CHAPTER 27 OUTLINE

I. The Stage Is Set- In 1914, Otto Von Bismarck and Passy argue about who goes to war. Otto Von Bismark was the one whose prediction came true. The war would start in the east.
A. Pressure for peace
1. Aletta Jacobs was the first woman doctor in the Netherlands, and argued that if women won the vote, they would be able to prevent wars. Organizations such as the Women’s International League for peace and Freedom gave women a way to voice their concerns.
2. In 1899, the First Universal Peace Conference brought together leaders of many nations in The Hague in the Netherlands. There, they set up a world court to settle disputes between nations.
3. At the same time, other powerful forces were pushing Europe to the brink of war. They included aggressive nationalism, economic competition, imperialism, an arms race, and rival alliance systems.
B. Aggressive Nationalism: National pride can fuel bitter conflicts. In the early 1900s, aggressive nationalism was a leading cause of international tension.
1. The French were bitter about their defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. They especially resented German occupation of the border provinces Alsace and Lorraine. Patriotic French citizens longed for revenge against Germany and recovery of the lost provinces.
2. In Eastern Europe, Russia sponsored a powerful form of nationalism called Pan-Slavism. According to Pan-Slavism, all Slavic people shared a common nationality.
3. Two old multinational empires particularly feared rising nationalism in Eastern Europe. In 1912, several Balkan states attacked Turkey. The next year, they fought among themselves over the spoils of war.
C. Economic and Imperial Rivalries
1. The British felt threatened by Germany’s rapid economic growth. By 1900, Germany’s new, modern factories increasingly out produced Britain’s older ones.
2. Imperialism also divided European nations. In 1905 and again in 1911, competition for colonies brought France and Germany to the brink of war.
3. Germany wanted to keep France from imposing a protectorate in the Muslim Kingdom of Morocco. Although diplomats kept the peace, Germany gained some territory in central Africa.
D. Militarism and the Arms Race: The rise in militarism grew partly out of the ideas of Social Darwinism. Echoing the idea of “survival of the fittest,” the German militarist Frederic von Bernhardi claimed that war was “a biological necessity of the first importance.”
1. The late 1800s saw a rise in militarism, the glorification of the military. Under militarism, the armed forces and readiness for war came to dominate national policy.
2. As international tensions grew, the great powers expanded their armies and navies. The result was an arms race that further increased suspicions and made war more likely.
3. Fear of war gave military more influence. On matters of peace and war, governments turned to military leaders for advice. As militarism and the arms race fed each other, tensions grew.
E. A Tangle of Alliances: Fear and distrust led the great powers to protect themselves through alliances. Nations signed treaties pledging to defend each other. These alliances were intended to create powerful combinations that no one would dare attack.
1. After Bismark resigned, Kaiser William II pursued his own policies. He preserved the Triple Alliance. However, he allowed Bismark’s Reinsurance Treaty, made with Russia in 1887, to lapse. When Germany and Austria fought on the same side, they were called the Central Powers.
2. In 1904, France and Britain signed an entente cordiale, or a friendly understanding. Three years later, Britain signed a similar agreement with Russia. When war began, these powers became known as the Allies.
3. Rather than easing tensions, the growth of rival alliance systems made governments increasingly nervous. A local conflict could easily mushroom into a general war. In 1914, that threat became a horrifying reality.
II. The Guns of August: In April of 1913, Bertha von Suttner wrote a grim prediction in her diary. She died on June 20th 1914. Eight days later, an assassin’s bullet set off the “gunpowder” and ignited a war that engulfed much of the world for four years.
A. A Murder with Millions of Victims: In 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungry would visit Sarajevo, the capital of neighboring Bosnia, on June 28th. The Serbians were outraged. This was the date they were conquered by the Ottoman Empire. They would try and kill him.
1. Gavrillo Princip, a youthful 19 year-old was apart of the terrorist group called the Unity or death, or commonly known as the Black Hand. Its goal was to organize all South Slav people into a single nation.
2. Pricip stood on a streetcar, when the royal couple was in the car together, and shot into the back seat of the car killing both husband and wife.
3. At his trial, Princip stood by his deed. His only regret, he said, was killing a woman. Because he was under the age of 20, he was not executed. He died in a prison of Tuberculosis.
B. Peace Unravels: Serbia would stop at nothing, they believed, to achieve its goal of a Slav empire. The Austrians decided that their only course was to punish Serbia.
1. Austria sent Serbia a sweeping ultimatum, or final set of demands. To avoid was, said the ultimatum, Serbia must end all anti-Austrian agitation and punish any Serbian official involved in the murder plot.
2. Serbia meanwhile sought help from Russia, the champion of Slavic nations. The czar asked the Kaiser to urge Austria to soften its demands. When this plead failed, Russia began to mobilize, or prepare its military forces for war.
3. Italy and Britain remained uncommitted. Italy decided to remain neutral for the time being. Neutrality is a policy of supporting neither side in war.
D. The United States Declares War
1. The United States, which so far had stayed out of the fighting, declared war on Germany.
2. One major reason was German submarine attacks on merchant and passenger ships carrying American citizens.
3. The United States had other reasons to support the Allies. Many Americans felt ties of culture and language to Britain.
E. Campaign to Victory
1. In March, the Germans launched a huge offensive that pushed the Allies back 40 miles by July.
2. The Allies then launched a counterattack, slowly driving German forces back across France and Belgium.
3. William II exiled in the Netherlands.

V. Making the Peace
1. After the war ended, President Wilson boarded the steamship George Washington, bound for France.
2. He had decided to go in person to Paris, where allied leaders would make the peace.
3. Wilson was certain that he could solve the problems of old Europe.

A. The Costs of War
1. More than 8.5 million people were dead, double that number had been wounded, many handicapped for life.
2. The devastation was made even worse in 1918 by a deadly epidemic of influenza.
3. In battle zones from France to Russia, homes, farms, factories, roads, and churches had been shelled into rubble.
B. The Paris Peace Conference
1. Woodrow Wilson seemed as a symbol for hope; his talk of democracy and self-determination raised expectations for a just and lasting peace, even in defeated Germany.
2. Wilson was one of three strong personalities who dominated the Paris Peace Conference.
3. Wilson urged peace without victory.
C. The Treaty of Versailles
1. The treaty forced Germany to assume full blame for causing the war.
2. The treaty also imposed huge reparations that would put an already damaged German economy under a staggering burden.
3. The treaty severely limited the size of the once-feared German military machine.
D. Other Settlements
1. The Allies drew up separate treaties with the other central powers.
2. The new nations were Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
3. Under the mandate system the people took up Wilson’s call for self-determination.
E. Hopes for Global Peace
1. The Paris Peace Conference offered one beacon of hope in the League of Nations.
2. Millions of people looked to the league to ensure the peace, and more than 40 nations joined the league.
3. As time revealed, the league was powerless to prevent aggression or war.



D. Whose Fault?
1. During the war, each side blamed the other. Afterward, the victorious Allies put the blame on Germany.
2. Each great power believed its cause was just. Austria wanted to punish Serbia for encouraging terrorism.
3. Although leaders made the decisions, most people on both sides were equality committed to military action.
A. A New kind of Conflict
1. “The Great War,” as newspapers soon called it, was the largest war in History up to that time.
2. The French mobilized almost 8.5 million men, the British 9 million, the Russians 12 million, and the Germans 11 million.
3. The early enthusiasm for the war soon faded. There were no stirring cavalry charges, no quick and glorious victories.
B. The Western Front
1. As the war began, German forces swept through Belgium toward Paris. German generals, however, soon violated the Schlieffen Plan.
2. On the Western Front, the warring armies burrowed into the vast system of trenches, stretching from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel.
3. An underground network linked bunkers, communications trenches, and gun emplacements.
C. Other European Fronts
1. On the Eastern Front, battle lines swayed back and forth, sometimes over large areas.
2. In August 1914, Russian armies pushed into eastern Germany. Then the battle of Tannenberg, they suffered one of the worst defeats of the war.
3. Southeastern Europe was another battleground. In 1915, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and helped crush its old rival Serbia.
D. The War Beyond Europe
1. Though most of the fighting took place in Europe, World War 1 was a global conflict.
2. European colonies were drawn into struggle. The Allies overran scattered German colonies in Africa and Asia.
3. People in the colonies had mixed feelings about serving. Many volunteered eagerly, expecting that their service would be a step toward citizenship or independence.
A. Winning the War
1. By 1917, European societies were cracking under the strain of war.
2. Instead of praising the glorious deeds of heroes, war poets began denouncing the leaders whose errors wasted so many lives.
3. Three years into the war, a revolution in Russia and the entry of the United States into the war would upset the balance of forces and finally end the long stalemate.
B. Effects of the Stalemate
1. As the struggle wore on, nations realized that a modern, mechanized war required the total commitment of their society.
2. Early on, both sides set up systems to recruit, arm, transport, and supply armies that numbered in the millions.
3. Total war meant controlling public opinion. Even in democratic countries, special boards censored the press.
C. Women at War
1. Women played a major part in the total war. As millions of men left to fight,      a woman took over their jobs.
2. Military nurses shared the dangers of the men whose wounds they tended.
3. War gave women a new sense of pride and confidence. After the war, most women had to give up their jobs to men returning home.
D. Collapsing Morale
1. By 1917, the morale of both troops and civilians had plunged. Germany was sending 15-year-old recruits to the front.
2. Three years of war had hit Russia especially hard. Stories of incompetent generals and corruption destroyed public confidence.
3. Russia’s withdrawal had an immediate impact on the war. With Russia out of the struggle, Germany could concentrate its forces on the Western Front.
D. The United States Declares War
4. The United States, which so far had stayed out of the fighting, declared war on Germany.
5. One major reason was German submarine attacks on merchant and passenger ships carrying American citizens.
6. The United States had other reasons to support the Allies. Many Americans felt ties of culture and language to Britain.
E. Campaign to Victory
4. In March, the Germans launched a huge offensive that pushed the Allies back 40 miles by July.
5. The Allies then launched a counterattack, slowly driving German forces back across France and Belgium.
6. William II exiled in the Netherlands.

V. Making the Peace
4. After the war ended, President Wilson boarded the steamship George Washington, bound for France.
5. He had decided to go in person to Paris, where allied leaders would make the peace.
6. Wilson was certain that he could solve the problems of old Europe.

A. The Costs of War
4. More than 8.5 million people were dead, double that number had been wounded, many handicapped for life.
5. The devastation was made even worse in 1918 by a deadly epidemic of influenza.
6. In battle zones from France to Russia, homes, farms, factories, roads, and churches had been shelled into rubble.
B. The Paris Peace Conference
4. Woodrow Wilson seemed as a symbol for hope; his talk of democracy and self-determination raised expectations for a just and lasting peace, even in defeated Germany.
5. Wilson was one of three strong personalities who dominated the Paris Peace Conference.
6. Wilson urged peace without victory.
C. The Treaty of Versailles
4. The treaty forced Germany to assume full blame for causing the war.
5. The treaty also imposed huge reparations that would put an already damaged German economy under a staggering burden.
6. The treaty severely limited the size of the once-feared German military machine.
D. Other Settlements
4. The Allies drew up separate treaties with the other central powers.
5. The new nations were Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
6. Under the mandate system the people took up Wilson’s call for self-determination.
E. Hopes for Global Peace
4. The Paris Peace Conference offered one beacon of hope in the League of Nations.
5. Millions of people looked to the league to ensure the peace, and more than 40 nations joined the league.
6. As time revealed, the league was powerless to prevent aggression or war.