World War 1
1914-1918
What were the four main causes that
led to ‘The Great war’?
Alliances
Imperialism
Militarism
Nationalism
(Bonus) The Assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand
Mutual DefenseAlliances
Over time, countries throughout Europe made mutual defense
agreements that would pull them into battle. Thus, if one country was
attacked, allied countries were bound to defend them. Before World
War 1, the following allainces existed:
Russia and Serbia
Germany and Austria-Hungary
France and Russia
Britain and France and Belgium
Japan and Britain
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Russia got
involved to defend Serbia. Germany seeing Russia
mobilizing, declared war on Russia. France was then drawn
in against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Germany
attacked France through Belgium pulling Britain into war.
Then Japan entered the war. Later, Italy and the United
States would enter on the side of the allies.
Imperialism
Imperialism is when a country increases their power and
wealth by bringing additional territories under their
control. Before World War 1, Africa and parts of Asia
were points of contention amongst the European
countries. This was especially true because of the raw
materials these areas could provide. The increasing
competition and desire for greater empires led to an
increase in confrontation that helped push the world into
World War I.
You could easily say it is the most
important cause of WW1, because it
helped to create a build-up of tension in
Europe and outside of Europe, and
through imperialism, the three other causes
were able to affect the beginnings of the
war.
Militarism
As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race
had begun. By 1914, Germany had the greatest
increase in military buildup. Great Britain and
Germany both greatly increased their navies in this
time period. Further, in Germany and Russia
particularly, the military establishment began to have
a greater influence on public policy. This increase in
militarism helped push the countries involved to war.
Arms Race
A competition between two or more parties
to have the best armed forces.
The race was particularly serious between
1900 and 1914, as the international
situation became much worse than before.
Nationalism
Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of
the Slavic peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina to no
longer be part of Austria Hungary but instead be part of
Serbia. In this way, nationalism led directly to the War.
But in a more general way, the nationalism of the various
countries throughout Europe contributed not only to the
beginning but the extension of the war in Europe. Each
country tried to prove their dominance and power.
Pan-Slavism
Was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at the unity of
all the Slavic people. This idea was wildly popular with Russia,
and to that end, many of Russia's actions centered around that.
For instance, Russia supported Serbia in WWI because of
pan-slavism; Russia also took control of other Slavic countries
for this reason. The Soviet Union was basically the ultimate
expression of pan-Slavism.
Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania ,
Montenegro, Russia
Assassination of the Archduke Franz
Ferdinand
The immediate cause of World War I that made all the
aforementioned items come into play (alliances, imperialism, militarism,
nationalism) was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated
him and his wife while they were in Sarajevo, Bosnia which was part of
Austria-Hungary. This was in protest to Austria-Hungary having
control of this region. Serbia wanted to take over Bosnia and
Herzegovina. This assassination led to Austria-Hungary declaring
war on Serbia. When Russia began to mobilize due to its alliance with
Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus began the
expansion of the war to include all those involved in the mutual
defense alliances
1914
The countries of the Allies included
Russia, France, British Empire, Italy,
United States, Japan, Rumania, Serbia,
Belgium, Greece, Portugal and
Montenegro
The countries of the Central Powers
included Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Turkey and Bulgaria
Triple Entente
Triple Entente, an informal alliance among Great Britain, France,
and Russia in the period before World War I. It opposed the Triple
Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The Triple
Entente was based on three bilateral agreements. The Dual Alliance
(1894) between France and Russia was a political and military alliance;
each nation promised to support the other in the event of an attack by
one or all of the members of the Triple Alliance. The Entente
Cordiale (1904) settled a number of disputes between France and
Great Britain, clearing the way for closer Anglo-French cooperation.
In 1907 Britain and Russia negotiated a similar agreement. After
World War I broke out, the Entente powers signed a formal military
alliance. They fought together until 1917, when Russia withdrew from
the war
Battle of Verdum
The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single
battle of World War One. The casualties from Verdun
and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a
primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the
Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German
pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of
Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on
December 16th in 1916. It was to make General Philippe
Petain a hero in France.
Battle of Verdun, 1916, resulted in over a
million casualties in ten months.
The French were able to push back the
Germans. The Germans and French were
both left incredibly weakened and it took
the arrival of the US later in 1917 to
change the tide of the war for the Allies.
Trench warfare - a type of warfare in which
opposing armies face each other in
entrenched positions
Trenches were infested with millions of
rats, frogs and lice
Lusitania
Lusitania - On May 7, 1915, the ship neared the coast of
Ireland. At 2:10 in the afternoon a torpedo fired by the
German submarine U 20 slammed into her side. A
mysterious second explosion ripped the liner apart.
Chaos reigned. The ship listed so badly and quickly that
lifeboats crashed into passengers crowded on deck, or
dumped their loads into the water. Most passengers never
had a chance. Within 18 minutes the giant ship slipped
beneath the sea. One thousand one hundred nineteen of
the 1,924 aboard died. The dead included 128
Americans.
The Americans
The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 helped bring the US into the
war. Germany’s invitation to help support the Mexican’s fight against
the Americans also played a big role in the US joining the war.
US entered the war on April 6, 1917.
The U.S. was in the war in actual combat for only seven and a half
months during which time 116,000 were killed and 204,000 were
wounded.
To increase the size of the U.S. Army during WWI, Congress
passed the Selective Service Act, which was also known as the
conscription or draft, in May 1917. By the end of the war, 2.7 million
men were drafted. Another 1.3 million volunteered.
Armistice
In the context of the First World War 'the
armistice' is generally referred to in context
of the agreement between the Germans
and the Allies to end the war on November
11, 1918.
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace
settlement signed after WW1had ended.
1918
WW1 facts
Was known as the Great war before WW2 happened as
it was supposed to be the war to end all wars
More than 65 million men from 30 countries fought in
WWI. Nearly 10 million died. The Allies (The Entente
Powers) lost about 6 million soldiers. The Central
Powers lost about 4 million. 21,219,452 were wounded.
7,750,919 were made prisoners.
Over 200,000 men died in the trenches of WW1
80,000 British troops suffered from shell-shock
First Known use of chemical weapons (mustard Gas)
Russia faced more casualties than any other nation in
WW1, their total casualties were 9,150,000.
Russia mobilized 12 million men during the war; France 8.4
million; Britain 8.9 million; Germany 11 million; Austria-
Hungary 7.8 million; Italy 5.6 million; and the USA 4.3
million.
So, the total casualties of World War 1 were 37,508,686
which makes 57.6% of the total troops that were mobilized.
Hitler fought in ww1 in the German Army.
10)Hitler wasn´t happy about the armistice which left
Germany destitute and lead to him gaining power so
WW1 leads Into WW2...
