World War I Part I

Pressure for Peace Alfred Nobel, upset at the use of his invention for destruction, created the Nobel Peace Prize Attempts to gain women’s suffrage were supported by peace movements

First Universal Peace Conference 1899 – the First Universal Peace Conference was held in the Hague, Netherlands to insure peace Created a court called the Hague Tribunal To settle disputes It didn’t work because it couldn’t force countries to go there to solve disputes

Aggressive Nationalism France wanted to be the dominant European power again and Germany was still strong due to its recent military defeat of France German occupation of Alsace & Lorraine upset many French people that lived there

Pan-Slavism The belief that all Slavic people shared a common identity Russia, the largest & most powerful Slavic nation Was willing to defend area nations such as Serbia in the event they were attacked

Defeating the Ottomans Balkan states attacked Turkey to take back their homelands Were successful in defeating the Turks But after their victory they fought with each other How to divide the land

Economic and Imperial Rivalries Britain felt threatened by German economic activity France felt threatened by German conquests in Africa Britain & France teamed up to fight the Germans

Militarism and the Arms Race Militarism – the glorification of the military and war Countries prided themselves on preparing to fight and young men eagerly joined the military to achieve glory Came from Social Darwinism because the outcome of war was based on the survival of the fittest

Militarism Countries increased the size of their armies & navies causing greater suspicion between nations Britain and Germany competed for naval superiority Fears of war gave military leaders more influence in the government because leaders would ask them for advice

A Tangle of Alliances Nations created alliances with each other pledging to defend each other in the event they were attacked The point was to create power groups in order to prevent an attack

Central Powers (Triple Alliance) The Central Powers Germany Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire

Allied Powers (Triple Entente) The Allied Powers France Britain Russia

A Murder with Millions of Victims Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was planning to visit Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 28, 1914 An important date in Serbian history – Anniversary of the day they were conquered by the Ottomans Many Serbians were outraged by this and plotted to assassinate him

Gavrilo Princip 19 year old Gavrilo Princip joined a Serbian terrorist group known as the Black Hand Princip ultimately killed the archduke which finally set off the powder keg starting the war

Peace Unravels Austria sent an ultimatum, (a final set of demands), to Serbia Serbia didn’t accept all the points of the ultimatum and Austria declared war on them

Escalation Austria gained the support of German forces Serbia gained the support of Russia Germany decided to declare war on Russia Russia asked France for help France helped Russia to get even with their loss to Germany a few years earlier So Germany declared war on France Italy and Britain decided to remain neutral

The Schlieffen Plan With Germany fighting a two front war, they were sure to lose, unless they used the Schlieffen Plan Would prevent a two front war by quickly attacking and defeating France before the Russian military could mobilize Trick was that they had to go through Belgium to surprise the French from behind The problem was that Belgium was a neutral country that had singed a treaty with Britain to protect its neutrality So Britain declared war on Germany

Whose Fault? An assassination led to all out warfare because each side believed they were justified in their reasons for aggression and were confident in their ability to be victorious