CHAPTER 19 SECTIO
N 1
TH E ROAD T
O WAR
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I June 28, 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in
Bosnia Austria ruled Bosnia Gavrilo Princip, the man responsible, was a Serbian nationalist who believed
Bosnia should be part of Serbia and not Austria The assassination ignited what was already a decaying situation Other main causes to the War were: imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and
tangled country alliances Imperialism:
Great rush for colonies during the 1800sJapan had won the Sino-Japanese was in 1895 and became a colonial power
Acquired Korea, Taiwan, and parts of mainland ChinaGermany realized that the only way for expansion was to take land away
from other countries
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I Militarism: - aggressive build up of a nation’s armed forces in preparation
of war and giving the military more authority the government and foreign policy
Germany, France, Britain, Austria, Hungary, and Russia all prepared for war making war more likely
Nationalism: - devotion to one’s country Austria and Germany governed millions of Czechs, Slovaks, Pole, and other
non-German speaking peoples that ultimately wanted to be a separate country This led to tensions within the countries themselves Alliances: Bound countries to come to another’s aid in the event of war German and Austria were allied. France and Russia were allied. France and
England were allied.
ALLIANCES DURING WWI
THE CONFLICT EXPANDS Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination of Ferdinand – declared
war on July 28, 1914 Set off a chain reaction of mobilization – readying troops for war Russia (Serbia’s protector) began mobilizing – Germany (Austria-Hungary’s
ally) warned Russia to stop – they refused France (Russia’s ally) began mobilizing, as did Germany – August 1st Germany
declared war on Russia which meant France declared war on Germany Germany, as you can see on the map on the previous page is between
France and Russia… to avoid having to fight both at the same time – they developed the Schlieffen Plan – a quick attack through France to push them out of the war
Having to pass through neutral Belgium brought Britain into the war on August 4th
Sides were divided into two: Germany and Austria-Hungary as the Central Powers, and Russia, Serbia, France, and Great Britain as the Allies
WORLD CONFLICT The sweep through France was met by British and French forces that
resulted in a bloody stalemate – situation in which neither side gains advantage
Trenches were dug out and created appalling death tolls and rat infested areas
Between the trenches was a “no man’s land” and neither side gained more than a few miles. – This was an extremely horrible site and horrible warfare
Russians invaded Germany’s east side causing forces to be pulled from the west to push back an invasion
At the end of 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, Italy joined the Allies, and the next year (1915) Bulgaria joined the Central Powers
MODERN WARFARE The machine gun was a new brutal invention that mowed down
advancing forces Generals, having never seen such weaponry, ordered many soldiers
to attempt advance – only to lose thousands of soldiers Poison gases, and artillery shells constantly rained down upon
soldiers in trenches Most Americans opposed the Central Powers British journalists began writing propaganda – information intended
to sway public opinion – in order to have others join their cause America remained neutral – between 1897 and 1914 - saw their
trade multiply by five Still, even with staying out of the war, the country began preparing
for war by training soldiers for combat