World War I Worldwide impact World War I (1914-1918) World War I (1914-1918) was caused by...

World War I

Worldwide impact

World War I (1914-1918)

• World War I (1914-1918) was caused by competition among industrial nations in Europe and a failure of diplomacy. The war transformed European and American life, wrecked the economies of Europe, and planted the seeds for a second world war.

Questions

• What were the factors that produced World War I?

• What were the major events of the war?• Who were the major leaders?• What were the outcomes and global effects of

World War I?• What were the terms of the Treaty of

Versailles?

Alliances

• The alliance system in Europe started with Prussia

• Prussia wanted to unite the German states into a German nation

• Germany united (allied) with Austria-Hungary and Italy

• France and Germany were enemies and so France allied with Russia

Alliances

Alliances

• Great Britain remained neutral until Germany started to build up its navy

• Great Britain loosely allied with France and Russia forming the Triple Entente

• Nationalism – intense pride for one’s homeland was a powerful idea in Europe

• Self-determination – the idea that people who belong to a nation should have their own country and government, was a basic idea of nationalism

“Balkan Powder Keg”• In the Balkans, many ethnic

groups fought to gain political unity and self-rule

• This led to conflicts between Austria-Hungry and neighboring groups in the Balkan regions– Russia supports “Serbs/Slavs”

• This will end up being the “straw that breaks the camel back”– Assassination of

Archduke Ferdinand

Alliances

• A small country called Serbia, allied with Russia, wanted a unified Balkan nation

• A Serb national assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• This assassination forced Austria-Hungary to declare war with Germany siding with them

• Russia, allied with Serbia, declared war with France siding with them (France wanted Germany defeated)

MAIN causes of WW I

Militarism / Alliances / Imperialism / Nationalism

Spark: Archduke Ferdinand (Austria) assassinated

What is Militarism?• A rise in military expenditure, • Increase in the size of land military and naval forces • More influence of the military men upon the policies

of the civilian government,

• But note that militarism is also a government's attitude of mind, seeing war as a valid means of foreign policy. – (GERMANY was especially militaristic.)– Think of Otto Von Bismarck and Realpolitik

Causes of World War I

• Militarism• Alliances that divided Europe into competing

camps• Imperialism: The domination of the political,

economic or cultural life of another country• Nationalistic feelings• Diplomatic failures• Competition over colonies

World War I

The war began in Europe in 1914:

Central Powers

Germany and Austria-Hungary

Allies

Britain, France, and Russia.

Major Events

• Assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand, he was shot by a Serbian nationalist.

• United States enters the war - 1917• Russia leaves the war – 1917 (Communist

Revolution led by Lenin)

Major leaders

• Woodrow Wilson – President of United States• Kaiser Wilhelm II – German leader• Tsar Nicholas II – Russian leader

Western Front: FranceThe War

Trench Warfare

Eastern Front: Russia

Drop out of war in 1917 after Bolshevik Revolution

Advanced Weapons

Tanks Gas

Airplane

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare

“No Man’s Land”

“No Man’s Land”

United States enters the War

Loyalty to England

Why????

German “unrestricted submarine warfare”

Lusitania: 1100 people dead / 120 Americans

Zimmerman Telegram

Germany to ask Mexico to attack the U.S.

The YanksAre

Coming!

The YanksAre

Coming!“To Make The World Safe For

Democracy”

11 a.m., November 11, 1918

11 a.m., November 11, 1918

End of WW I

Introduction

►World War I was over. The killing had stopped. The terms of peace, however, still had to be worked out. On January 18, 1919, a conference to establish those terms began at the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris. Attending the talks, known as the Paris Peace Conference, were delegates representing 32 countries. For one year, this conference would be the scene of vigorous, often bitter debate. The Allied powers struggled to solve their conflicting aims in various peace treaties.

Key Leaders Come Together►This group of leaders was

known as the Big Four dominated the peace talks in Paris at Versailles.

United States

►President Woodrow Wilson

France

►Georges Clemenceau

Great Britain

►Prime Minister, David Lloyd George

Italy

►Vittorio Orlando

Outcomes and global effect

• Colonies’ participation in the war, which increased demands for independence

• End of the Russian Imperial, Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires

• Enormous cost of the war in lives, property, and social disruption

Wilson’s Plan for Peace

►Wilson proposes Fourteen Points—an outline for lasting world peace.

►Calls for free trade and an end to alliances and military buildups

►Promotes self-determination—right of people to govern their own nation

►Envisions international peace-keeping body to settle world disputes

Treaty of Versailles

• Forced Germany to accept responsibility for war and loss of territory and to pay reparations

• Limited the German military• League of Nations

The Versailles Treaty

►Britain and France oppose Wilson’s ideas and want to punish Germany.

►Allies and Germany sign an accord—the Treaty of Versailles—in June 1919.– Creates League of Nations—international organization to

keep peace.– Blames Germans for war, forces Germany to pay damages

(reparations) to nations.– League to rule German colonies until deemed ready for

independence.

Treaty of Versailles (Verse-EYE)

• The French and English insisted on punishment of Germany.

• A League of Nations was created.

• National boundaries were redrawn, creating many new nations.

Wilson’s 14 Points

• Wilson’s goals for the world after the war• “War to end all

wars!”

Principles of 14 Points

• Self determination• Arms reduction• Non punishment• Free Seas• No secret treaties• Free trade

14th Point• League of Nations• Settle conflicts

before they turn into war

• Wilson’s most important point

• Most controversial

Treaty of Versailles

• Germany – Full blame for war– Demilitarized– $30 Billion bill

(reparations)• League of Nations

created – No Germany– No U.S.

1917 Revolution and Rise of Communism

• Tsarist Russia entered World War I as an absolute monarchy with sharp class divisions between the nobility and the peasants. The grievances of workers and peasants were not resolved by the Tsar. Inadequate administration in World War I led to revolution and an unsuccessful provisional government. A second revolution by the Bolsheviks created the communist state that ultimately became the U.S.S.R.

Questions

• Why did Russia erupt in revolution while fighting in World War I?

• How did communism rise in Russia?

Causes of 1917 Revolutions

• Defeat in war with Japan in 1905• Landless peasantry• Incompetence of Tsar Nicholas II• Military defeats and high casualties in World

War I.

Russian Revolution

– Czar Nicholas II’s reforms were too little too late– No industrial power = no national power– Loss to the Japanese was humiliating

announcement of weakness– WWI participation sucked Russia dry and made

civil war inevitable – Weak resistance to well organized and mobilized

Bolshevik radicals– Total abdication and assassination end the

Romanov Dynasty

Rise of communism

• Bolshevik Revolution and civil war• Vladimir Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP)• Joseph Stalin, Lenin’s successor• According to communism, history is dominated

by the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat – the upper class and the laborer.

• Karl Marx, a German economist/philosopher is credited with the idea of communism.

Vladimir Lenin

• Marxist Revolutionary

• NEP allowed some capitalism and helped Soviet economy recover from early communist stagnation

• Dies of stroke, 1924

Leon Trotsky

• Co-founder with Lenin• Organized and trained the

RED ARMY• Practice of decimation made

Red Army “effective”• Rival of Stalin’• Assassinated in Mexico with

an ice-pick

Understanding the League of Nations and the mandate system

• After World War I, international organizations and agreements were established to avoid future conflicts.

• What was the League of Nations and why did it fail?

• Why was the mandate system created?

League of Nations

• International cooperative organization• Established to prevent future wars • United States not a member• Failure of League because it did not have

power to enforce its decisions

The mandate system• During World War I, Great Britain and France agreed

to divide large portions of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East between themselves.

• After the war, the “mandate system” gave Great Britain and France control over the lands that became Iraq, Transjordan, and Palestine (British controlled) and Syria and Lebanon (French controlled)

• The division of the Ottoman Empire through the mandate system planted the seeds for future conflicts in the Middle East.

Europe Pre-World War I

New European Countries Post World War IFinland-land lost by Russia

Estonia-land lost by Russia

HungaryAustria Romania-gained

land

Czechoslovakia

Poland-restored from land lost by Germany and Russia

Yugoslavia

Latvia-land lost by RussiaLithuania-land lost by Russia

Mandates in Africa and Middle East1. French Mandate of Syria2. French Mandate of

Lebanon3. British Mandate of

Palestine4. British Mandate of

Transjordan5. British Mandate of Iraq6. British Togoland7. French Togoland8. British Cameroon9. French Cameroon10. Ruanda-Urundi11. Tanganyika12. South-West Africa

“A Peace Built on Quicksand”

►Treaty of Versailles creates feelings of bitterness on both sides

►German people feel bitter and betrayed after taking blame for war

►America never ratifies Treaty of Versailles– Many Americans oppose League of Nations and

involvement with Europe►Some former colonies express anger over not

winning independence►Japan, Italy criticize agreement; gain less land than

they want