World War I started in 1914 due to rising nationalism and tensions between powerful European nations that were allied with each other through a system of alliances. The immediate trigger was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist. This caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia and triggered the complex system of alliances that drew other European powers into the war. The war was the first modern industrial war that resulted in massive casualties and new military technologies like tanks and airplanes. It ended in 1918 with the defeat of the Central Powers and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which imposed punitive terms on Germany.

1. Professor Chee,
Lecture: WWI
Question to consider: why and how did
World War I start?

2. Excitement of War
Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday
Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, describes World War I, as “majestic, rapturous, and
even seductive” There was feverish excitement which swept through Austria, a
country of 50 million, who thought of war as something romantic, heroic and
adventuresome. After nearly half a century of peace, their images of war came from
paintings in museums, and the soldiers shouted, “’We’ll be home at Christmas.’”
Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That
A British writer recounting his life memoirs. He enlisted two days after England
declared war on Germany, to avert going to school. The papers expected the war to
be over by December by Christmas, but he was hoping that it would last until
October, so he would not have to go to Oxford. He was also furious about German
treatment of Belgian neutrality, and even though he knew that much of it was war
propaganda, he expected some of it to be true.
Walter Limmer, Letter to his Parents.
A German soldier writes a letter to his parents, expressing “excitement, fury and
enthusiasm” at the prospect of serving in an army and going to war.
2

3. Erich Maria Remarque’s
All Quiet on the Western Front , 1929
summed up the growing distrust of the older
generations and the traditional world when he wrote
“While they continued to write and talk, we saw the wounded
and dying. While they taught that duty to one’s country is
the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are
stronger. But for all that we were no mutineers, no deserters,
no cowards—they were very free with all these expressions.
We loved our country as much as they; we went courageously
into every action; but also we distinguished the false from
true, we had suddenly learned to see. And we saw that there
was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly
alone; and alone we must see it through.”

4. WWI or the Great War
o
o
o
o
Causes?
How did the war start?
Who were the players?
What were the outcomes?

5. Outcomes of WWI
o Large numbers killed –15
million dead (5 million noncombatants), 20 million
injured
o A very long war - 8/1914 to
11/1918
o Treaty of Versailles – 1919 war reparations
o League of Nations – collective
security (UN)

6. Reasons for WWI - Nationalism,
competition, alliances
o Balance of power shifts German unification, 1871
o Second Industrial Revolution
o Competition & conflict
between Serbia & Austria
over Balkan States
o Military leadership & egoes –
Schlieffen Plan

7. Unification of Germany 1871
Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck
goaded France into war – 1870
– Prussians captured Napoleon
III, & Paris in 4 months!
– France had to pay $1 billion,
& give up Alsace & Lorraine
– France, very angry & bitter!
1871 –all German states united and
into the Second Reich, Second
German Empire, with King
Wilhelm I of Prussia or William I,
as Emperor
Germany becomes the strongest
power in Europe!

8. Nationalism & Rivalries
o Germany – dream of a German
empire by annexing Russia &
parts of Belgium & France
o Serbia – wanted to be a world
power
o Austria-Hungary – prevent
Serbian kingdom state
o France – wanted Alsace-Lorraine
back
o Britain – wanted to preserve its
world empire
o Russia – wanted to maintain its
world power status by protecting
fellow Slavs in the Balkans & also
wanted to put Germany in their
place

9. Nations and Nationalism
o “Nation” a type of community,
especially prominent in 19th century
o Distinct from clan, religious, regional
identities
o Usually based on shared language,
customs, values, historical experience
o Sometimes common religion
o Idea of nation has immediate
relationship with political boundaries
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10. Types of Nationalism
• Cultural nationalism
– Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803)
praises the Volk (“people”)
– Literature, folklore, music as expressions of
Volksgeist: “spirit of the people”
• Political nationalism
– Movement for political independence of
nation from other authorities
– Unification of national lands
– Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), “Young
Italy”

11. British Empire – late Nineteenth Century
Unification of Germany, 1871
Unification of Italy, 1861

12. Balkan Wars, 1908-1913 (conflict between
Serbia & Austria over territories)
Central European states
o
Serbia – wants to
become a great nation –felt that
Austria was attempting to
block Serbia from becoming a
great nation & prevent her
from acquiring the Baltic states
o
Austria-Hungary
worried about Serbia – that it
could be a threat to its empire
& needed to be crushed
12

13. Inflexible Alliances: Serbia & Russia
Germany & Austria-Hungary
“Blank Check” Policy:
Austria-Hungary would
have German support in
case of war with Russia
Now we just need a
match to spark this
war…

14. Immediate Origins of World War I
o June 28 1914 Assassination
of Archduke Francis
Ferdinand (1863-1914)
o Sarajevo, BosniaHerzegovina
o occupied by AustroHungarian Empire 1878,
annexed 1908
o Ferdinand in favor of
greater Serbian autonomy
o Not enough for Serbian
extremists
14

15. Gavrilo Princip
• Bosnian Serb (1894-1918)
• One of seven assassins
– First balked, second bungled,
attempted suicide
• Princip shot Ferdinand, expectant
wife Sophie as couple went to
hospital to visit victims
• Princip swallows ineffective cyanide,
captured by mob and tortured
• Too young to be executed, sentenced
to 20 years in prison, dies of TB
15

16. Larger Causes of World War I
1. Culmination of competing nationalisms
- Especially in South, Eastern Europe
1. Rivalry among Empires
- Especially between Britain and Germany
1. Inflexible diplomatic alliances
- Germany, France, England, Russia
16

17. The Chain Reaction
23 July Austrians issue ultimatum to Serbs
28 July Austrians declare war
29 July Russia mobilizes to defend Serbia
31 July Germany issues ultimatums to Russia, France
(because of the Schlieffen Plan)
1 August Germany declares war on Russia, France
mobilizes
3 August Germans declare war on France, invade
Belgium
4 August Britain declares war on Germany, to help
Belgium
17

18. Schlieffen Plan
German Chief of Staff 1891-1905
Two war fronts:
Russia, & France
(through neutral
Belgium)

19. World War I & Inflexible Alliances:
Allied vs Central Powers
o Triple Entente/ Allied Powers Britain, France & Russia & Japan
(Italy joins in later)
o Triple Alliance/ Central Powers
– Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
(but Italy switches) the Ottoman
Empire, Bulgaria

20. WWI in Europe & Southwest Asia, 1914-1918
20

21. The First World War (1914-18)
•colonies became natural
extensions of tensions
among European nations
•1 million Africans
conscripted – British army
alone, many killed
Broader consequences
• Dollar cost - African governments had to pay out heavy taxes. No exact figures
• Cost to African businesses –British/French traders to benefit during the war.

22. Twentieth Century Militarism: Growth of
Powerful Militaries w Large Armies
o From 1900 +Growth of Large
armies –
•Russian 1 mil +
•French & Germans 900K,
•Brits, Austria & Italian armies
250-500K
Russia – conscripted millions – but
could arm only ¼of the military they went to battle regardless &
picked up rifles from dead soldiers
o Military conscription (draft)
o Primarily young peasants
o Generals wanted to flex their
military prowess & was
INFLEXIBLE!

23. New Military Technology
o
o
o
o
o
Barbed wire
Trench warfare
Tanks
Airplanes
Submarines
23

24. Total War: The Home Front
o “home front”
o Women in the
workforce
o Government takes
over industries
24

27. Animated Propaganda:
Sinking of British Lusitania, 7 May 1915,
supposed passenger ship carrying arms
o 1198 lives lost (128 US)

28. Entry of the United States changed the
outcome of the war
US Enters the War – April 6, 1917
o US attempted to remain
neutral but got involved
because of the naval conflict
between Germany & Britain
and submarine warfare
o Gave Allies a
psychological boost – after
the European Western front
defeated, and the
withdrawal of Russians
because of the Bolshevik
revolution
28

30. Women Protesting – US is not a Democracy
because women do not have suffrage
o1718 Sweden
o1902 Australia
o1917 – Russia
o1918 - Germany
& Austria,
Britain (right
after the war)
o 1920 - US
o 1944 - France

31. Fall of 1918 - Central Powers
exhausted & surrender
o Ottomans, AustroHungarians, Germans
surrender
o Armistice: 11 November
1918
o (Russia left early)
31

32. The Paris Peace Conference
o Dominated by France,
Great Britain, & U.S.
o No Central Powers
present
o Treaty of Versailles;
Article 231 - Germany
to accept guilt for
causing the war and
pay reparations.
o German army reduced
to 100,000 lost territory
to France and Poland
o Germany responsible
for war reparations
o Woodrow Wilson’s
Fourteen Points
32

33. Woodrow Wilson &
the League of Nations
o 14 points
o collective security & shared
deterrence –
o rights to self-determination
o 42 original member-states,
26 non-European
o Mandate system created to
control formerly colonized
areas
o US left without joining

34. Territorial changes in Europe after WWI
34

35. Territorial changes in
Southwest Asia after
the Great War
European occupation of the
Ottoman Empire & the
Creation of the Republic of
Turkey
oTreaty of Sèvres (1920) removes Balkan
and Arab provinces, allows for European
occupation of south and east Anatolia
oMustafa Kemal (Atatürk) leads uprising
against Sultanate, creates Republic of
Turkey
oAllies recognize republic in Treaty of
Lausanne (1923)
oIntensely secular government, women’s
rights
35

36. Post WWI, German Colonies became U.N.
Mandates
German colonies Mandates
oTogo – French/English
oCameroun – French/English
oNamibia (South Africa)
oTanganyika – British
oRwanda & Burundi Belgians

37. Grace Chee
2013
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