Causes
plans
food shortages
Peacemaking

World War One

    • Causes of the First World War: Economic, ideological, territorial, and other causes - short & long term

    • Technological developments - Air, naval, and land warfare; impact of developments on the outcome of the war

    • Mobilization: Extent of human and economic resources; methods of mobilization

    • The successes and failures of peacemaking

    • Territorial changes

    • Political impact: short and long-term

    • Impact of war: economic, social, and demographic impact - changes in the role and status of women

    • Causes of the First World War - relative importance of causes, the Alliance system, the decline of the Ottoman empire, German foreign policy, nationalism, arms race, diplomatic crisis

    • Factors leading to the defeat of Germany and other Central Powers - Strategic errors, economic factors, entry & role of the USA, domestic instability of Central Powers

    • Impact of the First World War on civilian populations of two countries from the region between 1914 and 1918

This is a guide as to what you should study

Responsibility
practices
Technology

Jump to sections

Alliances
Years of war
Role of USA
Effects
Political actors
notable battles
Collapse of Russia
Women
Mobilization
Fronts
Defeat of Germany
Historiography

Causes of World War One

MAIN - Long term/ideological causes

  • Militarism

    • Desire to expand military for defense and intimidation

    • Expansionism

    • Increased tensions due to intimidation and expansionism

    • Every actor wanted to increase own power to protect against enemies

    • Develop a deterrent to deter enemies from attacking

      • Military generals believed having the strongest military and producing the most advanced arms would deter other countries from attacking

    • Use of conscription (Except in Britain) to create a larger military

    • Russian army was the largest in the world

      • Army was 1.3 million with some claiming it could mobilize 5 million more

      • Russia’s population was ~180 million

      • Russia’s poor infrastructure and terrible military cohesion meant their army was very weak despite the large number

    • Arms race - Technological advancement and increased production

    • Navy race (Navy tonnage is the total weight of all ships, measures the amount and size of ships)

      • Britain’s navy tonnage increased from 650,000 in 1880 to 2.7 million in 1914

      • Germany’s increased from 88,000 to 1.3 million

      • France’s increased from 271,000 to 900,000

      • Russia’s increased from 200,000 to 679,000

      • Austria-Hungary’s increased from 60,000 to 372,000

      • Japan’s increased from 15,000 to 700,000

      • Italy’s increased from 100,000 to 498,000

      • USA’s increased from 169,000 to 985,000

    • Military size in terms of personnel

      • Russia’s increased from 791,000 in 1880 to 1.35 million in 1914

      • France’s increased from 543,000 to 910,000

      • Germany’s increased from 426,000 to 891,000

      • Britain’s increased from 367,000 to 532,000

      • Austria-Hungary’s increased from 246,000 to 444,000

      • Italy: 216,000-345,000

      • Japan: 71,000-306,000

      • USA: 34,000-164,000

    • Large armies and industrialization leading to production made war more likely

  • Alliances

    • Triple Alliance & Entente

    • Ottomans joined the Central Powers

    • Italy ignores Triple Alliance because Austria-Hungary was the aggressor

    • Treaty of London - 1839

      • UK guaranteed Belgium’s protection

      • Forced UK to join the war when Germany invaded Belgium through the Schlieffen Plan

    • Alliances at the time weren’t binding, countries chose to join the conflict

    • Bismarck had tried to isolate France to prevent them from getting revenge, Wilhelm II undid all of this after Bismarck resigned in 1890

    • Alliance rivalry, see historiography

    • Bismarck made a series of alliances (Reinsurance Treaty, Dual Alliance, Triple Alliance), this possibly negatively effected relations

      • Alliance between Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary fell through due to ambition in the Balkans

  • Imperialism

    • Countries wanted more land, much like militarism

      • Support growing population

    • Desire for colonies

      • Prospect for resources - Rubber, gold, iron

    • Believed they needed to “educate” lesser developed regions, such as Africa

    • Desire to influence Balkan states from Russia and Austria-Hungary

      • Raised tensions between the two

      • Both wanted influence over the same states, Russia wanted to protect Slavs and Austria-Hungary wanted to expand

    • Social Darwinism - Each state felt they were racially superior to the others and the people in Africa, and they felt they had the responsibility to ‘teach’ these people for them to succeed

    • Imperial rivalries in the Balkans

      • Austria-Hungary, Russia, Serbia, and the Ottoman Empire all had ambitions for the Balkans - They wanted to either expand and directly control or influence these states for political power

      • This led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire, which created smaller states such as Bulgaria in 1878 and Serbia in 1817

      • The decline of the Ottomans meant that other states could influence the ethnicities in the Balkans

      • Austria-Hungary wanted control because they could oppress the Slavs to prevent them from revolting in regions such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, preventing this Pan-Slavism would secure the Empire. As Austria-Hungary was a multi-ethnic empire, any independence movements in the Balkans could inspire domestic independence and thus cause the fall of the Empire

      • Serbia promoted the nationalist view of a Greater Serbia, which laid the groundwork for Yugoslavia, where all Balkan Slavs would be united under Serbian rule. Russia promoted this as they wanted these states to be independence so Russia could influence them. As Serbia grew more influential, they became more of a threat to Austria-Hungary, who then increased their attempts to influence the Balkans and oppress their minorities

      • Russia wanted influence in the Balkans to ‘save the Slavs’ as it would increase Russian power and give them Mediterranean ports, as those ports aren’t frozen unlike Russian ports. Russia also wanted to limit Austria-Hungary’s growth, as they were rivals

      • The rivalry between Russia and Austria-Hungary was a point of contention in Europe, as it caused diplomacy between the two ineffective. The rivalry almost caused war in 1878 after the Russo-Turkish war as Austria-Hungary mobilized to protest Russian claims after the war. Tensions flared again in 1908 with the Bosnian crisis, but Russia was too weak to do anything other than protest

    • Imperial rivalries between Germany, Britain, and France

      • Germany had imperial ambitions to create a colonial empire, this foreign policy theory was known as ‘Weltpolitik’ or ‘Our place in the sun’

      • German imperial ambitions directly interfered with the interests of Britain and France, as Germany gaining colonies meant potentially taking some from them, and it would definitely mean Germany would become the leading world power

      • Germany wanted more economic strength under Kaiser Wilhelm II

      • Germany believed they should be involved in all world politics, due to imperialism and nationalism

    • Imperialism contributed to the war by generating rivalries between the European powers by stimulating the growth of Nationalism, but it is not the sole reason for war as some conflicts were resolved diplomatically

  • Nationalism

    • Countries believed they were the best, and had the desire to prove it

    • Certain states wanted independence, especially within Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire

    • Slav Nationalism led to Serbia trying to destroy Austria-Hungary

Timeline of Causes

1871 - Unification of Germany

  • Disrupted balance of power

  • Disturbed other European nation due to a new superpower being in the mix

  • France experienced Revanchism (Extreme nationalism from loss of Franco-Prussian war, hate Germany and get Alcase-Lorraine back)

1882 - Triple Alliance

  • Defense pact between Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary

  • Made other countries skeptical of being dragged into war

  • Other nations were scared of this alliance

1888 - Germany pursues ‘Weltpolitik’

  • “Our place in the sun”

  • Germany desired a colonial empire

    • They already had colonies in Africa and Asia

  • Expansionist ideology

  • Under Kaiser Wilhelm II - Reactionary leader

  • Threatened other countries

1894 - Franco-Russian alliance

  • Brought Germany closer to war on 2 fronts

  • This angered Germany

  • Increased tensions between Germany and France & Russia

1898 - German naval laws

  • Set of 5 naval laws under General Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz

  • Required the navy to build a set number of ships per year to rival the UK’s navy

  • This increased Anglo-German tensions

1902 - Anglo-Japanese Alliance

  • Britain abandons “Splendid Isolation” - they are now involved in world politics

  • They were ready to ally with other nations to protect against Germany

1904 - Creation of Entente Cordiale

  • Britain and France allied after centuries of hatred between them, shared a common enemy in Germany

  • Two of the strongest European nations

  • This was a threat to Germany

1905 - First Moroccan Crisis

  • France went to consolidate power in Morocco by establishing more control, and Germany objected claiming that they should be consulted

  • Kaiser Wilhelm went to Morocco (French territory) and pledged Germany’s support for Morocco’s independence movement

  • This angered France, which raised tensions

  • War is avoided as Britain doesn’t support France so France backs down

  • Algeciras meeting in Spain, Germany is humiliated

    • Reaffirmed Spanish and French non-intervention in Morocco

    • Germany didn’t get the support they wanted, therefore was humiliated

1906 - Launch of the Dreadnought

  • Britain launched the strongest battleship ever seen at the time

  • Germany tried to imitate it

  • Huge guns could take out enemy ships easily

  • Challenged German naval laws

    • Resulted in heightened German aggression

1907 - Creation of the Triple Entente

  • Britain, Russia, and France

  • 3 of the most powerful European nations are now allied - Including 2 on Germany’s borders

  • Brought Germany closer to a war on 2 fronts

  • Wasn’t a military agreement, but improved relations and collaborations between involved nations

1908 - Bosnian Crisis

  • Austria-Hungary fully annexes Bosnia

    • They were previously an autonomous state under Austrian control

  • Causes revolts in Bosnia

  • Slavs from Serbia hate Austria-Hungary more

  • Russia wants to declare war, but doesn’t due to a lack of support from Britain and France

1911 - Second Moroccan Crisis

  • France deployed troops to Morocco to suppress the independence movement

  • Germany moved the SMS Panther to Agadir in response to intimidate France & support Moroccan Sultan

  • Germany wanted ‘territorial compensation’ and threatened war otherwise

  • Conflict resolved when France gave Germany some African territory

1912 - First Balkan War

  • Ottoman territories in the Balkans decided to revolt and start a war

  • War lasted until 1913

  • Disaster for the Ottomans, who lost the war

  • Both Russia and Austria-Hungary wanted to influence the new Balkan states

  • Balkans became even more unstable

  • Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece gained some land, but nobody was happy with their land gains - especially the Bulgarians

  • Albania became independent

  • The creation of Albania meant that Serbia did not get coastal land, so this angered them

  • This increased Balkan tensions and Slav nationalism, especially in Serbia

1913 - Second Balkan War

  • Bulgaria wasn’t satisfied with their land gains from the First Balkan War, so they declare war on Serbia and Greece

  • Bulgaria lost and ceded territory to Serbia, Greece, Romania, and the Ottoman Empire

  • This again raised tensions as each country was suspicious of their neighbors and the European powers were desperately trying to gain influence

1914 - Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

  • Serb Nationalists wanted to destroy Austria-Hungary

  • Gavrilo Princip & some others in the Black Hand snuck across the border into Bosnia and went to Sarajevo

  • Archduke was in Sarajevo giving a speech at the town hall

  • This was on Serb Nationalist day (June 28 1914)

  • Austro-Hungarian troops were training around Bosnia, and Serbia thought it was preparation for an attack

  • 2 attacks on the Archduke

    • 1st - Someone threw a grenade at him from the crowd, his car sped up and the grenade blew up behind them

    • 2nd - The driver got lost, tried to get back to the river, backed up right in front of Princip who pulled out a gun and shot Ferdinand and his wife

  • Caused July Crisis

  • Franz-Ferdinand was warned not to go to Sarajevo, he ignored them

  • Ferdinand insisted the driver drive slow with the top of the car down so he could see his “adoring fans”

Economic Causes

  • Every state wanted raw materials - desire for colonies

  • International market was a mess due to tensions

  • Some resources, especially in the Triple Alliance, weren’t good

    • Low quality resources

    • Lack of resources

  • Use of tariffs

    • Countries implemented tariffs on each other, meaning having colonies was the only way to get resources cheap

    • Led to tensions & desire for colonies

  • Technological advancements made having colonies and exploring Africa easier

  • Industrialization

    • Iron and steel production generally increased globally, in USA it increased by 242% between 1890 and 1913

    • Steel production decreased in Britain

    • Germany’s steel production increased 329% in the same time

    • This meant that military production ramped up, fueling the arms race

    • Industrialization leads to the creation of the SPD, the Socialists, who expect a strong government, forcing the government to seek short-term victories or face domestic political conflict

    • Industrial revolution transformed the basis of economic power, redefining strength as the one who could produce the most military and consumer goods and resources such as coal, iron, and steel

      • Austria-Hungary and Russia lagged behind

      • Britain enjoyed being the top industrialized nation, but by 1900 this was being challenged

  • The different rates of economic production increase between nations fueled economic competition and rivalry

    • Britain became concerned by the USA and Germany potentially overtaking them and challenging their military dominance

    • Though Russia’s growth was slowed and behind every other nation, their output of steel and iron accounted for 6% of world output, making it fourth in the world

    • Russia’s potential for resources and output due to its size and massive workforce made it a significant enemy

  • Growth of railway networks

    • Investment in railway fueled industrialization, which has already proven to be a cause of the war

    • Russia made the most rapid railway progress between 1870 and 1910, both in growth rate and size of network. In 1910, Russia possessed the largest railway network

    • Russia’s vast size meant that their railway network was far less efficient than Britain’s or Germany’s

    • Germany’s railway network size increased by 224% between 1870 and 1910

  • Economic growth resulted in the growth of militaries

    • Output of iron and steel was vital to the military industry and production

    • The growth of railway meant that rapid troop and supply movement was much easier

    • The Russian Empire’s large railway network meant that troops could be mobilized much quicker and easier. Mobilization was estimated to take 8 weeks in 1906, but only 30 days in 1912

    • The potential implications of economic growth on military strength were a source of stress and anxiety across Europe as each country desperately tried to become or stay powerful

Political Causes

  • Fragile states

  • Domestic conflict

    • Caused by aggressive actions

    • Empires trying to prevent revolution

  • Political tensions caused by other factors

  • Each state trying to be politically stable and the strongest on the global stage

  • Compete with the colonial empires of Britain and France

  • Quarrels over land

    • Britain and France fought over a fort in Egypt (Fashoda incident), and them working it out led to better relations between the two states

  • Arms race

    • Each country (Particularly Germany) wanted to prove themselves the strongest through technology, so an innovation and production race began

    • This increased tensions as other countries were seen as threats and enemies

    • Britain won the naval race - Dreadnought 1906

  • Failure of diplomacy

    • No international organization existed, so diplomacy was up to the ambassadors and their countries. Ambassadors couldn’t make any decisions without the government’s approval, and since governments didn’t agree with each other, diplomacy was ineffective

    • Differing values caused diplomacy to fail

  • Many states believed that if war were to come, it would be better for it to happen sooner rather than later

    • This resulted in recklessness and bad decisions

    • They would rather fight now than let their opponents get stronger

Territorial Causes

  • Expansionism

  • Protectionism

    • Certain states pledging to protect other states

    • British protection of Belgium

    • Russian ‘protection’ of Balkan states

  • Desire for resources

  • Having colonies led to domestic support for the government

Historical Causes

  • French loss of Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871)

    • France declared war on Prussia to prove its dominance in Europe, lost in 6 months

    • Germany took Alcase-Lorraine as a reparation

    • Created French revanchism, the desire to take back their lands and prove they were the strongest

  • Ottoman loss of Russo-Turkish war (1877-1878)

    • Russia wanted to 'save’ Slavic people in Balkans under Ottoman control

    • In reality, Russia wanted to have ports on the Mediterranean and to influence the states that were created by this war

    • Ottoman Empire became more unstable

    • Ottomans lost territory in the Balkans, gave other territories hope of independence

    • Russia became bold

  • Russian loss of Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905)

    • Japan became a power

    • Russia was humiliated, became determine to prove their might in Europe

    • Made Russia more aggressive with foreign policy

  • All countries wanted to prove their might after losing wars

Mindmap of Causes

Note: Schlieffen plan was made in 1905, not 1888

July Crisis Timeline - 1914

28 June

  • Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo

  • Angers Franz Joseph, uncle of Franz Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria, and King of Hungary

5-6 July

  • Austro-Hungarian envoy Count Hoyos goes to Germany

  • Makes sure Wilhelm II will support them

  • Germany issues “Blank Check” - Unconditional support of Austria-Hungary (‘Blank Cheque’ in British English)

7 July

  • Austria-Hungary creates an intentionally absurd ultimatum for Serbia, expecting they wont meet it so they can declare war

23 July

  • Austria sends ultimatum to Serbia

  • They give Serbia 48 hours to meet demands or face war

25 July

  • Serbia replies, meeting almost all demands, which is surprising

  • Austria-Hungary still breaks relations with Serbia

26 July

  • Britain proposes mediation, this is ignored

28 July

  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, officially starting the war

  • Wilhelm II proposes “Halt in Belgrade” as to not decimate Serbia too much

    • This was an attempt to restrain Austria-Hungary

  • Austria-Hungary begins bombing Serbia

29-30 July

  • German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg attempts to restrain Austria-Hungary, despite having encouraged action on July 5th and being part of issuing the “Blank Check”

  • This attempt is ignored

  • Willy-Nicky Telegrams begin, Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas of Russia try to stop all-out war

    • Russia begs Germany to halt Austria-Hungary to prevent war

    • Germany refuses

    • Russia proposes mediation

    • Germany ignores this

    • Russia mobilizes and Germany declares war

30 July

  • Russia begins mobilization

1 August

  • Germany declares war on Russia to protect Austria-Hungary

  • France and Germany begin mobilization

2 August

  • Germany invades Luxembourg as part of the Schlieffen Plan (See plans section)

  • Germany issues ultimatum to Belgium

  • British cabinet approves protection of French coast and Belgium’s neutrality

3 August

  • Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France

  • Italy announces neutrality

4 August

  • Britain declares war on Germany for invading Belgium

6 August

  • Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia

Responsibility for War

Germany

Arguing guilt

  • Introduced Weltpolitik

  • Increased defense spending

  • Much nationalism

  • Issued “Blank Check” to Austria-Hungary in 1914, pledged unconditional support

  • Urged Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia

  • Created and executed Schlieffen Plan to invade France and Belgium, brought Britain into the war

  • Escalated the disagreement between Austria-Hungary and Serbia by declaring war on Russia, Belgium, and France

    • Wilhelm II said directly that he did this

  • War would have united the German people

    • Chancellor said war is better now than in one or two years

Arguing innocence

  • Had somewhat improved relations with Britain

  • Wilhelm changed his mind, sent “Willy-Nicky” telegrams to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia to attempt to stop the war, it was too late

  • Did not go to war for world power, they believed they were being encircled

  • Not prepared for war in 1914

Russia

Russia

Arguing guilt

  • Maintained terrible relations with Germany and Austria-Hungary

  • Imperialist ambitions in Mediterranean and Balkans

  • Increased ambitions in Balkans

  • Increased defense spending

  • Hadn’t tried to contain Serb nationalism, though it was causing Balkan instability

  • Supported Serbia, which worsened the conflict

  • Their mobilization caused Germany to declare war

  • Military had convinced civilian leaders that army was stronger than it was, but realistically it wouldn’t be ready until 1917

Arguing innocence

  • Not ready for war in 1918

  • Only wanted to protect Serbia

  • Reacted to events, didn’t provoke them

Serbia

Arguing guilt

  • Ambitions to take over Bosnia and create Yugoslavia

  • Black Hand had some connections to military and government

Arguing innocence

  • Mostly met Austria-Hungary’s demands in the ultimatum

Austria-Hungary

Arguing guilt

  • Expansionist policy in the Balkans

  • Humiliated Russia in 1908 through the Bosnian crisis

  • Eager to keep Serbia weak, exaggerated their potential threat, and were determined to go to war with Serbia

  • Delayed response to the assassination, which allowed the July crisis to unfold the way it did

  • Gave Serbia a harsh and unfair ultimatum, made it purposely absurd so they could declare war

  • Declared war even though Serbia met most terms of the ultimatum

  • Literally started the war by invading Serbia

  • Sought German support to punish Serbia and didn’t consider the potential consequences

  • Did not attempt to fix relations with Russia

  • Refused to halt military operation, though there was a mediation scheduled for July 30

Arguing innocence

  • There was genuine danger to Austro-Hungarian land in the Balkans

  • Not prepared for war in 1914

  • Assassination was a good reason to be mad at Serbia

  • They had hoped Germany would prevent Russia from joining the conflict

France

Arguing guilt

  • Still angry about losing the Franco-Prussian war and Alcase-Lorraine in 1871

  • Assertive policy after 1911

  • Supported Russia through assurances before July Crisis

  • Increased defense spending

Arguing innocence

  • Was uninterested in the Balkans

  • Not ready for war in military and diplomatic relations

  • Asked Russia to be cautious

  • Russia mobilized without confronting France

  • Reluctant to go to war even after Germany declared war on Russia

  • Much internal opposition to war

  • Reacted to events instead of provoking them

  • Tried not to go to war, but was swept into it

Britain

Arguing guilt

  • Increased military and navy spending

  • Unclear position during July Crisis

  • If they had told Germany that they supported France, Germany might not have declared war

  • Britain changed war from continental to world war by dragging colonies in too

Arguing innocence

  • Didn’t really do anything wrong, just wanted to protect Belgium

  • Only joined when their one term (don’t attack Belgium) was broken

  • Tried to solve things with diplomacy, was ignored

  • Stopped war multiple times through mediation

Alliances

Triple Alliance / Central Powers

  • Germany

  • Austria-Hungary

  • Italy (Didn’t do anything, left in 1915)

  • Ottoman Empire

  • Bulgaria - 1915

Bismarck System of Alliances

  • Wilhelm II let alliances fall through

  • Tried to ally with Russia and Austria-Hungary at the same time

    • Did not work due to ambitions in the Balkans

  • Aimed to keep France isolated

  • 3 Emperors league

    • 1873-1887

    • Dreikaiserbund

    • Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary

    • Fell through due to Balkan issues

    • Isolate France, stabilize Austria-Hungary and the Balkans

  • Dual Alliance

    • 1878

    • Germany & Austria-Hungary

    • Defensive alliance

    • Replaced by the 3 emperors alliance, but persisted until the collapse of Austria-Hungary

    • Russia felt threatened

  • Triple Alliance

    • Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

    • Defensive treaty, which is why Italy didn’t join the war at first

    • Aimed to keep power

    • 1882-1914

  • Reinsurance Treaty

    • 1887-1890

    • Germany & Russia

    • Aimed to prevent war on the Germany-Russia front, since Tree Emperor’s League had fallen

    • Collapsed before World War One, Wilhelm let it die, this was a strategic mistake

    • Secret treaty

Yes

  • The existence of alliances created rivalries between countries

  • The Triple Entente did foster insecurity within Germany since it added to fears about vulnerability as they were encircled by France and Russia

  • As Germany was now encircled, they were keen on launching an attack first to prevent their enemy from exploiting this weakness

Triple Entente / Allies

  • France

  • Britain

    • And colonies

  • Russia - Until 1917

  • Japan

  • Serbia - 1914

  • Luxembourg - 1914

  • Montenegro - 1914

  • Italy - 1915

  • Romania - 1916

  • Portugal - 1916

  • USA - 1917

Entente Alliances

  • Franco-Russian Alliance

    • 1894-1917

    • Defend against Germany

    • Response to Triple Alliance

  • Entente Cordiale

    • Britain & France

    • Started in 1904, still in effect today

    • Not defensive or offensive, just to improve relations

      • Led the way to the Triple Entente

  • Anglo-Russian Alliance

    • 1907

    • Settled colonial disputes in Asia

    • Improved Anglo-Russian relations

  • Triple Entente

    • Britain, France, & Russia

    • Contained Germany

    • 1907-1917

    • Rebalanced the power

    • The Entente did not require states to join any potential conflict

Did alliances contribute to the start of World War One?

No

  • The manner at which each country entered the war did not follow the alliances

    • France did not declare war on Germany though Germany had declared war on France’s ally Russia

    • Austria-Hungary did not declare war on Britain or France even though they had declared war on Germany

    • Italy did not join the war in 1914 though they were allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary

    • The result of each country being at war despite not following alliances shows they were more focused on their own self-interests rather than the political connections

    • Actors weren’t exactly pulled into war, as the main alliances did not commit the signatories to military action for any event

Political Actors

Kaiser Wilhelm II

  • Bad strategic decisions

  • Comes to throne in 1888, forces Bismarck to resign in 1890

  • Related to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and George V of the United Kingdom

  • Spent a lot of time in the UK

  • Destroyed the France-Isolating systems Bismarck had created

  • Starts a colonial rivalry

  • Helped Germany to industrialize

  • Tried to start external conflicts to distract German population away from internal conflicts

David Lloyd-George

  • Prime minister of Britain between 1916 and 1922

  • Led Britain in the Treaty of Versailles and the Paris Peace Treaties

Woodrow Wilson

  • President of the USA between 1913 and 1921

  • Famous 14-point speech

    • End war, allow self-determination (but only within Central Powers countries)

    • Suggested and fought for the creation of the League of Nations

  • Led post-war peace talks

Serbia

  • Black Hand killed Ferdinand

    • Mild connections to military and government

    • Led by Dragutin Dimitrijevic, a Serbian army officer

    • Gavrilo Princip was the assassin

  • King Alexander I

    • Killed in May Coup in June 1903

    • Was Austria-Hungary friendly

    • Replaced by King Peter I, a Russian-friendly guy

  • Wanted to make a unified Balkan Slav State (Yugoslavia)

  • Generally caused tensions due to hatred of Austria-Hungary

Erich Ludendorff

  • German military officer

  • Contributed to Nazi rise to power (Unimportant in this case)

  • Contributed to victories at Liege and Tannenberg in 1914

  • Appointed first quartermaster general of army general staff in 1916

  • Became chief policymaker of the de facto government of Germany between 1916 and Germany’s defeat

  • Was very mentally unstable, allegedly had a nervous breakdown due to losses in the west at Marne

    • Afterwards, he finally accepted the war was lost

    • Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg told the cabinet that Ludendorff is only good when things are going well, he loses his nerves if things go wrong

  • Was generally a good leader, made significant progress in the east but was outnumbered and outgunned in the west

Tsar Nicholas II

  • Family man

  • Didn’t want to rule Russia

  • Somewhat clumsy policy - Led to his downfall

  • Lost support during war

  • Lost the Russo-Japanese war

Herbert Henry Asquith

  • Prime Minister of Britain between 1908 and 1916

Georges Clemenceau

  • Prime Minister of France between 1917 and 1920

  • Led France in the Paris Peace Treaties

  • Wanted protection against Germany

  • Wanted Alcase-Lorraine back

Franz Joseph I

  • Emperor of Austria

  • King of Hungary

  • Died in 1916 before the war ended

  • Very reactionary & conservative

  • Desperate to keep empire alive

  • Blamed Serbia for Franz-Ferdinand’s death

Black Hand

  • Serbian secret military society

  • Run by Dragutin Dimitrijevic

  • Formed by Serbian military officers

  • Responsible for May Coup (The leader was, but the group hadn’t formed yet)

  • Founded in May 1911

  • Responsible for assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Paul von Hindenburg

  • German military officer

  • Led the Imperial German Army

  • President of Germany from 1925-1934

  • Was retired when war broke out, but was selected to lead the army due to military purges

  • Worked closely with Ludendorff, contributed to same victories

    • Successful duo

  • Assembled almost 700,000 more men and supplied them with light machine guns

  • Led negotiations in Brest-Litovsk

  • Blamed the hunger and strikes on poor organization and transportation

    • Didn’t realize the government could have fed everyone if the people had farmed more efficiently, farmers were following government policy

  • Aggressive offensive tactics

World War One

Mobilization

Military Manpower

Everyone (Except Britain) had large standing armies

  • Germany mobilized 1.5 million troops

    • Very fast and very efficiently

    • Germany was ready for Schlieffen plan within days of mobilization

  • Entente had numerical advantage

  • Everyone needed more troops throughout the war

    • Russia drew from huge population

    • British empire provided over 2.6 million troops to British war effort

    • American troops from 1917, over 4 million total

    • Germany’s Ludendorff Offensive in 1918 failed due to lack of troops, which meant they were outnumbered

  • Conscription

    • “The Draft”

    • Every country involved did it at some point

    • Britain tried to avoid it, but had to from January 1916

      • Flow of volunteers stopped

Economic Mobilization

Most countries faced munitions shortages

  • British May 1915 “Shell scandal”

    • Shortages in shells were blamed for failure of breakthrough on Western Front

    • Shortage of 12% of rifles and 92% of high explosive shells

    • Production was rapidly increased

  • France increased shell production

    • 400 a day in October 1914 to 151,000 per day in June 1916

  • Machine gun production increased

    • Increased in Britain and Germany, but faster in Britain

    • Germany was lacking raw materials to make guns rapidly

  • Resources

    • USA’s entry provided Allies with more resources such as raw materials and war supplies

  • Russia was less industrialized

    • Struggled to produce enough weapons for the large army

    • 70,000 rifles per month in 1915, needed 200,000

    • By September 1916, 4.5 million shells were produced per month

    • For comparison, Germany made 7 million per month and Austria-Hungary made 1 million per month

  • Greater government control over production

    • Most governments created departments that oversaw production

    • Gave priority to war industries

    • Ensured efficient management

    • Management in Russia was poor

      • War ministry failed to co-ordinate supply distribution

      • Serious munitions shortages by 1915

      • Established the War Industries Committee, which increased munitions production and improved the situation

      • Rifle production increased by 40,000 per month between 1915 and 1916 (70,000-110,000)

      • Russia failed to give troops supplies, food, guns, etc. (generally had a shortage of everyone)

  • The workforce

    • Most countries increased workforce to increase supply production

      • Hired women to replace men who went off to war

    • Britain’s workforce was 23% women in 1914, but rose to 34% by 1918

    • France’s workforce was 33.8% women in 1911, but rose to 40% by 1918

    • Austria-Hungary - 17.5% in 1914 to 42.5% in 1916

    • Germany - 55% of the workforce by 1918

    • Some constraints for conscripting men in the workforce were implemented

Attack / Defense Plans

Schlieffen Plan

  • Created in 1905, executed 1914 (See July Crisis)

  • Attack France through Belgium & Luxembourg, take Paris quickly, turn around and attack French frontlines along border with Germany from behind

  • After France, attack Russia

    • This assumes that France would be quick and easy, this turned out to be the problem

    • Belgian resistance was unexpectedly strong, took more than 2 weeks to capture Brussels

    • This gave time for the French to come in and halt the advance

  • Brought Britain into the war

  • Delay in Belgium gave Britain time to organize

  • Troops going to Paris were weakened by some forces being sent east to Russia & lack of supply

    • Russia had mobilized faster than expected

  • Failed to execute the plan correctly

    • Troops went south two quickly, approached Paris from the east instead of the west

  • France moved troops quickly

    • Moved reservists from Paris to Marne in taxis - ‘the taxis of the Marne’

  • German troops were exhausted and halted at Marne, marked failure of the Schlieffen Plan

Plan 19

  • Russian war plan

  • Assumed Germany would start a war by invading France first

  • Created 1910, revised 1912

  • Russia would advance into East Prussia and Silesia and move towards central Germany

  • France insisted Russia make a better plan, Russia refused

  • German attacks were unexpectedly strong

Land

Trenches

  • When creating a frontline, each side would dig ditches (trenches) across the frontline to protect soldiers

  • Mainly made for defense

  • Created “no-man’s land” in the middle, which was destroyed land due to shelling & barbed wire, this was difficult and dangerous to pass

  • Neither side would attack, resulting in a stalemate

    • Fear of artillery & gun fire

  • Stalemates could last for very long times

Creeping Barrage

  • Used advanced artillery

  • Widely used during the war

  • First used by Bulgaria in 1913

  • Artillery fires from behind, hitting right in front of the troops and shoots slightly further each time, troops follow behind the screen of explosions

  • Bypassed trench warfare

Mines

  • Landmines are explosives that detonate when stepped on

  • Landmines placed in no-man’s land in front of an enemy advance

  • Made walking on ground dangerous

  • Destroyed enemy troops, created breach in frontlines

  • Sometimes didn’t detonate at all

  • Places like France, Belgium and Bosnia were heavily mined

    • These places are still very dangerous today due to the high amount of mines present - Long-term effect of war

1915 - Treaty of London (Russia, Italy, Britain, & France) brought Italy into the war on the Allies side in return for some land on the Adriatic, which they never got

The armistice was signed between the Allies and the last remaining member of the Central Powers; Germany. The armistice took effect and fighting stopped on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, or 11:00 on November 11. What followed were the Paris Peace Treaties (See ‘Effects of War’)

The land Italy was promised:

Notable Battles

First Battle of the Marne

  • 5-12 Sep 1914

  • Invasion of France

  • Germans made it to the Marne river, 40km from Paris, before being pushed back

  • A total of over 500,000 casualties

Battle of Loos

  • 25 Sep - 8 Oct, 1915

  • First British use of gas

  • Biggest British attack of 1915

  • British attack failed

  • ~85,000 casualties

Battle of the Somme

  • 15 Sep 1916

  • First use of tanks

    • Used by the British

    • Unreliable

    • Soon countered by artillery and bombs

    • Could roll over barbed wire and ignore gunfire in no-mans land

  • Over 1 million casualties

Nivelle Offensive

  • 16 April - 9 May 1917

  • Franco-British operation

  • Plan failed, caused French mutinies

  • ~355,000 Casualties

First Battle of Ypres

  • Ypres, Belgium

  • 19 Oct - 22 Nov, 1914

  • >200,000 Casualties

Battles of the Isonzo

  • 12 Battles between Italy and Austria-Hungary

  • 23 June 1915 - 7 November 1917

  • >1.4 million casualties total

  • No land gains were made

Battle of Arras

  • 9 April - 16 May 1917

  • Battle of Vimy Ridge is part of the Battle of Arras

  • Stalemate with many dead

  • 285,000 Casualties

Ludendorff Offensive

  • 21 Mar - 18 Jul 1917

  • 4 German offensives

  • Germans made significant territorial gains but lost manpower, supplies, and morale

  • Largest single gain since 1914

  • >1.5 million casualties

Second Battle of Ypres

  • April 22, 1915

  • First use of gas

    • Used by German troops

    • Quickly adapted by the Allies

    • Gas masks first distributed to Allied troops on December 6, 1916

    • Chlorine gas

  • ~100,000 Casualties

Battle of Verdun

  • 28 Feb to 18 Dec 1916

  • Longest single battle in the war

  • Western front

  • “Bleed them white” - General Erich von Falkenhayn

  • >700,000 Casualties

Third battle of Ypres

  • Also known as the Battle of Passchendaele

  • 31 Jul - 10 Nov 1917

  • Allied offensive

  • Allies achieved their goals, but it was difficult and controversial

    • Many losses, few strategic gains

  • 460,000-850,000 Casualties

Britain

  • Imported approx. 40% of its food, plus other materials such as rubber and oil

  • Vulnerable to Germany’s submarine warfare

  • Reluctant to do major rationing

  • Wanted to farm more food

    • Farmed an additional 2.1 million acres of land by 1918

  • Increased food import from the USA

  • Had to establish rationing by 1918

    • Beef & sugar

  • Government controlled food prices

  • Encouraged people to go without certain foods

Russia

  • Food shortages in cities caused massive inflation

    • Average price of food rose by 89% between 1914-16

    • Price of meat rose by 232%

    • Salt rose by 483%

  • Lack of food in urban areas

    • Result of bad and disorganized transportation

    • Peasants were producing less food throughout the war

    • Peasants had little incentive to sell products since the return was increasingly worthless

    • Paper money’s value went down

  • Hunger was a major cause of the 1917 revolution

Ottoman Empire

  • Refugees crowded Istanbul and other cities, causing food shortages

France

  • Suffered less due to large food production and US imports

Fronts & Theaters

Western Front

  • Opened by the Germans through the invasion of Belgium and Luxembourg

  • Invasion halted by the Battle of the Marne

  • This is where most of the fighting happened

  • This is where new technologies were introduced

  • Mainly Germany vs France, Britain, and the USA

  • A total of >14 million casualties

    • Including 1 million civilian casualties

Middle Eastern Theater

  • Ottomans vs British and their dominions

  • Many fighting on the side of the Allies were the people oppressed by the Ottoman Empire who desired an independent state

  • Significant gains against the Ottoman Empire

  • Total of 7 million dead, most of which were civilians

    • 4.775 million dead civilians

Asia & Pacific Theater

  • Conquering of German Asian & Pacific holdings (Mainly German New Guinea)

  • Other German and Austro-Hungarian holdings fell without fighting

  • Naval warfare was common

  • Ottoman supported rebellion in British Malaya

  • Russian Turkestan revolt in 1916

  • Japan, Britain, Russia, China, USA, and Siam (Thailand) vs Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire

  • Allied victory

  • Deaths unclear

General Information

  • Most nations suffered food shortages during the war

  • Millions of farmers were conscripted

  • Poor transportation of food

  • Less fertile soil

  • Weather

  • Blockades

Austria-Hungary

  • Transport system was disorganized & inadequate

  • Rationing in cities

  • Riots by 1918

  • Stole food from ships going down the Danube to Germany, this angered Germany

Germany

  • Imported about 30% of its food before the war, plus other materials

  • Britain’s naval blockade meant Germany had to produce more food domestically or face starvation of food and materials

  • By December 1915, Germany’s imports had halved what they were in 1913

  • Attempted to make meat substitutions with flour, grain, and mushrooms

    • Ersatz food was substitutes of common items such as bread, coffee, bread, tea, and butter

  • Ordered the slaughter of millions of pigs to save on grain

    • Caused amount of protein available long-term to decrease

    • Removed manure production, which could have been used as fertilizer

    • Less food available long-term

  • Lack of food led to riots and strikes in German cities

    • Caused revolt in 1918 that established a new government

United States

  • Was able to feed its civilians and military perfectly fine

  • Also supplied enormous quantities of food to Britain, France, and Italy

Plan XVII

  • French mobilization plan

  • Developed from 1912-1914

  • To be used in the event of a war between France & Germany

  • To invade Germany (or Belgium, or both) before Germany could mobilize

  • Expected Russian offensive against Germany in the east

  • Implemented plan from 7 august 1914, had disastrous consequences

    • Defeat in Battle of Frontiers (7 August - 13 September)

    • 329,000 Casualties

    • Retreated to Marne river, defeated Germans there

    • Started the ‘Race for the Sea’ which created the long eastern frontline

  • Circumvent German forts, attack into Alcase-Lorraine

  • Or attack through Belgium into Germany

  • Failed with the Battle of Fronteirs

  • France wasn’t ready for Germany’s declaration of war, couldn’t implement the plan quickly or effectively enough

Plans B and R

  • Austro-Hungarian war plan

  • Assumed war would be limited to Serbia only

  • Plan B (Balkans)

    • 3 divisions would invade Serbia

    • 3 more divisions on the Russian border

  • Plan R (Russia)

    • Revised Plan B

    • More troops to guard against Russia

    • Deployed 4 armies against Russia and 2 against Serbia

    • Assumed German defense in the north, this didn’t happen because Germany committed more troops to the Schlieffen Plan in the west

  • Hungarian Prime Minister Istvan Tisza foresaw war, warned other members of the Crown Council, was ignored

  • Prepared for war in Early July

Other countries

  • Britain had no plan

  • Belgium had no plan

  • USA planned to not join

Practices of War

Air

Intelligence

  • Planes flew over enemy positions

  • Got exact coordinates of enemies

  • Gave information to the people manning the artillery, who fired on those coordinates

Dogfighting

  • Airplanes, which were now fitted with machine guns, would fight each other midair

  • This happened from enemies trying to intercept intelligence missions

  • Air superiority was finally important

  • Planes could do ground support, dogfighting was the result of interception

Sea

Naval Blockades

  • Most used by the British to cut off German supply

  • Boast patrolled major choke points (Thin stretches of sea between land), and intercepted any ships travelling to Germany with supplies

  • Major choke points included the North Sea and the English Channel

Submarine warfare

  • Famously used by Germany

  • U-Boat warfare

  • “Unrestricted U-Boat warfare” - Sink any ship that could be going to the Allies

  • Resulted in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, this angered the USA

Years of War

Eastern Front

  • Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, & Ottomans vs Russia and Romania

  • Opened by Russian invasion of Germany

  • Central Powers won this front

  • A total of 14.5 - 18.1 million deaths

    • Including 2 million civilian casualties, mainly in Russia

African Theater

  • Conquering of German African holdings (Togoland, German Southwest Africa, Cameroon, German East Africa)

  • Germans vs British, French, Italians, and Portuguese

  • Allied victory

  • Unclear number of deaths - millions of civilians dead due to fighting & disease

Food Shortages

Land

Paris gun

  • Long-range siege artillery gun built by the Germans

  • Largest gun in the entire war

  • Maximum range of 130km

  • Parisians believed they were being bombed by zeppelins because the front was far away, but it was just artillery fire

  • 7 built, all destroyed by allied offensives

Gas

  • First used in Second Battle of Ypres

  • Didn’t cause as many deaths as other weapons

  • Caused excruciating and painful deaths

    • Choking & organ failure

  • Very scary to soldiers

  • Quickly countered by gas masks

    • Masks only effective if soldiers put them on quick enough

  • Weakness was a lack of control

    • If wind changed, the gas could move towards the troops who deployed it

  • Originally released from canisters, but eventually launched in artillery shells to enemy trenches

Tanks

  • First used in the Battle of the Somme

  • Could resist gunfire and roll over barbed wire

  • Effective in getting through no-man’s land

  • Typically had cannons that could decimate frontlines

  • Countered by artillery and other explosives

  • countered by uneven ground

    • Pits were common in no-man’s land due to artillery fire

  • Frequently broke down

  • Speed: 7-8km/h

  • Range: 60-90km

Artillery

  • Artillery technology wasn’t new, but advanced throughout the war

  • Became more precise and deadly

  • Made counter attacks & attacks more deadly

  • Sweeping barrage

Machine guns

  • Also not new, but became more widely used

  • Could gun down rows of soldiers easily

  • Singular soldiers still typically used bolt-action rifles

Anti-Aircraft guns

  • Used to take down enemy aircraft

  • Protect friendly aircraft from the ground

  • Could be used against high-altitude balloons or low-flying planes

Armored Cars

  • Used for support and transport

  • Most countries used armored cars

  • More useful in developed areas, as they weren’t good offroad

  • Good replacement for cavalry

  • Some cars, like the Rolls Royce Armored Car, had machine guns installed

Air

Zeppelins

  • Mainly used by the German air force

  • High-flying aircraft that could drop bombs on targets such as London, then ascend quickly to avoid enemy aircraft & guns

  • Effective in air raids

  • Germans had hydrogen (USA refused to sell them helium), making them highly explosive and prone to explosion

  • Countered by flaming or explosive bullets

  • Britain developed plains that could ascend quickly, reach high altitudes, and fire explosive/flaming bullets, this was an effective counter to zeppelins

  • They were often inaccurate, could not target bomb specific places

  • Sustained high losses

  • First use of strategic bombing

Airplanes

  • Developed quickly throughout the war

  • First used to gain intelligence on enemy positions

  • Soon fitted with machine guns

  • Fighter pilots seen as heroes

  • First used by Germans in Battle of the Mons, causing British to withdraw

  • Later used by Allies in Battle of the Marne to find weak points in German positions

  • Countered by anti-aircraft heavy guns

  • Speed: 140-220km/h

    • Britain’s planes went 77km/h

  • Rate of climb: 2-5m/s

Barrage Balloons

  • Steel cable nets flown by airships at an altitude of 4500 meters, this was the max altitude for bomber planes

    • Spanned large distances, hung very low close to the ground

  • Meant to catch and destroy bombers

  • Usually had explosives attached to the cable to destroy bombers more effectively

  • Reduced the number of and destructive power of bomber raids on London

  • Weak in the amount of resources they used, steel nets were huge

Kite Balloons

  • Basically small zeppelins filled with hydrogen

  • Used for reconnaissance

Barrage Balloons protecting London

Sea

U-Boats

  • German submarines, made larger and more dangerous with torpedoes during the war

  • Made to sink Allied blockades & transport convoys

  • “Unrestricted Submarine Warfare” - Sunk any ship suspected to be related to the Allies

  • Unrestricted Submarine Warfare ended in 1915 after sinking of RMS Lusitania

    • Threatened bringing the USA into the war

    • Resumed in 1917 in an attempt to cut Allies off from supplies & break the blockade

  • Ships built to counter U-Boats

Warships

  • Ships like destroyers and battleships already existed, but grew rapidly in speed, strength, and size

  • Allowed raiding missions and blockades to be more effective

Aircraft carrier

  • Had already existed beforehand, but had only carried reconnaissance balloons

  • During the war, developed into seaplane carriers

  • First successful carrier raid was done by Japan in 1914 to bombard German forces

  • First flat-deck carriers developed by the British in 1914 and 1915

    • Not widely used as these carriers were slow, inefficient, difficult to build, and too new

A US Warship used during the war

War Technologies

Entry and Role of the USA

Entry

  • Sinking of the RMS Lusitania (1915) had already angered USA and the people (It killed 123 Americans)

  • Events leading up to American joining

    • USA was angered that their ships were being sunk by Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

    • Germany had sunk an unarmed French boat in 1916, and then the United States had threatened to cut diplomatic relations with the Germans unless they refrained from attacking all passenger ships and allowed the evacuation of merchant vessels before they were attacked. Germany accepted these terms

    • Germany had pledged to stop Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

    • The German Navy then convinced Kaiser Wilhelm that they needed to resume Unrestricted Submarine Warfare in order to win, and that doing so would help defeat the British within 5 months

    • Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg was against this, as he thought it would bring the Americans into the war on the Allies’ side and that this would cause Germany’s defeat

    • Germany resumed Unrestricted Submarine Warfare, and Woodrow Wilson severed relations but didn’t ask Congress for a declaration of war

    • Germany sunk multiple American ships, killing American citizens

    • As Congress couldn’t agree, Wilson implemented an executive order to arm all merchant ships with US Navy equipment

    • The British intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram as it was sent to Mexico. Germany had promised Mexico to help them recover territory they had lost following the Mexican-American war in return for Mexican support in the war - January 19 1917

    • Britain shared the telegram with the Americans in February

    • Wilson held a Cabinet meeting in March to discuss this

  • Why the Americans went to war

    • The exact reasons Woodrow Wilson decided to go to war are debated

    • The Zimmerman Telegram and threat of attack swayed public opinion in favor of war

    • Technically under international law, the US placing naval officers on civilian ships was already an act of war against Germany

    • The threats against the USA and the actions Germany had done against them persuaded Congress to declare war on April 6, 1917

    • Wilson was reluctant to go to war alongside an absolute monarchy, Russia, but the revolution in 1917 eased his concerns

  • Woodrow Wilson felt forced to go to war

  • Troops didn’t arrive until 1918

Role

  • Washington had not planned any mobilization as they were reluctant to even consider going to war, which meant it took a year to mobilize

  • Had a home force of 50,000 to 1 million employees in agencies managing the war economy, such as production and food

  • Food

    • Herbert Hoover’s United States Food Administration launched a campaign to teach Americans to modify their food budgets and encouraged them to grow food in their backyards, called ‘Victory gardens’

  • Finances

    • The United States was not prepared for the economic strains of war

    • Cost for the USA was $33 billion

    • Increased income tax to pay for it

    • Anyone who made more than $2000/year would pay 2% income tax in 1917, then 12% in 1918

    • Taxed the excess profits of businesses

    • Taxes on the purchases of cars, jewelry, cameras, and motorboats

    • War bonds - Propaganda efforts encouraged Americans to buy war bonds, which were essentially just loans, $21 billion in bonds were sold

    • Made $10 billion in long-term loans to the Allies, every country repaid by the 1950s except Russia

  • Military

    • Selective Service Act in 1917 drafted 4 million men into service

    • 2 million soldiers arrived in France by summer 1918, but only half actually saw front-line service

    • By armistice, about 10,000 American soldiers were arriving in France daily

    • Sent a battleship group to assist the British and sent marines to France

  • Impact

    • USA brought troops who weren’t tired of the war at a time when Germany couldn’t replace their troops

    • Americans helped defeat Germany’s Spring Offensive (Ludendorff Offensive)

    • Destroyed German morale

    • Brought supplies, food, weapons, vehicles, alcohol, & pie

    • Motivated the Allies as now they knew victory was inevitable

    • The Americans used four-wheel drive trucks made by the Four Wheel Drive company, which were very important to Allied transports as the Allies used two-wheel drive trucks that got stuck in mud. The Allies couldn’t produce enough four-wheel drive trucks to suit their army, but the Americans could

  • Commander groups were rearranged to fit the Americans

  • USA gained significant ground by aggressively attacking the enemy

    • This worked sometimes, as it would scare away the enemy

    • Most of the time, it would result in heavy losses as the Germans already knew how to counter this

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

  • Ended Russia’s participation in the war

  • Signed March 3, 1918

  • Signed between Bolsheviks & Central Powers

    • Russian civil war was still happening

  • Soviet Russia withdraws from the war & surrenders

  • Central powers forced the Bolsheviks to sign the treaty through threats of further war

  • Brest-Litovsk was effectively terminated by the Treaty of Versailles later in 1918

  • Terms:

    • Fighting stopped

    • Baltic states ceded to Germany

    • Cedes caucuses to Ottoman Empire

    • Gave land in Ukraine to Austria-Hungary

    • Russia to pay 6 million gold marks in reparations

  • Germany refused to recognize Poland, which increased Polish nationalism

  • Treaty lasted 8 months before being negated by Versailles

  • Russia lost 1/4 of its population, 1/3 of its grain production, and 9/10 of its coal mines

  • The amount of troops Germany needed to occupy the new land may have contributed to their downfall, as these troops were needed in the west but were being used in the east to suppress nationalists

  • Riots in the new territories

Tsar’s Abdication

  • Germans made significant gains in the east

  • Tsar decided to go to the frontlines as the commander, but was an ineffective commander

  • Left the capital, Saint Petersburg, undefended

  • Russian army took the city, renamed it Petrograd

  • Tsar was captured on the frontline and sent to Petrograd

  • Army was dissatisfied with the Tsar’s rule

  • Nicholas II was forced to abdicate at gunpoint

  • Provisional government taken over by Bolsheviks in October Revolution in 1917

  • This whole abdication crisis was called the February revolution

Soviet takeover of Russia

This is likely unimportant but is nice to know

October Revolution

  • Provisional government tried to continue the war, launched an offensive in 1917

  • Revolution started on October 25 (Julian Calendar) by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik party (Started 7 November Gregorian Calendar)

  • The provisional government after the February revolution was very unpopular with the people, due to killing protestors and ruling the country with an iron fist

  • Bolsheviks called for a military uprising - 10 October 1917 (Julian Calendar)

  • Trotsky and the Petrograd Soviet voted to support the military uprising

  • Small uprisings at first before full scale uprising, took ports and important parts of Petrograd

  • Stormed the Winter Palace, which was where the provisional government was operating from

  • Started Russian Civil War

    • Lasted until 1923

    • Created Soviet Union

    • Soviets murdered the Romanov family (Tsar Nicholas II and his family)

Germany’s risky military policy

  • Germany gambled on a quick victory with the Schlieffen plan. Once that had failed, Germany faced a war on two fronts and no hope of rapid conclusion of the war

  • Schlieffen plan was also a gamble in that by going through Belgium, they brought Britain into the war. In 1914, German Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg had infamously sneered at Britain’s willingness to go to war over a “scrap of paper”

  • Verdun “bleed them white” (German Commander Erich von Falkenhayn) strategy also failed

  • Unrestricted U-Boat warfare also failed in limiting supplies reaching Allies

  • Unrestricted U-Boat warfare was a risky strategy as it contributed to the USA joining the war

    • Sinking of the RMS Lusitania

    • By August 1918, 300,000 US troops arriving per month

  • The dispatch of the so called Zimmerman telegraph was also intercepted. This showed that Germany was aware that the risky U-Boat strategy could bring in the US and encouraged Mexico to join Germany and attack the US. This telegram had strong impact on US public opinion towards joining the war against Germany

  • German invasion of Belgium (1914), sinking of Lusitania (1915), and zeppelin attacks over UK sacrifices the moral high ground and thus Germany finds it difficult to win the propaganda war

Weak allies

  • Germany depended on Austria-Hungary to win the war in the Balkans

    • Political chaos and military weakness in Austria-Hungary contributed to losses

    • Germany viewed Austria-Hungary as a strategic liability

  • “Shackled to a corpse” Germany believed they were stuck with useless allies

    • Especially the Ottoman Empire

  • Austria-Hungary’s army experienced disunity, soldiers considered themselves separate nationalities rather than Austro-Hungarian

  • Logistics of a multi-ethnic empire meant orders had to be translated into 15 different languages

  • Austria-Hungary attempted to attack Italian positions to unify the army, lost 100,000 men instead

  • Germany’s allies surrendered before they did, leaving Germany all alone

    • Bulgaria sought armistice on September 25 after defeat at the Battle of Dorian due to being told Germany couldn’t help

    • Austria-Hungary collapsed

  • Bulgaria’s surrender cut off Germany’s supply of oil. The same day, Ludendorff told the Kaiser, “The war is lost.”

  • Ottomans, “the sick man of Europe,” had some success at Gallipoli, but had been in decline for years and was in no position to engage in the war

    • Ottoman Empire disintegrated

  • Austria-Hungary and Turkey surrendered in October 1918

Not capitalizing on Russia’s withdrawal

  • Russia’s withdrawal from the war and the harsh Treaty of Brest-Litovsk terms did not help Germany

    • Lengthy deliberation over the treaty disrupted organization for Spring Offensive

    • One million men needed to occupy new territory and Baltics & Ukraine

  • Chaos in Russia meant Germany couldn’t get badly needed materials from them to combat supply deficits

Economic factors

Supply Issues

  • Supply wasn’t reaching the German army

  • German population was ready for revolution

  • Production fell by 70% in some areas

  • Germany was the first country to introduce rationing, attempting to save meat, bread, potatoes, and fats

Public funds

  • Germany had a federal tax system (Decentralized economic system), so they were unable to raise enough money through taxes to fund the war

  • Germany spend 83% of public expenditure on the military, and just 2% on the public sector

    • In Britain, it was 62% and 16% respectively

Allies

  • British Defense of the Realm Act (DORA) gave the government power over production and distribution, made it more efficient

  • New Prime Minister David Lloyd-George solved the munition crisis

    • Uses the DORA to encourage women to work in munitions plants

  • Allies had greater resources so they could sustain the war longer

    • Central powers ran out of resources while the Allies didn’t

  • The situation ultimately benefitted the Allies

British control of the seas

  • Blockade of Germany caused food shortages for the Germans

    • 1916 - Germany created ‘k-bread’

    • Winter 1917 - “Turnip winter” - most food replaced with turnips

  • Britain could import supplies from colonies and the USA

  • John Keegan believes the war at sea in the Atlantic was decisive for the Allied victory

Factors leading to the defeat of the Central Powers

Allied coordinated and modern style of warfare

  • Russia mobilized quicker than expected, launched an offensive into Germany immediately

  • French held Germany at the battle of the Marne

  • British raised a million volunteers by Christmas

  • Allied counteroffensive had greater coordination of effort and a “modern” style of warfare

  • French General Foch appointed to coordinate Allied operations in France

    • These operations took advantage of all new military developments that had occurred over the course of the war

    • Used tanks, artillery, aircraft, and infantry in close cooperation

Military defeat

  • When Italy joined the Allies, the Central Powers faced a war on 3 fronts

  • Stalemate meant war of attrition, exhausted both sides

    • Exhausted Central Powers more, as they were cut off from supplies

    • Joining of the USA meant more supply and fresh troops for the Allies

  • Failure of Ludendorff Offensive (Spring Offensive) was critical to German defeat and lower morale of the German army

    • Supply lines overstretched

    • 1 million men lost

  • “The war had been above all a contest of endurance, and during the course of 1918, the accumulated strain and the hopelessness of its situation had broken the army’s will to continue fighting.” (Alexander Watson “Stabbed at the Front” History Today, 2008, p.22)

  • Germany was unable to sustain losses after the 1918 offensive

  • Spanish flu led to high casualties and low morale

  • 8th August 1918 - “Black day” for German army, Allied offensive led to huge blow to morale

    • AJP Taylor says Germans, “No longer wanted to win, they only wanted to end the war.”

  • Ludendorff asked for an armistice in October 1918, “No reliance can be put on the troops any longer. Since August 8th, it has gone rapidly downhill, continually units have proved themselves so unreliable that they have hurriedly had to be withdrawn from the front… the High Command and the German Army are finished

  • Germany could have beaten France one-on-one and Russia could have beaten Austria-Hungary one-on-one, but the cooperative nature of the war meant it became a stalemate and a war of attrition

US Entry into the war

  • US contribution was critical, as troops began to arrive in 1918

  • Two million soldiers deployed (4 million mobilized), lacked “war weariness”

    • Gave Allies an advantage

  • Brought a massive economy and resources

    • Helped the push

  • US was already contributing massively to the war, supplying arms, war materials, and resources to the allies

    • In total, the USA lent ~$60 billion in materials

    • Very important supplies, made a huge difference to the fight

  • Value of German trade with the USA fell from 68 billion in late 1914 to 10 billion in early 1915

  • Declared war on Germany in April 1917, but at the time the army was small and ill-equipped

    • Chief historian at the US Army Center of Military History: “The war ended before American commanders and staffs could attain proficiency, adjusting their training methods and tactics to meet the demands of the Western Front.”

  • Arguably, the US entry did not give the Allies quick means of obtaining victory over Germany

  • Gave huge morale boost to the French and British troops, helped counter the spring offensive

    • Ludendorff realized American entry was going to cause Germany to lose due to the huge number of American troops arriving in France

  • “American participation spelled the defeat of German ambitions.” Akira Iriye in The Globalizing of America 1913-1945

Domestic instability of the Central Powers

Bulgaria

  • Sought armistice after defeat at the Battle of Dorian on September 25 after being told Germany couldn’t help

Turkey

  • Signed an armistice in late October 1918 due to highly successful British campaigns in the Middle East

  • Arab uprisings disrupted Turkish war effort

Austria-Hungary

  • As early as 1916, Emperor Karl (Successor to Franz-Joseph) made peace proposals to the Allies

  • By 1918, daily flour ration in Vienna had dropped to 165 grams

  • Stole food from food trains and ships heading to Germany, this angered Germany

  • Number of deserters in the army rose sharply

  • Battle of Vittorio Veneto (24th October - November 1918) defeated the Austrians

  • Empire quietly disintegrated on October 31, 1918

    • Declarations of independence from the Czechs, Yugoslavs, & Hungarians

    • 3 days later, the remnants of the Habsburg armies requested armistice

Germany

  • By early October 1918, Ludendorff recognized the need to withdraw from occupied areas and to accept social democrats into the government to pacify the democratic Allies

  • 4th October - New German government led by Prince Max of Baden requested an armistice based on Woodrow Wilson’s ‘14 points’

    • Threat of domestic revolution added urgency to this request

  • 20th October 1918 - Naval crews in Kiel started a mutiny to protest the orders to continue operations at sea

    • Over the next few days, more people joined in

    • Mutiny spread to other towns such as Munich

  • Kaiser was persuaded that abdicating would save Germany from civil war and Germany would become a republic

    • This was due to multiple public demonstrations demanding the end of his reign

  • November 9, 1918 - Social democrats proclaimed the Republic of Germany with Fredrich Ebert as the president

  • The German delegation agreed to sign the armistice on November 11th, 1918

    • The delegation was horrified by the terms of the armistice

Treaty of Versailles

  • Completed in 1919

  • 440 Clauses

  • Clause 231 - War Guilt Clause: Germany accepted guilt for the war

  • Central powers had no say in the terms

  • Germany was to disarm to the minimum amount required for national security

  • Germany couldn’t have an air force, tanks, armored cars, or submarines

  • Germany could keep 6 battleships and 100,000 men

  • Rhineland was demilitarized

    • Allies were to occupy it for 15 years

    • France wanted to annex it, but USA and UK refused

  • Alcase-Lorraine returned to France

  • The Saarland, a coal mining region, would be administered by the League of Nations, all extracted coal would go to France

    • France could occupy it if Germany didn’t pay the reparations

  • Germany was split, west Prussia and part of their gains from Brest-Litovsk became Poland

    • East Prussia remained German

  • Created Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Baltic region

  • Nullified Brest-Litovsk

  • All German overseas colonies were taken and split between Allies

    • Asian colonies given to Japan

    • German New Guinea given to Australia

    • African colonies given to France, UK, Belgium, and South Africa

  • A union between Austria and Germany was forgiven

  • Ottoman Empire was split into mandates controlled by the UK and France

    • A Mandates - Could soon become independent states: Palestine, Iraq, Transjordan, Syria, and Lebanon

    • B Mandates - Needed some work to develop: Cameroon, Togoland, Tanganyika, Ruanda-Urundi

    • C Mandates - Needed a lot of work: North pacific islands, New Guinea, Southwest Africa, Samoa

  • Created an independent Turkey

  • Officially destroyed Austria-Hungary

    • Created Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Yugoslavia as independent states

    • Gave land to Romania, Italy, Poland, and the Soviets

  • In 1921, reparations were set at 6.6 billion pounds

    • For comparison, 1 British pound was 1,011 German Marks, so Brest-Litovsk wasn’t that harsh in reparations

  • Wanted to put Kaiser and other commanders on trial

    • He had fled to the Netherlands, and the Dutch refused to arrest him

    • They couldn’t find some other important people they wanted to put on trial

    • Some German commanders went on trial and were jailed or fined

  • Eupen, Moresnet, and Malmedy would go to Belgium and North Schleswig would go to Denmark

  • Effects:

    • Economic downturn in Germany due to reparations - Government announced in 1921 that it could not muster the funds to pay

    • Political crisis, the government struggled to control protests and the multiple political parties were hostile to each other and unwilling to work together

    • Led to a social divide as people leaned towards the extreme left or right

    • See ‘Weimar Germany’ page for more information

    • Border disputes in the east due to the lands not being officially divided, but were to be given a plebiscite to decide. This issue was resolved by the League of Nations

Treaty of Neuilly - Allies & Bulgaria

  • 27 November 1919

  • Signed in France

  • Cede western Thrace to Greece, this cut off their access to the Aegean Sea

  • Population exchange with Greece so Bulgarians can return to Bulgaria

  • Cede western lands to Yugoslavia

  • Return property stolen during the war

  • Army reduced to 20,000

  • Pay reparations of 100 million pounds

  • Must recognize Yugoslavia

  • Effects:

    • The Bulgarian Communist Party made significant parliamentary gains

    • The war damaged the agriculture industry, leaving much of the population starving. The Agrarian party attempted to fix this

    • National public service was made mandatory for one year for all men to aid in the construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure. This was to improve the economic situation

    • The army’s Military League overthrew the Agrarian government in 1923 and killed the prime minister

    • A communist uprising was crushed

    • King and other major members of parliament were almost killed in a bombing of the cathedral in Sofia in 1925

    • Following the attack, the government sponsored political purges that led to the deaths of many Agrarians and many more people being jailed or exiled

    • A coalition called the Popular Bloc that included the Agrarians gained power in 1931 before being overthrown in another military coup in 1934

    • Bulgaria experienced economic issues which were helped by loans, but economic gains collapsed in 1929

    • Bulgarian groups supported the independence of Macedonia by training troops and supplying them with weapons because the region was controlled by Bulgaria’s enemies, Greece and Yugoslavia

Treaty of Lausanne - Allies & Turkey

  • Last treaty of World War One

  • Signed in 1923

  • Recognized modern borders of Turkey

  • Had to recognize territorial claims of other nations

  • Lifted army limit

  • Foreign troops withdrawn

  • No need to pay reparations

  • Demilitarized areas remained demilitarized

Czechoslovakia

  • No peace treaty, as they weren’t seen as a belligerent

  • Created after the collapse of Austria-Hungary

  • Ethnically diverse, unlike Austria and Hungary that were dominated by Germans and Hungarians respectively

  • Population of 13.5 million, including:

    • >3 million Germans

    • 750,000 Hungarians

    • 500,000 Ruthenians (Rusyns)

    • 200,000 Jews

  • Czechs controlled the government and all civil service jobs including teaching, creating resentment from the other minorities

  • Czechs did not trust the minorities, as Germans wanted to merge with Austria and the Hungarians and Slovaks wanted to unite with Hungary

  • Czech political parties dominated the government, resulting in political stability as they tried to fix the social divisions. This was not successful

  • Czechoslovakia invaded Tesin in Poland, pushing the Polish forces out. Czechoslovakia wanted the coal that this area provided. This conflict was resolved in 1925

  • Hungarian forces invaded in 1919 in an attempt to restore Hungary’s old borders and created the Slovak Socialist Republic, which was destroyed by the Czechoslovak army

  • Helped form the Little Entente with Yugoslavia and Romania to protect against Hungarian aggression

  • Formed relations with France

  • Little economic stress, as Czechoslovakia was a very industrial part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and they maintained this. Czechoslovakia contained up to 80% of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s industry

    • They were in the top 10 most industrialized nations in the 1920s

    • Despite this, it was an example of the ethnic divide - Most industry was in Bohemia where Czechs lived while the Ruthenian and Slovakian regions were mostly agricultural

  • The state launched a land distribution plan where every landowner who had more than 5km^2 worth of property would have the excess taken and distributed to peasants

Romania

  • Mainly agricultural, but included vast natural resources such as petroleum

  • Industry was underdeveloped, making them reliant on international trade in the 1920s, but they recovered their industry throughout this decade

  • The number of registered businesses rose from 86,000 in 1918 to 273,000 in 1930

  • Oil industry rose from <1 million tonnes of extracted oil in 1918 to almost 6 million in 1930

  • Despite development, Romania remained very agriculture-focused

  • There was political stability, though the elections were fixed and highly controlled by whatever party the King chose to form the government, inevitably resulting in that party winning

  • Peasants had the right to vote, but were universally disinterested in politics

  • By 1930, the monarch almost completely controlled the government

  • Romania was scared of the Soviet Union and, to a lesser extent, Hungary

  • Big supporter of the League of Nations and disarmament in the hopes of these ideals would protect Romania’s borders and protect against war

Peacemaking

Treaty of Saint Germain-En-Laye - Allies & Austria

  • 10 September 1919

  • Austria was to be separated from Hungary

    • Lost 75% of its pre-war territory and 80% of its population

    • Now a population of 7 million

  • Bohemia and Moravia would become Czechoslovakia

    • Wealthy and industrialized regions

  • Lost Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina to Yugoslavia (Called Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes at the time)

  • Poland got Galicia

  • Austria was forbidden from unifying with Germany

  • Italy took South Tyrol, Trentino, and Istria

    • They wanted more, but did not get what they were promised

  • Army was reduced to 30,000 troops

  • Had to pay reparations, but went bankrupt by 1922. The League of Nations took over their financial affairs

  • Effects:

    • As coal came from Czechoslovakia and food from Hungary before the war, Austria had a lack of resources

    • This deficit was further exemplified as the surrounding nations placed tariffs on Austria and trade borders between them, meaning that the industry essentially shut down due to a lack of resources

    • Working and lower classes couldn’t afford food or basic supplies

    • Prices increased by over 14,000%

    • The League of Nations fixed this by loaning 650 million Krone to Austria, replacing the currency with the more stable Shilling, and enacting a treaty between them and Czechoslovakia where the Czechs would provide Austria with coal (1922)

    • Politics became dominated by the Christian Social Party and the Social Democrats. The latter provided workers rights, healthcare reforms, and a new tax system in Vienna only, as the national government was dominated by the former. Both formed paramilitary organizations to protect themselves, highlighting the instability

    • Supporters of these parties clashed amongst each other, including fights between the paramilitary organizations. This resulted in riots and arson and eventually the establishment of a fascist regime under Dolfuss in 1933

Treaty of Trianon - Allies & Hungary

  • 4 June 1920

  • Separated from Austria

  • Hungary had to recognize new states

  • Lost 75% of its pre-war territory and 66% of its population

  • Slovakia and Ruthenia given to Czechoslovakia

  • Transylvania and the Banat of Temesvar given to Romania

  • Army limited to 35,000 troops

  • Had to pay reparations

  • Hungary complained about these terms as they lost regions with ethnic Hungarians

  • Effects:

    • Inspired by Russia, Bela Kun led a communist revolt and created the Hungarian Soviet Republic

    • Fighting broke out between the communists and Miklos Horthy, between the Communists and Czechoslovakia, and between the communists and Romania

    • Romania invaded and occupied Hungary, forcing Kun to flee

    • When the Romanians left, they took machinery, 50% of all railroad equipment, 30% of livestock and agricultural equipment, and 35000 wagons worth of livestock food as ‘compensation’ for WW1

    • Hungary was dependent on the goods and market of the Empire, and so when it collapsed their economy did too

    • Hungary was the main producer of agriculture, and when the demand suddenly disappeared, unemployment spiked

    • Grain production declined by 70%

    • Hungary had a need for raw materials - After the treaty they had been left with only 16% of their iron ore mines and 11% of its timber resources

    • Hyperinflation until the League of Nations approved a 250 million Krone loan and replaced their currency with the Pengõ

    • By 1929, the number of factories had risen by 75% and foreign trade by 100%, though they were still partially dependent on agriculture

    • Admiral Horthy was appointed Regent, where he had the powers of a king. He appointed Prime Ministers and tightly controlled the parliament

    • Under Horthy, there were no land reforms as the peasants had demanded and minorities such as Jews faced discrimination

Treaty of Sevres - Allies & Ottoman Empire

  • 10 August 1920

  • Established Turkey

    • Disintegrated the Ottoman Empire

  • Turkey loses all non-Turkish territory

  • Armenia gains independence

  • Made Kurdistan an autonomous region

    • Proposed a referendum be held for Kurdish independence, this did not happen

  • Army restricted to 50,700 men

  • No air force

  • Required free transit of people to native lands

  • Ceded territory to Greece, France, Britain, and Armenia

  • Demilitarized the Bosphorus, Dardanelles, and Sea of Marmara

  • Replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne

Poland

  • No peace treaty with the Allies as they weren’t a belligerent

  • The eastern borders resulted in a war between Poland and the combined forces of Ukraine, Soviet Russia, and Lithuania, with Poland’s enemies also fighting each other

  • Poland won the war and took more land, giving them more territory than what was decreed in Versailles. This left few satisfied, as there were many Poles living outside of Poland and other ethnicities living inside Poland, including many Germans

    • Many Germans in the Polish corridor, like in Danzig

  • The first president was supported by the Socialists but was assassinated in 1922

  • The government was then overthrown in 1926 by the military led by Jozef Pilsudski

  • Pilsudski refused to become president and chose to remain head of the military, but he appointed the president, restricted the power of political parties, and controlled the press

  • He was popular as he worked to reduce the economic issues, and his system continued until he died in 1935

  • Territorial disputes between Germany and Poland, especially over Upper Silesia

    • The League of Nations decided to split the region between the two states, giving Poland the more industrial areas, which angered Germany

  • Poland encouraged minorities in Russia to work for independence and create new states, but they weren’t successful

  • Poland annexed the region and city of Vilna in 1922 in direct violation of their ceasefire

  • Poland maintained good relations with Romania, signing the Convention on Defensive Alliance in 1921, which was a mutual defense pledge against the Soviet Union. This was then expanded to be mutual defense against any attack

  • Signed a nonaggression pact with Soviet Union in 1932 and one with Germany in 1935

  • As Poland had been the battlefield between Germany and Russia, much of their industry was destroyed including factories, railways, and mines

  • As Poland had been created from 3 separate countries, the railways that did exist connected to other countries and not with each other

  • Though industry was only 30% of what it was in 1913, Poland’s acquisition of Danzig (Gdynia) and part of Upper Silesia assisted their economy

  • Throughout the 1920s, about 65% of the population were peasants

  • Industrial production was limited as only 16% of Poles were industry workers

  • Foreign investors didn’t want to invest in Poland

  • They saw some economic improvement in the late 1920s, but then it went downhill with the Great Depression in 1929

Yugoslavia

  • Multi-ethnic state dominated by the Serbs and Croats

  • Many people wanted a strong centralized government that would protect them from threats such as Italy and Hungary, but Croats wanted a federal government to give them a degree of autonomy within Yugoslavia

    • When Croat politicians were denied this, they withdrew from politics in protest, allowing the Serbs to dominate the political system

  • King Alexander I took full power in 1929 after a politician was assassinated, dissolving the parliament and constitution

    • He was desperate to keep power

    • Controlled press, banned political parties, and destroyed the traditional territorial boundaries and replaced them with 9 administrative districts

    • This did not achieve unity, but gained enough stability for cohesive foreign policy

  • Joined the Little Entente in 1921 to protect against Hungary

  • Clashes with Italy over territories such as Fiume and Dalmatia

  • King Alexander attempted diplomacy with Mussolini, but this failed

  • Joined the Balkan Entente in 1934 with Greece, Romania, and Turkey

  • Majority of the population were peasants without modern machines

  • Most factories were destroyed by the war, though some remained in Belgrade

  • Large estates were taken from primarily Hungarian landowners and distributed to peasants, and this did not do much to help the economy

  • Mining was a major industry, but it was controlled by foreign investors who exported the materials instead of using it to build up the country

  • The country lacked ports, especially after Fiume was given to Italy in 1924

  • Trade was limited with Balkan neighbors, especially since they too were experiencing economic hardship

Germany

Short-term Political

  • Universal male and female suffrage

  • Parliamentary government

  • Socialist government

  • Many soldiers who were demobilized at the end of the war joined the Freikorps

  • See ‘Weimar Germany’ page for more effects on Germany

Long-term political

  • National humiliation

  • Political instability

  • Rise of a dictatorship

  • (See Weimar Germany document for more short and long-term political impacts)

Economic

  • Government tried to use inflation to lessen the burden of internal debt

  • Reparations of 6.6 billion pounds (80% of GNP)

  • Economic issues were a disaster for the middle class

  • Hyperinflation

    • Prices rose between 1914 and 1923 by a factor of 1.3 trillion

    • Money became worthless

    • People walked around with wheelbarrows full of bills just to buy small things

  • Reliance on American loans

    • Dawes plan

    • Collapse of German economy

    • Greatly affected by the Great Depression

Social Effects

  • Shortages of food led to starvation

  • Civilian deaths indirectly caused by the war

    • Between 250,000-600,000 depending on the estimate

  • Infant mortality rates rose

  • Tuberculosis-related diseases spread

  • Perceptions of starvation sapped civilian morale

  • Loss of faith in the government

  • Pre-war social structures weren’t drastically affected

  • Junkers (elites) maintained land

  • Institutions remained dominated by Kaiser-appointed men

    • Civil service, judiciary, military

  • Teaching became more conservative

  • International food aid programs quickly solved the malnutrition issue

Demographic

  • 2.04 million soldiers killed - 15% of the army

  • 5.69 million soldiers wounded

  • 1000 civilian deaths directly caused by the war

    • Mainly because few battles were fought on German soil

France

Short-term Political

  • Georges Clemenceau replaced due to alleged leniency towards Germany

  • Increased Socialist party popularity

  • Political instability

Long-term political

  • Loss of control of overseas French colonies

  • Decline in power over European stage

  • Got the Rhineland demilitarized

Economic

  • Industrial production fell to 60% of pre-war level

  • Damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and industrial facilities

  • Loss of manpower

  • High costs for mobilization, caring for wounded, and military operations

  • Inflation

  • Debt to the United States and Britain

Social

  • 6 million army casualties

    • 1.4 million deaths - 16% of army

    • 4.2 million wounded

    • 72% of soldiers who fought were casualties

  • Anger at government

    • Rise of extremism & political instability

Demographic

  • loss of 1.4 million soldiers

  • 700,000 women widowed

  • 1.4 million children weren’t born

  • 4.4% of French population dead

Territorial

  • Annexed German overseas territories

  • Reclaimed Alcase-Lorraine

  • Created mandates

Russia

Long-term political

  • Excluded from League of Nations

  • Bolsheviks eventually consolidated power

    • Implemented radical political and economic policy changes

    • Nationalization of industry, redistribution of land, planned economy

    • One-party system

  • Lenin’s death in 1924 led to a power struggle within the Communist party

    • Stalin eventually became leader

    • More authoritarian government established

  • Governmental changes

    • Centralized and repressive regime

    • Industrialization

    • Centralization of power

    • Collectivization of agriculture

    • Political Purges

    • Forced labor camps

Demographic

  • 1.8 million soldiers - 15% of the army

  • 4.95 million wounded

  • 500,000 civilian casualties

  • Immigration into Russia from Germany surged

  • Much of the population was lost from Brest-Litovsk

    • They got some of it back, but not Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia

  • Estimates for deaths from the famines vary between 1-10 million

Territorial

  • Lost Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to Germany in Brest-Litovsk

    • Gained some land back when Brest-Litovsk was nullified

    • Lost 34% of the population, 54% of industrial land, 89% of the coalfields, and 26% of the railways

  • Later lost some land to Poland in the Treaty of Riga

Britain

Political

  • Decline of the liberal political party

    • Belief that the state should not intervene in the public’s life

    • Arguments within the party began with the government’s increased control over civilian life during the war

    • One reason for declaring war was to stop the Liberal Party from fracturing, the Liberals threatened to resign if the government didn’t support France

  • Introduction of conscription

  • Defense of the Realm Act 1914

    • Gave the government new powers, such as the power to buy buildings or land needed for the war by force

    • Censored the people

    • Seen as authoritarian

  • State increased intervention into public affairs

  • Ireland demanded full independence in 1916

  • Political disunity

  • Destruction of the Liberal Party’s ability to lead Britain

    • Refused to implement measures that were required for the war

    • Growing mistrust due to war mismanagement, such as at Somme

  • David Lloyd-George took control of the government in 1916

    • Took control of domestic and military policy

    • Creation of the War Cabinet, which met 200 times in 235 days

    • Used the Defense of the Realm Act to control the war effort

Economic

  • War related industries grew rapidly

  • Production increased

  • Concessions made to the trade unions

  • Drew women into mainstream employment for the first time

  • Insufficient artillery shell production led to the fall of the Liberal government in 1915

  • Rationing was implemented in 1916, despite efforts to maintain ‘business as usual’

  • British GDP rose by 14% between 1914 and 1918

  • War forced the government to use its financial reserves and borrow large sums of money from the United States

  • Scotland’s shipbuilding industry expanded by 1.3x

  • Dependent on American raw materials and food

  • Production fell by 10% throughout the war

  • By the end of the war, they had sent 187 million shells to France

  • A year’s worth of pre-production of light munitions could be done in 4 days by 1918

  • British aircraft firms employed over 340,000 people

Social

  • Those who could not fight contributed to philanthropic or humanitarian causes

  • Aerial bombing of cities in Britain was seen for the first time, causing unrest

  • Propaganda produced by the newspapers was important to maintaining support

  • Food shortages and the Spanish Flu caused death rates to rise

Russia

Political

  • Revolution, civil war, famine (1917-1920)

    • October revolution

    • February revolution led to destruction of Romanov dynasty (Tsars)

  • Socialist government established by Bolsheviks

  • New provisional government faced numerous challenges

    • Continuation of war, economic problems, radicalism

    • Weakened by decision to continue fighting in the war, deeply unpopular among civilians

    • February revolution in Petrograd in 1917, soldiers joined the revolution

  • Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic established, start of the USSR

  • Russian civil war

    • ‘Reds vs Whites’

    • Communist victory

  • Total collapse of the military due to revolution led to many defeats on the Eastern front

Economic

  • By 1916, Russia matched German shell production

  • Artillery and rifle production grew by 1000%

  • Collapse of industry

    • Train systems, agriculture, prices decreased so incentives were gone, inflation

    • Government printed money, causing massive inflation (prices quadrupled)

Social

  • Famine

    • Peasants and workers faced economic hardship and lack of food

    • Not enough good being grown and sold

    • Distribution of the food was the issue, not that there was a lack of food grown

  • Social groups became more unequal

  • Strikes

    • Protesting government policy, like distribution of food and conscription

    • People were waiting all night outside bakeries for a single loaf of bread

    • Extreme prices

    • Military was ordered to break up protests, led to violence

    • Soldiers joined protests

  • High casualties, inflation, food shortages

  • Mobilization of workers left nobody to work

  • Loss of patriotism, led to discontent with government

Austria-Hungary

Demographic

  • 1.02 million military dead - 13% of the army

  • 1.94 million wounded

  • 120,000 civilian casualties

After the war

Effects of War

During the war

Germany

Political

  • End of the monarchy

    • Rise of the socialist government

  • Strikes

    • Many people didn’t want to go to war

    • Unemployment problems

  • All major political parties initially supported the war, including the Socialists

Economic

  • Military rose from 2.9 million active duty soldiers to 7 million in 1918

    • 13 million people served in total

    • More than 13% of the population were in services

  • Unemployment rose as the factories were trying to quickly convert to producing munitions

  • Hindenburg Program

    • Mobilization of all economic resources to produce munitions and arms

    • Church bells and copper roofs were ripped out and melted to make munitions

  • Germany had no plan to mobilize their economy and had made no stockpiles of food or supplies

  • Food price controls

    • Bread rationing system introduced in 1915

    • Cost of bread fell

    • Some states had no sign of starvation

  • Gross National Product went down by around 25%

  • Coal output fell 17%

  • Steel output fell by 14%

  • Massive growth in the arms industry

  • Gun production rose from 2,400 to 115,000 per month

  • Produced thousands of synthetic explosives

    • From 14,400 tons of explosives per year in 1914 to 144,000 tons in 1917

  • Workforce shrunk, so they employed 5 million women and some prisoners

    • Labor force only fell by 7%

  • Agricultural production fell due to fertilizer importation being blocked by British blockades

    • And due to farmers being conscripted

    • Major food supply issues, led to revolts, many Germans starved

    • Food issues exemplified social divides

    • The true impact of the food supply issue may have been overstated by the German people and government

    • Farmers were mobilized, reducing food production

  • Increase in tobacco production

  • Increase in wine production by 170%

  • Grain production fell by 50%

  • Beer production fell by 33%

  • Miners were drafted, meaning coal production fell

  • 9 million pigs killed by 1919

  • Food was made from potatoes, but potato harvest failed in 1916

  • “Turnip Winter”

    • Winter of 1916-1917

    • Turnips, which were usually fed to livestock because it was hard for humans to eat, was suddenly the only thing there was

    • People used turnips as substitutes for potatoes and meat

  • Ersatz materials

    • When one useful material was replaced by other materials, typically lower quality

    • Cloth and leather were replaced by paper and cardboard

  • Royal Navy cut Germany off from most trade

    • By 1915, imports had fallen to 55% of their pre-war level

    • Half of Germany’s trade had been with their now enemy

    • Increased trade from Scandinavia

    • Germany’s merchant fleet lost 639 ships, which was 44% of their total size

  • Labor conscription in 1916

    • Used forced labor from Poland, France, Russia, and Belgium

  • Government control over the economy

    • KRA: Raw Material Section, central authority which could allocate raw materials, made sure that scarce materials only went to companies involved in the war effort

      • Caused issues for consumer industries

      • Focused on raw materials threatened by the Allied blockades

      • Dealt with supplies from Britain or France

      • Was inefficient mainly due to the commerce, industry, and government being selfish

    • Central Purchasing Commission

      • Handle neutral trade

    • Nationalized wheat production

      • Forced farmers to declare their stories and forbid use of wheat and rye for fodder

    • Imperial Potato Office

      • Forbade potatoes for fodder

      • Farmers expected to meet production targets

    • Attempted to control food supply through rationing systems

      • Bread rationing by June 1915

      • Ersatz products - Substitutes for food, 837 different varieties of meatless sausages, coffee from acorns

      • There is scientific evidence to indicate that German children suffered from severe malnutrition, working class children suffered the most

      • Ration stamps distributed

  • War financing

    • Spent just over 3% of GNP on armed forces just before the war, over 50% during the war

    • 86% of government income went to war

    • Massive budget deficits, >38% for each year of the war

    • National debt increased 8 times

    • War expenditure estimated at about 49 billion dollars

    • War was paid for using war bonds, Germany was confident they would win and could pay back the bonds

    • German Mark was worth only a fraction of its pre-war value by 1918

  • Many women took jobs in industry

    • The housewives who didn’t were taught to cook without milk, eggs, or fat

Social

  • Many German people believed the German farmers were causing the food shortages by keeping all the food to themselves, created rivalries

  • Food shortages lowered morale in both the civilians and soldiers

  • Migrants flocked to the big cities to find work

  • Little to no recreation

  • Many of those who returned from war were traumatized or wounded, and those who recovered were sent back

  • As the war went on, more people moved towards left-wing socialist movements as they wanted an end to the war

  • October 1918 revolt in Kiel, sailors mutinied when told to go back to sea to fight the British

    • Revolt spread across Germany, such as to Munich

Britain

Short-term Political

  • Rise of the conservative party

    • Popular among middle & upper class

    • Threatened by the rise of communism

    • Least supportive of change

  • Representation of the Peoples act

    • Lowered voting age of men to 21

    • Gave women (who met certain criteria) over the age of 30 the right to vote

    • Laws previously only let men who owned land vote, which excluded the large lower-class population

    • Number of voters increased from 8 million to almost 30 million

  • Growth of radicalism

    • Industrial workers began to fear for their jobs as returning soldiers would compete for jobs

    • Strikes and conflict between workers and police

    • Government worried about a potential revolution

    • Race riots, primarily directed at sailors from British colonies

Long-term Political

  • Increase in civil liberties

    • Health, insurance, and pensions introduced by the liberal government

  • Widows, Orphans, and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act in 1925

    • Protected those most vulnerable and likely to be under the poverty line

  • Increased political engagement

    • Number of voters and political parties increased

    • Women given the right to vote

    • Representation of the Peoples Act gave women’s rights more importance

  • First female minister Margaret Bondfield in 1928

    • All women over 21 given the right to vote

  • Beginning of decolonization

    • Colonies began seeking autonomy

    • Independence movements

    • Some colonies were given compromises as a reward for fighting

    • Colonies joined the League of Nations as independent states

    • Colonies like Ireland got home rule

    • Irish independence war of 1919

  • Decrease in global power

    • Decline in the influence and power of the Empire

    • Britain was no longer the world power, replaced by the United States

    • Lost influence over some colonies

Economic

  • Economic decline

    • Could not maintain the status quo and balance of power in Europe

    • Loss of GDP due to war

  • Unemployment

    • Unemployment rates grew substantially between 1920 and 1930

    • Seen as the largest unemployment crisis in Britain since industrialization

  • Loss of international markets

    • Britain was the largest exporter with 27% of global exports before the war, was replaced by Japan and the USA after

    • Loss of first-mover deals (They were the primary exporter and thus got better deals)

    • Loss of world market share

  • Inflation

    • Borrowed funds from the USA

    • National debt grew from 0.62 billion pounds before the war to 7.8 billion in 1920

  • Loss of human capital

    • 3.6% of human capital was lost due to the war

    • 6% of adult males killed

Social

  • Great losses

  • Rise of trade unions

  • Medical advancements

  • Decline of aristocracy

Demographic

  • Participants

    • 5 million British

    • 1.44 million Indians

    • 630,000 Canadians

    • 413,000 Australians

    • 206,000 Irish

    • 190,000 Scottish

    • 136,000 South Africans

    • 128,000 from New Zealand

    • 135,000 from other countries

  • 900,000 soldiers killed - 10% of the army

  • 2.09 million soldiers wounded

Territorial

  • Creation of mandates

    • See ‘Treaty of Versailles’

    • Beginning of decolonization

USA

Short-term Political

  • Clear ideological divisions

    • Shifts of political ideologies

    • Radicalization

  • Expansion of federal power

    • Central government gained more power

  • Backlash against US intervention in Europe

  • Widespread violence in 1919

  • Harding elected in 1921, shift back to ‘normalcy’

Long-term political

  • Rights activism

    • Civil rights for African Americans

    • Rights for women

    • Right to vote

  • Federal government grew due to the war

  • Isolationist until the end of WW2

  • 5000 agencies created during the war, these were not ended

  • Civil unrest

    • Veterans demanded economic compensation

    • Labor movements

    • Red scare (Communism)

  • Immigrant act passed in 1924

Economic

  • Government spending increased at rates unheard of

  • Economic boom due to Allies’ loans

    • Transformed US into world’s dominant power

    • Many European countries owed the USA a lot of money due to loans and

  • Technological advancements

  • Economic policy

    • Progressive taxation

    • High protective tariff

    • Prohibition

    • Agricultural crop supports

    • This all generally angered the people

Social

  • US was the country least effected by the war

    • Their homeland wasn’t bombed

    • Fighting didn’t take place on US soil

  • Richest country in the world

    • Invested in other countries, led to economic boom

Demographic

  • 116,000 American deaths in the war

    • 53,000 combat deaths - 1% of army

    • 63,000 non-combat deaths

  • Population was around 103,000,000 at the time

  • 230,000 wounded

  • 750 civilian casualties - No battles fought on American soil, civilians killed by ships sunk

  • “Loss of a generation”

    • Disrupted the labor force

    • Slight population boom once soldiers returned

  • Decline in mortality rates after war

Italy

Political

  • Civil unrest

  • Strikes

  • Unstable government

Social

  • Discontent with the government

  • See “Mussolini’s Italy’ page

Demographic

  • 460,000 military deaths - 7% of the army

  • 960,000 casualties

  • 4,000 civilian casualties

Austria

Demographic

  • Lost 20% of its pre-war population

    • Most Austrians stayed in Austria, but some were spread in Italy, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Hungary

Territorial

  • Empire was dissolved

    • Lost 75% of pre-war territory

    • Treaty of Saint Germain-En-Laye

Hungary

Demographic

  • Lost 66% of pre-war population

    • Hungarians were spread across Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria

Territorial

  • Empire was dissolved

    • Lost 75% of its pre-war territory

    • New Hungary became smaller than Hungary was as part of the empire, this angered Hungarians

    • Treaty of Trianon

Ottoman Empire

Short-term political

  • Treaty of Sevres

  • Lost most of its territory, so the Turkish people fought a war to gain their territory back

    • Got the borders of modern-day Turkey

    • Turkish war for independence (1919-1923)

    • Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

  • Ottoman Empire officially collapsed

    • Loss of status

    • Turkish republic established

Long-term political

  • Creation of Turkish republic

    • Turkish war for independence

  • International isolation

  • Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire

  • New borders didn’t follow ethnic borders, led to conflicts across 20th century

    • Start of Kurdish conflict

Economic

  • Turkey had to accept the economic restrictions of the Treaty of Lausanne

    • Quantitative restrictions on foreign trade

    • Custom duties

    • Major debt

  • Loss of Ottoman territories

    • Loss of agricultural output

    • Mineral wealth lost

  • Emigration

    • Massacres made people leave

    • Loss of workforce

Social

  • Invested in education and the advancement of society

    • Literacy increased from 10% to 50% in 5 years

    • Employment of women

  • Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

    • Radical social reforms

    • Republicanism, nationalism, secularism, radicalism

Demographic

  • 2.5 million Turks dead

  • Muslim population declined by 2 million

    • Deaths and emigration

  • Armenian Genocide

    • Reduced Armenian population from 1.5 million to 100,000

    • 600,000-1.5 million deaths

  • Total population of Turkey itself reduced from 13.5 million in 1914 to 13 million post-war

    • Due to emigration and deaths

  • 240,000 military dead - 24% of the army

  • 1.27 million wounded

Territorial

  • Ottoman Empire dissolved

  • Lost more than 50% of its territory

    • Turkey fought war to gain some back

    • Lost all middle eastern territory

Before the war

Economic Aspect

  • Women did not work much and those who did had less pay

  • Many weren’t educated

  • Only good career was marriage

Social Aspect

  • Lack of education

  • Women weren’t supposed to be smart

  • No protection against domestic and sexual abuse

Political Aspect

  • Women had no political power

Role & Status of Women

How the role and status of women did not change during the war

Economic Aspect

  • Women never got equal pay

  • Most changes were reversed after the war

  • Men were prioritized in jobs

  • Economic status stayed the same despite job experience

  • Women remained unable to do many things

  • In Britain by 1920, 2/3 of women had left the jobs they had taken

  • In France in 1921, the number of women in employment had returned to 1911 numbers

Social Aspect

  • Institutionalized patriarchy

  • Got more stereotyped roles

  • Women’s football banned in 1921 in the UK

    • Unbanned in 1969

  • Things changed back to the way they were

Political Aspect

  • While they did get voting rights, it didn’t change the system as the suffragettes had hoped

  • While women could hold political positions, only one woman did and was arrested

    • Was not in a position of power, as her party had lost the next election

How the role and status of women did change during the war

Economic Aspect

  • 90% of munitions workers were women by late 1918

  • They demanded the same pay as men, they got some bonuses instead

  • Replaced the jobs of men who went to war, got better pay than what was normal for women

  • Almost 100,000 women were employed to transport during the war

  • 900,000 women worked in munitions with relatively high pay

  • In 1919, women were allowed to enter legal professions and accounting

  • In France, 47% of women were employed in 1919, an increase of 11.5%

  • In Britain, female employment raised from 24% to 37%

  • In Russia, women comprised ~45% of the workforce

  • In Austria-Hungary, >1 million women joined industry

  • The view on women’s employment did start moving away from domestic service after the war, leading the way to full equality later on

Social Aspect

  • Women and men strike together (Coventry 1918)

  • 100,000 women joined the Royal Forces during the war

  • Sport was encouraged for women

    • Women’s football clubs opened

  • Women took better paid but more dangerous jobs

Political Aspect

  • NUWSS halted political campaigns and offered cooperation with government (Britain)

  • WSPU became patriotic (Britain)

  • Suffrage movement became more divided

  • In Weimar Germany, women had equal voting rights

War in the Atlantic was decisive for the war

John Keegan - Military Historian (1934-2012)

Germany made a calculated risk, which did not go well, and this is not their fault. Germany had hoped the UK and France would do something to resolve tensions, but they did not. Germany wanted better relations with Russia.

Andreas Hillgruber - Conservative Historian (1925-1989)

Britain is to blame. Their policy was anti-German and anti-Austro-Hungarian. 1914 was a war to prevent Austria-Hungary from becoming a power. Britain and France forced treaties and sanctions on Austria-Hungary, which caused tensions

Paul W Schroeder - American Historian (1927-2020)

German and Austro-Hungarian military leadership are to blame. Germany and Austria-Hungary had plans to attack Serbia even before the July Crisis. Germany manipulated Austria-Hungary into starting a war so they could attack Russia

David Fromkin - American Historian (1932-2017)

Peacemaking wasn’t the problem, it was the lack of enforcement

What really marked the decade before 1914 was a failure of statesmanship and hope. By 1912, most European governments had come to believe that the European war was inevitable and the problems which plagued them at home and abroad could no longer be settled by negotiation and diplomacy. In these circumstances war seemed to offer an attractive way out

Ruth Henig - British Historian (1943-2024)

“We will squeeze Germany until the pipes squeak”

“We muddled into war… the nations slithered over the brink”

David Lloyd-George - British PM (1863-1945)

“This is not peace; it is an armistice for 20 years”

Ferdinand Foch - French General (1851-1929)

“It is not surprising that they made a bad peace; what is surprising is that they managed to make peace at all”

Gilbert White - New Zealander Lieutenant (1890-1983)

“The leaders in Berlin… saw war as the only solution. There was no ‘slide’ to war, no war caused by 'inadvertent’; but instead a war caused by a fearful set of elite statesmen and rulers making deliberate choices”

Holger Herwig - German Historian (1941-)

“Haig… failed to comprehend that the policy of ‘attrition’, or in plain English, ‘killing Germans’ until the German army was worn down and exhausted, was not only wasteful and, intellectually, a confession of impotence; it was extremely dangerous. The Germans might counter Haig’s plan by allowing him to wear down his own army in a series of unsuccessful attacks against a skillful defense. Fortunately the enemy generals were much of the same ‘textbook’ type as Haig…”

Llewellyn Woodward - British Historian (1890-1971)

“Ignoring all the warnings, the Kaiser believed Britain would stay neutral, even after he gave Austria a free hand in July 5th”

Barbara Tuchman - American Historian (1912-1989

“If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans”

Otto von Bismarck - German Chancellor (1815-1898)

The Slavs were not born to rule but to serve; this they must be taught” (1913)

“Germany must have her place in the sun” (1908)

Wilhelm II - German Kaiser (1859-1941)

“The sense of domestic catastrophe one gains from most accounts of food rationing in Germany is exaggerated”

Keith Allen - German Historian

Historiography & Quotes

Germany is to blame. German leaders accepted risk of war during the July Crisis. Weltpolitik was done badly. Britain and France were forced into an alliance by Germany.

Fritz Fischer - German Historian (1908-1999)

None of the great powers wanted a war, they all wanted to grow their power relative to others. All powers wanted to develop a deterrent and to mobilize faster than the others. It was just a giant race to the top, which blew up.

“The First World War was imposed on the statesmen of Europe by railway timetables”

“The sole cause of the outbreak of war in 1914 was the Schlieffen Plan”

AJP Taylor - British Historian (1908-1990)

Austro-Hungarian elites are to blame for their role. They influenced Austria-Hungary’s decision-making and caused aggression to keep power.

Samuel R Williamson Jr - American Historian (1935-)

Everyone involved shares responsibility. Austria-Hungary’s aggression and Germany’s support were crucial. Russia disrupted Balkan peace and France supported them, which contributed to the problem. Rapid tension escalation made diplomacy ineffective. The situation was complex leading up to the war, so no country alone is to blame entirely. The leaders took risks that didn’t pay off.

Christopher Clark - Australian Historian (1960-)

Britain is to blame as they made Germany believe they were fully encircled by doing naval talks with Russia in 1914

Robert Pearce - British Historian (1951-)

“[The war guilt clause was] a stigma on an entire nation”

John Terraine - Military Historian (1921-2003)

“We were very stupid men… neither just nor wise”

Claude Nicholson - British Officer (1898-1943)

"A self-reinforcing cycle of heightened military preparedness… was an essential element in the conjecture that led to disaster”

“The armaments race was a necessary precondition for the outbreak of hostilities… The arms race precipitated the First World War”

David Stevenson - British Historian (1942-)

"A state of mind was shared by all countries that saw war as a necessity and improbable in certain circumstances”

James Toll - No information found

“The war had been above all a contest of endurance and, during the course of 1918, the accumulated strain and the hopelessness of its situation had broken the army’s will to continue fighting”

Alexander Watson - British Historian (1979-)

“If the women in the factories stopped for 20 minutes, we should lose the war”

Joseph Joffre - French General (1852-1941)

“They could weld, deliver the post, saw off a leg, drive a tram, entertain troops to the sound of shellfire, read the lesson in the church, and play decent football in front of 20 people - All previously thought utterly, completely, and absurdly beyond a woman.”

Kate Adie - British Journalist (1945-)

“The very presence of these tall, cheerful, well fed [American] boys from the Middle West with their boundless optimism convinced their weary allies that the war could not now be lost”

Michael Howard - British Politician (1941-)

“We will bleed them white” (Verdun)

Erich von Falkenhayn - German General (1861-1922)

“The war [was] imposed… by the aggression of Germany and her allies”

Article 231 - Treaty of Versailles (Signed 1919)

Hundreds of thousands of German civilians died from malnutrition, usually from a disease their weakened bodies could not resist

N P Howard - No information found

Fischer thesis is wrong and aggressive, dishonest, and inaccurate. Germany was acting defensively to keep Austria-Hungary in power. Germany saw Austria-Hungary as a brother empire, as they shared similar views. This is why Germany acted the way they did. Germany was a victim of circumstance, carried into war against their will.

Gerhard Ritter - German Historian (1888-1967)

All powers were trying to prevent a revolution and prevent from falling apart. Everyone aimed to increase internal tensions to maintain domestic power.

Arno J Mayer - American Historian (1926-2023)

Fischer theory is wrong. Britain was clumsy when dealing with foreign policy, therefore it is their fault. Versailles was lenient compared to Brest-Litovsk, as Germany could have paid their reparations

Niall Ferguson - British Historian (1964-)

The German reparations were so high it crippled the German economy. The German people were traumatized by the treaty stipulations.

“The treaty, by overstepping the limits of the possible, has in practice settled nothing”

JM Keynes - British Economist (1883-1946)

“Why does Woodrow Wilson need 14 points when God Almighty only needs 10?”

Georges Clemenceau - French PM (1841-1929)

“May the hand wither that signs this treaty”

Phillipp Schneidemann - German Politician (1865-1939)

“The difficulty was not that the Treaty was severe, but that the Germans thought it was”

Sally Marks - American Historian (1931-2018)

The greatest single underlying cause of the war was the system of secret alliances which developed after the Franco-Prussian war. It gradually divided Europe into two hostile groups of powers who were increasingly suspicious of one another and who gradually built up greater and greater armies and navies.

Sidney Fay - American Historian (1876-1967)

"In 1914, the British soldier went to war dressed like a gamekeeper in a soft cap, armed only with rifle and bayonet. In 1918 he went into battle dressed like an industrial worker with a steel helmet, protected by a respirator against poison gas, armed with automatic weapons and mortars, supported by tanks and ground-attack aircraft, and preceded by a creeping artillery barrage of crushing intensity. Firepower replaced manpower as the instrument of victory. This represented a revolution in the conduct of war.

John Bourne - British Historian (1949-)

The Alliance Systems required the most Olympian efforts of statesmanship

Robert Palmer - American Historian (1909-2002)

“The war of 1914 is the most colossal breakdown in history of an economic system destroyed by its own inherent contradictions”

Leon Trotsky - Russian Revolutionary (1879-1940)

“Germany was shackled to a corpse”

Helmuth von Moltke - German General (1848-1916)

“Over 50 years… imperialism… poisoned the international situation"

Ulrich von Brockdorff - German Diplomat (1869-1928)

“Kaiser Wilhelm II had neither brains nor manners”

RJ Unstead - British Historian (1915-1988)