The British Empire

1. ImperialismThe ambition of a powerful nation to dominate the political, economic, and cultural affairs of another country.

2. The British Empire • As the 1st country to industrialize, Britain came to be the dominate world power from 1815-1900. • Britain led the world in the production of coal, iron and manufactured goods. • British money (Pound) was used for most international trade. • Their world empire was used for markets to sell goods, as well as land to take natural resources from.

3. “The sun never sets on the British Empire”.

5. Technology that allows for Europe to dominate Africa and Southeast Asia • Machine gun • Quanine (access to jungle, combat Malaria) • Steamship • Telegraph • Railroads

6. The British Navy: Her naval and merchant fleet was larger than all other countries combined during most of the 1800s.

7. Missionaries • The urge to spread the Christian religion increased with imperialism. • As worldwide trade increased with industrialization, people in Europe were introduced to new cultures in Africa and Southeast Asia. The desire to “save” these people from their uncivilized ways developed. (White Man’s Burden) • Missionaries built many schools and hospitals; thus, knowledge of Christianity, medicine and European languages and learning spread throughout the world.

9. The Scale of Justice

10. In 1884, European powers met in Berlin, Germany to resolve conflicts over territory. No African representatives were there. European leaders simply carved up Africa to their own benefit. Tribes and ethnic groups in Africa were separated which caused major social disruption which has lasted up until today. “The Berlin Conference” illustrates the blatant disregard for colonized people during the Age of Imperialism.

11. The Sun is Setting….. • By 1900, Britain’s predominance was slipping. • By 1890, the US had overtaken Britain in the production of iron, coal, steel and manufactured goods. • Britain was beginning to show some vulnerability; she had no standing army and other European countries were beginning to challenge her.

12. MAIN Causes of WWI • M Militarism • A Alliances • I Imperialism • N Nationalism

13. Militarism • Germany was competing with Russia and France to expand their armies= Chain reaction where one builds up so the others have to as well. 1880 1914 • Germany 1.3m 5.0m • France 0.73m 4.0m • Russia 0.40m 1.2m • Industrialization allows them to build their armies quickly. • WWI was the 1st industrialized war.

14. Germany & Great Britain • Germany believed that to be a great power it needed a strong navy (as well as army) to rival Britain. (This is a mix of nationalism and militarism) • The British could not understand why Germany needed a navy since it was more of a land power with few colonies. • Britain took Germany’s developing navy as a threat.

15. Alliances • By 1914 all the major powers were linked by a system of alliances. • The alliances made it more likely that a war would start. Once war started, the alliances made it more likely to spread.

16. Why are there alliances? • Imperialism created rivalries for larger empires and prestige. Towards the end of the 1800s, these rivalries caused small wars. • For example: France and Germany went to war in 1870. (France lost) And, in 1905 they fought over Morocco. • Fear of revenge, or desire for revenge, led to militarization and to the need to make alliances for protection.

17. France Britain Russia France & Great Britain were long time enemies, however, the fear of Germany led them to form alliances. France sought an alliance with Russia to help protect her from Germany. With agreements between all three the Triple Entente was formed in 1907.

18. Germany & Austria/Hungary • Germany knew that France might seek revenge for their loss in the war of 1870. So, Germany made an alliance with the Austrian-Hungarian Empire to try to isolate France. • By allying with Austria-Hungary, Germany upset Russia. Russia felt threatened. Russia also wanted to control this area to have access to the Mediterranean Sea.

19. Kaiser Wilhelm II • Germany, under the leadership of Kaiser Wilhelm II, wanted to extend it’s influence through Austria-Hungary all the way to Constantinople with a railroad. • His actions worsened the fears of France, Britain and Russia. Their alliance grew stronger. • Austria-Hungary wanted to use German strength to stop the Slavs in the Balkans from gaining too much power. • Austria-Hungary was very weak militarily but Germany protected her.

20. Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary was a very weak empire. They wanted to control the Balkans to prove themselves, however, they needed the backing (protection) from Germany. Their empire was falling apart. They wanted to go to war to squash any rebellions.

21. Two Armed Camps • With the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, Europe was divided into two armed camps. All of these nations had promised to come to the defense of their allies if a conflict arose….and in 1914 one did.

22. The Balkans (The “Powder Keg”) Nationalism: Serbian Nationalists wanted to extend their land to the sea, creating a large Slavic State. In 1908, Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia was infuriated, so too was Russia who identified with the Slavic culture of the Balkan people.

23. The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand 1914 • This is considered the “spark” that started WWI. • Young men, part of the Black Hand Society, planned the murder • They were Serbian nationalists opposed to Austrian-Hungarian rule over Bosnia-Herzegovina. • They felt that Serbia was next to be conquered by Austria-Hungary • Austria-Hungary saw this as an excuse to attack Serbia (but only with the backing of Germany) • What kind of ultimatum did Austria-Hungary present to Serbia?

24. Princip assassinates the Archduke

25. The Outbreak of War: 1914 After rejecting the ultimatum, Serbia began mobilizing (getting troops ready) for war. Russia promised to come to the defense of Serbia and began to mobilize for war. Germany demanded that Russia stop mobilizing, but this was ignored. Germany then declared war on Russia..and believing that France would join in soon, Germany declared war on France as well.

26. Schlieffen Plan: German plan to attack France through Belgium, surround Paris and knock France out of the war quickly before Russia has a chance to mobilize…then turn on Russia

27. The attack on Belgium Belgium was supposed to be neutral territory where the Germans promised not to invade. When the Germans did invade, the British came to the defense of the innocent Belgian people.

28. The Central Powers Italy dropped out of its’ alliance with Germany and instead joined the Allies or the Triple Entente. Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined Germany and Austria-Hungary. To form the Central Powers (They’re in the center)

29. Stalemate: 1914

30. Map of Western Front

31. Trench Warfare

32. The Central Powers Italy dropped out of its’ alliance with Germany and instead joined the Allies or the Triple Entente. Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined Germany and Austria-Hungary. To form the Central Powers (They’re in the center)

33. The Allied Powers: France, Britain, Russia and Italy, (32 countries in all) The “Allies” (changed name from Triple Entente) have more troops and a stronger naval power, but the Central Powers have the ability to transport troops and communicate quickly through central Europe.

35. New Weapons of War: These weapons had never been used before. Tank (British 1916) The British introduced the tank which allowed troops to get through barbed wire and cross over to enemy lines. Tanks proved ineffective at first since they had trouble getting through the mud. Machine Gun Make troop advancements deadly. Soldiers built trenches to protect themselves from the machine gun fire.

36. New Weapons Continued Artillery German U-Boat (submarine)

37. Zeppelins Used by Germans in the beginning of the war, Zeppelins or airships, carried bombs and guns. They were abandoned because they were too easily shot out of the sky.

38. Poison Gas

39. Mass Devastation

40. Freezing Winters

41. The soldiers had very little decent food, and what food they had was often attacked by rats. These rats were the size of small rabbits and badgers because they had fed on the decomposing bodies of dead soldiers.

43. Trench Foot

45. Shell Shock

46. Verdun • The Battle of Verdun resulted in more than a quarter of a million deaths and at least a million wounded. Verdun was the longest battle and one of the bloodiest in World War I and more generally in human history. In both France and Germany it has come to represent the horrors of war,

47. The Somme The final tally included 420,000 British casualties, 200,000 French and the Germans 500,000. The reward for this effort was the six-mile movement of the British front line into German territory.

48. The Paris Peace Conference&The Treaty of Versailles

49. What made Germany to surrender? • After Germany and Russia agreed to Peace (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) Germany made a last attempt to defeat France. • However, by this time, 1918, it was too late. • The Allies had reorganized and led by new generals, helping them push back the Germans. • The other Central Powers had surrendered. • The American troops were adding strength to the Allied forces.

50. Other factors leading to the defeat of the Central Powers • After failing to defeat France in 1914, Germany was then forced to fight on two fronts (surrounded). • Outnumbered: The Central Powers only had 22 million men, where the Allies had 38 million. • The Allies had more money (American loans) • The British blockade was very effective in keeping supplies from the Central Powers • British tanks became more effective on the battlefield • American President Woodrow Wilson’s plans for peace were very attractive to many German people…they were afraid of being punished by France and Britain, so it seemed like a good idea to agreed to Wilson’s peace plans (Fourteen Points)