HISTORY 395 HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

1. HISTORY 395HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR Dr. Nancy Fitch Summer 2008

2. Maps Used in the PowerPoints • Unless otherwise noted all of the maps are from: • Martin Gilbert, Atlas of World War I: The Complete History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)

3. Europe on the Eve of World War I • Cultural Climate in Europe: • Intense Nationalism, especially in the Austria-Hungarian Empire • Social Darwinism – the idea that competition to promote the superior race good • Yellow Journalism – wars sell newspapers • Arms Race – who has the biggest guns, the most battleships • Imperial Competition – planting flags in Africa, Asia, and the Asian Pacific

4. The Great Game in Central Asia • India British • Egypt – British for all intents and purposes • Russia and Britain divided Persia into sphere’s of influence in 1907 • Britain and Russia controlled oil in area • Ottoman Empire center of ongoing competition

5. EUROPEAN FEARS AND AIMS BEFORE 1914 • Russia – protect Christians in Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire • Russia – Warm water port • Germany – Desire for territory in East • France – Alsace and Lorraine • Eastern and Central European ethnic groups – their own relatively homogenous states • Italy – territory within the Austria-Hungarian Empire • All landlocked states – ports, access to the sea for military and economic reasons

6. War Breaks Out in July- August 1914 • Secret Alliance Systems • Austria declares war on Serbia • Serbia calls on Russia • Austria calls on German • Russia calls on France • Germany violates Belgian neutrality, provoking England

7. MAJOR COMBATTANTS IN 1914 • The Central Powers • Austria-Hungary • Germany • Ottoman Empire (later in 1914) • The “Entente” Powers • Russia • France • Great Britain • Italy (1915) • The United States (1917)

8. The Generals’ Plans • The Schlieffen Plan • Plan 17

9. The Limits of von Schlieffen’s Plan • German Generals from Alfred von Schlieffen to Helmut von Moltke had doubts Schlieffen Plan would work • Suggested Germans abandon Alsace and significant part of East Prussia • Supplies threatened if had to lay siege at any of the forts in Belgium and France – attack must be rapid • Germany greatly outnumbered in terms of uniformed, trained soldiers • France – Peacetime draft • Great Britain – Voluntary Army • Germany, Austria-Hungary – small peacetime armies

10. German Hopes: Time and Big Guns • Big Bertha – • Named for Bertha Krupp von Bohlen • 420 mm howitzer • Transported in pieces and assembled in place • Devastating in Belgium, less successful in other battles – vulnerable when entente powers knew where they were

11. French Big Guns • Soixante quinze (75 mm gun • First hydraulic dual recoil mechanism • Could fire 20-30 rounds per minute • Terrific except maximum angle of fire 16 degrees

12. More French Guns • French 155 mm long gun • No recoil mechanism • Accurate indirect fire impossible • Heavy and range was much shorter than German guns

13. German Big Guns • German 105 mm howitzer • Hydraulic mechanism beneath barrel • Light and portable • Angle of fire 45 degrees • Entente powers had no comparable weapon

14. Other German Big Guns • Top: German 150 mm howitzer • Had hydraulic recoil • Allowed Germany to dominate battlefield in early years of war • Bottom: German 220 mm howitzer • Big but portable • ¼ of Germany’s heavy weapons • Maybe the best of the big guns

15. Von Schlieffen’s Plan in action

16. War on the Eastern Front • Russia Mobilizes faster than expected • German Railroads as integral to Schlieffen’s strategy • Early use weakens Right Wing • Germany wins early battles at Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes • Battle of Lödz

17. Battle of the Marne • Germans closing to within 23 miles of Paris • Paris aerial reconnaisance detects weak right wing – departing from Schlieffen Plan gives Entente their opportunity • Germans retreat and dig in for long stalemate