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World War I Competing for Global Empire and the Conquest of the Southern Hemisphere. Instructor Pacas. The World 1875-1914. The industrialized nations in Europe and Japan feared the threat to their modernizing enterprise posed by the ‘continental nation’ of the U.S.
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World War ICompeting for Global Empire and the Conquest of the Southern Hemisphere Instructor Pacas
The World 1875-1914 • The industrialized nations in Europe and Japan feared the threat to their modernizing enterprise posed by the ‘continental nation’ of the U.S. • Continental Nations-large nations possessing both the industrial infrastructure required by modernization and the territory to supply natural resources to feed their industry.
The industrialized nations of Europe feared that if they did not expand (acquire more territory and access to resources) they would be phased out by the U.S. • It is due to this development, that the period witnessed an increase in the colonization activity of Industrial European nations like Germany, Britain and France.
The Berlin Conference 1884-1885 – Germany, Great Britain and France agreed on rules of territorial acquisition for the future and the partition of the African Continent. • Between 1885 – 1914 nearly 250,000 miles of territory were added to empires in Europe and U.S. each year-worldwide.
W. E. B. DuBois Analysis of New Imperialism • In effect as DuBois and many other intellectuals argued this period saw the subjugation of the darker nations of the world by the white industrialist nations.
Cont’d • Of great importance were: • The Asian Markets and their natural resources. • The Continent of Africa’s precious metals and natural resources. • The oil of the Middle East the main source of fuel for industry. • The markets of Central and South America to dump surplus goods.
Oil • Oil was an extremely important natural resource that the European industrial nations coveted in order to fuel their industry. • Territory in the Middle East and access to this resource became a driving force in shaping world politics.
The Ottoman Empire and the Middle East • The Ottoman Empire much weakened at this time was in possession of most of the Middle East. • Many of the territories that were under Ottoman control recognized the weakness of the empire and were eager to attempt to break away. • These polities were eager to try to create their own ‘nations’ in an age of nationalism, national identity and autonomy.
European Industrial Nations sought to incorporate territory in the Middle East into their industrial empires. • The strength of the British navy ensured that it, along with its allies, could acquire territory (protectorates/colonies) in the Middle East and therefore access to oil.
Germany and Austro-Hungary • Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire would attempt to acquire territorial possessions in the Middle East by a land route that would incorporate former Ottoman territory in the Balkans to their empire.
Bone of Contention • Britain and its allies supported the sovereignty of Balkan states, their push for national autonomy and breaking away from Ottoman State to establish independent nations as a way to curtail German access to oil of the Middle East. • Nationalism in the Balkans supported by European Industrial interests of Britain and France only because it safeguarded their exercise of power against other industrial competitors.
Europe WWI
National Identity and Nationalism • Perhaps no other concept of the age was more responsible for historical developments than national identity and nationalism. • Imperialism as much as the struggle to overthrow colonial overlords- were fueled by the concept/idea of national exceptionalism or the right of national sovereignty and independence. • European Imperialist nations championed ‘white autonomy’ but did not sanction the autonomy of the darker skinned people around the globe which possessed the natural resources coveted by industrialist nations. (Vijay Prashad A People’s History of Darker Nations)
For example: India and the British, Africa and the different European colonizers, Japan and Asia and U.S. and possessions in the Pacific Ocean as well as their minority population within its borders seeking equality and civil rights.
WWIWhere were most of the world’s natural resources necessary for industrialism found? • Oil • Minerals • Coal • Rubber • Lumber • Gold & Silver • Cheap Manual Labor • Markets where industrialist nations can sell their finished products, etc.
Analyzing WWI • How could a monopoly of natural resources by Germans or Austro-Hungarian Empire be detrimental to French or British economic and political interests? • What was the importance of the Balkan region for the nations that would become the Central Powers? What was the importance of forming independent nation states in the Balkans for the Allies?
Casualties of War • Over 10,000,000 young men died in the battlefields of Europe. • In August of 1914 a volunteer for the British Army had to be 5 feet 8 inches tall to enlist. By October the requirement was lowered to 5 feet 5 inches, after casualties over 30,000 the requirement was lowered to 5 feet 3 inches.
Cont’d • In the Battle of the Marne the Germans and British and French lost 500,000 men each. • In 1916 Verdun the Germans tried to break through the British and French lines- the Germans lost 600,000 men in the fight.
Rough estimate of European casualties: Germans 1.8 million, Russians 1.7 million, French 1.4 million, Austrio-Hungarians 1.2 million, British 1.4 million. • The U.S. lost 116,500 soldiers but the U.S. only saw active duty for roughly 3 months, while Europeans saw active duty for over 3 years.
What Made the Casualties High? • Trench Warfare • Advance Weapon Technology • Archaic methods of fighting • Poor conditions/health/medicine in the trenches.
Reasons Why U.S. Became Involved • Though the Central Powers were outnumbered they nonetheless were masters at ground combat. • The British were masters at Naval Combat and the U.S. sanctioned Blockade seemed to start turning the tide of battle in favor of Allies.
When the Germans adopted submarine warfare the power of the British Navy was negated. • Allies began to suffer severe set-backs on both fields of battle- land and sea. • An Ally defeat would have caused U.S. to lose invested capital so it was imperative that the U.S. ensure an Ally victory.
FACTS • WWI lasted roughly from 1914-1918. • In 1914 a serious recession had begun in the U.S. • By 1915 war orders for the Allies mostly England had stimulated the economy and by 1917 $2 billion dollars worth of goods had been sold to the Allies.
Truth About American Neutrality • In 1897 Private U.S. business had investments of roughly over $500 million dollars on the nations that were the Ally powers. • By 1914 Private U.S. business investments were over $2 billion dollars. • What do you think would happen to this invested money if the Allies lost? • U.S. was the largest supplier of all necessary war material for the Allies. • The nation was not neutral and the system’s interests rested squarely on an Allied victory.
The Draft • At first a call for volunteers was made by U.S. government. • Huge amounts of funds were geared to try to raise popular support for the war effort. • George Creel was funded by government to give patriotic speeches around the country in the hopes of meeting the necessary quota that the French had requested of 1,000,000 men.
Cont’d • Even after several months George Creel and government failed to raise the required number of soldiers. • Six weeks after the declaration of war only 73,000 men had enlisted. • Since there was no popular support for the war congress passed the Draft. • Opposition to the war were numerous. • In response the government passed the Espionage Act in 1917, which forbade anyone to hamper the war effort.
Facts cont’d: Conflicting Evidence • Conventional history claims that the war enjoyed popular support. • Yet the Federal Government passed the Selective Service Act in 1917 (Forced Military Service) to muster man power to assist the Allies. • It also passed the Espionage Act in 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 to curb anti-war and anti-draft protests.
Human Rights Violations • The Draft forced young men to fight in a war that by and large benefited mainly the industrial elite of the society and some government officials.
Fact • The company of J.P. Morgan made $348 million dollars in profits alone from the war in 1916. • The Draft made sure that the quota would be met and exceeded. Over 2,000,000 American men, mostly from the lower middle-class or poor, were drafted into military service. • Looking at these facts, can forced military service be viewed as systematic oppression?
