THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-1918

It was mainly a war between Europeans.

Causes of the War
 Nationalism: a devotion to the interests and culture of one’s nation.
 Often nationalism led to rivalries and conflicts between nations (Ex: France and
Germany fought for Alsace and Lorraine, which was from France)
 There were fights for raw materials.
 Various ethnic groups resented domination by others and wanted independence.
Some countries were forced to be under one state. An example is the Austro-
Hungarian Empire’s rule; in which there was a mixture of languages, cultures, and
thoughts.
*Nation: Political community and you feel you are part of a nation. *State: Headmaster and
various nations can be under just one state
 Imperialism: (It will be explained in the previous exercise)
 Militarism: The growth of nationalism and imperialism led to increased military spending
“The bigger the country, the stronger” Depending on your GDP. With more war more
money.
 Alliance system: By 1907 Europe was divided into two armed camps.
 West Side from Germany vs East Coast from Germany
 By 1907 there were two major defense alliances in Europe: The Triple Entente,
later known as the Allies, consisted of France, Britain, and Russia (Supported by
Serbia, Romania, and Greece)
 The Triple Alliance, later known as the Central Powers, consisted of Germany and
Austria-Hungary. (Soon joined by the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria).
 Italy had signed a treaty with the Central Powers, but, in the end, supported the
Allies in exchange for territories.
 The Ottoman declined because of the alliance.
 Spain was neutral as it was having its own crisis.

Serbia will be asked to open an investigation, but they won't take an action and Austria-
Hungary declares war on Serbia. After this, we will have a domino effect based on the
Alliance system.
 Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary.
 Germany declares war on Russia.
 England declares war on Germany and Austria-Hungary.

By the end of 1914, practically the whole of Europe will be in conflict.

In August 1914, Germany started the Schlieffen plan to avoid a two-front war. They aimed
to invade Belgium quickly to get to Paris and then they will attack Russia.
When the Allies realized it was impossible to save Belgium, they stopped the German
advance in September by settling inside trenches in the Marne River.
By the end of 1915, two parallel trenches crossed France, Belgium, and Switzerland (Maginot
Line). The line inside the trenches was horrific and many lives were lost in exchange for just
a few centimeters.
SECOND PART
In the Eastern Front, Russia and Serbia are going to be defeated by Germany and Austria-
Hungary. The most important battle took place in Tannenberg (Poland) in 1914. Russia was
easily pushed back and in 1917, Russia accepted its defeat because they were living through
an internal revolution called the Bolchevique Revolution. Germany now only needs to focus
on the Western front.
After fighting at the Battle of Verdún (February-December 1916) and the Battle of Somme
(July-November 1916) against the British and the French, Germany was only 70 km away
from Paris. A bad decision with the US made this country go to war. The USA was providing
dynamite or submarines to the Allies, but they weren’t in the war. Nevertheless, after the
disaster of the Lusitania in 1915 where 125 American tourists died and the Zimmerman note,
the US fought in the First World War on the Allies' side. The US helped to stop and pushed
back the Germans and played an important role in the second battle of the Marne (July-
August 1917).

In 1918 Germany suffered internal revolts after the defeat of Austria-Hungary (November
1918), and the consequences were the abdication of Kaiser William II (November 9, 1918).
Finally, 3 days later, Germany signed the end of the war.
The war had already ended, and Wilson (USA) had a plan for the world, the Fourteen Points,
which defended ideas such as Less colonialism or No secret treaties, and a League of Nations.
However, Europe didn't like this suggestion, so USA, Italy, France, and Britain worked out the
Treaty of Versailles which only accepted the League of Nations, meant the end of the Austria-
Hungary and Ottoman empires, the birth of countries like Poland and the obligation of
Germany to pay 33 billion dollars to the Allies and they return of Alsace-Lorraine.
Finally, the consequences of the war were horrible. More than 10 million people died and 20
million were wounded. Weapons were improved, and the Treaty of Versailles was weak, the
country that proposed even didn’t participate. The harsh treatment of Germany and the
impossible quantity for this country to pay to the Allies was an argument later used by Hitler
in 1933 using German nationalism that would lead to a Second World War.