Study guide: The First World War

📋 Course Outline

1. Long-Term Causes of War
2. Alliances and Military Rivalry
3. The Assassination and Global War
4. Human and Economic Consequences
5. The Paris Peace Settlement
6. The New Geopolitical Map
7. Terms and Historical Figures

📅 Key Dates

1. 1898The Fashoda Crisis broke out when French and British interests intersected in Sudan.
2. 28 June 1914The assassination of Austrian heir Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo was the immediate cause of the First World War.
3. 28 July 1914Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the alliance system turned the conflict into a general war.
4. May 1916The Sykes–Picot Agreement was a secret agreement among France, Britain, and Russia to divide Ottoman provinces in the Arab East after the war.
5. June 1919The Treaty of Versailles was imposed on Germany and held it responsible for the outbreak of war.

📖 1. Long-Term Causes of War

★ Must-know

• The Great Depression of 1873–1895 narrowed domestic markets and made it difficult to sell surplus production and capital, prompting European powers to seek new markets.

📌 Traditional colonial powers Britain and France faced rising powers Germany and Italy, which demanded a new division of the colonies.

Further detail

• Germany’s Weltpolitik under William II pursued German interests through economic policy backed by force.

• Germany’s interventions in Morocco caused the Tangier Crisis of 1905 and the Agadir Crisis of 1911; France’s concession of part of the Congo to Germany helped clear the way for French control of Morocco.

💡 Memory Hook

The 1873–1895 depression → competition for markets and colonies.

📖 2. Alliances and Military Rivalry

★ Must-know

• Germany and Austria-Hungary formed the Dual Alliance in October 1879, which became the Triple Alliance with Italy joining in May 1882.

• The Triple Entente linked France and Britain from April 1904 and Russia from 1907, aiming to contain Germany and end France’s isolation.

Further detail

• The Triple Alliance aimed to isolate France, prevent its recovery of Alsace-Lorraine, and oppose Russian expansionist ambitions.

• Alliance rivalry intensified the arms race: France extended military service from two to three years, Germany increased its armed forces from 621,000 to 821,000 soldiers, and Germany and Britain competed in naval construction.

• Rivalry over the Ottoman Empire’s European territories contributed to the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913.

💡 Memory Hook

The Triple Alliance sought to isolate France; the Triple Entente sought to encircle Germany.

📖 3. The Assassination and Global War

★ Must-know

• The war lasted four years, from 1914 to 1918, and ended in an Entente victory.

Further detail

• The Bosnian Serb assassin’s act reflected South Slav aspirations for independence from Austria-Hungary and union with Serbia, supported by Russia and opposed by Germany.

• The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, while Japan, Greece, and the United States joined the Entente; Italy joined the Entente in 1915 in return for territorial promises, and the United States entered in April 1917.

💡 Memory Hook

Sarajevo assassination → Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia → alliances widen the conflict.

📖 4. Human and Economic Consequences

★ Must-know

• The war caused about 9 million deaths and 17 million wounded.

• Damage to industrial areas, infrastructure, and farmland contributed to European agricultural production falling by 20% and industrial production by 30%.

• The war strengthened the United States, which became the Allies’ leading supplier and lender, held half the world’s gold reserves by the war’s end, and saw New York replace London as a financial center.

Further detail

• Europe suffered about 8 million deaths; Germany and Russia suffered the most, followed by France and Austria, while the United States was least affected.

• War losses altered population structure by increasing the proportions of women and elderly people and reducing the proportion of the active population.

• Europe lost markets in Asia and America, borrowed from the United States for reconstruction, and used inflation to repay debts, weakening European currencies.

• Japan, Argentina, Canada, and Brazil benefited as their agricultural and industrial goods replaced European products in world markets.

📖 5. The Paris Peace Settlement

★ Must-know

• At the Paris Peace Conference, Woodrow Wilson proposed a program of 14 points for lasting peace, including disarmament, ending secret diplomacy, freedom of navigation, national self-determination, and an international association.

• The Paris Peace Conference opened on 18 January 1919 under the control of the victorious powers: France, Britain, Italy, and the United States.

• The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of its colonies and areas of influence, 15% of its territory, and one-seventh of its population, and imposed 132 billion gold marks in reparations.

Further detail

• The victorious Allies disagreed over Germany: France sought to weaken it, Britain feared that doing so would upset Europe’s balance, and Italy expected territorial gains from Austria.

• The Treaty of Versailles limited Germany’s armed forces to 100,000 men, required the demilitarization of the Rhineland, abolished conscription, and took part of its merchant fleet.

• The Treaty of Saint-Germain was concluded with Austria in October 1919, and the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary in June 1920.

• The Treaty of Sèvres, signed with the Ottoman Empire on 10 August 1920, placed Arab territories under British and French mandates and was rejected by the Turkish nationalist movement led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

📖 6. The New Geopolitical Map

★ Must-know

• The First World War dissolved the Russian, Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires.

• New national states emerged, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia; Finland and the three Baltic states also became independent.

• The mandates in the Arab East were divided between Britain, which received Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine, and France, which received Syria and Lebanon.

• The settlement created a fragile peace, left minorities within new states, disappointed Italian territorial ambitions, and failed to fulfill colonized peoples’ hopes for self-determination.

Further detail

• Poland received access to the Baltic Sea through a corridor that separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany.

• Czechoslovakia included 3 million Germans in the Sudetenland, while Yugoslavia united the South Slavs.

📖 7. Terms and Historical Figures

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• League of Nations: An international organization created in 1920 under Article 14 of Wilson’s program to preserve world peace and uphold self-determination; defeated powers and Bolshevik Russia were excluded, and it approved mandates over the Arab East and former German colonies.
• Diktat: An imposed peace, a term used for the Treaty of Versailles because Germany was given no negotiations or discussion and regarded the settlement as a stab in the back.
• Balkan Wars: Two conflicts in 1912 and 1913 over Ottoman territories in Europe, particularly Macedonia and most of Thrace.

📝 Essential Points

• The Triple Entente was an alliance of France, Britain, and Tsarist Russia directed against Germany; the United States joined in April 1917, and Russia withdrew after the October Revolution of 1917.

• Italy left the Triple Alliance in 1915 after signing the secret Treaty of London and joined the Entente.

• Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States from 1913 to 1921 and presented his Fourteen Points at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference as a basis for peace.

📊 Synthesis Tables

The Two European Alliances