Things Fall Apart and then Turn to Mud

Austrian Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on June 28 1914. They were assassinated five minutes later.

Things Fall Apart and then Turn to Mud

The Unsinkable Titanic (1912)Symbol of European and British over confidence. Naval power, technology, and class distinctions. Its sinking seen as passing of an era.

Departing Southampton on April 10, 1912

Tense atmosphere of militarism, racism, and competition of markets. War as diversion to internal issues.

British Empire: Protect interests, including Mediterranean. Internal issues of suffragettes, Irish, working-class.

Russia Empire: Pan-Slavism, rapid industrialization, revolution.Defeat in Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 sparked Revolution of 1905, Nicholas II (r. 1894-1917) and Duma (“constitutional autocracy”)

Austro-Hungarian Empire: Ethnic unrest. Emperor Francis Joseph (r. 1848-1916) ruled over Dual Monarchy (1867). 7 millionSouthern Slavs in Austria.

German Empire: Kaiser William II (r. 1888-1818) aggressiveImperialist policy, “new course” leads to Naval Race, especially with Britain

All but British Empire will collapse, but Britain loses colonial holdings.

The Balkans, c. 1878

Dismemberment of the “sick man”

1875 Slavs revolt against Turks in Bosnia

1876 Bulgaria created

Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78.

Serbs want more.

The Balkans, 1908–1914

On eve of The Great Warcombination of nationalism, imperialism, militarism,and racism with theBalkans as hot spot.

The “Trigger Event”• June 28, 1914: Archduke Francis Ferdinand

assassinated in Sarajevo by Black Hand Serbian nationalist

• Why did an incident in the Balkans lead to international war?

• Local confrontation at most? An age of terrorist acts and assassinations, so what’s the big deal with the archduke?

Europe at the Outbreak of World War I (August 1914)

Alliances: Turn local warinto European war

Domino effect of alliances from July 24-25 through August 4. Bring in European powers.

Imperialism turns European war into world war

The family tree of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)German 1st language, family German. Husband Albrecht von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha. King George V changed name during WWI to “House of Windsor.” Grandmother of Kaiser William II. King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Empress Alexandra all first cousins via Queen Victoria.

George V (right) with first cousin Nicholas II, Berlin, 1913.

Nicholas II (right) and Wilhelm II (1905). Nicholas in a German Army uniform, Wilhelm in a Russian Army tunic

Historiography and Origins of WWI• Question of “responsibility” dominated initial

historiographical discussion, also question of how great a divide or gap between pre and post war Europe (Change or Continuity!).

• Adam R. Seipp, Review Article: “Beyond the ‘Seminal Catastrophe’: Re-imagining the First World War” in Journal of Contemporary History (Vol. 41, 2006). Cautions against presentism, also Heather Jones does too! Beware of pitfalls of politicalization of history.

Initially after WWI (1920s and 1930s)Question of blame or responsibility addressed: • German Empire: Article 231 of Versailles Treaty of June 1919:

“Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to the Allied governments and their nationals imposed on them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

• “War Guilt” assigned to Germany, strong sense of revenge, and Kaiser William II targeted as individual responsible for war. In France, enormous 11 volume work, published between 1922 to 1938 (Les Armees Francaises dans la Grande Guerre) placed blame on Germany.

• Bitterness marks this period and reflected in writings.

Who to Blame? (1920s and 1930s)• “Old” diplomacy to blame? Secret war aims and secret

alliances? Wilson’s stress on LON 14 points: “Open covenants of peace openly arrived at . . . diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.”

• Political elites to blame—internationalism becomes a big movement (LON falters but idea resurrected under UN). Germany not solely to blame, all share a degree of responsibility.

• Stress on political actors and political history (Generals and Diplomats)

WWII and the roots of Nazism• Rise of Nazism and WWII enforced the notion

of Prussian militarism and nationalism, and tendency to connect WWI to WWII.

• Post-WWII and Germans still blamed: Fritz Fischer’s Griff nach der Weltmacht, translated as Germany’s Aims in the First World War (1961): “the Fischer thesis”

• But was Germany that different?

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Cold War: Generational Revolt• Nuclear age and fear of global atomic devastation • WWI as something out of control and contingency

stressed. Vietnam War raised issues of economic interests, political elites, and pressure groups

• Rise of social history challenges political history. Soldiers and home front.

Paul Fussell (1924-2012), The Great War and Modern Memory (1975)

Dedication: “To the Memory of Technical Sergeant Edward Keith Hudson, ASN36548772 Co. F, 410th InfantryKilled beside me in FranceMarch 15, 1945

Literary analysis and memoryForerunner of cultural history

After September 11, 2001“Ironically, this is a return to what may be the simplest and most transparent of explanations: a terrorist attack carried out by a small cohort of true believers, possibly with the support of a state actor, followed by a series of conscious decisions by small groups of elites to use the opportunity to resolve existing geopolitical tensions.” (Seipp,758). Going to war is a decision made. Who makes it and why is key.

5 Key Questions Posed• Heather Jones, “As the Centenary Approaches: The

Regeneration of First World War Historiography” in The Historical Journal, Vol 56 (2013)

• Why did war break out?• Why did the allies win?• Were the generals to blame for the high casualty

rates (especially Haig!)? • How did men endure trench warfare?• To what extent did civilian society accept and endorse

the war effort? The rehabilitation of Field Marshal Douglas Haig?The “learning curve” of the Battle of the Somme?

Why did war break out?• Causes of World War I: James Joll in The Origins of

the First World War stated that the “immediate origins of the war are better documented than almost any other question in recent history.” (p1)

• Any yet, still no consensus over why it broke out• Recent historiography: Renewed emphasis on July

Crisis (short-term decision making) and “de-bunking” of the inevitability of war.

• Renewed emphasis on the political (collapse of USSR) and more conservative views.

What state most responsible? Why?

• Serbia? (corner 1)• Germany? (corner 2)• Austro-Hungary? (corner 3)• Russia? (corner 4)What does Brose argue? What does Jones argue? Do you agree or disagree and why?

Not a “who done it?”• Christopher Clark, The sleepwalkers: how Europe went to war in 1914 (2012) (but

Balkan and Serbian focus)

“No innocents”• John Morrow, The Great War. An Imperial

History (2004): “There were no innocents in power in Europe, only civilian and military leaders culpable and complicitous in causing the war. Prior to August 1914, Europeans had presumed to control the world; they were now to learn that they could not control themselves.” (Seipp, 760).

Was war avoidable? Why or why not?

• Corner 1: Yes• Corner 2: No• What does Jones argue? Brose?

Why 1914?What makes summer of 1914 so special? • David Fromkin, Europe’s Last Summer. Why the World

Went to War in 1914 (2004): “The public played no role in war and peace decisions; decisions that they did not even know were being made behind closed doors . . . The several dozen leaders who did discuss and decide these matters lived in a world of their own, and it was a world in which war and warriors were glorified.” (Fromkin in Seipp, 761).

• Fromkin: Two wars being fought in 1914; a local war in the Balkans, and a world war begun by Germany against France and Russia. The two wars became intertwined.

Why war in August 1914?• Role of contingency in history (ifs abound) and also

significance of personalities. Context of MAIN made war likely but not inevitable, decisions to go to war made by political and military leaders who deemed it acceptable, even desirable. “Culture of war” (Brose, 40) made going to war look viable. Political leaders set the terms and made the decision to mobilize.

• In July 1914, Williamson & Van Wyk: “ Individuals, not monolithic governments and impersonal forces . . . contributed to the rapidly escalating crisis.” (vii)

Photograph taken at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910: seated, left to right, kings Alfonso XIII of Spain, George V of the United Kingdom & Frederick VIII of Denmark; standing, left to right: kings Haakon VII of Norway, Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Manuel II of Portugal, George I of Greece and Albert I of Belgium. Kaiser Wilhelm is seen at center, standing behind King George V. Men in uniform!

Lessons to be learnedUltimate decision for any state is the decision to go to war and individuals make this decision1) In a crisis, state must be sure it understands the risks of

proposed actions by its ally (and itself) and look at all options. An ally can be as dangerous as an enemy!

2) Statesmen often rely on assumptions based on past experiences and think that risks are properly understood (e.g. Moroccan Crisis)

3) Governments and civilians militarized 4) After duration of peace, costs of war forgotten 5) Civilian-Military nexus during war strained, respect essential

(how to say no to a general)

How the war proceeds: The Big Picture

Stuart Robson’s Distinct Periods of WWI by Year:1914. War of Movement initially but bogs down in west into positional war while

remaining more open in east; at home, “business as usual”

1915. Badly planned offensive disasters in west and trench warfare; German successes against Russia; at home, state-controlled war economy emerges

1916. The “classic” phase of the war—disasters and death abound. War of attrition on land and sea; at home, total war footing

1917. Despair on battlefield. Despair or grim determination at home. Russia collapses into revolution. When will this bloody war ever end?

1918. Movement returns to battlefield; home fronts close to or past tipping point. And then it’s over

Broad Timeline for 1914 • June 28 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and wife, Sophie• July 5-6 Austria-Hungary receives “blank check” from Germany • July 23 Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia• July 24 Partial mobilization of Austro-Hungarian army• July 25 Serbia orders mobilization• July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia• July 29 Austria-Hungary invades Serbia • July 29 Germany attempts to win British neutrality• July 30 Mobilization of Russian army, Britain rebuffs German overtures on

neutrality• August 1 Mobilization of French and German armies, Germany declares war on Russia• August 2 German trade unions agree to support war• August 3 Germany invades Belgium, Germany declares war on France• August 4 German invasion of neutral Belgium; Britain enters the war against Germany• August 6 Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia

Broad Timeline for 1914 (con.)• August 17-19 Russia invades East Prussia• August 20-23 Battle of the Frontiers• August 23-Sept. 2 Austria-Hungary invades Galicia• August 26-31 Battle of Tannenberg (East Prussia)• September 5-10 Battle of the Marne• September 9-14 First Battle of the Masurian Lakes• September 15-November 24 “race to the sea” on western front (Aise,

Verdun, and St.-Mihiel; the First Battle of Ypres and of Champagne)

• September 17-28 Austro-German offensive in western Poland• October 29 Turkey joins Central Powers• November 1 Russia declares war on Turkey• December 21 First German air raids on Britain• December 25 “Truce”

Self-Mobilization of Public?

• Traditional view: Domestic consensus; public mobilized and enthusiastic.

• Seipp: “The events of 1914-1918, across the global stage, were not a series of errors and mishaps. They were the outcomes, however unintended, of deliberate policies followed by military and civilian planners and generally backed by strong grassroots enthusiasm among combatant populations.” (Seipp, 765). Populations felt betrayed, conned after the war by the elites but behind war when it was going on.

• Jones on this?

Public enthusiasm for war more myth than reality?

New York City’s anti-war protest organized by women, on August 29, 1914.

The Beginning of War: The “spirit of 1914”

• Also a great deal of panic, anxiety, stoicism, and tears.

• Creation of idealized, patriotic soldier and public managed for political, national purposes?

• Brose points to specific demonstrations and actions in east that were pointedly unsupportive of war. Countryside and imperial dominions less enthusiastic.

• Russia and mobilization?

It’s complicated?

And so it begins: Invasion of Belgium

German soldiers in a railway goods wagon on the way to the front in 1914

The Western Front

1914: Battle of the Frontiers

• Schlieffen-Moltke Plan: Some 1.5 million Germans cross western frontier in 1st days of war, fortress of Liège in Belgium only major obstacle (besides physical ability to march only 20 to 25 miles a day).

• Belgium atrocities: In Dinant 612 citizens shot in main square. Refugees. Allies play up Belgium as violated maiden in propaganda. Germany a “steamroller”

For French: A disaster for élanInfantry in bright red trousers and blue jackets, officers in full dress uniforms. Brose: “French planning could not have been more favorable to the Germans if they had themselves drawn up

enemy operations.” (p. 53)

BEF (British Expeditionary Force) “junior partner” of French Fought like lions, led by donkeys? A volunteer army. August-December 1914, 1 million British men volunteer for army. In 1915, more that 1.4 million new volunteers join recruitment lists In 1915, total of 2.4 million Brits, almost 30% of men in eligible age bracket volunteered. British Army: 90% urban, rest of armies predominately peasants (“poet’s war”)

“Pals’ Battalions”

The 10th Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers, known as the 'Stockbrokers' Battalion', smiling as they march to the trenches.

War as Sport

Men of 4th/Royal Fusiliers, 9th Brigade, resting before the Battle of Mons, 22 August 1914

British and Belgium soldiers retreating from the Battle of Mons, began on August 23, 1914. The first major engagement between British & German forces.

On 23 August 1914, the 2nd Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders joined the British Expeditionary Force at Boulogne.

On Western FrontBy early Sept. 1914, Germans 40 miles from Paris at Marne River. 600 taxis and public buses used to shuttle 3,000 reserves up to front from Paris. Proximity of the two fronts. Two completely different worlds so close together? Speed a constant for both sides for getting to front (trains and railroad lines).

Taxi de la Marne: fleet of Paris taxis requisitioned by the French Army to transport troops from Paris to the First Battle of the Marne in early September 1914.

London buses at Ypres in 1914

Wrecked bus at St Eloi in France, two weeks after leaving Willesden Garage in 1914

Old Bill

London bus, nicknamed ‘Old Bill’ at the Imperial War Museum. Used on the Western Front throughout the war

Why tanks begin to look like a better idea?

The Western Front

The Fronts of World War I, 1914–1918