Causes of World War I

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 446.

GREAT BRITAIN AND THE USA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20-th CENTURY

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LIST OF WORDS

TEXT 1. Read the text and answer the questions that follow it.

The causes of World War I, which began in central Europe in July 1914, included many intertwined factors, such as the conflicts and antagonisms of the four decades leading up to the war.

Countries such as the United Kingdom and France accumulated great wealth in the late 19th century through their control of foreign resources, markets, territories, and people. Other empires - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia - all hoped to do so as well. Their frustrated ambitions and British policies of strategic exclusion created tensions. In addition, the limits of natural resources in many European nations began to slowly alter trade balance, and make national industries seek new territories rich in natural resources.

Rivalries for not just colonies, but colonial trade and trade routes developed between the emerging economic powers and the incumbent great powers. German interests were to counter the British Empire at a global level, and Turkey's interest was in countering their Russian rivals at a regional level.

Rivalries among the great powers were exacerbated starting in the 1880s by the scramble for colonies which brought much of Africa and Asia under European rule in the following quarter-century; it also created great Anglo-French and Anglo-Russian tensions and crises that prevented a British alliance with either until the early twentieth century.

German industrial and economic power had grown greatly after unification and foundation of the empire in 1870. From the mid-1890s on, the government of Wilhelm II used this base to devote significant economic resources to building up the Imperial German Navy in rivalry with the British Royal Navy for world naval supremacy. The arms race between Britain and Germany eventually extended to the rest of Europe, with all the major powers devoting their industrial base to the production of the equipment and weapons necessary for a pan-European conflict. Between 1908 and 1913, the military spending of the European powers increased by 50 percent.

The intent of German policy was to drive a wedge between the British and the French, but in both cases produced the opposite effect and Germany was isolated diplomatically, most notably lacking the support of Italy despite Italian membership in the Triple Alliance.

In 1914, there were no outstanding colonial conflicts, Africa essentially having been claimed fully, apart from Ethiopia, for several years. However, the competitive mentality, as well as a fear of "being left behind" in the competition for the world's resources may have played a role in the decisions to begin the conflict.

However, the immediate origins of the war lay in the decisions taken by statesmen and generals during the July Crisis of 1914, casus belli for which was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip, an irredentist Serb.

1) What economic factors promoted World War I?

2) What two major groups of countries were economic rivals?

3) How did colonial expansion intensify economic rivalry?

4) What processes occurred in the military sphere?

5) What was the major field of economic competition?

6) What was casus belli for World War I?

TEXT 2.Read the text and answer the questions that follow it. You may need additional information.

The Russian Empire was unwilling to allow Austria–Hungary to eliminate its influence in the Balkans, and supported its long time Serb protégés. France, sporting significant animosity over the German conquest of Alsace-Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War, ordered French mobilization.The United Kingdom declared war on Germany, following an 'unsatisfactory reply' to the British ultimatum that Belgium must be kept neutral.

The Triple Entente (from French entente - "agreement") was the name given to the alliance between the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, and Russia. This was an effective deterrent to the Triple Alliance of the Central Powers. The Central Powers was the term used to describe the wartime alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary against the Allies. Later the term was extended to include Turkey and Bulgaria.

President Wilson, who had previously claimed neutrality, called for the arming of U.S. merchant ships delivering munitions to combatant Britain, for supporting the British blockading of German ports and mining of international waters, and for preventing the shipment of food from America and elsewhere to combatant Germany. After German submarines sank seven U.S. merchant ships, Wilson called for war on Germany, which the US Congress declared on 6 April 1917.

In March 1917, demonstrations in Petrograd culminated in the abdication of Tsar Nicolas II and the appointment of a Provisional Government. This arrangement led to confusion and chaos both at the front and at home. The army became increasingly ineffective. The war and the government became increasingly unpopular. Discontent led to a rise in popularity of the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin. He promised to pull Russia out of the war and was able to gain power. The triumph of the Bolsheviks in November was followed in December by an armistice and negotiations with Germany.

The new government acceded to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918. It took Russia out of the war and ceded vast territories, including Finland, the Baltic provinces, parts of Poland and Ukraine to the Central Powers.

With the adoption of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Entente no longer existed. The Allied powers led a small-scale invasion of Russia, partly to stop Germany from exploiting Russian resources and, to a lesser extent, to support the "Whites" (as opposed to "Reds") in the Russian Civil war.

With the aid of U.S. troops, the badly beaten and continually harassed German troops fell back in rapid retreat.

While Germany was staggering under the continual offensive of the Allied armies, the German allies were suffering even greater misfortunes. They surrendered one by one.

World War I ended with the armistice on 11 November 1918. The United States, the greatest economic beneficiary of the war, helped make the peace, but with its rejection of the Treaty of Versailles refused responsibility for maintaining it.