The Great War, 1914 – 1918 Chapter 29a, Pages 836 to 863 World History: Patterns of Interaction McDougal-Littell, 2007

The Congress of Vienna gave Europe a century of peace and stability, but at the end of that time, forces arose which eroded that peace. The causes of World War One are many and complex: militarism, nationalism, communism, and socialism. In addition, society’s engagement in spirituality declined: attendance at churches and synagogues declined in the decades prior to 1914. A series of alliances among the nations of Europe created a dangerous arrangement: one agreement bound Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary; another bound Russia, France, and England. If one of those nations engaged in war, its two partners would join it. The six most powerful nations were set up for a chain reaction, a domino effect, and the smaller European nations would not escape the effects. Those smaller nations also had treaties which allied them either with one of the six big countries, or with other smaller ones. A group of small nations located on the Balkan peninsula was problematic: Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro, and the southern edge of Romania. Also included were areas which were part of other nations, but which also had their own ethic identities, like Macedonia and Kosovo. These many small territories shared the peninsula, but unwillingly. Each was deeply nationalistic. Some of them had rebelled against the Islamic Ottoman Empire and gained their freedom, which they defended energetically. Others were still oppressed by the Muslim Ottoman occupational armies.

In 1908, Austria annexed the northwestern edge of the Balkans, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia had hoped to annex this territory, and tensions arose between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. In June 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. The assassin was a Serb and a member of the “Black Hand,” a secret terrorist group organized on the ‘cell’ principle so that no one member knew much about the organization. The Black Hand was dedicated to Serbian domination of the Balkans, included the ejection of Austria from the area. The assassination caused a crisis, because Austria held Serbia responsible, and gave Serbia a list of unconditional demands. Austria refused to negotiate the details of demands, and when Serbia refused to comply, Austria declared war on Serbia in July 1914. Serbia was much smaller than Austria-Hungary, but felt confident because it was

Chapter 29a – page 1 allied with Russia. When Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia did not immediately declare war on Austria, but did mobilize its army. Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany urged Austria and Russia to negotiate and avoid war. The British and Italian leaders joined the Kaiser in this effort, but it was too late. Because Russia mobilized not only its armies on the Austrian border, but also its armies on the German border, and because Russia was allied with France, Germany declared war on both Russia and France in August 1914. Great Britain then declared war on Germany. Italy abandoned its treaty obligations to Germany and Austria, and instead joined France and Russia. The six major nations and most of the lesser ones were now officially at war. Japan also joined the “Allies” as the non-German side would be called.

The first major battles occurred in Africa, where Germany and Austria had very little power. The few small colonies which the ‘Central Powers’ - Germany and Austria – had there were almost defenseless. French and British soldiers invaded Togoland, knowing that the Germans had almost no military there. Fighting spread to other German territories in Africa.

By the end of August 1914, fighting was intense in the Balkans, on the ‘western front’ between France and Germany, and on the ‘eastern front’ between Germany and Russia. New Zealand, a self-governing dominion within the British empire, attacked and occupied Samoa, a German territory. In October, a German cruiser sank a Russian cruiser off the coast of southeast Asia. India sent thousands of soldiers to aid the English effort in Europe.

On the Western Front, a stalemate emerged, as both sides dug complex trench systems, but neither side could claim significant progress. Millions of young men died in the horrible ways. On the Eastern Front, the Russians had numerical superiority and the weather on their side, but the Central Powers had the technological edge; again, neither side had a clear advantage. A deadlock likewise emerged in the Dardanelles, the region in which Europe connected to Asia Minor. Both sides had hoped for a quick war with a decisive outcome; instead, because this was the first industrialized war, it would be a long war. It was bloodier than any war, because mechanization allowed for the killing and maiming of humans on a massive scale.

Chapter 29a – page 2