1. Who wanted this war anyway?
Causes of World War I
Who wanted this war anyway?

3. Video Clip

4. Alliances
My dad can beat up your dad

5. Triple Alliance Germany Austria/Hungary Italy Ottoman Empire
Rivalry with France and England
Austria/Hungary
Rivalry with Russia, Serbia, and Italy
Italy
Rivalry with France and Italy
Ottoman Empire
Rivalry with England
Germany – rivalry over territory with France (Alsace and Lorraine this area would be under dispute until after WW II) and England over their navy – will talk more later
Austria / Hungary – rivalry over Balkans with Russia, and Serbia, and Italy over territory The first 2 rivalries would be the primary reasons behind the war
Italy rivalry with France and Austria / Hungary over territory, remember that Italy fought Austria for independence and has historically fought with France over territory
Italy would eventually leave the alliance and join the other side
Ottoman Empire – Rivalry over territory with England

6. Triple Entente Russia France Britain
Had lost face by losing the war to Japan
France
Lost territory to Germany
Britain
Looking to protect its trade empire
Russia’s place as a European power was called into question with its defeat to Japan. It had proclaimed itself the protector of Serbia and didn’t want to lose face again.
France was very concerned about a unified Germany seeing it as a threat to France’s place in Europe
Britain feared losing control of some of its colonies and needed the support of France to keep control

7. Schlieffen Plan
Assumed that if Germany was at war with Russia it was also at war with France
Relied on two things:
Russia would be slow to mobilize
Using rapid troop movements Germany would be able to quickly defeat France
Easiest way for Germany to achieve rapid troop movement would be to go through Belgium which was a neutral country and protected by England

8. Schlieffen Plan
The moment Russia started to mobilize its troops a world war was guaranteed
Germany either had to declare war on France AND Russia or admit defeat prior to a shot being fired

9. Nationalism
I am better than you!

10. The Big Three
Weltpolitik or the desire for world power was popular in Germany
France wanted revenge for the loss of Alsace and Lorraine
England wanted to maintain its position as the leading imperial power

11. Balkans Serbia wanted Austria- Hungary out of the Balkans
Serbia wanted to form a Slavic state called Yugoslavia where they would be the main power
Austria-Hungary was looking to maintain its power in the region
Russia was looking to gain power by being seen as the protector of the Slavs

12. Assassination
On June 28, 1914 Austrian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a 17 year Bosnian Serb student
According to their statements at trial the goal of the assassination was a symbolic act of protest
None of the conspirators in the assassination were older than 27
Assassination occurred after one of the conspirators had failed to kill the arch duke with explosives
The Arch Duke’s driver took a wrong turn on the way back to where the duke was staying and was forced to back up slowly going past a bar were one of the conspirators had gone to eat after their failure to kill the Duke
A local crowd immediately captured the shooter

13. Who was to blame?
The Bosnian Serbs who did the killing had no real plan and had in fact originally planned to kill the local governor
The Austrian-Hungarians ignored advice that said this was a very bad time to visit
Serbian intelligence officers provided the conspirators with information and weapons
The Bosnian Serbs really had no intention of causing anything bigger and in fact can be said to have not fully thought this out
In fact Austria-Hungary did receive reports from Serbia that an assassination was being planned but failed to take it seriously
Serbian officers involved were part of a radical group called the Black Hand and did not have the support of either the government or the military

14. How did this lead to war?
Austrians acted out against Slavs by arresting them and destroying their businesses
Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government for the assassination
Austria-Hungary sought out the support of its ally Germany before taking any action at all
Austrian-Hungarian demands of Serbia were deliberately designed to be to offensive for Serbia to accept and gave a 48 hour deadline
Serbia initially stated that they could accept the demands with a few minor issues
However when it became clear that Russia would support Serbia they stopped negotiating with Austria-Hungary
In fairness to the Serbian government they did not sanction the assassination nor did the actual Serbian military
However the Serbian government did find out about the plan and failed to fully pass the information along to the Austrian-Hungarians
Austria-Hungary military leaders in fact desired to use this as an excuse for war against Serbia and Russia after which they would deal with Italy

15. Imperialism
My country is bigger than yours

16. Colonies around the World in 1914

17. Imperialism
Imperialism had for Europe provided a period of relative peace
Wars were fought far away and were very short
European countries competed with each other to have the most colonies
Colonies provided European nations with a way of showing how powerful they were
A part of a poem from the time goes: Whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun, and they have not.
Wars tended to be short and easy for Europeans due to a technological advantage over their opponents as seen in the poem statement
Europeans thought since colonial wars were short and relatively bloodless a European war would be the same
Europeans forgot that they would not have a technological advantage in a European war

18. Militarism
Why arms races are bad

19. Naval Race
In 1906 the British navy completed the HMS Dreadnought
This ship was so revolutionary that all ships before it were classes as pre-dreadnought
Germany and England then proceeded to get into a race to see who could produce the most of this new type of ship
The dreadnought was not only the most heavily armed ship ever (it had 10 12” guns when the next best had 4, and it had 24 3” guns and 5 torpedo tubes), it could also fire more accurately at distance, and it was the first to be driven solely by steam powered turbines making it faster than any other war ship at 21 knots
The creation of this ship was so revolutionary that it made others obsolete by comparison, and this lead to the naval race
England strive to keep its traditional advantage of having 2x the number of battleships of the next best navy
By the start of the war England had 38 dreadnoughts and dreadnought cruisers while Germany had 24

20. Military Spending
In the years leading to WW I both Germany and France saw their armies more than double in size
Prior to % of French men military age and 50% of Germany men had served in either the army or navy
All the major powers except England had conscription
Percentage Increase in Military Spending
Size of Peacetime Army 1914
Britain
117
430,000
France 92
970,000
Russia 19
1,500,000
Germany
158
760,000
Austria Hungary
160
480,000

21. Everyone is Afraid
Germany had long had the most powerful army in Europe
German naval development was a threat to England
Germany feared be encircled by enemies
Austria-Hungary feared losing its place in the world
Germany army was seen as a threat to France directly
A Germany navy would threaten England with invasion as well as threaten English trade which relied on their naval power
Germany feared attack from both sides – correctly as it would happen
Austria Hungary having lost territory to Italy and Germany as well as Serbia feared growing nationalism would destroy its nation

22. The End Now off to the trenches Sources:
History Learning Site “The Naval Race ”
Spartacus Educational “Dreadnought: World War I”
Tonge, Stephen “Causes of the First World War”
HIS 102 – Western Civilization II Lecture  8 -- A New World Order:  Imperialism and World War I
1996 Steven W. Sowards; used with permission. For additional information see