Frank Buckles

February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011

(aged 110 years, 26 days)
CHP 23
War
&
Revolution
Video – Ch. 23 WWI
Nationalism and the System of Alliances

(1882) Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

(1907) France, Great Britain, and Russia.

First World War, mobilization, declaration of war: a group of

soldiers with a cloth to throw one of them into the air during
preparations for the battle at the front. England, 1915
The Plumb-pudding in danger, or, State epicures taking un petit souper ... By James Gillroy
SUMMARY: William Pitt, wearing a regimental uniform and hat, sitting at a table with Napoleon. They
are each carving a large plum pudding on which is a map of the world. Pitt's slice is considerably larger
than Napoleon's.
"The new Emperor, and his opponent the English Minister, helping themselves—one taking the land, the
other the sea. On the overtures made by the new Emperor for a reconciliation with England in the January
of 1805."
The British and French colonial
empires reached their peaks after
WWI, a reflection of the power of this
new alliance.
A 1904 French postcard showing Britannia and Marianne dancing
together, symbolizing the two nations' newly found sense of co-
operation.
L’ENTENTE CORDIALE
A 1915 German view of the
Entente Cordiale
Depiction of Britain as a
spider, German eagle sitting
overhead, Uncle Sam and
two others tied up in web in
background. The Entente
Cordiale was a diplomatic
agreement signed in 1904 by
France and Great Britain
which adjusted the colonial
disputes between the two
countries, and paved the way
for Anglo-French co-
operation against German
expansion in Europe and in
the colonial world.
A cartoon apparently expressing a
rather sour German point of
view on the British-French
"Entente Cordiale" of 1904.
John Bull walks off with the
trollop France (in her
scandalously short tricolor skirt,
with red and blue colors) while
Germany pretends not to care.
Nationalism and the System of Alliances
• During the early 1900s,
several crises erupted
Balkans Crisis
• The Slavic dream of
creating their own national
state, which also increased
tensions in Europe.
Militarism
• After 1900 there was a
huge increase in the size of
European armies, which
increased tensions among
nations.
• Between 1890 and 1914
European armies doubled in
size.
The numbers of soldiers in European armies were:

• Russia, 1.3 million;

• France and Germany,
900,000 each;
• Britain, Italy, and Austria-
Hungary, 250,000 to German soldiers in a railway goods car on the
way to the front in 1914. A message on the car
500,000 each. spells out "Trip to Paris"; early in the war all
sides expected the conflict to be a short one.
Video: The Roots of War (5:34)
The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914

• In June 1914, Archduke Francis (cont.)

Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and

his wife were killed by the Serbian
terrorist Gavrilo Princip in the city
of Sarajevo.
• The Serbian terrorists wanted
Bosnia to become independent
from Austria-Hungary.
Assassination
…
The spark that
lights the
powder keg.
Archduke Ferdinand walking among the
people hours before his assassination.
The car moments before the assassination.
Apprehension of Gavrillo Prinzip.
Blood soaked
uniform of
Archduke Francis
Ferdinand
Archduke Francis
Ferdinand
After his death,
Austria-Hungary
declared war on
Serbia… which
started the house of
cards (alliances) to
fall.
The Outbreak of War: Summer 1914
• Russia responded by supporting (cont.)
Serbia.
• Czar Nicholas II ordered partial
and then full mobilization of the
Russian army.
• Austria-Hungary and Germany
considered the mobilizations acts
of war.
 WWI Alliances:
Allies or Central Powers or
Triple Entente: Triple Alliance:

Russia Austria-Hungary
France Germany
Great Britain Italy
 PG. 721

European Troops
were
Eager for war.

“We’ll be home by
Christmas!”
 The Conflict Broadens
• Germany declared war
on Russia on August 1,
1914
• Germany’s military
plans had been drawn
up under General
Alfred von Schlieffen
• Schlieffen Plan, called
for a two-front war with
France & Russia. By
declaring war on France,
Germany brought Great
Britain into the war.
 GERMANY

Paris

FRANCE

German General
Alfred von Schlieffen
• Germany made a vast encircling
movement through Belgium (who
was neutral) into northern France
• Halted a short distance from Paris
@ the First Battle of The Marne
• French “Miracle” halts the
German Advance

French soldiers waiting assault behind a ditch