World War I began in 1914 due to increasing tensions between European powers resulting from imperialism, military alliances, and nationalism. The immediate cause was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist. This led Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia, drawing in allies on both sides through a system of entangling alliances. The war became total war as whole societies were mobilized. It was fought mostly in trench warfare until the United States joined the Allies in 1917, shifting momentum and leading Germany to surrender in 1918. Over 10 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives in the war.

1. The Great War
(WW I)
(1914-1918)

2. The causes of the war
World War one is directly connected with:
The Second
Industrial
revolution
Imperialism
Historical tensions
between powers
The existence of
military alliances

3. Why did WW I break out?
1) Territorial rivalries:
- France claimed Alsace-Lorraine from
Germany (France lost it due to her defeat in
the Sedan War in 1870).
- Italy and Austria-Hungary disputed
Istria and Triest.

4. 2) Tension in the Balkan peninsula:
- Bulgaria and Serbia had obtained
their independence from the Ottoman
Turks at the beginning of the 20th
century.
- All the independent Balkan
states (Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and
Greece) declared war on the Turkish
empire in order to completely expel
them from the Balkan Peninsula. The
Turks were defeated.
- However, there were rivalries
between all the Balkan countries after
their victory about how much territory
each nation should receive.

5. 3) Colonial clashes between imperialist powers for the control of
certain territories in Africa and Asia.
4) Economic rivalries between European powers, and especially
between the United Kingdom and Germany. These countries were
competing to control world trade.
5) The existence of two military alliances:
The central powers:
Germany
Austria-Hungary
The Ottoman Turks
(+ Bulgaria)
The Triple Entente (or allies):
France
Russia
The United Kingdom
Serbia
(the United States and Italy joined later)

7. The spark of the War
On June 28th 1914, the heir to
the Austro-Hungarian Empire
(Franz Ferdinand) and his wife
were assasinated in Sarajevo
(Bosnia) by a Serbian nationalist.
Austria demanded Serbia to
investigate the murder, but Serbia
refused to do so.

8. As a result, Austria-Hungary
declared war on Serbia.
Russia (Serbia´s ally) declared war
on Austria.
Germany supported Austria-
Hungary.
The system of military
alliances began. The war had
commenced.

9. The war
WW I had specific characteristics:
a) It was a total war because
every member of the society was
involved in the war, not only the
armies.
b) It had a vast territorial
expansion.
c) The industrial production of
each country was focused on the
production of materials for the war.
d) Society suffered rationing,
and bombings.
e) Women joined the factories
to replace men who were fighting in
the front.

10. f) Propaganda was widely used. It demonized the enemy, or
encouraged people to fight.

11. f) New weapons were used
mustard gas
machine guns
zeppelin
tank

12. Phases of the war
1) War of movements (1914)
The war started almost
simultaneously in the East of Germany,
and in the West of Germany.
Germany’s idea was to attack and
conquer France quickly, and then
concentrating in the defeat of Russia.
However, France resisted
(although the North of France was
conquered by Germany).

13. 2) Trench warfare (1915-1916)
The fronts were stabilised along extensive lines of trenches
protected by machine guns and barbed wire.
The Western front hardly changed during these two years.
Conditions in the trenches were horrific. They
were usually muddy, cold and full of rats. Soldiers
often had to stay waiting for many days until they
actually fought. It was difficult to sleep.

14. Although the Germans hardly advanced any territory, some of the most
terrible battles took place during the trench warfare
In the battle of the Somme, over 1
million soldiers died in four
months. Many others were
wounded.
In the battle of Verdun 800,000
soldiers lost their lives. Many others
were wounded.

15. 3) The end of the war
1917 was a decisive year for the war:
- In Russia, the communists took power, and Russia decided to leave
the war (treaty of Brest-Litovsk).
- The United States joined the war as Germany was interfering with
trade between the United Kingdom and the US.
Lenin, communist
leader
President Wilson
of the US
declares war on
Germany

16. • When the United States disembarked in Europe, the advance of the
allies could not be stopped by Germany.
• Germany realized they could not win the war, so they decided to
surrender to the allies on November 11th, 1918 at 11 a.m.
German generals signing
their surrender on a train.