WORLD WAR 1

Main Causes :
-Franco-Prussian War:
France received a humiliating lost, losing Alsace and Lorraine and was forced to pay
a huge indemnity to Prussia. Also it resulted in the formation of the German Empire.
Wilhelm II came in control over the German Empire , dismissing Otto Von Bismarck
and refused to renew the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia that maintained the peace
between Russia and Austria-Hungary and kept France isolated. This lead to an
alliance between France and Russia(1892) which will later be the basis of the Triple
Alliance.

-Balkan Wars:
In 1912 , Serbia Greece Montenegro Bulgaria formed the Balkan League, a
military alliance against the Ottoman Empire. Within a few months, the Balkan allies
stripped the Ottoman Empire of its possessions in the Balkans and divided the
territory among themselves. In June, Bulgaria turned against its allies of Serbia and
Greece due to a dispute over partition of Macedonia. But the Bulgarians were
defeated within a month and forced to give up their claims in Macedonia.

-The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdiand of Austria :

June 28 1914 , a group of conspirators from the revolutionary movement called
Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia) carried out the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian
heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife while they were visiting
Sarajevo. Since the assassin, Gavrilo Princip and his 5 accomplices were Bosnian
Serbs, the Dual Monarchy accused Serbia to stand behind the assassination. The
event triggered the course of events that directly led to the outbreak of World War I
but it did not cause it. Austria-Hungary was determined to eliminate the Serbian
threat before the assassination of its heir presumptive and it only needed an
excuse to declare war on its Balkan neighbor

-July Ultimatum:
On July 23, Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia. Vienna, however,
intentionally imposed impossible demands to Serbia in order to be able to declare
war on its neighbor for orchestrating the assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of Austria. A few days later, the Austro-Hungarian troops invaded Serbia
and started the devastating World War I.

Other Causes :
-

Colonial Problems
Nationalism
Balkan crisis
External tensions

Main Battles :

-The Battle of Verdun

1916

A major military engagement of World War I, the Battle of Verdun was a ten month
long ordeal between the French and German armies. The battle was part of an
unsuccessful German campaign to take the offensive on the western front. Both the
French and German armies suffered incredibly with an estimated 540,000 French
and 430,000 German casualties and no strategic advantages were gained for either
side. The Battle of Verdun is considered to be one of the most brutal events of World
War I, and the site itself is remembered as the "battlefield with the highest density
of dead per square yard."

The Battle of Marne

1914 1918

On September 4, 1914, the rapid advances of the German army through Belgium
and northern France caused panic in the French army and troops were rushed from
Paris in taxis to halt the advance. Combined with the BEF (British Expeditionary
Force) the Germans were eventually halted and the War settled into the familiar
defensive series of entrenchment's.

Ironically, by the end of May, 1918, the Germans had again reached the Marne after
the enormous successes of Ludendorff's offensives of that year. The intervening four
years had cost hundreds of thousands of lives and the armies were still, literally,
exactly where they had started.

-The Battle of Ypres

1914

1915

1917

There were in fact three battles fought around the Ypres salient during the War. The
first, in 1914 was an attempt by the BEF to halt the rapid advances made by the
Germans. The second, in 1915, was notable for the first use of poison gas by the
Germans. However, it is the long-planned offensive of July 31, 1917, that holds the
most significance. Here, a combination of over-ambitious aims, appalling weather
conditions, and misguided persistence by Haig led to horrific losses. By the time the
offensive was called off total casualties for both sides had been approximately
250,000. The horrors of the battle, in which men drowned in liquid mud has become
synonymous with the images of the War. One of the central objectives, the village of
Passchendale (eventually taken on November 6 by the Canadians), lent its name to
the whole conflict.

-The Battle of Somme

1916

At 0730 hours on the 1st July, 1916, after a weeklong artillery bombardment
launched the now infamous "Big Push" attack across the river Somme. With the
French Army being hard-pressed to the south at Verdun the British intended to
breakthrough the German defences in a matter of hours. After the first day, with a
gain of only 1.5km, the British had suffered 57,470 casualties. Despite this, Haig
pressed on with the attack until November 19th of the same year. For the meagre
achievements, total losses on the British and Imperial side numbered 419,654 with
German casualties between 450,000 and 680,000. When the offensive was
eventually called off the British were still 3 miles short of Bapaume and Serre, part
of their first-day objectives.

-The Battle of Cambrai

1917

On November 20, 1917, the British launched the first full-scale offensive that was
designed exclusively to accommodate the British secret weapon, the tank (so-called
because when the first shipment came from England they were described as water
tanks to maintain secrecy). A surprise artillery barrage started the offensive and
476 tanks, packed tightly for a mass attack moved against the German lines.
Supported by infantry the gains were dramatic, breaching the almost impregnable
Hindenberg line to depths of 4-5 miles in some places. However, these gains
seemed to surprise British High Command equally as much as the Germans, and the
following cavalry failed to take advantage. Nevertheless, Cambrai demonstrated
how a well-thought out attack, combining tanks en masse with surprise, could be
used to break the trench deadlock.
-Russian Revolution

1917

Rasputin killed by Aristocrats

Started as a worker strike
Russia withdraw from war
Bolshevik Revolution
13 March The Tsjar leaves the throne moved to Ekatenburg and executed
Kerensky Minister of War
Lenin flees to Finland
Kerensky flees later on
Lenin returns and takes over 2 Dec. 1917 Armistice

Important plans during the war :

Schlieffen plan (Through Belgium and attack France)

Hindenburg line (was a German defensive position of World War I, built during the
winter of 19161917 on the Western Front, from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on
the Aisne)

Fronts : West Front (Germany vs France and UK)

South Front (Balkan)
South Front(Austria-Hungary vs Italy)
East Front (Germany vs Russia)

Personalities :
German

Manfred von Richthofen The Red Baron ( died on 1918) Sir Douglas Haig British
Erich Ludendorff German

Ferdiand Foch French

Oskar Von Hutier German
Hermann Goring German
Important references : Christmas Truce of 1914
Great Berta
Chocolate soldiers
Spanish Flu killed 50 mil. people

Aftermath :

The number of men mobilized by both sides during the was totaled over 65
million
Historians estimate that up to 10 million men died on the battlefield and
around 20 million were wounded

The Armistice was signed 11 of November of 1818

Everybody felt that the First World War should be the end to all wars
The political map of Europe would be redrawn (The Ottoman Empire and Habsburg
Empire disappeared)
European countries suffered a difficult economic situation. Some countries had been
devastated
People felt that Germany should be blamed and pay for the war
The Paris Peace Conference 1919-1920: Took place in Versailles
32 nations were represented but no the defeated
countries
took all the
decisions.

The Big Three(Great Britain , U.S.A. and France)

important

The Big Three : George Clemenceau from France said that Germany should be
harshly punished
Woodrow Wilson from USA believed In peaceful cooperation among
nations

David Lloyd George from UK said that Germany should be punished but
not harshly to .
prevent a new war.

Peace Treaties of the First World War : Treaty of Saint Germain 1919 Austria
Treaty of Neuilly 1919 Bulgaria
Treaty of Trianon 1919 Hungary
Treaty of Sevres 1920 Turkey
Treaty of Lausanne 1923 Turkey
Treaty of Versailles 1919 Germany

-Treaty of Versailles 1919 Germany had to accept : War Guilt

Reparations
Limited Army 100.000 soldiers
Germany lost all its colonies
- League of Nations Organization to keep peace and
prevent war
demonstrating it

- Germany was not allowed until

a peace-loving country

Germany fell behind on its reparation payments in 1922

The Ruhr region was occupied by France and Belgium weakening the Germans
economy
To pay the workers the German government printed more money which caused
hyperinflation
Germans blamed the Treaty of their problems
France thought the Treaty was not harsh enough
Great Britain feared that it would bring a new war
USA refused to be a member of the League of Nations and ratify the Treaty

-Treaty of Saint Germain 1919 Austria had to accept : Disarmament and

Repatations
into
(Austria , Hungary
Czechoslovakia , Yugoslavia..)

The Habsburg Empire was divided

different states

Populations from other nat. remained

in Austria
-Treaty of Serves and Lausanne (1920 & 1923) Turkey: Ataturk, nationalist leader
over

Lausanne recognized the Turkish rights

Smyrna and most of Anatolia

to France
Trasjordan to Great

Turkey had to cede Lebanon and Syria

and Palestine, Irak and
Britain.

Other consequences of the Treaties :

New states appeared : Czechoslovakia , Poland and Yugoslavia
Influenza epidemic
Blockade of Germany (Through the period from the armistice on 11 November 1918
until the signing of the peace treaty with Germany on 28 June 1919,
the Allies maintained the naval blockade of Germany that had begun during the war.
As Germany was dependent on imports, it is estimated that 523,000 civilians had
lost their lives)