The Causes of the War OK, in a nutshell, World War Is cause went asfar back as the early 1800s. People controlled by other nations began to evolvepeoples feelings of nationalism. The French Revolution of 1789 brought a newfeeling to the word Nationalism. People who spoke French, German, Italian, ext. felt that they should have a separate government in a country where everyonespoke the same language. Unfortunately, we cant please everyone and thisdemand they had was something impossible that could be done.
As time passedpeople began to establish war cults or military alliances. The members fromthese groups would discriminate and verbally abuse the people, which didntspeak their language. Warmongers criticized at foreign ways of doing things. Sometimes newspaper stories help spread publicity.
Some German leaders stronglyurged commercial & political expansion to the east, mostly in Asia. II-Military Alliances Military alliances were another of the many causes of WorldWar I. When the German Empire was united in 1871, Chancellor Otto Von Bismarckhoped for a period of international peace. He looked for allies to supportGermany.
It was then that in 1882 Germany, Austria-Hungary & Italy signed atreaty called, ” The Triple Alliance. ” The treaty was made to protect themfrom attacks from France or Russia. Germany & Italy feared France &Austria-Hungary feared Russia. The three members of the alliance formed apowerful block in central Europe.
Unfortunately, Austria-Hungary & Italywere not very friendly. They argued mostly over land and/or territory that Italythought they should have. So, both countries competed to see who would takecontrol of the Adriatic Sea first. When the war broke out in 1914, Italydidnt keep their word about the contract they had agreed to in the treaty. Itturns out they had made a secret treaty with France in 1902.
As a result of thatthey had to remain neutral then declared war on Austria-Hungary. After theTriple Alliance formed, the rest of the countries in Europe saw that they wereat a disadvantage. The disadvantage was that if there ever was an internationalcrisis, Great Britain, France & Russia would have to fight for themselvesbut the Triple Alliance would have the advantage of acting together as one. Thenin 1894, France signed a defensive alliance with Russia.
Then only by itself wasGreat Britain. Soon after they faced naval rivalry & growing mercenary withGermany. In 1904, Great Britain & France reached a cordial understanding orhow you would say in French, “Entente Cordial. ” By the terms in theagreement, they settled all the disagreements they had about almost anything& everything.
Most important being colonies. Both nations became partners. Then France succeeded in bringing Britain and Russia together. In 1907 the twonations signed the Anglo-Russian Entente,” it was kind of like the cordialagreement that linked France, Russia & Great Britain was called “TheTriple Entente. ” Men, Battlefronts & Strategy I- Strategy of the War Thechief of the German general staff Count Alfred Von Schlieffen planned a verylittle simple strategy in 1905 and changed it in 1912. His plan was that Germanarmies were to crush France in a campaign by going through Belgium, which wasneutral.
Now, the Germans were planning to crush Russia, then planned to makeBritain surrender. Then they would sweep into Asia & yes, they would try andconquer them too. This guy expected a 2 front war & planned thatAustria-Hungary and some small German force in East Prussia would take theeastern front. But no. The Allied strategy called for attacks by the Frencharmies in Lorraine upon the start of the war.
OK, so the plan was that. On theEastern front it would be Russia trying to invade Germany through East Prussiaand attack Austria-Hungary in Galicia. They hoped to strike westward at Germanywhile the Allied Armies went east. The War I- The US enters WWI (1917, 4th year)Early in 1917, the Central Powers, which consisted of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria,Germany & the Ottoman Empire, were at a strong position.
They had in controlMontenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, most of Belgium & Northern France. Then, yes, the USA entered the war. And so the tables began to turn in favor ofthe Allies. Germany unrestricted Submarine welfare so this caused the US to jointhe Allies. The news of the outbreak of the war in 1914 had surprised manyAmericans. As a result, President Woodrow Wilson had declared that “the USwould be neutral in fact, as well as in name.
” When the Germans torpedoedLusitania, in 1915 they killed128 Americans. So President Wilson thought the USwould not enter the war but as we already know, he was wrong. Germany approachedMexico for alliance; this was heard from the British when they intercepted amessage. There was a record number of sinking of US merchant ships. Germany hasthrust war on the US.
On April 2nd, 1917 the president read a war message thatwas sent to him which read: “The world must be safe for democracy. ” Afterthis the US didnt sign anything, but simply associated themselves with theAllies, although they were unprepared. II- The Allies Attack (1917) So theGermans would have benefit, they had to figure an out an attack. They went onMarch of 1917 off to the battle line, prepared. The Germans called it theSigfried Line and the Allies called it the Hidenburg Line. The Allies carriedout the only offensive operation on the battlefront.
That year ended withoutmuch change. In 1917, the French executed Mata Hari, who was a Dutch dancer thatwas spying for the Germans. Feelings against Germany were strong as warprogressed. School kids were affected much by the war as well. They were notallowed to learn German or German Literature.
People criticized any techniquesthat were said to spies. Therefore, the Dept. Of Justice was asked to keep closelook for the spies. The Final Years I- The Final Year (1918) The Allies wonfined victory in 1918.
Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary &Germany signed armistice. On January 8th, WilsonFreedom ofannouncedhis 14 points. The 14 points included the following:Reduction in Trade Barriers Amend to Secret Diplomacy NavigationEvacuationof Central Powers troops Adjustment of Colonial Claims AmendmentsCreation ofan associationRe-establishment of Poland from Allied CountriesIndependencefor the people ofof nations to work for permanent peace Home rule for the non-Turkish parts of the Ottoman Empire. TheAustria-Hungary14 points gave hope to many enemy people for a peace settlement. II- TheLast Campaign After a quiet winter the Central powers planned to overwhelm theallied armies before the full benefit of American aid could arrive. Hidenburgpromised he would be in Paris by April 1st.
In March, German armies underLudendorff struck along a 50-mile front. The Allies gave way slowly but in othersections fast. In April the Allies formed unified command. On May 31st, theGermans reached the reached the banks of the Marne.
It lost 7,800 men. Francethen renamed the spot “the wood of Brigade of Marne” to honor the heroicstand of the man. American troops blocked an enemy offensive at Château-Thierry & prevented Germans from sweeping across the Marne toParis. 5 major battles raged at the same time. After July 18th the Alliedoffensive never stopped until the truce. On August 8th, the Allies led byCanadian & Australian troops attacked the Germans fiercely at Amines.
OnAugust 26th, Germans began retreating to the Hidenburg line. The battle wasdescribed as “The Black Day. ” About 1,200,000 Americans fought on the Battleof the Meuse-Argonne. About 1 of every 10 people was killed. III- The End ofCentral Powers Austria-Hungary also planned a huge drive to make Italy withdrawfrom the war.
But floods and resistance by Gen. Armand Diazs troops stoppedthe Austro-Hungarian armies in June. In October, Diaz started an offensive tothe northeast across the Piave River. He split the Austro-Hungarian Empire into2 and destroyed them.
On Sept 29th, Bulgaria signed an armistice at Salonika. Another member of the Central Powers, the Ottoman Empire signed a peaceagreement on October 31st. In the late of 1918, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks& Poles declared independence. IV- Results of the War. The peace settlementshealed many wounds, but also caused new ones.
The Allies had emphasized theprinciple of self-determination. This caused the flame of nationalism to burnmore brightly than it had 1914. The Allies formed the League of Nations tosettle disputes in a peaceful way. Unfortunately, member nations didnt alwayssupport these agencies in International Dispute.
V- The Home Front The HomeFront in Europe came under intense bombing. The war destroyed the industrial andcommunity lives of many cities, towns and villages. It closed and/or destroyedschools, factories, roads and railroads. In many countries people had to dependon food supplied by the government. In Eastern Europe many left their homesbecause they were scared of invasion.
Refugees moved from place to place insearch of food and shelter. After the war, people who went back to their homeswent to find that their villages, towns and/or cities didnt exist. Fortunately, the US supplied food and clothing to an extent. BY: PAULA–12/99Bibliography1). Encarta 98 1999 CD-ROM. Copyright 19982).
Encarta 96 1995 CD-ROM. Microsoft 1996. 3). Comptons Encyclopedia 1998 CopyrightOnline19974). The Concise ColumbiaElectronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition.
Encyclopediawww.encyclopedia.com Copyright 1994, Columbia University Press
