Unit 5 - Study Guide

● Kaiser Wilhelm II
William II (born January 27, 1859, Potsdam, near Berlin [Germany]—died June 4, 1941,
Doorn, Netherlands) was the German emperor (kaiser) and king of Prussia from 1888 to
the end of World War I in 1918, known for his frequently militaristic manner as well as for
his vacillating policies.

● Triple Alliance
By 1907 there were two rival camps in Europe that would eventually lead to war
Triple Alliance - Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

Other smaller countries would get involved in the rivalry and would be the tipping point
of war in all of Europe

● Triple Entente
Triple Entente - Britain, France, and Russia

● “Powder keg of Europe”

The Balkan Peninsula had a long history of nationalist uprisings and ethnic clashes
This region became known as the “powder keg” of Europe
With the decline of the Ottoman Empire, several new countries were formed as a result of
recent independence
Some include: Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia
All of these countries are very similar to each other
This created competition and nationalism

● Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Serbia had a large Slavic population, and wanted to absorb all the Slavs on the Balkan
Peninsula
Russia has a mostly Slavik population and supported this move
Serbia makes moves to absorb Bosnia and Herzegovina
Austria-Hungary opposed this because they felt that would cause uprisings with their
own Slavik population
Austria-Hungary then annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina
This outraged Serbian leaders
This would lead to conflict that would ignite WWI

● Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

“The shot heard around the world”
The Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand, traveled to the Bosnian capital
Sarajevo with his wife on June 28, 1914
The Archduke and his wife were shot point-blank while riding in an open car by a man
named Gavrilo Princip
Gavrilo Princip was a 19-year-old member of a Serbian nationalist group called The Black
Hand
The Black Hand - A Serbian nationalist group committed to ridding Bosnia of Austrian
rule

● Gavrilo Princip

he Archduke and his wife were shot point-blank while riding in an open car by a man
named Gavrilo Princip
● The 4 main factors that led to WW1
Nationalism
Increased unification led to increased competition
Militarism
Increasing army and navy created a justification for using them
Imperialism
Competition of resources and markets grew tensions and distrust
Alliances
The “choosing of sides” would lead to eventual conflict between those sides

● Central Powers
started as the Triple Alliance, but would evolve into the Central Powers after adding
Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire
They were called the Central Powers because they were in the central part of Europe
The Ottomans joined them in hopes of regaining lost territories that became independent
Italy would start the war with the Central Powers, but switch sides to the Allies after
accusing their former partners of unjustly starting the war
Final lineup - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria

● The Allies
aka Allied Powers) started at the Triple Entente, but would later Japan would join, as well
as Italy switching sides
Japan was interested in becoming a more powerful player on the global stage
Italy joined just after war was declared
Final lineup - Great Britain, France, Russia, Japan, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Montenegro
Other countries would eventually join the Allies later in the war, including the U.S.
 ● Western Front/Eastern Front
The Western Front - the political lines between Germany and France/Italy
This region was often deadlocked in trench warfare and many died without much land
gained.

● Germany’s biggest fear entering the war

The Eastern Front - the political lines between Germany/Austria and Russia/Romania.
fighting a war on two fronts

● Trench Warfare
By early 1915, opposing armies on the Western Front had dug miles of parallel trenches
to protect themselves from enemy fire
This became known as trench warfare
Armies traded huge losses of human life for pitifully small land gains
Life in the trenches was pure misery
On the Eastern Front, Russia was using its strongest asset, its massive army
They were behind in technology and weaponry, but their large population helped them
create an army of millions of soldiers
Russia launched attacks on the German and Austrian borders
They were somewhat successful, but mostly fought off advances by the Central Powers
30,000 Russian soldiers were lost in the first days of attacking

● Russia’s struggles in the war

Russia’s lack of industrialization and sufficient railroads would cause problems for their
army
Not enough supplies were getting to the massive number of soldiers
They were short on food, weapons, ammo, clothes, boots, blankets, ect.
These struggles would help the Central Powers’ Schlieffen Plan
Russia also had its own internal struggles before the war
They were in the middle of government struggles and people calling for reform from Czar
Nicholas II
Nicholas II thought that war would unify the country that was in turmoil
He was wrong

● The Schlieffen Plan

Germany knew the war would be difficult, so they needed to have an effective strategy
They developed a plan called the Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan - plan called for attacking and defeating France quickly on the Western
Front, and then rushing back to the east to defeat Russia

● New war technologies

Poison gas - gas was introduced by the Germans but used by both sides
Some gasses caused blindness or severe blisters, or death by choking
Machine gun - the machine gun was much improved and could wipe out waves of attacks
Tank - introduced by the British in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme and could cross many
types of terrain
Tanks were not very successful in the beginning
Submarine - in 1914 the Germans introduced this along with the torpedo
This became one of the most deadly weapons used in war
Was also called a U-Boat
Airplane - The invention of the airplane was still very new, and would only be used for
recon efforts to gain information and not for battle

● Unrestricted submarine warfare

By 1917, the invention of the submarine shifted the focus of the war to these seas
Germany intensified its submarine warfare at the start of the war in the Atlantic with
unrestricted submarine warfare
Unrestricted submarine warfare - Germany’s policy to sink any ship around Britain
without warning
Germans tried this before and it was problematic

● U-Boat

In 1915, a German submarine (U-Boat) sunk an American passenger ship called the
Lusitania killing almost 1,200 people (128 American citizens)
Germans believed they were hiding war supplies (which turned out to be true)
After 2 more attacks, the Germans agreed to stop attacking neutral and passenger ships,
until 1917

● The Zimmerman Note

Even after Germany sunk 3 more American ships with unrestricted submarine warfare,
the U.S. was still not wanting to enter the war
They were practicing isolationism
In February 1917, U.S. official intercepted a telegram from Germany’s foreign secretary,
Arthur Zimmerman, to Mexico stating that Germany would help Mexico “reconquer” the
lands it lost to the U.S. if it would side with Germany and support the war
This was the final straw, and the U.S. would declare war on Germany in April of 1917 on
the side of the Allies
As the U.S. entered the war, it had already been raging for 3 years

● Propaganda

Governments began to suppress anti-war activity and censor news and media outlets
They also started using propaganda to shape public opinion about the war
Propaganda - one-sided information designed to persuade opinions, morals, and support
for the war
Almost all of the major countries involved did this
Many of the messages portrayed by governments were either only partially true, or not
true at all

● Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson drafted a series of peace proposals, known as the
Fourteen Points
They outlined a plan for achieving a just and lasting peace
Some of the points suggested include:
Ending secret treaties
Freedom of the seas
Free trade
Reduced national armies and navies
Adjustments in colonial claims with fairness to colonial/local peoples
Wilson also suggested redrawing borders and creating new nations
The idea behind this was self-determination
Self-determination - the idea that people can choose for themselves what type of
government they want to live under
The last point Wilson made was suggesting a “general associating of nations” that would
protect the “great and small states alike”
This group would form and become the League of Nations
League of Nations - international association whose goal is to keep peace among
nations

● Treaty of Versailles
On June 28, 1919 the Allies came to an agreement with Germany
The treaty was called the Treaty of Versailles
Terms of the treaty:
Creating of the League of Nations
Germany would lose significant territory
All of their territories in Africa and the South Pacific
Severe restrictions on where Germany could have military forces
Germany would be blamed for starting the war
This was known as the “war guilt” clause
Germany would take sole responsibility for the war
They would also have to pay reparations to the Allies
This clause would lead to resentment by Germany and would contribute to the start of
WWII