World War I

1. World War I Short version

2. Causes • Militarism (Wilson): military, reporting directly to a king, not to elected civilian governments, controlled Germany, Austria, Russia and Turkey with goal of military power and glory regardless of the people • Arms Race: Germany, under Kaiser Wilhelm II, tried to challenged British naval power, producing bigger and more powerful battleships; new technology produced more lethal artillery and individual weapons, all giving developed nations confidence in their own military power.

3. Further Causes • Nationalism: waves of nationalism, especially in Austria and the Ottoman Empire (Serbs, Slavs, Germans) wanting independent nations of their own + national pride wouldn’t let nations back down if they were insulted by another nation. • Economic Imperialism (Marxist): great powers empires competing for economic control would result, inevitably, in world conflict (Hobson): American variation: arms producers and dealers pushed the war to make greater profits. Argument vs this last: arms manufacturers had no more influence on government decisions than all the other industries that might be hurt by the war

4. Above all, false confidence: • Germans: their two wars happened so fast, (7 weeks) they felt invincible. They welcomed frischer und frohlicher Krieg (“fresh and joyous war”), an adventure for their “iron youth,” unbeatable. • French and British: war was a romantic escapade, Mortal Combat, not grim reality: they would defeat Germany before Christmas. The French even had their own plan, Plan #XVII, a lightning offensive designed to regain the provinces of Alsace Lorraine, lost to Germany in 1870.

5. "Some damn foolish thing in the Balkans,"2. Who said it? How was it prophetic? 3. What happened as the spark for war?

6. Dominoes: interlocking alliances • Franz Josef of Austria is persuaded to declare war on Bosnia to retaliate for the assassination of the Archduke. • Russia, with a contracted alliance, must rush to Bosnia’s defense. • Germany promises a “blank check” to help Austria, knowing this action threatens to cause war with Russia, but gambling that France and Britain will not support their ally. • Russia is allied by treaty with France and England, so when Russia goes to war, France and England must go, too. Germany’s invasion of Belgium, the neutrality of which is guaranteed by Britain, impels the British into the war.

7. More nations join the fray… • Everyone wants a piece of the Ottoman Empire. Besides, Turkey had signed a secret treaty with Germany: she joined the Central Powers • Italy had been allied to Germany and Austria since the 1880’s, but had signed a secret treaty with France and wanted parts of southern Austria. Though Germany and Austria wanted Italy to come into the war with them, Italy argued that their treaties with those countries were defensive, and Austria had attacked Bosnia first. Italy joined the Triple Entente later. • Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and attacked Serbia from the south.

8. 1. Name the alliances that provided the setup for war

9. Later the war becomes a struggle between autocracy and democracy • At first, Triple Alliance included Russia, an autocracy of autocracies. • Russia was defeated; the Revolution replaced the autocratic czar (temporarily) with limited representative government; when Lenin took over, Russia withdrew from war = only democratic powers remained • US now could safely make a case to its people to join the war to “make the world safe for democracy.”

10. German Plan: “Schlieffen Plan”

11. Whoops! Why the plan didn’t work: • Russians got ready for war much more quickly than Germany anticipate; • Belgians put up much more resistance than planned: bog down the German invasion • British also prepared much more quickly than anticipated; transported troops, etc to support French against German forces • German invasion forces are bogged down, forced to fight much more fiercely

12. Armament and the War: determining the kind of fighting

13. 5,000 cubic feet Nurse Balloons; hangar, Okla. City

14. German weather balloons leaving hangar Anthony Fokker testing the synchronization mechanism of a machine gun mounted on a German plane

15. The biplane replaced the balloon for observing enemy positions in the trench warfare of World War I. By the end of the war, the Germans were acquiring 4,000 photos a day as part of the planning for their last great offensive of 1918, and the US Army made over one million prints in the last four months of the war..

16. SPAD XIII

17. SE5

18. Handley-Page Bomber

19. This is the official German photograph of the Baron Manfred von Richtofen, the Red Baron. Von Richtofen, Germany's highest ace, with 80 kills, was himself shot down and died on April 21, 1918. He was shot down by a Sopwith Camel flown by Captain A. Roy Brown, a 24 year old Canadian aviator. An Australian infantry unit also claimed they had shot Richtofen down.

22. London air raid damage

23. Big Bertha, Howitzer L/14, manufactured by Krupp, the German industrial power, had a range of 122 km. It bombarded Paris for 20 months during 1917.

24. Effects of French shellfire on German positions

27. Machine Gun, Cal. .30, M1917/M1917A1 (1917). The M1917 water-cooled .30 cal. machine gun was developed by John Browning. The M1971A1 was the Army's standard until mid-1950s. The M1917 water-cooled machine gun saw service with the last U.S. troops to enter France near the end of World War I. It was tripod mounted, but was also used as an aircraft gun. The M1917 had a rate of fire of 450 spm.

28. Although commercial pistols were purchased and issued to General Officers, some standard Army issue pistols were specially modified for use by General Officers Pistol, Semi-automatic.45 Cal., M1911 Pistol, .45 Cal., Revolver, M1917 (1917). During World War I, due to a shortage of M1911 pistols, the Army procured Colt New Service and Smith & Wesson hand ejector cal. .45 six-round double-action revolvers. These pistols were standard issue until World War II, when they were only issued to Military Police and security personnel.

29. M1918A2 (1940) was fully-automatic, but selective at either Slow (300-450 spm) or Fast (500-650 spm) rates of fire. The M1918A2 was originally issued with a spike based removable stock rest which fitted in a hole in the buttstock.

30. Photo of the British Mark I Tank in 1916 Photo of the British Mark I Tank in 1916

31. "Tanks in Action" - Edward Handley-Read

34. Trench Warfare

35. "Humanity - Stretcher-Bearer Post, 9th Field Ambulance" - Gilbert Rogers (Official War Artist)

36. After two years of war, the battle lines of the Western front (noted in yellow) had barely changed from the first days of stalemate. This was modern warfare. The Eastern front was a different story, where battles more resembled fluid engagements of the 19th century.

37. Fanciful German depiction of First Ypres

40. The First Chemical Warfare: Gas • Germans used first, then Allies used it • Many different kinds of chemicals, especially: • Chlorine—acidic gas attacks the lungs • Phosgene—attacks ALL mucus/moist areas • Mustard gas—attacks skin, doesn’t need to be breathed in

42. Aerial View—gas attack

43. German gas attack on Allied trenches

44. Aftermath: gas attacks

46. Stalemate • After the First Battle of the Marne, both Entente and German forces began a series of outflanking maneuvers to try to force the other to retreat, in the “race to the sea.” • Britain and France found themselves facing entrenched German positions from Lorraine to Belgium's coast. • Britain and France sought to take the offensive, while Germany defended occupied territories, so German trenches were much better • In April 1915, the Germans used chlorine gas for the first time, opening a four mile wide hole in the Allied lines closed by Canadian soldiers at both the 2nd Battle of Ypres (the first time a colonial force drove back a European power), and 3rd Ypres (where over 5000 Canadian soldiers were gassed to death), earning German respect. • Neither side proved able to deliver a decisive blow for the next four years, though protracted German action at Verdun throughout 1916, and the Entente's failure at the Somme, in the summer of 1916, brought the exhausted French army to the brink of collapse. • Futile attempts at frontal assaults, at terrible cost to the French infantry, led to mutinies • News of the Russian Revolution gave hope to socialists among the troops. Red flags were hoisted and the Internationale was sung on several occasions. At the height of the mutiny, 30,000 to 40,000 French soldiers participated.

47. Who was to blame? The Generals? • Willingness to keep on fighting, accepting enormous casualties, though success became less and less likely • Haig (Allies) couldn’t allow idea of failure; had to justify earlier casualties, money on munitions • Somme and passchendaele fought for months after clear attacks not progressing’ • Example: Somme (Oct/Nov 1916) Quagmire, but attacks continue, degrading morale for 3 months after subordinates said hopeless • Persistently unachievable, over optimistic objectives • Every attack would be the one that would win, vs experience • Haig insisted German morale and manpower at edge of collapse • Oct 1916 convinced one more hammer blow would crush Germans • Intelligence just told them what they wanted to hear • Example: Passchendaele: plan to reach channel ports and Uboats there; first day advanced only 6,000 yards (3 3/5 miles) didn’t listen to those who wanted more limited goals

48. However: New Kind of War • No experience because of new weapons • Transportation and communications advances favored the defender • Disadvantages for attackers • Generals hampered by interfering politicians

49. Throughout 1915-17, the British Empire and France suffered many more casualties than Germany, but both sides lost millions of soldiers to injury and disease. • Around 800,000 soldiers from the British Empire were on the Western Front at any one time. 1,000 battalions, in sectors from the North Sea to the Orne River, rotated, fighting for a month, then withdrawing, replaced by another unit, unless fighting in a battle • The front contained over 6,000 miles of trenches.

50. Russia leaves the War: Consequences • Russian plan: to attack both Austrian front and Prussian front at the same time • Some success on Austrian front • Beaten badly by better equipped and trained Prussian armies • Defeats led to discontent at home that helped push the revolution • Lenin and the Bolsheviks succeeded in taking advantage of weakness and confusion of the Russian revolution to seize power in St Petersburg • In December 1917, Lenin signed an Armistice with the Central Powers, ending Russian participation with the Allies and giving up ¼ of Russia’s territory to Germany • The withdrawal of Russia freed up German troops from the eastern front for use in the west. • Ironically, German troop transfers could have been greater if their territorial acquisitions had not been so dramatic.