FIRST WORLD WAR

FIRST WORLD WAR

1. Introduction

The 20th century witnessed the inauguration of a new kind of warfare. It was the first global conflict in history. That is why it was called "The Great War". More than one hundred countries were involved (sixteen nations and their colonies) and nearly 80 million people fought.

Map of the World with the participants in the First World War. The Triple Entente allies in green, the Central Powers in orange, and the neutral countries in grey.

For the first time in history, the concept of total warfare appears. In previous wars, the victims were only those who were directly involved on the battlefield, and the impact was not as great. However, in the Great War there were more civilian deaths than military deaths; it affected both the front and the rear. It therefore affected society, work, the economy, the government... hence its name "total warfare".

Nobody expected the war to end up being so long and so destructive. At first everyone thought it was going to be a short war (a few months). However, when it was realised that it was not going to be, governments went to great lengths to run propaganda campaigns through the glorification of the war to keep morale high.

Poster in which British Marshal Kitchener appeals to young British men to enlist in the army.

"The most famous poster in the world." Over four million copies were printed between 1917 and 1918, as the United States entered World War I. Uncle Sam (initials U.S. common national personification of the American government

US Recruiting Office

German soldiers in a freight wagon on their way to the front in 1914.

Never before had a war been so destructive. The casualties include an estimated 10 million dead and 20 million wounded.

Entire cities were completely destroyed

Ypres (Belgium)

Nieuwpoort Square (Belgium) before and after the war

The war ends with an imposed and non-agreed peace that would bring new consequences in the future.

2. Causes of the war

1. Arms race and military blocks
2. Colonial conflicts
3. The outbreak of war: assassination of Franz Ferdinand

There were 3 main causes:

2.1. Arms race and military blocks

“Watch out, the dogs are barking”

Rivalries between the great European powers had existed long ago. Since the end of the 19th century, European countries have been keeping the peace while rearming at the same time, which is why this period is called "Armed peace” (*Paz Armada).

British Queen Victoria, their grandmother

“Royal cousins at war”

France, Russia and United Kingdom

1907

Triple Entente

1882

Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

Triple Alliance

European powers ended divided into two military blocks:

Mutual fears led to an arms race (*carrera de armamentos). Almost every country increased the size of its army and manufactured new weapons (UK increased its military spending from 44 million to 77 million, Germany from 90 million to 400 million).

2.2. Colonial conflicts

During the 19th and part of 20th century, Europe dominate most of the world creating colonial empires (*imperios coloniales). This is called Imperialism. The term is related to “empire”. The conquering country is called metropolis (*metrópolis) from the Greek word which means ‘mother city’ and the territories it acquires are its colonies. In 1800, about 35% of the Earth´s land was controlled by Europe and the United States; by 1914 it had reached 84%.

Imperialism was a constant source of conflict and this will be one of the main causes of WWI. Germany and Italy wanted to build their own colonial empires, Britain and France wanted to limit their expansion.

Wilhelm II, the German emperor wanted his own empire.

Morocco was the scenario of a major crisis. At the beginning of the 20th century, Morocco was one of the few African territories that had not been colonised by Europeans and remained independent, but several European powers showed an interest in the area.

However, Great Britain, Spain and German Empire had also interests:

I want it for me!!!

Give me a piece

Leave me alone in Egypt

What do you want in return?

France wanted to create a protectorate in Morocco.

OK!!

I give you Cameroon but leave me in Morocco!!

There were two crisis (1906, 1911) in which Wilhelm II tried to dominate Morocco and almost ended in a war. Finally France gave Germany Cameroon in exchange for Morocco and the war did not started (yet).

Morocco became a Hispano-Frech protectorate.

Another source of tension was the Balkans (*Los Balcanes). The Balkan peninsula had belonged to the Turkish Empire or Ottoman Empire for many years, but the Turks were very weakened and their empire was known in the 20th century as "the sick man of Europe" because of its weakness.

• Outside its borders: its weakness encouraged the ambitions of its neighbours (Austria-Hungary and Russia) who were keen to dominate the Balkan area (access to the sea, strategic control).

This caused a double problem for the Turks:

• Within their borders: their weakness caused that several Balkan countries become independent.

Franz Joseph I of Austria

I want the Balkans!!! and Serbia and Russia are standing in my way...

Between 1908 and 1913, there were 3 crises which culminated in the independence of more Balkan countries from the Ottoman Empire, Serbia expanded its borders, Russia increased its influence in the area and Austria-Hungary saw its power reduced, event that will ultimately culminate in the outbreak of war.

2.3. The outbreak of war: assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinandf

On 28 June 1914, a Bosnian student Gavrilo Princip assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, on an official visit to Sarajevo (Bosnia).

GavriloPrincip

Logo de la Mano Negra

Austria-Hungary sets in motion its plan to destroy Serbia: Gavrilo Princip supposedly belonged to a secret society affiliated with the Serbian terrorist organisation "The Black Hand", which aspired to unite all Balkan countries.

Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of being behind the attack and sent an ultimatum, they were given only two days to respond. Despite conciliatory efforts by the Serbian authorities, the Austrian government declared war on 28 July 1914. The alliance system was set in motion. World War I began.

The alliance system was set in motion. World War I began.

3. The war

More united and better organised

Much more people (colonies) and better equipped

ALLIES (France, United Kingdom and Russia)

CENTRAL POWERS (Germany and Austria-Hungary)

Up to fourteen European countries and their respective colonies, plus Japan and the United States, became involved.

1. War of movement (1914)

2. War of positions (1914-1917) 3. The decisive year (1917) 4. The end of the war (1918)

The war took place in four stages of the war between 1914 and 1918:

3.1. War of movement (1914)

Germany started the war with the Schlieffen Plan, named after its creator (Alfred von Schlieffen), which aimed to achieve a quick victory on the Western Front, defeating the French army, and then take over the Russian Front.

Alfred von Schlieffen

However, the Germans made the mistake of crossing into neutral Belgium and Britain, seeing itself threatened, entered the conflict on 4 August 1914. French troops, with the help of Britain, managed to halt the German advance at the Battle of the Marne (September 1914) and thus the possibility of a short war. This led to the stabilisation of the Western Front.

Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, Russian troops invade East Prussia and surprise the Germans, forcing them to move forces from France (explaining the failure of the Marne). The Germans defeat the Russians at the Battle of Tannenberg. The German setback in France becomes a victory in the East.

Russian soldiers surrender at the Battle of Tannenberg

3.2. War of positions (1914-1917)

Trench line

From 1915 onwards, the war of movement gave way to trench or positional warfare. The fronts were stabilised and the armies fixed their positions, erected barbed wire barriers to prevent the enemy's advance, and protected themselves in trenches (*trincheras).

The stabilisation of the fronts meant that new tactics had to be used: trying to open breaches or weaken the opponent's strength and new weapons: flamethrowers, tanks and poison gas.

Italy, Romania, Greece, United States , China and Japan joined the Allies

The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers

The unexpected duration of the war led both sides to seek new allies. New countries entered the war:

In 1916, three of the most important battles of the war were fought with unprecedented violence and cruelty:

- The Battle of Verdun (21 February - 19 December 1916) - The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) - The Battle of Jutland (31 May - 1 June 1916)

The Battle of Verdun (21 February - 19 December 1916) was the longest battle of the war, lasting ten months and killing over half a million soldiers. It was lost by the Germans.

Verdun battle

The Battle of the Somme (1 July - 18 November 1916) was the bloodiest battle, with over a million soldiers killed between the two sides. It was started by the Allies and ended with no one winning.

Somme battle

The Battle of Jutland (31 May - 1 June 1916) was the largest naval engagement of the war. It resulted in a British victory.

Jutland battle

3.3 The decisive year (1917)

Two events in 1917 helped turn the tide of the war: The entry of the United States into the war (a major advantage for the Allies).The Russian Revolution (Russia exits the war and the war on the Eastern Front is over)

Why did U.S. enter the war?

3.4. The end of the war (1918)

Germany takes advantage of Russia's exit from the war to carry out several offensives on the Western Front. But the massive entry of American troops allowed the Allies to mount a counter-attack that enabled them to regain all the ground they had lost as German troops retreated. All this forced the countries to surrender gradually in 1918:

• Bulgaria (29 September)
• Turkey (30 October)
• Austria-Hungary (3 November)
• Germany (11 November)

The war ends on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at eleven o'clock in the morning.

4. CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR

4.1 Demographic consequences

These demographic losses also led to a decline in the birth rate in subsequent generations and, with it, a decrease in the working population and in the number of potential consumers.

Photograph taken during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. One of the women is holding a sign saying "wear a mask or go to jail".

In addition, sanitary and food shortages facilitated the spread of the 1918 flu epidemic (the misnamed "Spanish flu"). nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves. Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

4.2 Economic consequences

Their effects were felt throughout the entire productive system. They caused destruction of the means of production (fields, industries) and transport (railways, roads).

The United States became the world's leading economic power.

4.3 social consequences

It has been noted that the post-war period was marked by social tension between the "nouveau riche" (those who amassed large fortunes thanks to the war, merchants, industrialists) and the "nouveau poor" (the population impoverished by inflation and unemployment).

More traumatic was the reintegration of ex-combatants into civilian life, with physical and psychological consequences that would never leave them. In the case of the losing countries, such as Germany, or those that thought they had been badly rewarded, such as Italy, these young men, out of work and accustomed to weapons and discipline, would end up swelling, to a large extent, the ranks of the new fascist parties that emerged in Europe in the 1920s.

During the war, women took over jobs that had been reserved for men. Women therefore took over the maintenance of the productive economy, demonstrating that if they were competent to do men's work, they were also competent to exercise their rights, and in this way the organised struggle for women's emancipation was resumed.

4.4 political consequences

REVENGE!!

It is not in our interest to humiliate the defeated

But France, the most destroyed, demanded harsh treatment of the Germans, and even wanted Germany to be dismembered.

The British and Americans had more conciliatory positions, with Wilson calling for respectful treatment of defeated Germany.

When the war ended, the European Allies were more concerned with defending their own interests than with achieving a just peace.

The defeated countries did not participate and were not listened to, they were only called upon to sign the treaties. The treaties were imposed by the Council of Four (Italy, UK, France and USA).

- Versalles (Alemania)- Saint Germain (Austria)- Trianon (Hungría)- Neully (Bulgaria)- Sevres (Turquía)

En la Conferencia de Paz de París (1919-1920) se elaboraron los cinco tratados de paz que estipulaban las condiciones de la paz y las nuevas fronteras de Europa. Estos fueron:

Clemenceau (France)

Wilson (U.S.)

Lloyd George (United Kingdom)

Orlando (Italy)

Because of its harshness it will be considered as a diktat (German word meaning "imposition").

The most important and harshest of the treaties was the TREATY OF VERSALLES with Germany. Germany was held solely responsible for the war, had to pay large sums of money (called "war reparations"), had its empire taken away, had part of its territories occupied, was forced to suspend military service and reduce its armies, and the other powers came to control its economy.

By 1920 Europe consisted of a total of twenty-eight states. All but two of them were parliamentary democracies.

New states were formed: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia.

The great empires that existed in Europe in 1914 disappeared: The Russian Empire (Russian Revolution). The German Empire (Republic). The Austro-Hungarian Empire (Republic). The Turkish Empire (new countries).

The peace treaties established a new organisation of European borders:

Europe after the war

Europe before the war

To avoid another conflict, the League of Nations was created: an international organisation founded at the end of the First World War. Its aim was to ensure the maintenance of peace, collective security, disarmament, and economic and cultural cooperation among the various states of the world. Its headquarters were established in Geneva.

However, it was a weak organisation as it had no army or executive capacity to enforce its decisions, and furthermore, neither the defeated powers nor the Soviet Union were allowed to join.

The ineffectiveness of the League of Nations and, above all, the humiliating Peace Treaties would provoke a revanchist sentiment that in little more than two decades would trigger a new, far more deadly and destructive war: the Second World War.

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