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CHAPTER 6: THE GREAT WAR (1914-1918) 1. TRIGGER AND CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 1. THE MURDER ON ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND (28 T H JUNE 1914) June 1914, the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife paid a state visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia. Bosnia had recently become a province of Austria, but...

CHAPTER 6: THE GREAT WAR (1914-1918) 1. TRIGGER AND CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 1. THE MURDER ON ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND (28 T H JUNE 1914) June 1914, the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife paid a state visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia. Bosnia had recently become a province of Austria, but the combination of tradition and nationalism in the region made the visit controversial. The majority of the population were ethnic Serbs, who resented being ruled by Austria and who looked to neighboring Serbia for leadership. The Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, was a hotbed of Serb activism, and extreme nationalists (some of them terrorists) used it as a base tor anti-Austrian agitation. The Austrians accused Serbia of activism, and extreme nationalists (some of them terrorists) used it as a base for anti-Austrian agitation. The Austrians accused Serbia of encouraging this, but the politically weak Serbian government could do little to restrain these extreme elements. Public opinion prevented it from taking a strong stand; some leading politicians and members of the military and the police force even sympathized with the extremists. It was a tense situation, and during the archduke’s visit he and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip.1 SOURCE 1: EUROPE IN 1914 2 1 Williams, R. Cambridge International AS Level. European History 1789-1917. Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 107. 2 http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/maps/europe-map-1871-1914/ 145 Source 2: Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, 28th June 1914. The assassination triggered a series of events that led to a world war. When the Austrian emperor heard about the death of his cousin, he was infuriated. He blamed the Serbian government for the assassination and immediately consulted with his ally3 Wilhelm II of Germany. They decided that Austria should declare war on Serbia. For their defense, Serbia looked to its ally Russia for support, the Russians. The Russians knowing that their French allies would help them, immediately started to mobilize4 their army on the German and Austrian border. The Germans demanded that Russia should stop its mobilization, but when there was no response to this, they declared war on Russia and later on its ally France. The news of war spread through Europe like wildfire. Due to the prevalent feelings of nationalism and militarism, there was widespread enthusiasm for war. In every participating nation, people felt that war was necessary to solve a conflict. To win would also mean that their country would be the most powerful in Europe. Because they felt that their army was the best, they expected that their soldiers would be back home in a few months. Thousands of young men voluntarily enlisted in the army.5 2. THE CAUSES 6 While peace and harmony characterized much of Europe at the beginning of the 1900s, there were less visible—and darker—forces at work as well. Below the surface of peace and goodwill, Europe witnessed several gradual developments that would ultimately help propel the continent into war. THE RISE OF NATIONALISM One such development was the growth of nationalism, or a deep devotion to one’s nation. Nationalism can serve as a unifying force within a country. However, it can also cause intense competition among nations, with each seeking to overpower the other. By the turn of the 20th century, a fierce rivalry indeed had developed 3 Ally: bondgenoot 4 To mobilize: mobiliseren, een leger samenroepen 5 Van den Heijkant, K. e.o. Bricks History textbook thavo/tvwo volume 3. Educatieve Uitgeverij, 2017. 6 McDougal, H. World history, patterns of interaction, p. 841-842. 146 among Europe’s Great Powers. Those nations were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and France. This increasing rivalry among European nations stemmed from several sources. Competition for materials and markets was one. Territorial disputes were another. France, for example, had never gotten over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War (1870). Austria-Hungary and Russia both tried to dominate in the Balkans, a region in southeast Europe. Within the Balkans, the intense nationalism of Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians, and other ethnic groups led to demands for independence. Source 3: Nationalism in the Balkan7 Nationalism was a powerful force in the Balkan. Each group longed to extend its borders. Serbia, for example, had a large Slavic population. It hoped to absorb all the Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula. Russia, itself a mostly Slavic nation, supported Serbian nationalism. However, Serbia’s powerful northern neighbor, Austria-Hungary, opposed such an effort. Austria feared that efforts to create a Slavic state would stir rebellion among its Slavic population. In 1908, Austria annexed, or took over, Bosnia and Herzegovina. These were two Balkan areas with large Slavic populations. Serbian leaders, who had sought to rule these provinces, were outraged. In the years that followed, tensions between Serbia and Austria steadily rose. The Serbs continually vowed to take Bosnia and Herzegovina away from Austria. In response, Austria-Hungary vowed to crush any Serbian effort to undermine its authority in the Balkans. IMPERIALISM AND MILITARISM Another force that helped set the stage for war in Europe was imperialism. The quest for colonies sometimes pushed European nations to the brink of war. As European countries continued to compete for overseas empires, their sense of rivalry and mistrust of one another deepened. Yet another troubling development throughout the early years of the 20th century was the rise of a dangerous European arms race. The nations of Europe believed that to be truly great, they needed to have a powerful military. By 1914, all the Great Powers except Britain had large standing armies. In addition, military experts stressed the importance of being able to quickly mobilize or organize and move troops in case of a war. Generals in each country developed highly detailed plans for such a mobilization. The policy of glorifying military power and keeping an army prepared for war was known as militarism. Having a large and strong standing army8 made citizens feel patriotic. 7 McDougal, H. World history, patterns of interaction, p. 843. 8 Standing army: staand leger, beroepsleger. 147 THE ALLIANCES SOURCE 4: TRIPLE ALLIANCE VERSUS TRIPLE ENTENTE 9 9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Entente#/media/File:Map_Europe_alliances_1914-en.svg 148 2. COURSE OF EVENTS OF THE GREAT WAR SOURCE 5: COURSE OF EVENTS 10 1. THE START OF THE WAR 11 When the Austrian emperor heard about the death of his cousin, he was infuriated. He blamed the Serbian government for the assassination and immediately consulted with his ally, Wilhelm II of Germany. They decided that Austria should declare war on Serbia. For their defense, Serbia looked to its ally Russia for support. The Russians knowing that their French allies would help them, immediately started to mobilize their army on the German and Austrian border. The Germans demanded that Russia should stop its mobilization, but when there was no response to this, they declared war on Russia and later on its ally France. Due to the prevalent feelings of nationalism and militarism, there was widespread enthusiasm for war. Because everybody thought that their army was the best, they expected that their soldiers would be back home in a few months. Thousands of young men voluntarily enlisted in the army. Source 6: German soldiers leaving for the war, 1914.12 10 McDougal, H. World history, patterns of interaction, p.838-839. 11 Van den Heijkant, K. e.o. Bricks History textbook thavo/tvwo volume 3. Educatieve Uitgeverij, 2017. 12 http://riowang.blogspot.be/2011/06/excursion.html 149 Germany was the first to strike, on 4rth August 1914. In accordance with the Von Schlieffen Plan, they wanted to go through Belgium. When the Belgians did not allow them pass through, the Germans invaded their country - the Belgians resisted furiously; they were not going to let the German soldiers destroy their villages and cities. Another setback13 came when Russia had mobilized its army faster than expected and had success against the Austrian army. Because of this, the Germans had to withdraw soldiers from the Western Front to send them to the East. Moreover, Britain proclaimed that they would join the side of the Allies. The British had signed a treaty in 1839 in which they promised to defend Belgium’s neutrality. But the Germans never expected that the British would keep this promise. Source 7: The Von Schlieffen Plan 2. WAR ON THE WESTERN FRONT 14 During the Battle of the Marne, which lasted from 5th to 12th September 1914, and the Battle of the Yser (October 1914), the German army was halted. From that moment, a quick win on the Western Front was impossible. The two sides became unable to move forward and they dug themselves in. It became a stalemate15, with Belgium and Northern France turning into a war zone. In Western Europe, the armies of both sides were of equal strength and the war became a trench war. The generals ordered their soldiers to dig in along the front. This means that they dug trenches, narrow ditches and tunnels into the ground, to hide from the bullets and artillery of the enemy. These trenches were heavily defended with bunkers, machineguns, barbed wire16 and landmines, thus making them almost impossible to overcome by force. Still the generals tried to do this for years, at the cost of millions of lives. The land between the trenches became a no-man’s-land. Because of all the bombing, the forests, creeks and hills of Belgium and Northern France became a muddy land full of craters and holes. LIFE IN THE TRENCHES 17 The life of soldiers in the trenches was terrible. They did not get much sleep because of the chores the soldiers had to do. When they did get a rest, it was in the afternoon during daylight and at night only for an hour at a time. They were woken up at different times, either to complete one of their daily chores or to fight. During rest time, they wrote letters and sometimes played card games. 13 Setback: tegenslag 14 Van den Heijkant, K. e.o. Bricks History textbook thavo/tvwo volume 3. Educatieve Uitgeverij, 2017. 15 Stalemate: a position counting as a draw, in which a player is not in check but cannot move except into check (schaakmat, hier figuurlijk: patstelling) 16 Barbed wire: prikkeldraad 17 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/25626530 150 The trenches could be very muddy and smelly. There were many dead bodies buried nearby and the latrines (toilets) sometimes overflowed into the trenches. Millions of rats infested the trenches, and some grew as big as cats. There was also a big problem with lice that tormented the soldiers on a daily basis. Source 8: British soldiers in the trenches, 1914 1916: BATTLES AT VERDUN AND THE SOMME 18 The best examples of the senseless slaughter took place at the Battle of Verdun and the Somme Offensive. In 1916, both Germany and the Allies prepared an attack to break through the stalemate. The Germans were first to launch a wave of attacks. On 21st February, they charged the French defenses at Verdun, but the French resisted heavily. For ten months, the battle went on until the Germans called off the attack. It is estimated that about 350,000 soldiers died at the Battle of Verdun. The massacres got worse when French and British troops raised their armies to full strength. At the River Somme, they assaulted the German trenches with overwhelming force. On the first day of the attack the British lost 57,450 men, which made it the darkest day in the history of the British army. The British deployed their new secret weapon during the battle of the Somme: the tank. This armored vehicle ran on caterpillar tracks and was designed to cross trenches and break through barbed wire. The appearance of the tank on the battlefield was spectacular but could not bring an end to the war: tanks were only used in small numbers, had poor mobility and mechanical problems. After the Somme Offensive, the Allies had taken more than ten 18 Van den Heijkant, K. e.o. Bricks History textbook thavo/tvwo volume 3. Educatieve Uitgeverij, 2017, p. 17. 151 kilometers of land; this at the cost of more than a million soldiers’ lives makes it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. 1917: A DECISIVE YEAR 19 In 1917, two significant events changed the course of the war. German U-Boats kept attacking unarmed passenger and merchant ships. In 1915, they torpedoed the British ocean liner ’The Lusitania’. It sank immediately, and 1,200 people lost their lives, among them 128 Americans. This led to massive anti-German sentiment in the United States. Two years later, a letter was intercepted, showing that the Germans tried to make an alliance with Mexico to attack the United States. Furthermore, the Unites States were afraid that if the war lasted, they would not be able to get their loans back. On 6th April 1917, the United States Congress voted to join the Allies in the war. Another major event happened in Russia during February 1917. Due to great poverty and inequality in this huge empire, a revolution took place. The German secret service made use of the unrest there: they sponsored the revolutionary Lenin to take control of the Russian government. When Lenin came to power in October, he signed a peace treaty with Germany: the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany and Russia were no longer enemies. Now the Germans could send all their troops to the Western Front. From the moment that the United States joined the conflict, the end of the war became a real prospect. More than a million fresh military personnel and innumerable supplies were shipped from the USA to the Allies in Europe, which provided a big morale boost. Germany and the other Central powers could not compete with the Allies once the Americans joined them. Besides that, there was now discontent in Germany. In 1918, the Germans at last surrendered. At 11am on 11th November (‘the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’), Germany signed an armistice in railway carriage No. 2419D, in Compiegne Forest, close to Paris. The Great War had come to an end. The Allies were victorious. 19 Van den Heijkant, K. e.o. Bricks History textbook thavo/tvwo volume 3. Educatieve Uitgeverij, 2017, p. 18. 152 3. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GREAT WAR 1. WORLD WAR The Great War was the First World War, because of the involvement of the whole world. The main battles took place in Europe. Due to the presence of colonial troops and workers, other parts of the world got involved. With the entrance of the United States in 1917 the worldwide effect of the Great War was even clearer. Source 9: Chinese workers and Indian troops. 2. THE FIRST MODERN WAR 20 World War I was unlike any war preceding it. It started in an old-fashioned manner, but quickly became the first truly 'modern' war. Never before had technology been put to such destructive ends. On land, at sea, and in the air, mechanized warfare was carried out with devastating efficiency. Mechanized warfare refers to the use of advanced machines in war. Aircraft, armored vehicles, modern artillery, machine guns, submarines (U- boats) — these are all components of mechanized warfare. The strategy had to be adapted to this warfare: trenches were the best way to defend yourself against the modern weapons. But even then, new inventions came up: gas was used for the first time. Modern ideas were spread thanks to the war: in a trench, everybody was equal. The base for an egalitarian society was laid in the First World War. After the war, the masses would take political power. 20 https://study.com/academy/lesson/world-war-i-causes-characteristics-effects.html 153 Source 10: French troops at the beginning of the war Source 11: Talbot house 3. TOTAL WAR 21 World War I was a total war, which means that everything in a country is focused on winning the war. Factories constantly worked to make weapons; food and fuel were rationed so it could be sent to the front, and a constant stream of propaganda was broadcasted to keep the spirits up on the home front. Men had to fight, so women had to replace them in the factories. The casualties of this total war were not only soldiers. A lot of civilians died or had to flee, because of the bombing of several cities. Source 12: Total War22 21 Van den Heijkant, K. e.o. Bricks History textbook thavo/tvwo volume 3. Educatieve Uitgeverij, 2017, p. 18. 22 http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/BRGPOD/191810~French-Patriotic-Postcard-Depicting-the- Role-of-Women-During-the-First-World-War-1914-18-1915-Posters.jpg 154