THE WORLD AT WAR: CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

THE WORLD AT WAR: CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

STANDARD SSWH16 The student will demonstrate an understanding of long-term causes of World War I and its global impact. A. Identify the causes of the war; include Balkan nationalism, entangling alliances, and militarism. B. Describe conditions on the war front for soldiers; include the Battle of Verdun. C. Explain the major decisions made in the Versailles Treaty; include German reparations and the mandate system that replaced Ottoman control. D. Analyze the destabilization of Europe in the collapse of the great empires; include the Romanov and Hapsburg dynasties.

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I: NATIONALISM Balkan Nationalism: The people of the Balkans believed that Bosnia should be part of a new Slavic state, but European powers placed Bosnia under Austro-Hungarian control. Russia, which shared a common ethnic and religious heritage, secretly helped finance the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. This event was a catalyst for WWI.

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I: ALLIANCE SYSTEM Entangling Alliances: In the late 1800s and early 1900s, many European nations made alliances with each other to end conflicts. Unfortunately, the alliance system caused some countries to feel an obligation to aid their allies in the event of war.

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I: MILITARISM Militarism: Militarism: maintaining a standing army, navy, air force. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, European countries like France, Germany, and Great Britain were engaged in an arms race.

CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I: MILITARISM CONTINUED France and Germany doubled the size of their armies during this period. Great Britain and Germany fought for naval dominance by introducing battleships to the seas. The Japanese fleet off the coast of China in 1914.

CONDITIONS ON THE WAR FRONT FOR SOLDIERS More than 65 million soldiers were mobilized by more than 30 nations, with battles taking place around the world. Industrialization brought modern weapons, machinery, and tactics to warfare, vastly increasing the killing power of armies. Battlefield conditions were horrific, typified by the chaotic, cratered hellscape of the Western Front, where soldiers in muddy trenches faced bullets, bombs, gas, bayonet charges, and more. Battlefield in Chateau Wood, near Hooge, Belgium, on October 29, 1917. During the Battle of Passchendaele.

The front in France, a scene on a battlefield at midnight. Opposing armies were sometimes situated in trenches just yards apart from each other.

CONDITIONS ON THE WAR FRONT FOR SOLDIERS Trench Warfare: a form of land warfare using occupied fighting lines consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are significantly protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. A British officer leads the way "over the top" amid the bursting of German shells.

CONDITIONS ON THE WAR FRONT FOR SOLDIERS The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War I. The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21, 1916 and ended on December 16, 1916, lasting 10 months.

WORLD WAR I AS A BAR FIGHT Who started the fight and how did the bar fight begin? Why did Australia get involved in the bar fight? Why did the United States claim that it won the bar fight? What was Hungary s justification for aiding Germany in World War II?

12.

18.

Using your acquired knowledge about World War I, complete your worksheet using this political cartoon.

From left to right: Serbia Austria Russia Germany France Great Britain

THE MAJOR DECISIONS MADE IN THE VERSAILLES TREATY (SSWH16C) The Treaty of Versailles required the defeated Germany to pay for the damages the war had inflicted on the Allies. This provision meant that Germany would have a difficult time recovering economically in the post-war period. Many Germans felt that they were being personally punished for the actions of their government.

THE MANDATE SYSTEM The Mandate System replaced Ottoman control in the Middle East. To gain Arab support against the Ottoman Empire during the war, the Allies promised to recognize the independence of Arab states. However, some western powers changed their minds and established the mandate system.

THE MANDATE SYSTEM Under the mandate system, France controlled Lebanon and Syria while Great Britain controlled Palestine and Iraq. These nations did not officially own the territories.

DESTABILIZATION OF EUROPE AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE GREAT EMPIRES (SSWH16D) The Hapsburg Dynasties The Hapsburgs ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of WWI. Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was the heir to this empire and his assassination was a catalyst for the war.

DESTABILIZATION OF EUROPE AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE GREAT EMPIRES (SSWH16D) The Hapsburg Dynasties Their downfall was largely due to the inability to create an identity among the people of the empire and their apathy toward including the growing middle class in decisionmaking.

DESTABILIZATION OF EUROPE AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE GREAT EMPIRES (SSWH16D) The Romanov Dynasties Russian Czar Nicholas II was the last of the Romanov family to rule Russia. He stepped down in 1917 and was assassinated in 1918.

DESTABILIZATION OF EUROPE AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE GREAT EMPIRES (SSWH16D) The Romanov Dynasties The downfall of Czar Nicholas II was due to his military ineptness, his tendency to listen to the advice of his wife and Rasputin (a holy man under whose influence his wife was held), and inability to handle the economic crises facing Russia.

THE CAUSES AND RESULTS OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION (SSWH17B) The Rise of the Bolsheviks under Lenin Russia suffered military and economic failures during WWI. These failures forced the Czar to step down and Russia instituted a provisional government. A party of soviet councils of workers and soldiers called the Bolsheviks were led by V. I. Lenin. They saw an opportunity to seize power from the weak provisional government.

THE BOLSHEVIKS The Bolsheviks were a political party of soviets who captured power from the provisional government of Russia without much violence. The Bolsheviks made promises to the Russian workers to gain support. Some of these included transferring ownership of factories from the capitalists to the workers and ending Russia s involvement in the war.

V.I. LENIN Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks which held the real power of Russia as the head of the Council of People s Commissars. He became increasingly unpopular during the Russian civil war because the people lacked food and were conscripted into the Red Army on the threat of death.