WAR IN EUROPESec. 23-1 Pages 666-670

Define: Militarism – alliance system – imperialism – nationalism – balance of power-mobilize-Identify: Archduke Ferdinand – Gavrillo Princip –

Map work – Identify major countries – alliances of WWI – Triple Alliance – Triple Entente- Central Powers – Allied Powers – neutral countries

ORIGINS OF WORLD WAR I• Four MAIN reasons that led to the outbreak of

WWI• M ilitarism• A lliance system• I mperialism• N ationalism

MILITARISM• Policy of building up strong

armed forces to prepare for war• Germany – Best-largest army –

led to arms race in Europe of neighboring countries

• Britain – Best navy – Germany will compete to add more destroyers

• Rivalry among nations led to an arms race that would threaten the peace in Europe

ALLIANCE SYSTEM• Countries made treaties promising to defend

each other. When one nation was threatened by a rival, it affected other members who pledged to support their group

• Triple Alliance – Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy• Triple Entente – Britain, France, Russia• Entente – an understanding among nations • Balance of power – system that prevents any

one country from dominating the others

SUMMARIZE• What is militarism?• Who had the best army? Navy?• What three countries made up the Triple Alliance? Triple Entente?• What vocab term means a system that prevents

any one nation from dominating others?• Vocab term that means an understanding among

nations.• What vocab term means countries made

promises to defend each other?

EUROPE 1914

IMPERIALISM• Practice of establishing and controlling smaller

nations/colonies for resources/people• Competition among European countries for raw

materials often led to wars outside Europe.• Germany, Italy, Russia want to increase colonies

– not much available in world – led to conflicts with other nations.

NATIONALISM• Feeling of pride/loyalty that people have for a

country or shared language/custom/religion• Italy united in 1860s• Germany united in 1870s• Slavs ( Poles, Czechs, Serbs) wanted Austria-

Hungary to give them independence• Russia encouraged Slavs to rebel• Self determination – the right of people to

choose a form of gov’t under which they live

BALKANS• Austria-Hungary ruled

over Balkans (mountainous area of southeastern Europe where many ethnic groups struggled for independence)

SUMMARIZE• What vocab term means a feeling of pride and

loyalty to a country /language/religion/customs?• What vocab terms means the right of people to

decide the form of gov’t under which they live?• What area did Austria-Hungary rule?

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY• Ruler, Franz Joseph, is old

and wants his nephew, Franz Ferdinand to take over empire.

• Conquered Bosnia and added to empire – neighboring country of Serbia unhappy and vowed to help Bosnia get freedom

ASSASSINATION• June 28, 1914 – Archduke Franz

Ferdinand, heir to the A/H empire, was shot by Gavrilo Princip, a Black Hand member (Serbian terrorist group) in Sarajevo, Bosnia

• A/H demanded all anti-Austrian activities cease – Serbia accepted most demands

• July 28,1914 – A/H declared war on Serbia

• Germany came to help Austria-Hungary

• Russia helps Serbia – later France & Britain join

• Germany declares war on Russia & France

• US declares neutrality

SUMMARIZE• Who was the future heir to be ruler of

Austria/Hungary?• What neighboring territory did A/H add but

the people of that region objected?• What country planned to help the above

country? • Who was responsible for Archduke

Ferdinand’s death?• What alliances kicked in?• What position did the US take in 1914?

ORDERS IN COUNCIL• Issued by Britain at start

of war, it established an Allied blockade around Germany – try to stop goods from getting in and out of Germany.

• This will force Germany to later begin unrestricted submarine warfare to eliminate and break though the blockade.

WWI ALLIANCES • ALLIED POWERS: Australia, Belgium,

Britain, Canada, France, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, US (joins in 1917)

• CENTRAL POWERS: Austria-Hungary,

Bulgaria, Germany, Ottoman Empire

WESTERN FRONT• Front – Area of fighting• Germany invaded neutral Belgium (lowland

region) – Aug. 4, 1914• Follow “Schlieffen Plan” – Germany holds Russia

– quickly drive through Belgium and capture Paris – go back and conquer Russia

• Belgians held Germans for 3 weeks – gave France & Britain time to mobilize – move troops

• Germ. Gen. Moltke changed plan – needed more troops to hold off Russia – this left the flanks weak in France

WESTERN FRONT• Germans drove French armies

back to Marne River – Sept. 6- Battle of the Marne begins

• Key victory for Allies – ended Germany’s hope for quick defeat

• Both sides race to sea – Germans hoped to seize ports on English Channel and cut off vital supply lines.

• By late November, 1914, war had reached a deadlock – soldiers were along a 450 mile trench line from Belgium to France

WESTERN FRONT• British forces try to control seas – keep

Germany’s surface fleet bottled up in home waters. Germany will rely later on submarine warfare.

• Battle of Verdun – Feb. 1916 – lasted 5 months – longest ,bloodiest battle of the war - Germans advance 4 miles – 300,000 killed each side

• Battle of the Somme – July 1916- British army tried to relieve the pressure on the French army – thousands of tons of explosives used. First day of battle more than 20,000 British soldiers killed .

• British will only advance 7 miles

SUMMARIZE• What country set up a blockade in the North

Sea to prevent the enemy from getting supplies?

• What did the enemy do to retaliate?• What four countries were the Central Powers?• What was the German plan for victory?• What was the first country invaded?• What was the first Battle in WWI?• Which battle was the worst?

EASTERN FRONT• Russia mobilized faster than Germany expected.

Germans were successful in chasing Russian army – scoring victories

• Austria-Hungary was less successful. By end of 1914, A/H forces attacked Serbia three times and were beaten back. • Russia had captured much of A/H province

(present day Poland) and forced A/H army to retreat.

TRENCH WARFARE• By 1915, both sides dug into

system of trenches – defended positions and launched attacks.

• Front line trench – 6-8 ft. deep – wide enough for 2 men to pass – dugouts protect men from enemy fire

• Support trench – ran behind front line – off-duty soldiers lived here

• Communication trench – troops and supplies moved to the battlefront through a network of these

TRENCH SYSTEM

TRENCH WARFARE• Barbed wire helped protect front line

trenches from surprise attacks• Field artillery was set up behind the

support trenches• “No man’s land” – stretch of ground

which lay between enemy lines ( 30 yards to 1 mile)• Trenches were miserable – smell of

dead bodies – rats – water logged.• During quiet time, soldiers stood

guard, repaired trenches, kept communication lines in order, brought food from behind battle lines

• At night they fixed barbed wire – tried to get information on enemy and positions

“OVER THE TOP”• Typical assault:• Artillery bombs • “Over the top”-dash across

no man’s land with fixed bayonets- hurl grenades – struggled through wire.

• Enemy machine guns fired on attackers. If this worked, they then met the second line of defenses.

• Allies never cracked the enemy’s defensive powers.

SUMMARIZE• What is a trench?• What was the area of land between enemy

lines known as? • What protected the front line from enemy

attacks?• What was the cry when you advanced on the

enemy?• What usually stopped advances?

NEW WEAPONS• Tanks – first used by British and French to run

through barbed wire and cross trenches. Ran on treads – slow-clumsy-protected advancing troops

• Poison gas – first used by Germans – caused suffocation and blindness – not useful in wind Germans failed major attacks when using this – Allies soon copied – developed gas masks

• Flame throwers – shot out stream of burning fuel – not effective

• Machine gun – rapid fire weapon- most effective on the front line to stop enemy advances.

NEW WEAPONS• Dogfights – air battles between enemy pilots• Ace – pilot who shot down 5 or more enemy

planes German- Baron Manfred von Richthofen “Red Baron”- 80 kills American – Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker – shot down 26 planes• Submarine – “U-boat” – used torpedoes that

struck surface ship and then exploded

SUMMARIZE• Which country first introduced the tank?• Why wasn’t it very effective?• Which country began using poison gas? • What was the best weapon introduced in

fighting on the front lines?• What vocab term means air battles in WWI?• What determined being named an ace?• Who was the best German ace? American ace?