The Great War

Chapter 16, Sections 1-4

The Great War Outline• Road to War

– The 3 Isms of WWI– Alliances– Spark of the War

• World War One– The War - 1914-1915– The War - 1916-1917– Entry of the US

• The Russian Revolution– Revolution in Russia– Rise of Lenin– Russian Civil War

• End of the War– Collapse of Germany– Wilson’s Proposal– Outcome of the War

The 3 Isms of WWI• Imperialism

– The extension of a nation’s power over other lands

– Caused rivalries between European powers

• Nationalism– Pride in one’s nation– Unifications of Italy (1861) & Germany

(1871)– Push for alliances with other similar

nations– France losing land to Germany after

Franco-Prussian War

• Militarism– Government emphasizes large military– Rush in Europe to build large military– Conscription, or drafting, was a

common practice in most countries

Failure of Alliances• Some thought alliances would

bring peace, ended up causing competition– Began forming in 1800s

• Triple Alliance (1882) – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

• Triple Entente (1907) – Britain, France, Russia

• Countries begin feuding, competing with each other…tension builds

• What kinds of dangers exist when combining alliances with Imperialism? Nationalism? Militarism?

Spark of the War• 1914 – Serbia, a Russian ally, began a

push for land in the Balkans– Austria-Hungary did not want that to

happen

• June 28, 1914 – Austrian prince Archduke Franz Ferdinand killed by Gavrilo Princip– Princip a member of Serbian group The

Black Hand

• Austria-Hungary gained support from Germany, declared war on Serbia July 28

• Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary, begins mobilization, or assembling troops and supplies

• Germany ordered a halt to Russian mobilization, declared war on Aug. 1, when Russia refused

The War – 1914-1915• Germany knows only a matter of

time before France joins Russia– Triple Entente

• Schlieffen Plan– Developed by German General Alfred

von Schlieffen, presented to ruler Wilhelm II

– Germany would invade France through neutral Belgium

• Aug. 3, Germany declares war on France, orders Belgium to allow their troops to advance

• Aug. 4, British prime minister Henry Asquith declares war on Germany for violating Belgian neutrality

The War – 1914-1915 Cont’d• Western Front

– France, Britain vs Germany– France is able to stop Schlieffen

Plan– Trench warfare slows the war

many thought would end in weeks

• Eastern Front– Russia vs Germany, Austria-

Hungary– Late Aug., Russia is able to push

into Germany…in weeks are pushed out

– Austria-Hungary demolished by Russians

– May 1915, Italy swaps to Triple Entente, now known as The Allies

The War – 1916-1917• How would you fight trench

warfare?– Military leaders of the time were

used to movement & maneuver

• Fighting involved:– Constant barrage of bullets to

“soften” enemy lines– Sending groups of soldiers across

no man’s land to attack defenses

• War of attrition – war based on wearing the other side down – ensues

• Dangers of War– Trench foot– Shellshock

Stalemate

Soldiers at War

The War of Attrition• New weapons of war

– U-Boats (1914)– Poison gas (1914)– War in the air (1914)– Tanks (1915)

• New parties enter– Ottoman Empire (1914)– Italy (1915)– Bulgaria (1915)– Japan & Australia

• Entente become Allies, Allied become Central Powers

• War also spreads worldwide• Middle East

– Britain Lawrence of Arabia leads Arabs in revolt against Ottoman Empire

– Japan & Australia fight and conquer German colonies in Pacific

Entry of the US• Sinking of Lusitania (May 7, 1915)

– British passenger ship sunk by German U-Boat

– 1,198 people killed, 128 Americans

• Zimmerman Telegram (January 16, 1917)– German telegram to Mexico– Offered previous Mexican lands back if

they led an attack on US– Intercepted by British

• U.S. enters war April 6, 1917• Total War, or the devotion of all

resources to the war campaign, ensues in the United States– What will be impact at home?

• Women, government powers, public opinion of war

– What will be impact at war?• New soldiers, new attitudes

Exit Slip

• What was the basic idea behind the Schlieffen Plan?

• Why was WWI considered a war of attrition?

• Give one of the two reasons the US entered WWI.

Revolution in Russia• Losing effort in war

– 2 million dead, 4-6 million wounded

• Czar Nicholas II often left decisions up to his German-born wife, Alexandra– Influenced by Rasputin, a holy man who looked

after the sick heir to the throne

• Weak rulers, a poor economy, & military losses led to an uprising– Attempts to stop the uprising, like killing

Rasputin, were too late

• The March Revolution (1917)– Poor economy led to higher priced goods– 3/8 – 10,000 women march to protest gov’t,

Nicholas orders them stop or shot– Soldiers joined the demonstrators instead of

stopping them– 3/12 – Duma, or Russian legislative body meets,

orders Nicholas to step down– 3/15 – Nicholas steps down, ends Romanov

dynasty

• Government continues war, but groups of rebels rise in Russia…known as Soviets

Rise of Lenin• Bolsheviks were strongest Soviet

group, led by Vladimir Lenin– Party representing workers’

rights, were against evils of capitalism

• Thought violence was only answer to stop capitalism

• Lenin pushed for overthrow of provisional gov’t

• Wanted land distributed to people, committees running companies, and all gov’t transferred to Soviets

Russian Civil War• Lenin seized power in October

of 1917 and ended the war with Germany in March 1918– Change name from Soviets to

Communists– Gave up Eastern Poland,

Finland, Ukraine, and Balkan lands

• Civil War ensued (1918-1921)– Reds – Communist, Whites –

were anti-Communist– Too little, too late, Communists

win the war

Collapse of Germany• Allies had an interesting 1917

– Good – Americans join– Bad – Russians leave, Germans can now

focus on Western front

• March 1918 Germans focus all strength on West, are within 50 miles of Paris by April

• Allied forces stop advance, push into Germany by September

• September 18, 1918, Germany surrenders– Wilhelm II leaves the country in November

• Armistice, or agreement to end fighting, is signed Nov. 11, 1918

• Fighting would continue within Germany over who would control the country

Wilson’s Proposal• Blame ultimately landed on Germany

– Reps of the 27 victorious nations met in Paris to develop a peace settlement

• President Woodrow Wilson cautioned punishing Germany too much

• Wilson issues his Fourteen Points– Disarmament of all nations– End to “secret diplomacy”– Right for all people to have their own

nations

• Biggest point was League of Nations, or an organized group that would help prevent war through diplomacy– It is created, but without US presence,

as Congress says “no”

Outcome of the War• Paris Peace Conference

– David Lloyd George (GB), Georges Clemanceau (Fra), Vittorio Orlando (Italy) & Woodrow Wilson (US) lead talks

– GB, Italy, & France want to make Germany pay for war

• Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919)– Signed in Palace of Versailles in France– Declared Germany responsible for war, had to

pay $63 billion ($768 billion today)– 100,000 man army, cut back on navy, eliminate

air force– Lands of Alsace and Lorraine given to French– The Rhine (German border to France)

demilitarized

• Legacy of War– New map of Europe– 10 million people dead– How will Germans feel? How could this impact

WWII?