World War I: Key Alliances & Events

• These are concise study notes for World War I

Triple Entente

• An alliance between the United Kingdom, France, and Russia that existed before World War I.
• It was formed to counterbalance the growing power of the Triple Alliance.

Triple Alliance/Central Powers

• Consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy at the start of World War I.
• The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria later joined.

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip.
• Princip was a member of a Bosnian nationalist group.
• The assassination triggered Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war on Serbia.
• This led to the mobilization of alliances and the start of World War I.

Schlieffen Plan

• Germany’s military strategy aimed to avoid a two-front war.
• It planned on quickly defeating France through Belgium before turning to fight Russia.
• Its failure led to a prolonged war and the involvement of more countries.

Germany’s Invasion of Belgium

• Germany invaded Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan to bypass French defenses.
• The invasion violated Belgium’s neutrality.
• This led to the United Kingdom declaring war on Germany.

Trench Warfare

• Soldiers fought from entrenched positions, often leading to a stalemate with little movement.
• Symbolic of the horrific conditions of WWI, where soldiers faced constant danger, poor living conditions, and devastating casualties.

US Entry into WWI

• Three main provocations:
  • The sinking of the RMS Lusitania
  • The Zimmerman Telegram
  • Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare against neutral ships
• These led to the U.S. entering the war in 1917.

Russian Revolution (1917)

• Two major causes:
  • Severe food shortages, inflation, and poor working conditions contributed to public dissatisfaction.
  • Autocratic rule by Tsar Nicholas II, combined with military defeats in WWI, led to widespread unrest and revolution.

Vladimir Lenin & Bolsheviks

• Lenin believed that the working class (proletariat) needed to be led by a revolutionary vanguard (Bolsheviks) to overthrow the capitalist system and establish a socialist state.
• The Bolshevik goals were to end Russia’s involvement in WWI, seize land for peasants, and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat.

Lenin’s April Theses

• Three principles:
  • Russia should immediately withdraw from WWI.
  • Redistribution of land to the peasantry.
  • Establishment of soviets (councils of workers and soldiers) as the governing body.

Execution of the Romanov Family

• Lenin may have ordered the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family to eliminate the monarchy as a symbol of the old regime.
• To prevent any possibility of the royal family being used to rally counter-revolutionary forces.

Impact of the Bolshevik Revolution

• Russia: The Bolsheviks took control, pulling Russia out of WWI and starting the creation of the Soviet Union.
• World: The revolution inspired communist movements worldwide and contributed to the spread of socialism.

Sinking of RMS Lusitania

• A British passenger ship, was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915, killing 128 Americans.
• The attack on a civilian ship caused outrage and pushed the U.S. closer to entering the war.

Zimmerman Telegram

• A secret German proposal to Mexico, urging it to join the war on Germany’s side
• In return, Mexico would reclaim territories lost to the U.S. (such as Texas and Arizona) after the Mexican-American War.

Impact of WWI on Women

• Women took on new roles in the workforce, particularly in factories and nursing.
• They contributed to the war effort by working as nurses, munitions workers, and clerks.
• Their contributions helped advance the women’s suffrage movement.

US Wartime Propaganda

• Four objectives:
  • Mobilize public support for the war.
  • Promote patriotism and loyalty to the government.
  • Encourage enlistment in the military.
  • Persuade civilians to conserve resources for the war effort.

Casualties of WWI

• Russia and Germany suffered the highest number of casualties in WWI.
• Russia losing approximately 1.7 million and Germany around 2 million soldiers.

Use of Colonies in WWI

• European powers used colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific to provide soldiers, labor, and resources to support the war effort.
• Many colonial subjects were fighting in European armies.

Irony of African-American Soldiers in WWI

• African-American soldiers fought in WWI, contributing to the fight for democracy.
• Yet they faced segregation, racism, and discrimination both in the military and at home, highlighting the contradiction of fighting for freedom while being denied rights.

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

• Three major goals:
  • Allowing nations to determine their own futures.
  • Ensuring neutral rights in international waters.
  • To promote peace and prevent future conflicts.

Treaty of Versailles

• Four key terms imposed on Germany:
  • Germany lost territory, including Alsace-Lorraine to France.
  • The German army was limited to 100,000 troops.
  • Germany had to accept responsibility for causing the war.
  • Germany was required to pay heavy reparations to the Allied countries.

Failure of the League of Nations

• Three reasons:
  • The League had no enforcement power to stop aggressor nations.
  • The U.S. did not join, weakening the League’s influence.
  • The League failed to prevent aggression, such as Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia and Japan’s invasion of Manchuria.