Trench Warfare 1914-1918 1. Stalemate 2. Trench Life 3. Conditions 4. Violent Battles 5. Little Gains 6. No Man’s Land 7. Death at every turn For most of the war it will be stalemate- neither side can take any significant amount of land. Military technology at the time favor the defense. Trenches were 6-8 feet deep. Exposed to the elements. Very uncomfortable- but offered great defensive abilities. Cold & Wet, in summer Hot & Wet. Everything muddy. Could be in front line trench for 2-3 weeks. Battles could kill 100,000s men and wound even more. Artillery & machine guns would kill most. Battles could last months with constant attack & counter-attack. Advances were often measured in yards, and battles that lasted for months often only saw gains on 1-2 miles if anything at all. Area between the trenches. Both sides had snipers & observers looking into no mans land. If they saw anything it was fired upon. Land was scarred and churned up with lots of barbed wire. Millions of rats from the dead bodies. Stunk. Mud holes could swallow an entire unit. Death was very common- snipers, machine guns, poison gas, summary executions, artillery…

IV. The War at sea 1. Few Naval battles 2. British Blockade 3. U-Boats 4. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare 5. Lusitania Very Few actual naval battles- both sides afraid of risking their ships. Most Famous was Battle of Jutland- it ended in a Draw Blockade- use ships to stop supplies from entering an enemy nation. By rules of war- blockade only on military goods. British blockade everything- including food. British force ships trying to enter Germany to turn around and go to Britain. Blockade rules- you must stops & board ship. If you find contraband either inter ship or sink it after crew gets off. Germans do not have a strong surface fleet so cannot blockade Britain. Turns to submarine, U-boat, to blockade. Initially try to follow blockade rules- they stop ships and board them and then sink if there is contraband. This is very risky- submarines very small with small crew & easily sunk. British use Q-Ships- disguised warships to surprise & sink U-Boats. U-Boats also slow so some ships just try to outrun them. Sink ships on sight. Announce that any ships entering British waters will be sunk without warning. Starts in 1915 Try to target military & cargo ships. Very successful. But they sink many US ships and this makes America angry. Lusitania was a British passenger ship. Left New York, with a warning from the German embassy above. Was sunk by a U-Boat who misidentified her. Over 100 Americans died. Angers US- threatens war- Germany agrees to end Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.

V. The Eastern front 1914-1917 1. Germany/Austria-Hungary v Russia 2. Large Battles- a lot of movement 3. Czar Nicholas II 4. Lenin & Communist Revolution 5. US Intervention 1, Allies= Russia & Serbia- Serbia essentially out of war by 1916. Central Powers- Germany, main power, & Austria-Hungary. Not like Western Front, very little Trench Warfare. Offensives take lots of land. Many prisoners. Russia takes a lot of casualties. Czar=King, cousins with King of England, Kaiser in Germany & Queen of Greece. Tried to run Russia the best he could, but country was slowly falling apart- major revolutions in 1900, 1905 & 1910. He was popular with people, but they did not like his wife- she was German-born- or his chief advisor Rasputin. He let wife & Rasputin basically run nation from 1915. He tried to be military leader- very poor. Communist leader, he was in exile in Switzerland when WWI began. Germans put him on sealed train and smuggle him into Russia. He helps grow the communist party by playing up troubles of war. In 1917 Revolution is in full conflict. Communist take power and take Russia out of war. Treaty ends up giving the Germans a lot of land. Czar & family murdered. Communist Revolution lasts till 1920. Very violent. We do not Russia to be communist so we send troops to Russia to try to help White Russians- those who do not want Communism. We are forced to leave at end of Revolution. Our sending troops will make the Soviets very distrustful of us.

VII. Turning point: US Declares War 1917 1. U-Boats 2. Zimmermann Telegram 3. Saboteurs 4. Anti-German Press 5. Allied War Debt 6. Woodrow Wilson 7. April 6, 1917 8. Opposition to War In late 1916, early 1917- the Germans launch Unrestricted Submarine Warfare again- they realize if the War does not end soon then they will lose. They also do not like that we are supplying the British with a lot of supplies. Telegram sent by German Diplomat to Mexico. It states that if the US declares war on German, then Mexico is to declare war on the US. IF Germany wins then Mexico would receive back all of the land they lost in the Mexican-American War. This telegram is intercepted & decoded by the British and given to the US. Weapons factories & merchant ships in the US started having many acts of sabotage done to them, which we discover is the result of Germans. The Press starts writing more & more critical stories of them Germans. Focus on German Atrocities and other events. Like the Yellow Press. By 1917 French & British had gone deeply into debt to US. Both governments stated if they lost War they would not be able to pay off debts. President Wilson did not war- he had campaigned in 1916 that he had kept us out of war. But public opinion was turning against him. We declare war on this day, but the vote in Congress was not 100% Many in US did not want to fight this war- we saw it as struggle between European colonial powers who just wanted more power. Did not want to risk US lives for European power. Very big peace movement.

VI. Total war: Life on the Home front The Draft Taxes & Debt Rationing Using the Press: Propaganda Women in the workforce Entire nation is mobilized for war. All of nations resources are for war Nations started drafting men into the military- not voluntary- must serve if number is called Governments needed to raise massive amounts of money to fight- taxes. Also sold Bonds- which are loans to the government. Many workers bought these since there was little to buy. Government agreed to pay them off in a certain time frame. Rationing- limiting what civilians could have. Limit amount of food and other resources so it could be saved for the War. No extras Press-use them to spread propaganda- emphasize successes and limit losses. Spread bad stories about enemy. Also, all dissenting voices are strictly controlled and censured. Limited freedom of speech Women were heavily recruited to replace men in factories and in other civilian jobs so that men could be sent to the front.

The Armenian genocide Armenians & the Ottoman Empire World War I troubles The Genocide The Debate The Armenians were an ethnic/religious minority in the Ottoman Empire. Armenians=Slavic & Orthodox Catholic. Ottomans- Arab/Turkish & Muslim. Armenians were located on Russian border Ottoman Empire & Russia are enemies in WWI. Russia will push into the northern part of the Ottoman Empire, an area that also contains Armenia. Armenians are split over who they should support- some continue to fight for the Ottomans others fight for the Russians. The Ottomans will see all Armenians as enemies who needed to be eliminated Starting in 1915 through 1918 & again in 1920-1923 the Ottomans start deporting the Armenians from their homelands- goal was to make area free from Armenians and replace them with Turks. Armenians were then marched into desert areas or concentration camps and left to starve to death, were killed on the march by soldiers, or tortured. 2 million deported or displaced, with about half being killed. To this day Turkey fails to see this as a genocide, while the UN and others classify it as one. The number displaced & killed is also up for much debate.

End of War 1. 11:00am November 11, 1918 2. Treaty of Versailles 3. Very Harsh, Punish Germans 4. League of Nations? 5. Europe in Shambles Armistice, cease fire, signed two days before. So both sides knew when war was to end. In British & French sectors, quiet nobody wanted to die for a war about to finish. In US sectors there are offensives up to last minute. Last US Soldier killed at 10:59. Most US Generals do not want war to end- not in Germany yet, but French & British worn out. Signed in 1919- Germans not allowed to negotiate on Treaty. Told they would have to wait till treaty is worked out and then given to them to sign. In meantime British Blockade still on- thousands in Germany starving to death per week. Also Germany is occupied by Allies. Forced to sign Treaty Germany loses all colonies. Loses land in Europe. Army is only allowed to be 100,000 men. Small navy. No planes, submarines or artillery. Also had to take entire blame for the war. Also had to pay off the entire war debt of the French & British in trillions in today's money. 4. Wilson fought to get the League of Nations, a group that was to settle differences between nations peacefully- like a UN. The US ended up not ratifying the Treaty because of the inclusion of the League of Nations- so we never joined. 5. French countryside destroyed. Generation of men very much changed. Economies wrecked. Massive debt. Specter of communism spreading all over Europe. Dictatorships start popping up. Second World War basically a given.