1) The dominoes begin to fall during the

1

• 1) The dominoes begin to fall during the summer
  of discontent, 1914
• June 28 Franz Ferdinand assassinated by Serb
  nationalist in Bosnia (territory conquered by
  A-H)
• July 23, 28 A-H delivers ultimatum on Serbia, it
  gets rejected, A-H declares war on Serbia
• July 30 Russia mobilizes troops in the east
  (against Germany, A-H)
• August 1 Germany, feeling threatened, declares
  war on Russia
• August 3 Given Russian alliance w/ France,
  Germany doesn't wait around, declares war on
  France (as war plans required)
• August 4 Germany implements Schlieffen Plan,
  attacks France thru Belgium
• August 5 Britain declares war on Germany, in
  response to Germanys violation of Belgiums
  sovereignty
• September The war settles into a stalemate on
  the Western Front
• 5 - 2 - 7 - 3 - 8 - 6 - 1- 4

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• 2) Updated Alliances
• Triple Alliance ? CENTRAL POWERS
• Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
• Triple Entente ? ALLIED POWERS
• France, Britain, Russia, Italy LATER U.S.

3

• 3) Italy switched alliances once the war started.
• The Italians disliked German aggression
  militarism (they had been allied with Germany for
  defensive, not offensive reasons).
• 4) Once war had come, most soldiers marched
  happily off to battle
• convinced that the war would be short.
• (and that their nation would be victorious,
  allowing them to return as a war hero).
• It'll be over by Christmas!
• Factors
• nationalism, militarism, social expectations
  (peer pressure), propaganda, romanticism,
  IGNORANCE

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• 5) WWI is a TWO-FRONT war
• WESTERN FRONT
• German border with France
• (and Belgium)
• extended 500 miles, from the North Sea to
  Switzerland
• EASTERN FRONT
• Russian border with Germany and
  Austria-Hungary

5

• 6) Germany planned for a two-front war with the
  Schlieffen Plan
• 1. Rapid attack of France in west w/ overwhelming
  force, outflanking the French army by attacking
  thru Belgium, while a less industrial Russia
  slowly mobilized (Germans assumed).
• 2. After a quick defeat of France, send army east
  toward Russia.
• Paris for lunch, St. Petersburg for dinner.

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• 7) ...but, the Schlieffen Plan fails!
• 1. Germans stopped by combined French British
  forces at the Marne River, outside of Paris
• (consider, too German supply lines get
  longer, French supply lines get shorter,
  so the advantage shifts to the defender,
  rather than the attacker).
• 2. Russians mobilized faster than anticipated,
  threatening Germany's eastern border,
  requiring the premature diversion of troops
  intended for the Western Front in France.

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• Battle of the Marne
• A HALF MILLION DEAD OR WOUNDED IN 8 DAYS!!!
• No quick victory is coming.
• Belligerents instead get stalemate massive
  casualties, as war becomes more industrialized
  deadly.
• 8) Western Front settles into 4 years of TRENCH
  WARFARE

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• 9) A life of misery in the trenches
• - muddy
• - dirty
• - vermin-infested
• (rats, lice)
• - inadequate,
• poor food
• - sleep-deprived
• - terrifying / boring
• - putrid (smelly)
• - hopeless / desperate

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• 10) No-Man's Land
• Bombed out area between opposing trenches where
  no man could possibly survive very long (due to
  artillery, machine guns, barbed wire, snipers,
  etc.)

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• 11) Over the Top
• Leaving your trench to charge across no-man's
  land to attack the enemy...
• usually resulting in massive casualties from
  machine gun fire and enemy (or your own!)
  artillery.

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• 12) New (or innovated) weapons technology in WWI
• - machine guns
• - poison gas
• - tanks
• - larger, more powerful
• accurate artillery
• - planes
• - submarines
• - flamethrowers
• - grenades
• ... mechanized mass
• destruction

12

• Big Bertha ?
• (range of 8 miles)
• ? Paris Gun
• (range of 80 miles)

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• 13) Fighting on the Eastern Front differs from
  fighting on the Western Front
• - More of a mobile, dynamic front
• - Changing battle lines
• - Less trench warfare
• - Larger front
• 14) Fighting nation faring the worst
• RUSSIA
• - WAY behind in industrialization, esp. compared
  to other Euro powers.
• - Had major shortages of FOOD, weapons,
  ammunition, uniforms, boots, blankets.
• - Depended on very limited re-supply from allied
  partners.
• - Only asset a large population from which to
  recruit soldiers only results in massive
  casualties.

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• 15) Russia could not be adequately re-supplied by
  their Allied partners (and could not adequately
  re-supply themselves, b/c they were not very
  industrialized)
• - Germans blockaded the Baltic North Seas with
  their submarines, sinking ships headed to
  northern Russian ports.
• - The Ottoman Empire controlled access to the
  Black Sea, cutting off Allied access to southern
  Russian ports.