Task 8.5 Causes World War I

Cause and Effect

Imperialism

Arms RaceAlliances

Nationalism

ROAD TO WAR• Germany, Italy, Russia, Austro-

Hungary all fairly recently “unified” with significant internal unrest

• Germany seeks new markets/prestige of colonies

• Massive arms race

• Multiple and extensive alliances

Defence Spending, 1870-1914

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

£m 94 130 154 268 289 398

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914

Causes World War I

Imperialism

Arms RaceAlliances

Nationalism

First, nationalism led to …… Transition, imperialism led to…, Transition, the arms race led to…. Transition, the alliances led to

led to

resulted

caused

produced

brought about

set off

First,

Second,

Third,

In addition,

Finally,

Germany/Austria-Hungry Alliance

Austria declares war onSerbia

Russia/Serbia Alliance

Gavrilo Princep of Serbia assassinatesArchduke Ferdinandof Austria

Russia Declares war on Austria

Germany Declares war on Russia

France declares war on Germany

OVERVIEW

• 65 million combatants from 30 countries representing every continent• 29 million become casualties

• Naval battles around the world and land battles in Europe, Africa, and Asia

• Triple Alliance = Germany, Austria, Italy• +Turkey + Bulgaria - Italy = Central Powers

• Entente Cordiale = Britain, France• + Russia + Italy + (later) US = Allied Powers

• Revolutionary technology, but evolutionary tactics

Wilson - pro-Neutral but also pro-Britain Submarines – British navy blockades German

ports, u-boats only way to fight back-Lusitania – part cruise ship, part munitions transport

Economic ties – America was in a recession – JP Morgan and bankers loan vast money

-Military orders from France and Britain huge Psychological and ethnic ties – align with British

(democratic) – Germany embodies autocrat Germany’s unscrupulous war efforts – makes

Germans look like opportunists-Zimmermann Note-Attack on neutral Belgium

Russian Issue- Autocracy pre-1917 then Communist in 1917. US can not join the other democracies of the world

U.S. Motives

The Great War: Modern Warfare

STALEMATE• Allies halt Central

Powers; both sides dig in• No flanks for either side

to attack• Barbed wire

entanglements up to 150’ deep

• Neither side gains more than 10 miles in over 2 years

• Mass is supreme principle• Massed assaults• Massed fires

Trench Warfare• Machine gun and

artillery make it difficult to attack a trench

• Huge artillery preps make “No Man’s Land” virtually impassable

Trench Warfare Evolves

• Three group (squad) infiltration:• Squad one finds and fixes enemy• Squad two finds and exploits weak spots• Squad three supports two and exploits

breaches• Strong points reduced later from rear/flanks

• Combined arms: • grenades, machine guns, flame throwers in

infantry squads• fires smoke, gas, to keep defenders’ heads

down

RUTHLESS TACTICS• Chemical warfare

made trench warfare more horrible– Mustard agents

deployed– Nerve agents

• Machine Gun– Maxim– 600 b/m

Tanks• Brits introduce in

Sept 1916

• Means to cross No Man’s Land with protection from machine guns

• Initially employed piecemeal and in too small numbers to be decisive

• Unreliable and slow

Tanks• Battle of Somme, Sept 1916• 36 of 60 tanks make it

into battle• Scattered across 3 mile

front

• Cambria, Nov 1917• Used in mass (300 tanks)• Opened 12x6 mile front

• Amiens, August 1918• 500 tanks, 13 infantry

divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, 2000 artillery pieces, 800 aircraft

First modern “combined-arms” battle

Submarines• New aspect of “Total War”

• Targeting “neutral merchant” ships

• Germans announce submarine blockade• Part physical, part psychological

weapon

• Draws Allied resources away from offensive operations• Civilian control of production

• Sinking of ships with US passengers is major factor in US’s eventual entry into the war

Aviation

“Red Baron”• Used initially for

reconnaissance/spotting• Wireless communication

critical development in spotting

• Arial combat originally a counter-reconnaissance function

• Troops on the ground don’t like the planes overhead….

• By the end of the war, planes were being used to drop bombs on railways, intersections, factories, etc…

“Jenny” JN-4

Jaeger