S3 History - The First World War PDF

Good Hope School S3 History Topic One: The First World War Focus: The major powers at the beginning of the 20th century Outbreak of the War Sources of conflict among the major power...

Good Hope School S3 History Topic One: The First World War Focus: The major powers at the beginning of the 20th century Outbreak of the War Sources of conflict among the major powers Course of the War Events leading to the War Result of the War Impact of the War 2. Sources of conflicts 2.1 Nationalism Nationalism: the belief that people with a common history, language, culture etc belong to the same nation and should form their own country and government. The development of nationalism threatened the unity of multi-ethnic Empires in Europe such as Turkey and Austria-Hungary. By the early 20th century, more radical and extreme forms of nationalism became increasingly popular, which contributed to the outbreak of the First World War. Nationalism Extreme Nationalism People with a common history, religion, language and Emphasize loyalty over the nation customs should unite and govern themselves Support the territorial expansion to gain national They should not be controlled by other ethnic groups of glory countries Influenced by Social Darwinism - survival of the fittest Support the use of force to solve conflicts Extreme nationalist movements in the early 20th century The Greater Serbia movement Advocates of the Greater Serbia Movement considered all South Slavic (Yugoslav) peoples (e.g. Bosniaks, Croats, Slovenes) members of the Serbian nation Aim: Unite all South Slavs under one Serbian nation, including: Bosnia and Herzegovina (population mainly Serbs, but was controlled by Austria-Hungary), Albania and Montenegro with Serbia. The locations of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina Austria-Hungary opposed this movement because she herself wanted to expand into the Balkans. Hostility between Austria-Hungary and Serbia led to the Bosnian Crisis of 1908 and the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in 1914, which became the immediate cause of the First World War. S3_WWI 1 Pan-Slavism The Slavs formed an ethnic group in Eastern Europe. Examples include Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, and Slovenes. Russia is the largest Slavic nation. Initially Pan-Slavic nationalists called for the political independence of Slavic peoples, but gradually evolved into a movement to bring all Slavic nations under Russian leadership. Russia claimed herself as the “Big Brother of all Slavs”. Since the Serbs were Slavs, the Pan-Slav movement and the Greater Serbia movement were closely-linked. Whenever Austria-Hungary and Serbia quarrelled, Russia was quick to support Serbia. In 1914, after the Sarajevo assassination, Russia sided with Serbia. Pan-Germanism Aim: uniting all the Germans of Central Europe under one great German state. Since Pan-Germanism opposed Pan-Slavism (both Germany and Russia wanted to expand in Eastern Europe), hostility developed between Germany and Russia. When Russia supported Serbia in her quarrel with Austria in 1914, Germany sided with Austria, a German nation. Hence, Germany felt obliged to side with Austria in the conflict between Austria and Serbia in 1914 as Russia had already mobilised to help Serbia. French Revanchism / Revenge Movement Extreme nationalists in France wanted to take revenge on Germany for the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. The events of 1914 gave France her chance to fight a war of revenge. Italian Irredentism Italian territorial grievances with Austria-Hungary (e.g. South Tyrol, Trieste) - Italian-speaking regions under Austrian rule. The ‘recovery’ of the territories became a major priority for Italian nationalists Italy was thus reluctant to join the Central Powers in 1914 Summary: What did ‘Nationalism’ lead to in the late 19th and early 20th century? Outcomes (developments in Europe) Examples from the notes 1. Uniting peoples of the same race under one Greater Serbia Movement government. 2. Supporting countries with the same race. Pan-Slavism / Pan-Germanism 3. Taking revenge for the country / desire to retake French Revanchism / Italian Irredentism lost territories S3_WWI 2 2.2 Imperialism and colonial conflicts Imperialism: The desire to build an empire for the benefit of the mother country. The policy of gaining political and economic control over other countries. Reasons for the revival of imperialism in the late nineteenth century Industrialisation: increasing demand for raw materials and expansion of overseas market; land for surplus population White man’s burden: colonialism as a ‘civilising’ mission in Asia and Africa Nationalism and national pride: colonial expansion as a demonstration of national strength and superiority Africa from 1880 to 1913 The White Man’s Burden S3_WWI 3 The European scramble for colonies: Examples for colonial rivalry Slap of Tunis (1881): Deterioration of Franco-Italian relations after the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881. Italy subsequently joined the Triple Alliance (1882) Fashoda Incident: Military standoff between British and French soldiers in Sudan which almost led to war - the French backed down and Anglo-French relations improved Russo-Japanese War (1905): Russian defeat and decline as a colonial power in the East Franco-German tensions after the two Moroccan Crises (1905 and 1911). Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia (The Great Game) Anglo-German rivalry in Asia: German construction of the Berlin Baghdad Railway Relationship between imperialism and colonial rivalries and WWI: Imperialism and colonial rivalry sped up armament race as it led to development of army and navy for expansion, scramble for colonies, empire building and protection for colonies and trade routes worsened relations, such as Anglo-German relations, Franco-Italian relations etc. led to formation of alliances ◆ Franco-Italian rivalry over Tunisia (1881): Italy joined Germany and Austria-Hungary to form the Triple Alliance in 1882. ◆ Franco-German rivalry over Morocco (1905, 1911) & German construction of the Berlin-Baghdad Railway: Britain and Russia supported France and formed the Triple Entente in 1907. 2.3 Armaments race (militarism) An arms race is a competition between two or more rival states in the expansion of their military Features of an arms race may include: o Accumulation and mass production of weapons o Increase in military personnel (e.g. soldiers) o Emergence of new military technology o Dramatic increase in military expenditure Militarism: The government is controlled by the military Use wars to settle disputes Build more destructive weapons Reasons for arms races to happen To demonstrate the superiority of the nation (extreme nationalism) To deter rivals from military aggression To prepare for a perceived imminent threat The Anglo-German naval race Tirpitz Plan - Germany’s plan to build a navy that could challenge British naval supremacy To secure future naval supremacy, Britain adopted the Two-power standard. The clashes between British and German naval expansion policies led to a naval arms race between 1897 - 1912 In 1906, a new Royal Navy battleship, HMS Dreadnought, was launched. German responded by building her own superdreadnoughts (E.g. SMS Bayern; SMS Baden) The German Navy never managed to surpass the Royal Navy in the Naval Arms Race S3_WWI 4  HMS Dreadnought Kaiser-class battleship Relationship between armaments race and WWI Britain was alarmed by Germany’s attempt to challenge her naval supremacy. It led to: o Anglo-German naval race, i.e. Anglo-German competition over the building of Dreadnoughts. o Anglo-German naval race worsened Anglo-German relations. Naval race increased mutual suspicion as no country was willing to disarm first at the disarmament conferences which also marked the failure of disarmament conferences that led to further armaments race. Militarism and arms race increased the confidence of countries to use war to settle disputes that no country was willing to back down. The Powers also believed that only military action could solve the problems between the Powers. Consequently, it created the chain reaction between 28 July 1914 to 4 August 1914. S3_WWI 5 2.4 The alliance system Alliances: - treaties of friendship and support between countries who promise to support each other in a war. 2.4.1 Triple Alliance In 1878, Germany and Austria-Hungary called for a Conference (Congress of Berlin) and overturned the Treaty of San Stefano signed between Russia and Turkey after Russian victory in the Russo-Turkish War. The conference ended with a new treaty (Treaty of Berlin) with reduced Russian gains - it was a national humiliation for the Russians and led to tensions between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Marking the demise of the Three Emperors’ League A Dual Alliance was formed between Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879 In 1881, Italy lost her interests in Tunisia to France, as France launched a successful conquest of Tunisia, turning it into a French colony (Slap of Tunis). Italy thus joined Austria and Germany in 1882. Terms: they agreed to help each other if either one of them was attacked by France or Russia. 2.4.2 Triple Entente The Entente Cordiale (Britain and France) 1904 The Triple Entente 1907 Britain agreed to join with Russia because: o France, their common partner, mediated the disputes between them. o Germany’s Berlin-Baghdad Railway threatened both British and Russian interests in the Middle East. o The victory of Japan over Russia in 1905 showed that Russia was unable to threaten British interests in the Far East. Terms: Russia and Britain agreed to settle their disputes in Afghanistan and Persia. S3_WWI 6 2.4.3 Effects The terms of the alliances were kept in secret, so it created suspicions among the Powers. Because of the support given by their allies, the Powers were unwilling to settle their disputes by peaceful methods. The alliance would turn a local war into a general war. The alliance system dragged European powers into the Austro-Serbian war, then World War One. [Germany and Austria-Hungary belonged to the Triple Alliance, while France, Russia and Britain were allies of the Triple Entente.] S3_WWI 7