Causes
Militarism: The growth of nationalism and imperialism led to increased military spending.
Germany had increased spending and built up a very strong army. People felt the need to be
able to protect their country. Alliances: Triple Entente – France, Britain and Russia. Triple
Alliance – Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary and then the Ottoman Empire. Nationalism: A
devotion to the interests and culture in one’s nation had developed. This led to rivalries and
conflicts between nations. Ethnic groups resented domination by others and wanted
independence. Imperialism: Economic and political control over weaker nations. Industrial
Revolution: Germany became competitive with the use of raw materials and products.
Assassination: Archduke Ferdinand of Austria – killed by the Black Hand a terrorist group they
did not want Austria-Hungary to have control over Serbia.
War
1.First war to include multiple countries 2.Classified as first modern war 3.First war USA fought
in 4.Inclusion of weapons and technology 5.Tanks/ gas/ Machine guns/airplanes
6.Changed way fought – close combat wasn’t the main strategy 7.Casualties/deaths higher
8.Most dead in a single battle 9.Tactic of attrition – wearing down of the enemy so supplies are
10.depleted and soldiers wounded/killed
Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan, battle plan first proposed in 1905 by Alfred, Graf (count) von Schlieffen, was
designed to allow Germany to wage a successful two-front war. He proposed in 1905 that
Germany’s advantage over France and Russia—was that the two were separated Germany,
therefore, could eliminate one while the other was kept in check. Proposing that German forces
were to wheel south and east after passing through neutral Belgium, turning into the flanks and
rear of the hardened French defences along the German border. After crossing the river Somme
and reaching Paris, France would most likely capitulate to German forces. Which would be
considered against Russian forces to ensure victory.
•Moltke modified Schlieffen’s original plan: •Weakened the right wing and strengthened the
left. •Moved four and a half corps from the west to the east to protect East Prussia. •Modified
sweep of right wing so that Germans would not violate the Netherlands’ neutrality. •Added a
counterattack mission to the left wing. •Violated Schlieffen’s dying words to “Keep the right
wing strong”. •Became inflexible “war by timetable”. •Required enormous logistical effort to
move men and equipment from Aachen to around Paris in a little more than five weeks.
•Committed Germany to a two front war. •Necessitated attacking before Russia or France
could seize the initiative (even if Germany wasn’t ready).
Treaty of Versailles
•The Treaty of Versailles signed in 28th of June 1919 ended the state of war between Germany
and the Allied Powers. •It demanded Germany had to accept full responsibility for causing
World War I. •Germany required to pay reparations for the damage done. •Army limited to
100,000 men, no submarines, no air force only 6 battleships.
•Germany lost territory and colonies were given to France and Britain. • The signing of the
Treaty resulted in a lot of fury from the German side and the reaction was very negative. The
Germans hated Clause 231, which blamed Germany for causing the war. This allowed for the
justification of the other clauses on the Treaty. •Not allowed to join the League of Nations
•Forced to accept the terms •Injustice armed forced to have war guilt and loss of land.
Germany felt humiliated. •Reparations were set too high – difficult to pay back for all the
damage done.
Trench Warfare
•A type of combat in which opposing troops fight from trenches facing each other.
•Trench warfare is a type of fighting where both sides build deep trenches as a defence against
the enemy. These trenches can stretch for many miles and make it nearly impossible for one
side to advance. •During World War I, the western front in France was fought using trench
warfare. By the end of 1914, both sides had built a series of trenches that went from the North
Sea and through Belgium and France. As a result, neither side gained much ground for three
and a half years from October 1914 to March of 1918.
•The trenches were dug by soldiers. Sometimes the soldiers just dug the trenches straight into
the ground. This method was called entrenching. It was fast, but left the soldiers open to
enemy fire while they were digging. Sometimes they would build the trenches by extending a
trench on one end. This method was called sapping. It was safer, but took longer. •The typical
trench was dug around twelve feet deep into the ground. There was often an embankment at
the top of the trench and a barbed wire fence. Some trenches were reinforced with wood
beams or sandbags. The bottom of the trench was usually covered with wooden boards called
duckboards. The duckboards were meant to keep the soldiers' feet above the water that would
collect at the bottom of the trench.
•The trenches weren't dug in one long straight line, but were built as more of a system of
trenches. They were dug in a zigzag pattern and there were many levels of trenches along the
lines with paths dug so soldiers could travel between the levels.
•Soldiers generally rotated through three stages of the front. They would spend some time in
the front line trenches, sometime in the support trenches, and some time resting. They almost
always had some sort of job to do whether it was repairing the trenches, guard duty, moving
supplies, undergoing inspections, or cleaning their weapons.
•The trenches were not nice, clean places. They were actually quite disgusting. There were all
sorts of pests living in the trenches including rats, lice, and frogs. They made the soldiers' itch
horribly and caused a disease called Trench Fever.
•The weather also contributed to rough conditions in the trenches. Rain caused the trenches to
flood and get muddy. Mud could clog up weapons and make it hard to move in battle. Also, the
constant moisture could cause an infection called Trench Foot that, if untreated, could become
so bad that a soldier's feet would have to be amputated. Cold weather was dangerous, too.
ANZACS
•ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.. In 1915 Australian and New
Zealand soldiers formed part of the expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in
order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. However, the expedition was a failure killing
8,000 soldiers.
Wars Impact On Women
World War I's impact on women's roles in society was immense. Women were conscripted to
fill empty jobs left behind by the male servicemen. Women were often presented on recruiting
posters applying moral and sexual pressure on men to join up or as the rewards for soldiers
doing their patriotic duty. Women also took place in war in non- combatant roles, filling
administrative positions and allowing more men to go to the front lines.
Involvement Of USA
Although the U.S. tried to remain neutral when WW1 broke out, it finally joined on April 6,
1917 after declaring war on Germany. The reason for America to become involved in WW1 was
Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare, which had already sunk several American merchant
ships. The U.S. was initially contributed to the war by supplying raw material, supplies and
money. American soldiers first arrived to the Western Front by the summer of 1918 and by the
end of the war, over 4,000,000 U.S. military personnel had been mobilized.
The Siege of Tobruk (Australian Involvement)
•Italy planned to conquer Egypt, however proved no match to allied troops, so Hitler sent Erwin
Rommel. •Rommel drove British troops back into back into Egypt.
•A small Australian force known as the ‘Rats of Tobruk’, proved very aggressive and successful,
despite primitive conditions and a complete lack of air support. •However Rommel did capture
Tobruk after 241 days.
Key Points of Life As a Soldier (USA) in WW2
•More than 16 million Americans served in the armed forces during the war. •Fewer than a
million ever saw serious combat.
•The infantry represented just 14 percent of the troops overseas. But wherever they fought – in
North Africa or the South Pacific or Western Europe — the infantry bore the brunt of the
fighting on the ground — and seven out of ten suffered casualties.
•Those in the Army and Marines endured hardships and horrors for which no training could
ever have prepared them. The infantry was the workhorse of the military, not only faced with
battling the enemy but also often asked to do physical labour at the front lines transporting the
food, clothing, weapons and medicine needed to win the war.
WW2 American Soldier Reflections
“I’d never had any hardship at all before this happened,” “So, it was doubly difficult and
surprising for me suddenly to enter this slum of the infantry which is what it was. The people in
it were good people, good people. We had no comforts. We had no noble ideas. Most of us had
no education at all. And our only hold on life was the hope that the war would be over soon.”
“Morale, I thought, kept up because you were with people,” Herndon Inge said. “That as long as
you were with other GIs in the snow and in the misery, if you had somebody next to you, you
figured, well, if they can handle it, I can handle it. And it was a comradeship in the units. The
men on ships fighting together are a unit. Men in an infantry company are a unit. They know
their officers and their non-comms and they’ve trained together, and they know each other.”
Adolf Hitler
Early life: Hitler was born in the Austrian village of Braunau in 1889. Eventually leaving for
Vienna to become an artist, and during his time in Vienna he was a drifter. Historians debate
whether Hitler's ideology of antisemitism was a result of his experiences in Vienna, as he looked
for people to blame and inspired his hatred of Jews.
During World War 1: Despite his Austrian birth and his father’s position in the Austrian public
service, Hitler became a strong believer in German nationalism. Deciding to enlist in the
German army as a messenger. He passionately opposed the armistice and believed that
Germany should never have surrendered.
Key Influences & Ideas:
•Hitler was influenced by a number of ideas including German nationalism, racial purity, anti-
communism and antisemitism. •Hitler's political career began in 1919 when he joined the
German Workers' Party (DAP), a small group of extreme nationalists and antisemitism. In July
1921, he took over the leadership of the party and renamed it to National Socialist German
Workers’ Party (or Nazi Party). •In order to make Germany great again after its defeat in WW1,
the party used pseudoscientific theories about race. These theories divided the human race
into a hierarchy of distinct racial groups. The Nazis believed that ‘Aryan’ Germans were a
‘master race’ and Jews were a dangerous threat to this plan because of their racial differences,
economic power and social values.
Rise to Power: •As a result he only served 8 months in prison, using the time to write his book
Mein Kampf which outlines his ideology, experiences and future plans.
•His party gained a small number of seats in the Reichstag (the German legislative assembly)
during the 1920s, but as the Great Depression occurred the Nazi Party was the largest single
party in the Reichstag. •Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. After
President Hindenburg died Hitler combined the role of Chancellor and President and named
himself the Fuhrer (supreme ruler). •Hitler’s government then began implementing many of
the plans and policies described in Mein Kampf. These included the expansion of the military,
expansion of Germany’s borders, systematic persecution of the Jewish community, and
compulsory sterilisation for many Jewish and Sinti/Roma people, as well as those with
disabilities. •As Hitler's popularity went down after the first 3 years he withdrew from public
and directed operations from his underground bunker in Berlin. Hitler took his own life as the
Soviet Army overran Berlin on 30 April 1945.
Battle of Midway: Intentions and Plans
•Battle between the Japanese Imperial Navy and the US Navy. •The decisive victory dashed the
Japanese hopes of neutralising the US and establishing Naval and Air superiority. •Admiral
Isoroku Yamamato, decided to surprise attach the rest of the US Pacific fleet at an allied base at
midway. •After a divisionary attack by smaller Japanese force on the Aleutian Islands, they
planned a three pronged attack; Air raids from four line Japanese Carriers Invasion force of
ships and soldiers
•Strike force of the rest of the fleet once US reinforcements arrived US Navy broke Japanese
communications and knew where the strike would land Admiral Chester W.Nimtz prepared
plans to defend against the Japanese.
Battle of Midway: Japanese Attack!
•Frist phase of Japanese attack damaged the Naval base but left it useable
US Yorktown was spotted by the Japanese forces, then diverting Air raids towards the Ship. •Us
Carrier launched bombers, destroying all 4 main line aircraft carriers.
On June 6th Yamamoto ordered his ships to retreat ending the battle; Japan lost 3000 men,
nearly 300 aircraft, 1 heavy cruiser and 4 aircraft carriers, while the Americans lost Yorktown,
Hamman, 145 aircraft and 360 men.
Battle of Midway: Effect
•The battle was the last of Japanese ambitions and was on the defensive for the rest of the war.
•It had injected morale into American troops and turned the tide of the war in the pacific in the
allies favour.
Legacy of World War 2
•In WW1 the lack of stability created in Europe (financial, government, political), lead to more
shocking International conflict; WW2. •Like all wars, human suffering stands out as the key
legacy of WW2, but the degree of human suffering experienced in WW2 was unmatched in
history. •During the war, carpet bombing campaigns targeted civilian targets as much as
military ones, while starvation and disease claimed a stunning number of lives. •Over its
duration the conflict took the lives of 45 to 60 million people, including the 6 million Jews who
were ruthlessly discriminated against. •The legacy of the War include the spread of
communism into the Baltic states of the Soviet Union, and the global shift in power from
Europe into two rival superpowers, The United States and The Soviet Union. •The post-WW2
era saw the decline of colonial powers, notably the United Kingdom, which set the way for the
United States to rise as the new dominant power of the west. •Another political outcome of
WW2 was the formation of the United Nations, which hoped to succeed where the inter-war
period League of Nations failed. •In Europe, a rift grew between the uneasy alliance of capitalist
and communist philosophies, splitting Europe into two, divided by the "Iron Curtain".
•Because the two dominant powers of the post-WW2 era, the United States and the Soviet
Holocaust Notes
•Under the directive of Adolf Hitler 6 million Jews died through brutal concertation camps,
Ghettos, death camps and the outright out casting of the Jewish race.
•The German populace was indoctrinated into Hitler's ideas through propaganda pieces such as
his book "Mein Kampf’ and organized propaganda which allowed for the wide acceptance for
hate-fuelled ideas to kill 6 million. He declared that ‘the personification of the devil as the
symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew’.
•Hitler’s ideas extended from Jews, as he introduced laws that demanded sterilization of
disabled, justifying his ideas through the goal of wanting to achieve an "Aryan" race, thus
thought to remove 'polluting' races and identities were necessary.
•In 1938 there was a wave of violence directed against Jewish synagogues, businesses and
houses across Germany. It was known as Kristallnacht or the ‘Night of Broken Glass’.
•Nazi government used concentration camps to confine Jews and other 'undesirables', many
were coerced into hard labour, until they were considered unsuitable and then gassed.
Auschwitz-Birkenau; the largest of these camps was responsible for the deaths of 1 million
Jews.
Final Solution
•Under the rule of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi party engaged state-sponsored discrimination
exemplified with the violence of the Kristallnacht, as they attempted to drive out Jews from the
country. •After the start of WW2, anti-Jewish policy escalated to the imprisonment and
eventual murder of European Jews. In January 1942, a meeting of leading Nazi officials
identified a process to eliminate the '11 million European Jews', referred to as by the
euphemism of the 'Final solution. •After the June 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, SS
and police units (acting as mobile killing units) began massive killing operations aimed at entire
Jewish communities. •Through the combination of Concentration Camps, and mobile death
squads, The 'Final solution' methodically killed 6 million Jews.
•In its entirety, the "Final Solution" called for the murder of all European Jews by gassing,
shooting, and other means.
Impact of Holocaust ( could be used for legacy of ww2)
•Many Jews wished to join their fellow Jews who were already living in their ancient homeland.
So, in November 1947, the United Nations established an independent Jewish state in what
became known as Israel, while others migrated to other countries including Australia.
International rights were expanded dramatically Prosecution of top Nazi leaders at Nuremberg
established the principle that individual officials could be held responsible for “crimes against
humanity”.
Great Depression
•The period before World War II was a time of great economic suffering throughout the world
called the Great Depression. The depression created unstable governments and worldwide
turmoil that helped lead to World War II. •The Great Depression began with the crash of the
stock market in October of 1929. Historians and economists give various causes for the Great
Depression including drought, overproduction of goods, bank failures, stock speculation, and
consumer debt. Herbert Hoover was President of the United States when the Great Depression
began. Many people blamed Hoover for the Great Depression. They even named the
shantytowns where homeless people lived "Hoovervilles" after him. In 1933, Franklin D.
Roosevelt was elected president. He promised the people of America a "New Deal." • These
laws placed regulations on the stock market, banks, and businesses. They helped put people to
work and tried to help house and feed the poor. Many of these laws are still in place today like
the Social Security Act. •The Great Depression ended with the start of World War II. The
wartime economy put many people back to work and filled factories to capacity. •The Great
Depression left a lasting legacy on the United States. The New Deal laws significantly increased
the role of the government in people's everyday lives. Also, public works built up the
infrastructure of the country with the construction of roads, schools, bridges, parks, and
airports.
Japanese Expansion
In the period before World War II, Japan was growing rapidly. However, as an island nation they
did not have the land or the natural resources to sustain their growth. Japan began to look to
grow their empire in order to gain new resources. They invaded Manchuria in 1931 and China
in 1937.
Fascism
With the economic turmoil left behind by World War 1, some countries were taken over by
dictators who formed powerful fascist governments. These dictators wanted to expand their
empires and were looking for new lands to conquer. The first fascist government was Italy
which was ruled by the dictator Mussolini. Italy invaded and took over Ethiopia in 1935. Adolf
Hitler would later emulate Mussolini in his takeover of Germany. Another Fascist government
was Spain ruled by the dictator Franco.
Hitler and The Nazi Party
In Germany, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power. The Germans were desperate for
someone to turn around their economy and restore their national pride. Hitler offered them
hope. In 1934, Hitler was proclaimed the "Fuhrer" (leader) and became dictator of Germany.
Hitler resented the restrictions put on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. While talking about
peace, Hitler began to rearm Germany. He allied Germany with Mussolini and Italy. Then Hitler
looked to restore Germany to power by expanding his empire. He first took over Austria in
1938. When the League of Nations did nothing to stop him, Hitler became bolder and took over
Czechoslovakia in 1939.
Appeasement
After World War 1, the nations of Europe were weary and did not want another war. When
countries such as Italy and Germany became aggressive and began to take over their
neighbours and build up their armies, countries such as Britain and France hoped to keep peace
through "appeasement." This meant that they tried to make Germany and Hitler happy rather
than try to stop him. They hoped that by meeting his demands he would be satisfied and there
wouldn't be any war. Unfortunately, the policy of appeasement backfired. It only made Hitler
bolder. It also gave him time to build up his army.
Winston Churchill
•Churchill was a military strategist behind disastrous Dardanelles campaign (including
Australian attack at Gallipoli) during WW1. •He held several different positions between the
wars, and became a vocal critic of the policy of appeasement during late 1930s.
•He was appointed to the War Cabinet by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin on the day Britain
declared war on Germany, and became Prime Minister in May 1940. •Churchill’s main
contribution to the war effort was to maintain the morale of the British people through his
rhetoric and charisma, steering the nation through the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, and the D-Day
landings. •He was defeated in 1945 election, however served a second term from 1950 to 1955.
Union, never directly fought an open war, the term "Cold War" was coined to describe the
tension and rivalry between them. •The two powers did, however, engage in proxy wars such
as Korea and Vietnam. •The successful detonation of the atomic bomb during Operation Trinity
not only directly led to the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, but it also marked
the start of the Atomic Age. •Thus, in addition to the massive build-up of conventional
weapons, the Cold War also saw the race to stockpile atomic weapons. •The division of
Germany into Capitalist West and Communist East Germany illustrated the Stark divide of
ideology in Europe and the World. •The end of World War two also marked the rise of
diplomacy and collective security, also introducing the idea of a united Europe championed by
non-other and Winston Churchill. •In the early 1950s France rose to Churchill’s challenge and
launched, in partnership with its ancient antagonist across the Rhine (Germany), the first
concrete project for European economic integration - in the form of the European Coal and
Steel Community. The pooling of the metallurgical production of the six member states set in
motion a chain of events that eventually resulted in the 25-member European Union of today.
Source Analysis: Who wrote, produced or made the source? Is the creator’s personal
perspective obvious in the source? Is the creator a member of a particular group, religion or
organisation? What type of source is it? Was the source created at the time of the event or
afterwards? When was the source written, produced or made? How old is the source? Is it an
eyewitness account or is it written by someone at a later date? Is the source complete? Why
was it written or produced? Was it designed to entertain, persuade or argue a point of view?
Does the creator have anything to gain personally from the source? What other events may
have been happening at the time and might have influenced the author or source
The source presented above is a primary source which
was most likely created during WW1 by a journalist.
The source was produced to convey the horror and
combat the romanticism regarding war that was
spread through the time. The personal perspective of
the author is present in the image. The authors view of
war as a tragic and glorified event, which is highlighted
by the authors use of dead bodies and struggling soldiers. The time or date is not specified in
the image however as there were multiple battles and massive amounts of casualties for
example the Battle of Somme could have influenced the author. The source portrays the
catastrophic side of war, and emphasizes the non-favorable conditions inside the trenches for
soldiers. The source aims to portray war as a horrible thing, instead of something that should
be romanticized about.
The source presented is a secondary source and
presents war as gloomy yet heroic. It does not show
war as a horror which many other shows it as. The
author was a filmmaker, and produced the source to
entertain others through the story of war. He uses
cinematic effects, realistic costume design, and
longwinded position of soldiers. The source was made
after the war, and indicates war as aggressive and
portrays the weapons used during the time as tanks which destroyed battlefields are presented
in the cinema. The source focuses on the bellicosity and annihilation of war but does not
criticise it. An accurate representation of the source cannot be made as it only shows a scene
from the war and does not actually show the context of the whole film.
The artist that created what seems to be a secondary source,
produced the cartoon to criticize and mock the state of
alliances during World War One. The source both maintains a
point of view while entertaining its audience through its
comedy created to simplify World War One to point out the
absurdity even if it way be an oversimplification. The source
does discuss the cause of World War One as simply alliances
and guarantees.
The state sponsored propaganda poster was created to brainwash
the population into accepting war and that the sacrifice of its
society is crucial to win the war. The primary source is complete,
fully clarifying the government’s perspective on the war; that
victim is essential to win an unnecessary war. The artist
responsible for the work gained a wage and a sense of patriotic
duty, however, its benefactor gained men to fight on its frontlines.
The source is sample of the ignorance that many displayed
regarding war, its true nature was not revealed to the public,
instead the war was romanticised and illustrated the war as moral
and brave.