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Military Buildup in Russia
Militarism is when a country starts growing their military capabilities and preparing for potential war. Between 1890-1913 countries like Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary began building up their military power. One way of doing this was by getting many men conscripted into the army. -
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World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, and the Great Depression
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Franco-Russian Alliance
Bismark, the Chancellor of Germany between 1871 and 1890, started the system of alliances. He tried to get Russia, Austria, Italy, and Britian to become allies of Germany, so France would be remain isolated. However, when William II came into power in Germany, he gave up the alliance with Russia and opted for a strong alliance with Austria. Because of this, Russia came to the side of France. They agreed that if France was attacked by Germany or her ally, Russia would help and vice versa. -
Imperialism:Annexation of Hawaii
Imperialism is a system where strong nations increase their political, military and economic control over weaker ones. Imperialist nations expanded and protected their interests around the world by building up their armies and navies. An example of imperialism was the annexation of Hawaii. On January 17th, 1893, Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii was overthrown by American planters. In 1898, Congress proclaimed Hawaii an official U.S. territory. -
Nationalism
Nationalism, the pride and prestige of a country, created fierce competition in Europe. They had strong feelings towards each other, resulting in aggression among them. To be the strongest, they had to be financially and militarily better. Russia wanted to expand into the Balkans and the Serbs living there were on Russia's side but Austria-Hungary opposed this, fearing that Serbia would want to extend. They annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, the area Serbia wanted, which outraged them. -
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophia
Franz Ferdinand who was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophia went for a visit to Sarajevo. There a couple of Serbian men saw Ferdinand as a cruel and oppressive ruler. When the driver of the archduke’s made a wrong turn, a man named Gavrilo Princip who was part of the Black Hand which is a ultra-nationalist group saw them and took his pistol and shot them both. -
Germany's Blank Check to Austria-Hungary
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany gave Austria-Hungary a “blank check” promising them unlimited support for any action that they take to punish Serbia. Germany honored the "blank check by declaring war on Russia and France. However, this was a terrible error made by Germany and was a big factor leading to war. -
World War I Begins
World War I began on July 28, 1914 and lasted until November 11, 1918. It is believed that World War 1 began because of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand which caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia. The reason Great Britain entered the war when Germany attacked France through Belgium on August 4 1914. The war killed over 17 million people. The war caused many countries to adopt more liberal forms of government. -
Sinking of the Lusitania
In February 1915, Germany announced that submarine warfare was allowed in the water surrounding Britain. British and American ships were sunk by German U-boats. On May 7, 1915 a German submarine sank the British ocean liner Lusitania with a U-boat. The boat sank in the Celtic Sea in 20 minutes. From 1,959 passengers 1,198 people drowned of which 128 of them were Americans. In 1916, Germany made the Sussex Pledge, promising that passenger ships would not be sunk, but they broke the promise. -
Zimmerman Telegram
In the year 1917, Arthur Zimmermann, a German secretary sent a secret telegram to Mexico proposing a German-Mexican alliance in case of a war between the U.S and Germany. Mexico was promised financial aid if they agreed to be an ally. Also, if they were to win German promised to bring back lost territories of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Mexico rejected the Zimmerman offer. -
U.S. Enters War
On the April 2nd 1917, President Woodrow Wilson requested Congress to enter war against Germany. On the 7th of April 1917, United States declared war on Germany. The motivators to join the war were mainly the sinking of American ships like the Lusitania and the Zimmerman note. The United States brought a quick end to the war. America's entry motivated the allies by giving them the manpower they needed. Since there were more soldiers and monetary aid, Germany surrendered to avoid invasion. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty which ended the war between Germany and the Allied powers. The War Guilt Clause was the opening article of the treaty's reparation section, forcing Germany to pay for damages. The treaty took Germany's colonies and divided it up among the Allies. Alsace-Lorraine was given back to France and Rhineland was demilitarized. Germany's army was restricted to 100,000 men. They were to get rid of all ships and submarines except for six battleship. -
Hitler's Rise to Power
Hitler rose to power when he joined the political party known as Deutsche Arbeiterpartei in Germany. This political party was developed after World War 1. Inflation put Germany into a terrible condition so Hitler promised the people he would turn the economy over and provide jobs and people wanted that. He was a good speaker so people trusted him. He kept his promise by taking jobs away from Jews and giving them to Germans. Hitler promised to end the Treaty of Versailles. -
Effects of World War I
WWI stimulated the U.S. economy. They were supplying guns and ammunition for the war. U.S lent money to other countries and became the greatest power. The League of Nations founded on January 10, 1920 was an inter government organization which was a result of the Paris Peace Conference which put an end to WWI. -
The Dawes Plan and Young Plan
The Dawes Plan of 1924 was created to get Weimar Germany out of monetary inflation and to stabilize the economy of Weimar. It was an attempt to redress the problems that were caused because of World War 1. The Dawes Plan was named after an American called Charles Dawes who was the head of the committee. The Young Plan was an attempt to support the government of Weimar Germany by former wartime allies. Owen D. Young was an American banker who thought of the plan to cut down Germany's reparation. -
Great Depression
The Great Depression is the deepest and the longest economic downturn. It began on October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed and sent a lot of people into a panic. In the year 1933 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed. Some of the causes of Great Depression include: stock speculation, buying on credit, bank failures, and the Dust Bowl. Germany's economic collapse linked to the Great Depression. The Dawes and Young Plan ended because of the Depression.
