WW1

Assassination in Sarajevo

• On June 28th 1914, the heir to the Austrian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, was visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia.

• Franz Ferdinand had been warned that his visit could cause trouble, but he ignored this advice and visited Sarajevo regardless.

• There had been trouble at the start of his tour of Sarajevo when another car in his entourage was hit by a grenade as a result an Austrian officer had been injured.

• The purpose of the visit was that Ferdinand wanted to prove to his family that he had control over Bosnia and Sarajevo.

• Franz ordered that his route be changed at the last minute as he wanted to see the injured officer in hospital. Unfortunately, his driver got lost.

• The driver attempted to reverse out on to the main street. Unfortunately, he stopped right by a man called Gavrilo Princip. He was a member of the Black Hand Gang which wanted to rid Bosnia of Austrian rule.

• Princip stepped forward, pulled out the revolver he had on him and shot Franz and his wife. Both died as a result.

What were the long term causes of the war

On 28 July, Austria declared war on Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia on 1 August, and then on 3 August, declared war on France.

After Germany had declared war on two countries, it had to carry out the Schlieffen plan

The Schlieffen plan was designed to prevent Germany facing two fronts. The plan was made to take over Belgium and France, then Germany could be free to fight Russia.

Germany implement the plan, and invaded Belgium in 1914 as result for the invasion Britain declare war on Germany on 4 August.

Although Italy had an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy decided to join forces with Britain and France, because Britain promised Italy would give it land from Austria-Hungary when the war was over. Italy joined war in 1915.

Schlieffen Plan

The Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme started on July 1st 1916. It lasted until 18th November 1916. The Battle of the Somme was the battle that symbolised the horrors of warfare in World War One. Also, those who led the British campaign have received a lot of criticism especially Douglas Haig.

So why was the battle fought?

For a number of months the French had been taking severe losses at Verdun, east of Paris. To relieve the French, the Allied High Command decided to attack the Germans to the north of Verdun therefore requiring the Germans to move some of their men away from the Verdun battlefield, thus relieving the French.

“Remembering the dissatisfaction by ministers at the end of 1915, because the operations had not come up to their expectations, the General Staff took the precaution to make quite clear beforehand the nature of success which the Somme campaign might yield. The necessity of relieving pressure on the French Army at Verdun remains, and is more urgent than ever. This is, therefore, the first objective to be obtained by the combined British and French offensive. The second objective is to inflict as heavy losses as possible upon the German armies.”

The start of the battle

The battle at the Somme started with a weeklong artillery bombardment of the German lines. 1,738,000 shells were fired at the Germans. The logic behind this was so that the artillery guns would destroy the German trenches and barbed wire placed in front of the trenches. The use of artillery was heavily supported by Field Marshall Haig.

In fact, the Germans had deep dugouts for their men and all they had to do when the bombardment started was to move these men into the relative safety of the deep dugouts.

When the bombardment stopped, the Germans would have known that this would have been the signal for an infantry advance.

As the infantry advanced across no man's land, most were met with a hail of machine-gun fire. The British bombardment had largely failed to seriously affect German defences or neutralise German artillery fire, which also took a heavy toll on 1 July. In most places along the front of attack, British infantry were unable to take their objectives. Some made it into the German trenches only to be forced back. Some could not get past the German barbed wire, which in places was still intact

Battle losses and consequences

As an attrition offensive, the Battle of the Somme involved heavy casualties on both sides. By the end of the first day on 1 July 1916, British forces had suffered 57,470 casualties, of whom 19,240 were killed. This represented the largest losses suffered by the British Army in a single day. While casualty rates were not as high as that for the remainder of the offensive, they were consistently heavy as both sides fought intensively for every yard of ground within a relatively small geographical area

By the end of the battle, the British Army had suffered 420,000 casualties including nearly 60,000 on the first day alone. The French lost 200,000 men and the Germans nearly 500,000.

Armistice

• The Armistice - an agreement to stop fighting - was signed between France, Britain, and Germany on 11th November 1918, bringing four years of fighting in the First World War to an end.

• on 29 September Bulgaria, on 30 October the Ottomans, and on 3 November Austria-Hungary surrendered and left Germany to fight alone.

• All the military and economic might of the allies was directed against Germany.

• The Armistice was an agreement to end fighting as a prelude to peace negotiations.

• The Treaty of Versailles signed six months later would act as the peace treaty between the nations.

• The terms of Armistice would make it impossible for Germany to restart the war, at least in the short term.

• If Germany broke any of the terms of the Armistice, such as not evacuating areas they were ordered to evacuate, not handing over weapons or prisoners of war in the timescales given or causing damage to any individual or their property, fighting would begin again with 48 hours notice.

By signing The Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany were made to accept the blame for the First World War and would have to pay reparations for the damage caused, estimated to total about £22 billion ($35 billion, €27 billion) in current money. It was only in 2010 that Germany paid off its war debt, with a final payment of £59 million ($95 million, €71 million).

Why could not continue fighting

because Germany could not get essential supplies to make weapons and desperately needed imported food. On the other hand, German support for the war from inside started fading as well as for the political will to carry on the war vanished which made it difficult to continue fighting.

Demand for ceasefire

• Removal of the Kaiser.
• withdrawal from France and Belgium.
• surrender of all weapons.
• release of all prisoners of war.
• surrender of all U boats and warships.

In return, Allied troops would not enter Germany

Treaty of Versailles

Signed on June 28th, 1919 as an end to the First World War, The Treaty of Versailles was supposed to ensure a lasting peace by punishing Germany and setting up a League of Nations to solve diplomatic problems.

The Allies soon gathered to discuss the peace treaty they would sign, but Germany and Austria-Hungary weren't invited; instead they were only allowed to present a response to the treaty, a response which was largely ignored. Instead, ​terms were drawn up mainly by the ‘Big Three’: British Prime Minister Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Frances Clemenceau, and US President Woodrow Wilson.

The Big Three

Woodrow Wilson: Wanted a fair and lasting peace. He wanted the armed forces of all nations reduced, not just the losers, and a League of Nations created to ensure peace.

Frances Clemenceau: Wanted Germany to pay dearly for the war, including being stripped of land, industry and their armed forces. Also wanted heavy reparations.

Lloyd George: While he personally agreed with Wilson, he was affected by public opinion in Britain which agreed with Clemenceau.

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Territory:

• Poland became an independent country with a 'route to the sea', a corridor of land cutting Germany in two.
• Danzig, a major port in East Prussia (Germany) was to be under international rule.
• All German and Turkish Colonies were taken away and put under Allied control.
• Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Czechoslovakia were made independent.
• Austria-Hungary was split up and Yugoslavia was created.

Arms:

• The German army was cut to 100,000 men.
• Wartime weapons were to be scrapped.
• The German Navy was cut to 36 ships and no submarines.
• Germany was banned from having an Air Force.

The Nationalism

Nationalism is a system created by people who believe their nation is superior to all others. Most often, this sense of superiority has its roots in a shared ethnicity.

How does nationalism work?

Nationalists demand to be independent of other countries. They don't join global organizations or collaborate with other countries on joint efforts.

How strong was the US economy in the 1920s?

During WW1,the US witnessed growth in economy as the US built factories to supply weapons, equipment and uniform. However, the US had a concern about this growth might end after the war. So, the us government followed some policies in order to protect that growth.

• The US placed high tariffs on imported goods
• unemployment was low and so was inflation
• New technologies like cars, radio and telephones were introduced.
• Ready-made clothes were all affordable for ordinary workers
• the Citizens could pay cash or use hire purchase.
• The US citizens could work in factories which provided positions to work such as, Ford Motor Company.
• Stock market was an important feature of the Us growth. Many people could buy shares in companies. Stock market seemed an easy way make money, and many ordinary people started investing in the market

January 20

Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th President

of the United States of America, he becomes the

United States' first African-American president

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