Transcript The United States and WWI - Ackerman's History Page for

Journal/Do Now
 List Reasons you would fight and die in a
war!
WWI: Causes
Aim: Why did Europe descend into
World War I?
Causes of WWI
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
Nationalism
I. Imperialism (review)
 All the great powers were competing for
colonies / territory.
 The British feared Germany in Africa.
 The Austrians feared Serbia / Russia in the
Balkans
Colonial
Rivalries:
Africa
in
1914
Colonial Rivalries: Asia in 1914
The British Empire in 1914
The Balkans in 1878
Economic & Imperial Rivalries
Essential Background
This British postcard
interprets Kaiser Wilhelm’s
statement about wanting ‘a
place in the sun’ – it shows
him making everybody in the
world bow down to him.
IMPERIALISM led to an militarism … in 1900, Kaiser Wilhelm said that GERMANY
wanted ‘a place in the sun’ – i.e., that Germany wanted an empire as big as Britain’s.
This TERRIFIED the British.
II. Militarism
 Militarism: continual buildup of armies and
navies.
 The hunger for empires lead to militarism and an
arms race between the powerful European
nations.
 Germany was competing with the Brits to build
battleships.
 The British feared an attack on their Empire
Arms Race and the First World War:
Essential Background
e.g. the Daily Mail ran MANY stories
(such as this one by William Le Queux)
imagining German invasions.
c.f. also John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine
Steps (about German spies).
The Arms Race was as much about nations’ INSECURITY as about their
NATIONALISM and EXPANSIONISM.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Attitude towards war
But note that militarism is also a government's attitude of mind, seeing war as a valid
means of foreign policy.
(GERMANY was especially militaristic.)
Arms Race and the First World War:
Armies - 1
GERMANY, worried because it was in-between France and Russia, built up the largest
land army. The German army was accepted as being the biggest and the best in the
world.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Armies - 2
This Russian postcard of
1914 shows Russia
(symbolised by a woman)
nailing the German eagle to
a pillory after a war.
But other countries built up their land armies too – in 1914, the fastest growing army
was that of RUSSIA. This worried GERMANY a lot.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Armies - 3
As well as their STANDING ARMIES, the nations introduced CONSCRIPTION, so
they also had large numbers of trained RESERVES. All the nations except Britain had
HUGE armies.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Navies - 1
If GERMANY was to have an empire, it needed a navy, so in 1900 Admiral Tirpitz
introduced the German Navy Law, which announced a huge program of building
warships.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Navies - 2
Both BRITAIN and GERMANY started building Dreadnoughts – the most advanced
class of warship in the world. The Dreadnought essentially reduced everybody else’s
number of warships to zero.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Navies - 3
Building Dreadnoughts, 1906-1914
8
6
4
2
0
1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
Germany
0
0
4
3
1
3
2
3
1
Great Britain
1
3
2
2
3
5
3
7
3
There was a race between Germany and Britain to build the most Dreadnoughts. The
graph shows the number built each year.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Navies - 4
Reginald McKenna, First Lord
of the Admiralty 1908-11.
In 1909 he told Parliament that
the German navy was just about
to become more powerful than
the Royal Navy, and he
instigated the press scarecampaign that forced Parliament
to build more Dreadnoughts.
The British government planned to build four Dreadnoughts in 1909, but the British
public panicked, demanding: 'We want eight and we won't wait'.
Arms Race and the First World War:
Navies - 5
Total Dreadnoughts
30
25
20
15
10
5
1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
Germany
0
0
4
7
8
11
13
16
17
Britain
1
4
6
8
11
16
19
26
29
In the end, Britain’s built many more Dreadnoughts than Germany.
0
Arms Race and the First World War:
Increase in Spending
Defence Spending, 1870-1914
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
£m
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1914
94
130
154
268
289
398
There was a four-fold increase in defence spending of the great powers, 1870-1914.
III. Nationalism
 1. Nationalism: (noun) patriotic feeling,
principles, or efforts.
– an extreme form of this, esp. marked by a feeling of
superiority over other countries.
 Strong nationalistic competition developed
among France, Britain, Russia, AustriaHungary, and Germany.
Aggressive Nationalism
Alliances and the First World War:
Essential Background
France and Germany hated each other! When Germany became united country in
1870-1, France went to war to try to stop it … but got WHOPPED!
IV. Alliances
 The Alliance System: Several nations
pledged to help each other if fighting
broke out. (entangled alliances)
1. Triple Alliance (central powers):
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
2. Triple Entente (allies): France, Russia,
Great Britain
Alliances and the First World War:
Germany in the Middle
Germany’s BIG problem was that it was IN THE MIDDLE.
That made it VULNERABLE if it came to a war.
Alliances and the First World War:
Three Emperors’ League, 1881
In the 19th century, Germany’s brilliant Chancellor, Bismarck,
solved this problem by keeping friends with RUSSIA and
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY (the Dreikaiserbund).
Alliances and the First World War:
Germany encircled
But when Kaiser Wilhelm became Emperor, he dumped the Russian alliance. He kept
the Triple Alliance, but this did NOT solve the problem of Germany’s encirclement.
Alliances and the First World War:
Triple Alliance, 1882
Then Bismarck allied with Italy and Austria-Hungary (the TRIPLE ALLIANCE, 1882).
Together with his friendship with Russia, this kept Germany safe.
Alliances and the First World War:
Franco-Russian Alliance, 1892
Instead, in 1892, Russia made an alliance with FRANCE.
Although it was only a DEFENSIVE alliance, it was Germany’s worst nightmare!
Alliances and the First World War:
Triple Entente, 1907
In 1907 Russia joined Britain and France to make the Triple Entente.
So by 1914 Europe had divided into two massive superpower blocs.
People thought this BALANCE OF POWER would keep the peace.
Alliances and the First World War:
The Balkans
But Russia was also allied to Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. When trouble
erupted in the Balkans in 1914, the nations found their alliances dragged them into
war…
Alliances and the First World War:
How the Alliances caused war
… like mountain climbers tied to the same rope.
(i.e. it is arguable that THE SYSTEM OF ALLIANCES CAUSED WORLD WAR ONE.)
Alliances and the First World War:
Webs of Alliances
There were many more alliances.
The Alliance System
Triple Entente:
Triple Alliance:
Two Armed Camps!
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
Europe in 1914
Activity
 Archduke catches a bullet…