The First World notes for UPSC

 The First World War

The First World War (1914-1918 A.D.) engulfed almost the whole world. It was fought on a wide scale on the land, the sea and in the air. About 86 nations took part in this war. Because of the unprecedented extent of its spread, impact and its total nature, it was called a World War.

Causes of the War

The causes of the First World War can be divided into two categories :

(a) The long-term causes, and

(b) The Immediate causes.

(a) The Long-Term Causes:

1. Division of Europe : Europe was divided into two hostile camps at the dawn of the 20th century. The major European nations were divided into Blocs. For example, Britain, France and Russia had formed the Triple Entente in 1907 A.D. Earlier than this, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy had formed a Triple Alliance in 1882 A.D.

They had made treaties of mutual help to each other in case of a war with the opponents. Tension prevailed in their relations with each other, bloc-wise. In the words of Prof. Fay, "The system of secret alliances made it inevitable that if war did come it would involve all the Great Powers of Europe".

This secret diplomacy gave rise to the feelings of mutual suspicion, distrust and hatred.

2. Nationalism and Mutual Rivalries : The 19th century was an era of narrow and militant nationalism. Patriotism, love for one's own nation, meant hatred towards the other nations. Each nation thought about her own national interests. Nationalism had become competitive and aggressive, taking the shape of chauvinism. Germany had Kaiser William II as her new Emperor. He wanted to establish a vast German empire. France and Germany were old rivals. After defeating France in the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71 Germany had seized the province of Alsace and parts of Lorraine which were rich in minerals and industrial products. The French dreamed of taking revenge and taking back their lost provinces.

3. Militarism and Armament Race: In the later half of the 19th century, militarism was growing in Europe. It was caused by narrow nationalism, economic competition and international tension. Germany had acquired her colonies in Africa and few Islands in the Pacific Ocean. In order to protect these, she made more warships and developed a powerful navy. Her Ship lmperator built in 1912 was the largest in the world. She had left Britain and France far behind in the production of iron and steel. She also dug the Keil canal deeper for the warships to remain there. Britain and France felt concerned with German war-preparations and thus, they were forced to enter the armament race. The defence spending had increased enormously between 1908 and 1914.

4. Clash of Imperialist Interests and Colonial Rivalry : By the end of the 19th century, many of the countries of Asia and Africa had been occupied by Britain. France, Spain, Holland, Portugal and Belgium.

- These colonies provided new markets, raw materials, increased manpower for national armies and missionaries to preach the gospel. But in due course of time, Germany surpassed other European nations in industrial production. She wanted a share in the world market. It became necessary for Germany to have her own colonies. This brought her into a direct clash with the existing colonial powers like Britain, France and others. This created a warlike situation.

 In 1904, Britain and France made a secret agreement in which Britain would have political control over Egypt and France over Morocco. But the French claim over Morocco was opposed by Germany which declared that all the nations had equal opportunities to trade with it.

- The plan of Germany to construct a railway line from Berlin to Baghdad created a fear in the minds of Britain, France and Russia.

- Italy's ambitious plans in Africa and Ottoman Empire also alarmed the big powers.

- Russia's expansion plan in Ottoman Empire clashed with the interest of Britain, Germany and Austria.

Japan which had become an imperialist power had ambitions in the Far East and was on the way to fulfil them.

Thus, the rivalry over the colonies became a major cause of the World War I.

5. Balkan Issue : (i) The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871 was the area called the Balkans.

(ii) A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire which started disintegrating in the 19th century.

(ii) A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire which started disintegrating in the 19th century.

(iii) One by one, its European subject nationalities broke away from its control and declared independence.

(iv) Balkans became the scene of big power rivalry among the big powers.

(v) Each power - Russia, Germany, England, Austria-Hungary - was keen on countering the hold of other powers over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area. This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.

6. Negative Role of the Press : Newspapers and the media poisoned public opinion by presenting views in such a manner so as to increase their sale. Their hostile propaganda created an atmosphere of doubt, distrust and tension which proved harmful to world peace.

(b) The Immediate Causes:

The Sarajevo Incident : In June 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Heir-Apparent to the throne of Austria went on an official visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. There, on June 28, 1914, he and his wife were shot dead. The assassin, Gavrilo Princep, was a nineteen year old Bosnian. This dual murder had been planned in Serbia by a secret society of patriotic terrorists, called the "Black Hand". The Austrians blamed the Serbians for this crime, as the assassin and the fellow conspirators had received their guns and bombs in the Serbian capital, with the help of Serbian officials. Presuming this to be true, Austria made eleven demands and sent a stiff ultimatum to Serbia on 23rd July, to apprehend the criminals and hand them over to the Austrian government. Austria also sought a ban on anti-Austrian publications, anti-Austrian meetings and institutions in Serbia.

The War Begins : When Serbia refused to comply with some of the above conditions (because of Russian instigation), especially those that would have led to loss of her sovereignty. Austria declared a War on Serbia on July 28, 1914. Upon this, Russia warned Austria and mobilized her troops. Thereupon Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, and on France on August 3, 1914. Next day, Britain declared war upon Germany, when the German army invaded Belgium, whose neutrality had been guaranteed by Britain. When Germany moved fast, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on August 6, 1914. Turkey and Bulgaria joined the War on the side of Austria and Germany. In August 1914 AD., Japan also declared war on Germany with a view to capturing German colonies in the Far East. Italy left the Triple Alliance and joined the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1915. In all, about 86 nations took part in this War.

Two Major Events of the War :

Entry of the USA in War (USA) : On 6th April 191 7, the United States of America declared war on Germany due to the following reasons :

- In 1915, the German U-Boats had sunk, a British ship Lusitania sailing from New York for Liverpool in which 128 Americans were killed.

- The Americans were generally sympathetic to Britain. Many Americans had invested their money in Entente countries which could be paid back if these countries won the War. This placed at the disposal of the Allies America's huge resources, both in men and money.

America also feared if Germany won the war, she would become a serious rival of USA.

Exit of Russia : Another major development took place in 1917. Russia withdrew from the war for the following reasons :

(i) The Russian Revolution (the Bolshevik Revolution) of 191 7 in which the Russian government passed into the hands of the communists.

(ii) Russia had lost more than 6,00,000 soldiers.

(iii) The new Bolshevik Party was not in favour of war. Russia withdrew from the War after the Revolution and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. Germany imposed a heavy war indemnity of six billion marks on Russia.

•The End of the War

The War lasted for almost four years. The combined forces of the U.S.A., Britain and France defeated the Austrians and the Germans in the War, and forced them to ask for peace. German Emperor Kaiser William lost hopes of winning the war. He fled to Holland. This Great War came to an end on 11th November, 1918, when the Germans signed the Armistice. The Armistice was based on fourteen points which President Wilson of America had formulated.

•The Peace Settlement

A conference of the representatives of different European countries was held in Paris to settle the terms for peace. Germany signed the Treaty of Peace on June 28, 1919 A.D. In addition, separate treaties were signed by the representatives of Austria, Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria jointly with the Allied Powers. All these treaties together were given the name of the Paris Peace Settlement of 1919-1923.

•The Treaties of  Versallies

The Treaty of Versailles was the main Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles in France, between the defeated Germany and the victors Britain, France and the U.S.A. About 27 nations represented the Peace Conference. There were some sub-treaties as well made with other defeated nations like Austria, Hungary, Turkey, etc. The leaders who played an active part in making the terms of these treaties were the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, the French Prime Minister,  George Clemenceau, the U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson and Prime Minister V.Orlando of Italy.

Main Terms of the Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1919

The following were the main terms of the Treaty of Versailles made with Germany, which she was compelled to sign.

1 . Germany was held guilty of aggression. She was to pay 33 billion dollars to the victors as war compensation.

2. Germany was to evacuate from the areas she had captured during the war.

3. The German area of Rhine Valley was to be demilitarized, i.e., not to construct any fortification either on the right bank or the left bank. The existing ones were to be demolished.

4. The German territory to the west of the Rhine Valley was to be occupied by the Allied Troops for 15 years.

5. Germany was to return Alsace and Lorraine to France; she was to handover Eupen and Malmady to Belgium; the city of Memel to Lithuania.

6. The newly created state of Poland got back all her territories lost in the war. She got Posen and West Prussia. To provide Poland with a port, Danzig was internationalised and kept as a 1 free city' under the protection of League of Nations.

7. To compensate France for the destruction of her coal mines by Germany in 1918 AD., she was given full control over the rich coal mines in the Saar basin of Germany, to be governed by the League of Nations.

8. Germany lost all her colonies to the Allies. For example, Britain and France divided and shared the regions of Togoland and the Cameroons (West Africa). German colonies in East Africa and South-West Africa were shared between England, Belgium, Portugal and South Africa.

Treaty of St. Germania :

It was signed with Austria (September 1919). Hungary signed Treaty of Trianon, (June 1920).

The terms were as follow :

(i) Austrian-Hungary was broken up into two separate kingdoms namely Austria and Hungary.

(ii) Austria had to cede the territories to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Poland and was forced to accept their independence.

(iii) Italy also gained certain territories from Austria.

(iv) The Austrian army was reduced to 30,000.

(v) Austria was forced to pay a huge amount as war indemnity.

Results of the War:

The results of the First World War may briefly be stated as under :

1. The Loss of Life : During the four years of War, about 80 lakh persons were killed, 60 lakh were disabled and about one crore and 20 lakh were wounded. Nearly 80 lakh people were announced as missing. Even more number of people faced sufferings due to diseases, famines and epidemics after the War.

2. Heavy Cost of the War in terms of Money : 

Financially, this War proved to be very destructive and costly. On the side of the Allies, the expenditure on War was nearly 41,000 million pounds. On the side of the Germans, the expenditure was over 15,000 million pounds. The War also ruined many industries, farms and towns which shattered the world economy.

3. Changes in the Political Map of the World : The erstwhile empires of Russia, Germany, Turkey, Austria, etc. were ruled by the royal dynasties in a despotic and autocratic manner before the World War I. After the War, democratic governments were established in these countries. The German Emperor, William II fled and a democratic government was set up there. Peoples Republic was set up in Russia after the Revolution of 191 7 A.D. Even in Italy, a Republic was set up after the War. Many small states, based on the principle of nationality and self-determination such as Poland, Finland, Latavia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia were created. It also strengthened the freedom movements in Asia and Africa. Most of these nations, which had been under foreign rule, got their freedom now.

4. The Rise of Nazi and Fascist Dictatorships : The democratic set up in Spain, Germany and Italy failed to solve the post-war politico-economic problem of their people. This led to the rise of Nazi dictatorship under Hitler in Germany and the Fascist dictatorship under Mussolini in Italy within few years after the end of the First World War. In Russia also, dictatorship of the Communist party took the real position under the Soviet Constitution.

5. Effect on England : After the First World War, England came to possess the German colonies and was also made the guardian of Palestine, Jordan and Iraq. She received some military equipment and cargo fleets of Germany as War compensation.

Though she won the war, but had to suffer great financial loss during the war. Trade, politics, industry and culture were in a mess. It faced the problems of giving employment to the disabled soldiers, step up industries, make up loss of the cargo ships destroyed in the war, look after health, security and defence of the people and overcome economic crisis.

The position which England had long held as creditor of Europe passed from her to America, which emerged as a world power economically and militarily after the First World War.

6. Gave Impetus to Nationalism : The War gave a great impetus to the principles of nationalism and self-determination. Empires having different cultures were dissolved and Independent states having distinct cultures emerged after the War. For example, under the impulse of nationalism Alsace-Lorraine was restored to France and Schelswig-Hostein was restored to Denmark.

7. Gave a Blow to Racialism : The War gave a serious blow to racialism and promoted the feeling of fraternity among the people of the world. Before the war, the Europeans refused to mingle with the Asians and the Africans because they regarded themselves as racially superior to the Asians or Africans. 

8. World Economic Recession : Due to the heavy cost of the War in terms of money and material, there occurred an economic depression, general inflation and a high shoot up in the prices of commodities. The European nations had to depend on American loans for relief and the European markets came under American influence.

9. Emergence of the U.S.A. as a World Power:

The U.S.A. was largely responsible for turning the tables against Germany and the Axis Powers and for the victory of the Allied Powers. The Armistice signed by Germany on November 11, 1918 was based upon U.S. President Wilson's Fourteen Points. Militarily, and in matters of finance, the U.S.A. emerged as the world's great power after the First World War.

10. Seeds of the Second World War : The Treaty of Versailles signed after the end of the First World War crippled, humiliated, humbled, and tortured Germany and her friends like Austria, Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria. Each one of these lost their territories and had to pay heavy war-indemnities. They were forcibly disarmed and their armies were disbanded. Such harsh and unjust treaties hit the self-respect of these nations and filled them with the spirit of revenge. Hence, when Hitler came to power, he began to disregard the terms of the Treaty of Versailles as far as disarmament was concerned. He also conquered territories like Poland, Danzig and Austria, etc; which led to the outbreak of the Second World War.