L1: The World in 1914

AgendaObjective: 1. To introduce World

War One.2. Understand the

geo-political realty in 1914 on the eve of the war.

Schedule: 3. Introduction to

World War One4. Understanding the

world in 1914

Homework:

1. Imperialism Final Paper and Portfolio Due Tuesday 11/25

Brief Overview of World War One

• 1914-1918• Involved most of the world’s

great powers assembled into two opposing alliances:– Triple Entente (England, France,

Russia)– Central Powers / Triple Alliance

(Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy)

• More than 70 million military personnel were mobilized.

• More than 15 million people killed -- one of the deadliest conflicts in history.

• Also Known As: The First World War, The Great War, and the War to End All Wars

Why Study World War One?

• As you study World War One you will want to think about how the war marked a turning point in the nature and meaning of war, and in so doing, changed how many people thought about reality and the world around them.

• World War One is is important to study because it is the seminal moment in which many people shift from seeing to the world as an orderly, logical, and reasonable place

to a place of uncertainty, ambiguity, and irrationality.

The World in 1914• Today we want to understand what

international relations were like in 1914.• To do this, we want to…

1. Take stock of all of the “ideas” in the world in 1914.

2. Explore which nations “believed” in which “ideas” and how it shaped their geopolitical reality.

3. Understand how the experiences of each nation cohere to form a larger pattern of international relations in 1914…

What Ideas Exist in the World in 1914?

• Political?• Economic?• Cultural?

How did these ideas shape Geo-Political Life?

• For each of the following nations:– What ideas did they “believe” in?– How did their ideas shape their geo-political

reality? (we will use the maps to help us out!)

BritainFrance

GermanyRussia

Austria-HungryOttoman Empire

International Relations: 1914

• How would we describe international relations in 1914?