Transcript Chapter 13 Section 1 Marching Toward War

Chapter 13 Section 1
Marching Toward War
Objective: Analyze the
factors & events that led
to World War I
Vocabulary: Militarism, Triple
Alliance, Kaiser Wilhelm II, &
Triple Entente
Setting the Stage
• The nations of Europe had been
largely at peace with one
another for nearly 30 years
• By 1900, hundreds of peace
organizations were active
& Europeans believed
progress made war a thing
of the past
• However, less than a decade
later a massive war would
engulf Europe & spread across
the world
Rising Tensions in Europe
• Nationalism: belief that
people should be loyal
mainly to their nation
• Nationalism served as a
unifying force within a
country
• Intense competition
among nations, each
seeking to overpower the
other
• These competitions were over
materials, markets, &
territories
Imperialism
• Nations of Europe
competed fiercely for
colonies in Africa & Asia
• As European
countries continued
to compete for
overseas empires,
their sense of rivalry
& mistrust of one
another deepened
Militarism
• The nations of Europe believed
that to be truly great, they
needed to have a powerful
military
• Military experts believed they
needed plans to mobilize &
organize & move troops in case
of a war
• Militarism: policy of
glorifying military power &
keeping a standing army
always prepared for war
Tangled Alliances
• Growing rivalries & mistrust led to the
creation of military alliances among
the Great Powers
• Alliances were meant to keep
peace among the Great Powers
in Europe but instead it pushed
the continent to war
• Otto von Bismarck, Prussia’s
chancellor, used war to unify Germany
• Bismarck formed the Triple
Alliance – military alliance
between Germany, AustriaHungary, & Italy in the years
preceding World War I
Shifting Alliances Threaten Peace
• Kaiser Wilhelm II –
German emperor
• Wilhelm forced Bismarck to
resign because he didn’t want to
share power with anyone
• Wilhelm allowed his treaty
with Russia to expire &
Russia immeditatly signed
an alliance with France
• This would make Germany fight
a two front war on both its
eastern & western boarders
Shifting Alliances Threaten Peace
• Wilhelm started to make the
Germany navy equal to Britain’s
fleet
• Alarmed, Britain formed an
entente “alliance” with France
• Triple Entente – military
alliance between Great
Britain, France, & Russia in
the years preceding World
War I
• With two rival alliances in
Europe, a dispute between
two rival powers could
draw all European nations
into war
Crisis in the Balkans
• With a long history of
nationalist uprisings & ethnic
clashes, the Balkans was
known as the “power keg” of
Europe
• Serbia hoped to absorb all the
Slavic people in the Balkans into
one nation
• Russia supported Serbian
nationalism
• Austria-Hungary opposed
Serbian nationalism because
they feared it would stir
rebellion among their Slavic
population
A Restless Region
• In 1908, Austria annexed
Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Serbian leaders who wanted
control over this region were
outraged
• Tensions between Serbian &
Austria continued to rise
• Austria-Hungary vowed
to crush any Serbian
effort to undermine its
authority in the Balkans
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
• Heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne, Archduke Franz
Ferdinand & his wife Sophia
visited Bosnia
• On June 28, 1914, the royal
couple were shot & killed by
Serbian member of the Black
Hand – Gavrilo Princip
• Austria presented Serbia with an
ultimatum with numerous demands
• Serbia agreed to most of the
demands however, Austria
rejected Serbia’s offer of
negotiation & declared war
• Serbia’s ally Russia, mobilized against
Austria