Origins of World War IOrigins of World War I

Condition of Pre-War EuropeCondition of Pre-War Europe

Anxieties and UncertaintiesAnxieties and Uncertainties

Causes and CatalystCauses and Catalyst

Imperialism, Nationalism, Militarism, Commercial Imperialism, Nationalism, Militarism, Commercial Competition, & Alliance SystemCompetition, & Alliance System

Balkan CrisisBalkan Crisis

Declarations of WarDeclarations of War

From Balkan Crisis to World WarFrom Balkan Crisis to World War

Pre-War Social Tensions recede in Patriotism’s WakePre-War Social Tensions recede in Patriotism’s Wake

A New Kind of WarA New Kind of War

From an Offensive to a Defensive StrategyFrom an Offensive to a Defensive Strategy

War Front and Trench WarfareWar Front and Trench Warfare

Total WarTotal War

Mobilization for WarMobilization for War

War FrontWar Front

Home FrontHome Front  

Alliance System

Triple Alliance

Triple Entente

Greater Serbia

Gustavo Princip

Pan Slavism

Total War

Schlieffen Plan

Battle of the Marne

Trench Warfare

The Great War August 1914-November 1918 The Great War August 1914-November 1918

Causes and CatalystsCauses and Catalysts– Nationalism and Social Darwinism: Competition Nationalism and Social Darwinism: Competition

of Nationsof Nations

– Imperialism: Increasing Entanglements Imperialism: Increasing Entanglements (Sudan, Moroccan Crises)(Sudan, Moroccan Crises)

– Commercial CompetitionCommercial Competition

– Alliance SystemAlliance System

– Militarism: Militarism: Increase in Size of Armies (Role of Conscription)Increase in Size of Armies (Role of Conscription)

Increased spending for Armaments and TechnologyIncreased spending for Armaments and Technology

Increased Military ExpendituresIncreased Military Expenditures

Militarization of SocietyMilitarization of Society

Alliance Alliance SystemSystem

Bismarck “In a world of five powers, one should be on the side of three”

By late 19th century, Concert of Europe now in discord

1879: Dual Alliance Germany & Austro-Hungary

1882: Triple Alliance G + AH + Italy

1894: France & Russia

1904: Britain & France

1907: Triple Entente Russia, Britain & France

Militarization of SocietyMilitarization of Society

Founded by Robert Baden-Powell in 1908

Causes and CatalystsCauses and Catalysts

Nationalism and Social Darwinism: Competition of NationsNationalism and Social Darwinism: Competition of Nations

Imperialism: Increasing Entanglements (Sudan, Moroccan Imperialism: Increasing Entanglements (Sudan, Moroccan Crises)Crises)

Commercial CompetitionCommercial Competition

Alliance SystemAlliance System

Militarism: Militarism:

– Increase in Size of ArmiesIncrease in Size of Armies

– Increased spending for Armaments and TechnologyIncreased spending for Armaments and Technology

– Increased Military ExpendituresIncreased Military Expenditures

– Militarization of SocietyMilitarization of Society

European Alliances in 1914

Causes and CatalystsCauses and Catalysts Nationalism and Social Darwinism: Competition of Nationalism and Social Darwinism: Competition of

NationsNations

Imperialism: Increasing Entanglements (Sudan, Imperialism: Increasing Entanglements (Sudan, Moroccan Crises)Moroccan Crises)

Commercial CompetitionCommercial Competition

Alliance SystemAlliance System

Militarism: Militarism: – Increase in Size of ArmiesIncrease in Size of Armies

– Increased spending for Armaments and TechnologyIncreased spending for Armaments and Technology

– Increased Military ExpendituresIncreased Military Expenditures

– Militarization of SocietyMilitarization of Society

Catalyst: Balkan Crisis from June to July 1914Catalyst: Balkan Crisis from June to July 1914

Catalyst to War

Nationalism in the Balkans Nationalism in the Balkans threatened Ottoman Empire, Austro-threatened Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire and European Hungarian Empire and European PeacePeace

Balkan CrisesBalkan Crises Rigid war planningRigid war planning Weak leadership among belligerent Weak leadership among belligerent

powerspowers

Ethnic Makeup of Late 19th century Austro-Hungarian Empire

Ethnic Nationalism on the Rise

Ethnic Nationalism and Rise of Pan-Slavism

1817: Serbia autonomous Disruptions within Ottoman Empire

– 1875-1878: Revolt in the Balkans against Ottoman Rule Serbia, Montenegro and Russia against Ottomans

– 1878: Congress of Berlin Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro independent Slavic Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian occupation

– 1885: Bulgarian autonomy– Weakness of Ottoman Empire evident to Europe after internal

revolution in 1908

After 1878 Berlin ConferenceAfter 1878 Berlin Conference

–1875-1878: Revolt in the Balkans against Ottoman Rule

–1878 Settlement

Pan Slavism after Pan Slavism after 18781878

–Serbian Calls for a “Greater Serbia”

–1908: A-H formally annexes Bosnia & Herzegovina

–Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913

Pan-Slavism on the risePan-Slavism on the rise– 1817: Serbia autonomous1817: Serbia autonomous

Disruptions within Ottoman EmpireDisruptions within Ottoman Empire– 1875-1878: Revolt in the Balkans against Ottoman Rule1875-1878: Revolt in the Balkans against Ottoman Rule

Serbia, Montenegro and Russia against OttomansSerbia, Montenegro and Russia against Ottomans– 1878: Congress of Berlin 1878: Congress of Berlin

Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro independentSerbia, Romania, and Montenegro independent Slavic Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian occupationSlavic Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian occupation

– 1885: Bulgarian autonomy1885: Bulgarian autonomy– Weakness of Ottoman Empire evident to Europe after internal Weakness of Ottoman Empire evident to Europe after internal

revolution in 1908revolution in 1908 Disruptions within Austro-Hungarian EmpireDisruptions within Austro-Hungarian Empire

– Serbian Calls for a “Greater Serbia” and for “self-determination”Serbian Calls for a “Greater Serbia” and for “self-determination”– 1908: A-H formally annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina1908: A-H formally annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina

Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 wrest final territories away from Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 wrest final territories away from Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire

Increasing Hostility directed to Austro-Hungarian EmpireIncreasing Hostility directed to Austro-Hungarian Empire

Ethnic Nationalism on the RiseEthnic Nationalism on the Rise

Balkans: 1914

Note and contrast ethnic linesWith A-H borders

Immediate Path to War: Balkan CrisisImmediate Path to War: Balkan Crisis Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand June 28, 1914Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand June 28, 1914

Assassination by Gavrilo Princip a Bosnian student who was a member of the the “Black Hand”

Immediate Path to War: Balkan CrisisImmediate Path to War: Balkan Crisis

Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand JUNE 28JUNE 28 Germany’s “Blank Check” to AustriaGermany’s “Blank Check” to Austria

JULY 5JULY 5 Austria's Ultimatum to SerbiaAustria's Ultimatum to Serbia JULY 23JULY 23 Austria declares war on SerbiaAustria declares war on Serbia JULY 28JULY 28 Russia mobilizes against Germany & A-HRussia mobilizes against Germany & A-H JULY 29JULY 29 German ultimatum to RussiaGerman ultimatum to Russia

JULY 31JULY 31 Germany declares war on RussiaGermany declares war on Russia AUGUST AUGUST

11 Germany declares war on FranceGermany declares war on France AUGUST AUGUST

33 Germany troops invade BelgiumGermany troops invade Belgium AUGUST AUGUST

44 Great Britain declares War on GermanyGreat Britain declares War on Germany AUGUST AUGUST

44 Violation of Belgian neutrality Violation of Belgian neutrality

Reflections on the Origins of the War

Austro-Hungary attacks SerbiaAustro-Hungary attacks Serbia Nationalism contributed to warNationalism contributed to war Failure of Diplomacy contributed to Failure of Diplomacy contributed to

warwar Europe underestimated war feverEurope underestimated war fever

Declaration of War, August 1914

France:

•Socialists support war

•Union sacrée

Germany:

•Burgfrieden (party-truce)

Great Britain

•Irish Home Rule to be postponed

•Militant Suffragists turned Dutiful Citizens

•Monthly paper changes title Suffragette to Britannia

•Support of Labour

Through work Victory!

Through Victory Peace!

Munich, August 4th, 1914

Petrograd, August 1914

London Crowd on 4 August 1914

French Farewells, August 1914French Farewells, August 1914

Mobilizing for WarRecruiting Posters

Top Right: ItalyBottom Right: Germany

Left: U.S.

European Alliances in 1914

The Schlieffen Plan and the Battle of the Marne

Battle of the Marne:September 19141.275 million Germans1.3 million French125,000 British

A new kind of fighting was necessary

600,000 casualties in one month

Schlieffen Plan:Goal to win a 2 front warMove thru Belgium

Digging In

466 miles of Trenches

From Belgium to Switzerland

Hopes for an Offensive WarRealities of a Defensive War

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare

TechnologyTechnology

German Machine Gunners

French heavy guns

Soldiers and Horses with gas masks

Battle of Verdun, February 1916-April 1917

The Realities of Defensive Wars

Trench Warfare as Defensive War

War of Attrition

World War One required engaged all sides to mobilize their states for Total War

Total War•Total war requires the mobilization of all a nation’s resources and energies.•War requires sacrifice for war effort on all fronts (whether at the war front or on the home front). •Total war transforms the scope of the state and its accelerates change in society.

•Conscription (Britain introduces conscription in May 1916)•government control over economy (end of British laissez-faire)

•Rationing, controls over munitions & food•Nationalization of shipping and coal

•increases control of and duties to individual •(social welfare,pensions, health insurance) •Transformation of women in workforce

•Transformation of society and colonies

Mobilizing for the War FrontGermany

Italy

United States

Total Men Mobilized Thru Recruitment and Conscription: 53% of male Thru Recruitment and Conscription: 53% of male

population between 1914-1918 in uniformpopulation between 1914-1918 in uniform Over 70 million men called into military serviceOver 70 million men called into military service Over 35 million casualties and almost ten million Over 35 million casualties and almost ten million

combat deathscombat deaths

Austro-Hungary: 7.8 million menGermany: 11 million menOttoman Empire: 2.9 million men

France: 8.4 million menBritish Empire: 8.9 million men

(incl.) 200,000 African soldiers1.4 million Indian soldiers415,000 Australian soldiers130,000 New Zealanders630,000 Canadians

Italy: 5.6 million menRussia: 12 million menUnited States: 4.7 million men mobilized

Women and the Home Front

Women and the Home Front

Women in British Munitions Factory (1918) British Women Loading Coal Sacks (1918)

Women and War: From Home Front to War Front

War portrayed by each side as a War of Cultures

Civilization (France and Britain)

Civic life, social values, liberalism, justice, civility, progress.

Kultur (Germany, Austria-Hungary):

Purification, efficiency, God, national unity, glory

Democracy (United States)Self-determination

Portrayal of War as clash of Cultures

Civilization (France and Britain)

Civic life, social values, liberalism, justice, civility, progress

Kultur (Germany, Austro-Hungary)

Culture, purification, efficiency, God, national unity, glory

German Propaganda:“It is sweet and fitting to die for Britain”

The Prussian Butcher, 1915

Nicholas II and his familyNicholas II and his family

Gregory Rasputin (d. 1916)Gregory Rasputin (d. 1916)

V. I. Lenin (d. 1924)V. I. Lenin (d. 1924)

War’s EndWar’s EndChronologyFebruary 1917: Germany declares

unrestricted sub warfare

April 1917: Americans enter war

15 March 1918: Treaty of Brest Litovsk Russians withdraw

Spring 1918: German “Victory” Drive

July 1918: Allied Counter-Attack

3 November 1918: Austro-Hung. withdraws

7 November 1918: Germany asks for peace

9 November 1918: Kaiser flees German Republic declared

in Weimar

11 November 1918: Armistice signed

Portion of John Singer Sargent’s, “Gassed”

War’s EndWar’s End April 1917: Americans enter war

15 March 1918: Treaty of Brest Litovsk

Russians withdrew

3 November 1918 AH withdrew

7 November 1918: German surrender

9 November 1918: Kaiser flees German Republic

declared

11 November 1918: Armistice signed

Impact and Consequences: Fall of EmpiresHuge Demographic LossesSocial TransformationsIndictment of Progress and EnlightenmentTreaty of Versailles

Losses in World War OneLosses in World War One

CountryCountry Total Mobilized

Combat Deaths

Civilian Deaths

Total War Dead %Men 15-49

Austro-HungaryAustro-Hungary 7,800,000 1,300,000 300,000 1,600,000 9%

GermanyGermany 11,000,000 2,000,000 760,000 2,760,000 12.5%

Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire 2,990,000 804,000 2,000,000 2,804,000 8%

FranceFrance 8,400,000 1,500,000 40,000 1,540,000 13.3%

Britain and Britain and EmpireEmpire

8,900,000 1,000,000 30,000 1,030,000 6.3%

RussiaRussia 12,000,000 1,700,000 2,000,000 3,700,000 4.5%

ItalyItaly 5,600,000 570,000 ------ 570,000 7%

United StatesUnited States 4,700,000 114,000 ------ 114,000 .04%

Summer of 1918: Influenza pandemic killed another 30 million people worldwide

•Over 70 million men called into military service

•Over 35 million casualties and almost ten million combat deaths

Allied leaders gather to dictate the peace: Clemenseau and Wilson

Notes: Other images to follow could also be used for lecture.

February 1917: Germany declares unrestricted submarine warfare

April 1917: The United States enters the war

Strike by Women in Paris May 1917

On June 28,1919, the Allied powers presented the Treaty of Versailles to Germany for signature. The following are the key territorial and political clauses.Article 22. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory [i.e., a Western power] until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory. Article 42. Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine. Article 45. As compensation for the destruction of the coal mines in the north of France and as part payment towards the total reparation due from Germany for the damage resulting from the war, Germany cedes to France in full and absolute possession, with exclusive right of exploitation, unencumbered and free from all debts and charges of any kind, the coal mines situated in the Saar Basin.... Article 49. Germany renounces in favor of the League of Nations, in the capacity of trustee, the government of the territory defined above. At the end of fifteen years from the coming into force of the present Treaty the inhabitants of the said territory shall be called upon to indicate the sovereignty under which they desire to be placed. Alsace­Lorraine.­The High Contracting Parties, recognizing the moral obligation to redress the wrong done by Germany in 1871 both to the rights of France and to the wishes of the population of Alsace and Lorraine, which were separated from their country in spite of the solemn protest of their representatives at the Assembly of Bordeaux, agree upon the following.... Article 51. The territories which were ceded to Germany in accordance with the Preliminaries of Peace signed at Versailles on February 26, 1871, and the Treaty of Frankfort of May 10, 1871, are restored to French sovereignty as from the date of the Armistice of November 11, 1918. The provisions of the Treaties establishing the delimitation of the frontiers before 1871 shall be restored. Article 119. Germany renounces in favor of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all her rights and titles over her overseas possessions. Article 156. Germany renounces, in favour of Japan, all her rights, title and privileges . . . which she acquired in virtue of` the Treaty concluded by her with China on March 6, 1898, and of all other arrangements relative to the Province of Shantung. Article 159. The German military forces shall be demobilised and reduced as prescribed hereinafter Article 160. By a date which must not be later than March 31, 1920, the German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry. After that date the total number of effectives in the Army of the States constituting Germany must not exceed 100,000 men, including officers and establishments of depots. The Army shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontiers. The total effective strength of officers, including the personnel of staffs, whatever their composition, must not exceed four thousand.... Article 231. The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.

Article 232. The Allied and Associated Governments recognize that the resources of Germany are not adequate, after taking into account permanent diminutions of such resources which will result from other provisions of the present Treaty, to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage. The Allied and Associated Governments, however, require, and Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property during the period of the belligerency of each as an Allied or Associated Power against Germany.From The Treaty of Versailles and After: Annotations of the Text of the Treaty (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1944),

Military Spending (Army and Navy)Military Spending (Army and Navy)

Rupert Brooke Rupert Brooke “1914”“1914”

I. PeaceNow, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary, Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary, And all the little emptiness of love!

Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there, Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending, Naught broken save this body, lost but breath;Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there But only agony, and that has ending; And the worse friend and enemy is but Death.

Rupert Brooke “1914”Rupert Brooke “1914”PeaceNow, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary, Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary, And all the little emptiness of love!

Oh! we, who have known shame, we have found release there, Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending, Naught broken save this body, lost but breath;Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there But only agony, and that has ending; And the worse friend and enemy is but Death.

““1914”1914” V. The SoldierIf I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign fieldThat is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

 And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Weariness with the War by 1917Weariness with the War by 1917 British execute 3,000 soldiers for cowardice & desertionBritish execute 3,000 soldiers for cowardice & desertion

Russians desert Russians desert en masseen masse: 1.5 million prisoners of war in : 1.5 million prisoners of war in Germany alone.Germany alone.

May 1917: 30,000 French Soldiers stage mutiny. Over 500 May 1917: 30,000 French Soldiers stage mutiny. Over 500 executed and the many of the rest sent to penal battalionsexecuted and the many of the rest sent to penal battalions

1917-8 – Strikes break out in Germany & France1917-8 – Strikes break out in Germany & France

Siegfried Sassoon, London­Times (30 July 1917):"I am making this statement as an act of willful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the war is being deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers.… I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolonging the sufferings for ends which I believe to be evil and unjust. I am not protesting against the conduct of the war, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed. In behalf of those who are suffering now I make this protest against the deception which is being practised on them; also I believe that I may help to destroy the callous complacency with which the majority of those at home regard the continuance of agonies which they do not share, and which they have not sufficient imagination to realize."

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!

An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning,

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cut

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori

Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et decorum est" (c.1917)Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned our backsAnd towards our distant rest began to trudge.Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hootsOf tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Changing Attitudes to WarChanging Attitudes to War

1915 Gas Attack

Changing Attitudes to WarChanging Attitudes to War

Willfred Owen