1914-1919The 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 secretaryMonday, 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, 1914 - Trench Warfare / Second Battle of Ypres: April 22, 1915 - first use of poison gas

(RCQs. Day 3 # 8)

Battle of the Somme, 1916: Allied offensive

8 miles gained --- 2 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 1917---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 - 1916

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 FrontEastern 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, 1915 - 198 civilians, including 128 U.S. citizens killed

Great Britain and USA force Germany to adopt limited use of submarines

Jan. 1917 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 – 2nd 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. 1918– 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 IIAbdicates 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 19th century imperialism…

Total number dead - over 9 million – France 1,500,000 Britain 1,000,000– Italy 500,000 US 116,708– Russia 1,700,000 Germany 2,000,000– Austria 1,250,000

A peace…made in quicksand (see Treaty of Versailles, pg. 90-91 of APEH Book 2 workbook)