1. The Great War, 1914-1918 Otto Dix, “Flanders” (painted: 1934-36)

2. Why is the Great War seminal? Eventually involved most of the world 65 million troops fought Germany and France mobilized 80 percent of males (aged 15-49) 18.4 million perished (soldiers and civilians) 23 million wounded Destroyed four empires (Hohenzollern/German, Habsburg, Ottoman, Russian/Romanov) Sparked communist revolution in Russia (and elsewhere) Helped Hitler rise to power Began de-colonization Improved many women’s situation

3. Causes of the Great War 1. Alliance system:  Triple Alliance:  Germany  Austria-Hungary  Italy  Triple Entente:  Britain  France  Russia

5. Alliance system (cont.) KEY: 1871: German unification upset balance 1879-1918: Austro-German Alliance 1881-1887: Alliance of Three Emperors Germany Austria-Hungary Russia Triple Alliance, 1882-1915 Germany Austria-Hungary Italy 1887-1890: Russian-German Reinsurance Treaty

6. William (Wilhelm) II (b. 1859; r. 1888-1918) Grandson of William I Wanted to be a “Warrior King” Lame 1890: Forced resignation of (irreplaceable) Bismarck Lost Russia 1890

7. France courts Russia 1891: Republican France and Autocratic Russia sign alliance (to 1917) “Marseillaise”, the hymn of the revolution

8. British Empire “Splendid Isolation” 1900: Germany starts building large navy Boer War, 1899-1902 1904: Anglo-French Entente (Entente Cordiale):  Britain got Egypt  France got Morocco 1907: Anglo-Russian Agreement

10. 2. Imperialism 1905-6: First Moroccan Crisis 1911: Second Moroccan Crisis German Panther at Agadir on July 1, 1911 British called Germany’s bluff Resolved peacefully

11. 3. Nationalism Serbian Austrian Russian France vs. Germany 1871 and Alsace- Lorraine Germany vs. Britain Naval Race

13. 4. Short memory No major wars since 1815 War as adventure Schoolbooks Intellectuals: Europe was decadent, needed a war for renewal.

14. 5. Military Plans Germany’s Schlieffen Plan Russia to mobilize against Germany and Austria-Hungary Planning made it more inevitable

15. Immediate catalysts 1908: Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina 1912: First Balkan War, the Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria) took Macedonia from Ottoman Empire 1913: Second Balkan war, Bulgaria attacked Serbia, leading A-H to intervene

16. Immediate catalysts (cont.) 28 June 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated Black Hand Gavrilo Princip

17. Gavrilo Princip, 1894-1918

18. Immediate catalysts (cont.) A-H decides to teach Serbia a lesson Franz Joseph asks Germany for support William II sends “Blank Check” (Austria could “rely on Germany’s full support.”) 23 July 1914: A-H presents ultimatum to Serbia

19. Immediate catalysts (cont.) 28 July 1914: A-H declares war on Serbia –Tsar Nicholas II orders partial mobilization against A-H 29 July 1914: Russia orders full mobilization against A-H and Germany 2 August 1914: German General von Moltke demands that Belgium permit German armies to march through it 4 August 1914: Britain and France declared war on Germany 11 November 1914: Ottoman Empire declared war on Britain, France, and Russia.