World War I 1914 1919 Unit 16 Presentation

World War I 1914 -1919 Unit 16 Presentation By Kathryn Raia

The Great War • • • Lasted from 1914 -1918 and the Paris Peace Conference was in 1919. People knew that the “Great War” was coming and evidence can be seen in art and literature leading up to the war. Turning Point in warfare due to new technology To try to ease tensions, Europe brought back the Olympic games in Athens 1896. In addition the Hague Tribunal is created. This organization was an pen forum where countries could discuss their problems without warfare.

Long Term Causes: MAIN Militarism and the Arms Race • What is militarism? • What is an arms race? • How did these things lead to war? • Britain vs. Germany • Competition

Long Term Causes: MAIN ALLIANCES: Triple Alliance vs. Triple Entente • Why did alliances form during this period? • Triple Alliance – Germany, Italy, Austria – Hungry • • • France and Britain sign an ENTENTE – A non-binding agreement to follow common policies Created the Triple Entente • 1914 – Germany and Austria – Hungry Central Powers Britain signed similar agreement with Russia and they formed the “Allies”

Long Term Causes: MAIN Imperial & Economic Rivalries • How did imperialism cause World War I? • Imperial Rivalries • France vs. Germany • Britain vs France • Economic Rivalries • How did economics cause rivalries? • Britain vs. Germany

Long Term Causes: MAIN Nationalism • • • How were each of these groups nationalistic? Why did that cause tension? Germany France Austria-Hungary Nationalism created a "powder keg" in the Balkans • • Pan-Slavism, a nationalist movement to unite all Slavic peoples to form their own state • The Ottoman Empire (“the sick man of Europe”) receded from the Balkans As southern Slavs’ “big brother” to the east, Russia focused on Balkan regions in Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires after its humiliating loss in the Russo. Japanese War.

Path to War First Balkan War (1908) • Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria allied to drive the Turks out of the Balkans • Serbia and Greece gained large amounts of land Second Balkan War (1913) • Found between the Balkan states over the spoils of the First Balkan War • "Third Balkan War" between Austria and Serbia became World War I

Immediate Causes to World War I • Serbia wanted to create a South Slav State (Pan-slavism) and wanted to annex Bosnia which belonged to Austria • June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austrian heir to throne, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Princip (member Serbian "Black Hand") while visiting Bosnia-Herzegovina. • Austria Issues Serbia an ultimatum: Punish those involved and end all anti. Austrian aggression or else.

Immediate Causes Cont. . Kaiser Wilhelm II pledges unwavering support to Austria to punish Serbia: "the blank check" • July 28, Austria declares war on Serbia • Claimed that Serbia did not meet the ultimatum • First military act of the war was the Austrian bombing of Belgrade. • Russia mobilizes against Austria & Germany on the side of their Slavic neighbor, Serbia; • France mobilizes on Germany's western border

Immediate Causes Aug 1, German declares war on Britain and France Aug. 3, Germany invades Belgium; France declares war on Germany Aug 4, Britain declares war on Germany

European Theatre Two opposing alliances • Central Powers (Triple Alliance): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire (also Bulgaria) • Allies (Triple Entente): Britain, France, Russia (later, Japan, Italy and U. S. )

The Western Front • Schlieffen Plan: German plan to invade France through Belgium, defeat France quickly (6 weeks) by sweeping around Paris, and then move to the east to defeat Russia • What was the purpose of this plan? • Why did it fail?

A New Kind of Conflict • Early Battles – Western Front • Battle of the Marne (Sept. 1914): After Germans came within sight of Paris, French and British forces pushed German forces back. Led by General Joseph Joffre

Trench Warfare • Trench warfare developed after Battle of the Marne; lasted four bloody years • A long line of trenches stretched from the North Sea to the Swiss border in the south • Despite massive causalities on both sides, few gains were made • Creation of a four year stalemate

Trench Warfare

Trench Warfare

Trench Warfare

Early Battles – Western Front • 1916: Battle of Verdun • Germans wanted to “Bleed France White” and force it to sue for peace • Franc lost 540, 000 men and Germany lost 430, 000 • and Battle of the Somme; horrific casualties; neither side could break through • British and French offensive to break through German lines • Losses men: Britain 420, 000; France 200, 000; Germany 650, 000

Trench Warfare • Erich Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) illustrated horrific trench warfare. Three o’clock in the morning. The breeze is fresh and cool. The pale hour makes our faces look gray. We trudge onward in single file through the trenches and shell-holes and come again to the zone of mist. Katczinsky is restive, that’s a bad sign. “What’s up, Kat? ” says Kropp. “I wish I were back home. ” Home - he means the huts. “We’ll soon be out of it, Kat. ” He is nervous. “I don’t know, I don’t know --- “ We come to the communication trench and then to the open fields. The little wood reappears. We know every foot of ground here. There’s the cemetery with the mounds and the black crosses. That moment, it breaks out behind us, swells, roars and thunders. We duck down - a cloud of flame shoots up a hundred yards ahead of us. The next minute under a second explosion part of the wood rises slowly in the air, three or four trees sail up and then crash to pieces. The shells begin to hiss like safety valves - heavy fire. “Take cover!” yells somebody, “Cover!” The fields are flat, the wood is too distant and dangerous - the only cover is the graveyard and the mounds. We stumble across in the dark and as though he had been spat there every man lies glued behind a mound. Not a moment too soon. The dark goes mad. It heaves and raves. Darknesses blacker than the night rush on us with giant strides, over us and away. The flames of the explosions light up the graveyard. There is no escape anywhere. By the light of the shells I try to get a view of the fields. They are a surging sea, daggers of flame from the explosions leap up like fountains. It is impossible for anyone to break through it. The wood vanishes. It is pounded, crushed, torn to pieces. We must stay here in the graveyard. … Before me gapes the shell-hole. I grasp it with my eyes as with fists. With one leap I must be in it. There, I get a smack in the face, a hand clamps onto my shoulder - has a dead man woken up? The hand shakes me. I turn my head in the second of light I stare into the face of Katczinsky. He has his mouth wide open and is yelling. I hear nothing. He rattles me, comes nearer, in a momentary lull his voice reaches me: “Gas – Gaaas - Pass it on. ”

An Industrialized War • Technological advancements in war: machine gun, tanks, airplane, poison gas, Zeppelins, U-boats

A Global Conflict • Eastern Europe • Russia was able to push into Eastern Europe • Battle of Tannenburg they were defeated and forced them to retreat • Troops lacked rifles • Peasants into combat • Why do you think Russia’s defeat was inevitable?

A Global Conflict • Southern Europe • Bulgaria joined the central powers to help crush its old rival Serbia • Italy declares war on Austria. Hungry and then Germany • Italy signs secret treaty with allies in hope to gain Austria – ruled lands inhabited by Italians • Caporetto • October 1917 • Austrians and Germans launch major attack on Italians • Italians forced to retreat

War Outside Europe • • Japan allied with Britain - Why? Ottoman empire joined the central powers in 1914 • • • Closed off allied ships from the Dardanelles – strait connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Battle of Gallipoli- 1915 allies sent troops to open up the strait Turkish troops tied down trapped allies on the beaches After 10 months and more than 200, 000 casualties allies retreated War and the Colonies • What were the colonies used for during the war?

The Armenian Genocide • • What is genocide? • Coined by Dr. Raphael Lemkin after the Holocaust to describe the atrocities in Turkey and in Nazi Europe Definition according to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: • Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such as: • Killing members of the group; • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; • Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Background • • • Armenians were a Christian group living in the Middle East for hundreds of years. Treated as second class citizens under the Seljuk then Ottoman Turks. Rise of nationalism in the 1800 s led to groups such as Serbians and Greeks seeking autonomy and independence. Armenians started to protest for rights and against discrimination in the late 1800 s First recorded massacre under the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Abdul – Hamid II) • • 100, 000 -300, 000 Armenians killed in the Hamidian Massacres Armenians hopeful for change and a solidification of their rights in a constitution after Young Turks overthrow sultan. • • However radicalism emerged instead. 1909 – Adana Massacre

The Armenian Genocide • Causes: • Russia was an enemy of the Ottomans and Turks & they had supported rights for the Armenians and even had Armenians living in Russia and serving in their military. • Used this connection to convince others against the Armenians • Scapegoated the losses in World War I on them.

April 24, 1915 – The Genocide Begins • • Leaders of the ruling party decide to deal with Armenians while Europe is preoccupied with World War I Intellectuals, doctors, artists, civil leaders, etc are rounded up and murdered. New technology such as railroads and telegraphs assist in sending orders and deporting Armenians to concentration camps and/or their death. Armenian children were abducted, sold, or raised by Turkish families.

Reaction • Some organizations tried to help as early as 1908 • This was the first international mission of the Red Cross • Near East Relief raised millions of dollars during the genocide to save lives • Arabs and Muslims risked their lives to hide and save Armenians including hiding children. • The early massacres and then the actual genocide did gain attention in the international press such as the New York Times • US Diplomat Henry Morgenthau, Sr. wrote numerous letters to the White House about the atrocities he was witnessing in Turkey.

War Crimes • Ninth World Congress of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation • • • Allies formally accuse the Ottomans of “Crimes Against Humanity. ” Britain set up war crimes tribunal in Malta (Malta International Tribunals) instead of holding them in Constantinople (Istanbul) • • Track down and execute genocide leaders British Style Trials How do you try another country under your own laws? Need international law – not created yet Some were convicted many others were not brought to justice

Denial & Remembrance • Denial • Turkey denies the Armenian Genocide today – some reasons are: • Claim the massacres does not fit the definition of genocide. • Claimed the massacres were not preconceived by the Ottoman government • Remembrance • • France as well as other counties have laws that make it crime to claim the genocide did not take place. Date of remembrance: April 24 th

Winning The War • Total War • • Conscription Censorship Propaganda Rationing

Propaganda Posters

Propaganda Posters

Propaganda Posters

Total War: Economics Economic production was focused on the war effort • Why were free market strategies abandoned? • Why did labor unions support the war effort? • Why ration food and supplies at home? • War Bonds • Each side aimed at “starving out” the enemy by cutting off vital supplies to the civilian population.

Total War: Women • Women replaced male factory workers who were now fighting the war. • 43% of the labor force in Russia • Changing attitudes about women resulted in increased rights after the war (Britain, Germany, Austria and U. S. ) • War promoted greater social equality, thus blurring class distinctions and lessening the gap between rich and poor

Russia • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Dec. 1917): Lenin took Russia out of the war but forced to give Germans 1/4 of Russian territory • What effect will Russia pulling out the war have?

The War at Sea British and Allied Naval Blockade: • Goal ? • Germany response? • Lusitania, 1915: U-boats sank passenger liner killing 1, 200 including 128 Americans • Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 sinking all ships with its U-boats • Most important reason for U. S. entry into the war

Diplomacy During the War • 1915: Why does Italy enter the war? • Zimmerman Note: Who sent it what did it say? • Balfour Note (1917) Arabs & Jews in Palestine promised autonomy if they joined the Allies. • Britain declared sympathy for idea of Jewish homeland in Palestine. • New policy seemed to contradict British support for Arab nationalism.

Diplomacy continued… Wilson’s 14 Points (Jan. 1918) -- plan to end the war along liberal, democratic lines • Provisions: • • • Abolish secret treaties Freedom of the seas Remove economic barriers (e. g. tariffs) Reduction of armament burdens Promise of independence (“self-determination”) to oppressed minority groups (e. g. Poles, Czechs), millions of which lived in Germany and Austria. Hungary. Adjustment of colonial claims in interests of both native peoples and colonizers Adjustment of Italy’s borders along ethnic lines. Autonomy for non-Turkish parts of the Turkish Empire. 14 th point: International organization to supply collective security • Foreshadowed League of Nations

The End of the War • Argonne offensive (spring 1918: Germans transferred divisions from east (after defeating Russia) to the western front and mounted a massive offensive. • Central Powers sought peace based on 14 Points (believing they would get fair treatment) • Germany and Austria-Hungary wracked with revolution • Austria surrendered on Nov. 3 • Germany surrendered on Nov. 11(Armistice signed at 11 pm); Wilhelm II abdicates and flees to Holland

Making the Peace • Paris Peace Conference 1919 • Big Four: Lloyd George (Br. ), Clemenceau (Fr. ), Wilson (US), Orlando (It) • Central powers excluded from negotiations • What did everyone want? • France: • Italy : • Ethnic groups once in the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empire:

Paris Peace Conference 1919 New German Republic – Weimar Republic: Why did the Allies not want to sign a peace agreement with an autocratic government? Versailles Treaty, 1919 • • • Article 231: placed sole blame for war on Germany; Germany would be severely punished Germany forced to pay huge reparations to Britain and France German army and navy severely reduced. Germany was only allowed 100, 000 standing troops and had to reduce their navy to six ships and Germany could have no submarines or military aircraft Rhineland would be demilitarized; Saar coal mines taken over by France Germany lost all its colonies and Alsace Lorraine returned to France

Paris Peace Conference 1919 • League of Nations: • Why does it fail?

Paris Peace Conference 1919 • Why was Italy angry? • Why were the Japanese angry? • What are mandates and who was carved into them? • Why?

Conference Continued • Other Settlements • Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia • Poland gained independence • Three New Republic: Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungry • New South Slav State: Yugoslavia • Members of Paris Peace conference only applied selfdetermination to Europe

Impact of World War I on European Society • Massive casualties: • 10 million soldiers dead; • 10 million civilians dead, many from influenza epidemic; • 15 million died in Russian Revolution • End to political dynasties • Hapsburg dynasty removed in Austria (had lasted 500 years) • Romanov dynasty removed in Russia (had lasted 300 years) • Hohenzollern dynasty removed in Germany (had lasted 300 years) • Ottoman Empire destroyed (had lasted 500 years)

Impact of World War I on European Society • War promoted greater social equality, thus blurring class distinctions and lessening the gap between rich and poor • The Russian Revolution abolished the nobility and gave women more rights than any other country in Europe • Women received the right to vote in Britain the same year that the war ended; Germany soon followed • The nobility in Germany, Austria, and Russia lost much of its influence and prestige

Impact of World War I on European Society • Russian Revolution resulted in world's first communist country • German nationalist resentment of harsh Versailles Treaty doomed the Weimar Republic • German anger with treaty partially responsible for rise of Hitler in early 1930 s • The U. S. became the world’s leading creditor and greatest producer due to the drain of Europe’s resources. • Unresolved differences lead to WWII