Aim: Could World War I have been prevented?

Vocabulary: militarism, nationalism, Pan-Slavism, imperialism,Arms race, Social Darwinism, Triple Alliance, Central Powers, Triple Entente, Allies, “powder keg of Europe,” “blank check”

Simulation vs Reality• Similarities

• SELFISHNESS for extra credit points (goals) – is main driver of both

• Little desire or outcry against war (France in our game is only group)

• Italy switches sides – both times

• Franz Ferdinand “powder keg” of WWI (different murderers)

• Lots of Fighting based on Alliances

• USA sells arms to Allies in particular

• Italy invades Libya and Ethiopia (more WWII issue)

• Similar military might

• Ottoman Empire defeated

Simulation vs Reality

• Differences (different for each class each year)

• Military strategy differences – no trench warfare, airplanes NOT used (joke), UBoats successful for awhile, etc.

• USA housing “refugees” (isolationists in real life)

• Italy and Russian alliance

• “Ganging up” on the Ottoman Empire – British will not allow with Balance of Power

• USA and France strong alliance for trade (really more pro-Britain in reality)

• Did not conclude the simulation and unsure where it would have gone to

A BRIGHT FUTURE?

“(If women get the right to vote then)Yes, the women will do it (end wars). They don’t feel as men do about war. They are the mothers of the race. Men think of the economic results, women think of the grief and pain.”

Connections to Today

Aletta Jacobs Alettajacobs.org

AN EERIE WARNING

“I shall not live to see the Great War…but you will see it,

And it will start in the east.”

Otto von Bismarck

Q: Why do you think that even decades earlierOtto von Bismarck was able to predict that a World War would break out in Europe?

Q: We will be discussing the long and short term causes ofWorld War I. How would you distinguish between a longterm cause and a short term cause?

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

• M

• A

• N

• I

• A

MILITARISM

• SOCIAL DARWINISM- “survival of the fittest.” “(War was a) biological necessity of the first importance,” according to German militarist Friedrich von Bernhardi.

• ARMS RACE- Britain and Germany built powerful navies

Connections to Today

TOY SOLDIERS

French Infantry Line 1900

upnaway.com

FORMATION OF ALLIANCES

THE CENTRAL POWERS- After it defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870), Germany formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Russia in 1881. The next year Germany formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy (The Triple Alliance). After Bismarck resigned, Kaiser William II preserved the Triple Alliance but allowed its treaty with Russia to lapse. Russia was free to find new allies.

THE ALLIES

In 1894 France and Russia signed an alliance. Then in 1904 France and Britain signed an “entente cordiale.” It was a friendly understanding, but not binding like a treaty. Britain signed a similar agreement with Russia three years later. This alliance became known as the Allies when the War broke out.

NATIONALISM

• Alsace and Lorraine- France was bitter about losing them to Germany during the Franco-Prussian War.

• Pan-Slavism- Russia felt it had a duty to lead and defend all Slavs (including Serbia) against any threat.

• The Balkans- The Ottoman Empire and Austria Hungary were concerned about growing nationalism in the Balkans.

What the Ottoman Empire Lost• Hungary (1699)- to the Austrians• Greece (ind. 1829) Greeks resented Ottoman

occupation. French, British, and Russian naval forces defeated the Ottomans, resulting in Greek independence

• Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro (ind. 1878)-to the Russians (lost war, Berlin Conference)

• Bulgaria- 1908 Young Turks overthrew the sultan in Turkey, Bulgarians took advantage and claimed independence. The Ottomans were too weak to respond.

• Albania- (ind. 1913)Young Turks revolt weakened Ottomans, Balkan countries fought for independence. Nearly all of the Balkans were independent in 1913.

IMPERIALISM (and other economic rivalries)

• Britain felt threatened by Germany’s rapid industrialization

• Germany did not believe the other world powers gave her enough respect

• Germany did not want France to impose a protectorate status on Morocco

Imperialism and the Balance of Power

Erols.com

“All the long years of my reign, my colleagues, the monarchs of Europe, have paid no attention to what I have to say. Soon, with my great navy to endorse my words, they will be more respectful.”

Kaiser William II Connections

firstworldwar.com

TROUBLE IN THE BALKANS• Archduke Francis Ferdinand planned a June 28,

1914 to visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia.• The secret serbian group known as the Black Hand

(also called Unity or Death) was outraged and plotted to kill the Archduke. The primary goal of the Black Hand was to unite all South Slavs into a single nation.

• June 28 was the day that Serbia had been conquered by the Ottomans in 1389 and Serbia freed herself from the Turks on that day in 1912. Bosnia, home to many Serbs, remained under Austro-Hungarian control.

Connections

THE ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND AND HIS WIFE, SOFIE

As the car came abreast he stepped forward from the curb, drew his automatic pistol from his coat and fired two shots. The first struck the wife of the Archduke, the Archduchess Sofia, in the abdomen. She was an expectant mother. She died instantly. The second bullet struck the Archduke close to the heart. He uttered only one word, 'Sofia' -- a call to his stricken wife. Then his head fell back and he collapsed. He died almost instantly. The officers seized Princip. They beat him over the head with the flat of their swords. They knocked him down, they kicked him, scraped the skin from his neck with the edges of their swords, tortured him, all but killed him."

Borijove Jevtic, one of the conspirators gave this eyewitness account

eyewitnesstohistory.com

THE ASSASSIN

Gavrilo Princip was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor. The19 year old escaped the death penalty because he was not yet21. He died in prison from tuberculosis in 1918.

eyewitnesstohistory.com

THE CHAIN REACTION

• Austria sent Serbia an ultimatum: End all anti-Austrian activities and punish all involved in the assassination of the Archduke.

• Serbia refuses to agree to all terms of the ultimatum.

• July 28, 1914 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, with the encouragement of Germany who offered a “blank check.”

• Negotiations with Austria-Hungary failed; Russia mobilized its forces.

• Germany declared war on Russia.• Russia sought France as an ally, France

offered a similar “blank check.”• Germany demanded France remain neutral,

France refuses.• Germany declared war on France.

• Under the Schlieffen Plan, Germany had to quickly defeat France to avoid a two-front war. Then Germany could fight Russia.

• To ensure a quick victory the Plan called for German troops to march through neutral Belgium.

• Britain and other nations had previously signed a treaty to protect Belgium’s neutrality. Outraged by this violation, Britain declared war on Germany.

THE OUTBREAK OF WAR

June 28 Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austro-Hungarian empire, in Sarajevo, Bosnia

July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

July 29 - December 9 Austria-Hungary repeatedly invades Serbia but is repeatedly repulsed

August 1 Outbreak of warGermany declares war on Russia

August 3 Germany declares war on France

August 4 Germany invades neutral Belgium

August 4 Britain declares war on Germany

firstworldwar.com

Q: Do you think World War I have been prevented? How? If not, then why not?