Causes of World War 1

2. Causes of World War 1 • Nationalism • Imperialism • The Alliance System • Militarism • Archduke Franz Ferdinand

3. Nationalism • Is the belief that each ethnic group should have its own nation • Nationalists also assert their own nations as superior to others. • Encouraged rivalries between France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia • The spread of nationalism also lead to new independent nations in the Balkans- Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania- where the Ottomans once ruled. • Some of these new countries were unstable and fought a series of local wars that threatened to involve the larger powers. • Austria-Hungary consisted of several different ethnic groups, including Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Rumanians, Polish, Serbs, and Croats. • Some of these nations wanted their own nation-state which threatened to break up the Austro-Hungarian Empire apart.

4. Nationalism

5. Imperialism • Refers to the political and economic control of one area or country by another • Competing claims by Europeans caused tension between major powers. • By 1900, one quarter of the world was under British rule. • German industrialization threatened British economic supremacy. • Russian interests in the Balkans threatened both Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

6. The Alliance System • By 1914, Europe was divided into two alliances. • One side was the Triple Alliance (Central-powers)- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy • The Other side was the Triple Entente (Allied-powers) - Russia, France, and Great Britain (England)

8. Militarism • Occurs when military values and goals take over civilian society. • Bismarck had united Germany through Prussia’s military power, and every European country tried to build up its army. • Generals wore military uniforms even in daily life. • Germany and Britain competed to build the most powerful Navy. • Military planning played a key role in the outbreak of WW1.

9. The flashpoint that ignites the war.(Archduke Franz Ferdinand) • In July 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to Austrian Empire, was assassinated by a member of the terrorist group, the Black Hand, a Slav nationalist group. • Austrian leaders believed that Serb officials had secretly helped the Assassins. • Austria-Hungary invaded tiny Serbia. • This set off a chain reaction.

10. Alliance Treaties • Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because of the assassination. • Russia entered to protect Serbia • Germany entered to protect Austria-Hungary • Britain and France entered to protect Russia • Italy refused to join at first since Austria-Hungary had attacked first. • Ottoman Empire joined the central powers (triple alliance) to oppose Russia. • Europe was at War with each other.

11. Europe at start of World War 1

12. Fighting the War • Military leaders on both sides thought the war would be over quickly. Instead it lasted many years. • German war plans called for Germany to march through the lowlands of neutral Belgium and take Paris quickly before Russia could enter the war. • Germans advanced but were stopped by the Belgian army before reaching Paris. • Woodrow Wilson, President of U.S., called upon Americans to take no sides and remain neutral.

13. New kind of War • New and improved weapons were used in fighting the war, including the machine gun, poison gas, submarines, and airplanes. • Each side tried to mobilize all its resources, turning the war into a “TOTAL WAR”

14. Machine Gun

15. Poison Gas

16. Submarines (German U-boats)

17. Trench Warfare

18. United States Enters the War • Serbia, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Greece, and Portugal joined the Allied Powers. • America was sympathetic to Britain and France even though U.S. was neutral • When American ships sent supplies to the Allied powers, they were attacked by German U-boats. • In response the U.S. entered in 1917. • Wilson declared that the war would make the world “safe for democracy”

22. America Enters the War • President Wilson announced America’s war aims in the Fourteen Point speech. • He wanted to redraw the map of Europe so that each nationality had its own nation. • Wilson demanded freedom of the seas • End to secret diplomacy • Creation of the League of Nations. • When America entered they broke the deadlock between the two powers. • November 1918, Germans laid down their weapons and surrendered.

23. Aftermath of World War 1 • Millions of people were killed or injured • Famine and malnutrition threatened many regions • Governments of Russia and Germany were overthrown.

24. Paris Peace Conference (1919) • Germans agreed to end the war and to overthrow the Kaiser (president) • Allied leaders Woodrow Wilson (U.S.), David Lloyd George (Great Britain), and Georges Clemenceau (France) met in Paris to negotiate a peace treaty. • Treaty of Versailles concluded peace with Germany; other treaties dealt with Austria-Hungary and Turkey. • The final peace treaty turned out to be extremely harsh on Germany.

25. Treaty of Versailles (1919) • Germany’s territorial losses. A new independent Poland was created. Germany lost territory to France and Poland, as well as all of its overseas colonies. • Germany lost all of its Navy, while its army was reduced to a small police force. • Germany was forced to accept the blame for starting the war in the War Guilt Clause. • Germany was forced to pay reparations (payments for damages) to the allies.

26. League of Nations • The treaty created the League of Nations, an organization of nations pledged to defend each other against aggressors. • The league was weakened when several major powers, such as the United States and Russia, refused to join it. • The purpose was to promote disarmament and prevent war. • The league had no military force of its own, so it depended on the help of its member nations. • It created a court of International Law.