WW I (1914) Causes:
1) Imperialism: a rush of European countries to beat each other to the remaining “uncolonized” areas – Africa/China
- this sharpened rivalries
between European countries
- Japan joins the colonial
powers – as it “acquires” Korea, Taiwan, and portions of Chinese
mainland in 1895
2) Militarism: no diplomacy – build up
nation’s armed forces in preparation for war – military gained more
authority
- Great European powers of the
era: Austria-Hungry, France, Germany, England, Russia – planning for war
makes war more likely
3) Nationalism: 2 ‘types’ in WW1 – a) great
powers tend to act in their own interest b) countries w/ ethnic
diversity – the ethnic minorities want separation and independence
4) Alliances: complicated system of ‘coalition’ in Europe were used to boost a
nation’s security – aid each other in attack – this led Europe into WW1
-
Complicated series of treaties – used to protect each other in case of
attack – eventually led to the war
- assassination of (heir to the
thrown) Francis & Sophie
Ferdinand in
Bosnia (Austrian-Hungarian
Empire)
- Austria – Hungary had recently
annexed Bosnia & Serbia
- A-H was certain that Serbia
led the assassination – so it crushed their small army
- Russia begins Mobilization (the readying of troops for
war) – since it is an ally of Serbia
- Germany (A-H’s Chief Ally)
urges Russia to stop mobilizing
- France mobilizes in support of
Russia
- Germany declares war on Russia
- Germany lies between Russia
& France – so it felt it needed to have a first strike strategy
- In order to strike France ASAP
it had to pass through Belgium…this invasion of Belgium brought Great
Britain into the War (allied w/Belgium)
- In one week, all of Europe’s
great powers had been drawn in
- Central
Powers = Germany
& Austria – Hungary
- Allies = Russia, France, Serbia, and
England
- Bosnia was focal point as the
Bosnians worked with the Serbians to gain freedom from the
Austrian-Hungarian rule
- Austria-Hungary wanted an
apology and demands met...they were not and war was declared
- Chain reaction was set-off
- Russia had a treaty with Serbia –
Germany with Austria-Hungary – Russia refused support, but France, allied with Russia, readied
troops – Germany feared being caught in the
middle, declared war on Russia – believing France would soon attack, it
moved toward France through Luxembourg & Belgium...bringing Great
Britain into the
conflict
New
Killing Machines – horrifying number of deaths
- machine guns (450 rounds per
minute), grenades, artillery shells, poison gases
- The first reported use of gas was by the
Germans on the eastern front on 3-Jan-1915. It was a tearing agent
dispersed by artillery shell. The first use on the western front came
several months later on 22-Apr-1915 at the village of Langemarck near
Ypres.
- At 1700 hours the Germans released a 5 mile
wide cloud of chlorine gas from some 520 cylinders (168 tons of the
chemical). The greenish-yellow cloud drifted over and into the French
and Algerian trenches where it caused wide spread panic and death.
- The age of chemical warfare had begun.
- Trench Warfare:
Lachrymator (tearing agent)
Much like today's tear gas and mace, this gas caused temporary blindness and greatly inflamed the nose and throat of the victim. A gas mask offered very good protection from this type of gas. xylyl bromide was a popular tearing agent since it was easily brewed.
Asphyxiant
These are the poisonous gases. This class includes chlorine, phosgene and diphosgene.Chlorine inflicts damage by forming hydrochloric acid when coming in contact with moisture such as found in the lungs and eyes. It is lethal at a mix of 1:5000 (gas/air) whereas phosgene is deadly at 1:10,000 (gas/air) - twice as toxic! Diphosgene, first used by the Germans at Verdun on 22-Jun-1916, was deadlier still and could not be effectively filtered by standard issue gas masks.
Blistering Agent
Dichlorethylsulphide:
the most dreaded of all chemical weapons in World War I - mustard gas.
Unlike the other gases which attack the respiratory system, this gas
acts on any exposed, moist skin. This includes, but is not limited to,
the eyes, lungs, armpits and groin. A gas mask could offer very little
protection. The oily agent would produce large burn-like blisters
wherever it came in contact with skin. It also had a nasty way of
hanging about in low areas for hours, even days, after being dispersed.
A soldier jumping into a shell crater to seek cover could find himself
blinded, with skin blistering and lungs bleeding.
- Britain suffered 60,000
casualties in one day
- Morale was poor as
disheartened soldiers began slaughtering prisoners
- Blurred distinction between
soldiers and citizens
- German subs sunk anything they
believed to be carrying weapons
- Britain used a blockade to starve German people
- 1/3 were first or second
generation immigrants (25% were German-Americans) – Irish and other
immigrants held hostile feeling toward Britain
- Feared the Militarism of Germany & autocratic government led by Kaiser Wilhelm
- Some felt it was a great day for American Business, selling arms
- Others felt that the international trade the US had established was in peril – to protect investments, US remained neutral
- “preparedness” was the mindset (economic ties most strongly with Britain) – camps set up to train men
- Peace Movement, led mainly by women