IES GRAN ALACANT.

HISTORIA 4ª ESO Curso 2024/2025

NAME: ___________________________________________________

SA4. A TOUGH START TO THE 20TH CENTURY: THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The beginning of the 20th century was very turbulent. Tensions between the great powers, social
conflicts and the rivalries between colonial empires created a climate of fierce confrontation. This
climate gave rise to the First World War. It was the most destructive war humanity had ever
known.
The Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, while the First World War was raging. The revolution
was successful and brought about a completely new regime. Revolutionaries pretended the
seizure of power by the proletariat.
The terrible consequences of the First World War marked the decline of Europe and the rise of the
United States of America to world leadership.

1. WHAT LED TO THE OUTBREAK OF WAR?

At the beginning of the 20th century, tensions between European countries created a climate of
confrontation. Germany was an increasingly powerful country that wanted to create a colonial
empire like the other great European powers. France and the UK feared that German
expansionism would threaten their own empires. In this uneasy situation, tensions arose in
Morocco and the Balkans.

1.1. Rivalry between powers

Relations in Europe were tense for various reasons:

 France lost Alsace-Lorraine in 1870 to Germany. France had a strong desire for revenge.
 The Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires disputed control of the Balkans.
 There was great economic rivalry between Germany and the UK. They were the two most
industrially developed states. Germany wanted to form a colonial empire to boost its
industrial production. But the UK saw German imperialism as a threat to its colonies.

1.2. The formation of blocs

Germany, under its chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, created an alliance system with two main
objectives:
 To isolate France.
 To maintain equilibrium in the Balkans.
Germany's pacts were the Dual Alliance with Austria- Hungary, and the League of the Three
Emperors with Austria-Hungary and Russia.
The German emperor Wilhelm II favoured a more aggressive European policy, and Bismarck was
replaced in 1890. This marked the beginning of the Armed Peace (1890-1914). In this period,
mutual fears led to an arms race and the European powers divided into two military blocs:
 The Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
 The Triple Entente (1907) of France, the UK and Russia.
Almost every country increased the size of its army and manufactured new weapons, in a process
known as an arms race. In this tense atmosphere, any confrontation could lead to large-scale
conflict.

1.3. The crisis in Morocco

Colonialism was a constant source of conflict and Morocco was one of the main focuses of this
conflict. Wilhelm II, the German emperor, spoke in favour of Moroccan independence, against
French claims. To avoid a war in Europe, the Algeciras Conference (1906) was organised and
France strengthened its control over Morocco.
Later, Morocco became a Hispano-French protectorate. In exchange, Germany gained part of
French Cameroon. However, after these agreements, the alliance between the UK and France was
strengthened. This was the opposite of what Wilhelm II desired.

1.4. The Eastern Question

Another source of tension was the Eastern Question. The Ottoman Empire was collapsing, and
Austria and Russia hoped to i increase their influence in the region.
 Russia supported the Slavic states (Serbia and Bulgaria) so that they would not come under
Austro-Hungarian control.
 Austria wanted to expand along the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Between 1908 and 1913, three crises culminated in two political changes:
 Bosnia-Herzegovina was annexed by Austria-Hungary.
 Most of Bulgaria was divided up among neighbouring countries.

2. THE OUTBREAK OF WAR

2.1. The trigger: the crisis of the summer of 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On 28th June 1914,
Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo (Bosnia). The killer was a member of the Black
Hand group. This group supported the creation of a Great Serbia free from Austrian rule.
In response Austria-Hungary, backed by Germany, issued an ultimatum to Serbia, whom they
held responsible for the assassination. Serbia rejected some parts of the ultimatum, and on 28th
July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
Russia mobilised its military to support Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia and France.
Britain declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. Italy did not support Austria-Hungary or
Germany, which ended the Triple Alliance. The First World War (also called World War I, or WWI)
had begun.

2.2. A truly global war

Two large blocs confronted each other:

 The Central Powers: Germany and Austria-Hungary.
 The Triple Entente, or Allies: France, Russia and the UK.
The two blocs sought new allies, which led to the globalisation of the conflict. Fourteen European
countries and their colonies were involved, plus Japan and the USA.
It was also a “total war” in which all the human, economic and technical resources available were
used.

2.3. Modern, deadly weapons

Nearly 70 million soldiers were mobilised in the war and numerous weapons were used. Many of
these weapons were new, so they had never been used in combat before. Technical and industrial
advances in the last third of the 19th century made it possible to produce modem and deadly
weaponry.
Machine guns and tanks
Machine guns were weapons that could fire hundreds of bullets a minute. They were heavy and
had to be mounted on a tripod in order to control them.
Tanks were armoured vehicles that were invented by the British. They were first used at the Battle
of the Somme in 1916. Tanks were designed to crush barbed wire and to break through the front
lines. However, they were difficult to steer and slow, which made them quite ineffective as
weapons.
Use of the first chemical weapons
For the first time, armies used various gases that burnt the skin or suffocated the victims. Gas
masks were developed to protect against these attacks.
Submarines
Submarines armed with torpedoes were also used tor the first time. They had poor range and had
to surface frequently. This made them an easy target.
In 1915, a German submarine sank a British luxury cruise ship, the Lusitania. Nearly 1200 people
died. This attack turned US public opinion. The US public were now in favour of the USA
abandoning neutrality and entering the war.
Bombing the enemy from airships and aeroplanes
The skies were another scene of combat. Germany used airships to bomb the UK. Airships could
carry large amounts of ammunition, but were unstable.
Al the beginning of the war, aeroplanes were light and were mainly used for reconnaissance. As
the conflict progressed, aeroplanes were equipped with machine guns and bombs, and carried out
numerous aerial bombing raids.

3. THE COURSE OF THE WAR

The First World War (1914 -1918) went through different phases.

3.1. War of movement (1914)

At the beginning of the war, Germany tried to execute the Schlieffen Plan, which was to defeat
France quickly and then attack Russia. However, the French stopped the Germans at the Battle of
the Marne (September 1914).
At France's request, Russia launched an offensive against Germany at the end of August 1914. The
Russians were defeated at Tannenberg, but this offensive forced the Germans to move troops to
the east, which helped France.

3.2. Trench warfare or war of positions (1915-1916)

In 1915, the fronts stabilised. Trenches were built and barbed wire was erected to prevent the
enemy from advancing.
The western front
 In 1916, the Germans tried to break through the western front at the Battle of Verdun and
the British tried to do the same at the Battle of the Somme.
 However, neither side advanced far and hundreds of thousands of soldiers died.
The eastern front
 This front was stable. However, there was discontent among the Russian soldiers because
of the poor treatment they were receiving.
The Mediterranean and the Middle East
 In the Mediterranean, the British tried to take the Dardanelles Strait in order to isolate
Turkey. but they were defeated at Gallipoli.
 With the help of Arab nationalists, the Allies occupied several Ottoman territories in the
Middle East
Other theatres of war
 The UK conquered many German colonies in Africa and Asia.
 At sea, the British fleet blockaded Germany, preventing supplies from arriving. Germany
counterattacked with submarine warfare.

3.3. The end of the war

1917 marked a turning point in the war. Two events changed the course of the war:
 The Russian front collapsed because of the Bolshevik Revolution. In March 1918, Russia
signed the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty with Germany and the Eastern Front disappeared.
  Germany's submarine warfare was damaging US exports and also its national prestige. As a
result, the United States of America entered the war on the side of the Allies. This
provided significant material and human resources to the Allies.
The Allies attacked all fronts using tanks and planes. The Central Powers surrendered: first Turkey,
then Austria-Hungary. Finally, Germany signed the armistice on 11th November 1918. This act
ended the First World War.

4. LIVING WITH WAR

4.1. A war economy

The countries at war implemented wartime economies that were run by the state. The aim was
to ensure supplies reached the general population and the troops:
 Free trade and production were suspended.
 Industry in every country focused on producing weapons for the army.
Millions of men became soldiers. As a result millions of women began doing the jobs the men left,
to fill the gap in the workforce.
 Women mainly worked in weapons factories, building propellers, mortar shells and rifles,
or packing ammunition. It was hard and dangerous work. Many women were killed in
accidents.
 Millions of women began working in the countryside and also as nurses, tram and bus
drivers, mechanics, police officers, etc.
 Some women, such as Natalie Tychmini and Dorothy Lawrence, fought on the front line.
Others, such as Mata Hari, became spies.

4.2. What were the trenches like?

Trenches were long tunnels and ditches dug into the earth. They were protected with barbed wire
to prevent the enemy from advancing. Trenches had sandbags to defend against heavy artillery.
Soldiers spent months at a time in the trenches in terrible conditions. The cold was intense and
rain flooded the trenches. Food was often scarce and the lack of hygiene and plagues (of rats,
fleas, etc.) brought disease.
On quiet days, some soldiers wrote diaries and letters that provide us with valuable information
about the war.
In the darkness of night, soldiers could leave the trenches to make repairs or to attack the enemy.

The trenches are narrow and muddy and full of yellow rainwater. You slip as you walk. Mice run
along the embankments. There are rats in the muddy bottom of the trenches. Gusts of wind bring
cold stench.
There are deep spaces dug into the slopes of the trenches where squads of soldiers protect
themselves. Lookouts are concealed among boulders and twigs so they can listen and watch for the
enemy.
In front of the two enemy trenches are fields of thorny barbed wire. There is also a space where the
dead of recent days rot on the bones of those who fell before them. The surrounding land looks like
i. has been ploughed. Shrapnel has chopped down the trees and burnt the grass. Rockets rise from
the bottom of the trenches with red, green and white lights that open up in the dark night.
Ramon María del Valle-Inclán,
«Un día de guerra», in El Imparcial,
11th October 1916 (Adapted).

4.3. The home front: surviving hunger and fear

The war caused a decrease in the production and importation of food. Governments set limits on
the prices of basic items and employed rationing; each person was assigned a daily amount of
food. To obtain this food, people had to show their ration books in certain shops. The lack of
products led to a huge surge in the black market (the market for contraband products). Despite
this, thousands of people died of starvation.
In addition to having a poor diet, people were constantly afraid of dying in an aerial bombing.
France and Britain suffered most from these bombings, but Germany was also attacked in this
way. Governments used propaganda to keep up the morale of the population. Posters were put
up in cities. In this propaganda, victories were highly praised, defeats were minimised and the
enemy was shown as a monster to be destroyed. Bad news were often censored to avoid
demoralising soldiers and civilians. In addition, families were encouraged to write letters to the
soldiers in an attempt to lift the soldiers' spirits.

My dearest Madeleine,
I am dead tired. All day and night a deluge of iron and steel falls upon us. We lie on the ground
(when we can). The days go by sadly amidst the filth, the fleas and the pestilence. How have I not
died a hundred times already? I do not know.
There is no water. Food rarely reaches us because of the almost constant gunfire that prevents it.
You can’t wash or change your clothes. For ten days now, my meals have been reduced to a tin of
sardines in oil shared with a companion. I cannot take it anymore. I want to get out of here. I want
to live and see the light of day.
Letter from a soldier in
BENEDICTE DES MAZERY, La vie tranchée (Adapted).
5. PEACE AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

5.1. The Paris Peace Conference

In January 1918, US president Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to the US Congress. He

recommended Fourteen Points for a fair and lasting peace. However, the peace treaties ignored
his suggestions.
The Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) produced five treaties:
 The Treaty of Versailles, signed with Germany.
 The Treaty of Saint-Germain, signed with Austria.
 The Treaty of Trianon, signed with Hungary.
 The Treaty of Sèvres, signed with Turkey.
 The Treaty of Neuilly, signed with Bulgaria,
The main decisions were taken by the USA, France, the UK and Italy. These countries forced the
defeated countries to accept their conditions. The treaties had three main goals:
 To prevent the resurgence of Germany as a great power:
- It lost its colonies and some of its territory.
- It had to pay substantial war reparations.
- It had to demilitarise Rhineland (a region on the border with France) and its army was
limited.
These tough sanctions increased the German population's desire for revenge.
 To achieve a balance of power among the victors, especially in the Balkans and the
colonies, in order to avoid potential conflict.
 To isolate Russia, where a communist regime had been established, in order to avoid the
spread of revolution.

5.2. The creation of the League of Nations

In 1919, the League of Nations was created. It was an international organisation based on US
president Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points.
The objective of the League of Nations was to maintain peace and resolve conflicts among
countries peacefully. However, it was not successful. It did not have an army or the capacity to
enforce its resolutions. Furthermore, Germany, Russia and the USA did not join the League.

Our programme is [...] the programme of world peace [...]. It consists of the following points:
1. All peace treaties are public [...]. There shall be no private international understandings […].
2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas [...] in wartime and peace.
3. The removal [...] of all economic barriers [...].
4. Adequate guarantees [… that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent
with domestic safety.
14. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of
affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small
states alike.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points

5.3. Demographic consequences

More than 8 million soldiers died in the First World War. A further 20 million soldiers were
injured in the conflict. There were also many civilian deaths caused indirectly by the war.
Furthermore, the lack of food and poor health services facilitated the spread of a flu pandemic in
1918. The pandemic caused 22 million deaths.
The high number of dead soldiers meant there were more women than men in the post-war
population. This led to a drop in the birth rate in subsequent generations, it also brought about a
reduction in the active working population and meant there were fewer consumers buying
products.

5.4. Economic consequences

There were significant material losses. Towns, mines, factories, roads, railways and farmland were
destroyed.
The war was very expensive, and many countries borrowed money abroad, especially from the
USA. At the end of the war, European debt was at an extremely high level.

5.5. The fight for women's rights

During the war, women filled the jobs that had previously been done by men. By the end of the
conflict, 35% of the industrial workforce in the UK and Germany was female.
The massive presence of women in the world of work made women more aware of their social
importance. When the war ended, the struggle for women’s liberation became even more
determined. Women won the right to vote in several countries, such as Germany (1918) and the
USA (1920).

International borders established by the Paris Peace Conference

Alter the peace treaties were signed, the German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased
to exist and suffered great territorial losses.
 Germany ceded its colonies, which became mandates administered by the League of
Nations. It returned Alsace-Lorraine to France, and ceded Poznan and Prussia to Poland.
Saarland came under the administration of the League of Nations.
  The Austro-Hungarian Empire was divided into Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Yugoslavia was created on the territory of the former Kingdom of Serbia. Romania
received Transylvania.
 The Ottoman Empire ceded Syria and Lebanon to France, Iraq and Palestine to the UK, and
various territories to Italy and Greece. The remaining territory was replaced by the
Republic of Turkey.
 Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania won their independence from Russia.
 Poland re-emerged as a country with Russian, Austrian and German territories. It gained an
outlet to the sea through Danzig. Danzig became a free city, administered by the League of
Nations.

The Principal Allied and Associated Powers [...] of the one part; and Germany, of the other part: [...]
have agreed upon the following provisions: [...]
Article 45. Germany cedes to France in full and absolute possession [...] the coal mines situated in
the Saar Basin [...].
Article 51. The territories ceded to Germany in accordance with the Preliminaries of Peace signed
in [...] 1871 [...] are restored to French sovereignty [...].
Article 80. Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of Austria [...].
Article 81. Germany [...] recognises the complete independence of the Czechoslovak State [...].
Article 87. Germany [...] recognises the complete independence of Poland [...].
Article 116. Germany acknowledges [...] the independence of all the territories that were part of
the former Russian Empire on 1st August 1914. [...]
Article 119. Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all her
rights and titles over her overseas possessions.
Treaty of Versailles, 29th June 1919 (Adapted).