World War I: Causes and Alliances

The First World War: Road to Catastrophe

• The causes of World War I involved rivalry between Austria and Russia for influence in the Balkans.
• Rivalry existed between Britain and Germany for commercial and naval supremacy.
• Long-standing animosity persisted between France and Germany after the Franco-German War of 1870.
• Germany sought to strengthen alliances, forming the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy.
• France allied with Russia.
• Britain initially maintained 'Splendid Isolation'.
• When the German Emperor started building a navy, British Prime Minister Balfour negotiated the Entente Cordiale with France.
• The Entente Cordiale meant that each country would support the other if attacked by a third party.
• The agreement became the Triple Entente in 1907, with Russia joining.

The Sudden End of an Age of Optimism

• The first two decades of the 20th century saw prosperity and peace, remembered as a golden age.
• The "British Belle Epoque" showed elegant ladies and gentlemen enjoying society events.
• America experienced industrial growth boosted by cheap labor, assembly-line manufacturing, and railway networks.
• World War I ended this 'golden age', bringing death and destruction.
• Around 20 million people died, wiping out a generation of young men.
• The war dragged on for four years marked by death, horror, and destruction.

The Great War

• The immediate cause was the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip in June 1914.
• This assassination led to a diplomatic crisis in Europe.
• Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium and Luxembourg and its march on France caused Britain to defend Belgium.
• King George V declared war on Germany on July 28, 1914.
• Italy entered the war on May 24, 1915, siding with the Triple Entente, despite previously siding with the Triple Alliance.
• The war involved over 70 million military personnel and caused the deaths of 9 million soldiers and 7 million civilians.
• New military technology, such as tanks, machine guns, and gas, marked the war.
• The United States joined the war in April 1917.
• Germany was defeated one year later.
• An armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, marking the end of the war.
• The Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris on June 28, 1919.
• Empires were destroyed, national boundaries shifted, and economic hardships led to the rise of dictators like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

The Irish Question

• The British government had promised 'Home Rule' to Ireland, but it was postponed because of World War I.
• Rebels, led by Eamon de Valera and the Sinn Fein nationalist party, were impatient and staged the 'Easter Rising' in Dublin on Easter Monday 1916.
• The rebels seized control of buildings in Dublin and proclaimed the 'Irish Republic.'
• The British forces suppressed the rebellion after a week of fighting.
• Years of conflict led to the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, followed by the creation of 'Ireland' or 'Eire' in 1937, which became a republic in 1948.
• The 'partition' of the island led to six counties of Ulster (predominantly Protestant) remaining part of the UK, with Belfast as its capital.

The Suffragettes

• The general elections in 1906, which the Liberal Party won, had a high turnout, but only 60% of adult men could vote, and no women could vote.
• The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was formed in Manchester in 1903 by 'suffragettes', led by Emmeline Pankhurst.
• Women demanded the right to vote and to take full part in the democratic process.
• They were prepared to use militant means.
• The WSPU called off its militant action during World War I because Germany was deemed a common enemy.
• After World War I, The Representation of the People Act of 1918 granted voting rights to all women over 30 who were property owners.
• In 1928, the franchise was extended to women over 21, on the same terms as those for men.