World War I

Extreme nationalism and rivalry may have been major factors that started World War I, but the enemies they

Germany main force
By far the highest quality military in the world
In the end they fall they pick a fight with too many people and get overwhelmed- too many enemies enemies- are able to exhaust Germany and then defeat them on the battle field against great odds- Germany is still able to hold on for many years
Schlieffan plan- developed by the Germans (look at notes) what was the problem with the schlieffan plan?- they tend not to look back at look at the big picture
To make schieffan plan work have to go through Switzerland
When you look at the big picture, More than any other country- Britain is responsible for Germany losing
WHile everyone is declaring war with each other, in Britain they are having a
Germans do not know how to play the diplomatic game in this war many people around world look at what Germany does with the schlieffan plan and blowing up belgium towns etc and
Germans have an attitude that says they have no choice for doing the bad things they are doing right off the bat they are starting to dig their own grave even though they have their great army british don't want to see 1 power running europe- and been weary of Germany for a while

Key events of 1914-

Germany vs. France
- Germany has their schlieffan plan

August: Germany invades northern France through Belgium…..

French army at this time is dominated by the cult of the defensive- what french want to do is french right wing is very strong against German weak left wing. German right wing very strong against weak French left wing
Initially disaster for french- suffer hundreds of thousands of casualties- by the end of august- the french are now in a retreat all along their front but its not a rout like Austerlitz was. French are bitterly disappointed but its an organized retreat. Suffered horrible casualties but they are intact. Not dropping their weapons and running.
By the end of august it looks like the schieffan plan is going very well (Most people would say at this point, it looks like Germany is going to win war)
French guy Joseph Jafra..- keeps his cool and fires guys that do lose their cool
-Another thing that helps the French is the giant in the east- Russia
-Two huge russian armies but poorly run and equipt (not enough ammunition) now invading german boarder much quicker than Germans thought they would
-In end two russian armies are going to get routed but German armies are going to have to pay attention to them now

-Other August: developments- "The British navy blockades German trade routes into the atlantic and keeps the German surface fleet bottled up in the North Sea" -Germany thought even if Britain declares war, we will wipe out France beforehand and the British army would not be big enough without France
-WHen you get to end of 1914, you see hundreds of thousands dead. There is thought to negotiate peace but it is rejected by the major decision makers bc they think they are passed the point of no return. "The sacrifices we have already made would be worth nothing"

Aug 23- Japan declares war on Germany…good example how the deck gets stacked against Germany

September 5-9: commander of German right wing- instead of driving towards Paris- made a decision that did not work out for them. He turned to get the French armies in the field and then Paris. So the french decide then to fight back and counter attack the Germans from september 5-9 "Miracle of Marne" - now the schlieffen plan has failed which means the war is going to go on

FInal months of the year- the british are able to seal up the coast which is crucial bc prevents Germany from taking French's channel ports

Picture you get in the west- is its a stalemate- tie, no one can beat the other from end of 1914-1918 periodic attempts from both to launch massive offenses- cost hundreds of thousands of lives and fail to break the