World War I

1
World War I

• First World War
• The Great War
• War of the Nations
• War to End All Wars
• World Conflict
• 1914 1918

• 1st conflict mobilize so many soldiers
• 1st many in the field of battle
• 1st casualties so high
• 1st time used chemical weapons
• 1st mass bombardment of civilians from the sky
• Some the centurys 1st large-scale civilian
  massacres took place
• 4 Dynasties had roots of power back to the days
  of The Crusades fell after the war
• The Hadsburgs
• The Romanovs
• The Ottomans
• The Honhenzollerns

2
World War I

• Decisive break with the old world order
• Marked the final demise of absolutist monarchy
  in Europe
• Catalyst for the Russian Revolution
• Lay the basis for The Cold War standoff between
  the Soviet Union and the United States

• The defeat of Germany in the war
• Failure to resolve unsettled issues
• Led to the rise of Nazism
• Thus the outbreak of World War II in 1939
• Laid the basis for a new form of warfare
• Relied heavily on technology
• Involved non-combatants in war

3
World War I

• Became the infamous trench warfare
• Huge number of troops were confined to trenches
• Could move little because of tight defenses
• This especially on the Western Front

• Over 9 million men would die
• Nearly 9 million died on the home front due to
• Food shortages
• Starvation
• Genocide
• Being caught up in the fighting

4
Diplomatic and Political Origins

• June 28, 1914
• Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria
• Heir to the Austro-Hungarian Throne was
  assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, A
  Bosnian Serb student

• Though WWI was triggered by this assassination,
  the origins of war lie further back
• In the complex web of alliances and
  counterbalances between the various European
  Powers over the course of the 19th century
• Following the final 1815 defeat of Napoleon
  Bonaparte at Waterloo
• Napoleons Rise to Power
• A Direct consequence of the 1789 French
  Revolution
• Overthrew the French monarchy

5
Outbreak of War

• Austrian regional security concerns
• Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph
• Conrad von Hotzendorf
• Serbia double their territory
• Serbian nationalist agitation in the Southern
  Provinces of the Empire
• Haunted by the Piedmont inspired campaign against
  the Austrian Italian provinces in 1859
• France backed the Piedmont campaignBattle of
  Solferino
• Worried Russia would back Serbia to annex Slavic
  areas from Austria
• It was better to destroy Serbia before they were
  given the opportunity to launch a campaign

• Members of Austrian Government
• Campaign in Serbia was the perfect remedy to
  internal political problems of the Empire
• Many were frustrated by the power of the
  Hungarian government in the Empire
• In 1914 Austro-Hungarian Empire had a dualistic
  structure. (Austria and Hungary had essentially
  separate governments under on monarch.)
• Austrian retained control over foreign policy,
  but dependent on the Hungarians for such things
  as budgetary approval.
• Often the Hungarian leadership Istvan Tisza
  refused requests for things such as increased
  military spending.
• In hopes, of ending the political gridlock that
  this caused, many hoped to form a federation or a
  triadic monarchy
• The solution was seen in increasing the numbers
  of Slavs in the Empire to balance the Magyar
  population.

6
Outbreak of War

• Franz Ferdinands assassination in June 1914
  provided the opportunity
• Austrian leaders to reckoning with a smaller Slav
  Kingdom
• The Sarajevo conspirators were alleged by the
  Austro-Hungarian authorities of have been armed
  by the Black Hand, a pan-Serb nationalists
  grouping with alleged links to Serbian ruling
  circles.
• Serbian government officials were eager not to
  antagonize their stronger northern neighbor and
  ordered border officials to ensure Serbian
  radicals could not enter Bosnia or other portions
  of Austria-Hungry.

• However, since they were looking for an excuse
  for war, these considerations mattered little to
  Austro-Hungarian politicians
• With German backing, Austria-Hungary, acting
  primarily under the influence of Foreign Affairs
  Minister Leopold von Berchtold, sent effectively
  unfulfillable 10-point ultimatum to Serbia (July
  23, 1914) to accepted within 48 hours

7
10-Point Ultimatum

• To suppress any publications which incites to
  hatred and contempt of the Monarchy
• To dissolve immediately the society styled
  Narodna Odbranaand to proceed in the same manner
  against the other societieswhich engage in
  propaganda against Austria
• To eliminate without delay from public
  instruction in Serbia, both as regards the
  teaching body and the methods of instruction, all
  that serves or might serve to foment the
  propaganda against Austria-Hungary
• To remove from the military service and the
  administration in general all officers guilty of
  propaganda against Austria
• To accept the collaboration in Serbia of organs
  of A-H govt. in the suppression of the
  subversive movement directed against the
  territorial integrity of the Monarchy

• 6. To take judicial proceedings against the
  accessories to the plot of 28 June who are on
  Serbian territory Organs delegated by A-H
  govt. will take part in he investigations
  relating thereto
• 7. To proceed without delay to the arrest of two
  named persons implicated according to the
  preliminary investigation undertaken by Austria
• 8. To prevent by effective measures the
  cooperation of Serbia in the illicit traffic in
  arms and explosions across the frontier
• 9. To furnish Austria with explanations
  regarding the unjustifiable utterances of high
  Serbian officials both in Serbia and abroad, who
  have not hesitated since the outrage of 28 June
  to express themselves in terms of hostility
  towards Austria
• 10. To notify Austria without delay of the
  execution of these measure.

8
Outbreak of War

• Serbian government agreed to all but one of the
  demands
• Participation in its judicial proceedings by a
  foreign power would violate its constitution
• Austria-Hungary broke off diplomatic relations
  July 25
• July 28 declared war through a telegram sent to
  the Serbian government

• July 30, the Russian government mobilized its
  military reserves
• This followed a breakdown in crucial telegram
  communications between Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas
  II
• Under pressure by his military staff to prepare
  for war
• July 31, Germany demanded that Russia stand down
  her forces
• Russia government persisted
• August 1, Germany declared war against Russia
• Two days later declared war against Russia
  Ally-France

9
Outbreak of War

• Conflict attributed to the alliances established
• Germany-Austria-Italy vs. France-Russia and
  Britain and Serbia allied with Russia
• August 4, Britain declared war against Germany
  (Britain was technically allied to neither power)
• Because of Germanys invasion of Belgium (whose
  independence Britain guaranteed to uphold in the
  Treaty of London of 1839
• Stood astride the planned German route for
  invasion of Russias ally France

• Britain could not remain neutral, since without
  the c-operation of France and Russia her colonies
  in Africa and India would be under threat
• German occupation of the French Atlantic ports
  would be an even larger threat to Britain trade
  as a whole

10
Opening Battles

• 1st actions of war occurred far from Europe,
  including Africa and the Pacific Ocean
• August 18, 1914 the German protectorate of
  Togoland was invaded by a combined French and
  British force.
• August 10, German forces based in South-West
  Africa attacked South Africa
• August 11, Australian forces landed on the island
  of Neu-Pommern, which was part of German New
  Guinea
• Within several months German forces in the
  Pacific had surrendered or had been driven out
• Whereas sporadic and often fierce fighting
  continued in Africa for the remainder of the war

• In Europe Germany and Austria-Hungary suffered
  from miscommunications regarding each armys
  intentions
• Germany originally guaranteed to support
  Austria-Hungarys invasion of Serbia (the
  interpretations of this idea differed)
• Austria-Hungarian leaders thought Germany would
  cover their northern flank against Russia
• But Germany had planned for Austria-Hungary to
  focus the majority of its troops on Russia, while
  Germany dealt with France on the Western Front
• This confusion forced the Austria-Hungarian army
  to spilt its troops concentration from the south
  in order to meet the Russians in the north
• The Serb army, came up from the south, met the
  Austrian army

11
Opening Battles

• Serbians were set up in defensive positions
  against the Austrians
• August 16th nighttime fighting
• 3 days later the Austrians retreated across the
  Danube suffered 21,000 casualties vs. 16,000
  Serbian casualties
• This marked the 1st allied victory of the war

12
Germanys Plan (Schlieffen Plan)

• Deal with the Franco-Russian Alliance
• Knock Out France
• Deal with slowly mobilized Russian army
• Attack France from the north rather directly
• Germany had to pass through Belgium

• Germany demanded free passage
• Promised Belgium would be Germanys firm ally
• Belgium refused
• Germany invaded and began marching through
  Belgium anyway
• Secured Luxembourg
• Encountered resistance in the city of Liege
• Britain sent an army to France, which advanced
  into Belgium

13
Schlieffen Plan

• Delays brought about by the resistance of the
  Belgian, French, and British forces and the
  unexpected rapid mobilization of the Russian
  upset the German Plan

• Russia attacked East Prussia
• Diverting German forces intended for Western
  Front
• Germany defeated Russia in a series of battles
  collectively known as the 2nd Battle of
  Tannenberg
• This diversion allowed French and British forces
  to finally halt the German advance on Paris at
  the First Battle of Mane on September 1914 as the
  Central Powers were forced into fighting a war on
  two fronts

14
Entry of the Ottoman Empire

• October-November 1914 Ottoman Empire joined the
  Central Powers
• Threatened Russias Caucasian territories
• Threatened Britain's communications with India
  and the East via Suez Canal
• British actions opened another front South with
  the Gallipoli and Mesopotamia

15
Italian Participation

• Since 1882 allied with German and
  Austro-Hungarian Empires
• However 1902 a secret understanding with France
• Designs against Austrian territory in the South
  Tyrol, Istria and Dalmatia
• Italy refused to join Germany and Austria-Hungary
  at the beginning of the war

• Joined the Entente by signing the London Pact in
  April
• Declared war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915
• It declared war on Germany 15 months later

16
Fall of Serbia

• August-December 1914, repelled Austrian-invasions
  
• Serbia fell to combined German, Austrian, and
  Bulgarian invasions
• However, continued to hold out in Albania and
  Greece

17
Early Stages From Romanticism to the trenches

• Common view it would be a short war of maneuver
  with a few sharp actions (to teach the enemy a
  lesson)
• Would end with a victorious entry into the
  capital( the enemy capital)
• Then a home for a victory parade
• Proposed that the excitement of the war caused
  with German youths helped to pave the way toward
  a militaristic and fascist mindset that made it
  possible for the Nazi Party to take control of
  Germany decades later when these youths became
  adults

• Proposed that the excitement of the war caused
  with German youths helped to pave the way toward
  a militaristic and fascist mindset that made it
  possible for the Nazi Party to take control of
  Germany decades later when these youths became
  adults

18
Trench Warfare Begins

• German forces began series of outflanking
  maneuvers to try to force the other to retreat,
  in the so-called Race to the Sea
• Britain and France soon found themselves facing
  entrenched German positions from Lorraine to
  Belgiums Flemish coast
• The sides took set positions, the British and
  French seeking to take offensive while Germany
  sought to defend the territories they had
  occupied
• German trenches were much better constructed than
  those of their enemy

• 800,000 soldiers from Britain and the Empire were
  on the Western Front at any time
• 1,000 battalions each occupied a sector of the
  line from Belgium to the Arne
• Operating a month-long four stage system, unless
  an offensive was underway
• Front contained over 6,000 miles of trenches
• Each battalion held its sector for around a week
  before moving back to support lines
• Then the reserves lines before a week
  out-of-line, often in the Poperinge or Amiens
  areas