20c - "The war will be over by Christmas" (Lesson)
"The war will be over by Christmas"
The "Spark"
We need to have a basic understanding of the Balkan situation in order to understand how the "spark" led to war.
During the 1878 Berlin Congress, Austria-Hungary was allowed to occupy Bosnia. They decide they wished to annex the country, but to do so might bring them into conflict with Russia. By 1908, Russia and Austria-Hungary negotiate a deal: Austria gets Bosnia without interference IF Russia is given a warm water port in the Balkans. Austria moves forward with annexing Bosnia, but when Russia calls a congress to claim its port, Austria does not support them when England and Germany object. Russia feels betrayed and determined not to end up in a similar situation.
Not all in the Balkans approve of the Austrian annexation of Bosnia; Serbia, in particular, wanted Bosnia free of Austro-Hungarian authority in order to create a Yugo-Slav or united Slavic nation. A Bosnian nationalist group, the Black Hand, developed in Serbia with one of its sole aims to be the assassination of a member of the Austrian royal family. In the summer of 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was scheduled to visit Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, in order to inspect the Bosnian troops. The Black Hand saw this as an opportunity to carry out one of its fundamental missions and sent some of its members to carry out the assassination attempt.
A parade was to take place before Franz Ferdinand gave his speech and the parade route was obtained by the Black Hand. Operatives were stationed near a bridge as this particular bridge required that vehicles cross it one at a time, giving ample time for a bomb to be thrown into the royal carriage. Unfortunately, the bomb was thrown into the wrong car and Ferdinand escaped unharmed. The Black Hand Operatives attempted to disappear into the crowd.
A little later in the day, by sheer coincidence, one of the operatives, Gavrilo Princep, runs into the Archduke's car. Seizing his opportunity, Princep pulls out his gun and shoots both the Archduke and his wife, Sophie.
Image: (right) is a photograph of the arrest of Gavrilo Princep.
The War Begins
Watch this overview to review the causes of WWI and how the war began. It may take a moment to load.
When the war broke out, many believed it would be a quick affair, much like the wars Europe had seen up until that point. Thousands of young men rush to join their nation's armies, hoping to see action before the war was over "by Christmas." Unfortunately, many factors aligned to keep the war going for an interminable amount of years.
Germany faced a two front war with France in the west and Russia in the east.
In 1890s German General Alfred Von Schlieffen devised a plan to fight such a war:
Schlieffen Plan.
- The entire German army would go west to knock out France before the Russians could arrive on the eastern front as it was expected to take Russia a long time to mobilize.
- Because breaking through the French border would take a long time, the Germans choose to go through Belgium into France's northern border.
- Going through the North would allow them to swoop down into France, take Paris, and sweep the remaining soldiers into Germany to fight before marching straight to Russia.
- Belgium's border was unprotected.
- Germany demanded that Belgium allow them to march through.
- Belgium refused as it was a neutral nation.
- They had a policy stating they were not supporting either side.
- Status as neutral nation had been guaranteed by all the Great Powers since 1839.
- Germany violated Belgium's neutrality on August 4th.
Belgium turns to Great Britain
- Great Britain is concerned because of the closeness of Belgium ports.
- Great Britain declares war on Germany.
At this point, the battle lines are drawn
- Central Powers - Germany, Austria-Hungary.
- Allied Powers - Great Britain, France, and Russia.
By October, the Ottomans joined the Central Powers; one year later Bulgaria joined Central Powers.
Italy joined the Allies nine months later.
- Although a member of the Triple Alliance, Italy was able to bow out of supporting the war because Austria was the one who began it. Italy saw it as a war of aggression on behalf of Austria. They changed to the Allied side in 1915 with the promise of land gains after the war was over.
Throughout August, 1.5 million German soldiers marched through Belgium. They were met at the northern border by approximately the same number of French soldiers as well as additional British. The unexpected battles in Belgium as well as the British joining the war caused the planned invasion of France to get bogged down. The German plan was dependent upon a quick victory in France, and thus the war took an entirely different course than the Germans predicted.
The two sides formed a battle line known as the Western Front
- By September 2nd, the German army was nearing Paris.
- Russia was mobilizing more quickly than Germany had expected.
- The German high command had no choice but to send troops to the east, thus weakening the Western Front.
On September 6th, the Allies struck at a gap in the German lines near the Marne River, outside of Paris. All resources available were used to advance French troops including requisitioning all the taxicabs in Paris to bring troops to the front. By Sept. 12, the German army retreated, thus Paris was saved, making the First Battle of the Marne one of the most important battles of the war. But it also demonstrated that a quick victory on the Western Front would not be possible as both sides began digging in, quite literally as they began building trenches. The war had settled into a stalemate.
That first Christmas? A one-day truce was called and both sides spilled into No Man's Land, sang Christmas carols, and exchanged Christmas cards. The next day, they took up arms and began fighting again.
In your notes, respond to the following.
- How did the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand demonstrate that international politics had assumed a new, unpredictable quality because of factors rooted in the social, political, and cultural changes of the modern period?
- Explain how the images offered in the two film previews illustrate the new kind of warfare and its consequences that emerged almost immediately after World War I commenced in August 1914.
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