1. The War to End All Wars Write down anything that’s underlined
World War One
The War to End All Wars
Write down anything that’s underlined

2. “The First World War was a tragic and unnecessary conflict.”
The War to End All Wars
“The First World War was a tragic and unnecessary conflict.”
Unnecessary because it could have been avoided
The war was tragic because it ended the lives of millions of people
Largest German military cemetery; 40, 000 men

3. Cause and Effect
History is often a story of cause and effect – events trigger other events and then things happen!
WWI is a perfect example: July 1914, very few saw this war coming
Lurking in the background, powerful forces were bringing Europe towards the greatest bloodbath the world had ever seen

4. The M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI
By the early 1900’s the great powers of Europe were on a collision course
Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia were in a race to become more powerful

5. Militarism Alliances Imperialism Nationalism M.A.I.N.
The Bomb of Europe!
The four M.A.I.N. causes of World War One were:
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
M.A.I.N.

6. Imperialism
One way European powers tried to become stronger was by building Empires
This meant they had control over colonies outside Europe around the world
Colonies supplied cheap raw materials like minerals and lumber for factories in the homeland
Also provided a place to sell finished goods

8. A World of Empires, 1914

9. Empires of the World, 1914

10. Imperialism
This ideology says that it’s natural for one country to dominate another using military force and make them part of a larger empire
Britain and France already had large Empires in Africa and Asia
Germany was the newcomer to the game and felt she was being denied her proper place and should get more

11. Europe 1914

13. Asia, 1914

14. Imperialism and Conflict
Countries like France and Britain made lots of money from their empires so they were not willing to ‘make room’ for Germany
Protecting imperial interests led to building larger armies and navies and created a lot of tension in Europe

15. Alliances European powers feared attack from their rivals in Europe
To protect themselves they formed military alliances – agreements to cooperate
Britain, France and Russia were allies in the Triple Entente
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple Alliance
Members of both alliances agreed that an attack on one ally would be treated as an attack on them all!

16. 1914, Russian poster that reads “agreement”
Britain (left) and France (right) look to Mother Russia to lead them in the coming war

17. European Alliances, 1914
Triple Alliance – Red
Triple Entente – Grey

18. Militarism
Militarism is when the military is seen as a very important part of a country’s strength
It’s also a belief that using your military is a good thing to do
Because the European powers feared attack from their neighbours they began to strengthen their militaries

19. Militarism and the Arms Race
Believing strong militaries was important led to an arms race in Europe
After Britain built the HMS Dreadnaught the Germans began building their own massive battleships – the Bismark
All European countries had forced military service creating huge standing armies ready to fight
By 1914, Europe was armed to the teeth with the largest military force the world had ever seen

20. HMS Dreadnaught

21. Nationalism
Belief that your country is superior to all others and that you must be 100% loyal at all times
Fighting to defend your nation was a noble thing
This gave people a sense of national pride

22. Nationalism on a Smaller Scale
Smaller countries like Serbia also felt a strong sense of nationalism
They wanted to be left alone by Austria-Hungary
This geographic region, called the Balkans had seen years of conflict before 1914 (WWI)
Russia wanted to protect Serbia from Austria-Hungary in the same way a big brother wants to protect his little brother

23. Serbia feeling the squeeze!

24. The Spark
June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife were shot and killed while visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina was part of Austria-Hungary but neighbouring Serbia wanted to take it over

25. Brotherly Love
Many Serbian nationalists – people who felt strongly about their homeland – believed they shared strong religious, cultural and ethnic ties with the people of Russia
The assassin who killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife belonged to the Serbian nationalist group, The Black Hand
Austria-Hungary used the assassination as an excuse to invade Serbia

26. The Dominoes Begin to Fall…
When Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia
Russia honoured an agreement with Serbia and came to their defense
Germany then backed its ally, Austria-Hungary
While Britain and France backed their ally, Russia
Just over a month after the assassination all of Europe was at war