Don’t Judge.

UNIT III: LESSON #3

THE CHAIN REACTION

“It’s only a model.”

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

II. Sleepwalking to War: The Summer of 1914.A. People love conspiracy, but none has ever been proven.B. This time things went wrong. Statesmen became prisoners of

their own weapons.C. 23 July, 1914: Austria-Hungary delivers the list of demands to

Serbia1. 25 July Serbia accepts 9 out of 10 terms.2. 28 July A-H declares war on Serbia.3. 28 July Czar Nicholas II signs a partial mobilization order that

takes place on August 4.4. Austria-Hungary seeks and gets assurance that Germany has

their back and not to worry about Russia.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

II. Sleepwalking to War: The Summer of 1914.D. Russia steps in and promises Serbia that it has their back and won’t let anything happen to them.E. 30 July they move to a general mobilization.F. At this point Austria and Russia see this only as bluffing and Serbia as life or death.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

III. The Fatal Flaw.A. The common strategy has always been to

mobilize first and attack first. B. On the German General Staff, the catch phrase

was “mobilization equals war!”C. All other countries could mobilize and back

down but not Germany.D. On 31 July the Kaiser asked his staff, “Is the

Fatherland in danger?” they answered, “Ja.”

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

III. The Fatal Flaw.D. 1 August: The Germans send an ultimatum to Russia to stand down within the next 12 hours. The Russians ignore it. 5pm equals full mobilization.E. At 7:10 PM The Germans declare war on Russia.F. 2 August Germany demands open passage through Belgium, which has claimed neutrality and asked England to save them.G. 3 August: The French refuse to stand by and so the Germans declare war on them. They also sign an alliance with the Ottoman Turks.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

III. The Fatal Flaw.H. The German move through Luxembourg and into Belgium. England demands they remove themselves.I. 4 August: At 11pm in the evening, England declares war on Germany and sends it battle fleets to sea.J. The United States formally declares neutrality.K. 5 August: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia at noon.L. 6 August: Serbia declares war on Germany.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

IV. Unleashing the Dogs of War.A. Only a few generals had ever heard a shot fired in

anger.B. The war of swift decisive movement only lasted for

a few months during 1914. It was followed by years of deadlock.

C. Everyone thought the first battle would be decisive. It was. It meant that the war would go on indefinitely.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

IV. Unleashing the Dogs of War.D. The Germans executed the Von Schlieffen Plan like clock work, wheeling to the west and then south toward Paris.E. England built up its force (The BEF) and sent it to France. It fell into the line of retreating French and plugged some gaps.F. France bashed itself to pieces on the German border defenses in what became known as the Battle of the Frontiers.G. Austria-Hungary is overconfident in its invasion of Serbia and they are kicked back out.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

IV. Unleashing the Dogs of War.H. The French continue to waver between retreating in chaos or throwing themselves at the Germans. I. By August 20th, the French and BEF have slowed the Germans and a continuous line begins to form from the Channel east to the Alps.J. Several small naval battles begin around the world as fleets realize that they need to annihilate one another.K. August 15, Japan demands that Germans evacuate all of their colonies in Asia as they will be taking over.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

V. The Battles of 1914.A. Every nation seemed to throw itself eagerly into war. Every nation believed this was to defend itself. No one asked what it was about.

Germany, Austria and Italy are standing together in the middle of a pub when Serbia bumps into Austria and spills Austria’s pint.Austria demands Serbia buy it a whole new suit because of the new beer stains on its trouser leg.Germany expresses its support for Austria’s point of view.Britain recommends that everyone calm down a bit.Serbia points out that it can’t afford a whole suit, but offers to pay for the cleaning of Austria’s trousers.Russia and Serbia look at Austria.Austria asks Serbia who it’s looking at.Russia suggests that Austria should leave its little brother alone.Austria inquires as to whose army will assist Russia in doing so.Germany appeals to Britain that France has been looking at it, and that its sufficiently out of order that Britain not intervene.Britain replies that France can look at who it wants to, that Britain is looking at Germany too, and what is Germany going to do about it?Germany tells Russia to stop looking at Austria, or Germany will render Russia incapable of such action anymore.Britain and France ask Germany whether it’s looking at Belgium.Turkey and Germany go off into a corner and whisper. When they come back, Turkey makes a show of not looking at anyone.Germany rolls up its sleeves, looks at France, and punches Belgium.France and Britain punch Germany. Austria punches Russia. Germany punches Britain and France with one hand and Russia with the other.Russia throws a punch at Germany, but misses and nearly falls over. Japan calls over from the other side of the room that it’s on Britain’s side, but stays there. Italy surprises everyone by punching Austria.Australia punches Turkey, and gets punched back. There are no hard feelings because Britain made Australia do it.France gets thrown through a plate glass window, but gets back up and carries on fighting. Russia gets thrown through another one, gets knocked out, suffers brain damage, and wakes up with a complete personality change.Italy throws a punch at Austria and misses, but Austria falls over anyway. Italy raises both fists in the air and runs round the room chanting.America waits till Germany is about to fall over from sustained punching from Britain and France, then walks over and smashes it with a barstool, then pretends it won the fight all by itself.By now all the chairs are broken and the big mirror over the bar is shattered. Britain, France and America agree that Germany threw the first punch, so the whole thing is Germany’s fault . While Germany is still unconscious, they go through its pockets, steal its wallet, and buy drinks for all their friends.The End…. (or is it?)

UNIT III FORMATIVE:I. In Groups of Four Tables, use your timelines to fill

out the year assigned to you. (You have Ten Minutes ) Have a plan between groups for color schemes.

II. In Groups of Four Tables you will Spend five minutes researching the four main battles of 1914:

A. The Battle of the FrontiersB. The Battle of MonsC. The Battle of the MarneD. The Battle of Ypres

III. We watch and discuss the Christmas Truce. December 24 and 25th 1914.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

V. The Battles of 1914.B. August 22, 1914: The Battle of Mons.

1. English and German troops collide and it turns into a street brawl.

2. The English are outnumbered 4 to 1 but accurate rifle fire saves them.C. The British fall back and the Germans catch up again.D. Strangely 15 days pass and there is not fighting. They have lost each other.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

V. The Battles of 1914.E. The French government evacuates Paris. Refugees clog the streets.F. The Battle of the Marne. (a.k.a. the “Battle of the taxi cabs.”

1. The French throw their last reserves along the river just north of Paris.

2. As the Germans come up to the river they are exhausted.

3. There is a see-saw fighting back and forth for several weeks but the von Schlieffen Plan has ground to a halt.

LESSON #3: THE CHAIN REACTION

V. The Battles of 1914.G. Pits are dug for machine guns on both sides. Soldiers dig individual rifle pits wherever the front line sits. Soon, they begin connecting the pits together into a trench. The Armies have stopped.H. The machine gun has cancelled out the speed of rail.I. The generals of both sides have no understanding of how to fight a war in this

manner.J. October 1914: The Battle of Ypres.

1. Both sides race west toward the sea to get behind the other. 2. Neither side succeeds. The British and the remnants of the Belgians take up

trenches in the western part of this front line, the French man the rest.3. The trench line becomes continuous from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps. It

becomes known as “The Western Front.”K. November and December are spent making the trenches livable for the winter.L. On Christmas Eve, a localized truce is put in place and that night and Christmas Day Soldiers fraternize from both sides along the German and English sections of the trenches.