The Great War WWI 1914-1918

1. The Great WarWWI 1914-1918

2. Causes for the War

3. 1. Nationalism • Nationalism is a Deep devotion to one’s nation. • It can cause intense competition between nations, with each wanting to over power the other. • It can serve as a unifying force within a country. • By the 20th century a huge rivalry grew among Europe’s great powers. • These nations were Germany, Austria Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and France.

4. Rivalry arose because of : • Competition for materials and markets. • Before 1850, Great Britain had the lead in the Industrial Revolution. • After 1850 Germany competed with Great Britain for dominance.

5. The Balkans

6. Rivalry arose because of: • Territorial disputes. • France was mad that they had lost Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. • Austria-Hungary and Russia tried to dominate in the Balkans. • Within the Balkans there was intense nationalism of Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians, and other ethnic groups wanting independence.

7. 2. Imperialism • Nations of Europe competed for colonies in Africa and Asia. • As European countries continued to compete for overseas empires, their sense of rivalry and mistrust of one another grew.

8. 3. Militarism • Nations of Europe believed that to be truly great, they needed to have a powerful military. • By 1914, all great powers except Great Britain had standing armies. • It was stressed to be able to quickly mobilize or organize troops in case of war. • The policy of glorifying military power and keeping an army for war was known as militarism.

9. Alliances: • Otto von Bismarck, Prussia’s chancellor, saw France as the greatest threat to peace because France had lost land in the Franco-Prussian War. Bismarck formed the Dual Alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary. Three years later, Italy joined the countries in forming the Triple Alliance. In 1887 Bismarck took another ally away from France by making a treaty with Russia. Russia and Austria , Germany’s allies were rivals for control of the Balkans.

10. Alliances continued • Kaiser Wilhelm II forced Bismarck to resign . Wilhelm declared, “I and Germany were born for one another.” • He let Germany’s treaty with Russia lapse in 1890. • Russia responded by forming a defensive military alliance with France in 1892 and 1894. • This alliance had been Bismarck’s fear. • War with either Russia or France would make Germany the enemy of both. • Germany would then be forced to fight on a two-front war.

11. Alliances continued • Kaiser Wilhelm was envious of Great Britain’ large empire and strong navy. • The Kaiser began a huge shipbuilding program in an effort to make Germany equal to Great Britain. • Great Britain responded by enlarging its own fleet. • In 1904, Britain make an alliance with France. • In 1907 , Britain made another alliance with Russia. • This alliance is called the Triple Entente.

12. The Great War Alliances Triple Alliance Triple Entente • Germany • Austria-Hungary • Italy • Great Britain • France • Russia

13. The Great War Alliances

14. The Powder Keg • By the early 1900’s, the Ottoman Empire , which included the Balkan region , was in rapid decline. • Some Balkan groups struggled to free themselves from Ottoman rule. • Others had already succeeded and formed new nations such as, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. These countries were strong in Nationalism. • Both Russia and Austria-Hungary hoped to rule the Balkans.

15. The Catalyst • On June 28, 1914, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, paid a visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia. • The couple were shot as they rode through the streets in an open car. • The killer was GavriloPrincip, a 19 year old member of the Black Hand. • The Black Hand is a secret society committed to ridding Bosnia of Austrian rule. • Because the assassin was a Serbian, Austria used the murders as an excuse to punish Serbia.

16. The Ultimatum • On July 23, Austria presented Serbia with an ultimatum which was deliberately harsh. • Demands included an end to all anti-Austrian activity. Serbian leaders would have to allow Austrian officials into their country to conduct an investigation into the assassinations. • Serbia knew that refusing would lead to war. • Serbia agreed to most of Austria’s demands. They offered to have several others settled by an international conference.

17. Declaration of War • Austria was in no mood to negotiate. • On July 28, Austria rejected Serbia’s offer and declared war on Serbia. • The same day, Serbia’s ally, Russia, took action by mobilizing troops toward the Austrian border. • Leaders all over Europe suddenly took alarm! • The British foreign minister, the Italian government, and even Kaiser Wilhelm urged Austria and Russia to negotiate. • It was too late!!!!!

18. The Alliance Chain reaction • Russia not only mobilized toward the Russian-Austrian border. They believed Germany would join Austria , therefore, they also mobilized along the German border. • Czar Nicholas II of Russia claimed this was just a precaution. • Germany felt the Russian mobilization was a declaration of war. • On August 1 the German government declared war on Russia.

19. Alliance chain reaction continued • Russia looked for its ally France for help. • On August 3, Germany declared war on France. • Much of Europe was now in battle

20. The Schlieffen Plan • The plan was named after its designer, General Alfred Graf von Schlieffen. • In the event of a two-front war, he called for attacking France and then Russia. • The general reasoned that Russia, with its lack of railroads would have difficulty mobilizing its troops. • Under the Schlieffen Plan, a large part of the German army would race west, defeat France, and then fight Russia in the east.

21. The Schlieffen Plan

22. The Schlieffen Plan Continued • Speed was vital to the plan because the French had troops along their border with Germany. • The Germans knew this would be slow work to break through. • Germany demanded that its troops be allowed to pass through the neutral country Belgium on their way to France. • Belgium refused and Germany invaded anyway. • Outraged over the violation of Belgian neutrality, Great Britain declared war on Germany on August 4.

23. Mid-August 1914 Alliances Central Powers Allies • Germany • Austria-Hungary • Ottoman Empire • Bulgaria • Great Britain • France • Russia • Serbia • Japan • Italy ( joined because of breach of neutrality of Germans)

24. Trench Warfare • Germany’s lightning- quick strike turned into a long and bloody stalemate, or deadlock, along the battlefields of France. • This deadlocked region in northern France was known as the Western front. • Early on, Germany’s Schlieffen Plan worked well. By the end of August, the Germans had overrun Belgium and swept into France. • By September 3, Germany was on the edge of Paris

25. Trench Warfare continued • On September 5, the Allies attacked the Germans northeast of Paris, in the valley of the Marne River. • Every available soldier was hurled into the struggle. • When reinforcements were needed more than 600 taxicabs rushed soldiers from Paris to the front. • By September 13, the Germans had been driven back nearly 60 miles.

26. Trench Warfare continued • The First Battle of the Marne was perhaps the single most important event of the war. • Why? • The defeat of the Germans left the Schlieffen Plan in ruins. • A quick victory in the west was no longer possible and Germany now had to fight a war on two fronts.

27. No Man’s Land is the Land between the trenches of the opposing sides

28. Cross-section of the trenches

29. Life in the Trenches – everything was done in the trenches. Not very sanitary. There were RATS, RATS, and more RATS. Between battles soldiers spent time building up the trenches (very boring).

30. Trenches were made to be 7 feet deep and 6 feet wide.

31. Barbed Wire would be set up between the trenches to make it more difficult for the enemy to overrun your trench.

32. Sometimes soldiers would die trying to capture the others trench and would be left on the barbed wire to make it easier for the rest of the men.

33. War in the Trenches (not in notes) • By early 1915, opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire. • In trench warfare, soldiers would fight each other from trenches. • Life in the trenches was pure misery.

34. Trenches: • Filled with mud. • Swarmed with rats. • Fresh food was nonexistent. • Sleep was nearly impossible. • During gunfire the air was unbreatheable. • The space between opposing trenches was called no man’s land.

35. Weapons of Warfare • Machine guns fired ammunition automatically. The gun could wipe out waves of attackers and make it difficult for forces to advance. Therefore, it helped create a stalemate. Some machine guns could fire 500-600 bullets per minute. They were so powerful they could cut trees down that were as big as a telephone pole.

36. Weapons of War continued • Poison Gas was introduced by the Germans but used by both sides.

37. Weapons of War Continued… • The tank was an armored combat vehicle that moved on chain tracks. It was introduced by the British in 1916 at the Battle of Somme.

38. The airplane was used for combat for the first time in WWI. At first, nations used planes to take photos of enemy lines. Soon, both sides used them to drop bombs and guns were attached so pilots could fight each other. • These were known as “dog fights” The “Red Baron” had at least 80 Kills before he was shot down

39. Air Squadron Aerial Bombs dropped

40. Weapons of Warfare continued • The submarine was introduced by the Germans in 1914. German subs, known as U-boats eventually raged unrestricted submarine warfare on Allied ships. The submarine’s primary weapon was the torpedo, a self-propelled underwater missile.

41. The African-American Soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment Harlem Hellfighters The Germans dubbed the unit the "Hellfighters," because in 191 days of duty at the front they never had any men captured nor ground taken. Almost one-third of the unit died in combat. The French government awarded the entire regiment the Croix de Guerre

42. The Eastern Front • This is the area of battlefield along the German and Russian border. • Here, Russians and Serbs battled Germans, Austrians and Turks. • The war in the east was a more mobile war than in the west. • Slaughter and stalemate were common. • Eventually the Austrians with the help of the Germans pushed the Russians out of Austria-Hungary.

43. Russia weakens • By 1916, Russia’s war effort was near collapse. • Russia had not yet industrialized. • The army was short of food, guns, ammunition, clothes, boots and blankets. • Allies could not ship Russia supplies because a German fleet blocked the Baltic Sea. In the south, the Ottomans controlled the straits leading from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. • The Russian army had only one asset- its numbers • More than 2 million Russian soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured in 1915 alone. Yet, they continually re-built their ranks from their enormous population.

44. A Global Conflict • By early 1915, it was apparent to all the warring nations that fast victory had eluded them. As war on both European fronts promised to be a grim, drawn-out affair, all the Great Powers looked for new allies to tip the balance. They also sought new war fronts on which to achieve victory.

45. A Global Conflict continued • As the war dragged on, the Allies desperately searched for a way to end the stalemate. They came up with a strategy that consisted of attacking a region in the Ottoman Empire known as the Dardanelles. • This was a narrow sea strait that was a gateway to the Ottoman capital, Constantinople. • By securing this area, the Allies believed that they could take Constantinople, defeat the Turks, and establish a supply line to Russia.

46. A Global Conflict continued • This plan began in February 1915. It was known as the Gallipoli campaign. • British, Australian, New Zealand, and French troops made repeated assaults on the Gallipoli Peninsula on the western side of the strait. • Turkish troops, some commanded by German officers, vigorously defended the region. • By May, Gallipoli had turned into another bloody stalemate. Both sides dug trenches, from which they battled for the rest of the year.

47. Gallipoli campaign Russia Russia needs supplies objective Ottoman Empire

48. A Global Conflict continued • In December, the Allies gave up the campaign and began to evacuate. • They suffered about 250,000 casualties. • Despite the Allies’ failure at Gallipoli they remained determined to topple the Ottoman Empire. • In Southwest Asia, the British helped Arab nationalists rise up against their Turkish rulers. • A British soldier named T. E. Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia, helped lead daring guerilla raids against the Turks.

49. A Global Conflict continued • With the help of the Arabs, Allied armies took control of Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Damascus. • In various parts of Asia and Africa, Germany’s colonial possessions came under assault. • The Japanese quickly overran German outposts in China. They also captured Germany’s Pacific island colonies. • English and French troops attacked Germany’s four African possessions. They seized control of three.

50. A Global Conflict continued • Elsewhere in Asia and Africa, the British and French recruited subjects in their colonies for the struggle. • Fighting troops as well as laborers came from India, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, and Indochina. • Some colonial subjects wanted nothing to do with their European rulers’ conflicts. • Others volunteered in hope that service would lead to their independence. • This was the view of Indian political leader Mohandas Gandhi.