World War I

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World War I

• Nationalism and Imperialism

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European Nationalism

• Nationalism in Europe spread following the fall
  of Napoleon.
• Congress of Vienna (1815)balance of power in
  Europe.
• Revolution of 1848
• Formerly divided territories merged into
  nation-states Italy in 1860s and Germany in
  1870s.
• German unification brought on by Prussian
  chancellor Otto von Bismark

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"Germany is not looking to Prussia's liberalism,
but to her power. The great questions of the day
will not be decided by speeches and majority
decisions, this was the mistake of 1848, but by
iron and blood."
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Unified Germany

• Franco-Prussian War (1870-1)
• Balance of power in Europe off.
• Germans annex French territory, resulting in
  French hostility for decades to come.
• German Empire created, but not much of the world
  left to colonize.
• Only part of Africa taken by Germany Shantung
  province of Chinasphere of influence.

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Tension in the Balkans

• Emerging as a powder keg.
• Nationalism in the Balkans (primarily Serbia)
  against Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Looked to Russia as a Slavic nation to come to
  their aidnever happens.
• Germany allied with Austria and supported their
  policy of domination of Serbia entered into an
  understanding with Russia.

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Kaiser Wilhelm II

• Germany allied with every nation but France.
• Forced Bismark to resign as chancellor.
• Created a German navy that rivaled Britains.
• European nation begins making secret treaties.

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Alliances and Ententes

• Britain, France, and Russia formed the Triple
  Entente in 1907 to counter German
  ascendancyGerman now sandwiched.
• Schlieffen PlanGermanys planned pre-emptive
  attack on France if Russia mobilized against
  either Germany of Austria.
• Ottoman Empire loosely allied Austria for
  relative peace in Balkans between powers.

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Assassination in the Powder Keg

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
  Austro-Hungarian throne, visits Sarajevo, Bosnia,
  in June 1914.
• Bosnian Serb nationalist shoots the Archduke and
  his wife.
• Powder keg thus ignited.

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Beginning of World War I

• Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia.
• Russia comes to aid of Serbia declares war on
  Austria.
• Germany (Schlieffen Plan) attacks Belgium and
  begins invasion of France.
• France and Britain declares war on Germany
  Austria declares war on Britain and France.
• Ottoman Empire declares war on Britain, France,
  and Russia.

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World War I (1914-1918)

• First World War, The Great War, The War to
  End All Wars
• Beginning in June/Julyexpected to be over by
  Christmas.
• War of Attrition
• War of Technology
• War of Colonies

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War of Attrition

• Trench warfare develops on the German and French
  border.
• Germans on the defensive built better trenches.
  Why?
• Wars of attrition generally turn into stalemates
  with high casualties on both sides.
• Over 6,000 miles of trenches with 800,000
  soldiers just on the British side.

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War of Technology

• 20th century technology meets 19th century
  military tactics.
• Trenchescombinations of machine guns and barbed
  wire.
• Chemical warfare (even though outlawed)mustard
  gas and tear gas.
• Aircraftplanes and Zeppelins
• U-boats, submarines.

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Mustard gas victim
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Stalemate Broken

• RMS Lusitania, British steam liner, torpedoed in
  1915.
• Suspected of smuggling guns and ammo from U.S.
  (it was).
• Several Americans on board.
• U.S. enters war on side of Britain/France/Russia.

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Cost of World War I

• Large-scale death of citizens 800,000 die in
  Germany alone due to Allied blockade.
• Treaty of Versailles (1919), strips Germany and
  its allies of power and wealth.
• Flu from America enters Europe, killing 20
  million.
• Lost Generationdisillusioned young men scarred
  by the horrors of war (Hemingway).
• Russian Revolution and World War II

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Casualties of War

• Men mobilized / killed
• Russia 12,000,000 / 1,700,000
• France 8,400,000 / 1,300,000
• Britain 8,900,000 / 908,000
• Italy 5,500,000 / 650,000
• U.S. 4,300,000 / 126,000
• Germany 11,000,000 / 1,700,000
• Austria 7,800,000 / 1,200,000
• Ottoman Empire 2,800,000 / 87,000

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League of Nations

• Proposed by Pres. Woodrow Wilson as part of this
  Fourteen Points for settling the war.
• Goals preventing war through disarmament,
  collective security, diplomacy, end of secret
  agreements.
• Lacked an arm force and failed to confront
  growing fascism in Europe and militarism in
  Japan.
• United States never joined.

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Colonies

• Germany, Austria, and Ottoman Empires
  possessions seized by Allies as the spoils of
  war.
• Problems obviously not solved.
• Proto-nationalist movements beginning in many
  colonies India, Egypt, much of Africa.