Lesson 1
The Start of World War I
Directions: Read pages 647- 648 and fill in the chart.
Nationalism:What is it?
How did it cause WWI? / Imperialism:
What is it? (use your old definition)
How did it cause WWI?
Militarism:
What is it?
How did it cause WWI? / Alliance System:
What is it?
How did it cause WWI?
A) The First World War:
1) The World in 1914:
(a) The United States:
(01) Achieved goals of:
(i) foreign markets
(ii) modern navy
(iii) international police power to ensure its dominance
(02) In achieving this goal, the US had been drawn into world affairs.
(b) The World:
(01) Characterized as a world of international anarchy
(02) The Nations of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, The Ottoman Empire, and the United States are world powers.
(03) Competition
2) The Spark:
(a) The Balkan Powder Keg:
(01) The Balkans:
(b) June 28th, 1914: Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand assassinated by Serbians.
(c) Germany offers their unconditional support- a diplomatic blank check.
(d) The Austrians gave the Serbians an ultimatum. If they did not accept these, war would be declared.
(e) The Serbians agreed to all but two. They asked for arbitration on them.
(f) Austria Hungry declares war on Serbia. July 28th, 1914
(g) Russia, mobilizes its army toward Austria. 7/30/14
(h) Germany declares war on Russia. 8/1/14
(i) Convinced that France was going to declare war on them Germany declares war on France. 8/3/14
(j) Germany invades neutral Belgium and Great Britain declares war on Germany. 8/4/14
(k) The Ottoman Empire joins the central powers in November.
3) The War
(a) The war begins on August 4th, 1914 when the German Army invades neutral Belgium.
(b) Battles:
(01) The Schlieffen Plan:
(02) Western Front:
(i) The Battle of the Marne: September 5th through 13th 1914.
Read the rest of Chapter 19, section 1
1. Germany invades Neutral Belgium (What did this cause?)
2. The First Battle of the Somme (What did this cause?)
3. The 1917 Famine (What was this caused by? What was the nation’s reaction to it?)
4. The Sinking of the Lusitania (what happened and what it caused)
5. The Sinking of the Sussex and the Sussex Pledge (What was this and what did the nation pledge to do?)
6. The President Wilson’s “Peace Without Victory” Speech (What did it say? What was the reaction to it?)
7. The Discovery of the Zimmermann Telegram (no date, just description. What did it say? What was the reaction to it?)
8. Russia leaves the war (no date, just the events that led up to it. In reading and in “On the World Stage”)
When you are finished, Write and answer these two questions:
9. Why did the United States want to stay out of the war?
10. Why did the United States enter the war?
Read the rest of Chapter 19, section 1
1. Germany invades Neutral Belgium (What did this cause?)
2. The First Battle of the Somme (What did this cause?)
3. The 1917 Famine (What was this caused by? What was the nation’s reaction to it?)
4. The Sinking of the Lusitania (what happened and what it caused)
5. The Sinking of the Sussex and the Sussex Pledge (What was this and what did the nation pledge to do?)
6. The President Wilson’s “Peace Without Victory” Speech (What did it say? What was the reaction to it?)
7. The Discovery of the Zimmermann Telegram (no date, just description. What did it say? What was the reaction to it?)
8. Russia leaves the war (no date, just the events that led up to it. In reading and in “On the World Stage”)
When you are finished, Write and answer these two questions:
9. Why did the United States want to stay out of the war?
10. Why did the United States enter the war?
B) The First World War:
1) The World in 1914:
(a) By 1917, the United States had achieved several foreign policy goals:
(01) They had expanded its access to foreign markets to support its domestic economy.
(02) They had built a modern navy to support its interests abroad
(03) They had exercised its international police power to ensure its dominance in Latin America
(b) In achieving this goal, the United States had been drawn into world affairs.
(c) Characterized as a world of international anarchy due to the fact that there is no agreement or laws dealing with how a government should act.
(d) The Nations of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, The Ottoman Empire, and the United States are world powers.
(e) These nations are competing against each other due to imperialism and have massively built up militaries that help them get what they want. They have a long history of war and do not trust each other.
2) Causes:
(a) Nationalism:
(01) A deep devotion to a nation, Patriotism toward ones nation. A belief that national interests and national unity should be placed before international cooperation.
(i) A nation's foreign policy should be guided by the nations self interests.
(02) This created a great deal of rivalry and competition between nations. They mostly competed for land and industrial supremacy.
(03) It also applied to various ethnic groups who resented domination by others and wanted to create nations for themselves.
(b) Imperialism:
(01) All of the powerful nations competed for areas to control to feed their industrial revolution. Nationalism increased these competitions.
(c) Militarism:
(01) The policy of glorifying military power and using that force as a tool of diplomacy.
(02) This was accomplished by massive military build ups and keeping a nation prepared for war at all times.
(03) The goal was to have a bigger stronger army then any other potential enemy.
(d) Systems of Alliances:
(01) A written agreement between nations for assistance when one is attacked.
(02) Why
(i) When money began to run out and nations became so built up that they were equal, they made agreements between each other to help in times of war and get the edge over their rivals
(ii) These nations also had a long history of war and distrust. In this period of dear, distrust and paranoid thought, these nations united to protect themselves
(03) Europe is divided into two armed camps:
(i) The Triple Alliance: An agreement of mutual defense made between Austria Hungary, Germany, and Italy. Later, the Ottoman Empire was added and these nations came to be known as the Central Powers
(ii) The Triple Entente: A series of agreements between France, Britain, and Russia that allied them together. Became known as the Allies.
3) How did these cause WWI:
(a) Nationalism: Nations felt that their nation was so important that they would fight for it and were willing to die
(b) Imperialism: Created a competition between nations. This was fierce competition due to nationalism.
(c) Militarism: All had weapons that they were willing to use in the fierce competition.
(d) Alliances: Divided Europe into two armed camps. It only took a simple event to cause war:
4) The Spark:
(a) The Balkan Powder Keg:
(01) The Balkans was an area of Imperial Control and competition. The people living here did not like the outside control and had strong nationalist feelings. They began to organize into independence organizations.
(b) June 28th, 1914: Serbian Nationals in Sarajevo assassinated The Austrian Hungry Heir, Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand.
(c) Austria Hungry was very upset. Germany offers their unconditional support- a diplomatic blank check. The Austrians gave the Serbians an ultimatum. If they did not accept these, war would be declared.
(d) The Serbians agreed to all but two. They asked for arbitration on them.
(e) Austria Hungry, being in no mood to negotiate, declares war on Serbia.
(f) Russia, being the protector of all Slavic people, mobilizes its army toward Austria. 7/30
(g) Germany, anticipating a major war, declares war on Russia. 8/1
(h) Convinced that France was going to declare war on them Germany declares war on France. 8/3
(i) Germany invades neutral Belgium to avoid French defenses and invades France. Great Britain declares war on Germany. 8/4
(j) The Ottoman Empire joins the central powers in November.
5) The War
(a) The war begins on August 4th, 1914 when the German Army invades neutral Belgium.
(b) Battles:
(01) The Schlieffen Plan: Plan for Germany to fight a two front war in Europe. The German Army would rapidly mobilize west and defeat the French, then go east and defeat the Russians.
(02) Western Front:
(i) The Battle of the Marne: September 5th through 13th 1914. The Allied army stopped the Germans form taking Paris and caused a long drawn out war.
(03) Eastern Front:
(i) Tannenburg: August 1914: Germany counterattacked the Russian army, crushing them and forcing them into a retreat.
(ii) Limanowa: December 1914: A 17-day battle where the combined German and Austrian army defeated the Russians. With in two weeks, the Austrians pushed the Russians out of Austria.
(iii) The Russians leave the war: The Russians war effort was poor because they had yet to industrialize. By March 1917, civil unrest in Russia caused the Czar to give up his throne. In November, the communist seized power and with drew from the war.
- Treaty of Brest-Litovk: Peace treaty between Germany and Russia that ended Russian involvement in the war in exchange for land.