The First World Wara.k.a.

The Great WarThe War to end all Wars

“MAIN” Causes of the Great War

•Militarism

•Alliances

•Imperialism

•Nationalism

Great Powers of Europe

The Great Powers of Europe were: Great Britain Germany France Russia Austria-Hungary

What makes a country a “great power”?

How did a country become ‘Great’?

Large army and navy

Strong ruler

Had to control a large empire Empire building was a big thing in the 19th Century

know as Imperialism…think colonies

It had to have strong industries at home

Did a country need all these things to become a ‘Great Power’?

MAIN Causes

Militarism – policy of building up an army to prepare for war.

Alliances

Imperialism – policy of a stronger nation extending control over weaker nations.

Nationalism

Great Britain

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Britain was the greatest power in the world She was very rich and was a powerful

industrialized country Britain had the largest and most powerful navy She had the largest overseas empire

The British Empire covered over a quarter of the world’s surface

Empire: Land outside the border of a nation which is controlled by that nation. These are called colonies and a group of colonies make up an empire.

The British Empire

Germany

But soon Germany began to compete against Britain for this title Germany had a larger population that Britain Many of her industries were more advanced in comparison to

Britain She had more natural resources Germany was expanding her trade throughout the world: by

1913 she was selling more goods in Europe than Britain Germany’s Army was on the increase

This began to worry Britain

The German Overseas Empire

France

France had been one of the most important countries in Europe until 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War: France was defeated and had

to hand over Alsace and Lorraine

France was not as industrialised as Germany or Britain as she produced less

She had a large empire and army

France wanted revenge for 1870-71

The French Empire

Russia

At this time Russia was the largest country in the world! It had a population of 159 million

She didn’t need an overseas empire Her empire was on her doorstep and consisted of many

different peoples and languages

Russia had a large army

Russia wasn’t as industrialized as the other Great Powers

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary was a large empire in the center of Europe and consisted of many different people groups – some of whom did not get along

Many of these groups had their own language, customs and way of life: this made the Empire difficult to rule

Many of these groups wanted to be independent from Austria-Hungary – this was known as nationalism

Nationalism

Militarism

Alliances

Imperialism

Nationalism - a feeling of pride in one’s country. A belief that there is something special about the people who live there, their language and customs.

Extreme nationalism led to wanting independence, or led to powerful countries wanting to prove their greatness to others.

So why did this system contribute to the war?

There is a contest to be the biggest, most powerful country on earth. Two ways to achieve that is to make a large military and many colonies. (militarism and imperialism)

Some colonies wanted their independence and all the countries believed they were “the best” (nationalism)

All it would take was for one ‘Great Power’ to do something that wasn’t deemed acceptable by the other for issues to arise

Country Britain Germany RussiaAustria-Hungary

France

Population40.8

million65 million

159 million

50 million

39.6 million

Number of Colonies

56 10 / / 29

Population of colonies

390 million

15 million / /58

million

Size of army 700,000 4,200,000 1,200,000 800,0003,700,00

0

Size of navy 388 281 166 67 207

Coal output each year (million tonnes)

292 277 36.2 47 40

Steel output each year (million tonnes)

11 14 3.6 5 4.6

Militarism

Increase in spending on military 1910-1914

France 10%

Britain 13%

Russia 39%

Germany 73%

The need for Allies

Militarism

Alliances – an agreement formed between nations for their mutual benefit

Imperialism

Nationalism

What do we mean when we speak of allies and alliances? Why do countries need alliances?

The situation in 1914

You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent a war in Europe, two super blocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side; and the Germans and Austro-

Hungary on the other. The idea was to have two vast, opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent.

That way, there could never be a war.

Blackadder Goes Forth

The Triple Alliance (Central Powers)

Germany

Austria-Hungry

Italy – changes sides before the war

The Triple Entente(Allies)

Great Britain

France

Russia

Formation of the Triple Alliance

In 1879, Bismarck (German leader) was afraid the Russia would attack Germany so he signed an alliance with Austria-Hungry

They agreed that they would help each other militarily if Russia attacked either one of them This was known as the Dual Alliance

Italy joined the Dual Alliance in 1882, making it the Triple Alliance This time the alliance was directed against France

Formation of the Triple Entente

France and Russia were worried about the alliances which had been made against them So they decided to form their own alliance in 1895:

Franco-Russian Alliance Both France and Russia promised to help each other if

they were attacked by another power

Now it was Britain’s turn to get worried, they needed an alliance too.

So by 1907, two opposing camps formed:

The Triple Alliance (Central Powers)

Germany

Austria-Hungry

Italy

The Triple Entente (Allies)

Great Britain

France

Russia

Remember: An Entente means a friendly understanding – it is not a military alliance

The Triple Alliance was a military Agreement. The Triple Entente was not

So if the alliances were designed to discourage war,

why did one break out?

In a way, the alliance system made war more likely

When one of the members of either alliance declared war, the other members would lend their support

This had the potential to mean that when a country in one alliance went to war against a country in the other alliance, all the countries would get involved to support their allies Domino effect

This is what happened in the summer of 1914

MAIN Causes Review

• Militarism

• Alliances

• Imperialism

• Nationalism

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Born: 18 Dec. 1863

Position: Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne

Died: 28 Jun. 1914

Cause of Death: Assassination – gun shot in the neck

Why was he in Sarajevo?

Franz Ferdinand and his wife had been invited to inspect the troops stationed there

Little did he know that a terrorist group fighting with the aim of uniting Bosnia with Serbia, the Black Hand, had planned to kill him

There were 7 assassins involved – each armed with a gun, bomb and a cyanide pill

Franz Ferdinand arrived at 10am, June 28, 1914 and proceeded to make his way to the Town Hall in a motorcade

Assassination attempts 1 & 2

The Black Hand knew the route which Ferdinand was going to take, so they positioned the 7 assassins along the roadside

The first assassin failed to kill him as he lost his nerve He used the excuse that a policeman was standing near

him

The next assassin threw his bomb at the car However Ferdinand’s driver saw the bomb and

accelerated – it blew up under the car behind The assassin took his pill and jumped into the river but

he failed to die – the pill just made him vomit and the river wasn’t deep enough to drown him

The driver sped up to get to the town hall safely and the remaining assassins called the plot off

Third time’s the charm

Ferdinand insisted upon going to the hospital to visit those injured in the blast so they got back into the car and drove off

One of the assassins, Gavrilo Princip, had decided to go to a café after they called off the assassination plot To his amazement, Ferdinand’s car drove past him –

the driver had taken a wrong turn!

The driver then turned the car around and this time Princip was ready As soon as the car passed, he pulled out his gun and

shot the Archduke and his wife – both died later that day

Princip, then turned his gun on himself but a member of the public stopped him and the police arrested him

The spark that lit the fuse

Austria-Hungary interrogated those involved and found out that the organizers were hiding in Serbia They demanded that Serbia hand them over so they

could be tried, that Serbia takes the blame for the assassination and to allow Austria-Hungary to police anti-Austrian groups in Serbia

Serbia refused to do so, and after gaining support and approval from Germany, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28 This began the domino effect

Road to War

More Dominoes

War Begins

By August 12, a month and a half after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, 8 countries have declared war on one another.

The world is at war!