Start of Ww1

8/6/2019 Start of Ww1

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/start-of-ww1 1/38

History Year 9

The First World War

1914 - 1918



• World War I (WWI), also called the First WorldWar or Great War , was a major war centred in Europethat began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11November 1918.

• It involved all the world's great powers, which wereassembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centred

around the Triple Entente) and the CentralPowers (originally centred around the Triple Alliance).

• More than 70 million military personnel, including 60

million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largestwars in history. More than 9 million combatants werekilled, largely because of great technological advances infirepower without corresponding advances in mobility.



The Starting…..• The events of July and early August 1914 are a

classic case of "one thing led to another" -otherwise known as the treaty alliance system.

• The explosive that was World War One was

the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand,heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevoon 28 June 1914.

• Ferdinand's death at the hands of the Black Hand,a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train amindlessly mechanical series of events thatculminated in the world's first global war.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/july.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/august.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/harrachmemoir.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/ferdinand.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/balkan_causes.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/balkan_causes.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/ferdinand.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/harrachmemoir.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/august.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/onthisday/july.htm



Austria-Hungary's Reaction

• It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia

which, in the extent of its demand that theassassins be brought to justice effectively

nullified Serbia's sovereignty.

• • Austria-Hungary's expectation was that

Serbia would reject the remarkably severe

terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war

against Serbia.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/austrianultimatum.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/austrianultimatum.htm



The Sides

• The Triple Alliance

– Austria/ Hungary

– Germany

– Italy

• The Triple Entente

– Britain

– France

– Russia



Map of the participants in World War I:

Allied Powers in green,

Central Powers in orange, and

Neutral countries in grey



One Thing Led to Another

• So then, we have the following remarkable

sequence of events that led unavoidably

to the 'Great War'



• Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia'sresponse to her ultimatum declared war on

Serbia on 28 July 1914.

• Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announcedmobilization of its vast army in her defence, a

slow process that would take around six weeksto complete.

• Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty,

viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scantwarning declared war on Russia on 1 August.



• France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war againstGermany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following aGerman declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invadingneutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.

• Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty to defendFrance, declared war against Germany on 4 August.

Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she wasobligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old

treaty.

With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the BelgianKing's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself toBelgium's defence later that day.

Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.



• With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies anddominions abroad variously offered military and financialassistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, NewZealand and the Union of South Africa.

• United States President Woodrow Wilson declared aU.S. policy of absolute neutrality an official stance thatwould last until 1917

When Germany's policy of unrestricted submarinewarfare - which seriously threatened America'scommercial shipping (which was in any event almostentirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain andFrance) - forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6April 1917.

• Japan, honouring a military agreement withBritain, declared war on on 23 August 1914. Two dayslater Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war onJapan.



• Italy, although allied to both Germany andAustria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the

fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade itsobligations to both.

In short, Italy was committed to defend Germanyand Austria-Hungary only in the event of a

'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality.

The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Alliesagainst her two former allies.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/italiandeclaration.htm

http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/italiandeclaration.htm



Weapons of WW I

Rifle

• The main weapon used by British soldiers

in the trenches was the bolt-action rifle. 15

rounds could be fired in a minute and a

person 1,400 metres away could be killed



Machine Gun

• Machine guns needed 4-6 men to work themand had to be on a flat surface. They had thefire-power of 100 guns.

• Large field guns had a long range and coulddeliver devastating blows to the enemy butneeded up to 12 men to work them. Theyfired shells which exploded on impact.

•



Gas

• The German army were the first to use chlorine gas at the battle of Ypres in 1915. Chlorine gas causes a burning sensation in thethroat and chest pains. Death is painful - you suffocate! Theproblem with chlorine gas is that the weather must be right. If thewind is in the wrong direction it could end up killing your own troopsrather than the enemy.

• Mustard gas was the most deadly weapon used. It was fired intothe trenches in shells. It is colourless and takes 12 hours to takeeffect

• Effects include: blistering skin, vomiting, sore eyes, internal and

external bleeding. Death can take up to 5 weeks.



Zeppelin

• The Zeppelin, also known as blimp, was

an airship that was used during the early

part of the war in bombing raids by the

Germans. They carried machine guns

and bombs. However, they were

abandoned because they were easy to

shoot out of the sky.



Tank

• Tanks were used for the first time in the FirstWorld War at the Battle of the Somme. They weredeveloped to cope with the conditions onthe Western Front. The first tank was called 'LittleWillie' and needed a crew of 3. Its maximum

speed was 3mph and it could not cross trenches.

• The more modern tank was not developed until just before the end of the war. It could carry 10

men, had a revolving turret and could reach 4mph



Planes

• Planes were also used for the first time. Atfirst they were used to deliver bombs and

for spying work but became fighter aircraft

armed with machine guns, bombs andsome times cannons. Fights between two

planes in the sky became known as

'dogfights



Torpedoes

• Torpedoes were used by submarines. TheGermans used torpedoes to blow up ships

carrying supplies from America to Britain.

• The Germans torpedoed the passenger

liner Lusitania on May 1st 1915 which

sank with a loss of 1,195 lives. Americans

were outraged and joined the war in 1917

on the side of the allies.



W ld W O Wh t i



World War One - What is a

Trench?

It was basically a skinny and relatively deep pitsurrounded with barbed wire that was used for fighting.

The trench was like a barricade and protected the

soldiers.







World War One - End of the War • Although America did not declare war on Germany until

1917, she had been involved in the war from thebeginning supplying the allies with weapons andsupplies.

• On May 2nd 1915 the British passenger liner Lusitaniawas sunk by a torpedo from a German submarine. 1195

passengers, including 128 Americans, lost their lives.Americans were outraged and put pressure on thegovernment to enter the war.

•Woodrow Wilson (right) campaigned for apeaceful end to the war. He appealed to both

sides to try to settle the war by diplomatic

means but was unsuccessful.



• n February 1917, the Germans announced anunrestricted submarine warfare campaign. They plannedto sink any ship that approached Britain whether it was a

military ship, supply ship or passenger ship.

• On April 3rd 1917, Wilson made a speech declaring thatAmerica would enter the war and restore peace toEurope.

• The United States declared war on Germany on April6th 1917. American troops joined the French and Britishin the summer of 1918. They were fresh and not war-weary and were invaluable in defeating the Germans.

• The allied victory in November 1918 was not solely dueto American involvement. Rapid advancements inweapon technology meant that by 1918 tanks and planeswere commonplace.



• The German commander Erich Ludendorff (below) was a brilliant military commander and

had won decisive victories over Russia in 1917that led to the Russian withdrawal from the war.

• In 1918 he announced that if Germany was towin the war then the allies had to be defeated on

the Western Front before the arrival of Americantroops.

• Although his offensive was initially successfulthe allies held ground and eventually pushed the

Germans back



• By 1918 there were strikes anddemonstrations in Berlin and other cities

protesting about the effects of the war onthe population.

• The British naval blockade of Germanports meant that thousands of peoplewere starving. Socialists were waiting for the chance to seize Germany as they hadin Russia.

• In October 1918 Ludendorff resigned andthe German navy mutinied. The end wasnear. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated onNovember 9th 1918.



• On 11th November the leaders of both

sides held a meeting in Ferdinand Foch's

railway carriage headquarters atCompiegne.

• The Armistice was signed at 6am and

came into force five hours later

C lti d l



Casualties and losses

Allied

• Military dead:

5,525,000

Military wounded:12,831,500

Military missing:

4,121,000

Total:

22,477,500 KIA, WIA or

MIA

Central Powers

• Military dead:

4,386,000

Military wounded:8,388,000

Military missing:

3,629,000

Total:16,403,000 KIA, WIA

or MIA

World War One The Treaty of



World War One - The Treaty of

Versailles

• World War One ended at 11am on 11thNovember 1918. In 1919, Lloyd George of

England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of

France and Woodrow Wilson from the US

met to discuss how Germany was to be

made to pay for the damage world war

one had caused.



• After prolonged discussion agreement was

eventually reached. The Germans were

summoned to Versailles to sign the treaty

on 28th June 1919.

• The final treaty bore little resemblance to

Wilson's fourteen points:



• Although Germany was not happy with the

Treaty they had little choice but to sign.

This cartoon clearly shows the situationGermany was in.

T f th T t f V ill



Terms of the Treaty of VersaillesThere were a total of 440 clauses in the final treaty. Thefirst 26 clauses dealt with the establishment of the

League of Nations. The remaining 414 clauses spelledout Germany's punishment.

General Clauses

• The establishment of the League of NationsWar Guilt clause - Germany to accept blame for startingthe war.

Financial Clauses

• Reparations - Germany was to pay for the damagecaused by the war. The figure of £6,600 million was setsome time after the signing of the treaty.



Military Clauses• Army - was to be reduced to 100,000 men and no tanks

were allowed

Navy - Germany was only allowed 6 ships and nosubmarinesAirforce - Germany was not allowed an airforceRhineland - The Rhineland area was to be kept free of German military personnel and weapons

Territorial Clauses• Anschluss - Germany was not allowed to unite with

Austria.Land - Germany lost land to a number of other countries. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France,Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium, NorthSchleswig was given to Denmark. Land was also takenfrom Germany and given to Czechoslovakia and Poland.The League of Nations took control of Germany'scolonies



The Other Defeated Nations

• The Treaty of Versailles determined the

punishment that Germany should face.

• Other treaties determined the fate of those

countries that had fought with Germany -

Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Austria and Hungary were divided and

therefore signed separate treaties

Austria - The Treaty of St



Austria - The Treaty of St

Germain 10th September 1919

• Land - Austria lost land to Italy,

Czechoslovakia and Serbia (Yugoslavia).

Army - To be reduced to 30,000 men.

Others - Union with Germany wasforbidden

Reparations - Austria was to pay

reparations but went bankrupt before therate could be set.

Hungary - The Treaty of Trianon



Hungary - The Treaty of Trianon

4th June 1920

• Land - Hungary lost land to Austria,

Czechoslovakia, Romania and Serbia

(Yugoslavia) reducing its size from

283,000 sq km to less than 93,000 sq km.Population was reduced from 18.2 million

to 7.6 million.

Army - To be reduced to 35,000 menReparations - Hungary was to pay

reparations but the amount was never set

Bulgaria - The Treaty of Neuilly



Bulgaria - The Treaty of Neuilly

27th November 1919

• Land - Bulgaria lost land to Greece,

Romania and Serbia (Yugoslavia).

• Reparations - Bulgaria had to pay £90

million in reparations

• Army - restrictions were made on the size

of Bulgaria's army

Turkey - The Treaty of Sevres



Turkey - The Treaty of Sevres

20th August 1920

• Land - Turkey lost land to Greece. The

League of Nations took control of Turkey's

colonies.

Documents

Start of Ww1