WWI Flashcards
Causes of WWI
- Militarism- increase in military capacity (Industrial Revolution) Ex: rifled barrel, minie’ ball, breech-loading rifle, submarines, mustard gas, warplanes and tanks and the Maxim machine gun.
- Growth of antagonistic alliances- France feared Bismarck’s power.
- Imperialism- Scramble for Africa -> increasing strain, Ex: Morrocan Crisis, nearly led to war between Germany britain +France bc they all wanted territory.
- Nationalism- thought war was a reasonable way to vindicate national honor. Ex: Franco-Prussian War- Germany took Alsace + Lorraine, and French leaders had no problem using weaponry to get what belonged to them like it was a matter of national honor.
Triple Alliance
Austria, Germany, and Italy
Dual Alliance -> Triple Entente
France and Great Britain -> France, Britain, and Russia
Short Term Cause
Assasination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serbian nationalist from The Black Hand, during a parade in Sarajevo, Bosnia (1914). Bosnia had been annexed by Austria-Hungary a few years before so the Bosnians who lived under the rule of Austrians wished to be free. Princip lived in Bosnia but he was a Serbian, so really it was Serbia v Austria-Hungary. It wasn’t even the first time a European leader had been assasinated, but in the context of long term causes. Austria-Hungary saw this as an opportunity to weaken Bosnian influence in the Balkans, so they decided to intervene. Austria-HUngary asked Germany for help. Austria vs Serbia, but then Russia joined bc they had faced some humiliating defeats in the past Balkan crises so they rushed to Serbia’s aid. Germany declares war on Russia and then the rest of the
June 28th, 1914
Trench Warfare
- Machine Gun (capable of delivering hundreds of rounds at great speeds)
- Barbed Wire
- Chemical Weapons: Chlorine and Mustard Gas
- Submarines
- Airplanes
Each side would dig their trenches side by side to eachother and then line the land in front with barbed wire, and then station machine guns across the top. When one side got tired of waiting, they charged up, got caught in the barbed wire, and died to the machine gun.
Total War
All of state’s resources in the front and back home were used to fight.
Ex: Textile turned munitions factories. Rationing food at home to help soldiers.
General Erich Ludendorff
Unwinnable war + countless casualties + discontent = recipe for revolt
Easter Rebellion
Irish had sought to be free of British rule (Home Rule Movement) and they would’ve acheived it if it werent for the meddling war which paused the Home Rule Bill, so the Irish fought for the British, but too many casualties caused them to rebel on Easter Sunday 1916 in Dublin.
The Irish lost, but its a good example of discontent at home bc of the war
Why is it a “World” War?
- Metropolis called for colonial power Ex: Indians fought for British, and North African for French.
- Other countries might become directly involved in war operation. Ex: Armenian Genocide- Ottomans encouraged the murder of Armenian Christians, Japan declared war on Germany and then sistematically seized German colonial posessions in China in the south pacific.
The End of the War
Treaty of Versailles
- Woodrow Wilson (USA): 14 points: reduction of arms among nations, League of Nations, open diplomatic relationships (no secret treaties), and the right of self-determination.
- David Lloyd George (Britain): punish Germany
- Georges Clemenceau (France): punish Germany (bc destruction at home) + defend from future aggression. Demilitarized, reparations, and a buffer state in the Rhineland.
Made US a true global power
Old empires disbanded
Punishment of Germany = victim mentality
Strained relation with Russia (dropped out of war to be communist)
Mandate System
European powers took control of Germany’s colonial posessions through mandates, authorizations granted by the League of Nations to a member nation to govern a former German or Ottoman (Turkic) colony.
League of Nations
Doomed from the start bc the US senate denied entry bc they thought a binding agreement like that would drive the US into a war without congressional approval. Germany and Russia didn’t participate either.
democratic successor states
Born from the rubble of old empires.
Ex: Hungary and Yugoslavia
Enlarged at Germany + Russia’s expense -> tension
2 Provisions in Treaty of Versailles
- War Guilt Clause- all Germ’s fault 😡💢 (+ Austria ig) [embarrasingg.. -> fascism].
- Provision for reparations - Money (132 billion gold marks) forced to pay will ruin Germ economically [finished paying Oct 3, 2010].
- Demilitarization
- Land Cessions
Made it difficult for Weimar Republic to flourish (will crumble in 30s)
Causes for the Russian Revolution
- Political stagnation: revolution of 1905 bc they wanted liberal reforms (some reforms were enacted, some not, largely a failure)
Nicholas II used military + bureocracy to bolster regime, he tried leading troops into war but he sucked - Social inequality: serfdom abolished in 1861 but landed elite still had much power, increasing gap between wealthy and poor
- Incomplete industrialization: Russian troops lacked guns, ammunition, clothing and footwear.
- Food + land distribution: most peasants were landless and food shortages were common– led to
worsened by Russia’s involvement in WWI
