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War and Social Upheaval: World War I
Figure 1.--This drawing by French illustrator Francisque Poulbot shows the depth of feeling that developed among the World War I combatants. The boy is writing "Mort aux boches" (Death to the Germans) on the wall. "Le bosch" is of course the derogatoy term the French used or the Germans. The caption reads, "Celui qui effacera ça, il n'est pas encore né!" ("He who will erase this ('Death to the Germans') hasn't been born yet!") Click on the image for more detail.
World War I was actually a largely European war. What made the war so important were the huge casualties caused no only by the duration, but the introduction of new weapns, including poison gas and rapid advances in the lethality of weapons. A whole generation of European men was largely killed in the fighting. The consequences were enormous. Empires and ruling families fell. Long held social systems collapsed. The Bollshevivks seized power in Russia. New countries based on nationality were created in Eastern Europe out of the old empires. The national hatreds that wee spawned errupted in an even more destructive war 20 years later.
Alliances
France as a result of German seizure of Alscae and Loraine in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) was Germany's mortal enemy, but without allies did not dare to challenge the Germans again. Germany and Austria-Hungary became known as the Central Powers. Germany's major ally was Austria in part because they were both German speaking nations. Austria and Germany formed the Triple Alliance (1882). Bismarck also managed to maintain close relations with the Russians, but with increasing difficulty because of the conlict between Austria and Russia over the Balkans. After firing Bismarck, Kaiser Wilhelm II foolishly allowed the reinsurance treaty with Russia to lapse. The French seized on the opportunity to negotiate an alliance with the Russians, establishing a more equal European power ballance. Britain and France had been at each other's throats for centuries. Even at the turn of the 20th century, their were major imperialtic issues. Fear of Germany, however, drove the two togther. The two formed the Entente Cordiale (1904). Kaiser Wilhelm II's bombastic behavior and decission to build a major high seas fleet were major factors in pushing Britain and France together. Russia formed an Entente of its own (1907). These two armed camps ngaged in a major arm's race. Largely because of Kaiser Wilhem's incompetance, France was no longer isolated and still intent on recovering Alscae Loraine. It was widely thought after World War I that the alliance system had caused or at least played a major role in the outbreak of the War. The alliances are no seen as less important than the underlying causes, especially xenophobic nationalism.
Eastern Europe
Americans generally focus on Western Europe. It was, however, in Eastern Europe that the WAr was to be generated and it was Eastern Europe that was most affected by the War. The map of Europe before World War I looked very different than Europe today. Much of Europe was part of [next page]