Chapter 19 Section 1

1. Chapter 19 Section 1 The Road to War

2. Causes of World war i • June 28, 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Bosnia • Austria ruled Bosnia • Gavrilo Princip, the man responsible, was a Serbian nationalist who believed Bosnia should be part of Serbia and not Austria • The assassination ignited what was already a decaying situation • Other main causes to the War were: imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and tangled country alliances • Imperialism: • Great rush for colonies during the 1800s • Japan had won the Sino-Japanese was in 1895 and became a colonial power • Acquired Korea, Taiwan, and parts of mainland China • Germany realized that the only way for expansion was to take land away from other countries

3. Causes of world war i • Militarism: - aggressive build up of a nation’s armed forces in preparation of war and giving the military more authority the government and foreign policy • Germany, France, Britain, Austria, Hungary, and Russia all prepared for war making war more likely • Nationalism: - devotion to one’s country • Austria and Germany governed millions of Czechs, Slovaks, Pole, and other non-German speaking peoples that ultimately wanted to be a separate country • This led to tensions within the countries themselves • Alliances: • Bound countries to come to another’s aid in the event of war • German and Austria were allied. France and Russia were allied. France and England were allied.

4. Alliances during WWI

5. The conflict expands • Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination of Ferdinand – declared war on July 28, 1914 • Set off a chain reaction of mobilization – readying troops for war • Russia (Serbia’s protector) began mobilizing – Germany (Austria-Hungary’s ally) warned Russia to stop – they refused • France (Russia’s ally) began mobilizing, as did Germany – August 1st Germany declared war on Russia which meant France declared war on Germany • Germany, as you can see on the map on the previous page is between France and Russia… to avoid having to fight both at the same time – they developed the Schlieffen Plan – a quick attack through France to push them out of the war • Having to pass through neutral Belgium brought Britain into the war on August 4th • Sides were divided into two: Germany and Austria-Hungary as the Central Powers, and Russia, Serbia, France, and Great Britain as the Allies

6. World Conflict • The sweep through France was met by British and French forces that resulted in a bloody stalemate – situation in which neither side gains advantage • Trenches were dug out and created appalling death tolls and rat infested areas • Between the trenches was a “no man’s land” and neither side gained more than a few miles. – This was an extremely horrible site and horrible warfare • Russians invaded Germany’s east side causing forces to be pulled from the west to push back an invasion • At the end of 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, Italy joined the Allies, and the next year (1915) Bulgaria joined the Central Powers

7. Modern Warfare • The machine gun was a new brutal invention that mowed down advancing forces • Generals, having never seen such weaponry, ordered many soldiers to attempt advance – only to lose thousands of soldiers • Poison gases, and artillery shells constantly rained down upon soldiers in trenches • Most Americans opposed the Central Powers • British journalists began writing propaganda – information intended to sway public opinion – in order to have others join their cause • America remained neutral – between 1897 and 1914 - saw their trade multiply by five • Still, even with staying out of the war, the country began preparing for war by training soldiers for combat