World

War

I

The Great Powers in Europe

• 5 main rivals nations in Europe– Britain– France– Russia– Austria-Hungary

– Germany

BRITAIN• Ruled an Empire

– Had to protect it• Owned rich industries• Needed strong navy due to being an island

FRANCE

• Owerseas Empire

• Resented losing Alsace and Lorraine– Franco-Prussian War 1871

RUSSIA

• Poor but biggest country in Europe

• Ruled by Tsar Nicholas II

• No lands overseas• Wanted Land in

Europe and Asia with access to the sea.

Russian empire in 1914

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

• Central European Empire

• 10 different nationalities– Many of them wanted

independence

• Ruled by Franz Joseph II

Austria Hungary Empire 1913

Dual Monarchy

GERMANY

• Small Empire

• Ruled by Kaiser Wilhelm II

• Jelaous of Britain’s superior sea power and colonies

• Wanted to increase German influence and wealth

Alliances

• Dual Alliance

• Triple Alliance

• Franco-Russian Alliance

• Entente Cordiale

• Triple Entente

Causes of WW1

Nr.1

Assassination in Sarajevo

The Outbreak of War• 28 June 1914-

shot dead of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne (while travelling in an open-topped car)

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

• Gavrilo Prinzip, a Bosnian Serb citizen of Austria-Hungary and member of the Young Bosnia killed him.

Gavrilo Prinzip

• The political objective of the assassination was to break Austria-Hungary's south-Slav provinces off so they could be combined into a Greater Serbia or a Yugoslavia.

• The assassins belonged to the movement called Young Bosnia (or Black Hand).

• Serbian military officers stood behind the attack.

• Gavrilo Prinzip said during his trial that

‘"I am a Yugoslav nationalist and I believe in unification of all South Slavs in whatever form of state and that it be free of Austria"

But…

• Prinzip confessed that the guns were given by agents of the Serb Goverment.

• This theory is nowadays support by all the historians.

• Austria-Hungary acusses Serbia of the assasination.

• On 23 July 1914, an ultimatum was sent to Serbia with ten demands.

• Some were extreme.

• Serbia rejected the sixth demand

• 25th July, supported by Russia, The Serb goverment rejected Austrian Police to

investigate the murder in the Serb territory.

• AH 10 points ultimatum

• S refuses it

• R mobilises troops to help S

• G demands that R stop mobilising

• R refuses.

• G declares war on R

• F mobilises to help R

• G declares war on F. Schlieffen Plan• Belgium neutral• B orders G to draw away• G refuses• Britain declares war on G• AH declares war on R

• Diplomatic relations are now

blocked.

Nr.2

Alliances

Dual Alliance

• Germany

• Austria-Hungary

Triple Alliance

• Italy + Dual Alliance

France + Russia NERVOUS

Franco-Russian Alliance

ENTENTE

• NO MILITARY AGREEMENTS

Finally, it changed

Entente Cordiale (“Entendimiento Cordial)

• Britain + France

Triple Entente

• Russia + Britain + France

Results

• More tension

• G + AH + I felt surrounded

• R worried about AH intentions in Balkans

• UK + G building best navy in the world

Balkans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Balkans_Animation_1800-2006.gif

Nr. 3

Tension builds:

Imperialism and militarism

Europe drifting towards a major war

• Arms race• Competition between

two or more parties for real or apparent military

supremacy.• Each party competes to

produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior

military technology in a technological escalation.

Arms race

• 1900-1914 G built 40 battleships and cruisers

Britain policy

• Two Power Standard– Royal Navy always

had to be as big as the next 2 strongest navies in Europe put together

• UK built the first Dreadnought in 1906

• Germany built its version in 1917 Hochseeflotte • UK had a new by 1911 British Grand Fleet

• 1914– UK had 29– G had 17

Nr. 4

Nationalism

• Nationalism means being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one's country.

• The Congress of Vienna, held after the Napoleonic wars left both Germany and Italy as divided states.

• France was angry because the settlement at the end of the Franco-Prussian war had given Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.

• Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to differing nationalist groups, all of whom wanted freedom from the states in which they lived.

Dual Monarchy

Nr. 5

Crises

Crises over Morocco

• Moroccan crisis (1905-1906)• Agadir crisis (1911)

Moroccan crisis (1905-1906)

• Was uncolonised African country

• In 1904 Morocco had been given to France by Britain, but the Moroccans wanted independence and were supported by Germany.

• War was avoided, but in 1911, the Germans were again protesting against French possession of Morocco.

Agadir crisis (1911)

• Agadir is a major city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Agadir province

Bosnian Crisis

• In 1908, Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia.

• This angered Serbians who felt the province should be theirs.

• Serbia threatened Austria-Hungary with war, Russia, allied to Serbia, mobilised its forces.

• Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary mobilised its forces and prepared to threaten Russia.

• War was avoided when Russia backed down.

• In 1911 and 1912 there was war in the Balkans ‘the powder-keg of Europe’ when the Balkan states drove Turkey out of the area.

• The states then fought each other over which area should belong to which state.

• Austria-Hungary intervened and forced Serbia to give up land.

• Tension between Serbia and Austria-Hungary was high.

Countdown to conflict…a matter of time

• Alliance system• Arms race• Imperialism• Moroccan crises• Bosnian crisis.

The beginning of the war

A long war

Colonial french soldier and his hygiene equipment

German soldier and his hand grenade

Winter Horseshoes

French grenades and parachute-bomb

BBC movies WW1

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_ani_wwone_movies.shtml

It didn´t work for 3 reasons

• Belgium refused to let German army through to attack France

• G enter B by force• R was ready for war

quicker than G expected

• G sent valuable troops to East

The Battle of Marne and the trench warfare

• Neither army could win in–Mons–Marne–Ypres

Virtual view of Trench

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_vt_trench_life.shtml

Luxury trench

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_vt_dugout_int.shtml

Stalemate (=deadlock) in the West

• This war was different for the general and the soldiers

• Deadlock in the trenches

Trench Foot

• Trench foot, also known as fat foot, is a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary and cold conditions.

Shellshock!

• Early symptoms tiredness, irritability, lack of concentration, headaches. Eventual mental breakdowns

• affected 2% of soldiers (80,000)

• http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=RRv56gsqkzs&feature=related

1:18

Verdun-Shellshockhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=SS1dO0JC2EE&feature=related

The reality of the war

The British government wanted to encourage men to enlist for war.

They said the war would be safe, hardly any fighting, a good lark and over by Christmas.

They used advertising posters to encourage this idea!

A picture of soldiers going ‘Over the Top’

The reality of ‘going over the top’ was very different!

Soldiers were expected to carry all of their equipment with them at all times.

They were supposed to keep it clean and in good condition – they were British after all.

How the uniform and equipment changed after just three weeks in the

trenches…

Posters always showed men ready and willing to fight.

They never showed the boredom of the trenches or actual fighting taking place.

Why do you think the government showed no fighting?

No smiling and relaxed faces…

No clean uniforms…

Their equipment is scattered everywhere…

Boredom and sleep are obvious…

The soldiers had very little decent food, and what food they had was often attacked by rats.

These rats were the size of small rabbits and badgers because they had fed on the decomposing bodies of dead soldiers.

Casualties

Trenchline nowadays

Verdun memorial

Russian prisoners

The Middle East

WW1 did not stop at western front

• Navy’s blockades in the North Sea and the Baltic were really important in wearing Germany down

• Blockades were more important than all-out battles

Blockades• Royal Navy patrolled

the North Sea and the Baltic– Tried to stop food

supplies– Prevented German

ships from getting out to open sea

– Germans had the U-boats

– The Torpedo made it very successful.

At first

• Germany was careful not to attack ships from neutral countries or passenger ships

So…

• Britain started shipping arms and ammunition in passenger ships

Lusitania

• Was used to bring over weapons in April 1915

• Germans torpedoed it and 1000 civilians died

• 100 of the 1000 were from the USA

• USA decided to suport the allies, and joined the war in 1917

Lusitania’s piers in NY

Arriving to NY

• 2 fronts

• Naval blockades.

• USA troops+supplies.

• Allied tanks broke the stalemate.

• Finally ended in November 1918

• Luddendorf decided to send one more big attack

• Allies counterattacked from different sides

• Trench warfare had worn Germany down– Mutinies– Food shortages– Revolution in Germany

The peace treaty was signed at Versailles in January 1919

From left to right, British PM David Lloyd George, italian PM Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, french PM

Georges Clemenceau, and finally President Woodrow Wilson from United States.

Signing in the hall

Treaty of Versailles Signing, Hall of Mirrors

Mass demonstration in front of the Reichstag against the Treaty of

Versailles

F wanted a hard punishment to G

• Lloyd George: better not a bitter punishment

• Versailles treaty embittered and bankrupted G

In 1918, Wilson laid down 14 points for a better world after WW1