HISTORY 1CC3 Midterm: WWI Notes
30 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Gerard DeAngelis
World War I
Over all causes of the war
1) The situation in the Balkans****
a) Bismarck predicted “Some damn foolish thing in the Balkans will cause a
major war”
b) The Balkans are a peninsula (area of Greece and more above it) in SE Europe
c) Often described as a “Powder Keg”
i) Literally it is a barrel full of gunpowder
ii) It means here it can erupt at any time
d) Ottoman Empire controlled Balkans from 1200’s
i) Ottomans are Turkish, Muslim, and Islam
ii) In 1453 they concurred Constantinople (renamed Istanbul)
iii) Were very powerful but started getting weaker in 1800’s and 1900’s
(1) Called “Sick man of Europe”
(2) Political science word- Power Vacuum
(a) Other nations take power Ottomans lost
iv) 3 things make it a “Powder Keg”
(1) Small ethnicities in Balkans want Independence (Nationalism)
(2) Austria desires to increase influence in the Balkans
(3) Russia “ “ (Russia and Austria not on same side when war starts)
e) Greece gets independence (1827)
f) Serbia gets independence (1878)
i) “Greater Serbia”-nationalism, want to flex muscles and expand
ii) “Pan Slavism”- Lead by Serbia and Russia
iii) Serbs and Greeks both Orthodox and don’t want t be under Muslim
control
iv) Serbs and Russians are buddies (Both orthodox)
(1) Czar of Russia “Protector of the Christian minorities in the Balkans”
2) Nationalism: A desire for your own nation
a) Subject Nationalities-people controlled by Austria (Austro-Hungarian
Empire)
i) Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croatians, Bosnians and
Herzegovinians, (many but not all*) Serbs, Romanians
b) **** A desire for greater power; expand your nation
i) **Major powers are looking to flex their muscles
3) **Militarism: Glorifying military power, being prepared for War
a) Europe was believed to be great and were pushed to have powerful armies
b) Had quick mobilization plans
i) Gave some people a sense of patriotism and scared others
c) “The entire able-bodied population are preparing for massacre. It only
requires some unforeseen incident to blow Europe sky-high”-Frederic Passy
