 The First World War a.k.a. The Great War The War to end all Wars

“MAIN” Causes of the Great War M ilitarism A lliances I mperialism N ationalism

Great Powers of Europe  The Great Powers of Europe were:  Great Britain  Germany  France  Russia  Austria-Hungary  What makes a country a “great power”?

How did a country become ‘Great’?  Large army and navy  Strong ruler  Had to control a large empire  Empire building was a big thing in the 19 th Century  know as Imperialism…think colonies  It had to have strong industries at home  Did a country need all these things to become a ‘Great Power’?

MAIN Causes  Militarism – policy of building up an army to prepare for war.  Alliances  Imperialism – policy of a stronger nation extending control over weaker nations.  Nationalism

Great Britain  At the beginning of the 20 th Century, Britain was the greatest power in the world  She was very rich and was a powerful industrialized country  Britain had the largest and most powerful navy  She had the largest overseas empire  The British Empire covered over a quarter of the world’s surface

Empire: Land outside the border of a nation which is controlled by that nation. These are called colonies and a group of colonies make up an empire. The British Empire

Germany  But soon Germany began to compete against Britain for this title  Germany had a larger population that Britain  Many of her industries were more advanced in comparison to Britain  She had more natural resources  Germany was expanding her trade throughout the world: by 1913 she was selling more goods in Europe than Britain  Germany’s Army was on the increase  This began to worry Britain

The German Overseas Empire

France  France had been one of the most important countries in Europe until  Franco-Prussian War: France was defeated and had to hand over Alsace and Lorraine  France was not as industrialised as Germany or Britain as she produced less  She had a large empire and army  France wanted revenge for

The French Empire

Russia  At this time Russia was the largest country in the world!  It had a population of 159 million  She didn’t need an overseas empire  Her empire was on her doorstep and consisted of many different peoples and languages  Russia had a large army  Russia wasn’t as industrialized as the other Great Powers

Austria-Hungary  Austria-Hungary was a large empire in the center of Europe and consisted of many different people groups – some of whom did not get along  Many of these groups had their own language, customs and way of life: this made the Empire difficult to rule  Many of these groups wanted to be independent from Austria-Hungary – this was known as nationalism

Nationalism  Militarism  Alliances  Imperialism  Nationalism - a feeling of pride in one’s country. A belief that there is something special about the people who live there, their language and customs.  Extreme nationalism led to wanting independence, or led to powerful countries wanting to prove their greatness to others.

So why did this system contribute to the war?  There is a contest to be the biggest, most powerful country on earth. Two ways to achieve that is to make a large military and many colonies. (militarism and imperialism)  Some colonies wanted their independence and all the countries believed they were “the best” (nationalism)  All it would take was for one ‘Great Power’ to do something that wasn’t deemed acceptable by the other for issues to arise

CountryBritainGermanyRussia Austria- Hungary France Population 40.8 million 65 million159 million 50 million 39.6 million Number of Colonies 5610//29 Population of colonies 390 million 15 million//58 million Size of army700,0004,200,0001,200,000800,0003,700,000 Size of navy Coal output each year (million tonnes) Steel output each year (million tonnes)

Militarism Increase in spending on military France10% Britain13% Russia39% Germany73%

The need for Allies  Militarism  Alliances – an agreement formed between nations for their mutual benefit  Imperialism  Nationalism  What do we mean when we speak of allies and alliances?  Why do countries need alliances?

The situation in 1914 You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent a war in Europe, two super blocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side; and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other. The idea was to have two vast, opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent. That way, there could never be a war. Blackadder Goes Forth

The Triple Alliance The Triple Alliance (Central Powers)  Germany  Austria-Hungry  Italy – changes sides before the war The Triple Entente (Allies)  Great Britain  France  Russia

Formation of the Triple Alliance  In 1879, Bismarck (German leader) was afraid the Russia would attack Germany so he signed an alliance with Austria-Hungry  They agreed that they would help each other militarily if Russia attacked either one of them  This was known as the Dual Alliance  Italy joined the Dual Alliance in 1882, making it the Triple Alliance  This time the alliance was directed against France

Formation of the Triple Entente  France and Russia were worried about the alliances which had been made against them  So they decided to form their own alliance in 1895: Franco- Russian Alliance  Both France and Russia promised to help each other if they were attacked by another power  Now it was Britain’s turn to get worried, they needed an alliance too.

So by 1907, two opposing camps formed: The Triple Alliance (Central Powers)  Germany  Austria-Hungry  Italy The Triple Entente (Allies)  Great Britain  France  Russia  Remember: An Entente means a friendly understanding – it is not a military alliance  The Triple Alliance was a military Agreement. The Triple Entente was not

So if the alliances were designed to discourage war, why did one break out?  In a way, the alliance system made war more likely  When one of the members of either alliance declared war, the other members would lend their support  This had the potential to mean that when a country in one alliance went to war against a country in the other alliance, all the countries would get involved to support their allies  Domino effect  This is what happened in the summer of 1914

MAIN Causes Review M ilitarism A lliances I mperialism N ationalism

Archduke Franz Ferdinand  Born: 18 Dec  Position: Heir to the Austro- Hungarian throne  Died: 28 Jun  Cause of Death: Assassination – gun shot in the neck

Why was he in Sarajevo?  Franz Ferdinand and his wife had been invited to inspect the troops stationed there  Little did he know that a terrorist group fighting with the aim of uniting Bosnia with Serbia, the Black Hand, had planned to kill him  There were 7 assassins involved – each armed with a gun, bomb and a cyanide pill  Franz Ferdinand arrived at 10am, June 28, 1914 and proceeded to make his way to the Town Hall in a motorcade

Assassination attempts 1 & 2  The Black Hand knew the route which Ferdinand was going to take, so they positioned the 7 assassins along the roadside  The first assassin failed to kill him as he lost his nerve  He used the excuse that a policeman was standing near him  The next assassin threw his bomb at the car  However Ferdinand’s driver saw the bomb and accelerated – it blew up under the car behind  The assassin took his pill and jumped into the river but he failed to die – the pill just made him vomit and the river wasn’t deep enough to drown him  The driver sped up to get to the town hall safely and the remaining assassins called the plot off

Third time’s the charm  Ferdinand insisted upon going to the hospital to visit those injured in the blast so they got back into the car and drove off  One of the assassins, Gavrilo Princip, had decided to go to a café after they called off the assassination plot  To his amazement, Ferdinand’s car drove past him – the driver had taken a wrong turn!  The driver then turned the car around and this time Princip was ready  As soon as the car passed, he pulled out his gun and shot the Archduke and his wife – both died later that day  Princip, then turned his gun on himself but a member of the public stopped him and the police arrested him

The spark that lit the fuse  Austria-Hungary interrogated those involved and found out that the organizers were hiding in Serbia  They demanded that Serbia hand them over so they could be tried, that Serbia takes the blame for the assassination and to allow Austria-Hungary to police anti- Austrian groups in Serbia  Serbia refused to do so, and after gaining support and approval from Germany, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28  This began the domino effect

Road to War

More Dominoes

War Begins  By August 12, a month and a half after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, 8 countries have declared war on one another.  The world is at war!