MAI N QUESTI ON:

WHAT WAS THE SOCI AL, ECONOMI C,

POLI TI CAL AND CULTURAL I MPACT OF
WORLD WARS DURI NG THE FI RST HALF OF
THE 20
TH
CENTURY?
Unit I: The World in crisis
during the first half of the 20th
century
NATI ONALI SM
I MPERI ALI SM
ARMS RACE
BELLE POQUE
SHORT TERM CAUSES
Causes and precedents of
World War I
LATE XI X CENTURY - EARLY XX CENTURY

Nationalism
What is a nation?
Nowadays, the nation is a very powerful concept.
However, before the French Revolution, it was
barely used.

NATION = NATURAL FEELING?
NATION = HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION

Different definitions of a Nation
Nation = group of people who
are citizens of a State
May be quickly changed
Against Absolutism
Political
Nation = group of people who
possess the same language,
history, religion, traditions, etc.
May not be quickly changed
Against national division
Cultural
Nationalism
(Cultural) Nationalism = Ideology that seeks the
unity and greatness of cultural nations under a
single State

Expressions of Nationalism
Nationalist ideology (set of ideas regarding
nationalism)
Nationalist movements (political movements of
nationalist ideology)
Nationalist States (States formed from nationalist
movements)

Nationalist ideology
When? Late XVIII Century Early XIX Century
What? National self-determination
Precedents:
Enlightenment: natural laws, citizenship, permanent change
Post-Kantian philosophers (Fichte, Schelling, Herder): idea of
self-determination

Nationalist movements and States
Unification:
Italy (1870)
Germany (1871)
Separatism (decadence of large empires)
Ottoman
Austro-Hungarian

Europe, 1850
Nationalism as national greatness
IMPERIALISM
Military
development
Industrial
development
Territorial
expansion
LATE XI X CENTURY - EARLY XX CENTURY
Imperialism
World map, 1822

World map, 1885

World map, 1914
Source: http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/world-maps.htm
Imperialism
Imperialism = territorial, economic, and
ideological rule of overseas territories or States
Key points:
Berlin Conference (1884) Scramble for Africa
Fashoda incident (1898)
Entente Cordiale (1904)
Imperialism and World War I
Resentment of countries that had small Empires
(Germany, Italy)
Imperial diplomacy Entente cordiale
(friendship between England and France)
Colonial armies fight in WWI (Australia, Canada,
etc.)
Nationalism and World War I
Nationalism was a cause of Imperialism
Nationalism caused Arms Race
Russian Pan-slavism
Balkan wars (1912, 1913)
1
st
Balkan War (1912): Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and
Montenegro attacked Turkey and won
2
nd
Balkan War (1913): Bulgaria attacked Greece and Serbia
and lost (also Romania and Turkey attacked Bulgaria)
Web of alliances (p. 21)
Precedents:
Bismarck's Realpolitik (Alliance system)
Imperial alliances
Friendships:
England France (imperial powers)
France Russia (v. Germany)
Germany Austria-Hungary (defensive alliance)
Russia Serbia (panslavism)

Web of alliances
Rivalries:
England v. Germany (Naval arms race,
industrialism)
France v. Germany (Franco-Prussian war)
Serbia v. Austria-Hungary (Serbia)
Ottoman Empire v. Russia (Balkans)
France v. Italy (Tunisia)

WWI alliances
Triple Entente
France
England
Russia
USA (1917)
Italy (1915)
Triple Alliance
Germany
Austria-
Hungary
Italy (did not
fight)
Turkey (1914)
1914
Source: http://firstworldwar.olemarius.net/
1915

Source: http://www.worldology.com/Europe/world_war_1_effect.htm
Arms race/ Armed Peace
Arms race = competition among countries to achieve
the best armed forces:
Amount of weapons
Technology of weapons
Number and preparation of soldiers
Military strategies (Schlieffen Plan -1905)
Before WWI: England, France, Germany (p. 22).
Causes: imperial rivalries and friendships
1871-1914: Belle poque?
Yes
No large wars
Development
of science,
arts, and
economy
Optimism
No
Imperialism
Social
inequality
Arms race/
alliance
system
ASSASSI NATI ON OF ARCHDUKE FRANZ
FERDI NAND
SHORT TERM CAUSE OF WWI
Precedents
Decadence of Ottoman Empire led to new Slav
countries in the Balkan Peninsula
Austro-Hungary still ruled over Bosnia
Bosnian nationalists opposed Austro-Hungarian
Empire. Some of them had ties in the Serbian
military (they shared Pan-Slavism)
Russian people are also Slavs, and wanted access
to Mediterranean Sea, so they were allied to
Serbia.
Balkan wars

Source: m.eb.com/assembly/54541
Assassination of archduke Franz
Ferdinand
- 28 June 1914 Franz Ferdinand is assassinated by
Bosnian nationalist Gavrilo Princip
- Austria-Hungary uses this opportunity to set strict
demands to Serbia ultimatum
- Germany hands blank cheque to Austria-Hungary
- Serbia rejects the ultimatum and Austria declares
war (28 July 1914)

Premature activation of alliances
- Russia sees Austrian mobilization as a threat
Russian mobilization
- Germany mobilizes against Russia and France
war
- Germany violates Belgian neutrality (defended
by England), Schlieffen Plan
Steps to build a concept map:
1. Order the events chronologically
2. Identify causes and consequences
3. Identify how the concepts are related
4. Connect them with arrows and labels that show the
relation between them.

Industrial
capacity
Militarism
(Arms
Race)
Colonies
(imperialism)
World War I
Nationalism
Balkan
crisis
Alliance
system
1850 1870 1895 1914
War
plans
Example:
Concept map/Timeline
Short term
cause of
Causes
Allows
Shapes
Allows
Leads
to
Activates
Allows
Causes
Leads
to
Increase
the effect
of
Leads
to
Allows
Increase
Causes