WWI and WW2

1914 - 1918

Militarism - enthusiasm for military force

Alliances - treaty relationships between countries

Imperialism - desire for empire

Nationalism - loyalty and devotion to one's country

Germany's Allies: Austria-Hungary, Turkey (1914) and Bulgaria (1915)

Britain's Allies: France, Russia, Servia, Belgium, Italy (1915), Romania (1916) and Greece (1917)

To get an empire, a country needed military strength. This meant more ships, more soliders, more weapons and more alliances.

1859 - 1941

He had a difficult birth and the nerve damage caused his arm to become paralysed, something he tried to hide all his life.

The 'treatment' he was given included electrotherapy and having a dead hare wrapped around his arm.

He became the Kaiser of Germany at the age of 29 after marrying Augusta Victoria in 1881.

He was rarely seen out of military uniform and his main aim for Germany was to improve the navy.

He only ruled for 98 days because he got cancer.

1) 28 June - The heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is assassinated in Bosnia.

2) Austria blames Serbia for killing the Archduke.

3) Austria declares war on Serbia.

4) Germany orders Russia to hold back from helping Serbia.

5) The Russian army gets ready to help Serbia defend itself.

6) Germany declares war on Russia and moves towards France.

7) The French army is put on a war footing ready to fight an invasion.

8) Germany declares war on France and invades neutral Belgium. Britain orders Germany to withdraw.

9) The Germans are still in Belgium. Britain declares war on Germany .

10) Austria declares war on Russia.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered on the 28th of June 1914. His pregnant wife was also mudered. They were killed by a young man part of a Bosnian Serb terrorist group, The Black Hand. The 28th of June was also Serbia's national day. The visit of the Archduke was seen as a direct insult to the Serbs, provoking many attacks. 

On the way home, the Archduke decided to change route and he and his wife were shot by Gavrilo Princip when the car came to a halt to change direction. Gavrilo Princip was unintentionally there, and the shots he gave to the couple turned out to be fatal.

Germany felt she need the Schlieffen Plan because they didn't want to face a war on two fronts.

The plan was based on the idea that Russia would take around 6 weeks to gather an army so Germany could quickly defeat France, then cross Germany to fight Russia. 

A main flaw was that Britain also declared war on Germany when she invaded Belgium. Russia took far less time to gather troops to help France.

Germany failed to defeat France in less than 6 weeks because they invaded French Fortress Towns instead of falling back to lead on French Troops.

The war ended because:

-America joined the war on the side of the Allies

-Russia made peace with Germany in 1917

-Economid depression and lack of support in Germany

-Superior warfare and weaponry of the allies

-People exhausted from the fighting

America joined the war becuase Germany were bombing all ships that were going to enemy countries, including ones carrying America citizens. Germany stopped but soon became desperate and continued. 

Germany also told Mexico to declare war against America .

America joined wars for the right of democracy in April 1917 but the President Woodrow Wilson made guideline to be a war to end all wars (14 points)

Treaty of Versailles: the peace treaty that Germany was forced to sign

Reparations: large sums of money that Germany had to repay to France

Diktat: a dictated peace, the Germans were not invited to talks, they had to accept terms

The Dolchstross: 'stabbed in the back'

In a democracy:

-everybody can vote and help choose a government

-people can follow any religion they wish

-newspapers can write what they like about the government

-everybody (also government) must obey laws of the land

-people have the freedom to criticise the goverment and protest about its policies

-a government has limited time in power, after which votes can choose a different goverment 

In a dictatorship:

-there are no free elctions to change the government

-people who criticise the goverment may be tortured, impisoned or sent to camps

-secret police keep the people under control, often using brutal method like torture 

-trade unions are banned

Dictatorships lead to strict laws that could lead to terrible consequences so people were more inclined to follow the rules and fear their leader, meaning any laws were enforced.

Guilt - to find someone to blame

Armed forces to be dealt with in Germany

Reparations - who has to pay

German territories - what to do

LE - League of Nations to be formed 

(Germany can't join)

-6 million people were out of work and he offered solutions

-stormtroopers were violent if you weren't loyal

-they wanted a strong leader

-he gave hope to farmers and workers

-he dennounced the Treaty of Versaille and fed Germany's desire for revenge

-offered protection from communism

-no one else to vote for (they were being murdered)

1) Farmers debts were cancelled and the price of produce increased

2) One million men were recruited to form a strong army

3) Female workers were sacked to become housewives

4) 'Beauty of Labour' organisation to improve working conditions

5) Unemployed joined job schemes like building motorways

6) Every hen in Germany had to lay 65 eggs each year or slaughtered

7) Bought veichles, weapons and uniforms for massive army

8) Stopped paying unemployment benefit

9) Stopped big new department stores so people would shop at small stores

10) All teenage boys practise military drill in Hitler Youth or at school to prepare them for becoming solidiers

11) Abolished trade unions 

12) increased working hours in factories and low wages

13) special awards for mothers with more than four children

14) blamed Jews for Germany's problems and declared 600 000 Jews racially inferior

15) told manufactures what prices they could change