LONG-TERM CAUSES OF WORLD

WAR I

NATIONALISM

• Loyalty and pride for one’s nation • People usually share common language, history or culture • In Germany, many small regions united to form one country (late 1800’s)

• Problem: small disputes between 2 countries can become major issues and involve many countries • Austria-Hungary and Russia: • Made up of many minority groups • Many had a desire to unify all Slavic people (Pan-Slavism) • Austrian government was loyal to Germany (Pan-Germanism)

MANY ETHNIC GROUPS FOUND WITHIN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

ALLIANCES

• Fear and distrust among countries led to the formation of alliances • Discouraged attacks from enemies • Dangers: • Gave countries a sense of security • A country may deal differently with another if it has support • Conflict will involve numerous countries instead of the original 2

Triple Entente: Great Britain France Russia Triple Alliance: Germany Austria-Hungary Italy

IMPERIALISM

• Domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region (Colonies) • Major European nations began dividing up Africa, Asia and the Middle East into colonies: • Supply raw materials for production • Larger market to sell goods • More opportunities for investments

EUROPEAN COLONIES WORLDWIDE

• Britain was the world’s superpower throughout most of the 1700’s and 1800’s: • However: Germany began to out produce Britain by early 1900’s • Also competing for colonies worldwide • Created an economic rivalry

MILITARISM

• Glorification (build up) of the military • Military leaders began to gain more influence in national policy due to rivalry among countries • The public supported military build up and the use of force to achieve national goals

British Warship BRITAIN: • World’s best navy • Began to fear Germany’s strength Kaiser Wilhelm GERMANY: • Best trained army in world • Significant increase in naval power(u-boats)

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An Industrialized War

Weapons were produced with the same efficient methods of mass production that industrialists had applied to other products

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN WARFARE

Machine Gun: • Accurate and rapid fire • 1 man could hold off a hundred

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The Machine Gun

One of the most important weapons of WWI  Highly effective  Land armies often found any advance difficult and costly

Machine Guns

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Trench Warfare

Protection from machine gun fire and artillery bombardments Armies dug large trenches where they might live for months

British boys play acting Trench Warfare

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Tanks

Introduced by the British  An armored vehicle mounted with guns  Enabled troops to break though enemy lines

TANKS

• Armored vehicle designed to break trenches • Protected advancing troops • Often slow and clumsy

POISONOU S GAS

• Various gases caused choking, blinding, or skin blisters • Used to kill or disable troops during an attack • Gas masks lessened the effectiveness

Poison Gas

 The Germans were the first to use it  The Allies quickly followed suit

American wearing a Gas Mask British Horse wearing a Gas Mask

American wearing a respirator Sounding the gong in preparation of a gas attack

Country

Austria-Hungary British Empire France Germany Italy Russia USA Others

Casualties From Gas - The Numbers Total Casualties

100,000 188,706 190,000 200,000 60,000 419,340 72,807 10,000

Death

3,000 8,109 8,000 9,000 4,627 56,000 1,462 1,000

FLAMETHROWERS

• Used to clear enemy trenches • Could be hazardous carrying into combat

• Used for observation early • Later on: “dogfights” were carried out • Overall, minor impact on the war

AIRPLANES

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Airplanes

Airplanes in the early 1900’s were neither very maneuverable nor very fast They were used primarily for observing troop movements and for dropping explosives

Gun on German Airplane Balloons were also used in WWI

U- BOATS (Unterseeboot)

• Underwater ships: launch torpedoes or bombs • Used mostly by Germans to destroy Allied shipping and break blockades

Submarines/U-boats

 Did serious damage to Allied shipping

Loading torpedoes into a French submarine

The Draft

     Most European wars before this time had been fought by professional soldiers who worked for money and rations WWI was fought by armies of drafted citizens Those who could not fight worked at home to help the war effort Many women participated in the war effort by working in factories Governments made use of propaganda