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 Many Canadians (who were descendants of the British Empire)
believed in:
 Imperialism
 Militarism
 Nationalism
 Industrialization
 Gaining control over other countries using
 Trade
 Politics
 War
 Great Britain held control over Canada; we were still part of the
 Accepting war and military force as the only way to
solve conflicts.
 Militarism also gives a nation pride.
British Empire.
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 Exaggerated patriotism
 Doing things your way ALL
THE TIME without thinking
how it affects other countries.
 Many Canadians were happy to be part of the
British Empire.
 Think about why this would be…
 People in Quebec had mixed feelings.
 Why?
How might these beliefs lead countries to war?
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1899
 The Boer War broke out in a
British colony in Africa and
Canada sent a volunteer army.
 English Canadians wanted to go.
 French Canadians did not.
 Great Britain asked Canada to help build the
Empire’s navy.
 Prime Minister Laurier made a small Royal
Canadian Navy to protect our shores but to also be
loaned to Great Britain.
 It was a weak navy; many people called it our TIN
POT NAVY.
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Besides:
 Imperialism
 Militarism
 Nationalism
 Industrialization
Also:
 Alliances
 Terrorism
 By 1910, the possibility of conflict in Europe was
inevitable.
 Countries promised to protect one another in times
Triple Entente
 France
 Great Britain
 Russia
Triple Alliance
 Germany
 Austria-Hungary
 Italy
of war.
 This obviously encouraged conflict.
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 Many groups tried to use
terrorism to get what they
wanted.
 At this time, Bosnia was
controlled by AustriaHungary and they didn’t
want to be. They wanted
independence.
 The next king of Austria who was
visiting Bosnia.
 Many Serbs lived in Bosnia and wanted
Bosnia freed from Austrian rule.
 They warned the Archduke that he’d be
killed if he came to Bosnia.
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 In Sarajevo, a young Serbian,
Gavirilo Princip, assassinated
the Austrian archduke Franz
Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie.
 Princip was a member of the
Black Hand, a terrorist
organization.
Ferdinand arriving in Sarajevo
 Their goals were to fight for the
independence of Serbia.
 If the fight had stayed between
Austria and Serbia, it would
have been over quickly.
 It didn’t…
 A threat from one country to another.
 Austria-Hungary gave Serbia an ultimatum:
 Let its forces into Serbia to find the Black Hand.
 Serbia said no and asked Russia to back them up.
The Russians agreed.
 This was the first step in a very short timeline
leading to war.
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 A new country, made up of
many small states of the
Prussian Empire.
 They had, in 1870, defeated
France in the Franco-Prussian
War, so there were some hard
feelings between the two
countries.
 In short, Wilhelm (William) I
was the Kaiser (King) of
Germany and Otto van
Bismarck was his Chancellor
(like a Prime Minister).
 When Wilhelm I died, Wilhelm
Wilhelm II inspecting generals
II became Kaiser and fired
Bismarck. This marked the
beginning of Germany’s change
in philosophy.
 Had Big Plans for Germany:
 First of all, he broke an agreement with
Russia that made the two countries
allies (1894).
 This worried Russia, who then allied
with France.
 The Kaiser also had a four-point plan to
make Germany the world’s greatest
nation.
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 The building of a high-seas fleet:
 Wilhelm wanted a navy that
would be as strong or stronger
than England’s.
 Increased spending on new
armaments and equipment to make
the German Army the most
powerful in the world.
 Sound like someone’s preparing for
war?
 The development of a German overseas
empire like the one that England had all
over the world.
 Something like ‘manifest destiny’, only
Germany wanted a piece of the pie.
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 He wanted to develop an aggressive
foreign policy on issues around the
world.
 William II wanted Germany to be
seen as a power broker on the
international scene, like England
was.
 It kind of backfired…
 Russia allied itself with France,
forming the what was then
called the Double Entente in
1894.
 This was bad news for the
Kaiser because Germany would
fight a two-front war when it
broke out.
 What does that mean?
 A two-front war meant that Germany
would attack France first (still weak
from the Franco-Prussian War) and
destroy it.
 After that, Germany would attack
Russia, transporting soldiers using its
sophisticated railway system.
 At this point, Germany wasn’t
counting on England joining the
conflict.
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 It is a fact that they were almost
allies.
 In fact, the Kaiser was ½ English
and a grandson of Queen Victoria.
 The British felt his policies were too
harsh and looked to ally with
France and Russia (and did so in
1907).
 Although the 3 countries didn’t really
trust one another, they joined forces.
 They had an agreement to work
together should one of their members
be threatened.
 The formation of the Entente divided
Europe into two armed camps with
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
(Triple Alliance) on one side, and on
the other France, Russia and England
(Triple Entente).
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And Gavrilo
Princip was
just the spark
to propel the
world into its
inevitable war.
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 Serbia asked Russia for help in the
event of the probable AustriaHungary invasion.
 Russia asked France for help.
 They knew that Austria-Hungary
wouldn’t come alone.
 Germany promised to help Austria-
Hungary.
 Italy promised to help Germany and
Austria-Hungary ONLY IF they
were both invaded.
 Not if Germany or A-H did the
invading.
 Austria consulted Germany after
the assassination.
 Germany agreed to support
Austria, no matter what they
did.
 Austria decided to declare war
on Serbia (July 28).
 That started a chain reaction.
 When a country
mobilizes, its army is
preparing for war.
 Since Austria-
Hungary knew it
would take only a
small army to crush
Serbia, it only
prepared a small
army.
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Austro-Hungarian Troops Mobilize
 Remember, Russia had agreed to protect Serbia in the event of an invasion.
 Because of this agreement, the Russian army also began to mobilize its ENTIRE
ARMY (not just a small force as Austria-Hungary did).
 Kaiser Wilhelm II demanded that
the Russians stop mobilizing or
they’d face war.
 Russia refused to abandon its
defense of Serbia.
 Germany declared war on Russia
on August 1, 1914.
 Remember, the Germans weren’t ready
to fight Russia first, so they needed to
know where France stood. They
contacted France and demanded France
to stay neutral.
 France said that it would support its
allies and began mobilizing.
 On August 2, the German army began
pushing into Luxembourg in order to
attack France.
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 An ultimatum was sent to Belgium,
demanding free passage of the
German army through Belgium
(on their way to France), or else
there would be war.
 Belgium was given twelve hours to
decide.
 It refused and asked the Entente
for help.
 August 3 - Germany declared
war on France.
 August 4 – Germany receives
Belgium’s refusal and invades
Belgium to march to France.
 And Great Britain? Where
Paris Reacts to the Declaration of War
does it stand?
 Most people in England were not interested in events developing in the rest of
Europe (called ISOLATIONISM).
 However, when the Germans threatened neutral Belgium (a show of
MILITARISM), it caused a massive outcry among the British public.
 The British government quickly sent an ultimatum to Germany demanding it respect
Belgium's independence. The Germans did not answer.
 August 4, 1914 - England declared war upon Germany. When England declared
war, she also brought the full weight of the British Empire.
 Countries like Canada, South Africa, Australia and India were all to play an important role
in the allied war effort.
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 When Germany invades Belgium…
 Great Britain had an agreement to defend neutral
Belgium against invasion, leaving no question about
its entry into the war in Europe.
 As part of the British Empire, Canada is also in the
war.
 Despite our relatively young nationhood.
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 Italy stayed true to its promise to
France and England that it
wouldn’t get involved, despite its
alliance with Germany.
 The conditions of the Triple
Alliance stated that Italy only had
to fight if two or more countries
attacked Germany or AustriaHungary.
 The Italian government then told
the German government that they
did not have to go to war because
Germany had started an offensive
war.
 Italy did not have to go to war
and declared itself neutral, actually
joining the Allies against Germany
in 1915.
 With war declared, countries began allying themselves to
either side.
 Support for Germany came from Austria-Hungary and later
Turkey and Bulgaria.
 On the Allied side, a large number of countries joined
because of the pull of the British Empire.
 England, France, Russia, Serbia, Luxembourg, Belgium,
Portugal, Japan, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand,
India and Australia made up the initial forces that
opposed Germany.
 Much later - in 1917 - the United States joined the Allies.
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