The Great War

Legacy of the Congress of Vienna

-Peace for 100 years

-Nationalism

-Ideas about power and authority changed

-Democracy now seen as best option

Journal #5,

• Would you ALWAYS support a friend, no matter what?

• Why/ Why not?

Header image courtesy of: www.usgennet.org/.../ preservation/dav1/pg185.htm

• MAIN Causes of the Great War

–Militarism

–Alliances

–Imperialism

–Nationalism

Header image courtesy of: www.usgennet.org/.../ preservation/dav1/pg185.htm

Triple EntenteBritain

France

Russia

Triple AllianceItaly

Germany

Austria

VS.

Alliances

How did these alliances start?

• 1871 – Germany is a ‘satisfied power’ – Aimed now at keeping peace– France is biggest threat to peace– Try to isolate France by taking away allies

• 1879 – Germany forms Dual Alliance– Germany– Austria-Hungary– 3 years later, Italy joins forming the Triple Alliance

• 1881 – Germany signs treaty with Russia – taking another ally away from France.

http://www.worldwar1.com/tlalli.htm#dual – For a complete timeline of all alliances

Kaiser Wilhelm II

• German Ruler

• “I and the army were born for one another”

• 1890 – new German leader allows treaty with Russia to lapse

• Russia retorts by forming an alliance with France– just what Germany didn’t want– Germany would be forced to fight

from two sides

• Germany starts building ships comparable to British ships

• Britain reacts by forming an alliance with France

• 1907 – Britain then makes another treaty with Russia and France, forming the Triple Entente

• Britain was not bound to fight with France and Russia, but rather promised not to fight against them.

Images courtesy of: www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ FWWtriple.htm

• 1908 – Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Serbia who had hoped to rule these provinces became upset.

• Tension between Serbia and Austria grew…– Serbia continually vowed to take the land back– Austria continually vowed to crush any Serbian effort

of the land…

• Eventually the heir to the Austrian throne was killed by a Serbian nationalist…

This was the “trigger” that started it all…

• June 1914– Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Heir to the Austrio-Hungary throne and his

wife shot dead while visiting the capital of Serbia.

– Assassins were Serbian, – Austria used the assassinations as an excuse to punish Serbia.– Austria gave Serbia an ultimatum, in which Serbia only honored a few

demands

– Austria was upset with this and declared war on Serbia.– That same day Russian troops were ordered towards the Austrian

border….

War was now inevitable.

What “triggered” the War?

• http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/22679-world-war-i-the-assassination-of-archduke-ferdinand-video.htm

Neutral Countries: Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland

Triple EntenteBritain

France

Russia

Triple AllianceItaly

Germany

Austria

VS.

Allied PowersBritain

France

Russia

Italy

Japan

Central PowersItaly

Germany

Austria

Bulgaria

Ottoman Empire

Italy

Germany

Austria

• MAIN Causes of the Great War (Review)

–Militarism

–Alliances

–Imperialism

–Nationalism

Header image courtesy of: www.usgennet.org/.../ preservation/dav1/pg185.htm

–What was the one thing that “triggered” it all….

Journal #5

– How has technology effected warfare?

– Can you name anything we use today on a regular basis that was originally designed for war?

• This picture epitomizes 3 of the major characteristics of war during this time.

What do you think they are?

Trenches

Gas Masks

Machine Guns

Images Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/) and www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ FWWnieuport.htm and www.avault.com/featured/hidden/uboat.asp

and www.msu.edu/user/ storto/afvwwi.htm

World War One Firsts

• http://www.history.com/videos/wwi-firsts#wwi-firsts

Technology of killing There were new weapons not being used efficiently

because they weren’t completely understood

Airplanes - of little importance in battle– Fun Facts about planes in the war…

Machine guns - very effective – Mow troops down, considered a ‘weapon of mass

destruction’

Mustard Gas– Quickly became ineffective because of gas masks– Wind could blow gas back on aggressor

Planes• The early years of war saw canvas-and-wood aircraft

used primarily to function as mobile observation vehicles. This was an improvement over the vulnerable Zeppelin and the

immobile observation balloon.

• Enemy pilots at first exchanged waves and later progressed to throwing bricks and other objects– (grenades and sometimes rope, which they hoped would tangle

their enemy's propeller), which eventually progressed to guns.

• Once the guns were mounted to their planes, the era of air combat began.

Image - www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ FWWnieuport.htm

Helmets

• patented in 1915 by the Briton John L. Brodie

Grenades

• http://science.howstuffworks.com/grenade2.htm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenades

Chemical Warfare• Chemical warfare was a major distinguishing

factor of the war. • Only a small portion of casualties were caused

by gas– Caused blindness and death by choking– achieved harassment and psychological effects.

• Effective countermeasures to gas were found in gas masks – Its effectiveness was diminished.– Wind could blow gases back at aggressor

Machine Guns• combination of machine guns and barbed

wire responsible for greatest # of deaths

• Guns now lighter and more mobile– Maxim gun from earlier wars had wheels

• BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle)– Gas operated– 16 to 19 lbs.– Semi or fully automatic

Tanks• Armored combat vehicle used mostly for

crossing rough terrain and over barbed wire.

• Introduced by the British in 1916

• Armored cars used before tanks

The name tank came when the British shipped them in crates marked "tanks“ trying to cover up what they really were

Image - www.msu.edu/user/ storto/afvwwi.htm

Submarines / U-Boats• German (unterseeboot)

• Primary targets were merchant convoys bringing supplies from the United States and Canada to Europe – Lusitania

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare – means you don’t have to give warning before destroying

Image -- http://www.gwpda.org/naval/ub1-type.gif

• Trench warfare arose when there was a revolution in firepower without similar advances in mobility and communications

Image Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/)

• Trenches –

Trenches…

Images Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/)

Communication

• Communication:

• radios and telephones vital for the troops in trenches.

• dogs and pigeons

• Hot air balloons?

http://www.studiolarz.com/speakman/wwi/trench01.html

Looking ahead…

• Early highlights of the war

• United States’ involvement

• Recruiting

• Propaganda

Image courtesy of Bishop Museum archive photos of World War I

Neutral Countries: Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland

Triple EntenteBritain

France

Russia

Triple AllianceItaly

Germany

Austria

VS.

Allied PowersBritain

France

Russia

Italy

Japan

Central PowersItaly

Germany

Austria

Bulgaria

Ottoman Empire

Italy

Germany

Austria

The U.S. Gets Involved

The Sinking of the Lusitania

Image courtesy of moana.patentes.com/ gl/biografias/galeria-5.htm

• Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States.

– Wanted to remain neutral

– But was secretly looking for an excuse to join war…

– he found one…

Image Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/)

America Joins the Fight• Germany seeks to control Atlantic Ocean

to stop supplies to Britain

• Uses unrestricted submarine warfare- ships near Britain sunk without warning

• War Goes Global – see page 852

The Sinking of the Lusitania

• http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/34620-sinking-of-the-lusitania-the-world-reacts-video.htm

Was the sinking of the Lusitania justified?

• U.S. claimed the Lusitania carried an innocent cargo

• Lusitania was in fact heavily armed;* – 1,248 cases shells– 4,927 boxes of cartridges (1,000 round/box)– 2,000 cases of small-arms ammunition

*Information from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States

Image Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/)

Bibliography• http://www.garrettcollege.edu/faculty/bluers -

• Temple History Department (http://www.temple.edu/history/01wandsout.html)

• A People’s History of the United States – Howard Zinn, author

• McDougal Littell – World History, Patterns of Interaction, text book

• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

• http://www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/927.html

• http://www.wikipedia.org/