WWI: 1914-1918

I. Causes
A. Nationalism
i. extreme pride in one's country led people to be overly sensitive to perceived threats
B. Arms Race
i. major countries were in competition to create the strongest military
a) mostly Britain vs Germany, with Britain having the advantage
b) military spending increased across Europe by 50%
C. Imperialism
i. the drive for new materials and influence around the globe made tensions grow,
especially with latecomers Italy and Germany
a) Germany already had plans to expand control within central Europe, Africa, and
Asia as early as 1912
ii. Social Imperialism
a) Germany feared an uprising of the Social Democrats (socialist political party) and
wanted to use a war to keep any revolutionaries loyal through nationalism
D. Failure of diplomacy
i. two major alliances in Europe by 1907: England-France-Russia vs Germany-Austria
Hungary-Italy
a) tensions over the Balkans
• Ottoman Turks were in major decline, and Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia-
Herzegovina against the wishes of Russia
• rising nationalism in Serbia
• 3 wars in Balkans 1912-1913 between Serbia and other Balkan states
• Serbia was supported by Russia, though not openly
• Treaty of London attempted to end the fighting, and ended up taking
more power from the Ottomans and creating Albania
• this destabilized the region, because when drawing new borders they
failed to pay attention to demographics, putting Muslims and
Orthodox Christians together and leading to peasant uprisings
b) Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Bosnian in 1914
• the assassin and his team were arrested and named many officials within the
Serbian government who supposedly helped plan the attack
• Austria-Hungary then issued an ultimatum to Serbia, demanded apology and
the arrest of those named
• when Serbia refused, Austria-Hungary invaded
• Russia declared it would defend Serbia and mobilized troops
• Germany declared war on Russia to support alliance with Austria-
Hungary
• France and England joined Russia
• Italy and Turkey then joined Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Serbia,
but Italy mostly remained neutral until 1915, when they switched
sides to the Allies
II. War
A. those fighting all believed it would be over quickly
B. Germany invaded Belgium to get around the French army, but miscommunication led to
 them stalling just beyond the French border
i. this led to trench warfare in the west, where soldiers dug deep trenches allowing them to
walk from place to place and fire over a wall of dirt
a) some could be miles long
b) this led to a stalemate, as both sides couldn't get to the other without being cut down
C. German and Austrian armies overwhelmed the Russians at first, but by 1915 were also
fighting trench warfare in the east
D. Ottomans entered late 1914, in a year were in trench warfare in the south
E. Japan, Australia, and New Zealand attacked German holdings in the Pacific
F. French and British forces attacked German holdings in Africa
i. despite early success for France and Britain, the Germans switched to guerrilla warfare
and were able to keep fighting enough to keep the forces from helping in Europe
G. Britain feared India would revolt, but actually India sent over a million soldiers to help in
Europe, Asia, and Africa
i. they had hoped Britain would grant them self government after the war, but when they
didn't India would end up rising up under Gandhi instead
III. Trench Warfare in the West
A. old tactics hadn't kept up with the new trench defense, and commanders couldn't figure out
how to take areas without heavy losses
B. trench warfare was incredibly deadly, with millions dying from fighting, disease, and a
general lack of cleanliness
i. those injured suffered amputations and gangrene, as those who died couldn't be buried
without those burying them being shot
ii. poison gas was introduced, which was perfect for spreading in the trenches
a) soldiers began always wearing gas masks
iii. France and Britain designed tanks, but it took a few years before they had enough to
make a significant difference
C. neither side was able to dominate
i. France and Britain tried to go on the offensive and were cut down by superior German
defenses, and Germany only tried once to go on the offensive
a) 10s of 1000s were killed with each engagement- single battles saw as many as
700,000 die between both sides
IV.Naval Warfare
A. Germany developed the most advanced submarines, which they called U-Boats, as well as
deploying many cruisers in the North Sea
i. both were used to disrupt shipping to Allied powers, who were unable to defend
themselves against the U-Boats
a) many times they sunk American merchant ships, and this would be a reason for
America eventually entering the war
B. Britain had more powerful cruisers in the water, and were able to mine and blockade
Germany from the water
i. Britain was able to hurt German cruisers enough to dominate the sea, but still couldn't
stop the U-Boat attacks on merchant ships
a) merchant ships began to travel in convoys, designed to defend against U-Boat
attacks
• trade therefore increased, but was slow
V. War in the East
A. Romania joined Russia after being promised new territories if the Allies won
i. held the line for months, taking some of the strain off of Russia, but eventually were
 overrun by Germans in 1916
a) as a result of this victory, Germany actually sued for peace
• Woodrow Wilson stepped in and offered to negotiate terms, but the German
demands were soon seen as a tactic to break the Allies up
• Allies demanded reparations and for the Germans to leave conquered territories,
so negotiations failed
B. Russia was involved in trench warfare with both Austria and Germany, but most of
Germany's armies were in the west against France and Britain
C. Russian Revolution 1917
i. weak rule by the Tsar had many in Russia wanting an end to the war
ii. early 1917, the Tsar stepped down to prevent an uprising and was replaced by a
Provisional Government led by Menshevik socialists
a) poor communication, weak rulers, and little food led to the army beginning to fail,
and the people called for Vladimir Lenin to lead (he was head of the Bolshevik
Party)
• Bolsheviks were 'pure' socialists (Communists), while Mensheviks were
imperialistic
• he called for an immediate end to the war once in power
• Germany demanded huge territories, and once German troops began to
march across Ukraine without opposition Russia agreed
• this seemed a huge success for the Central Powers, but ended up being
too much territory for Germany to control and stretched them too thinly
iii. Russian political parties continued to fight for dominance, despite Lenin ruling fairly
a) the fighting continued in some areas until 1934
b) Lenin died in 1924 and was replaced by Joseph Stalin, who used Lenin's communist
philosophy to develop the Soviet Union
D. Germany and Austria-Hungary signed an armistice with Russia in December 1917
i. armistice isn't peace, but a cessation of fighting
ii. this allowed eastern armies to join the western front
VI. 1917
A. British blockade of Germany was beginning to have effect, and the Germans decided to
begin unrestricted submarine warfare
i. they targeted any ship in the Atlantic knowing this would likely bring in American
forces, but they believed the damage to Britain would be severe enough that the war
would end before American forces made a difference
ii. American ships joined the convoy system, making submarines less effective than the
Germans thought they would be
a) Britain therefore suffered, but not enough to pull out of the war
B. Zimmerman Telegram
i. secret communication in January from German diplomatic corps to Mexico trying to get
an alliance in case America entered the war
a) said Germany would finance Mexico in the war and help them regain lost territory
from the Mexican-American War (Texas, New Mexico, California, etc)
ii. British intelligence intercepted it and gave it to the Americans, enraging the public and
leading Wilson to officially declare war in April
iii. Wilson, in order to gain approval from those who still didn't want war, suggested this
was the 'war to end all wars'
iv. America didn't have much of a military, so they instituted the Selective Service Act,
 which required all men 21-30 to enlist (later expanded to 18-45)
a) in all raised a force of over 2.8 million drafted along with 2 million volunteers
C. after severe losses to the Central Powers in France, the Allies came together in a conference
to begin working together (they had been operating independently)
D. Egypt/Britain marched against the Ottomans in March
i. German and Ottoman forces stopped them at first, but soon lost ground and Allied
forces dominated the western portion of the Middle East
ii. Indian forces joined the British and Egyptians, finally finishing off the Ottoman Empire
a) since Britain controlled Egypt and India, Britain now took control of the Middle East
E. American forces deployed faster than Germany expected and brought new technologies, like
planes and machine guns
VII. 1918
A. Spring
i. Germany wanted to finish the war quickly before American troops were able to turn the
tide and developed an offensive to dominate the battlefield
a) early fighting was characterized by long periods of artillery strikes followed by a
massive push of infantry, which led to huge casualties
b) new plans saw small periods of artillery strikes followed by small groups of
specially trained infantry at weak points, which were able to cut holes in defensive
lines
• these troops were called stormtroopers
c) Germans made huge gains, but couldn't move the artillery to back up the new lines,
giving the French/British/American forces time to regroup and counter
d) many also began to suffer from the Flu Epidemic of 1918, which would eventually
affect over a million German troops
B. Summer
i. Allied forces had been reorganized in November 1917
a) overall they were commanded by the French Grand Marshal Foch, but the armies
were still directly commanded by their own Generals
• this allowed an overall force for defense, but kept individual commands at their
peak with commanders who knew their armies
b) the creation of tanks (France) was finally beginning to take precedence in trench
warfare, as the industry finally made enough to make a difference
ii. Germany made a push to encircle Paris, but the counterattack by the Allies pushed them
back and was the first successful offensive by the Allies in the war
a) this victory led to the Hundred Days Offensive, a series of quick victories by the
Allies
• German forces repeatedly retreated and never regained the momentum
• they also were facing crisis at home as anti-war marches became more
common, and industrial output fell to half of what they had been in 1913
C. Fall
i. after so many losses and problems at home, Germany knew it couldn't win the war
ii. Austria-Hungary knew they couldn't carry on further than December
iii. American and French forces finally pushed Central forces across their initial defensive
line, fully driving them out of France
iv. Germany finally exhausted their reserves of oil and other important industrial needs to
continue the war effort, while America supplied 80% of the Allied needs and had plenty
to spare
 v. the government of Germany was in free fall, and by November the Imperial government
was replaced by the Weimar Republic
a) this would later be replaced by Nazi Germany (Third Reich)
vi. October-November many places under the control of the Germans and Austria-
Hungarians began declaring independence from the Central Powers, who couldn't do
anything about it
a) Austria and Hungary split and signed separate armistices with the Allies on
November 3
b) Germany signed the armistice November 11
• news went out at 11 am, making it the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
vii. while the Allies had plenty of men and resources to invade Germany, they signed
the armistice and never entered
a) German officials then began to spin the story, saying their army wasn't defeated, but
problems at home (specifically with the Jews, socialists, and communists) had led to
them having to call for peace
• this rhetoric would be repeated by Adolf Hitler in his rise to power- HONORS:
Be able to connect the rhetoric in this “stab in the back” argument made above
with the ideas of a “proper” German from the last set of notes
VIII. Aftermath
A. WWI led to the end of 4 empires
i. Russian, German, Austria-Hungarian, and Ottoman
B. also ended 4 dynasties
i. Romanovs, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns, and Ottomans
C. formally the war continued for 7 months (with no actual fighting)
i. officially ended with the Treaty of Versailles June 28, 1919
a) America didn't sign the treaty despite public support (Wilson wanted it, but his
political rivals in Congress didn't want him to get the win, so they refused to ratify
the treaty)
• Wilson had proposed many items to the treaty, the most important being the
League of Nations, which while America didn't join, the other Allied Powers did
b) the Central Powers had to admit wrongdoing in the beginning of the war and agreed
to pay reparations to the Allied nations
• this focused primarily on Germany, who were humiliated and resentful for years
to come
• German politics would focus on this section of the treaty and the “stab in the
back” sentiment of betrayal from within, directly leading to WWII
c) many new countries were created from the fallen empires
• these mostly were based on ethnic lines, but not entirely, leading to many people
leaving their homes for areas controlled by their ethnicity
• Russian leaders passed a law allowing controlled territories to break away along
ethnic lines if they wished, leading to the countries of Estonia, Finland, Poland,
and others
• Turkey soon replaced the Ottoman Empire, and much of their former territory
was now controlled by the British
• Britain allowed regions to develop government under their rule, but the
power vacuum left after the fall of the Ottomans led to instability in the
Middle East that we can still see today
• this was exacerbated by the creation of Israel after WWII
D. Casualties
i. 8 million killed
ii. 7 million permanently disabled
iii. 15 million seriously injured
iv. over 20 million civilians were killed from war, disease, and starvation in Europe alone
a) this does not include those killed for ethnic reasons, like Jews and Armenians
v. 1918 Flu Epidemic killed 50 million worldwide
vi. By comparison, the United States only lost just over 100,000 (not including flu at home)

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