The World War I

I. Background

A. Extreme nationalism

 By the turn of the 20th century, nationalism a narrow and dangerous kind of patriotism.
 European powers were willing to take any actions to gain power and prestige.
 E.g. France and Germany, Austria Hungry and Russia

B. Alliance system

 Germany formed Triple Alliance with Italy and Austria Hungry in 1882.
 Britain, France and Russia formed Triple Entente in 1907.
 European powers were divided into two opposite camps
 Military support with each other↑tensions

C. Colonial rivalries

 European powers acquires direct political control over territories in different parts of the world
for:
Raw materials
Market homes
jobs↑(because of ↑population)
 Competition↑clashes , tension and crises

D. Armaments race

Aim:
 Defense + secure national interest
 Believed in military strength→ armament race↑
 E.g. Britain and Germany were chief rivals in the naval competition. (Building dreadnought)
II Events leading to the outbreak of the WWI

Pre-war crises

 The Moroccan Crises (1905-1906)

 The Bosnian Crisis (1911)
 The Balkan Wars (1908)
 The Sarajevo assassination (1914)

III The Paris Peace Settlement and peace treaties

A. Attitude of the peacemakers

Woodrow Wilson (US President)

 Issued the ‘Fourteen points’ as guidelines to draft the peace settlement

 Sincere in his desire to create a just settlement and to safeguard a lasting peace
 Not willing to punish Germany harshly because Germany is still important in the
reconstruction of Europe

Clemenceau (France)

 Aim at weakening Germany so that

It could never attack France again
 Gain compensation for all the damage suffered by France

Lloyd George (Britain)

 Personally agreed with Wilson V.S. strong demand for revenge from British people
 Strike a compromise between the demand of Wilson and Clemenceau
 Not willing to weaken Germany because Germany was a important customer for British trade
B. The Treaty of Versailles with Germany

1. Territorial losses:
 Alsace and LorraineFrance
 Saar CoalfieldFrance(15years)
 Posen and West PrussiaPoland
 Danzigbecome a free city and administered by the League of Nations
 Other territories

2. War guilt
 Accept total blame for the war

3. Colonies
 All German colonies in Africa, the Pacific and China became mandates under victorious
powers

4. Arms
 Demilitarization of Rhineland and occupied by Allied troops for 15 years
 Disarmament (with 100000 soldiers, 6 small battleships and a few small vessels)
 Forbidden to make a union with Austria again

5. Reparation
 6600million to Allies (annual installments) inn forms of money and goods

C. The Treaty of St. German with Austria

D. The treaties with Bulgaria, Hungry and Turkey
IV. Significance of the Peace Settlements

A. Achievements

1. Promoting the world peace

 by weakening Germany
 by creating new states in the Baltics and in Eastern Europe to check Russia expansion
 Establishment of the League of Nations

2. Principle of national self-determination

 Poland became independent

 New states were created (e.g. Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia)
 The former Russian provinces were given independence

B. Limitations

1. Feeling of revenge

 No discussion between the victorious and the defeated countries

 Strong feeling of resentment sow the seeds of WWII

2. Racial troubles

 New states created in Eastern EuropeInterest of some minorities were ignored

 E.g. There were about three and a half million Germans in Czechoslovakia and million
Germans in Poland.

3. Weakness of the League of Nations

 Major Powers, Germany and Russia were excluded.

 The USA resumed its isolationist policy.
 Lacking the support and military backing of these big powers, the League failed to settle
international disputes and to keep in check major powers’ aggression.
V. Significance of the First World War

A. Economic consequences

 Great destruction of industry and agriculture

 Loss of skilled workers and capital shortagereconstruction difficult
 Countries introduced protective tariffs to protect their home industries export and
industrial growth, ↑unemployment
¤ High war reparations and huge debts
¤ Pay high war reparations and huge debts Gov.↑Tax
Issue paper moneyinflation

B. Political Consequences

1. Collapse of empires and creation of new states

 Collapse of Austria Hungry, Germany, Russia and Turkey New gov. emerged to replace old
rules.
 The creation of new states in Central and Eastern Europeinstability

2. Rise of the USA and decline of Europe

 Britain and France, weakened by the warcould not maintain their international status
 Europe as a whole, lost its supremacy in the world’s economic and political affairs
 The United States emerged as the most important economic and military power in the world.
 Japan rose to replace the European powers as the strongest power

3. Establishment of the League of Nations

Aim:
 Promote world peace and the social and economic well-being of the member states.
 Settling disputes among countries and also in the limitation of armaments

Weakness:

 Major Powers, Germany and Russia were excluded.

 The USA resumed its isolationist policy.
 Lacking the support and military backing of these big powers, the League failed to settle
international disputes and to keep in check major powers aggression.
C. Social and cultural consequences

1. Social problems

 unemployment↑
 Poverty, riots and refugees

2. Emancipation of women

 During the war, women work in industry, agriculture, business and armed forces
 After the war, enjoy better pay and job opportunity
 Social status↑ (↑Freedom and right to vote)

3. Rise of extreme belief in power

 After the warserious economic and social problems

 Governments were too weak and inefficient to restore order
 A decline in religious faithbelieve in physical and military strength rise
to power of dictators

4. Improvement in communications

 During the war, forms of communication developed rapidly

 After the war, these were adopted to daily life like radio improve in communication and
travelling

5. Change in lifestyle

 Destroy the old way of life (some old customs and ideas were disappeared)
 Ordinary people were eager to have a share in running their lives and countries