Europe in 1914: The Road to World War I
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Presentation Transcript
Chapter 25 The Beginning of the Twentieth-Century Crisis: War and Revolution
The Road to World War I • Before the outbreak of WWI, Europeans were optimistic about material progress • Felt European society was moving towards an earthly utopia • WWI kills millions of Europeans and brings an end to the period known as the age of progress • Nationalism and Internal Dissent • Nationalism • Liberals claimed that creation of national states would bring peace • Instead it was the most responsible for triggering WWI • Led to competition instead of cooperation • Brinkmanship • Defended national honor • Believed they had to support allies to preserve their own internal security
Internal dissent • Ethnic tensions • Irish in British Empire • Slavic minorities in the Balkans & Austrian Empire • Poles in the Russian empire • Growing power of Socialist labor movements • Increase is strikes alarmed conservative leaders
Possible Test Question • Which of the following trends helped lead to the outbreak of the Great War? • Conservative leaders hoped to crush internal democratic movement through war. • European generals adopted new military policies • European states felt they had to uphold the power of their allies for their own internal security • The downward spiral of European economies • The dismantling of Europe’s overseas empires
Militarism • Conscription • Armies doubled in size between 1890 - 1914 • Influence of military leaders • Developed complex military plans that took precedence over political plans
The Outbreak of War: The Summer of 1914 • The effects of the Balkan Wars prior to 1914 • Tension between Russia & Austria for control of Balkan states • Nationalism pushed minority groups to seek independence • Immediate cause of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and wife Sophia, June 28, 1914 • Germany gives “full support” to Austria • Blank Check • Austria declares war on Serbia on July 28, 1914 • Russian mobilization • Germans responded with an ultimatum • Russians ignored it and Germany declared war on Russia
Possible Test Question • Among nineteenth-century European political movements, the one most responsible for triggering World War I was • Nationalism. • Liberalism. • Conservatism. • Socialism. • Modernism.
Schlieffen Plan • Minimal troops against Russia • Quick strike against France by moving through Belgium • Germany declared war on France to carry out their plan • Britain declares war on Germany for invading Belgium neutrality
Possible Test Question • The outbreak of the Great War was greatly accelerated by the Schlieffen Plan, which was • Germany’s promise of full-fledged support for Austrian military actions against Serbia. • The Black Hand’s plan for the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. • Germany’s military plan to invade France through neutral Belgium before attacking Russia. • Russia’s mobilization plan against both Germany and Austria-Hungary. • The German emperor’s last attempt to persuade Russia not to mobilize its armies.
The War 1914-1915: Illusions & Stalemate • European attitudes toward the beginning of war • Belief in a short, romantic war, that would provide a release from the dull and boring existence of mass society • Started in Aug. 1914 – troops thought they would be home for Christmas • Failure of the Schlieffen Plan • Right flank was weakened to prevent Russian invasion in Eastern Germany • British mobilized faster than expected • Most important consequence - Western front bogs down into trench warfare • First Battle of the Marne, September 6-10, 1914 • Germans stopped.
Possible Test Question • Most Europeans believed that the Great War would • Be much like the American Civil War in length. • Be an exciting, emotional release from the otherwise dull and boring existence of mass society. • Last for years creating a rousing state of perpetual heroics as proclaimed by Nietzsche in his writings on “superman.” • Ultimately bring about the unification of Europe in one centralized and highly militarized government. • Result in a new balance of power throughout all of Western Civilization.
War in the East • Fighting was characterized by more mobility than the trench warfare on the Western Front, but still resulted in high numbers of casualties. • Russian Failures • Battle of Tannenberg, August 30, 1914 • Battle of Masurian Lakes, September 15, 1914 • Austrian Failures • Galicia and Serbia • Germans come to Austria’s aid • Defeat Serbia • Inflict heavy casualties on Russia (2.5 million dead) • Italy doesn’t honor prewar alliance – joins allies in 1915
The War 1916-1917: The Great Slaughter • Trench warfare • “No-man’s land” – area between trenches • Political pressure for military results prompted Generals to throw massive amounts of men at defensive positions • Daily life for the soldiers was characterized by long periods of boredom followed by artillery barrage and frontal assaults by troops • Trench warfare became a senseless slaughter of troops incompetent officers continually ordered their troops to accomplish impossible battlefield objectives
“Softening up” the enemy (usual tactic) • Artillery barrage before soldiers attack • intended to destroy enemy barbed wire, make them hide in bunkers, psychologically shock them and make them vulnerable to attack • Battle of Verdun, 1916, Germans lost 700,000 men in 10 months • Battle of the Somme, 1916, British lost 60,000 men in one day. • Heaviest one-day loss in World War I • As the soldiers settled into trench warfare • They became miserable in rat-infested trenches • Dealt with trench foot • Lost the romantic feel to the war • Lost morale as they waited to die
Possible Test Question • The development of trench warfare in France was characterized by • Quick advances and seizures of enemy trenches. • Fewer casualties due to thick fortifications. • Long periods of boredom broken by artillery barrages and frontal assaults by enemy troops. • High morale and assurance of victory among the troops whose use of modern weapons reduced casualty rates. • Fraternization between the opposing armies.
Possible Test Question • As fought in World War I, trench warfare • Became a senseless slaughter of troops on all sides with hundreds of thousands of men dying for battlefield gains of a few miles at best. • Increased the morale of soldiers who fought well and came to obey promptly the orders of their superiors. • Became increasingly unreal as baffled and incompetent officers persistently ordered their men to accomplish battlefield objectives that were impossible. • Brought great innovations to military tactics as the long conflict forced generals to devise novel tactics. • A and C.
The Widening of the War • August 1914: Ottoman Empire enters the war • Battle of Gallipoli, April 1915 • May 1915: Italy enters the war against Austria-Hungary • September 1915: Bulgaria enters the war on the side of the Central Powers • Middle East • Lawrence of Arabia (1888-1935) • April 1917: Entry of the United States • The United States tried to remain neutral • Sinking of the Lusitania, May 7, 1915 • Return to unrestricted submarine warfare January 1917 • Germany gambles – starve Britain before the U.S. enters the war • United States enters the war, April 6, 1917 • Zimmerman Telegram and unrestricted submarine warfare • U.S. provides fresh troops and morale for the surge of 1918
Possible Test Question • The chief reason for the United States’ entry into World War I was • The success of British propaganda. • German violations of the principles of neutrality and freedom of the seas. • The expulsion of the American consul from Berlin. • Diplomatic chicanery on the part of the Austrians. • The threat by Mexico to invade the southwestern United States.
A New Kind of Warfare • Air Power • 1915: first use of airplanes on the battle-front • First for recon, then for combat • German use of zeppelins • Tanks • 1916: first use of tanks on the battlefield by British • Early tanks ineffective • 1918: British Mark V first effective tank • Tanks play a larger role in WWII
The Home Front: The Impact of Total War • Increased Government Centralization and expansion of Government power • Conscription • draft, or mandatory military service • Death rates from the war hit all social classes • Highest death rates • Junior officers from aristocracy who led charges across “no man’s land” • Unskilled laborers and peasants who were infantry troops • Effects on Economies • European governments gradually took full control of all aspects of their economies • Inflation from higher wages and scarcity of consumer goods • Large industrialists benefited from the war due to wartime contracts for weapons and munitions
Possible Test Question • Economically, World War I • Saw European governments adopt a “hands off” policy toward their economies. • Saw European governments all take control of only war-related industries. • Witnessed European governments gradually take full control of all aspects of their economies. • Did little to affect the domestic industries of European nations. • Brought considerable prosperity to all of the belligerent nations.
Public Order and Public Opinion • Dealing with unrest • Use of military to break up strikes • Police powers were expanded to include the arrest of all dissenters • Loss of freedom of speech • Liberals and Socialists opposed the war because of wide scale human slaughter, nationalism and militarism • Defense of the Realm Act • British arrested dissenters and traitors • Propaganda to boost morale for the war effort • Work or fight campaigns • Music as propaganda • Germans “The Watch on the Rhine” • Americans “Over There” • British “The Old Barbed Wire”
Social Impact of Total War • Labor benefits – allowed unions, gained higher wages • New roles for women • Male concern over wages • Women began to demand equal pay • Gains for women • After the war, women demand the right to vote
Possible Test Question • As public morale and support for the war ebbed • Workers’ strikes became less frequent as they were brutally repressed. • The liberal French government under Clemenceau found it impossible to end internal dissent. • Propaganda posters and weapons became less important. • Police powers were expanded to include the arrest of all dissenters as traitors to the state. • Politicians attempted to end the war short of total victory.
The Russian Revolution • War and Discontent • Nicholas II was an autocratic ruler • Led the military • Wife kept him isolated from the reality of domestic disturbances • Russia not prepared for war • Incompetent political leadership of Nicholas II • Lack of guns and ammunition • Over 2 million killed, 4-6 million wounded or captured • Influence of Rasputin (the mad monk) • Holy man who influenced Tsar Nicolas’s wife and eventually the Tsar’s decisions • Series of military and economic disasters caused Russians to lose faith in the Tsar • Conservative aristocracy assassinated Rasputin
The March Revolution • Problems in Petrograd • Bread rationing • March of the women, March 8, 1917 • Women marched through the streets “Peace and Bread!” • Calls for a general strike • Soldiers join the marchers • Provisional Government takes control • Tried to carry on the war • Soviets sprang up – councils of workers and soldiers
Bolsheviks under the leadership of Vladimir Ulianov, 1870-1924 • Sent back to Russia in a sealed train by the Germans • April Theses – Lenin’s version of a Russian socialist movement that skipped the bourgeois revolution • Promised “Peace, land and bread” to the people
Possible Test Question • V.I. Lenin • Was a central figure in the establishment of a provisional government. • Denounced the use of revolutionary violence in his “April Theses.” • With strong middle-class support, led the formation of a new, democratic labor party. • Remained in neutral Switzerland until the Armistice was signed. • As a leader of the Bolsheviks, promised “land, peace, and bread.”
Russian Revolution (cont) • The Bolshevik Revolution • Bolsheviks control Petrograd and Moscow soviets • Collapse of Provisional Government, November 6-7, 1917 • Lenin ratifies redistribution of land and worker control of factories to gain the support of the masses • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 3, 1918 • Russian and German treaty • Civil War • Bolshevik (Red) army and Anti-Bolshevik (White) army • Murder of the Tsar and his family (July 16, 1918) • Disunity among the white army • Communists and “War communism” • Military prevails due to ruthless discipline and the leadership of Leon Trotsky. • War Communism ensures regular supplies for the Red Army • Invasion of allied troops (support White army) • 1921: Communists victory
Possible Test Question • Following the Bolshevik seizure of power in November 1917 • Lenin accelerated the war effort against Germany. • Lenin returned the control of factories to their rightful owners. • Lenin ratified the redistribution of land which had already been seized by peasants. • Lenin successfully managed to reestablish the Duma under socialist control. • Lenin confiscated all the agricultural land in Russia, forcing the peasants into large collective farms.
The Last Year of the War • Last German offensive, March 21-July 18, 1918 • Allied counterattack, Second Battle of the Marne, July 18, 1918 • German attack is repelled • Ends Germany’s final attempt to win the war • General Ludendorff informs German leaders that the war is lost • William II abdicates, November 9, 1918 • Republic established • Armistice, November 11, 1918 • The Casualties of the War • 8 to 9 million soldiers killed, 22 million wounded • 1915 – Armenians rebelled against Ottoman Empire • Ottoman Empire retaliated with what is known as the Armenian holocaust, killing an estimated 1 million Armenians
Possible Test Question • In World War I, it is estimated that _____ soldiers died and _______ were wounded. • Three million, ten million • Five million, fifteen million • Six or seven million, eighteen million • Eight or nine million, twenty-two million • Twelve million, thirty million
Revolutionary Upheavals in Germany and Austria-Hungary • German November revolution of 1918 • Series of mutinies & demonstrations • German socialists come to power • Division of German Socialists • Majority favored parliamentary democracy in route to an elimination of capitalism • Radicals favored an immediate social revolution • Formation of two governments • Failure of radicals to achieve control • Communists attempt to seize power and are brutally repressed • Left a fear of communism that Hitler would build upon • Revolution in Austria • Ethnic upheaval • Formation of independent republics based largely on ethnicity • Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, & Yugoslavia
Possible Test Question • The German November revolution of 1918 eventually resulted in • A parliamentary democracy dominated by the Republicans. • The division of Germany among the victorious allies. • The creation of a communist state similar to the Soviet Union. • The creation of a German Republic with the socialists in power. • A return to the divided Germany that existed before Bismarck.
The Peace Settlement • Palace of Versailles, January 1919, 27 Allied nations • Woodrow Wilson • Most important goal in the Paris Peace Conference was to assure acceptance of his Fourteen Points • Lloyd George (GB) was determined to make Germany pay • Georges Clemenceau of France concerned with his nation’s security • Wanted to punish Germany and make sure they could never wage war against France again • January 25, 1919, the principle of the League of Nations adopted but United States Senators do will not allow the US to be included
The Treaty of Versailles • Five separate treaties (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire) • The most important was the Treaty of Versailles, June 18, 1919 • Article 231, War Guilt Clause • Forced Germany to pay reparations to GB & France • 100,000 man army • Eliminate Germany’s air force • Restrict the size of Germany’s navy • Loss of Alsace and Lorraine • Sections of Prussia to the new Polish state • Germans were outraged at the “dictated peace” but they had to either accept it or go back to war where they faced defeat
Possible Test Question • The feature of the Versailles Treaty that most Germans found very hard to accept was • The loss of land that reduced the nation by half. • The reductions imposed in the size of the German military. • Article 231, the “War Guilt Clause” which imposed heavy war reparations on Germany. • The loss of all political sovereignty for a period of twenty years. • The loss of Germany’s Latin American empire.
The Other Peace Treaties • German and Russian Empires lost territory in eastern Europe • WWI resulted in new nation-states in Eastern Europe: Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary • Romania acquired additional lands from Russia, Hungary, and Bulgaria • Compromises will lead to future problems • Minorities in every eastern European states • Ottoman Empire dismembered • Promises of independence of Arab states in the Middle East • Mandates (League of Nation term - imperialism) • France – Lebanon and Syria • Britain – Iraq and Palestine • United States Senate rejects the Versailles Peace Treaty
