Title: Causes of the Great War / The War to End All Wars
1Causes of the Great War / The War to End All Wars
2Europe at its peak
- Industrial revolution at it peak
- Most technologically advanced continent on earth
- Wealthiest society
- 25 of the world population lived in Europe
- Modernization led to sense that Europeans were at
the peak of the world - Lead to feeling of superiority
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4Imperialism
- Building up of colonies
- To maintain a strong industrial economy
- Carved out over seas empires
- Needed raw materials
- Market for finished products
Political Cartoon of Britains imperialism in
Africa
5Militarism
- Building up of arms
- Glorification of war and increase in military
spending - Germany competed against Englands navel
superiority
6Nationalism
- Great sense of patriotism leads to feeling of
invincibility - Pride in ones country or aspiring to becomes
ones own country - Germany and Italy had only recently become
united, independent countries - Many different countries torn by tensions of
different nationalist groups - Serbians living in realm of A/H
7System of Alliances
- Last ingredient needed
- Secret alliances
- Web of treaties to protect themselves
- Triple Alliance
- Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire
- Triple Entente
- France, Russia and Great Britain
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9One Thing lead to another
- Events that led to the 'Great War
- a name that had been touted even before the
coming of the conflict
10- Austria-Hungary
- unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her
ultimatum declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.
11- Russia
- bound by treaty to Serbia
- mobilization of its army in her defense
- a slow process that would take around six weeks
to complete.
The Enemy is at the Gate
12- Germany
- allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty
- viewed the Russian mobilization as an act of war
against Austria-Hungary - declared war on Russia on 1st of August
13- France
- bound by treat to Russia
- war against Germany and, by extension, on
Austria-Hungary - Germany
- invaded neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by
the shortest possible route.
The French Infantry in the Battle
14- Britain
- allied to France declared war against Germany on
4th of August - obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms
of a 75-year old treaty
15- With Britain's entry
- her colonies and dominions abroad offered
military and financial assistance -
- Australia Canada
- India
- New Zealand
- Union of South Africa.
Canadian Propaganda Poster
16- Japan
- honoring a military agreement with Britain
- Declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914
- Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by
declaring war on Japan
17- Italy
- committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary
only in the event of a 'defensive' war arguing
that their actions were 'offensive' - declared instead a policy of neutrality
- The following year joined the conflict on the
side of the Allies
18- United States
- President Woodrow Wilson declared absolute
neutrality - when Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine
warfare - threatened America's commercial
shipping - U.S entered the war on April 6, 1917
19Weapons of the Great War The War to End All
Wars
20German Plan
21French Plan
22Result of Weapons Trench Warfare
23Bayonet
- Originally a defensive weapon against cavalry
charge - Rarely attempted until the enemy was retreating
- Use of rifles give infantrymen firepower
- Now used as a personal offensive weapon
- Primary close combat weapon used during trench
warfare - Machine guns undermined the bayonet effectivness
by an advancing army
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25Big Bertha Howitzer
- Fire a 2,200 lb shell over 9 miles
- Transported by tractors
- Took 200 man crew over six hours to re-assemble
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27Flamethrower
- Idea was to spread fire by launching burning fuel
- Designed for portable use, carried by a single
man - Belched forth a stream of burning oil for 36
meters - Used mostly to clear forward defenders during the
start of an attack - Often times the cylinder exploded dangerous job!
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29Grenades
- Many types of grenades were used
- Called Mills bomb
- Serrated so that when it detonated it broke into
many fragments (fragmentation bomb) - Remove safety pin while holding down the strike
lever, and throw - Had four seconds to get out of the way
- Over 100 million were thrown during the Great War
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32Machine Gun
- Positioned on a flat tripod
- Required a gun crew of 4-6 men
- Fire 400-600 small caliber rounds per min
- This figure doubled by wars end
- Worth as many as 60-100 rifles
- A fearsome defensive weapon
- Enemy infantry assaults were costly
- Toward war end lighter models were being used a
offensive weapons as well
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34The Mortar
- A short stumpy tube designed to fire a projectile
at a steep angle - Higher then 45 degrees so that is falls straight
down on the enemy - Why would this be ideally suited for trench
warfare?
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37Poison Gas
- Debut in the 2nd battle of Ypres April 1915
- Yellow-green cloud
- Destroyed the victims respiratory organs
- First use provoked widespread condemnation
- Damaged Germans relations with neutral countries
(US) - Other side used it and poison gas usage escalated
for remainder of the war
38German infantry man
French men loading up gas container
39Rifle
- the rifle, which remained the most crucial,
ever-present infantry weapon throughout The Great
War - the advent of automatic and semiautomatic weapons
waited until the last year of the war - eight to twelve rounds per minute
- 15 rounds per minute achieved by riflemen of the
British Expeditionary Force - range, the average during the war was around
1,400 meters - accuracy could only be guaranteed at around 600
meters
40The Springfield, manufactured in the U.S. (at
Springfield, Massachusetts), was the standard
wartime rifle of the U.S. army
41Tank
- 15th September 1916 first used in battle by the
British - early tanks proved notoriously unreliable
- often broke down and became ditched - i.e. stuck
in a muddy trench - Conditions for the tank crews
- heat was tremendous
- fumes often nearly choked the men
- Tanks design improved
- British, French and US made them, Germany never
were convinced of their effectiveness
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43Losses of the Great Wareach symbol 100,000
deaths