The Great War, The Mandate System, and the Making of the Middle East

HIST 10043/25/13

The Unification of Germany• German-speaking regions include Prussia, western half of the Austrian Empire, and smaller states.• Push for unification under Austria.• Others wanted unification under Prussia, leave out the non-German speaking subjects of Austria• Religious dimension to division

– Austria and south-western Germany are Catholic – Prussia and north-east are Lutheran

Prussia and the Unification of Germany

• Prussia at forefront of European industrialization and “modernization”, especially the military

• 1866: Chancellor Otto von Bismarck attacks and defeats Austria

• Asks for no territory, but forms North German Confederation with smaller German states• 1870: Bismarck attacks France,takes Alsace and Lorraine

Are Alsace and Lorraine German or French?• In 1870, the majority of the population of Alsace and

Lorraine…– Spoke German– Thought of themselves as French

• Where do you draw boundaries between people who never saw themselves as different?• Contested borderlands through World War II

“Here at Gertwiller on Aug. 22, 1914 were shot against any justice three farmers from Alsace… innocent victims of German barbarity…”

The Outbreak of WWI

June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinandassassinated in Sarajevo

How does this cause “the Great War”?

“The Sick Man of Europe”• Ottoman Empire falls behind Europe• Loss of European territories (Macedonia, Bosnia, Crete, Albania)• 1912: Italy conquers Libya• 1912-1913: Turks driven out of Europe• Young Turks: Turkish nationalists, advocating constitution and Turkification of minorities• 1909: Young Turks drive Abdul Hamid II from office

Nationalism• France, Britain, and Germany: Cohesion and strength of purpose.• See war as either a “crusade for liberty” or “revenge” for past injustices.• Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires: stirs up hopes of ethnic and religious minorities.• Movements for independent nationsinspired by successes against Ottomans.• Gavrilo Princip: Serbian nationalist and assassin of Franz Ferdinand.

Alliance and Entente• Germany, newly united and at the center of Europe seen

as a threat and the center of regional politics.• Triple Alliance (1882): Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire,

and Italy (Ottoman Empire joins in 1914)• Entente (1904): Britain and France, Russia added in 1907• Divides Europe into two opposing blocs based on mutual protection.• A war between two nations would cause a continent (and world) wide war.

Military Schools and the Industrialized Military

• Extensive railroad networks and large standing armies (grown larger with reservists) makes mobilization a logistical nightmare.

• Military planners believe the secret to winning any war is acting before their opponents can mobilize their forces.

• France and Germany develop complex time-tables for mobilizing forces.

• German strategy (Schlieffen Plan) involves quick attack and defeat of France through Belgium, shift to Russian front, and an assumption that Britain would stay out.

Outbreak of War• July 28, 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.• Serbia is in Russia’s sphere of influence (pan-Slavism), forcing Triple

Entente to mobilize.• July 29: Russia orders general mobilization.• August 1: France and Germany order mobilizations.• August 3: Germany enters Belgium, Belgium resists and Britain declares war on Germany.• Railroad timetables, alliances, and accompanying strategies are rigid, once mobilization begins there is no way to stop or alter it.

“To Paris!”• Assumption that well laid plans are key to success.• Belief that the war will be quick and relatively painless due to

new technologies.• Germans shout “To Paris!” while French troops promise to bring

back Kaiser Wilhelm II’s mustache.• Nationalist pride and confidence in technology creates popular support.• “This war, with all its ghastliness, is nevertheless grand and wonderful. It is worth experiencing.” Max Weber

Trench Warfare• Battle of the Marne (Sept. 5-12, 1914): German advance is

stopped.• Western Front: Over September 1914, 300 miles of unbroken

trenches are dug from the North Sea to Switzerland.• Machine guns: useful for defensive positions, but too heavy

and cumbersome for advances.• Nearly impossible to take an entrenched position.• No gaps in trenches, trenches connected to the rear for resupply.

Trench Warfare• Artillery used to break-up defenses, but would only alert defenders

to where an offense was planned.• With a whistle, troops would go “over the top”…• Only to get gunned down by machine guns.• Introduction of gas warfare and aerial observation and

bombardment makes trench warfare more deadly.• German attack on Verdun, 336,000 German and 362,000 French

casualties.• British attack on the Somme River, 420,000 British, 465,000 German, and 205,000 French casualties.

The Home Front• Military demands meant… Higher taxes, rationing, industrial shift focused on supplying military • In France and Britain, food rationing and allocation actually improved the diets of the Impoverished.• Unemployment vanished as millions enlisted and industrial production increased.• Africans, Indians, and Chinese recruited from colonies for heavy labor.• Blockades make the situation worst in Germany.• Wheat flour replaced by rye, then by potatoes and turnips, then by acorns and chestnuts, then by sawdust.• German soldiers forced to scavenge food.

Women and the War• New job possibilities due to vacancies left by men.• Streetcar drivers, mail carriers, police officers…• Growing government bureaucracy• Auxiliary military services: doctors, nurses, mechanics, and ambulance drivers.• Women’s auxiliary units allowed women to participate in war effort.• Increased personal and financial independence.

Impact on the Colonies• African colonies forced to increase output.• Fewer European soldiers meant increased uprisings.• Germany’s colonies targeted byBritain, France, and Japan.• Over 1 million Africans serving in colonial armies.• France drafts Africans into army to fight in Europe. • German “Jihad”

The US and the End of the War• US had remained “neutral” for three years.• In reality, the US got wealthy selling arms and supplies to

the British and French.• Germany attempts submarine blockade of GreatBritain, which brings the US into the war (April 6, 1917).• Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points”• Self-Determination

End of the War• Final German push brings them within 40 miles of Paris.• Counter attack pushes Germans out of France and by Oct.

1918 General Erich von Ludendorff had resigned and German sailors mutinied.

• At 11AM 11/11/1918, the war officially came to an end.• Fighting continued on the Western Front up until 11AM, with Canadian Private George Lawrence Price being killed by a German sniper at 10:58.

Aftermath• 8-10 million people died in combat.• At least twice as many returned maimed.• Millions of refugees, many coming to France and the US.• 1918-1919: Great Influenza Epidemic

– Traveled with soldiers from the Western Front– Killed 1 in 40 people worldwide (20 million)– 5 times as many Americans die as

in the war.• Takes a decade to clear Western Front and bury the dead.

Peace Treaties• Treaty conferences dominated by US, Britain, and France.• League of Nations: proposed by Wilson to promote self-

determination and safeguard peace.• Britain demands Germany pays heavy indemnity.• France demands Alsace and Lorraine.• Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919): “guilt clause” on Germany, but allows Germany to remain intact. Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved.