Journal Entry 2/3/17 1. Write down what you know about the start of WWI Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand? Schlieffen Plan? Other stuff? 2. What is Brinksmanship?

Schlieffen plan in the German Military plan that Count Alfred von Schlieffen put forth. This plan was to combat the Franco-Russian alliance that was rising during the later portion of the 19th century Schlieffen Plan

Schlieffen Plan Germany would station troops near Belgium in the North West and sweep right to left and to the south through Belgium, Germans hypothesized they could beat France in a matter of 6 weeks

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Very politically, religiously, and culturally diverse Used to be ruled by Ottoman Empire, which is crumbling Now split between Ottomans and Austro-Hungary Empires  series of wars between the two in 1800s (creates lots of tension over the Balkans) Not as rich as rest of the empire and other parts of Europe + feelings of being conquered = lots of nationalism

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand During Ottoman rule, people moved around freely, so largest ethnic group, Serbia, scattered in all these new lands Serbia 1.) believes it is their right to united lands into one larger Serbia that can be major player in Europe 2.) don’t trust A-H Plays on young nationalism starting extremist, terrorist groups known as the Black Hand Plan is to do something violent in A-H to get Serbians there to revolt and join Serbia Multiple attempts occur, however, one is pretty famous…

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Players Black Hand Gavrillo Princip Archduke Franz Ferdinand – Austria His Wife Sophia Everyone else

Ferdinand is heir to A-H emperor Franz Josef The Great War starts After failing to assassinate other royals, Black Hand settle on Franz Ferdinand Series of errors lead to Archduke Franz Ferdinand & wife Sofie killed June 28, 1914 Ferdinand is heir to A-H emperor Franz Josef Gavrilo Princip, 19, (member of Black Hand) assassinates him

Austria makes ridiculous ultimatum to Serbia The Great War starts Austria makes ridiculous ultimatum to Serbia Goal was to force a military conflict, and the had the backing of Germany Terms included Austro-Hungary investigation of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand Austro-Hungary demanded Serbia remove all anti Austrian propaganda, and remove all anti Austrian terrorist organizations Only had 48 hours to comply

Serbia rejects them; Russia promises to protect Slavic brothers Serbia The Great War starts Serbia rejects them; Russia promises to protect Slavic brothers Serbia Germany tells them both to chill Austria asks Germany for “blank check”  Kaiser is on vacation, Germany says “yes” (without thinking) Idea that regardless of what happens Germany has Austria’s back Austria attacks, Russia backs Serbia, France backs Russia (Triple Entente), Germany backs Austria

The Great War starts Ottomans jump in to get even with Russia This is when the Schlieffen Plan (France then Russia) comes into play Britain is cautious but promises to protect Belgium (royal families friends) Germany invades France around Maginot Line via Belgium Britain declares war on Germany (because they attack France through Belgium)

East-West vs. Central Ottoman’s join Triple Alliance to get even with Russia from Russo-Turk War Two teams: Britain (Belgium), France, Russia (Serbia) = Triple Entente Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire = Triple Alliance (Also known as the Central Powers)

WWI – Early Rumblings in France Schlieffen Plan is enacted Germany sent 500 trains a day to the Belgian border starting on Aug. 4th 1914 By Aug. 18 the Germans had arced across northern France with the French forces moving east to Alsace-Lorraine & the Rhine Early on the Germans had not issue running through French forces Were nearly to Paris when the French/British mounted a counter attack from Sept. 6-10 known as the 1st battle of Marne

Germans pushed French forces to the east where they were met at the German border by ranks of German strong holds.

WWI – Brits Get Involved British signed Treaty of Neutrality with the Belgium in 1839 Essentially states GB will defend Belgium if they are attacked and cannot remain neutral On Aug. 2th when Germany enters Belgium in order to enact the Schlieffen Plan the British public is outraged GB give Germany an ultimatum, get out This expires on Aug. 4th and GB declares war on Germany

Mini Battle Assignment Your job next Thursday will be to present a battle of WWI. This should be a short presentation, 4-6 minutes long. This is preparation for your major WWII Battle project To do this you will need to research and familiarize yourself the battle so you can put together the presentation for Friday Your WWI battle project should contain key information and be a somewhat scaled down version of what I am about to teach 1st Marne and Tannenberg Closer to Tannenberg than Marne The battles in chronological order are: Gallipoli, Ypres, Isonzo, Jutland, Verdun, Somme, 2nd Marne I need to know which battle your group is going to do your presentation on by Monday I have the right to change your battle This will be a 35-point culminating grade

1st Battle of Marne September 6th-10th Major players are General Joseph Joffre: French Commanding Officer Known for eating and sleeping a lot Helmuth von Moltke: German Chief of Staff General Alexander von Kluck: German 5th Army Occurs near the Marne River just E of Paris Culmination of 1st half of Schlieffen Plan  supposed to end w/ German capture of Paris Idea was that France would attack Alsace-Lorraine, and while holding them at bay there, Germans would flank them

Moltke Kluck Joffre

1st Battle of Marne – What Happened? German overconfidence headed for Paris and move too fast leaving behind some heavy artillery Kluck makes two tactical errors Kluck wheeled east of Paris exposing his flank (this was at the order of the German commander Moltke) When he turned to face Paris (and to fight the French, I’ll get to this) he created an even larger gap between him and the rest of the German armies

German Advancement Aug. 26th

German Location September 5th

1st Battle of Marne – What Happened? At this point Joffre decides to attack rather than allow a siege on Paris On Sept. 6th Joffre sees that the Germans are marching toward Paris and sends French General Karl Von Bulow to attack the Germans Force of 150K men This is what gets the Germans to turn and expose their flank Joffre then commands 6,000 reserve troops stationed in Paris to attack Kluck’s flank They were ferried to the front line in 600 Taxi cabs This lasts from the 6th-8th

Battle on September 9th

1st Battle of Marne – What Happened? At this point the 1st British soldiers arrived and completely cut the Germans in half By the 9th the Germans began retreating to the north and eventually settle in just north of the River Aisne where the 1st and 2nd German armies dug in They would remain there in trenches for the next several years Losses incurred somewhere around 260,000 for both sides What is the difference between casualties and deaths?

German Retreat & Western Front

1st Battle of Marne Importance One of few non-trench battles on Western Front Led trench warfare and Race to Sea (this is what the German retreat is frequently referred to) Essentially set the tone for the rest of the war 1st use of planes for reconnaissance Called by some historians most important battle of 20th century (set tone for WWI & WWII) Nations realize that this isn’t going to be a short affair These trench lines are essentially what become the Western Front

Battle - Tannenberg Forest August 26-30, 1914 Germans v Russians Most dominant win of WWI for Germany even though they were extremely outnumbered 160,000 Germans 400,000 Russians Russians encroached on German Prussia (what is now Poland) Russians led by General Alexander Samsonov Germans led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, both generals

Erich Ludendorff Alexander Samsonov Paul von Hindenburg

Battle - Tannenberg Forest What happened Hindenburg bought out of retirement and tactically dominates the Russians ½ the Russian army falls apart and runs away Poor leadership, and political turmoil led to an un prepared force Other half is encircled w/ 100,000 dead, 78,000 prisoner and 10,000 escape; Germans capture 500+ artillery Importance Brings Hindenburg and Ludendorff to power Establishes German dominance in Eastern Front—a front they will never lose (until the end of the war) Exposes weakness of Russian Army—Samsonov suicide Unites Germany via nationalism