Discovering History
History with Ms. Sabatos
World War One
The MAIN causes
Militarism
Militarizing, or the equipping of soldiers of arms, became possible because of the industrialization that had been occurring over the past century. It was easier and cheaper to produce arms and goods. With Germany as a new country, they wanted to show their power and prowess by militarizing their country, which included building up a navy (rivaling Britain) and armed forces. In addition, other countries were militarizing to ensure their growing imperialistic empires stayed.
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Needless to say, countries had more arms and power than they ever had before.
Alliances
Alliances are generally created to protect your own country. Germany did exactly that in the late 1800s to protect itself from France (if they ever did attack). Germany allied with Italy and Austria Hungary to remain protected. They became known as the Triple Alliance or the Central Powers.
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France, on the other hand, was looking for an alliance to protect itself from Germany. France looked towards Russia and Britain. They formed an alliance with Russia and an entente with Britain, ensuring a certain amount of protection. the entente with Britain DID NOT require the UK to provide military protection; however, it did recognize French territory. These became known as the Triple Entente or the Allies.
Imperialism
Nations had continued to imperialize throughout the 19th century. Strong, dominating countries owned other nations all around the world. These strong countries were competing against each other to gain more and more land for a few reasons: (1) more land meant more power (2) with each new conquer, they could spread their culture more (3) creating naval bases!
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Because they were competing against each other, they continuously built up armies and other protection in order to maintain their colonies.
Nationalism
Good old nationalism, always starting things up! People are just always so proud of the countries. In this case, there are multiple issues. One, new countries, especially Germany, were looking to spread their culture and show their nationalism was strong. Two, nationalities were suppressed in carious empires, including the Ottoman empire and Austria Hungary, and they wanted to be free. Three, a larger nationalism sunk into Eastern Europe : Pan-Slavism. Russia, being Mama Slav, felt that they were the protector of all of the Slavs (basically the entirety of Eastern Europe) and vowed to protect all Slavs.
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The Story of the Great War
Serbia
The first character: Serbia. This small Balkan country caused a great amount of trouble in the beginning of the 20th century. After gaining independence in the 1870s from the Ottoman Empire, Serbia became a small country protected by the Russians (thanks to Pan-Slavism). Throughout the Balkan Wars, and through general discontent, Serbia grew more and more angry with the Austria-Hungary Empire, as this empire was threatening the independence of the small nation.
Berlin Conference
Hopefully, by now, we are familiar with this conference. But how does it fit in with WWI?
Well, Germany called it in Berlin in order to peacefully imperialize land.
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In this process, Germany, and other countries, began to militarize to gain land and keep that land.
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Due to this imperialism, Russia and Japan go to war (and Mama Russia loses....) and countries began promoting their own nationalism.
The Balkan Wars
In the years that followed Serbia's independence,other Balkan states desired their independence from the Ottoman Empire. From 1912 to 1913, the Balkans were a hotbed of conflict. In the First Balkan War, many countries gained their independence from the Ottoman Empire. This war ended; however, another conflict began in the Balkans between the states themselves over who owned what. Really, Balkans..?
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Anyways, because of all of this, the Balkans gained the nickname the "Powder Keg of Europe" because, let's be honest, the area could blow up at any time.
The Alliances
Triple Alliance
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The first alliance was created between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, known as the Triple Alliance (in red on the map) or the Central Powers. Germany was ensuing protection in the case that France attacked in order to gain the Alsace Loraine Territory back (which the French had lost in the Franco Prussian war).
Triple Entente
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A decade later, France sought an ally in Russia. Also looking to Britain for an alliance, Britain and France form an entente, which is an informal alliance or a recognition f the country. However, an entente has no military obligation. In addition, Russia and Britain form an entente, creating the Triple Entente (in blue on the map) or the Allies.
All of the above has created the perfect setting for war...all we need is a spark!
The Black Hand was a Serbian national group that was created to support a Slav state and maintain independence. Above is the symbol of the group. To the right are two important men who were part of the Black Hand. Having a plan to assassinate the heir to the Austrian Hungarian throne, these men played their parts in this asssassination.
The black Hand
Cabrinovic had the task of assassinating the Archduke; however, his attempt failed. The bomb struck the car behind the archduke's. Seeing he failed, he took cyanide and threw himself in the river. The cyanide was outdated and the river was only a few inches deep, allowing the officials to capture him. At only 17, he went to prison for the attempted assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne. He died of tuberculosis in prison in 1916.
Gavrilo Princip
Princip thought the group had failed in their assassination attempt. Due to a wrong turn, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand ended up right outside of the shop Princip was at. Gavrilo Princip took this moment, pulled out his gun, and assassinated both the archduke and his wife. Arrested, Princip was too young to receive the death penalty at the age of 19 (one had to be 20), so he was sent off to prison. In 1918, tuberculosis took his life.
Austria and the Archduke
The assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie (pictured above) was a tragedy to the Austrian Empire. They had lost their heir, even though Francis Joseph, the current ruler, had warned Ferdinand not to go to Sarajevo on the fateful day.
Because of the assassination, Austria felt they had to take some action. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany advised Austria to confront Serbia about the issue at hand. Austria delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, asking (more like demanding) to help in the search of the group that planned the assassination. If Serbia did not agree to all of the demands, then Austria Hungary would declare war on the small Balkan nation. Of course, Serbia could not meet all of the demands. In July of 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia, sparking the beginning of the Great War.
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.
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(look at that facial hair!)
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Francis Joseph of Austria
THE WORLD AT WAR
Austria declared war on Serbia in July of 1914. Russia, the protector of the Slavs, feels the need to protect Serbia, declaring war on Austria. Germany, allied with Austria, declared war on Russia and France (just to be safe). Britain, while debating at first, was pulled into the war when Germany invaded the neutral Belgium. Throughout the next four years, various countries were pulled into the
fighting, including the Ottoman Empire (Central Power), the USA, Romania, Greece, Italy, and others. In addition, the colonies owned by the European countries get pulled into the war as soldiers and as fighting grounds. Soon, almost the whole world is in chaos and fighting.
Schlieffen Plan
The Plan
German Chief of Staff, Alfred von Schlieffen, created the plan to invade France in 1905, you know, just in case. The main goal of the plan was to avoid a two front war with France and Russia. As seen in the diagram, the plan made Germany go through Belgium and Luxembourg in order to capture France's capitol, Paris. While this plan may have worked in 1905, by 1914 a few things had changed.
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Germany had planned that it would take Russia six weeks to mobilize; however, in 1914, Russia was more technologically advanced and only took four weeks to mobilize. Due to this mobilization, Germany had to send troops to the east prior to capturing Paris, allowing the Allies to win the Battle of the Marne. This loss created a stalemate on this front which led to Trench warfare in Northern France.
Trench Warfare
Trench warfare was a new type of warfare (on this scale) which introduced many new issues, such as trench foot, no man's land, and infestations of rodents and lice. The trenches were not a pleasant place to be for soldiers in the Great War, and, in many places, morale of soldiers on both sides were low. The stalemate of the warfare offered little hope.
Infestations
Rats, frogs, lice, and men lived in conjunction in the trenches. As the perfect damp spot for frogs, the trenches offered a variety of roommates for soldiers. Lice lived on men, feeding from them, and they were hard to get rid of, as they lived in hair, jackets, and the rats. Speaking of rats, they could be as large as a cat. Rats carried disease (as did lice) and ate human flesh on the occasion. As you can imagine, these are not the ideal living mate. The infestations caused great discomfort, disease, and strife.
Shell Shock
Now known as a form of PTSD, many soldiers suffered from the mental traumas the war offered. Not only would the soldiers experience a great amount of death and destruction, they would sit in trenches while bombs dropped yards away. The condition was not well understood in the time, though many men suffered from it.
No Man's Land
Between the enemy trenches lay no man's land. This area of land was destroyed from grenades, bombs, and tanks. Near the trenches in no man's land, barbed wire would protect the trench openings. No one ventured into no mans' land in fear of being killed, as the trenches offered protection from enemy fire. On average, the land between the trenches was about 250 yards, a significant distance but also close enough to attack. Throughout the war, this strip of land was destroyed, leaving a decimated country side, especially in Northern France.
Trench Foot
Trench foot occurred in the cold, wet, and unsanitary conditions of the trenches. Since soldiers stood for hours in their wet socks, their feet became numb and infected. Eventually, feet of soldiers would become gangrenous. In worst case scenarios, the toes and foot would die and need amputation. While I will save you from the images of trench foot we observed in class, if you are interested, you may find images at the links to images here, here, and here.
Trenches were mainly found in Northern France, as seen on the map above. The battle front, where the trenches are, is indicated by the brown dotted line.
The Soldiers
Too often, the individuality of the soldiers in wars is forgotten. Each soldier that went to war had a family, a life outside of war, and emotions. We are able to see into soldiers' lives through diaries and poems, especially in WWI. Below are images of soldiers from the First Great War. Stop to think about their experience and, for some, their sacrifice.
WWI Poems
Wilfred Owen - Dulce et Decorum Est
The video above is an audio recording of Owen's poem Dulce et Decorum Est
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Wilfred Owen
Dulce Et Decorum Est [It Is sweet and honorable]
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
The Christmas Truce
It brings some hope and joy to know that even in the most difficult and destructive times in human history, there is some humanity that remains, bringing warmth and comfort to men. In 1914, an odd phenomenon occurred in the front trenches: a Christmas Truce. While this did not occur in every part of the trench, some soldiers enjoyed a day of peace, making friends, and sharing the holiday the Christian countries shared. Diaries of soldiers record soccer games, card games, swapping of gifts, and talking with the enemy trenches. Though this poses an issue for upper officers, as fraternizing with the enemy may cause soldiers to not want to fight any longer, the Christmas Truce is one time in four years that offered some peace in Europe./ Below are the two videos we viewed in class from the Sainsbury's ad.
Propaganda
What is Propaganda?
Propaganda is the spreading of ideas to promote a cause or destroy another sides' cause. Often times it can be misleading and not fully truthful. The propaganda found in WWI was mostly posters supporting the war; however, we can see a lot of different social aspects in these posters. Many show a great amount of nationalism for certain countries. In addition, we are able to see what women are asked to do at the homefront.
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Women made clothes, harvested gardens, worked as secretaries, served as nurses in the war, and supported the men...or at least that is what the posters ask them to do.
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When looking at the posters below, think about what their purpose might be and why countries would put the posters out in public.
The US Joins the War
United States Joins - 1917
General USA policy was to remain neutral in affairs that did not concern their hemisphere. However, throughout the First World War, the United States was involved in small ways. Due to the German U-Boat attacks and the Zimmerman Letter (Germans asking Mexico to create conflict with the United States), the US felt they had no choice but to join the war.
Lusitania and the War
The Lusitania, pictured above, was a merchant boat that held 100+ American citizens. German U-boats sunk the ship, which upset many countries, including the United States. Wilson asked kindly for the Germans to not do this and created the convoy system to protect the merchant ships. However, another ship is sunk, the Sussex, and the United States feels it is necessary to join the war.
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Due to German troop exhaustion and a significant number of Allied forces (including the US) in Paris, the Germans were pushed back and lost the Western Front, losing the war.
Wilson's Proposal for Peace
When an armistice was called on November 11, 1918 at 11 am, Wilson already had an idea for peace. He said a peace without victory was needed, not a victor's peace. His proposal, known as the 14 points, which laid out a few points. The five main principles of these points are as follows:
1. Self determination - countries should govern themselves
2. Peace without victory
3. Disarmament for all countries to domestic necessities only
4. Fair treatment of all peoples
5. League of Nations
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The 14 points was not accepted by the European powers, as they were looking for revenge. However, a League of Nations was created to maintain peace. The US Senate denied the Treaty of Paris and was unable to join the League of Nations, dooming the group from the start.
The End of the Great War
In the past century, people had not experienced a great amount of war and destruction. The great War was devastating to the economy of many countries, the land of European countries, and the societies of the countries involved. People became jaded to the destruction of war and scared that it could come back. The Allies wanted revenge for the destruction and annihilation of their land and economy. They were looking for someone to blame, and Germany happened to be the one to blame. Below are images of destruction caused by bombs and trenches. Additionally, casualty count was significant, costing some countries over 10% of their population.
Treaty of Versailles
The end treaty discussed by the countries involved in the war created a victor's peace. Countries took land and blamed Germany for the war, making them pay the reparation. In the war guilt clause, Germany is blamed, and it can be easily argued that this is what leads the world into a second world war. Below are important points of the Treaty of Versailles.
