the road to world war 1

The Road to World War 1

By Jack Garrity

• Chapter 4

• Pages 116-124

The Big Idea• Tensions between nationalized industrialized

monarchies in Europe exploded into the biggest war the world had ever seen.

• The United States tried to remain neutral, while Wilson was forced to deal with Mexico.

• However the Zimmerman Telegram and unrestricted submarine warfare eventually brought the USA into World War I.

Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy Wilson resolved to “strike a new note in international affairs” and to see that “sheer honesty and even unselfishness . . . should prevail over nationalistic self-seeking in American foreign policy.” Wilson strongly opposed imperialism.

Wilson won the Presidency as two former Republican presidents ran, splitting the Republican vote.

Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy He strongly believed in spreading democracy, not empire, and that the United States should promote democracy, making a peaceful world free of revolution and wars.

The Mexican Revolution

Wilson first international crises awaited him as he took office in 1913.

In 1911 a popular revolution erupted in Mexico, forcing President Díaz to flee the country.

Francisco Madero a democratic land reformer replaced Diaz, but was assassinated by the Mexican Army.

General Victoriano Huerta led the new military junta, as Wilson came to power in the USA.

Wilson thought Huerta would be overthrown without US support.

Wilson blocked official weapon shipments to Huerta, and allowed Americans to arm other political factions in Mexico.

Wilson Sends Troops Into Mexico

In April 1914, American sailors visiting the city of Tampico were arrested after entering a restricted area, then quickly released.

When the Mexicans would not apologize, Wilson sent in US troops occupying Vera Cruz Mexico.

Wilson thought the Mexican people would welcome his action, instead anti-American riots broke out all over Mexico.

Wilson accepted international talks that brought US backed Venustiano Carranza to power as Mexico’s president.

Mexican forces opposed to Carranza began raids into the United States.

Pancho Villa led a group of guerrillas that raided and burned towns in New Mexico, killing Americans.

Wilson responded by sending 6,000 U.S. troops under General John J. Pershing across the border to find and capture Villa.

The invasion dragged on as Pershing failed to capture the guerrillas for years.

In 1917, Wilson recalled Pershing as events in Europe overwhelmed the USA.

The Central Powers implied that they might ally with Mexico against the USA in the World War dominating the planet.

The Mexican invasion damaged Wilson’s reputation as peace-loving and promoter of democracy.

The British ridiculed the president’s attempt to “shoot the Mexicans into self-government.”

Latin Americans regarded his “moral imperialism” as no improvement on Theodore Roosevelt’s “big stick” .

The Mexican Revolution During his first term, Wilson sent marines into Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to set up governments that he hoped would be more stable and democratic.

• Meanwhile in Europe…..

The Outbreak of World War I

Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, a number of factors created problems in Europe that set the stage for a monumental war.

The Alliance System

In 1864, while Americans fought the Civil War, the German kingdom of Prussia united hundreds of German states into one nation.

The Alliance System

By 1871, the Prussian German Chancellor Bismarck proclaimed the unified 2nd German Reich (Empire).

The Alliance System

The new German nation rapidly industrialized and quickly became one of the most powerful nations in the world.

The Alliance System

Like all the other monarchs of Europe, Czar William believed in Imperialism and the German Empire scrambled to catch up to the British, French, and Russian Empires.

The Alliance System

The rise of the German Empire under Czar William II wrecked the balance of power (the Concert of Europe) that had kept general peace since the Age of Napoleon.

The Alliance System

In 1870, the Prussians attacked and defeated France, taking territory along the Franco-German boarder.

The Alliance System

From that point forward, France and Germany were enemies.

The Alliance System Next, Germany signed alliances with the King of Italy and the Austria-Hungary Emperor, which became known as the Triple Alliance.

The Alliance System

The Triple Alliance alarmed the Russian Empire, who feared Germany and had been competing against the Austrian Empire in the Balkans.

The Alliance System

Russia had always wanted a navy base on the Mediterranean, and supported Slavic Orthodox Christians of southeastern Europe.

The Alliance System

The Austrian Empire supported Roman Catholic people in South Eastern Europe, hoping for a Mediterranean navy base of their own.

The Alliance System Russia and France had a common interest in opposing the Triple Alliance, and Czar Nicolas II signed a secret alliance with France (Franco-Russian Alliance) in 1894.

The Naval Race

Great Britain (the number one sea power) remained neutral under King George.

The Naval Race

However, that began to change as Germany built a new fleet in 1898.

The Naval Race

By the early 1900s, an arms race had begun between Great Britain and Germany, as both sides raced to build warships.

The Naval Race

The naval race greatly increased tensions between Germany and Britain and the British established closer relations with France and Russia.

The Naval Race While the British did not sign an alliance, the relationship with the French and Russians became known as an “entente cordiale”—a friendly understanding.

Nationalism and The Balkan Crisis

By the late 1800s, nationalism had replaced local and feudal bonds in Europe.

• Nationalism a feeling of pride and belonging to a country, based on culture, language, or affinity.

England, German, Russia, and Austria’s nationalism all centered on Kings and Emperors (all related) who believed in expanding empires to show their greatness.

Each nation viewed the others as competitors, and many people were willing to go to war to expand their nation at the expense of others.

Nationalism’s right to self-determination—the idea that people who belong to a nation should have their own country and government, led to a crisis in the Balkans.

Nicknamed “the powder keg of Europe”, the Balkans had a difficult geographic position .

The Austrian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires all wanted to rule them.

The native Yugoslavians ( Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, and Slovenes) wanted independent nation states of their own.

Russia supported the Serbs, while AustriaHungary did what it could to limit Serbia’s growth.

In 1908 Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia from the Ottoman Empire, infuriating Serbian people.

A Continent Goes to War

In June 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, visited Saviano, the Bosnian capital.

Gavrilo Princip (a member of the “Black Hand”) shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophis as they rode in a carriage.

The Austro-Hungarian Emperor blamed Serbia for the attack and decided the time had come to crush Serbia.

Austrians asked their German allies for support. Germany promised to support AustriaHungary if war erupted with Russia.

The Serbs counted on Russia to back them up, and the Russians, in turn, counted on France.

On July 28, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia immediately mobilized its army, including troops stationed on the German border.

On August 1, Germany declared war on Russia. Two days later, it declared war on France.

On August 5, Great Britan declared war on Germany, as the German army roared through Belgium. World War I had begun, Italy dropped out of its alliance with Russia.

• Great Britain, France, and Russia were the big powers in the Allies• The German, Austrian, and Ottoman Empires the big

powers of the Central Powers

World War I was the first large scale modern industrialized war.

Germany’s Plan Fails

Germany had carefully planed a war against France and Russia call the Schlieffen Plan.

Schlieffen Plan called for a massive invasion of France, through Belgium, knocking the French out of the war. Then, it would then be able to send its troops east to deal with the Russians.

France’s Plan 17 concentrated an attack on the south east boarder with Germany.

Against recommendations of the generals, the German Kaiser modified the plan to allow his sons to also attack France’s eastern boarder.

In any event, Germany launched a massive attack through the Netherland, brining neutral Great Britain into the conflict.

The German plan seemed to work at first. German troops swept through Belgium and headed into France, driving back the French and British forces.

However, the Princes made no progress on the Eastern boarder, and were through back, and they demanded reinforcements.

This weakened the German forces just enough to give the Allies a chance to stop them.

The Germans drove to within 30 miles of Paris, but ran into a entrenched French army at the Mane.

The French trenches were reinforced by British troops, and French troops driven to the front by taxi cabs.

The Germans attacked from September 5–12, 1914 but could not break through.

The Marne September 5-9, 1914

Strategic ContextAs more states join the growing European conflict, Germany seeks to avoid a simultaneous, two-front war against both Russia and France by initiating the Schlieffen Plan; this involves outflanking French forces through Belgium with the bulk of the German Army to knock France out of the war. Britain surprises Germany by entering the war on the Franco-Russian side and sending an expeditionary force to the continent while France initiates Plan XVII; this involves bluntly attacking German forces in Lorraine. The initial Battles of the Frontiers are disastrous for French forces which must retreat but also encourage German commander, Helmuth von Moltke, to modify the Schlieffen Plan by shifting forces away from the right wing to the left wing and Eastern Front. French commander, Joseph Joffre, continues to withdraw until politicians force him to halt just south of the Marne River to defend Paris.

By Jonathan Webb, 2010 ©

Stakes+ A German victory would capture Paris, conceivably knocking France out of the war.+ A French victory would prevent Germany from winning a quick victory and ensure a long, drawn-out conflict which Germany is not suited to fight.

German Army

Alexander von Kluck

The Marne, 1914Strength

French Army & allies

Joseph Joffre

23 infantry divisions41 infantry divisions

Helmuth von Moltke

8 cavalry divisions700,000 men

5 cavalry divisions535,000 men

Sir John French

German Army

(Moltke)

Moltke’s forces are organized in three armies although he exercises little control over them, particularly Kluck’s massive 1. Army. Kluck underestimates the strength of the two armies opposing him in the west and believes French 5. Army to be the vital left flank unit of French forces; he decides to reject the Schlieffen Plan’s maneuver to capture Paris by advancing southwest and enveloping the city and instead plans to advance south and rolling up the entire French Army. Joffre’s forces are organized in five armies although the British Expeditionary Force is far from the frontline and its reliability is ambiguous. Joffre plans to envelop the German right flank with 6. Army while the rest of his forces hold against any German attacks and be prepared to attack when the opportunity arises.

4. Army (de Cary)

9. Army (Foch)

5. Army (d’Esperey)

BEF (French)

6. Army (Manoury)

3. Army (Hausen)

2. Army (Bülow)1. Army

(Kluck)

As French 6. Army prepares to launch its offensive, Gronau – German commander along the Ourcq River – becomes suspicious of French intentions; he abruptly attacks French advanced units and drives them back. Gronau soon finds his forces outnumbered by French 6. Army and retreats before Manoury’s counterattack can strike him. The Marne River front stabilizes as each side prepares for aggressive operations.

As combat on the Ourcq front escalates, Kluck changes his objective once again and resolves to destroy the weaker French 6. Army and capture Paris; German 1. Army begins to disengage from French 5. Army – which is attacking – and redeploy on the Ourcq to save the German right flank and rear. Joffre adds the left wing of Foch’s 9. Army to the offensive but little progress is made and Foch’s right wing is surprised by a combined attack by German 2. and 3. Armies; hasty counterattacks prove ineffective. Joffre orders de Cary’s 4. Army to engage German 3. Army to prevent it from exploiting the success against French 9. Army.

More German forces arrive on the Ourcq front, allowing Kluck to throw back Manoury’s offensive; even with French reinforcements to this sector, French 6. Army is strained and more German forces are still en route. Joffre takes advantage of these transfers with an aggressive attack on the Marne front by d’Esperey’s 5. Army. Meanwhile, Foch’s 9. Army struggles against a determined offensive, including a sharp night attack by Hausen’s 3. Army until attacks by French 5. and 4. Armies against German 2. and 3. Armies relieve some pressure. As fierce fighting continues along the front, a gap between the German 1. and 2. Armies becomes more pronounced which Joffre hopes to exploit by coasting French’s BEF to the frontlines. Making matters worse for Moltke’s armies, a total lack of communication between his 1. and 2. Armies prevails.

Kluck launches the largest attack yet against French 6. Army and drives it back towards Paris, but widening the gap between German 1. and 2. Armies as a result. Meanwhile, French 5. Army is able to completely outflank German 2. Army and force it to retreat east, further widening the gap. Joffre orders his French armies to pin German forces and the BEF to advance through this growing gap to encircle German forces but it is moving slowly. Moltke, disturbed by the lack of fresh reports from the front, sends relatively junior staff officer Hentsch to clarify the situation and order a withdrawal if necessary.

1. Army (Kluck)

2. Army (Bülow)

The BEF continues its sluggish advance against scarce German resistance while the rest of the front engages in fierce combat. German 1. Army holds the initiative against French 6. Army but French 5. Army holds the initiative against German 2. Army. The battle is ended by Hentsch’s order to withdraw after learning of British forces pouring into the gap. He finds German 3. Army’s position to be most favourable but 1. and 2. Armies completely at the mercy of the enemy forces occupying the vast gap between them. Kluck, although he feels he could sweep French 6. Army from the field, respects the General Staff enough to promptly withdraw. German 1. Army retreats north and 2. and 3. Armies northeast with only intermittent fighting until they reach better defensive positions.

Ourcq River

Landmarks

St. Gond Marshes

Marne River

French Army & allies(Joffre)

German Army(Helmuth von

Moltke)535,000 men23 infantry divisions5 cavalry divisions

French Army & allies

(Joseph Joffre)700,000 men41 infantry divisions8 cavalry divisions

The Marne, 1914Casualties & Aftermath

French Army & allies:

German Army:

≈64,000or9%

≈40,000or

French forces were unable to seriously hinder German forces in their retreat. Both sides attempted to outflank each other’s northern flank until they ran out of land to maneuver on. Erich von Falkenhayn replaced Moltke as German commander and launched repeated attacks against the French fortress of Verdun and growing British forces in Flanders, all unsuccessful. German forces were able to win the vital St. Mihiel salient which was not seriously threatened until 1918 when combined Franco-British-American forces defeated the German Army.

The Germans retreated and began digging their own trenches, which the French and English could not take.

Meanwhile, Russia attacked from the East.

The Germans sent Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff with troops from the Western Front to defeat the Russian invasion.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire joined the Axis powers, and Italy the Allies.

The failure of the Schlieffen Plan and building of trenches locked the Western Front into a bloody stalemate along hundreds of miles of trenches that would barely change position for the next three years.

The Central Powers had greater success on the Eastern Front. German and Austrian forces stopped the Russian attack and then went on the offensive.

They swept across hundreds of miles of territory and took hundreds of thousands of prisoners. Russia suffered 2 million killed, wounded, or captured in 1915 alone, but it kept fighting.

American Neutrality then takes sides

When the fighting began, President Wilson declared the United States to be neutral in an attempt to keep the country from being drawn into a foreign war, like George Washington had advised.

German and Irish Americans showed support for Central Powers.

Many Anglo Americans favored the British, and historic links with France, a great friend during the Revolutionary War.

Most of Wilson’s cabinet favored the British, except William Jennings Bryan favoring true neutrality.

Both the Allies and Central Powers used was propaganda to influence American public opinion in the newspapers.

• Propaganda information designed to influence opinion, usually sensational.

German propaganda was mostly anti-Russian and did not appeal to most Americans. British propaganda, on the other hand, was extremely skillful.

Business Links

American business interests also leaned toward the Allies.

Business Links

Companies in the United States, particularly on the East Coast, had strong ties with businesses in the Allied countries.

Business Links

American banks began to invest heavily in an Allied victory. American loans to the cash-hungry Allies skyrocketed. By 1917 such loans would total over $2 billion.

Business Links

Other American banks, particularly in the Midwest, where pro-German feelings were strongest, also lent some $27 million to Germany.

Moving Toward War

A series of events (submarine warfare) gradually eroded American neutrality and drew the nation into the war firmly on the side of the Allies..

The British Blockade

Shortly after the war began, the British deployed their navy to blockade Germany and keep it from obtaining supplies.

Kaiser William ordered the German navy not to engage the British, but to keep in port.

The British planted mines in the North Sea and forced inspections neutral ships in case they were trying to transport valuable materials to Germany.

British officials also expanded their definition of contraband, or prohibited materials, to prevent neutral countries from even shipping food.

The Germans watched as the USA sent food, equipment, and other supplies to the Allies and their overseas empires.

To get around Britain’s blockade, the Germans deployed submarines known as U-boats (meaning “underwater boat”).

In February 1915, the Germans announced that they would attempt to sink without warning any ship they found in the waters around Britain.

Germany’s announcement triggered outrage in the United States and elsewhere, as attacking civilian ships without warning violated an international treaty

German U Boats could not stop ships if they first surfaced and announced themselves as the treaty provided.

The Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, the issue reached a crisis when the Germans sunk the British passenger ship The Lusitania.

The Lusitania

The Germans warned the Lusitania, yet it entered the war zone. A submerged German submarine fired on the ship, killing nearly 1,200 passengers—including 128 Americans.

The Lusitania

The American public was outraged, although the Lusitania carried war supplies for the Allies.

Moving Toward War

Wilson refused to take extreme measures against Germany, saying that the United States was “too proud to fight.”

Moving Toward War

Wilson wrote several diplomatic notes to Germany insisting that it stop sinking non military ships.

Moving Toward War

In March 1916, another U-Boat torpedoed the French passenger ship Sussex, testing Wilson’s policy.

Moving Toward War

Most wanted war, but the president, busy with the crisis in Mexico, chose to issue one last warning.

Moving Toward War

He demanded that the German government abandon its methods of submarine warfare or risk war with the United States.

Moving Toward War

Germany promised with certain conditions to sink no more merchant ships without warning, the Sussex Pledge.

Wilson Reelected

Wilson’s efforts to keep American soldiers at home played an important part in his re-election bid in 1916. Campaigning as the “peace” candidate, his campaign slogan, “He kept us out of the war,” and won.

• Germany’s biggest blunder…..

The United States Declares War

In January 1917, a German official named Arthur Zimmermann cabled the German ambassador in Mexico, instructing him to make an offer to the Mexican government.

Zimmermann proposed that Mexico ally itself with Germany in the event of war between Germany and the United States. In return, Mexico would regain its “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona” after the war.

On February 1, 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, thinking they would quickly starve the allies into submission.

Between February 3 and March 21, German U-boats sank six American merchant ships without warning.

The United States Declares War Russia left the war on March 15, 19 17 as Czar Nicholas II abdicated his throne as a result of a revolution against the huge losses on the Eastern Front.

Russia's exit allowed Americans to think of the conflict of democracies against the old imperial forces of Europe.

President Wilson appeared before a special session of Congress on April 2, 1917, to ask for a declaration of war against Germany.

“It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war. . . . But the right is more preciousthan peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest to our hearts—for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations. . . .” —quoted in the Congressional Record, 1917

• Next time• The Course of World War 1……

End• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/

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the road to world war 1

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