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HI136 History of Germany Lecture 5

HI136 History of Germany Lecture 5. Total War. Factors leading up to the war:. Wilhelminian Weltpolitik with its blunders and sense of entitlement System of alliances; Entente Cordiale/Triple Entente (Russia, France, GB) and Central Powers/Triple Alliances (AH, Germany, Italy)

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HI136 History of Germany Lecture 5

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  1. HI136 History of GermanyLecture 5 Total War

  2. Factors leading up to the war: • WilhelminianWeltpolitik with its blunders and sense of entitlement • System of alliances; Entente Cordiale/Triple Entente (Russia, France, GB) and Central Powers/Triple Alliances (AH, Germany, Italy) • Balkan wars 1912/13 • German outstanding economic position and economic rivalries

  3. European Alliances

  4. Steps leading up to the war during the July crisis • Franz Ferdinand murdered • Blank check • delay and deception • Austrian ultimatum to Serbia: Serbia refused the ultimatum (which was worded that it only can be refused) • mediation which does not work • mobilizations Russia began to mobilize. Everyone starts mobilizing too • desire to appear attacked. France withdraws the troops just 10 km behind the border • Britain’s position crucial for decision • attack on Belgium

  5. The July Crisis • 28 June: Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo. • 5 July: Kaiser Wilhelm II offers Germany’s unconditional support (the ‘blank check’) to Austria-Hungary. • 23 July: Austria issues her ultimatum to Serbia. • 28 July: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Russia orders ‘partial mobilization’ of her armed forces. • 30 July: Russia orders general mobilization. Austria orders general mobilisation. • 1 August: Germany declares war on Russia. France orders mobilization. • 2 August: Germany issues an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding to be allowed to move troops through Belgian territory. • 3 August: Germany declares war on France. Italy proclaims her neutrality. • 4 August: German troops cross the Belgian frontier. Britain declares war on Germany.

  6. The ‘Spirit of 1914’ Enthusiasm and sympathy for Austria on the Streets of Berlin (August 1, 1914) August 1, 1914, in Berlin by Arthur Kampf (1914)

  7. The Schlieffen Plan • Drawn up by General Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1913), chief of the general staff from 1891 to 1905. • Designed to cope with the prospect of a war on two fronts. • Objective to quickly defeat France, leaving the German army free to face Russia. • Several flaws in the plan, which were compounded by unexpected reverses once operations commenced. • 19th century plan, wit 20th cent aspects in its technocracy: days, breadth of the roads, speed etc

  8. The Schlieffen Plan

  9. Schlieffen Plan Fails • The invasion of Belgium made Germany seem like the aggressor and brought Britain into the War. • The plan had not been updated to take recent Russian and French military reforms into account. • Moltke weakened the thrust through Belgium by diverting troops to Alsace and Lorraine and East Prussia. • The Germans faced stiffer resistance than anticipated – in particular they had not expected to have to fight the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). • The German advance halted at the First Battle of the Marne (4-10 Sept. 1914) and the Battle of the Aisne (15-18 Sept. 1914). • September-December: The ‘race for sea’. • By December 1914 the front had stagnated into a 400 mile system of trenches running from the Swiss border to the North Sea.

  10. Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) • 1847: Born at Posen in Prussian Poland, the son of an East Prussian landowner. • Educated at cadet schools in Wahlstadt and Berlin. • Fought at Königgrätz (1866) and in the Franco-Prussian War. • 1878: Joined the General Staff. • 1905: Promoted to the rank of General. • 1911: Retired from active service. • 22 August 1914: Brought out of retirement to command the German Eighth Army in East Prussia. • Victory at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes made him a national hero. • In many ways a classic Prussian Junker.

  11. Trench Warfare The Battlefield in the Argonne Forest (1916) Postcard: Resting in the Trenches, c. 1914

  12. Burgfrieden • A political truce called by the parties in the Reichstag for the duration of hostilities. • Even the SPD agreed to this and voted for War Credits. • The SPD supported the war because: • They had been convinced that this was a defensive war against autocratic Russia. • Many Socialists were also patriots and were proud of Germany and her achievements. • The party leadership hoped to gain political legitimacy through supporting the nation in its hour of need.

  13. State Intervention • 1915: Kreigsrohstoffabteilung (Raw Materials Department, KRA) – ensures the acquisition, storage and distribution of materials vital to the war effort. • 1915: Bread rationing introduced. • 1916: Zentral-Einkaufs-Gesellschaft (Central Purchasing Company) – acquisition of goods from neutral countries. • 1916: Reichsgetreidstelle (Imperial Gain Office) – controlled food supplies and issued ration cards . • Hindenburg Programme (1916) – Intended to concentrate industry on the production of munitions. • Auxiliary Service Law (1916): Government could conscript workers and decide where they should work. Walter Rathenau (1867-1922), industrialist and founder of the Kreigsrohstoffabteilung

  14. War Finance • Germany already had a large budget deficit before 1914. • Taxation not sufficient to finance the war, and proposals to raise taxes vetoed on political grounds and the fiscal privileges of Junkers continued unabated. • Only 16% of the cost of the war met by taxation. • War financed by printing money and war loans. • This led to massive inflation – by 1918 the mark had lost 75% of its value. • Also a fall of real wages (20% in war industry, 40% in other branches).

  15. Food Shortages • By the autumn of 1916 food shortages; inflation and mounting casualties beginning to effect the public mood. • 1916-17: The ‘Turnip Winter’ – exceptionally cold weather and a poor potato harvest lead to a severe food and fuel crisis. • Between 1916 and 1917 deaths from hypothermia and malnutrition rose from 121,000 to 293,000. • Infant Mortality at 50% by 1918. Queue for horse meat in Frankfurt

  16. Mobilisation for Total War Measures Failures • War Raw Materials Office: coordination of industrial products. • Food rationing in 1915. • War Food Office 1916. • Substitutes – clothes with paper fibres. • Gaps in the labour force filled by women (emancipation – double burden). • Auxiliary Labour Law (1916): Government could conscript workers and decide where they should work. • ‘Dictatorship’ of ObersteHeeresleitung (OHL) – Hindenburg and Ludendorff – loss of influence for civil government – strengthening of army influence. • Scarcity of clothing, soap, food. • Agricultural production fell, meat consumption only 12% of pre-war level. • Malnutrition and starvation – ‘turnip winter’ 1916/17 (consequence: up to 750,000 dead). • Polarisation: pro ‘Siegfrieden’ (victorious peace) with far reaching war aims, pro peace without contributions and annexations. • Middle Classes: pauperisation, living conditions closer to working class – but many now more nationalist, angst (loss of status) . • Working Class: spontaneous strikes in 1916 and 1917.

  17. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918) Source: G. Layton, From Bismarck to Hitler: Germany, 1890-1933

  18. The 1918 Spring Offensive Source: P. J. Haythornthwaite, The World War One Sourcebook

  19. Casualties of the War

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