1. UNIT 8 - 4º Bil
The First World War

2. 1 - War and revolution (1914-23)
1870-1914 Period of uneasy peace in Europe.
Rivalries continued between countries and two
main alliances are the result.
In July 1914 the WWI began, the two alliances
fought.
Industry reconverted to manufacture weapons
and military equipment.
Society also changed due to the war. Women
began to work in factories while men fought in the
war.

3. 1 - War and revolution (1914-23)
The origin of the Russian revolution
was in its participation in the WWI.
Spain remained neutral during the Great War.
The Avant-garde movement influenced art during
this period.

4. 2 - The First World War
2.1. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR
-Tension during the uneasy peace.
-Rivalries to recover territories, for example France over
Alsace-Lorraine against Germany, or the Balkan crisis
between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
-Economic rivalries, above all between Great Britain
(former industrial power) and Germany (current), which
led to a hard fight to control international trade.
-Colonial interests, for example, the moroccan crisis
(Germany tried to get colonies from other countries).

5. 2.1. THE CAUSES OF THE WAR
-Arms race, Britain and Germany began a naval arms
race.
-Another cause was the formation of two blocs of
opposing alliances:
.1882 The Triple Entente: Great Britain, France and
the Russian Empire.
.1907 The Triple Alliance: the German Empire, the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

7. The final cause. 1914
The assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-
Hungary, by a Yugoslav nationalist in Sarajevo (Bosnia) was
the trigger.
It resulted in a Habsburg ultimatum against the Kingdom of
Serbia. Several alliances formed over the previous decades
were invoked, so, within weeks, the major powers were at
war; via their colonies, the conflict soon spread around the
world.
On 28 July, the conflict opened with the Austro-Hungarian
invasion of Serbia, followed by the German invasion of
Belgium, Luxembourg and France; and a Russian attack

8. 2.2. The war's
participants and
phases
-PARTICIPANTS IN THE WAR:
during the war several
countries joined both groups:
-Triple Entente (GB, France and
Russia, plus Serbia): Japan,
Romania, the USA, Greece and
Portugal. They were known as
the Allied Powers.
-Triple Alliance (Germany,
Austro-Hungary and Italy): the
Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
Italy was neutral at the
beginning and then changed to
the Triple Entente. They were
known as the Central Powers.

9. 2.2. The war's participants and phases
PHASES OF THE WAR - There were three phases:
In July 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on
Serbia.
1- Initial German offensives 1914: rapid attacks to Belgium
(neutral) and France, and prevent actions against Russia.
2- Trench warfare and new allies (1915-17): period of
trench warfare, followed by the entrance of the USA in
war (with the Allies). The Russian Empire began to
collapse.
3- Allied victories and the armistice 1918: Russia withdrew
from the war. After a political revolution Germany signed
the armistice on November 1918.

10. The war's participants

11. Activities
Exercises 2, 3 and 5
on page 163.
___________________________________________
__
-Animated Map: The Western Front, 1914 - 1918
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/we
-Good web about WWI:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/

12. 3- Economy and society during the war
THE WAR ECONOMY
-Economic activity was focused in providing arm forces with
all the necessary equipment and facilities.
-Recent inventions were used (telephone, telegraph,
armoured tanks, new weapons, etc.)
-Production of consumer goods decreased, so there were
shortages of some products and prices increased.
Governments established rationing
systems, and black markets appeared.

13. 3- Economy and society
during the war
SOCIAL EFFECTS OF THE WAR
-Women and men suffered different effects during the war:
.Men had to participate in the war (voluntarily or not).
.Women had to work in offices and factories.
-Advertising was used to publicize the war and make
patriotism in order to convince
more men to enlist the army.
-After the war women began to fight for
their rights. The suffragettes were an example.

14. Activities
Exercises 8, 9, 10 and 11 on page 167.

15. 4 - The post-war world
4.1. The peace settlement
-After the armistice in 1918, the Allied Powers met at the Paris
Peace Conference (1919) to decide the conditions that would
be imposed to the defeated Central Powers.
-Reconciliation proposed by Wilson (USA) was rejected.
-They signed a series of treaties known as the Paris Peace
Treaties, that remodelled the map of Europe with new
borders and countries, and imposed war guilt and harsh
financial penalties on Germany. The defeated Central Powers'
colonial empires would be parceled between and mandated
to the victorious colonial empires.
-The League of Nations was created to maintain world peace.

16. The peace treaties
"The Big Four" during the Paris Peace Conference (from left to
right, David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, George
Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson).

17. The peace treaties
The following treaties were prepared at the Paris Peace
Conference (with, in parentheses, the affected
countries):
• the Treaty of Versailles, 1919, 28 June (the German
Empire in Weimar Republic form)
• the Treaty of Saint-Germain, 10 September 1919, (Austria)
• the Treaty of Neuilly, 27 November 1919, (Bulgaria)
• the Treaty of Trianon, 4 June 1920, (Hungary)
• the Treaty of Sèvres, 10 August 1920; subsequently revised
by the Treaty of Lausanne, 24 June 1923, (Ottoman
Empire).

19. Treaty of Versailles, June 1919
-It ended the state of war between Germany and
the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919.
-Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the
most important and controversial required
Germany to accept responsibility for causing the war (along
with Austria and Hungary), later known as the War-Guilt
clauses.
-Another term was to disarm, and also to make substantial
territorial concessions, and pay heavy reparations to certain
countries that had formed the Entente powers.

21. The League of Nations
It was an intergovernmental organization founded as a
result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the WWI.
It was the first international organization whose principal
mission was to maintain world peace.
Its primary goals included preventing wars through collective
security and disarmament, and settling international disputes
through negotiation and arbitration. Other issues included
labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human
and drug trafficking, arms trade, global health, prisoners of war,
and protection of minorities in Europe.
At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February
1935, it had 58 members.

23. Activities
Exercises 12, 13 and 14 on page 167.

24. 4.2. The consequences of the First World
War
-Death and injury: lots of young men died in the war, and there
were lots of injuries: cripples, disabled people, orphans...
-Material destruction: material losses above all in European
territories that made great damage to economy.
-Economic decline: Europe became in heavy debt with the USA.
-New European states: due to the treaties of peace Europe's map
changed dramatically.
-Colonial changes: colonies from the Central Powers became
mandate territories after the war.
-Social changes: Women became included in the labour market.
Middle classes impoverished, and a new figure emerged: the old
soldier or veteran.

25. Activity
Exercise 15 on page 167.