World War One

The War to End All Wars

 The War to End All Wars
The First World War was a tragic and
unnecessary conflict.
Unnecessary
because it could
have been
avoided
The war was
tragic because it
ended the lives of
millions of people Largest German military cemetery; 40, 000 men
 Cause and Effect
History is often a story of cause and effect
events trigger other events and then things
happen!
WWI is a perfect example:
July 1914, very few saw
this war coming
Lurking in the background,
powerful forces were
bringing Europe towards
the greatest bloodbath
the world had ever seen
 The M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI
By the early 1900s the great powers of
Europe were on a collision course
Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and
Russia were in a race to become more
powerful
 The Bomb of Europe!
The four M.A.I.N. causes
of World War One were:
Militarism
Alliances
Imperialism
M.A.I.N. Nationalism
 Imperialism
One way European powers tried to become
stronger was by building Empires
This meant they had control over colonies
outside Europe around the world
Colonies supplied cheap raw materials like
minerals and lumber for factories in the
homeland
Also provided a place to sell finished goods
A World of Empires, 1914
Empires of the World, 1914
 Imperialism
This ideology says that its natural for one
country to dominate another using military
force and make them part of a larger empire
Britain and France already had large Empires
in Africa and Asia
Germany was the newcomer to the game and
felt she was being denied her proper place
and should get more
Europe 1914
Asia, 1914
 Imperialism and Conflict
Countries like France and Britain made lots of
money from their empires so they were not
willing to make room for Germany
Protecting imperial interests led to building
larger armies and navies and created a lot of
tension in Europe
 Alliances
European powers feared attack from their
rivals in Europe
To protect themselves they formed military
alliances agreements to cooperate
Britain, France and Russia were allies in the
Triple Entente
Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed
the Triple Alliance
Members of both alliances agreed that an
attack on one ally would be treated as an
attack on them all!
 1914, Russian
poster that
reads
agreement
Britain (left) and
France (right)
look to Mother
Russia to lead
them in the
coming war
 European Alliances, 1914

Triple Alliance Red

Triple Entente Grey
 Militarism
Militarism is when the
military is seen as a very
important part of a
countrys strength
Its also a belief that using
your military is a good thing
to do
Because the European
powers feared attack from
their neighbours they began
to strengthen their militaries
 Militarism and the Arms Race
Believing strong militaries was important led to
an arms race in Europe
After Britain built the HMS Dreadnaught the
Germans began building their own massive
battleships the Bismark
All European countries had forced military service
creating huge standing armies ready to fight
By 1914, Europe was armed to the teeth with the
largest military force the world had ever seen
HMS Dreadnaught
 Nationalism
Belief that your
country is superior to
all others and that you
must be 100% loyal at
all times
Fighting to defend
your nation was a
noble thing
This gave people a
sense of national pride
 Nationalism on a Smaller Scale
Smaller countries like Serbia also felt a strong
sense of nationalism
They wanted to be left alone by Austria-
Hungary
This geographic region, called the Balkans had
seen years of conflict before 1914 (WWI)
Russia wanted to protect Serbia from Austria-
Hungary in the same way a big brother wants
to protect his little brother
Serbia feeling the squeeze!
 The Spark
June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand
of Austria-Hungary and his wife were
shot and killed while visiting Sarajevo, the
capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina was part of Austria-
Hungary but neighbouring Serbia wanted
to take it over
 Brotherly Love
Many Serbian nationalists people who felt
strongly about their homeland believed they
shared strong religious, cultural and ethnic
ties with the people of Russia
The assassin who killed Franz Ferdinand and
his wife belonged to the Serbian nationalist
group, The Black Hand
Austria-Hungary used the assassination as an
excuse to invade Serbia
The Dominoes Begin to Fall

1. When Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia

2. Russia honoured an agreement with Serbia
and came to their defense
3. Germany then backed its ally, Austria-
Hungary
4. While Britain and France backed their ally,
Russia
5. Just over a month after the assassination all
of Europe was at war