THE GREAT EXPERIMENT: WORLD WAR I

PART I OF V — A WORLD ON THE EDGE

The Rivalries, Alliances, and Decisions That Led to the First World War

1914–1915

Politics 1776

THE SUMMER THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

In the summer of 1914, most Americans had little reason to believe their country would soon become involved in a devastating European war.

Across the Atlantic, however, the continent's major powers were moving toward a crisis that would transform the modern world.

Europe had experienced decades of extraordinary industrial growth.

Railroads connected major cities.

Factories produced steel, machinery, weapons, and consumer goods.

Electricity and modern communication systems were changing everyday life.

International trade connected economies across national borders.

Yet beneath this progress, political tensions had been growing.

European governments competed for overseas territories, military influence, commercial advantages, and international prestige.

Nationalist movements challenged established borders.

Political leaders worried about the growing strength of neighboring countries.

Military commanders developed elaborate plans for mobilizing millions of soldiers.

And a complicated network of alliances meant that a conflict involving two countries could quickly draw others into war.

The world had experienced international crises before.

Diplomacy had sometimes prevented those disputes from becoming major wars.

But in 1914, a series of decisions would turn a regional confrontation into a global catastrophe.

The United States would initially remain outside the fighting.

For President Woodrow Wilson and millions of Americans, the war appeared to be a European struggle.

But the oceans separating America from Europe would not protect the country from the conflict's economic, political, and human consequences.

The First World War would become one of the defining events of the twentieth century—and a turning point in the continuing history of the American republic.

EUROPE BEFORE THE WAR

A Continent of Powerful Nations

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe was home to several major powers with competing interests.

Britain maintained an extensive overseas empire and possessed one of the world's most powerful navies.

France remained a major military and colonial power.

Germany, unified in 1871, had developed into a formidable industrial nation.

Austria-Hungary governed a large multinational empire in central and southeastern Europe.

Russia possessed enormous territory and maintained important political interests in the Balkans.

The Ottoman Empire, although weakened by territorial losses and internal challenges, remained an important power in southeastern Europe and the Middle East.

These nations were connected through diplomacy, commerce, and political agreements.

But they also competed for influence.

Germany's industrial expansion challenged established economic powers.

British leaders worried about Germany's growing naval fleet.

France remained concerned about German military strength and the territories of Alsace-Lorraine, which France had lost in the Franco-Prussian War.

Austria-Hungary faced nationalist movements within and around its borders.

Russia considered itself an important supporter of Slavic peoples in southeastern Europe.

The Balkans became an especially unstable region.

Different national and ethnic communities sought independence, autonomy, or territorial expansion.

As the Ottoman Empire lost influence in southeastern Europe, neighboring states and larger powers competed over the political future of the region.

These rivalries did not make a world war inevitable.

But they created an environment in which diplomatic mistakes and military decisions could have enormous consequences.

THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM

Security Through Cooperation

European governments developed alliances intended to strengthen their security.

Germany and Austria-Hungary maintained a close political and military relationship.

Italy had joined them in the Triple Alliance, although it would remain neutral when war began in 1914 and later join the opposing side.

France and Russia formed an alliance.

Britain developed understandings with France and Russia that helped establish the Triple Entente.

These arrangements were not identical in their legal obligations.

Some were formal military alliances.

Others involved diplomatic cooperation and strategic planning.

Their purpose was generally to discourage aggression and prevent any one power from dominating Europe.

But the alliance system also created risks.

If one country entered a conflict, its allies might feel compelled to respond.

Military planning reinforced those pressures.

Governments worried that delaying mobilization could leave them vulnerable.

Railway schedules and military timetables became important elements of strategic planning.

The result was a system in which leaders could perceive rapid action as essential to national security.

When the crisis arrived in 1914, these concerns contributed to the speed of escalation.

THE ARMS RACE

Preparing for a War Nobody Fully Understood

Industrialization transformed military capabilities.

European armies expanded their use of modern rifles, machine guns, and heavy artillery.

Railroads made it possible to transport large numbers of soldiers.

Telegraphs and telephones improved military communication.

Modern battleships became increasingly powerful.

Germany and Britain engaged in a naval competition that reflected broader concerns about their relative strength.

The development of the dreadnought battleship intensified that rivalry.

Military spending increased across several European powers.

Supporters of military preparedness believed strong armed forces could discourage enemies and preserve peace.

Critics worried that the arms race encouraged suspicion and made governments more willing to consider war.

The military technology of 1914 was far more destructive than that of earlier generations.

But many strategic assumptions still emphasized rapid movement and decisive offensives.

The coming war would reveal how difficult it had become to achieve quick victories against modern defensive weapons.

JUNE 28, 1914 — THE ASSASSINATION AT SARAJEVO

The Event That Triggered the Crisis

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, visited Sarajevo in Bosnia.

Bosnia had been formally annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908.

The annexation had intensified tensions with Serbian nationalists and others who opposed Austro-Hungarian rule.

During the visit, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip.

Princip was a Bosnian Serb nationalist associated with a network of conspirators seeking to end Austro-Hungarian rule over South Slavic peoples.

The assassination shocked Europe.

Austria-Hungary's leaders believed Serbia had played a role in encouraging the nationalist movement responsible for the attack.

They decided to confront the Serbian government.

Germany offered strong diplomatic support to Austria-Hungary.

Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum containing demands intended to restrict Serbian activities and permit Austro-Hungarian involvement in investigating the conspiracy.

Serbia accepted many of the demands but did not fully accept all of them.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.

The assassination had triggered a confrontation between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.

But the decisions made by Europe's major powers would transform that confrontation into a much larger war.

THE JULY CRISIS

When Diplomacy Failed

Following Austria-Hungary's declaration of war, Russia began military preparations in support of Serbia.

German leaders viewed Russian mobilization as a serious threat.

Germany declared war on Russia on August 1.

Germany then declared war on France on August 3.

German military planning called for a rapid offensive against France before concentrating greater resources against Russia.

The plan involved advancing through Belgium.

Belgium was a neutral country whose status had been recognized through international agreements.

German forces invaded Belgium on August 4.

Britain entered the war that same day.

Within little more than a month after the assassination in Sarajevo, much of Europe was at war.

The crisis had escalated through a combination of alliance commitments, strategic assumptions, mobilization decisions, diplomatic failures, and political calculations.

Historians continue examining the relative responsibilities of the governments involved.

But the essential result is clear.

A regional crisis had become a continental war.

And the conflict was rapidly spreading beyond Europe.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR BEGINS

The Central Powers and the Allies

Germany and Austria-Hungary formed the initial core of the Central Powers.

The Ottoman Empire entered the war later in 1914.

Bulgaria would join in 1915.

On the opposing side, France, Britain, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, and other countries fought against the Central Powers.

Japan entered the war on the Allied side in August 1914.

Italy entered in 1915.

The conflict involved more than European national armies.

European empires drew on soldiers, laborers, resources, and territories from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and other regions.

Naval operations affected shipping routes around the world.

Battles occurred in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

The war's geographic reach was expanding.

It would become known as the Great War.

Only later, after another devastating global conflict, would it commonly be called the First World War.

THE WESTERN FRONT

A War That Refused to End Quickly

German forces advanced through Belgium and into France.

The invasion caused widespread disruption and civilian suffering.

Belgian communities experienced occupation, displacement, and violence.

German troops committed atrocities against civilians in several locations during the invasion.

The advancing armies eventually encountered determined resistance.

In September 1914, French and British forces halted the German advance during the First Battle of the Marne.

Both sides then attempted to outflank one another.

As the armies moved northward, defensive positions expanded.

By the end of 1914, extensive trench systems stretched across much of the Western Front.

The war had not ended quickly.

Instead, it was becoming a prolonged struggle.

Soldiers dug trenches to protect themselves from artillery and machine-gun fire.

Barbed wire obstructed movement.

Defensive positions became increasingly elaborate.

Attacking armies often suffered enormous casualties while attempting to cross exposed ground.

The area between opposing lines became known as no man's land.

The Western Front would become one of the most recognizable symbols of the war.

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES

The Experience of Ordinary Soldiers

For soldiers on the Western Front, life was often dominated by exhaustion, discomfort, and danger.

Trenches filled with mud and water.

Rain made conditions worse.

Rats and insects spread through crowded positions.

Sanitation was difficult.

Soldiers faced the constant possibility of artillery bombardment.

Snipers threatened movement above protective positions.

Disease and infection caused additional suffering.

Many soldiers spent long periods away from their families.

Letters became an important connection to home.

The experience of trench warfare differed across armies, locations, and periods.

Not every soldier spent the entire war in a frontline trench.

But for those assigned to exposed positions, the conditions could be extraordinarily difficult.

The war demonstrated the devastating interaction between industrial weapons and mass armies.

Machine guns and artillery made traditional offensive tactics extremely costly.

Military commanders struggled to find ways to break through entrenched defenses.

The conflict increasingly depended on the ability of nations to supply and replace soldiers, weapons, and equipment.

Industrial production had become inseparable from military power.

THE EASTERN FRONT

A Different Kind of War

The war in Eastern Europe developed differently from the fighting in France and Belgium.

The distances were greater.

Armies moved across vast territories.

The front was less continuously fortified.

Germany and Austria-Hungary fought against Russian forces.

Early campaigns produced major victories and defeats.

At the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914, German forces defeated a Russian army in East Prussia.

Elsewhere, Russian troops fought Austro-Hungarian forces.

The fighting caused extensive casualties and displacement.

Civilians faced occupation, food shortages, and the destruction of homes and communities.

The war placed enormous pressure on the Russian Empire.

Military failures, economic hardship, and political dissatisfaction would eventually contribute to revolutionary upheaval.

But in 1914 and 1915, Russia remained a major participant in the Allied war effort.

The conflict continued expanding.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ENTERS THE WAR

A Conflict Reaches the Middle East

In late 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of the Central Powers.

The empire controlled important territories in the Middle East and southeastern Europe.

Its participation opened additional fronts.

Ottoman forces fought Russian armies in the Caucasus.

They also fought British and Allied forces in the Middle East.

The war disrupted communities throughout the region.

In 1915, Ottoman authorities began mass deportations and killings of Armenians.

These actions formed the Armenian genocide.

Large numbers of Armenian civilians died through massacres, forced marches, starvation, disease, and other abuses.

The genocide remains one of the most devastating episodes of the First World War.

The war's consequences extended far beyond soldiers on European battlefields.

Entire populations were being affected by the collapse of security and the exercise of wartime state power.

1915 — THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN

An Attempt to Break the Deadlock

In 1915, Allied leaders sought ways to weaken the Ottoman Empire and improve access to Russia.

One major effort targeted the Dardanelles, a strategic waterway connecting the Mediterranean region to the Sea of Marmara and ultimately the Black Sea.

After an unsuccessful naval effort, Allied forces landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in April.

The campaign involved British, French, Australian, New Zealand, and other Allied troops.

Ottoman defenders resisted strongly.

The terrain was difficult.

Supply and medical conditions created additional challenges.

The fighting became another costly stalemate.

Allied forces eventually withdrew, completing the evacuation in January 1916.

Gallipoli became especially important in the national memories of Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey.

The campaign demonstrated how difficult it could be to translate naval power and amphibious operations into decisive military success.

It also reinforced the wider war's central reality.

Modern warfare was proving far more destructive and difficult to control than many leaders had expected.

AMERICA REMAINS NEUTRAL

Woodrow Wilson's Decision

Across the Atlantic, President Woodrow Wilson faced a different challenge.

The United States had no obligation to enter the European war.

Many Americans believed their country should avoid involvement in the conflict.

The nation had longstanding traditions of caution regarding European political and military disputes.

George Washington had warned against permanent entanglements with foreign powers in his Farewell Address.

Later generations had interpreted American foreign policy in different ways.

By 1914, the United States was already involved in international trade, diplomacy, and overseas affairs.

But participation in a major European war remained a separate question.

Wilson declared American neutrality.

He urged citizens to remain impartial in thought and action.

The administration sought to preserve American rights as a neutral nation.

Yet neutrality would become increasingly difficult.

A COUNTRY WITH DIFFERENT OPINIONS

Americans Debate the European War

The United States was home to people with connections to many of the countries involved in the conflict.

Some Americans strongly sympathized with Britain and France.

Others had German or Austro-Hungarian family backgrounds.

Irish Americans sometimes viewed British policy through the history of Ireland's relationship with Britain.

Many Americans opposed intervention regardless of their ancestral backgrounds.

Religious organizations, peace advocates, business leaders, political groups, and ordinary citizens expressed differing views.

Some believed the United States should remain outside the conflict.

Others argued that American interests or international responsibilities might eventually require a stronger response.

The debate reflected the country's diversity.

It also demonstrated the difficulty of maintaining neutrality when Americans held strong opinions about events overseas.

Wilson's administration attempted to keep the nation out of the fighting.

But developments at sea would test that position.

THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF NEUTRALITY

American Trade and European War

The European war disrupted international commerce.

Britain used its naval power to restrict trade reaching Germany and its allies.

Germany responded with submarine warfare.

American businesses faced new opportunities and serious risks.

European governments needed food, weapons, raw materials, and manufactured goods.

American factories and farms supplied substantial quantities of products to the Allied powers.

Financial institutions helped arrange loans and commercial transactions.

American trade with Britain and France expanded.

Trade with Germany became increasingly difficult because of the British blockade and wartime conditions.

This imbalance created diplomatic controversy.

Germany argued that American commerce benefited its enemies.

The United States maintained that neutral countries possessed rights under international law to conduct lawful trade.

The war was transforming the American economy even while the nation remained militarily neutral.

Industrial production increased in some sectors.

Demand for agricultural goods rose.

But American ships also faced dangers.

The Atlantic Ocean was becoming a battlefield.

THE SUBMARINE CHANGES NAVAL WARFARE

Germany's U-Boat Campaign

Submarines introduced new challenges to established naval practices.

Germany used U-boats to attack Allied shipping.

Submarine commanders faced practical difficulties in following traditional procedures requiring merchant vessels to be stopped and passengers and crews protected before certain attacks.

A surfaced submarine could be vulnerable to armed vessels.

German leaders believed submarine warfare could weaken Britain's ability to continue fighting.

But attacks on merchant and passenger ships created serious diplomatic risks.

Neutral vessels could be endangered.

Civilians could be killed.

American officials insisted that the rights of neutral citizens and shipping be respected.

The conflict between Germany's military strategy and American demands for maritime rights became one of the most important issues in U.S. foreign policy.

MAY 7, 1915 — THE SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA

A Disaster That Shocked America

On May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania was traveling near the southern coast of Ireland.

A German submarine fired a torpedo at the vessel.

The ship sank in approximately eighteen minutes.

Nearly 1,200 passengers and crew members died.

Among them were 128 Americans.

News of the disaster spread rapidly.

American newspapers published accounts of the sinking.

Families mourned the dead.

Public anger toward Germany increased.

The Lusitania was a passenger liner, although it also carried cargo that included ammunition.

Germany defended its submarine campaign as part of its struggle against Britain.

But the deaths of civilians created a major international controversy.

Wilson's administration demanded that Germany respect the rights of noncombatants and neutral nations.

The United States did not immediately declare war.

Wilson continued seeking a diplomatic solution.

But the sinking marked an important change in American attitudes toward the conflict.

For many Americans, the European war no longer seemed entirely distant.

American citizens had died.

American rights were being challenged.

And the country's neutrality was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.

THE DEBATE OVER AMERICAN RIGHTS

Neutrality Was Not the Same as Isolation

American neutrality did not mean that the United States had no interests in the war.

The country maintained diplomatic relations with belligerent governments.

American businesses traded internationally.

American citizens traveled aboard foreign and American vessels.

The government sought to protect neutral rights.

But European governments were fighting a war that increasingly involved economic blockades and attacks on shipping.

Britain's restrictions on commerce created disputes with Washington.

Germany's submarine campaign raised even more immediate concerns about American lives.

Wilson's administration protested actions by both sides.

Yet the nature of the threats differed.

British restrictions primarily affected trade and property.

German submarine attacks could destroy ships without allowing passengers and crews a safe opportunity to escape.

These circumstances complicated American diplomacy.

Wilson continued pursuing neutrality.

But the government was also beginning to consider how it could protect the country if diplomatic efforts failed.

THE AMERICAN PREPAREDNESS DEBATE

Should the United States Strengthen Its Military?

As the war continued, some Americans argued that the United States needed to improve its military readiness.

Former President Theodore Roosevelt was among those who criticized aspects of Wilson's approach and favored stronger preparedness.

Other public figures supported expanding the Army and Navy.

They argued that the nation could not assume the oceans would always protect it from international conflict.

Opponents of increased military preparation expressed different concerns.

Some feared that military expansion would make intervention more likely.

Others believed diplomacy and international cooperation offered a better path.

Still others questioned the economic cost of preparedness.

The debate would intensify in 1916.

For now, the United States remained officially neutral.

But the possibility of war was becoming a more prominent part of American political discussion.

1915 — A WORLD ALREADY TRANSFORMED

By the end of 1915, the war had continued for nearly a year and a half.

The major powers had failed to achieve a quick resolution.

Trench warfare dominated much of the Western Front.

Massive armies continued fighting in Eastern Europe.

The Ottoman Empire had opened additional fronts.

The Gallipoli campaign had failed to produce the Allied breakthrough its planners hoped for.

Civilians across Europe and the Middle East faced extraordinary suffering.

Industrial economies were increasingly organized around military production.

Governments borrowed heavily to finance the conflict.

International trade was disrupted.

The war had become a struggle involving entire societies.

And the United States, despite remaining neutral, was increasingly connected to the conflict through trade, finance, diplomacy, and the deaths of American citizens at sea.

The world of 1914 was disappearing.

A new international order was being shaped by events that few governments could fully control.

WHAT THE FIRST TWO YEARS REVEALED

The opening years of World War I demonstrated several important historical lessons.

First, international crises can escalate rapidly when governments rely on military mobilization and alliance commitments.

The assassination at Sarajevo began a crisis that expanded through decisions made by multiple governments.

Second, industrial technology transformed warfare.

Modern artillery, machine guns, railroads, and submarines created forms of destruction that challenged traditional military planning.

Third, war affected civilians as well as soldiers.

Occupation, displacement, hunger, political violence, and genocide became part of the conflict's history.

Fourth, economic connections made neutrality increasingly complicated.

American trade and finance linked the United States to countries engaged in the fighting.

Fifth, public opinion mattered.

Americans disagreed about the conflict, the responsibilities of neutrality, and the proper response to attacks on shipping.

Finally, the war raised questions about national sovereignty, international law, and the protection of human life.

Those questions would become increasingly important as the United States approached its own decision about entering the war.

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT: AMERICA AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF NEUTRALITY

The founders had established a republic in which decisions about war involved constitutional responsibilities shared between Congress and the president.

They understood that military conflict could place enormous demands on a nation.

War required resources.

It affected commerce.

It created pressures on civil liberties.

And it could alter the balance between national security and individual freedom.

The Constitution gave Congress the power to declare war.

It made the president commander in chief.

It provided a system in which elected officials would be accountable for decisions affecting the nation.

In 1914 and 1915, those institutions had not yet been called upon to authorize American entry into the European conflict.

But the country's leaders were confronting the same fundamental questions that had concerned earlier generations.

When should the United States become involved in conflicts beyond its borders?

What obligations did the nation have to protect its citizens abroad?

How should international commerce be balanced against national security?

And how could Americans preserve their independence while participating in an increasingly interconnected world?

There were no simple answers.

Wilson sought to maintain neutrality.

Other Americans argued for greater military preparedness.

Some favored stronger diplomatic responses to Germany.

Others believed the United States should avoid any step that might lead to war.

The debate reflected the continuing operation of the American constitutional system.

The nation was not yet at war.

But it was approaching a moment when neutrality might no longer be possible.

The first two years of World War I had changed Europe. The next two would change the United States.

THE STORY CONTINUES

PART II OF V — AMERICA FACES A DECISION

Neutrality, Preparedness, Submarine Warfare, and the Road to War

1916–1917

The next chapter follows the United States through one of the most consequential foreign-policy decisions in its history.

The presidential election of 1916 will bring the neutrality debate into national politics.

Military preparedness will become increasingly important.

Germany's submarine strategy will threaten American shipping.

The Zimmermann Telegram will reveal a proposed German alliance with Mexico.

And President Woodrow Wilson will ask Congress to authorize war against Germany.

America has watched the war from across the Atlantic. Soon, it will have to decide whether to enter it.

Our Money Matters. Our Choices Matter. Our Voice Matters.

The People. The Voice. The Future.

Politics 1776