I.                    Pressure for Peace

a.       Alfred Nobel created dynamite and later regretted his inventions because of the way it was being used.

b.      Aletta Jacobs was the first women doctor and she argued that if women won the right to vote they would be able to prevent wars.

c.       At the same time other forces were pushing Europe towards war.

                                                                                                                                 

II.                 Aggressive Nationalism

a.       In the 1900’s aggressive nationalism was a leading cause of international tension.

b.      Nationalism was strong in both in both Germany and France.

c.       In Eastern Europe, Russia sponsored a powerful form of nationalism called Pan-Slavism.

 

III.               Economic and Imperial Rivalries

a.       Economic rivalries furthered poisoned the international atmosphere and the British felt threatened by Germany’s rapid economic growth.

b.      Imperialism also divided European nations. 

c.       Germany was one of the greatest economic powers and so many countries did not like them or feared them.

 

IV.              Militarism and the Arms Race

a.       In the late 1800’s there was a rise in militarism, the glorification of the military.

b.      The arms race was a time where the great powers grew and expanded their armies and navies because of the growing internationals tensions.

c.       Fear of war gave military leaders more influence and people turned to the military leaders on matters of peace and war.

 

V.                 A Tangle Of Alliances

a.       Fear and mistrust led the great powers to protect themselves through alliances.

b.      The first alliances had their origins in Bismarck’s day and at this time they were formed because of the Franco-Prussian war.

c.       Many countries had made agreements of peace before but when war broke out the countries became known as allies.

 

VI.              A Murder With Millions of Victims

a.       This event started when a group of men found out that Archduke Francis Ferdinand would visit Sarajevo on the anniversary of the day that the Serbians had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire.

b.      The killer was named Gavrilo Princip and he was a member of the terrorist group known as the Unity of Death.

c.       As Ferdinand drove through Sarajevo he was shot at but missed later that day he was murdered.

 

VII.            Peace Unravels

a.       News of Ferdinand’s death shocked his uncle and the emperor of Austria and they blamed Serbia for hi death and so they punished Serbia.

b.      Austria sent a harsh ultimatum, of final set of demands, and said if they would not agree to everything they would declare war on Serbia.

c.       Austria might not have been to quick to threaten war but it was backed by its ally Germany. 

 

VIII.         Who’s Fault?

a.       At the time the two sides blamed each other for the event but now historians say it was equally to blame for an event that could have never happened.

b.      Each side believed they had a just reason to fight yet they were not being rational

c.       Although men were eager to enlist in the war British diplomat Edward Grey was lest enthusiastic and he stated, “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”

 

IX.              The Western Front

a.       On the Western Front the armies both burrowed into a vast system of trenches stretching from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel.

b.       Both sides launched costly attacks.

c.       Modern weapons added to the destructiveness and cost of the war.

 

X.                 Other European Fronts

a.       Casualties were higher in the east then the west.

b.      Russia suffered many disasters because of their incapability to match in their technologies.

c.       Southeastern Europe was another battleground and they helped to crush Serbia.

 

XI.              The War Beyond Europe

a.       Although most of the fighting took on in Europe World War 1 was a global conflict.

b.      European colonies were drawn into the fighting during this time.

c.       The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers during this time and they helped a lot in the war effort.

 

XII.            Effects of the Stalemate

a.       As the struggle wore on people saw the need for what was called total war, the channeling of a nation’s entire resources into a war effort.

b.      There were many money regulations during this time so that the economy would stay in tact.

c.       Total war called for propaganda and a way that made the people want to be involved in the war.

 

XIII.         Women at War

a.       Women played a major role during this period because they would take over the men’s jobs when they left to fight at war.

b.      Women also helped as nurses on the battlefield and they shared in the many dangers the men faced also.

c.       The work the war provided gave women a new sense of pride.

 

XIV.         Collapsing Morale

a.       By 1917 Germany was hanging by a thread and they were sending in 15 year old recruits while Britain was on the bank of bankruptcy.

b.      Russia had been hit especially hard after 3 years of war and their confidence had been broken.

c.       When Russia withdrew from the war it made things easier for Germany and it easier for them to focus on its forces on the Western Front.

 

XV.           The United States Declares War

a.       There were originally no laws on the submarine warfare and this was bad because submarines were attacking innocent people and so President Woodrow Wilson put a stop to this.

b.      The United States had many reasons to help the allies and Britain including strong cultural ties to them.

c.       Wilson issued the 14 points as a list of his terms for resolving this and future wars.

 

XVI.         Campaign to Victory

a.       A final showdown started and in March the Germans launched a counterattack and slowly tried to drive the German forces back across France and Belgium.

b.      The German people were very frustrated and showed this to their monarch through uprisings.

c.       The new German government sought an armistice, or agreement to end fighting, with allies.

 

XVII.      The Costs of War

a.       The war affected the whole world and resulted in more than 8.5 million deaths, more than 18 million wounded, and many handicapped for life.

b.      In battle zones all across the world, whole towns had been crushed to rubble.

c.       Under the stress of war whole governments had collapsed under the pressure of war.

 

XVIII.    The Paris Peace Conference

a.       Woodrow Wilson brought a sense of peace and hope to the world.

b.      Wilson was on of the “Big Three” strong personalities who dominated the Paris peace Conference. He helped to urge peace and he wanted the 14 points to be the basis of the peace.

c.       Although the people wanted to fix things they did things that went against Wilson’s 14 points such as making secret agreements.

 

XIX.         The Treaty of Versailles

a.       The Germans were forced to sign the treaty that had been drawn up by the Allies.

b.      The treaty also put the Germans under huge reparations that would put an already damaged German economy under more pressure.

c.       Many different parts of the treaty were mainly aimed at weakening the government and economy.

 

XX.           Other Settlements

a.       A band of new nations emerged where the German, Austrian, and Russian nations had been and Poland regained its independence.

b.      The treaties caused a system of mandates, or territories that were administered by western powers.

c.       Besides Germany other countries were dissatisfied with what happened such as Italy who did not gain all the land promised to it.

 

XXI.         Hope for Global Peace

a.       The League of Nations was a beacon of hope to the people that were would at last be peace and do 40 nations joined this league.

b.      Wilson’s dreams had finally come true but senate refused to ratify the treaty and so the US never joined the league.

c.       As time soon revealed the league was not strong enough to accomplish anything.