Events Leading to WWI (1902—1914)

• Start with paragraph 7, “For many years the most powerful”

• Prepare a ten statement outline on the events leading up to World War I

• The last paragraph describes the goals of the participants of war. Identify the beliefs and goals of the participating countries.

Political and Social Tensions in Europe(pre-1914)

• Ireland nationalists vs. Irish Unionists w/Britain• France was recovering from the Dreyfus Affair– Revealed French anti-semitism

• Russia defeated by Japan in 1904 (Russo-Japanese War)led to revolution, creation of the Duma, and a constitutional monarchy under Tsar Nicholas II

• Germany faced large worker agitation advocating socialism

• Austria-Hungary faced “Magyarization”Magyars dominant language and culture with Hungarian population

What event sparked “The Great War”?

• June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife assassinated of Austria-Hungary by Serbian nationalist, Gavilro Princep in Sarajevo

Nationalism: The Black Hand• Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

organized by secret Serbian society• Founded in 1911, the Black Hand aspired to

create a Greater Serbia– Unify with the South Slavs in Austria-Hungary

• Austria regarded the Black Hand a significant threat to the Hapsburg Empire

• Austria-Hungary denied Serbs independence prior to the assassination

Origins of War

• Read your document• Create a thesis statement/summary on the

cause of WWI from the document’s point-of-view

• Place the POV on the board

Basic Chronology, 1914-1915

• The assassination of Franz Ferdinand caused outrage in Europe

• Austria was slow to respond to Serbia, but was determined to invade and crush Serbia

• Germany pledged to support Austria through the infamous blank checkpromised to back Austrian action

• On July 23, 1914, Austria, at Germany’s urging, moved to crack down on Serbian nationalism

Basic Chronology, 1914-1915• Russia, building up its military, was likely to defend

Serbia while drawing in France.• July 28, 1914 Austria declared war on Serbia• Russia mobilized• Germany declared war on Russia and the next day

declared war on France. Germany invaded Belgium, drawing Britain into the war, Germany invaded France, and then Britain declared war on Germany.

• On August 4, the German Army invaded Belgium heading for Paris. In the first 16 months of combat, France suffered roughly half of all its war casualties (700,000)

The Schlieffen Plan• German plan to– Defeat France in six weeks as in Franco-Prussian War– Hold off Russia– Invade France through neutral Belgium to seize Paris

• What went wrong:– Belgians unexpectedly fought against the Germans; gave

British time to mobilize– Russians mobilized quicker than Germans expected,

drawing German troops to the East to support the Austrians– The French heroically won at the Battle of the Marne (Sept.

5, 1914) to save Paris

Map 25–5 THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN OF 1905 Germany’s grand strategy for quickly winning the war against Francein 1914 is shown by the wheeling arrows on the map. In the original plan, the crushing blows at France were to be followed by the release of troops for use against Russia onGermany’s eastern front. The plan, however, was not adequately implemented, and the war on the western frontbecame a long contest in place.

• Sept 6, 1914—French defeat Germans at the First Battle of the Marnesave Paris

• October and November 1914—First Battle of Ypres—German advance was halted by French and British leading to trench warfare

• http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/maps_outbreak.html

The Eastern Front• Russian troops invaded Eastern Prussia.• August 26, 1914 Germans defeat Russians at the

Battle of Tannenberg (E. Prussia). Germans must fight a two front war

• 1915: German-Austrian forces pushed Russians out of Poland; Germans overran the Balkans

• The British landed at the Dardanelles (Gallipoli) to try and knock Turkey out of the war

• http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/maps_gallipoli.html