Y9-W2 PDF - World War I Causes & Effects

1. Imperialism Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa. The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry w...

1. Imperialism Imperialism is when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule. By 1900 the British Empire extended over five continents and France had control of large areas of Africa. The amount of lands 'owned' by Britain and France increased the rivalry with Germany who had entered the scramble to acquire colonies late and only had small areas of Africa. France had recently been given Morocco by the British. Morocco’s bid for independence was supported by Germany  2. Militarism Militarism means that the army and military forces are given a high profile by the government. The growing European divide had led to an arms race between the main countries. The armies of both France and Germany had more than doubled between 1870 and 1914 and there was fierce competition between Britain and Germany for mastery of the seas. The British had introduced the 'Dreadnought', an effective battleship, in 1906. The Germans soon followed suit introducing their own battleships. The German, Von Schlieffen also drew up a plan of action that involved attacking France through Belgium if Russia made an attack on Germany.  3. Nationalism Nationalism means being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one's country. The Congress of Vienna, held after the Napoleonic wars left both Germany and Italy as divided states. It was nationalism the re-unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871. France was angry because the settlement at the end of the Franco-Prussian war had given Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to differing nationalist groups, all of whom wanted freedom from the states in which they lived. Lesson objectives: By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to; - Identify countries that were involved in the Great War at the beginning. - Watch a video of Germany at war - Identify impacts of war on Germany - Identify three socialist groups that were formed in Germany after the war, their aims and methods they intended to use to achieve their aims. The above picture shows countries that went out for war at the beginning: Serbia, Austria- Hungary, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium and Great Britain. On 28th July 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia. Two days later Russia began the mobilization of its armed forces despite warnings from Germany. On 1st August Germany declared war on Russia and on 3rd August on France. The following day the Schlieffen plan was put into operation with Germany invading Belgium. This action brought Britain into conflict with Germany. The First World War, between two rival groups of countries, had started although tensions in Europe had been increasing throughout the early years of the new century. As far back as 1905 General Count Alfred Von Schlieffen had created a military plan for Germany. The war dragged on for longer than expected and it drained most countries, mainly Germany suffered the most. Impacts of the War on Germany 1. Lack of food- British blockade restricting entry of food into Germany. 2. Lack of gas and electricity- Coal was overushed in the war. 3. A killer virus (Spanish influenza)- killed so many people. 4. Anti-war demonstrations were getting bigger. 5. Mutinies as the war took longer than expected. 6. People started feeding on turnips during winter 7. As the war continued, newspapers were not printed and people did not know what was happening. 8. Women started taking up the responsibilities of taking care of families since their men were out for war.  The war drained Germany of everything including the lives of their soldiers, many of them died of Hunger, bombs. And with the joining of the United States in the war in February 1917 though they had maintained the policy of isolation, since the 19th Century, this meant that fresh energy was added into the Allies. President Wilson of America had unsuccessfully spent 1915 and 1917 trying to broker peace between the two sides (Triple Entente and Triple Alliance).  Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. They sank a ship resulting into killing of American residents and this drew America into the war. Wilson gave Kaiser Wilhelm II conditions in order to end the war: To make Germany democratic and to create a parliament where the president will share power with parliament. Kaiser Wilhelm II was not ready to accept the conditions and with the mutinies going around the ports, he did not have much power so on 10th November 1918, he abdicated to Holland leaving the country in a state of confusion. On 11th 1918, Friedrich Ebert, a socialist took the position of a leader of Germany and signed/called for an Armistice bringing the war to an end. Socialist Groups that were formed in Germany Many Germans were delighted that the war was over. The following three socialist groups helped to start a revolution in 1918. NAME OF GROUP LEADER AIM METHOD The Social Friedrich Ebert -To improve -To support the Democratic Party workers’ conditions government and -To give democratic try to make rights to all Germans reforms by acts of e.g the right to vote parliament. The Independent Hugo Hasse -To improve To oppose the Socialists workers’ conditions government and -To give democratic force it to make rights to all Germans reforms by e.g the right to vote organizing strikes. The Spartacists Rosa Luxemburg -To improve To overthrow the and Karl workers’ conditions government in a Liebknetcht. -To give democratic revolution. rights to all Germans Councils of e.gthe right to vote workers or soviets would then make reforms.