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World War I. Formation of European Alliances. Triple Alliance Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Germany under Bismarck’s leadership had triumphed in the Franco-Prussian War and had imposed a humiliating peace treaty on France.
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Formation of European Alliances • Triple Alliance • Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. • Germany under Bismarck’s leadership had triumphed in the Franco-Prussian War and had imposed a humiliating peace treaty on France. • Germany did not want France to try and retaliate so Bismarck pursued policies to isolate France and gain allies for Germany.
Formation of European Alliances • Bismarck sought an alliance with Austria-Hungary, whose expansion into the Balkans conflicted with Russian ambitions. • In 1879 Germany and Austria-Hungary joined in a defensive military alliance. (Central Powers)
Formation of European Alliances • Italy was mad at France because they seized Tunisia in 1881 and upset Italian plans of controlling the land there. • In 1882 Italy agreed to a defensive military alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, thereby completing the Triple Alliance. • The weaknesses of the Triple Alliance were Italy’s historic hostility for Austria-Hungary and Italy’s desire for the remaining Italian-inhabited Austrian territories.
Formation of European Alliances • Triple Entente • France, Russia, and Britain • France aspired to regain European leadership and win back its “stolen provinces” of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany. • They had lost the territory during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
Formation of European Alliances • France was looking for allies, particularly Russia. • They were having a tough time overcoming Bismarck’s skillful diplomacy, which kept Russia friendly to Germany. • Bismarck was dismissed as chancellor in 1890, and Germany refused to renew its treaty of friendship with Russia.
Formation of European Alliances • France thereafter extended military and industrial loans to Russia and gained its confidence. • In 1894 Russian and France entered into the Dual Alliance.
Formation of European Alliances • Britain considered its industrial leadership and colonial empire threatened most by Germany. • Although they were threatened by Germany, they clashed with France in 1898 over the control of the Sudan in the Fashoda Affair.
Formation of European Alliances • Because both nations feared Germany more than the other, they agreed to a peaceful settlement. • Eventually Britain gave France a free hand in Morocco, and France confirmed British dominance in the Sudan.
Formation of European Alliances • By this settlement in 1904, Britain and France began a close diplomatic understanding, the Entente Cordiale. • Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of almost a millennium of intermittent conflict between the two nations. • In 1907 Britain and Russia settled differences over spheres of influence in Persia and China. This agreement completed the Triple Entente.
Franz Ferdinand Assassinated • World War One had been long in the making; the spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. • Ferdinand's death at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world's first global war.
Leading up to WWI • It took Austria Hungary three weeks to react to Ferdinand being killed • Argued that the Serbian government was implicated in the machinations of the Black Hand.
Leading up to WWI • The Austro-Hungarians opted to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans. • It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia which, in the extent of its demand that the assassins be brought to justice effectively nullified Serbia's sovereignty.
Leading up to WWI • Austria-Hungary's expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia. • However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary.
Leading up to WWI • While not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest. • Austria-Hungary sought assurances from her ally, Germany, that it would come to their aid should Russia declare war on Austria-Hungary. • Germany readily agreed, even encouraged Austria-Hungary's warlike stance.
War is Declared… • Austria-Hungarywas unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum and declared war on July 28 1914. • Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast army in her defense, a slow process that would take around six weeks to complete.
One Thing Led to Another • Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1 August. • France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.
One Thing Led to Another • Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on August 4. • The real reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: Britain was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty. • With Germany's invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King's appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium’s defense later that day.
One Thing Led to Another • Like France, Britain was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary. • With Britain's entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
One Thing Led to Another • United StatesPresident Woodrow Wilson declared the U.S. to be absolutely neutral. • This stance would last until 1917 when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare - which seriously threatened America's commercial shipping forced the United States to finally enter the war on April 6, 1917.
One Thing Led to Another • Japan, honoring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.
One Thing Led to Another • Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the war by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both. • In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a 'defensive' war; arguing that their actions were 'offensive' she declared instead a policy of neutrality.
One Thing Led to Another • The following year, in May 1915, Italy finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies. • They were promised land if they fought on Britain’s side.
U.S. Entry into WWI • The United States government, under Wilson's firm control, called for neutrality "in thought and deed." • Apart from an Anglophile element supporting the British, public opinion went along with neutrality at first. The sentiment was strong for neutrality among the Irish Americans, German Americans, and Swedish Americans, as well as many Southern farmers, church leaders and women. • However, the citizenry increasingly came to see Germany as the villain after news of atrocities in Belgium in 1914.
The Rape of Belgium • German troops, afraid of Belgian guerrilla fighters, burned homes and executed civilians throughout eastern and central Belgium, The victims included women and children. • Over 1,000 civilians were killed.
Burning of Leuven Library • On August 25, 1914 the German army ravaged the city of Leuven, deliberately burning the University's library of 300,000 medieval books and manuscripts with gasoline, killing 248 residentsand expelling the entire population of 10,000.
The Rape of Belgium • Civilian homes were set on fire and citizens often shot in the place they stood. Over 2,000 buildings were destroyed and large amounts of strategic materials, foodstuffs and modern industrial equipment were looted and transferred to Germany. These actions brought worldwide condemnation. • In Brabant nuns were ordered by Germans to strip naked under the pretext that they were spies; in Aarschot between August and September women were repeatedly victimized; looting, murder, and rape was widespread.
U.S. Entry into WWI • At the outbreak of the war the United States pursued a policy of non-intervention, avoiding conflict while trying to broker a peace. When a German U-boat sank the British liner Lusitania in 1915, with 128 Americans aboard, • U.S. President Woodrow Wilson claimed that "America is too proud to fight" but demanded an end to attacks on passenger ships. Germany complied.
U.S. Entry into WWI • Wilson unsuccessfully tried to mediate a settlement. However, he also repeatedly warned that the U.S.A. would not tolerate unrestricted submarine warfare, in violation of international law and U.S. ideas of human rights. • After the sinking of seven U.S. merchant ships by submarines and the publication of the Zimmerman telegram, Wilson called for war on Germany, which the U.S. Congress declared on April 6, 1917.
Zimmerman Telegram • A 1917 diplomatic proposal from Germany to Mexico to declare war against the United States. The proposal was intercepted by British intelligence. Revelation of the Telegram angered Americans and led in part to a U.S. declaration of war in April.
Military Technology • Trench Warfare • Artillery • Poison Gas • Air Warfare • Tanks • Naval Warfare • Flame Throwers
Trench Warfare • This is a form of occupied fighting lines that consists of large trenches dug into the ground. The trenches keep soldiers sheltered from small arms fire and artillery. • Trench warfare is a form of attrition warfare. The use of the trenches allow for a slow wearing down of opposing forces.
Trench Warfare • Many new weapons were being designed and used during World War I. • Application of these weapons made it difficult or nearly impossible to cross defended ground.
No Man’s Land • Between the trenches was no man's land. It was pitted with craters and blackened tree stumps from constant shelling. The difficulties of successfully taking an enemy's trenches defended with machine guns and lined with barbed wire meant that the war on the western front lapsed into stalemate. • It was not until the end of the war that a weapon capable of breaking the stalemate was invented, the tank.
Trench Warfare • Because attacking an entrenched enemy was so difficult, tunneling underneath enemy lines became one of the major efforts during the war. • Once enemy positions were undermined, huge amounts of explosives would be planted and detonated as part of the preparation for an overland charge.
