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Nationalism
The rise of nationalism is one of the leading factors towards WWI. During the 1800's, Britain enjoyed dominance in its naval, commercial, and imperial aspects. Its empire spanned over one quarter of the globe. Around the 1870's invasion literature became popular in Britain.These novels depicted racial stereotyping against the Germans, French, Russians, and Chinese. On the other hand, the Germans, a young nation which formed in 1871, was obsessed with military power and imperial expansion. -
Imperialism
During the 1800's imperialism started to rise in the US. Imperialism can be defined as the actions one country takes to expand its territory. Countries in Europe and Japan sought for raw materials and natural resources in other colonies. On the other hand, the US had a surplus of these goods. In order to prevent a drop in prices and a market crash, they looked for other countries to trade with and other territories to purchase. The US justified their actions with ideas such as Social Darwinism. -
Militarism
Militarism is the belief that the government should have a strong military foundation and use their militaristic abilities to defend one's nation or achieve its own interests. One country that exemplified this belief was Germany. They had the biggest army and lethal, state of the arc weaponry. To keep up, Britain improved their marine warfare and boasted the largest navy. Tanks, machine guns, poison gas, submarines, and airplanes are some of the technologies that were improved during this war. -
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Alliances of WWI
During WWI there were two major alliances: The Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. The Triple Alliance consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. The opposition, the Triple Entente, consisted of France Russia, and Great Britain. Eventually, in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson decided to get America involved after unprecedented German submarine attacks on civilian boats carrying American passengers. Initially, the US wanted to remain neutral, but they ended up getting involved. -
Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie
This assassination for me, was the "breaking point" with regards to peace and a major contributor to the start of WWI. Francis and his wife were heading to Sarajevo when they were shot point blank by a Serbian nationalist. After this assassination, Austria-Hungary and their new German allies looked to wage war against Serbia. Within a week, Serbia gained Russia, Belgium, France, and Great Britain as allies. -
Germany's Blank Check to Austria-Hungary
Less than a week after the assassination of Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Germany offers a blank check to Austria-Hungary. What this means is that the Germans offered all their support to Austria-Hungary. -
Start of WWI
On July 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarians declared war against the Serbians after the assassination of Archduke Francis. By August, the Germans, where were allies of the Serbians invaded France through Belgium. Due to the Treaty of London in 1839, which had Britain promise to defend Belgium, forced the UK to declare war on Germany. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
The Lusitania was a British passenger liner. On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat sunk the ship while it was on the coast of Ireland. The Germans claimed that the ship was harboring ammunition and other contraband. Unfortunately, this ship was also carrying American passengers. People back home in the US protested that the ship shouldn't have been sunk, especially if they were unarmed and not resisting. -
Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare
After the sinking of the Lusitania, Germans promised to stay away from passenger boats. Although, they broke that promise in 1916 when they sunk another ship, the Sussex, a French cross-channel passenger steamer. This attack left 80 casualties and 2 Americans wounded. This caused another outrage in America. The Germans made another promise, called the Sussex Pledge, to not sink unarmed ships. -
Zimmerman Telegraph
Due to the blockade against Germany, the Germans were forced to take action since they had a severe shortage in supplies. In January 1917 German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman sent out a telegraph to Mexico asking to form an alliance with them. They said that if the US declared war on Germany, then Mexico would declare war on the US. If the Germans win, then Mexico would regain the territories they lost from the Americans after the Mexican-American War. -
US entry to WWI
“The world must be made safe for democracy... We shall be satisfied when those rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.”
—Woodrow Wilson, April 2, 1917
After the US received the Zimmerman Telegram, the US was shocked to see the actions that the Germans were taking. They also assumed unrestricted submarine warfare. So, on April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. Four days later, that request was granted. -
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Effects of WWI
After the end of WWI, there was a total of 20 million wounded and around 16.5 million deaths (civilians and soldiers). Due to the Treaty of Versailles, nine new countries were formed: Finland,
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Diseases such as influenza spread throughout the world. In the US, inflation rose and the Red Scare emerged. The Red Scare was the mass fear of suspected communist and radicals that were thought to be plotting revenge. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles signified the end of WWI. Signed in June 28, 1919, this treaty forced Germany to pay major reparations for all the damage they caused. In the treaty, Germany had to give back all the territories they seized and also some of their own original territory as well. Nine new countries were formed: Finland,
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Lastly, their military power was placed under large restrictions. -
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Rise of Hitler
In 1919, Hitler joined a small German Workers’ Party in Munich. Next year, he was in charge of the propaganda of the party. This party was also renamed as the Nazi party.They felt deep discontent for the loss of their country and all the economic damage other countries inflicted on them. After years of growing their party and spreading propaganda & works like Mein Kampf, they became the second largest party in Germany in 1930. In January 30, 1933, Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. -
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Dawes Plan and Young Plan
In summary, the Dawes Plan (April 1924) cut the number of annual reparation payments for Germany. They would then increase that number when the economy started to stabilize. Foreign banks also sent loans to Germany. Later on, the Young Plan, a replacement of the Dawes Plan, was put into effect in January 1930. This plan reduced the reparation amount and sent a loan to Germany. Most importantly, it formed the Bank for International Settlements in order to facilitate the payment of reparations. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression started on October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed. This day was also known as Black Tuesday. About a month prior, the stock market began to fall and sputter. One cause of the depression was easy credit, which hid economic problems. A drop in demand for crops with a huge surplus remaining, uneven wealth distribution throughout the nation, and the collapsing of banks are other events that lead to the Depression.
