THE FIRST WORLD WAR

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THE ANTECEDENTS
POLITICAL TENSION IN EUROPE AT THE
END OF THE 19th CENTURY:
THE WAY TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR

 After the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, there were

no wars between the European powers.
 However, relationships between these nations were
characterised by increasing tension.
 At the same time, many countries were increasing
their production of arms and military equipment.
POLITICAL TENSION IN EUROPE
1871 - 1914
THE WAY TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR
The German unification process made Germany the
most powerful country in Europe.
 POLITICAL TENSION IN EUROPE AT THE
END OF THE 19th CENTURY:
THE WAY TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR
1870-1871 Franco-Prussian War

Second French Empire opposed the German

expansion through Europe and declared the
war to the Kingdom of Prussia, aided by the
North German Confederation, of which it
was a member.

Prussia won the war and it brought about

changes in Europe. France had to surrender
the region of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.

Napoleon III's Empire finished during the war,

and the Third Republic was established in
France.
 POLITICAL TENSION IN EUROPE AT THE
END OF THE 19th CENTURY:
THE WAY TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR
 German Confederation
became a political union
as well after the war, as King Wilhelm I
Bismarck wished.

 Bismark then established

the Second Reich, or Chancellor Bismarck
German Empire, with
Wilhem I as its kaiser.
GERMANY´S FOREIGN POLICY
 Germany´s foreign policy became especially
important during this period in two phases:
The Bismarkian
system

The policies of
Wilhem II
 THE BISMARKIAN SYSTEM
German Chancellor Otto
von Bismark established
a system of alliances with
Austria, Russia and Italy
in order to reach to
objectives:
 The isolation of
France.
 The balance in the
Balcans.
Part of the Austrian Empire
Part of the Russian Empire
Part of the Ottoman Empire
Independent countries
Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, part of present-
day Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, part of Ukraine
Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, part of Ukraine
Turkey
Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Romania,
Serbia, Spain, Swithzerland.
 THE BISMARKIAN SYSTEM
The isolation of France

 France´s main objective

during this period was to
recover the region of Alsace-
Lorraine, which it had lost to
Germany in 1871.

 Bismark used his alliances to

prevent conflict in Europe,
including a possible war with
France over Alsace-Lorraine.
 THE BISMARKIAN SYSTEM
The balance in the Balcans
 Bismark knew that Austria and Russia wanted to control
the Balcans and that these tensions could be the origin of
a European conflict.
THE POLICIES OF WILHELM II
 Kaiser Wilhlem I died and Wilhelm II took the
throne.
THE POLICIES OF WILHELM II
 Wilhelm II wanted a more agressive foreign policy
in Europe, so in 1890 he dismissed Bismark and
abandoned his system of alliances.
 Then, Wilhem II began a policy of expansionism
known as Weltpolitik (world politics).
 This
policy created tension between
Germany and other European countries,
especially in unstable regions such
as Morocco and the Balkan Peninsula.
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (WWI)
 France wanted to recover the region of Alsace-Lorraine,
which it had lost to the German Empire in 1871.
 CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (WWI)
 Britain and Germany became involved in a naval
arms race.
 Both countries built a range of powerful new
battleships known as dreadnoughts (acorazados).

HMS Hood (Royal Sovereign-class battleship of

1890s).
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (WWI)
 Industrialised European countries expanded their
empires and competed for control of colonies.
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (WWI)
 The competition for control of
colonies had an important role in
North Africa:
 The two Moroccan crisis
 Germany didn´t want France to
create a protectorate in Morocco.
 But Great Britain helped France.
 Finally, France could take control
over Morocco.
 CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (WWI)

 Another important scenary of Imperialism took

place in the Balcanes:
 The Eastern Question (La Cuestión de Oriente)
 TheOttoman Empire was collapsing, and Austria and
Russia wanted to take control over the Balcans.

• Russia supported the Slavic

States (Serbia and Bulgaria).
Russia didn´t want this states to
be under the Austro-Hungarian
Empire.
• Austria wanted to expand its
territories to the Adriatic Sea
coast.
 CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (WWI)

 Between 1878 and

1908, the Austro-
Hungarian Empire
occupied and then
annexed Bosnia-
Herzegovina.
 CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I (WWI)
Between 1878 and 1908, the Austro-
Hungarian Empire occupied and then
annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Nacionalist protests of
Serbians living in
Bosnia.
It also angered Russia,
Serbia´s traditional
ally.
 THE ARMED PEACE
 THE ARMED PEACE (1890-1914)
 As a result of this situation, rivalries between European
countries had resulted in the formation of two powerful
alliances that fought against one another during the
First World War:

Two alliances

The Triple Alliance The Triple Entente

THE ARMED PEACE
 THE TRIGGER OF THE WWI
 On 28 June 1914, Archduke
Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, was
assassinated by a Serbian
gunman in the Bosnian city of
Sarajevo.
 THE TRIGGER OF THE WWI

 Archduke Franz Ferdinand´s death triggered the sequence

of events that led to the First World War:
1. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, supported by Germany, raised an
ultimatum to Serbia. They threatened Serbia with war if this one
didn´t allow Austria to investigate the murder.
2. Serbia, supported by Russia, rejected the ultimatum.
3. On 25 July The Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia,
blaming the Serbs for the archduke´s death.
4. Russia began mobilising against Austria and Germany.
5. Germany declared war to Russia, and then to France, because it
was a Russian allied.
6. Great Britain declared war to Germany.
THE CAUSES OF WWI
 Page 163:
 Exercises 1, 2 and 3
THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS
 First, Austria declared the war on Serbia.
 After the Austro-Hungarian Empire had declared
war on Serbia, other European countries chose
sides, based on:
 Their pre-existing alliance
 Triple Entente
 Triple Alliance

 Their own national interests

 THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS
Russia began mobilising
against Austria and
European Germany.
countries chose
sides.
 European
THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS countries chose
sides.

Germany declared war to

Russia, and then to France,
because it was a Russian
allied.
 European

THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS countries chose

sides.

Great Britain declared war to

Germany.
THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS
 As a result, two alliances emerged which then
fought each other for the next four years.
Two alliances

The Central The Allied Powers

Powers
Austro-Hungarian Serbia
Empire

German Empire Great Britain Later:

Ottoman Empire France Japan, Romania,
USA, Greece and
Bulgaria Russian Empire Portugal.
THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS
THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS
 What did Italy do?
 Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance.
THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS
 What did Italy do?
 But Italy remained neutral at the beggining of the
war.
 THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS

 What did Italy do?

 However, in 1915, Italy
joined the Allied
Powers.
 Italy hoped to acquire
territory that belonged
to the Austro-Hungarian
Empire.
THE WAR´S PARTICIPANTS

 Globalization of the conflict.

 Both blocks looked for new allies.

 The following countries took place in the war:

 14 European countries with their colonies.
 Japan
 USA
First time a war affected such a wide territory.

 Orange: Central Powers (Triple Alliance)

 Green: Allied Powers (Triple Entente)
 Grey: Neutral countries
PHASES OF THE WAR
PHASES OF THE WAR

4 PHASES

•1914: Initial offensives

•1915-1917:Trench warfare
•1917: The crisis of 1917
•1918: Allied victories and the
armistice
INITIAL OFFENSIVES 1914
2.- RUSSIAN OFFENSIVES
1.- GERMAN IN THE EASTERN FRONT
OFFENSIVES
IN THE
WESTERN
FRONT
 INITIAL OFFENSIVES
1914 (West front)
 The German plan wanted a
quick victory over France and
then fight against Russia.
 The German Military Staff
had developed the
Schlieffen plan:
 A surprise attack over France
invading Belgium, which was
neutral.
 INITIAL OFFENSIVES 1914
(West front)
 But the German were stopped in the Battle of
Marne (September 1914), near Paris.
 INITIAL OFFENSIVES
1914 (East front)
 France asked Russia to
attack Germany in the
east.
 German forces fought
against Russia and
defeated the Russian in
Tannenberg and the
Massurian Lakes.
 But the Allies achieved
to make the German
move towards the east.
That´s how Paris was
saved.
 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
 In 1915, the western front
between Germany and
the Allies stablilised and
a period of trench
warfare began.

 The failure of the German

offensive consolidated the
fronts, so the objective was
to defend the achieved
positions.
 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
 Defensive tactics:

Machine-guns

Video about the trenches in the

Trenches Battle of the Somme (France)
 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
 The German tried to break the
fronts in the Battle of Verdún
(February 1916).

 The British tried it in the Battle

of Somme (July 1916).

 But anybody succeed.

 Thousands of soldiers died in

these battles.
 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
 As the main fronts were stabilised, the Allies tried to
break the balance attacking the secondary areas:
 The Mediterranean area.
 The German Colonies in Africa.

 The Middle East.

 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
Attack to the
Mediterranean area.
 The British attempt to

take the Bosporus and

the Dardaneles in order
to aisle the Ottoman
Empire.
 But they were defeated
in the Battle of Gallipoli
(1915)
 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
 The Middle East was invaded by the Allies, supported
by the Arab nationalists.
 These areas belonged to the Ottoman Empire.
 (Palestina, Siria,
Arabia e Irak)
 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
 The British conquered the German colonies
 Great Britain conquered the German colonies in Africa.
 Japan conquered the German colonies in Asia.
 THE TRENCH WARFARE
1915-1917
 Meanwhile, a naval conflict
took place:
 The German submarines
attacked the Allied merchant
ships in order to cut the
supply.o naval:
 The German and British fleets
fought in the Battle of Jutland
(1916).
 Great Britain won the battle
and blockaded Germany.
 THE CRISIS OF 1917
 The Russian Revolution.
 The Tzar was overthrown and a
Communist government was imposed.
 The new government signed the Peace
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918):

 Russia withdrew from the war and gave a

big part of territory to Germany.

 As Germany didn´t have to worry

about the East front, it attacked Italy
and won the Battle of Caporetto.
 THE CRISIS OF 1917
The entrance of USA
 At first, USA was neutral, but it
sold supplies to the Allies.
 The German tried to avoid it
through attacks to American
merchant ships.
 In 1915, Germany sank the
transatlantic Lusitania.
 In 1917 USA entered the war
in support of the Allies.
 USA provided the Allies more
than one million of soldiers
and a powerful industry.
 ALLIED VICTORIES AND THE
ARMISTICE 1918
 German offensive in spring
1918
 Germany moved its troops
from the east to the west and
attacked France.
 But Germany was defeated
by the support of USA to
France.
 THE CRISIS OF 1917
 Allied offensive in 1918
 The Allies took advantage of the internal problems in:
 Autria-HungarianEmpire there were independent movements.
 In Germany there was a communist revolution.

 The Allies defeated the Central Powers in Bulgaria, the

Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary.
 THE CRISIS OF 1917
 The end of the war
 TheCentral Powers collapsed
and surrendered:
 First,Turkey
 Then, Austria
 Finally, Germany, where Kaiser
Wilhelm II abdicated.
 Innovember 1918, the war
had finished.

HOMEWORK:
PAGE 163, EXERCISE 6