1 / 24

The Background to World War I

The Background to World War I. “To genetic evolution, the human lineage has added the parallel track of cultural evolution.” -Edward Wilson. 1800-1870: Britain as the superior industrial and colonial power . 1870-1914: Germany and the US as the superior industrial powers.

raina
Download Presentation

The Background to World War I

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Background to World War I “To genetic evolution, the human lineage has added the parallel track of cultural evolution.” -Edward Wilson

  2. 1800-1870: Britain as the superior industrial and colonial power 1870-1914: Germany and the US as the superior industrial powers

  3. Definition for Kaiser: The monarch who appoints the Chancellor He is not elected, but inherits his office and claims it as his divine right. He is not responsible to the people. Definition for the Chancellor: Appoints members of the cabinet such as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Education, etc. Cabinet Ministers are responsible to the kaiser only and not the people. Otto von Bismarck ruled as Chancellor from 1862-1890.

  4. Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 Germany took the territories of Alsace-Lorraine

  5. Between 1911-1913, the German army grew from 515,000 members to 866,000 members. From: The Geography of the Great War, Frank McMurray, PhD

  6. Definition for militarism:

  7. From 1888 onwards, Germany began the Baghdad Railway which was to connect Berlin with the Persian Gulf

  8. Kaiser William II Italian Cartoon - 1915

  9. The Moroccan Crisis In 1904, France was supported by Britain to establish a protectorate 1905: Germany recognized the sultan as independent and promised German protection against France 1906: Germany (supported by Austria) lost control of Morocco to France who was supported by Britain and the U.S.

  10. 1869: Suez Canal restored Middle East to its former importance as crossroads of Eurasia 1914: Panama Canal strengthened military posture of the US

  11. As Ottoman power declined, Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary were interested in the Balkans for their own purposes

  12. Greece (1830) Serbia (1878) Montenegro (1878) Romania (1878) Bulgaria (1878) Bosnia (1878) Herzegovina (1878) Egypt under British (1882) Albania (1913) Many subject territories of the Ottoman Empire gained independence: Serbia dreamed of an independent Slavic State that included Bosnia, BUT Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia & Herzegovina in 1908

  13. October 6, 1908: Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia/Herzegovina. This meant that Serbia’s hopes of an independent state for its people was dashed. (A large Serbian population was living in Bosnia/Herzegovina.) Though Russia was against Austria-Hungary’s actions, Germany was willing to back up Austria by force if necessary

  14. Bosnia & Herzegovina annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908 June 28, 1914 Bosnia In order to control Balkan territory, Austria-Hungary wanted to suppress nationalist, movements especially in Serbia. However, Russia supported Serbian nationalism as fellow Slavs. Germany supported Austria as it had its own agenda for the Balkans and beyond.

  15. Austria-Hungary declared war against Serbia on July 28, 1914 Russia declared war against Austria-Hungary and Germany Germany declared war against Russia on August 1, 1914 Germany declared war against France (ally of Russia) August 3, 1914 Germany invades neutral Belgium to try to win in France August 4, 1914 Britain declared war against Germany on August 4, 1914 Ottomans declared war on Allies in August, 1914 US declares neutrality August 18, 1914 By Christmas, 1914, 400 miles of trench on the Western Front

  16. 1830: French occupation of Algiers 1881: British occupation of Egypt

  17. Arabia in the middle: Detail from the 1899 Rand McNally & Company's Indexed Atlas of the World. Courtesy of Harvard Map Collection

  18. 1926: Sculpture of Thomas Edward Lawrence

  19. Arab leaders declared independence from Ottoman rule in 1916. 1920s: Ibn Saud, leader of the Wahhabi movement consolidated rule over a new Saudi Arabia. It was a poor country at the outset. 1930s: American Standard Oil found oil along the Persian Gulf. An Arabian/American oil company called “Aramco” was established.

  20. Per the British Balfour Declaration of 1917, Jews began to arrive in Palestine though the majority of people were Muslim To alleviate tensions between Muslims and Jews, Britain created “Trans-Jordan” in eastern Palestine The Middle East in 1919

  21. US Enters WWI: 1915 – Sinking of the Lusitania by Germany / Killed 120 Americans 1916 – Sussex sunk by German U-Boats Business interests? US interests in the Middle East? Protecting the international environment?

More Related