World War I

-Key Concepts-

I. Hopes for a World Order of Progress and Peace

• Benefits of modern science as solutions for social problems

• Material wealth filtering down to the poor

• Era of permanent, international peace seemed to have dawned

• Growth of international cooperation

• Creation of a wide variety of international organizations

II. Origins of World War I

• Competitive Nationalism• Entangling Alliances

--Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy--Triple Entente: England, France, Russia

• A Growing Arms Race--1st German Navy Bill (1897): Von Tirpitz-- “Risk Theory”

II. Origins of World War I (cont)

• “General Mobilization” Theory

• Problems:--Rigid Planning--Geared for Large-Scale War--Never Practiced--No Margin for Error--Little consultation with civilian leaders

• The German “Schlieffen Plan”

• International Crises between 1905-1914

III. Pan-Slavic Nationalism: The Catalyst for War

• Russia’s Support for Pan-Slavism

• Austria’s Problem with Serbian nationalism

• Assassination in Sarajevo-- “Black Hand”--Archduke Franz Ferdinand--June 28, 1914

III. Pan-Slavic Nationalism (cont)

• The Austrian Response• The Russian Reaction

--General Mobilization on July 30th

• Mobilization out of control--German Declaration of War on August 1st (Russia) and August 3rd (France)--British Declaration of War on August 4th

• Popular War Enthusiasm

IV. A Fundamentally Different War

A. A Massive “Meat Grinder”: The Western Front

• Early Battles of the War--The Battle of the Marne (September 6, 1914)

• Immovable front for two and a half years

• Trench warfare--25,000 miles of trenches

• Cavalry gives way to infantry

A. The Western Front (cont)

• “The Race with Death”-- “Going over the top”-- “No Man’s Land”

• Gap between officers and enlisted men

• Daily routine of the World War I soldier

B. Industrial Death

• Impact of Heavy Artillery• The importance of the

hand grenade and the machine gun

• Tanks and airplanes• Increasingly not seeing

the enemy—the dehumanization of warfare

• All Quiet on the Western Front

B. Industrial Death (cont)

• The role of poison gas--Chlorine--Phosgene--Mustard Gas

• The emotional toll of gas warfare

• The use of pets

V. Case Studies in Industrial Warfare

• Battles of Attrition• The Battle of Verdun

(February-June, 1916)--German attack opened by most massive military bombardment in history--longest single battle of the war--The “sacred road”--600,000 men died

V. Case Studies of Industrial Warfare (cont)

• The Battle of the Somme (July-November, 1916)--Seven Days and Seven Nights of British bombardment--60,000 British dead in 12 minutes--1 million dead for just 7 miles of land

• The Changing atmosphere of War--complete breakdown of human existence

“Going Over the Top” at the Battle of the Somme

VI. The “Home Front”

• The concept of total• Government

management of the war effort

• Food and energy shortages

• Increasingly demoralized and disillusioned

• No realistic war aims

VI. The “Home Front”

• Brings changes in hair length and fashions

• World War I innovations--Chanel #5--Spam--Deodorant

• Impact on language and culture-- “Dud”-- “Lousy”-- “Rats!”-- “Gas Attack”

VII. The End of the War

• American Entry into the War: April of 1917

• The illusion of German strength

• The realization of German military disaster

• Formation of the Weimar Republic (November, 1918)

• The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

VIII. The Costs of the War

• A Generation of Men Lost• International Flu

Epidemic• A Leadership Vacuum

was created in Western Europe

• European Economies were destroyed

• Individual Emotional Damage

• “The Great Interruption”

IX. The Paris Peace Conference

• The Emotional Atmosphere

• The Popularity and Idealism of Woodrow Wilson--The Fourteen Points

• Wilson’s Political Handicaps

• Attempt at Self-Determination

• Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles

• German Reaction to the “Diktat”