Militarism, nationalism, and a crisis in the Balkans led to World War I. 

1. The Road to World War I Main Ideas • Militarism, nationalism, and a crisis in the Balkans led to World War I.  • Serbia’s determination to become a large, independent state angered Austria-Hungary and initiated hostilities.  Key Terms • conscription  • mobilization

2. The Road to World War I Preview Questions • How did the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand lead to World War I?  • How did the system of alliances help cause the war?

3. Click the Speaker button to listen to the audio again.

4. Nationalism and the System of Alliances • Liberals during the first half of the 1800s hoped that the formation of European nation-states would lead to peace.  • However, the imperialist states that emerged during the second half of the 1800s became highly competitive over trade and colonies. (pages 499–500)

5. Nationalism and the System of Alliances(cont.) • Two main alliances divided Europe: • TheTripleAlliance (1882) Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy; and the • TripleEntente (1907) France, Great Britain, and Russia. (pages 499–500)

6. Nationalism and the System of Alliances(cont.) • During the early 1900s: crises erupted in the Balkans • Created a great deal of anger and tension between the nations of the two alliances.  • Each nation was willing to go to war to preserve its power. (pages 499–500)

7. Nationalism and the System of Alliances(cont.) • European ethnic groups: • Slavs in the Balkans • Irish in the British Empire • Dreamed of creating their own national states, which also increased tensions in Europe. (pages 499–500)

8. Internal Dissent • Another source of strife in Europe was dissent within nations.  • As socialist labor movements used strikes to achieve their goals.  • Conservative national leaders feared that revolutions would break out.  • Some historians believe that these leaders may have been willing to go to war in order to suppress internal dissent. (page 500)

9. Militarism • Conscription–compulsory service in the military-common in Europe before 1914.  • Between 1890 and 1914 - European armies doubled in size.  • The numbers of soldiers in European armies: Russia -1.3 millionFrance and Germany- 900,000 each Britain, Italy, and Austria-Hungary- 250,000 to 500,000 each. (pages 500–501)

10. The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914 • Russia and Austria-Hungary competed for control of states that gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. • In 1914- Serbia wanted to form a large Slavic state in the Balkans.  • Serbia was supported by Russia and opposed by Austria-Hungary.  (pages 501–502)

11. The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914 • In June 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife were killed by the Serbian terrorist, Gavrilo Princip in the city of Sarajevo. • The Serbian terrorists wanted Bosnia to become independent from Austria-Hungary. (pages 501–502)

12. Triumph of the Communists (cont.) • The opposition to the Communists was not unified and was torn by political differences and mistrust. • They lacked a common goal.  • Some wanted to restore the czar.  • Others wanted a more democratic government. (pages 518–519)

13. Triumph of the Communists (cont.) • They were also able to put their ideals to work in practical ways, for example by controlling banks, farms, and industries to serve the Communist war effort, a policy known as war communism. • The Cheka, or secret police, sought out anyone who opposed the Communists and created an atmosphere of fear among the people. (pages 518–519)

14. Triumph of the Communists (cont.) • By 1921, the Communists had complete control of Russia. • The country had become a centralized state dominated by a single party.  • Because of the role of the Allies in the civil war, the Communists mistrusted them and remained hostile. (pages 518–519)

15. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles demanded that Germany pay $5 billion in reparations for damages caused by the war. In 1921, Germany had paid nearly half the amount. However, the reparations committee met and decided that Germany should pay a total of $32.5 billion by 1963, an amount that many experts agreed could cause the German people to starve.

16. The Last Year of the War • During 1917, the Allies had been defeated in their offensives on the Western Front, and the Russians had withdrawn from the war.  • The Central Powers appeared to have the advantage.

17. The Last Year of the War (cont.) • The German military official Erich von Ludendorff decided to take a military gamble. • In March 1918, the Germans launched a large offensive on the Western Front and came to within 50 miles of Paris.  • The Germans were stopped at the Second Battle of the Marne by French, Moroccan, and American troops and hundreds of tanks. (pages 521–523)

18. The Last Year of the War (cont.) • In 1918, the addition of more than one million American troops helped the Allies begin to advance toward Germany. • By the end of September, General Ludendorff told German leaders that the war was lost. (pages 521–523)

19. The Last Year of the War (cont.) • The Allies were not willing to negotiate with the German government under Emperor William II.  • The German people were angry and exhausted by the war.  • In spite of attempted government reforms, German workers and soldiers in towns such as Kiel revolted and set up their own councils.  • On November 9, William II left the country.

21. The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914 • The Austro-Hungarian government wanted to declare war on Serbia but was worried that Russian would come to Serbia’s aid. • Austrian leaders asked for help from their German allies.  • Emperor William II agreed to give Germany’s full support.  • In July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. (pages 501–502)

22. The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914 • Russia responded by supporting Serbia.  • Czar Nicholas II ordered partial and then full mobilization of the Russian army.  • Austria-Hungary and Germany considered the mobilizations acts of war. (pages 501–502)

23. The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914 • The Germans warned the Russians to halt mobilization, and the Russians refused. • Germany then declared war on Russia on August 1.  • Because Russia and France were allies, Germany had planned to defeat France first and then attack Russia with full force. (pages 501–502)

24. The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914 • This plan, designed by General Alfred von Schlieffen, was called the Schlieffen Plan. • Germany declared war on France on August 3. (pages 501–502)

25. The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914 • The Germans demanded that Belgium–a neutral country–allow German armies to pass through it on the way to France.  • This action led Britain, who was allied with France and Russia, to declare war on Germany. • Treaty of London of 1839  • By August 4, World War I had begun. (pages 501–502)

26. 1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.) • All European wars since 1815 had only lasted a few weeks.  • In August 1914, most people thought the war would be over by Christmas. (pages 503–505)

27. 1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.) • First Battle of the Marne.  • The Western Front turned into a stalemate, with neither side able to push the other out of the system of trench warfare they had begun.  • The trenches stretched from the English Channel nearly to the Swiss border.  • For four years both sides remained in almost the same positions. (pages 503–505)

29. 1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.) • On the Eastern Front, the war was far more mobile. • The Russian army moved into eastern Germany but was defeated at the Battle of Tannenberg and the Battle of Masurian Lakes.  • The Russians defeated Austria-Hungary and dislodged them from Serbia. (pages 503–505)

30. 1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.) • The Italians, who had been allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary, broke their alliance in 1915 and attacked Austria-Hungary.  (pages 503–505)

31. 1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.) • 2.5 Million Russians either killed wounded or captured. • The Russians were almost out of the war. • After defeating Serbia, Germany turned its attention back to the Western Front. (pages 503–505)

32. 1916 to 1917: The Great Slaughter (cont.) • They would begin with heavy artillery and then send in thousands of troops.  • The men who attacked were completely exposed to machine-gun fire.  • Millions of young men died in these attacks, and no breakthrough came.  • At Verdun, France, in 1916, 700,000 men were killed in 10 months.  • World War I had become a war of attrition, where each side tried to wear the other down.

33. Widening of the War • In November 1914, Russia, Great Britain, and France (the Allies) declared war on the Ottoman Empire.  • In 1915, they tried to open a Balkan front by attacking Gallipoli, near Constantinople. (page 506)

34. Widening of the War (cont.) • Then Bulgaria entered the war on the side of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire (the Central Powers). • The Allies withdrew from Gallipoli after a disastrous campaign.  • Italy opened up a front against Austria-Hungary on the side of the Allies.  • In 1918, British forces from Egypt defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East.  • They used troops from Australia, India, and New Zealand.

35. Background to Revolution • Due to a lack of experienced military leaders and technology, Russia was unprepared for World War I. • The Russian army was poorly trained and equipped and suffered terrible losses.  • By 1917, the Russian will to continue fighting in the war had disappeared. (pages 514–516) (pages 514–516)

36. Background to Revolution (cont.) • The Russian people became increasingly upset with the czar and his wife due to military and economic disasters.  • Conservatives wanted to save the deteriorating situation and assassinated Rasputin late in 1916.  • However, this did not save the monarchy. (pages 514–516)

37. Background to Revolution (cont.) • In March 1917, working-class women led a series of strikes in the capital city of Petrograd. • They were upset about bread shortages and rationing.  • They called a general strike that shut down all the factories.

38. Background to Revolution (cont.) • The provisional government was headed by Alexander Kerensky and decided to continue fighting the war. • This was a grave mistake, as it upset workers and peasants who wanted to end the years of fighting. (pages 514–516)

39. Background to Revolution (cont.) • The government was also challenged by the soviets–councils representing workers and soldiers–who came to play an important role in Russian politics. • Soviets sprang up around the country, and were mostly made up of socialists. (pages 514–516)

40. The Rise of Lenin • The Bolsheviks were a small faction of a Marxist party. • They were led by V. I. Lenin and were dedicated to a violent revolution to overthrow the capitalist system.

41. The Rise of Lenin (cont.) • Lenin lived abroad between 1900 and 1917. • When the provisional government was formed, he went to Russia hoping that the Bolsheviks could seize power.  • German military leaders helped him travel to Russia in an attempt to create disorder. (page 517)

42. The Rise of Lenin (cont.) • He saw the soviets as groups already in place that could help overthrow the provisional government.  • The Bolsheviks promised to end the war, redistribute land to the peasants, transfer control of factories and industries from capitalists to the workers, and transfer government power to the soviets. (page 517)

43. The Rise of Lenin (cont.) • Three slogans summed up the Bolshevik program: “Peace, Land, Bread,” “Worker Control of Production,” and “All Power to the Soviets.” (page 517)

44. The Bolsheviks Seize Power • By the end of October 1917, the Bolsheviks had 240,000 members and held majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets. • On November 6, the Bolsheviks seized the Winter Palace, and the provisional government collapsed. (page 518)

45. The Bolsheviks Seize Power (cont.) • Lenin turned over power to the Congress of Soviets, which represented soviets throughout Russia.  • He held on to the real power in a Council of People’s Commissars, however, which he ran. (page 518)

46. The Bolsheviks Seize Power (cont.) • The Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Communists.  • In March 1918, Lenin ended the war with Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-litovsk, giving up territory in eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic provinces.  • He believed that these territories would eventually return to Russia as the socialist revolution spread through Europe. (page 518)

47. Civil War in Russia • Soon after the Communists took power, civil war broke out in Russia.  • Many people were opposed to the Communists, including groups loyal to the czar, liberals, and anti-Leninist socialists.  • They were aided by the Allies, who gave them troops and supplies, hoping Russia would rejoin the war. (page 518)

48. Triumph of the Communists • The Communists won the civil war in part because they had an excellent army. • As commissar of war, Leon Trotsky had brilliantly organized the army and instituted rigid discipline. (pages 518–519)