World War I: strategic overview
initial German offensive is stopped at Marne, 9/1914
western front stalemates in trench warfare-for over 3 years
eastern front: German success in Poland leads to steady defeat of Russia
Russia: Czar falls -2/1917, Bolsheviks surrender (Brest-Litovsk-3/1918)
Allies: entry of US into war (4/1917) will prove decisive
Turkey - allies w/Central powers; Italy w/entente’
WWI: aspects of war
trench warfare is devastating, suicidal, de-moralizing on western front
weapons brings war into the modern era:
ex. airplanes, machine guns, poison gas, tanks, zeppelins, submarines
independence movements everywhere are sparked (ex. Eire, India, Balkans, Poland)
western world is wrapped up in fight: colonial empires mobilized & participatory: (ex.Indians, Africans take part in fighting)
Q-Why was WWI considered the "war to end all wars?" Sig. for post-war world?
WWI:ending & resolution(?)
Germans, Austrian collapse (1918) leads to peace discussions
Versailles conference: philosophical struggle between allied victors
key issues: punishment for losers, ethnic independence, colonial empires,
Wilson: 14 points pushes for "peace w/o victory," League of Nations, new nations
treaty: reparations, German "blame" clause, colonial mandates, league est.
Q-How does end of WWI only bring about an un-easy peace in the western world?