WORLD WAR I

BACKGROUND
• Germany and Britain were the strongest nations in Europe
• Japan had modernised its economy and military following the Meiji
restoration
• USA had become a strong country in terms of military capacity and
economic dominance
• Other major powers – France, Italy, Austro-Hungarian empire, Russia,
and Ottoman Turkey
• Europe had divided itself into two alliance systems – TRIPLE ALLIANCE
and TRIPLE ENTENTE; (TA – Germany, A-H, and Italy) (TE – Britain,
France, and Russia)
• Imperialism and quest for colonial domination
 CAUSES FOR THE FIRST WW
• Naval rivalry between Britain and Germany
• French resented the loss of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany following
the Franco-Prussian war of 1871
• Russians were suspicious of Austrian ambitions in the Balkans and
they also were worried about the growing military strength of
Germany
• Rise of Serbian nationalism – resented Austrian occupation of Serbia
– wanted to unite all Slavs to form a united nation for their race
• First Balkan war 1912 – Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Bulgaria
launched attacks on Turkey (they were part of the Ottoman empire).
The Balkan League defeated the Turks.
• Second Balkan War 1913 – Bulgarians were disappointed with their
gains following the First Balkan war – blamed Serbia for the situation
– Bulgaria attacked Serbia – however, Greece, Romania, and Turkey
supported Serbia. The Bulgarians were defeated.
- With this victory, Serbia had emerged as a strong power in the Balkan
region and they wanted to free other Serbs and Slavs living inside the
Austrian empire
• 28th June 1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated – he
was the heir to the Austrian throne. He was shot dead by Serbian
nationalist (terrorist) – Gavrilo Princip at Sarajevo. The Austrians
received support from the Germans and thus used this incident as an
excuse to crush Serbian aggression.
 ORDER OF EVENTS:

• 28th July 1914 – AH declared war on Serbians. Austria had the

support of Germans.
The Russians were eager to support Serbians. But Germans
threatened them of consequences if they were to side with Serbians.
• 01st August – Germans declared war on Russians
• 03rd August – Germans declared war on France
To attack and conquer France, German troops had to march through
Belgium (violated an 1839 treaty that had made it obligatory for the
British to protect the neutrality of Belgium)
• 04th August – Britain declared war on Germans
• 06th August – AH declared war on Russia
 EVENTS AND COURSE OF THE WAR
• Trench warfare (1917 movie) – long war
• Initially, Germany had the advantage – the withdrawal of Russia in
1917, and the entry of the USA in 1917 altered the course of the war.
• Western front – long stalemate
• On Eastern Front – Russians suffered setbacks against the Germans,
and Turks carried out a naval blockade of the Black Sea (blockade of
the Dardanelles)
• Germans captured Poland from Russia
• Use of battle tanks, reconnaissance aircraft, observation balloons,
poison gases, etc.
• ITALY entered the war – in May 1915 – Italians wanted to seize some
Italian speaking regions of Austria
• Battle of Somme 1916 – British attack to relieve pressure on French –
on the very first day over 20000 British soldiers were killed by
German machine gun fire. However, the British held on with dogged
spirit and the German morale was seriously affected.
• Germans used mines and submarines (U Boats) to counter the
stronger British navy. British used passenger and neutral ships to
carry their ammunition and soldiers – Germans started attacking
neutral ships – in May 1915 the U Boats sank the British ship
LUSITANIA – almost 2000 died
• Lusitania had several American passengers of which around 128 were
killed in the German attack
• Provoked America into taking sides (till then USA supplied weapons
and materials to all warring sides – boosted its economy)
• The USA joined the allies’ side in April 1917 – two major reasons – 1)
the Lusitania incident of 1915 2) Germany was trying to persuade
Mexico to declare war on the USA. Their entry gave a psychological
boost to the Allied troops and affected the morale of the Central
Powers
• 11th November 1918 – Armistice signed. End of First World War.
(when allied troops had surrounded Germany)
 WHY DID THE CENTRAL POWERS LOSE THE WAR?

• Failure of the German submarine campaign – provoked the USA into

entering the conflict
• Two-front war for Germany – Russian on the east and other major
powers on the west
• Entry of the USA brought vast resources in the form of food,
weapons, soldiers, and psychological boost to the Allies
• Germany was let down by her allies – had to constantly help AH and
the Bulgarians. Turkey was a shadow of its past.
EFFECTS OF THE WAR
• New methods of warfare – trench warfare, poison gases, machine
guns, tanks, submarines, aircrafts, etc.
• Deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians. Injuries to several million
more. Destruction of infrastructure and loss to economies.
• In Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate and a republic
was declared – WEIMAR REPUBLIC
• Habsburg empire (AH Empire) collapsed – Austria and Hungary
became two separate countries.
• Russian revolution – Communists led by Vladimir Lenin came to
power in 1917.
• Rise of Benito Mussolini in Italy – he made use of the economic
decline in Italy to emerge as an authoritarian figure; and Adolf Hitler.
• The USA and Japan emerged as major world powers. In Asia, China
started emerging as a power centre.
• Treaty of Versailles June 1919
• Formation of the League of Nations – collective security
TREATY OF VERSAILLES 1919
• Germany lost Alsace and Lorraine to France; some other regions to
Belgium, and north Schleswig to Denmark --- humiliation for Germany
– used by Hitler to drive nationalist sentiments
• Germany’s African colonies were taken away from her and made
Mandates under the LON
• LON was formed
• War guilt – war reparations to Allied countries
• Germany was to limit the strength of its army to only 100000 troops,
conscription was disallowed, tanks were not to be maintained by the
army, only 06 battleships were to be held by the Navy, and they were
not allowed to possess any aircraft or submarines.
• Rhineland region was to be permanently demilitarised
TREATY OF SEVRES 1920
• To deal with Ottoman Turkey
• Lost several territories to Greece, and Italy
• The straits were to be permanently open – to enable the free passage
of ships
• Syria became a French Mandate; Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan
became British Mandates