1 / 26

Causes of World War 1

Causes of World War 1. Nationalism Imperialism The Alliance System Militarism Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Nationalism. Is the belief that each ethnic group should have its own nation Nationalists also assert their own nations as superior to others.

rod
Download Presentation

Causes of World War 1

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Causes of World War 1 • Nationalism • Imperialism • The Alliance System • Militarism • Archduke Franz Ferdinand

  2. Nationalism • Is the belief that each ethnic group should have its own nation • Nationalists also assert their own nations as superior to others. • Encouraged rivalries between France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia • The spread of nationalism also lead to new independent nations in the Balkans- Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania- where the Ottomans once ruled. • Some of these new countries were unstable and fought a series of local wars that threatened to involve the larger powers. • Austria-Hungary consisted of several different ethnic groups, including Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Rumanians, Polish, Serbs, and Croats. • Some of these nations wanted their own nation-state which threatened to break up the Austro-Hungarian Empire apart.

  3. Nationalism

  4. Imperialism • Refers to the political and economic control of one area or country by another • Competing claims by Europeans caused tension between major powers. • By 1900, one quarter of the world was under British rule. • German industrialization threatened British economic supremacy. • Russian interests in the Balkans threatened both Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

  5. The Alliance System • By 1914, Europe was divided into two alliances. • One side was the Triple Alliance (Central-powers)- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy • The Other side was the Triple Entente (Allied-powers) - Russia, France, and Great Britain (England)

  6. Militarism • Occurs when military values and goals take over civilian society. • Bismarck had united Germany through Prussia’s military power, and every European country tried to build up its army. • Generals wore military uniforms even in daily life. • Germany and Britain competed to build the most powerful Navy. • Military planning played a key role in the outbreak of WW1.

  7. The flashpoint that ignites the war.(Archduke Franz Ferdinand) • In July 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to Austrian Empire, was assassinated by a member of the terrorist group, the Black Hand, a Slav nationalist group. • Austrian leaders believed that Serb officials had secretly helped the Assassins. • Austria-Hungary invaded tiny Serbia. • This set off a chain reaction.

  8. Alliance Treaties • Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because of the assassination. • Russia entered to protect Serbia • Germany entered to protect Austria-Hungary • Britain and France entered to protect Russia • Italy refused to join at first since Austria-Hungary had attacked first. • Ottoman Empire joined the central powers (triple alliance) to oppose Russia. • Europe was at War with each other.

  9. Europe at start of World War 1

  10. Fighting the War • Military leaders on both sides thought the war would be over quickly. Instead it lasted many years. • German war plans called for Germany to march through the lowlands of neutral Belgium and take Paris quickly before Russia could enter the war. • Germans advanced but were stopped by the Belgian army before reaching Paris. • Woodrow Wilson, President of U.S., called upon Americans to take no sides and remain neutral.

  11. New kind of War • New and improved weapons were used in fighting the war, including the machine gun, poison gas, submarines, and airplanes. • Each side tried to mobilize all its resources, turning the war into a “TOTAL WAR”

  12. Machine Gun

  13. Poison Gas

  14. Submarines (German U-boats)

  15. Trench Warfare

  16. United States Enters the War • Serbia, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Greece, and Portugal joined the Allied Powers. • America was sympathetic to Britain and France even though U.S. was neutral • When American ships sent supplies to the Allied powers, they were attacked by German U-boats. • In response the U.S. entered in 1917. • Wilson declared that the war would make the world “safe for democracy”

  17. America Enters the War • President Wilson announced America’s war aims in the Fourteen Point speech. • He wanted to redraw the map of Europe so that each nationality had its own nation. • Wilson demanded freedom of the seas • End to secret diplomacy • Creation of the League of Nations. • When America entered they broke the deadlock between the two powers. • November 1918, Germans laid down their weapons and surrendered.

  18. Aftermath of World War 1 • Millions of people were killed or injured • Famine and malnutrition threatened many regions • Governments of Russia and Germany were overthrown.

  19. Paris Peace Conference (1919) • Germans agreed to end the war and to overthrow the Kaiser (president) • Allied leaders Woodrow Wilson (U.S.), David Lloyd George (Great Britain), and Georges Clemenceau (France) met in Paris to negotiate a peace treaty. • Treaty of Versailles concluded peace with Germany; other treaties dealt with Austria-Hungary and Turkey. • The final peace treaty turned out to be extremely harsh on Germany.

  20. Treaty of Versailles (1919) • Germany’s territorial losses. A new independent Poland was created. Germany lost territory to France and Poland, as well as all of its overseas colonies. • Germany lost all of its Navy, while its army was reduced to a small police force. • Germany was forced to accept the blame for starting the war in the War Guilt Clause. • Germany was forced to pay reparations (payments for damages) to the allies.

  21. League of Nations • The treaty created the League of Nations, an organization of nations pledged to defend each other against aggressors. • The league was weakened when several major powers, such as the United States and Russia, refused to join it. • The purpose was to promote disarmament and prevent war. • The league had no military force of its own, so it depended on the help of its member nations. • It created a court of International Law.

More Related