THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-1918

The First World War was the first global war that was fought on an international scale.
The war was started by the two European military camps of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente (Allied Powers).
These two military camps had been in existence since 1907, and since then, they provoked each other and created international tension that finally led to the outbreak of the War.
There have been a lot of debates as to who was to blame for the war. Many historians have agreed that Germany, in particular, Kaiser William II was to blame for causing the war.
Therefore, at the end of the First World War, Germany was found guilty of causing the war and was punished at the Versailles Peace Settlement in 1918.

CAUSES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Main Events that Led to the Outbreak of the 1^st World War.

The 1^st Moroccan Crisis-1905 to 1906

This was a European crisis started by Germany in an attempt to test and break up the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale with its understanding that France would recognize the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan, while Britain would recognize the French occupation of Morocco.
Germany announced that it would assist the Sultan of Morocco to maintain his country’s independence.
Germany also demanded an international conference to discuss Morocco’s future. A conference was held in Algeciras in Spain in 1906.
The British believed that if the Germans had their way, it would be an acknowledgment of Germany’s diplomatic domination.
To the amazement of Germany, the majority of the countries at the conference supported the French demand to control Morocco.
This showed Germany that the friendship between Britain and France was strong and that if a war broke out, the two would help each other.
This created international tension that contributed to the outbreak of the 1^st World War.

The 2^nd Moroccan Crisis (Agadir Incident) 1911.

This was a further development in the Moroccan situation. French troops occupied FEZ, the Moroccan capital in an attempt to put down a rebellion against the Sultan of Morocco whose appointment had been influenced by the French.
Germany decided to send a Gunboat called Panther with the Kaiser on board to the Moroccan Seaport of Agadir and demanded that France should withdraw her troops.
The British became worried in case Germany acquired a possible naval base for threatening the British trade routes.
In order to strengthen France’s resistance, David Lloyd George, the then British Prime Minister, in his famous Mansion House speech, warned Germany that Britain would not stand by and be taken advantage of while her interests and those of her allies were threatened.
Britain also pledged to support France militarily. Therefore, the French stood firm and were not ready to give in to German demands. Eventually, the German gunboat was removed from Agadir.
The Germans agreed to recognize the French occupation of Morocco in exchange for a part of the French Congo. This was seen as a triumph for the Entente powers.
This incident also created world tension that contributed to the outbreak of WW1.

The Balkan Wars/Crises 1912-1913.

The 1^st Balkan War broke out in 1912 when Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Montenegro (calling themselves the Balkan League) attacked Turkey in order to destroy the Turkish/Ottoman Empire and share the states it controlled.
After the defeat of Turkey, Germany and Britain organized a peace conference in London.
The resulting settlement apportioned the former Turkish lands among the members of the Balkan League. However, Serbia was not happy with her gains. She wanted Albania which would have given her an outlet to the sea. But Austria and Germany insisted that Albania had to be independent.
This was a deliberate Austrian move to prevent Serbia from becoming too powerful.
The 2^nd Balkan War broke out in 1913 when the Bulgarians were also dissatisfied with what they got after the 1^st Balkan War.
They had hoped to get Macedonia which controlled an important seaport of Seronika. Bulgaria, therefore, attacked Serbia starting the 2^nd Balkan War in 1913.
The Bulgarian plan backfired badly when Greece, Romania, and Turkey supported Serbia. The Bulgarians were defeated and by the Treaty of Bucharest, the Bulgarian forfeited most of her gains from the 1^st Balkan War.
As a result, Serbia became more powerful and this threatened Austria. The increasing Anglo-German influences in the Balkans created a lot of international tension.

Fig 03. (Map showing the Balkan States as at 1908)

The Austrian Annexation of Bosnia (The Bosnian Crisis)-1908.
This heightened tension in Europe.
The Austrians took advantage of a Revolution in Turkey to annex the Turkish province of Bosnia.
This was a deliberate move to block the neighboring state of Serbia which had been hoping to acquire Bosnia since it had 3 million Serbs among its population.
The Serbs appealed to their Slavs in Russia.
The Murder at Sarajevo-28^th June 1914 (Immediate Cause of the War)
The murder at Sarajevo was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo on the 28^th June 1914.
This was the event that sparked off the First World War.
The Archduke was the heir to the Austrian Throne. Franz Ferdinand was paying an official visit to the newly acquired Austrian Territory of Bosnia.
When he reached Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, he and his wife were shot dead by a Serbian Nationalist by the name of Gavril Princip.
He was a member of the Black Hand Organization (one of the many secret societies which were in Serbia whose members were dedicated to overthrowing Austria from the Balkan Region).
The Austrian government blamed the Serbian government for murder and sent a stiff ultimatum.
The following were the conditions:
The Austrian police were to be allowed into Serbia to look for the murderer of the Archduke.
The Serbian Government was supposed to disband all secret societies that were against Austria.
All Serbian Government officials that were anti-Austrian were to be fired.
Serbia refused to comply with these demands. As such, Austria declared war on Serbia on 28^th July 1914. This marked the beginning of the First World War.

GENERAL CAUSES OF THE 1^ST WORLD WAR

Nationalism
Nationalism simply means a feeling of belonging to a nation whose people have the same language and culture.
It led to the outbreak of the 1^st World War by arousing the patriotic feelings of the people who for many years had been ruled by others.
The spirit of Nationalism turned the heads of states with a feeling of National superiority. Many countries preached unity among country members. Soldiers in countries were made to fight wars with the conviction that they did so to serve their motherland.
Nationalism was also very important in the Balkan region i.e. Serbia and the 3 million Serbs in Bosnia. This led to the immediate cause of the War-The Murder at Sarajevo.
Imperialism
Imperialism was the extension of European influences in underdeveloped areas of Africa and Asia for economic, social, and political benefits.
As a result of the Industrial Revolution, European Countries needed raw materials and markets.
Imperialism caused the 1^st World War because, during the process of acquiring colonies, European countries clashed over colonies e.g. Germany crushed with France over Morocco. Such tensions increased the chances of war in Europe.
Arms Race/Military Rivalries/Militarism
This simply meant preparing for war. Each European country increased its military hardware, as a way of getting ready for war.
Each country also increased the number of soldiers through conscription. Britain and Germany were also involved in a Naval Race.
Britain was the first country to make the Dreadnought.
This was a powerful battleship with heavier guns and was the fastest in the World.

Germany also started making an imitational Dreadnought called the U-boat.

This meant that Britain’s naval supremacy was challenged by Germany.
This increased the chances for war.
This increased the chances for war. By 1914, all the European Countries were completely armed and looking for an opportunity to start fighting.
System of Alliances
As if military strength was not enough, European Countries also started forming alliances to protect themselves against attacks.
The system of alliances was started by Bismarck in 1872.
The reaction of other powers to these alliances was that they became suspicious and they felt threatened.
They also started forming their own alliances. By 1907, the world was divided into two military camps of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.
The two camps were suspicious of each other.
They threatened world peace as they were bound to clash one day. This created greater chances for war.
International Anarchy
This also caused the First World War because there was no international 1organization to which countries would refer their disputes.
As a result, some small countries were at the mercy of bigger countries.
Newspaper press/Propaganda
This was another cause of the war because of the role it played.
The newspaper press poisoned the public minds through propaganda messages that were published in all countries. This contributed to world tension.
The Balkan Crises 1908-1914
The Balkan problems of the period 1908 to 1914 also contributed to the outbreak of the war.
These were: the 1908 Austrian annexation of Bosnia, the First and the Second Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, and the murder at Sarajevo of 1914.
All these events created international tension that led to war.
The Murder at Sarajevo of 28^th June, 1914- (refer to earlier notes)

THE RUSH FOR WAR

On the 28^th of July, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia; the Russians did not want to let the Serbs down and ordered a general Mobilization.
The Germans ordered Russia to stop mobilization and when the Russians refused to comply, Germany declared war on Russia on 1^st August and France joined the War on the 3^rd in support of Russia.
When Germany troops entered Belgium which was a neutral country, Britain who had promised to protect Belgium demanded that Germany should withdraw.
When Germany refused to comply, Britain declared War on Germany on the 4^th of August.

REASONS WHY ITALY DID NOT JOIN THE WAR IN FAVOUR OF THE TRIPPLE ALLIANCE

When war broke out, Italy did not join the war immediately. Italy joined the war in 1915 and on the side of the Allied Powers instead of the Triple Alliance according to the alliances that were signed.
This was because Italy signed the Secret Treaty of London in 1915 with Britain and France.
By this treaty, Italy was promised the two territories of Trieste and Trentino after the defeat of Germany and Austria.
These two territories belonged to Austria-Hungary.
However, at the end of the war, Italy was not given the two territories at the Versailles Peace Treaty.

COURSE OF THE 1^ST WORLD WAR

The First World War was fought on several fronts.
These were;

The Western Front and the Schlieffen Plan;

Germany had been quick to declare war on Russia on the 3^rd of August and on France on 4^th
To avoid fighting on two fronts at the same time, the Germans affected the Schlieffen plan. This was a plan that had been formulated by Count Alfred Von Schlieffen who was the German Chief of Staff in 1892.
The plan was modified in 1911 and implemented by General Helmut Von Moltke in 1914.
This plan aimed at a quick and easy victory over France on the Western Front and then quickly moves over to defeat Russia before she was fully prepared on the Eastern Front.
According to the plan, German was to attack France via Belgium and defeat her within six weeks.

Reasons for the Schlieffen Plan.

Germany wanted to avoid fighting on two fronts, the Western Front with France and the Eastern Front with Russia.
Germany wanted to use Belgium to ensure a surprise attack on France since Belgium was a Neutral Country and the Franco-German border was well guarded.
Belgium was also a flat country and would ensure the easy and faster movement of troops and supplies, unlike the mountainous and hilly Franco-German border.
Germany also assumed that Russia would be slow to mobilize and prepare for war.

Why the Schlieffen plan failed

However, the Schlieffen Plan failed.
This was because Russia on the Eastern Front mobilized faster than was anticipated by the Germans and launched an attack on the eastern part of Germany.
By this time, Belgium had already been overrun by German troops, and France was almost defeated.
The Russian attack on the Eastern Front made Germany divide its troops and supplies. This made Germany to relax her attack on the Western front.
This enabled Belgium and France to recover from the initial attack and organize them to put up strong resistance with the assistance of Britain. At the Battle of Mainein 1915, Germany was defeated and driven back.
They had reached a stalemate and both sides dug trenches and started trench warfare which drugged the War.
Serbia also put up strong resistance against Austria-Hungary.

The Eastern Front

On the Eastern, the war was between Germany and Russia. Russia had mobilized faster than the Germans had anticipated.
This is what led to the failure of the Schlieffen Plan because Germany was now forced to divide her troops and supplies. This reduced Germany’s effectiveness.

The War at Sea.

At sea, the British maintained their supremacy at the beginning of the war. However, Germany also put up strong resistance.
Throughout the war, the Germans controlled the Black Sea with their two battleships the CIEBIEN and
These caused serious damages to the British fleet.
The first decisive British naval victory against the Germans was at the Battle of the Falklands in September 1915 off the coast of Argentina in the pacific.
The German fleet was completely destroyed.
The Germans retaliated by developing SUBMARINES that put them at an advantage over the British. Britain started suffering heavy losses.
To make matters worse for Britain, Germany declared the waters surrounding Britain as a war zone.
Thus Britain was blockaded from the rest of Europe and could not receive any war supplies especially from the USA. Germany also declared unlimited Submarine Warfare and warned that any ship approaching Britain would be sunk. Several ships belonging to the USA were sunk as a result of this declaration.
This violation of American Neutrality is what forced the USA to enter the 1^st World War.

ENTRY OF THE USA INTO THE FIRST WORLD WAR.

When the 1^st World War broke out, the then USA President Woodrow Wilson urged the American people to be neutral in thought and actions.
This was because the USA had not involved herself in the entangling System of Alliances in Europe. The USA was also in the middle of Social and economic reforms and preferred to trade with the countries at war i.e. Britain and France.
In addition, the 92 million American population comprised of 3^rd/4^th generation European immigrants from countries at war.
To avoid a civil war, the USA preferred to be neutral in the beginning. However, on the 6^thof April, the USA joined the 1^st World War on the side of the allied powers.

Reasons for the US Entry into the War

Economic Reasons;
American industrialists had lent vast sums of money to the nations at war in order to supplement their war efforts.
The USA feared that her loans may not be paid back if Germany won the war.
In order to protect her economic investments, the USA joined on the side of the allied powers.
Political reasons
The USA assumed the role of being the protector of world democracy.
The USA president Wilson stated that America should join the war to safeguard world democracy.
It was feared that if Germany won the War, it would rule the whole world and introduce dictatorship.

Military Reasons
These were the main military reasons for the US entry into World War 1;

The Zimmerman Telegram:

German foreign minister Zimmerman sent a telegram message to the German ambassador in Mexico that he should persuade the Mexican government to claim for the lost states of Arizona and Taxes from the USA.
He was to assure the Mexican Government that if Mexico went to war with the USA, Germany would offer military assistance to Mexico.
The aim of sending this telegram was to ensure that America was occupied elsewhere instead of interfering in the European War.
Unfortunately, this telegram was intercepted by the British intelligence that sent the telegram to the American government.
The US viewed this telegram as a threat to her security. She thought it was not good to wait any longer when the enemy was on her doorstep.
Hence America joined the war.

The German declaration of Unlimited Submarine Warfare:

This was the immediate reason that compelled the U.S.A to enter the war in 1917.
The declaration posed a big threat to America’s security, especially on the sea. Germany’s submarines had increased rapidly and on 4^th February, 1914, Kaiser William II announced that any ships approaching Britain would be sunk without warning. Woodrow Wilson responded by warning Germany that America would attack Germany if any harm was done to the People and Property of America.
Germany went ahead and sunk passenger and trade ships from America e.g. the “Lusitania” was sunk in 1915 and the “Sussex” in 1916. Hence America joined the War on the side of the Allied Powers on 6^th April 1917.

THE DEFEAT OF GERMANY AND HER ALLIES

By the time the USA entered the War, Britain and France were exhausted and were almost giving up. The USA entered the War with about 2 million Fresh soldiers, new and advanced weapons, and financial support and provided world Leadership.
Therefore, Germany and her allies didn’t stand a chance of winning the War.
The allied forces made an offensive attack on Germany on 8^th August 1918. 500 American tanks penetrated the German lines and defeated the Germans.
The last major battle against the Germans was fought on 26^th September 1918. In 1918, Greece joined the allied forces.
The allied forces defeated Bulgaria on 29^th September 1918 and also helped Serbia and Romania to recover. On the 3^rd of October, Turkey was defeated.
Austria-Hungary withdrew from the war on 3^rd
The Austria-Hungarian Empire was crumbling i.e. Hungary declared her independence from Austria.
Germany whose allies had pulled out of the War or had been defeated could not continue fighting against the determined and richer allied forces.
On 9^th November 1918, Kaiser William II abdicated and was arrested by the Germans. His successor Ebert immediately signed an armistice/peace agreement with the allied powers on 11^th November 1918.
This date marked the end of the 1^st World War.

REASONS FOR GERMANY’S QUICK VICTORIES IN THE EARLY STAGES OF THE

WAR

The geographical position of Germany put her at an advantage as she was centrally located. This made her to easily and quickly transport troops and supplies to the east and west as compared to her opponents, the allied powers.
Germany had the best-trained army in Europe. Her troops used advanced weapons such as artillery launchers and machine guns. Germany also used effective military tactics that her enemies found difficult to counteract in the early stages of the War.
When Germany declared war, she was self-sufficient economically. The developed economy enabled her to support her soldiers in the war. German industries produced enough war materials to supply the forces.
The communication system in terms of roads, railway lines had been fully developed and efficient to meet the demands of war. Troops and other supplies were transported to the fronts at a much faster rate than it was the case for the allied powers.
The Armies of the Central powers fell under one command, the German Command. This was an advantage over the allies who entered as individual countries.
Germany also had experienced and competent army officers who fought during the wars of unification e.g. General Helmut Von Moltke.
Germany was also well prepared for the War e.g. The Schlieffen Plan.

REASONS FOR GERMANY’S FINAL DEFEAT

Germany’s quick victories at the beginning of the war were a disadvantage to her. She had to control vast areas that she had conquered. But the German army was not big enough to effectively control these areas. In an effort to control the conquered areas, the German armies were thinly spread in many parts of the world. This affected the German army’s effectiveness in Europe.
Germany had weak allies such as Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Romania. As a result, Central power's troops were outnumbered and overpowered.
The failure of the Schlieffen plan also contributed to the final defeat of Germany and her allies. This forced Germany to fight on two fronts. This weakened the German army.
Britain’s Royal air force engaged in air raids over German cities leading to the destruction of infrastructures such as industries, roads, bridges, and railway lines. As a result, Germany could no longer produce goods to meet the needs of the troops. Shortages of war materials led to indiscipline and mutiny among the soldiers.
The loss of morale among the German public also contributed to the final defeat of Germany. The German population was no longer in support of the war. The War brought misery and the population experienced starvation, diseases, destruction of cities, loss of lives and the crime rate was high. This put Germany in a difficult situation to continue the war.
The control of the seas by the British Navy staged a blockade of the German ports and supply lines. This meant that Germany was out of international trade. This trade blockade meant that Germany and its allies were slowly experiencing starvation in food and war materials.
The entry of the USA into the 1^st World War was the final reason for the defeat of Germany and her allies. The USA entered the war with 2million fresh soldiers, new ad advanced weapons, and financial assistance. As a result, Germany who was already exhausted was finally defeated.

QUESTIONS

Explain how the Murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to the outbreak of the First World War. Why was Germany defeated in the War? {14, 6}
Explain how the events in the Balkans in the years 1908 to 1914 led to;

War among the Balkan States.
The outbreak of the First World War {10,10}

Discuss the main events that led to the outbreak of the First World War between 1908 to 1914. {20}.
Show how the following factors contributed to the outbreak of the First World War;

Imperialism
Arms Race
Alliance System
Murder at Sarajevo

Discuss the reasons for the US entry into the First World War. Give Reasons for Germany’s quick victories in the early stages of the War. {12,8}
Discuss the causes of the First World War of 1914 to 1918. {20}
Write brief notes on any FOUR of the following;

The Schlieffen Plan
The Agadir Incident of 1911
The Austrian annexation of Bosnia
Murder at Sarajevo
The 1^st and 2^nd Balkan wars of 1912 to 1913.
Imperialism

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