GS Notes

1.3 - World History Notes 11

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Elaborate Notes

World War I (1914-1918)

World War I, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918. It fundamentally reshaped the political, social, and economic landscape of the 20th century. The conflict involved the Central Powers (primarily Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria) against the Allied Powers (primarily France, Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan, and, from 1917, the United States).

  • Concept of “Total War”: WWI is often cited as the first instance of a “Total War,” a term coined to describe the intense and all-encompassing nature of the conflict. This characterization is based on several factors:
    • Global Scope: Unlike previous European conflicts, WWI had a global dimension. The involvement of European colonial empires meant that fighting and its consequences spread to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Colonial troops from India, Africa, and the Dominions (like Australia and Canada) fought on European battlefields. The entry of Japan and the United States further cemented its status as a world war.
    • New Arenas of Warfare: The war witnessed the large-scale deployment of new military technologies that expanded the battlefield. Aerial warfare became a reality with the use of aeroplanes for reconnaissance and bombing. Submarines, particularly German U-boats, introduced a new dimension of naval conflict under the sea, aiming to disrupt enemy supply lines through unrestricted submarine warfare.
    • Mobilization of Society: The war demanded the complete mobilization of a nation’s resources. Governments took unprecedented control over their economies, directing industrial production towards war materials. This concept is often referred to as the ‘war economy’. Civilians were directly involved through rationing, war bonds, and propaganda campaigns. As men were conscripted for the front, women entered the workforce in large numbers, particularly in munitions factories, fundamentally altering social structures. As historian Arthur Marwick noted in The Deluge (1965), the war acted as a ‘great accelerator’ of social change.
    • Comprehensive Impact: The conflict affected every facet of human existence. The immense loss of life shattered families and created a “Lost Generation.” The psychological trauma on soldiers (shell shock) was recognized for the first time on a mass scale. Education was disrupted, political systems were overthrown (e.g., the Romanov, Hohenzollern, Habsburg, and Ottoman dynasties fell), and economic devastation was widespread in Europe.

Reasons for the War

The causes of World War I are complex and multi-faceted, often categorized into long-term and short-term factors.

  • The System of Alliances and Bismarck’s Foreign Policy:

    • Following the unification of Germany in 1871 under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, German foreign policy was dominated by the need to protect the new empire and, crucially, to keep France isolated. France was perceived as the primary threat due to its desire for revanche (revenge) for its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71).
    • The terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871) were deeply humiliating for France. It was forced to pay a massive indemnity of 5 billion gold francs, endure a German occupation of Paris, and cede the industrial-rich provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. This loss was a source of enduring national resentment in France.
    • The crowning of the German Emperor, William I, in the opulent Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles—a symbol of French power and prestige—was a calculated act of humiliation that inflamed French nationalism.
    • To ensure French isolation, Bismarck skillfully crafted a series of alliances. The Dreikaiserbund or Triple Emperor’s League (1873), an agreement between the monarchs of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia, was an early attempt to maintain the status quo and prevent a Franco-Russian alignment.
    • After the league faltered due to Russo-Austrian rivalry in the Balkans, Bismarck engineered the Triple Alliance in 1882. This was a formal military pact between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, committing each member to support the others in case of an attack by two or more great powers.
    • After Bismarck’s dismissal by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1890, his cautious foreign policy was abandoned. Wilhelm II’s more aggressive Weltpolitik (World Policy) alienated Russia, allowing France to break its isolation. In 1894, France and Russia formed the Dual Entente (Franco-Russian Alliance).
    • Britain, which had long practiced a policy of “splendid isolation,” grew alarmed by Germany’s naval expansion. This led to a series of agreements: the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902), the Entente Cordiale with France (1904), and finally, the Anglo-Russian Entente (1907). This last agreement completed the formation of the Triple Entente between Britain, France, and Russia.
    • Thus, by 1907, Europe was divided into two rigid, armed camps. Historian A.J.P. Taylor, in The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848–1918 (1954), argued that this rigid alliance system, coupled with inflexible military mobilization plans (like Germany’s Schlieffen Plan), made a large-scale war almost inevitable once a crisis erupted.

  • Other Contributing Factors:

    • Imperialism: The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the peak of European imperialism. As Karl Marx and later Vladimir Lenin in Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917) argued, competition for colonies, resources, and markets was an inherent source of conflict within the capitalist system. Anglo-German naval rivalry, Franco-German clashes over Morocco (First Moroccan Crisis, 1905; Second Moroccan Crisis, 1911), and Italo-German tensions in Africa were all manifestations of this imperialist competition.
    • Militarism: An intense arms race gripped Europe. Germany’s decision to build a powerful navy directly challenged Britain’s naval supremacy. Conscription was standard in most continental powers, leading to massive standing armies. Military spending skyrocketed; nations like Germany and France devoted a significant portion of their national budgets to defense, creating a war-like atmosphere where military leaders gained substantial influence over policy.
    • Absence of an International Mediating Body: There was no effective international organization like the later United Nations to mediate disputes between nations. Diplomacy was often conducted bilaterally or within alliances, lacking a neutral forum for conflict resolution.
    • Extreme Nationalism: An aggressive, jingoistic form of nationalism flourished, promoting the idea of national superiority and fostering ethnic and racial antagonisms. Pan-Slavism, promoted by Russia, fueled Serbian ambitions in the Balkans, while Pan-Germanism envisioned a greater German sphere of influence. This created a climate of mutual suspicion and hatred.
    • Secret Diplomacy: International relations were riddled with secret treaties and agreements. For example, the full extent of Britain’s military commitments to France under the Entente Cordiale was not known even to some members of the British cabinet until 1911. Italy’s secret negotiations with the Entente powers, which led to its defection from the Triple Alliance in 1915, demonstrated the unreliability of public treaties. Similarly, Japan’s “21 Demands” on China in 1915 were a secret ultimatum, highlighting the predatory nature of diplomacy at the time.
    • Alsace-Lorraine: The issue of Alsace-Lorraine remained a “bleeding wound” in Franco-German relations. The loss of its iron-ore rich industries crippled France’s heavy industry, and its desire to recover the provinces was a constant foreign policy objective.

  • The Immediate Cause: The Balkan (“Near East”) Crisis:

    • The Balkans were known as the “powder keg of Europe” due to competing nationalist aspirations and the strategic interests of major powers (Russia and Austria-Hungary).
    • In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, which it had been permitted to administer by the Congress of Berlin (1878). This act infuriated neighboring Serbia, which had ambitions of uniting South Slavic peoples (including the Serbs in Bosnia) into a single state, “Yugoslavia.”
    • Serbia encouraged anti-Austrian sentiment in Bosnia, supporting nationalist secret societies like the “Narodna Odbrana” and the more radical “Ujedinjenje ili Smrt” (Union or Death), also known as the Black Hand.
    • On June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a young Bosnian Serb nationalist and a member of a group trained by the Black Hand.
    • Austria-Hungary, seeing an opportunity to crush Serbian nationalism, issued a harsh ultimatum to Serbia on July 23, 1914, with the backing of Germany (the “blank cheque”). When Serbia failed to accept all terms, Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28.
    • The alliance system was triggered: Russia mobilized to support its Slavic ally, Serbia. Germany issued an ultimatum to Russia to demobilize and, upon Russia’s refusal, declared war on Russia (August 1) and its ally, France (August 3). When Germany invaded neutral Belgium to attack France (as per the Schlieffen Plan), Britain, a guarantor of Belgian neutrality, declared war on Germany on August 4. A regional crisis had escalated into a world war.

Course of the War and the Paris Peace Conference

Initially, Germany made rapid advances into France. However, the war on the Western Front soon bogged down into a brutal stalemate of trench warfare. The entry of the United States in April 1917, prompted by Germany’s resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram, proved to be a decisive turning point, tipping the balance of manpower and resources in favor of the Allies. The war ended with the armistice of November 11, 1918.

The subsequent Paris Peace Conference (1919) was convened to establish the terms of peace. It was dominated by the “Big Four”: President Woodrow Wilson (USA), Prime Minister David Lloyd George (Britain), Premier Georges Clemenceau (France), and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando (Italy).

  • A Clash of Interests and Individuals: The conference was fraught with conflicting national objectives:

    • France (Clemenceau): Nicknamed “The Tiger,” Clemenceau’s primary goal was national security and revenge. Having witnessed two German invasions of France in his lifetime (1870 and 1914), he sought to permanently weaken Germany through territorial dismemberment, massive reparations, and strict military limitations.
    • Britain (Lloyd George): He occupied a middle ground. While his public had been promised to “make Germany pay,” he was privately concerned that an overly punitive treaty would cripple the German economy, which was a vital pre-war market for British goods. He also feared that a vengeful peace would breed future resentment and conflict, and that a too-powerful France could upset the European balance of power.
    • USA (Wilson): The idealist of the group, Wilson aimed for a “peace without victory” based on his Fourteen Points. These included principles like the end of secret diplomacy, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, and, most importantly, the principle of national self-determination and the creation of a League of Nations to ensure collective security. However, American economic interests were also paramount; the US had lent vast sums to the Allies and needed German reparations to ensure these loans were repaid.
    • Italy (Orlando): Primarily focused on securing the territorial gains promised to Italy in the secret Treaty of London (1915) for joining the Allies. His ambitions were largely frustrated, and he eventually walked out of the conference, highlighting the marginalization of smaller powers.

  • The Treaty of Versailles and its Provisions: The Germans were summoned to Paris only after the terms had been decided. They were presented with a draft that bore little resemblance to the promised Fourteen Points. Faced with the threat of a renewed Allied invasion, the German delegation was forced to sign the treaty in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on June 28, 1919—the fifth anniversary of the Sarajevo assassination. This coercive process led the Germans to label the treaty a “Diktat” (dictated peace).

    • War Guilt Clause (Article 231): This clause placed the sole responsibility for causing the war on Germany and its allies, providing the legal basis for the reparations. It was a source of profound and lasting national humiliation for the German people.
    • Territorial Losses: Germany was stripped of approximately 13% of its European territory. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France. The coal-rich Saar Valley was placed under League of Nations administration for 15 years, with its coal output going to France. Territories were ceded to the newly independent states of Poland and Czechoslovakia, as well as to Belgium and Lithuania. The creation of the “Polish Corridor” to give Poland access to the sea (at the Free City of Danzig) separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. All of Germany’s overseas colonies were confiscated and became “mandates” under the League of Nations.
    • Military Restrictions: The German army was limited to 100,000 men, with no conscription. The navy was severely restricted, and it was forbidden from having an air force, tanks, or submarines. The Rhineland was to be permanently demilitarized.
    • Reparations: The treaty obligated Germany to pay vast, though initially unspecified, reparations for war damages. The final figure set in 1921 was 132 billion gold marks (approximately $6600 million at the time), an astronomical sum that, as economist John Maynard Keynes argued in The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), was economically ruinous and politically unwise.

  • Other Treaties:

    • Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) with Austria: Officially dissolved the Habsburg Empire. Hungary was separated and made independent. Austria ceded territories to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy, and the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia).
    • Treaty of Sèvres (1920) with the Ottoman Empire: Dismembered the empire. Its Middle Eastern territories were placed under a Mandate System. Britain received mandates for Mesopotamia (Iraq), Palestine, and Transjordan, while France received mandates for Syria and Lebanon. The treaty was extremely harsh and was later rejected by Turkish nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who fought a war of independence and negotiated the more favorable Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Prelims Pointers

  • World War I Period: 1914-1918.
  • Two Major Blocs:
    • Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria.
    • Allied Powers: France, Britain, Russia, Italy (from 1915), USA (from 1917), Japan.
  • Key Alliances:
    1. Triple Emperor’s League (1873): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia.
    2. Triple Alliance (1882): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy.
    3. Dual Entente (1894): France and Russia.
    4. Triple Entente (1907): Britain, France, Russia.
  • Immediate Cause: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.
  • Assassination Group: The Black Hand (official name: “Union or Death”), a Serbian nationalist secret society.
  • Concept: WWI is known as a “Total War” due to its global scale and complete societal mobilization.
  • New Military Technology: Widespread use of aeroplanes, submarines (U-boats), machine guns, and chemical warfare.
  • Key Personalities:
    • Otto von Bismarck: German Chancellor responsible for the initial alliance system.
    • Woodrow Wilson: US President, author of the “Fourteen Points.”
    • Georges Clemenceau: Prime Minister of France at the Paris Peace Conference.
    • David Lloyd George: Prime Minister of Britain at the Paris Peace Conference.
  • Paris Peace Conference: Held in 1919 to decide the peace terms.
  • Major Treaties:
    • Treaty of Versailles (1919): With Germany.
    • Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919): With Austria.
    • Treaty of Sevres (1920): With the Ottoman Empire.
  • Key Provisions of Versailles:
    • Article 231: The “War Guilt Clause.”
    • Return of Alsace-Lorraine to France.
    • Saar Valley coal mines given to France for 15 years.
    • Creation of the “Polish Corridor” and the Free City of Danzig.
    • German military limited to 100,000 soldiers.
  • Mandate System: A system established by the League of Nations to administer former colonies of the defeated powers.
    • British Mandates: Mesopotamia (Iraq), Palestine, Transjordan.
    • French Mandates: Syria, Lebanon.

Mains Insights

Causes and Responsibility for World War I

  • Historiographical Debate on War Guilt:
    1. Orthodox View: Embodied in the Treaty of Versailles’ Article 231, this view held Germany and its allies solely responsible for the war.
    2. Fritz Fischer Thesis: In the 1960s, German historian Fritz Fischer, in his work Germany’s Aims in the First World War (1961), argued that German leaders had deliberately instigated the war to achieve European and global dominance (Weltmacht). This revived the focus on German culpability.
    3. Revisionist View: Many historians, including Christopher Clark (The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914), argue for shared responsibility. They contend that leaders in all major European capitals made a series of miscalculations and risky decisions that collectively led to a war nobody truly wanted in the form it took. The focus shifts from blame to the systemic failures of diplomacy, the rigidity of military plans, and a pervasive militaristic culture across Europe.
  • Interplay of MAIN Factors: A useful analytical framework is to see the war as a result of the toxic interplay of four long-term causes:
    • Militarism: The arms race and the influence of military planning on political decisions.
    • Alliances: The rigid, bipolar system that turned a regional conflict into a continental one.
    • Imperialism: Competition for colonies and economic resources that fueled international tension.
    • Nationalism: Aggressive jingoism and ethnic conflicts (especially in the Balkans) that created an environment ripe for war.

The Paris Peace Conference: A Flawed Peace

  • “A Clash of Interests and Individuals”: The peace settlement was fundamentally a compromise between conflicting aims, making it incoherent and ultimately unstable.
    • Wilson’s Idealism vs. European Realism: Wilson’s Fourteen Points, based on principles of self-determination and collective security, clashed with the national security and revanchist goals of France and the imperial interests of Britain.
    • Economic Consequences: As John Maynard Keynes presciently argued, the heavy reparations imposed on Germany were economically catastrophic. They crippled the German economy, fueled hyperinflation in the 1920s, and created deep-seated resentment that the Nazi party would later exploit. The treaty failed to address the economic reconstruction of Europe as a whole.
    • Victors’ Justice: The exclusion of the defeated powers (especially Germany) and Soviet Russia from the negotiations, and the coercive manner in which the treaty was imposed, undermined its legitimacy from the outset. It was seen in Germany not as a negotiated peace but as a humiliating “Diktat.”

How World War I and the Treaty of Versailles Sowed the Seeds for World War II

  • German Resentment: The “War Guilt Clause,” massive reparations, territorial losses (especially the Polish Corridor), and military disarmament were perceived as a national humiliation. This created a fertile ground for extremist political movements, like Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party, which promised to restore German honour and overturn the “shameful treaty.”
  • Failure of Self-Determination: While the principle of self-determination led to the creation of new states like Poland and Czechoslovakia, it was applied inconsistently. The prohibition of Anschluss (union) between Germany and Austria, and the inclusion of millions of ethnic Germans in new states like Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) and Poland, created new minority problems and became a pretext for Hitler’s expansionist foreign policy in the 1930s.
  • Weakness of the League of Nations: The League, Wilson’s key idea for preventing future wars, was fatally weakened from the start. The US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, so the US never joined. The League lacked an army and effective enforcement mechanisms, proving powerless to stop aggression by Japan in Manchuria (1931), Italy in Abyssinia (1935), and Germany’s rearmament and territorial expansion.
  • Shift in Global Power: The war devastated Europe economically and politically, leading to the rise of the United States and Japan as major world powers. The inability of Britain and France to act decisively against German aggression in the 1930s was partly a consequence of their weakened state after WWI.

Thus, the Paris Peace Conference, rather than creating a lasting peace, created a set of grievances and structural flaws in the international system that directly contributed to the outbreak of another, even more destructive, world war just two decades later.

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