Chapter 25

The Beginning of the Twentieth-Century Crisis:

War and Revolution

Timeline

Map 25.1: Europe in 1914

The Road to World War INationalism and Internal Dissent

Nationalism• Liberals claimed that creation of national states would bring peace• Led to competition instead of cooperation• Brinkmanship

Internal dissent• Ethnic tensions• Growing power of Socialist labor movements

MilitarismConscriptionInfluence of military leaders

The Outbreak of War: The Summer of 1914The effects of the Balkan Wars prior to 1914Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and wife Sophia, June 28, 1914Germany gives “full support” to AustriaRussian mobilizationSchlieffen Plan 

THE ROAD TO WAR

IMMEDIATE CAUSES

Identify the rapid train of events or the immediate causes of the Great WarDiscuss the decisions made or not made by European leadersDiscuss how leadership determines the fate of nations

OBJECTIVES

A Family Feud?

Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901)

“GRANNY”9 Children

GrandsonsTsar Nicholas II-Russia

r.1894-1917

King George V-GBr. 1910-1936

Grandson

Wilhelm II-Germany

r. 1888-1918

Others…

Albert I-Belgium Franz Joseph

2nd Cousin Great Uncle

Alexandra-German Princess, wife of Nicholas II, grandaughter of Q.V.

The Major Players: 1914-17

Nicholas II [Rus]

George V [Br]

Pres. Poincare [Fr]

Allied Powers:

Franz Josef [A-H]

Wilhelm II [Ger]

Victor Emmanuel III [It]

Central Powers:

Enver Pasha[Turkey]

• KING ALBERT / BELGIUM• KING PETER I / ALEXANDER I / SERBIA YUGOSLAVIA• KING CAROL I / FERDINAND I / ROMANIA• KING CONSTANTINE / GREECE• TSAR FERDINAND I / BULGARIA• EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH I / KARL I / AUSTRIA-HUNGARY • CZAR NICHOLAS II/ GRAND DUKE MIKHAIL / RUSSIA• KING GEORGE V / UNITED KINGDOM• KING VITTORIO EMANUELE III / ITALY• KAISER WILHELM II/ GERMANY• SULTAN MEHMED V / MEHMED VI / OTTOMAN EMPIRE

L E A D E R S H I P

FREDERICK I I Ir. 1888 - 99 days

Son of Wilhelm I (r. 1861-1888)

Year of the Three EmperorsWilhelm I (r. 1861-1888)

Frederick III – 99 daysWilhelm II – (r. 1888-1918)

Liberal ideologyHistorical irony

Fashoda Crisis (1898)Russo-Japanese War (1905)First Moroccan Crisis (1905)Bosnian Crisis (1908)Second Moroccan Crisis (1911)First Balkan War (1912)Second Balkan War (1913)

“SOME DAMN THING IN THE

BALKANS”

Tensions & Conflicts: 1873-1914

First Moroccan Crisis (1905) Germany is going to test the waters between Britain and France. (Would Bismarck have let it get to this point? Would he be this reckless?)Germany promotes Moroccan Independence…obviously goading the French, who control Morocco!

Yet, when the issue was brought before international purview in 1906, Germany was summarily defeated, and both the United States and Britain sided with France.

Ironically, because Germany had tried to push France around, it only brought France and Britain together!

Europe in 1914

The Balkans in

1914

First Balkan War – Oct. 1912 – May 1913Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Bulgaria) vs. Ottoman EmpireSecond Balkan War – June 1913 – Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece

M.A.I.N.Causes of the War

M. I.

Militarism …a.k.a: “Arms Race”

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914

94 130 154 268 289 398

Total Defense Expenditures for the Great Powers [Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br.,

Rus.] in millions of £s.

1910-1914 Increase in Defense

ExpendituresFrance 10%Britain 13%Russia 39%

Germany

73%

“mechanism of great standing armies and large navies, with the attendant evils of espionage, suspicion, fear, and hatred”existence of a powerful class of military officers who tend to dominate over the civilian authorities -Sydney B. Fay

The build up of armies, navies, fortification of national boundaries, armament race, reservesNEW WEAPONSTanks, submarines, machine guns, planes, gasIntelligence, Communication, TransportationWar Plans, War CollegesIndustrial Revolution Technology

Militarism …a.k.a: “Arms Race”

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1914

94 130 154 268 289 398

Total Defense Expenditures for the Great Powers [Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br.,

Rus.] in millions of £s.

1910-1914 Increase in Defense

ExpendituresFrance 10%Britain 13%Russia 39%

Germany

73%

1910-1914 increased military expendituresFrance – 10%British – 13%Russia – 39%Germany – 73%

All Continental European countries since 1870France – Revolutionary WarsAustria-Hungary – 1868Germany – 1870Italy – 1873Russia – 1874WWI – “million man” militaryGermany – 2 million

COUNTRIES STANDING MOBILIZED

Russia 5,971,000 12,000,000

France 4,017,000 8,410,000

Great Britain 975,000 8,905,000

Italy 1,251,000 5,615,000

United States 200,000 4,355,000

Japan 800,000 800,000

Romania 290,000 750,000

Serbia 200,000 707,000

Belgium 117,000 267,000

Greece 230,000 230,000

Portugal 40,000 100,000

Montenegro 50,000 50,000

Germany 4,500,000 11,000,000

Austria-Hungary 3,000,000 7,800,000

Turkey 210,000 2,850,000

Bulgaria 280,000 1,200,000 

FlameThrowers

GrenadeLaunchers

Poison Gas

Machine Gun

Bolt action rifle Machine Guns

Maxim Machine Gun - 400-600 rounds per minute

Artillery Big BerthaKrupp Armaments2,200 pound shell 9 miles

PlanesFirst used for Reconnaissance Wright Brothers (1903)“Red Baron” Manfred von Richtohfen (1892-1918)80 confirmed victories

The Zeppelin

The Airplane

“Squadron Over the Brenta”

Max Edler von Poosch, 1917

The Flying Aces of World War I

Eddie Rickenbacher, US

FrancescoBarraco, It.

Rene PaukFonck, Fr.

Manfred vonRichtoffen, Ger.

[The “Red Baron”]

Willy Coppens deHolthust, Belg.

Eddie “Mick”Mannoch, Br.

Curtis-Martin U. S. Aircraft Plant

Looking for the “Red Baron?”

Curtis-Martin U. S. Aircraft Plant

“No Man’s Land”

Trench warfare“Stalemate”Harsh conditionsDisease RodentsLiceTrench foot

TANKSEvolutionary ProcessIndustrial Revolution – Caterpillar Tracks – Steam Tractor

French Renault Tank

British Tank at Ypres

Tank Production 1916-18

Year UK France Germany Italy USA

1916 150 - - - -

1917 1,277 800 - - -

1918 1,391 4,000 20 6 84

New French Recruits

Britain and Germany chief rivals1900 German Navy Law – double the size 1909-1911 – Tirpitz PlanBritish produced the first DreadnoughtGermany built 9 DreadnoughtsBritish 18 DreadnoughtsWAR = GERMAN WORLD POWER

U-Boats

Alliance SystemWhat is the ultimate goal of an alliance system?

“The secret of politics?

Make a good treaty with

Russia.”

“the greatest single underlying cause of the War was a system of secret alliances which developed after the Franco-Prussian War” – Sydney B. Fay

What is Bismarck’s goal here?

1. Three Emperors’ League (1873) Ger, A-H, Rus.

2. Dual Alliance (1879) Ger. & A-H3. Triple Alliance (1882) Ger, A-H, It.4. Reinsurance Treaty (1887) restore

relations between Ger. & Rus.

Alliances… Alliances … Alliances… Alliances…

Dual Alliance 1879Germany and Austria HungaryWHY? To protect themselves from Russia

Austro-Serbia 1881Austria Hungary and SerbiaWHY? To protect themselves from Russia

Triple Alliance 1882Germany, Austria-Hungary, ItalyWHY?To stop Italy with taking sides with Russia

Franco-Russian Alliance 1894France and RussiaWHY?To protect herself from Austria-Hungary and Germany*Ended France’s isolation

Entente Cordiale 1904“understanding” b/w Britain and France*brings Britain out of “splendid isolation”

Anglo-Russian Entente 1907“understanding” b/w Britain and Russia

THE TRIPLE ENTENTE 1907 Britain, France, and RussiaCENTRAL POWERS Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey

“the greatest single underlying cause of the War was a system of secret alliances which developed after the Franco-Prussian War” – Sydney B. Fay

Imperialism Colonial

Rivalries:

Africain

1914

Economic Imperialism - “embraces a series of international rivalries which resulted in large part from the Industrial Revolution in England and its subsequent introduction into the other great countries of the world.”

– Sydney B. Fay

New Imperialism“Scramble for Asia and Africa”Intensification of arms raceHostility among powersStrengthened Alliances, Ententes

REASONS FOR IMPERIALSM?POWER, PRESTIGEGERMANY “WELTPOLITIK”NATURAL RESOURCESNEW MARKETS FOR MANUFACTURED GOODSPROFIT MOTIVECHRISTIANITY – “GOD, GLORY, GOLD”CIVILIZED SOCIETY?

I M P E R I A L I S M

Colonial Rivalries: Asia in 1914

Completed in 1891. Longest railroad in the world at that time!

E – Economic M – Military P – Political I – Ideological R – Religious E – Exploratory

I M P E R I A L I S M

"The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and

allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen

apart." - Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Ch.

20

• Ironically, imperialist rivalries of the European Powers – contributed to Europe’s world supremacy

• While also contributing to the disaster of WWI which led to the collapse of that supremacy

I M P E R I A L I S M

The British Empire in 1914

NationalismMakes it difficult for nations to compromise what they perceived as their national honor

jingoism

Feeds the ethnic tensions in the Balkans that will draw Austria and Russia into conflict and starts the dominos falling!

Mass Politics

Intellectucal Contextndustrial

RevolutionMany felt war was natural

product of human advancement!

The Congress of Vienna 1815Nationalism ignore in favor of peaceNation building – Italy (1861) and Germany (1871)Pan-slavismAustria – Hungary = Pan -Germanism

Pan-Germanism  - movement to unify the people of all German speaking countries

Austria *Belgium DenmarkIceland Germany *Liechtenstein *

Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Sweden Switzerland *United Kingdom

* = German speaking country

Germanic Countries

Nation? State? Nation-State?State – human created boundaries – central authority, sovereign, laws, rulesNation - group of people who see themselves linked to one another- ethnically, culturally, or linguistically (psychological feeling)Nation-State - inhabitants to some degree, consider themselves to be a nation with human created boundaries and a single gov’tNationalism – psychological force that binds together people who identify themselves with each other

• Double – edged sword • Utilized to unify Germany and Italy• Threatened the very existence of Austria-Hungary

and the Ottoman Empire• Different Types • Economic Nationalism• Militant Nationalism• Dynastic Nationalism• Czechs, Poles, Serbs, Croats, Slovaks, Rumanians

• Nations stressed homogeneity of ethnicity

• Charles Darwin – Origin of Species

• Social Darwinism – Herbert Spencer – survival of the “fittest”

• Superiority of the white race• Racism justified imperialism• Progress – Modernization

On the dawn of WWI…it breaks down to