THE AGE OF IMPERIALISM AND

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

UNIT 5
Imperialism and the First
World War
1870 – 1914. Democracy vs Autocracy. Second industrial
revolution. Imperialism and colonial expansion. WWI: new map of
Europe. Art and culture: Modern architecture.

Miss Montse Enríquez – History 4º ESO 17/18

 5.1. POLITICAL AND INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
1870 – 1914

EUROPE´S HEGEMONY

BRITAIN: Commercial & financial power

GERMANY: Industrial supremacy
FRANCE: Leading country.
ITALY: Developed industry.

Outside Europe: USA & JAPAN.

 5.1. POLITICAL AND INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
1870 – 1914

Parliamentary systems (Western Europe/USA/Japan)

vs.
Autocratic systems (Central and Eastern Europe)
-Austro-Hungarian Empire
-Russian Empire
-Ottoman Empire

Internationally, the UK was the strongest power in the

world but was soon overtaken by Germany and the USA
5.1 Politics and international relations
(II)
❖ European Alliance Systems
• Bismarckian Alliance Systems (1871-1890): alliances
based on secret diplomacy, promoted by Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck so as to isolate France and to
prevent its alliance with Russia against Germany.
Armed conflicts were avoided. Lasted 20 years and then
failed.

• Peace Through Strength (1891-1914): peace was

maintained during these years, however, right before
the war, European countries rearmed and formed two
blocs: Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy)
and Triple Entente (France, Russia, Great Britain)
 5.2. THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
USE OF ELECTRICITY & OIL (Supply energy to industries)

ELECTRICITY USED FOR LIGHTING & POWER ENGINES OIL = CONVERTED INTO PETROL AND DIESEL

INVENTION OF THE TRANSFORMER & ACCUMULATOR Used to power combustion engines.

Factories did not have to be built next to the power supply

NEW METHODS OF ORGANISATION

TAYLORISM FORDISM
Management theory that analyzed Henry Ford used assembly lines in his
working practices and applied what was factories to mass-produce cars: a chain
most efficient for production. of workers or machines that assemble
parts of a product consecutively until
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI3R5qXHVZY the product is completed.
5.2. The Second Industrial Revolution
❖ Took place between 1870 and 1914. Began in the USA and Germany.
❖ New sources of energy at the end of the 19th century:
• Oil: used to move engines (oil derivatives: gasoline and diesel)
• Electricity: lighting and drive engines. Invention of the accumulator and transformer (1897)
which transported the energy and made unnecessary for industries to be next to energy
sources.
❖ Changes in work organisation: need of mass production of cheap goods.
• Taylorism: Frederick Taylor´s goal was to achieve maximum work efficiency. Everything
was thought of: way and time to carry out every task and production incentives (scientific
management).
• Fordism: Henry Ford organised the mass production in his factories in assembly lines. The
movement of workers was reduced by making them perform only one task in the
manufacturing process. Performance increased and this allowed lower prices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFbsDArAWj https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK1j487IED0
Taylorism
“This task specifies not only what is to be done
but how it is to be done and the exact time
allowed for doing it. And whenever the workman
succeeds in doing his task right, and within the
time limit specified, he receives an addition of
from 30 per cent to 100 per cent to his ordinary
wages”
- F. W. Taylor (1911)
Fordism
“We now have two general principles in all operations
that a man shall never have to take more than one step. If
possibly it can be avoided, and that no man need ever
stoop over (…). The net result of the application of these
principles is the reduction of the necessity for thought on
the part of the workers and the reduction of his
movement to a minimum (…) a man must have every
second necessary but not a single unnecessary second
(…). The man who places a part does not fasten it – the
part may not be fully in place until after several
operations later. The man who puts in a bolt does not put
on the nut; the man who puts on the nut does not tighten
it” - H. Ford (1928)
5.3. DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ECONOMY AND CAPITALISM

TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATION:

The automobile (Benz, 1886),the airplane (the Wright brothers, 1903), the cinematograph (the Lumière
brothers, 1895) and the radio (Marconi, 1906) were invented.
These inventions revolutionized everyday life, distances became shorter and people started communicating
and expressing themselves in completely new ways.

AGRICULTURE:
Introduction of new technology & motor vehicles. Fertilizers increased production, and the new methods of
conservation meant products could be distributed to a wider market.

COMMERCE:
Experienced expansion, helped by the improvements in transport & communication. Production increased
and internatinal commerce was able to meet the high demand for all sorts of products.
5. 4. THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION

EUROPE´S POPULATION = GREW (from 300 to 440 million)

Main CONSEQUENCE: OVERPOPULATION

Unemployment + social unrest = European migration (Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia)

Destinations: America, Australia & New Zealand (welcomed new settlers since they needed workers).
 5.4. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT

IMPORTANT LABOUR MOVEMENT

LABOUR RIGHTS

New political parties

(France, Britain, Italy & Sapin)

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC WORKERS PARTY = The most powerful one (Germany).

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR MOVEMENT
Society was divided

Parties defended revolution Parties wanted democratic

elections

* Capitalism, imperialism & war= unanimously condemned.

Progress of the Proletariat

• GERMANY, FRANCE & BRITAIN

• New laws were passed to protect

workers
- Regulated the number of working hours.
- Minimum wages.
- Compensation in case of accident or
illness.
- Pensions.

Suffragists: In 1866, a group of women organised a petition that demanded that women should have the same
political rights as men.
 5.5. IMPERIALISM 1: EXPANSION &
DOMINATION
THE NEW COLONIAL EXPANSION
IMPERIALISM: 1870
Impose ideological and exploting the colonized territiories
economically.

(BRITIAN, FRANCE, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Russia, USA,

Japan).

* Colonialism: Control the economic recources of the

colonized territories.
5.5. THE CAUSES OF IMPERIALISM

1. POLITICAL & STRATEGIC: Countries competed to extend their territories &

maintain
their political power on the world. (France, Germany, Italy and the UK).

2. DEMOGRAPHIC: The colonies absorbed Europe´s population surplus;

migration reduced umemployment & reduced social conflicto in the
countries of origin.

3. ECONOMIC: The Second Industrial Revolution created a demand for raw

materials & new markets. The creation of capitalism also stimulated
investement in other countries.

4. IDEOLOGICAL: Darwin´s theory: Proclaimed the superiority of the white race.

Western civilization undertook the misión of civilizing the rest of the world.
Imperialism
“I was in the East End of London … yesterday and attended
a meeting of the unemployed. I listened to the … cry for
bread! Bread! And on my way home I became more than
ever convinced of the importance of imperialism … to save
the 40,000,000 inhabitants of the UK from a bloody civil war,
we colonial statesmen must acquire new lands to settle the
surplus population, to provide new markets for the goods
produced in the factories and mines”
-Sir Cecil Rhodes 1895
 5.5. FORMS OF DOMINATION

CONCESSIONS: Territories controlled by a foreign country. The weaker country

mantained sovereignty over the territory but gave comercial rights to the dominating
power. (China conceded strategic ports to the UK & the USA).

PROTECTORATE: Allowed the dominated country to keep a native government but

the colonizing power controlled the army, foreign affairs & the exploitation of certain
resources. (British protectorate in Egypt).

COLONIES: Were subject to the government of the metropolitan state.

- Location colonies: to control strategic communities. (British colony in Cape Town)
- Settler colonies: involved large scale emigration. ( Brtish population in Canada,
Australia, Africa..)
- Exploitation colonies: Used the native population for labour, but the metropolitan
state controlled all the resources. ( Belgian colony in the Congo).
China (Concessionary Rule)
Between 1884 and 1911, China was
distributed into five different areas of
influence. There have been many
caricatures drawn of that distribution by the
imperialist powers (showing Queen Victoria
of England, William II of Germany, Nicholas
II of Russia, Marianne (the symbol of the
French Republic) and Meiji Tenno (Japan).
Behind them we see China, which cannot
prevent the division of its territory.
 5.6. IMPERIALISM in the 19th century

THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA

1870 – AFRICA - Unknown continent

European countries wanted to explore the inland territories

BRITISH FRENCH

From North to South (Cairo – Cape Town) From West to East (Senegal – Somalia)

PROBLEM
England and Britain enterd into conflicto with each other and with other countries. (Belgium, Germany, Portugal,
Italy & Spain).

BERLIN CONFERENCE (1885)

Agreed on a number of points to avoid open conflicts: countries who had already colonised parts of the coast had
the right to occupy the territory inland from the coast; the Niger & the Congo rivers were open to free navigation;
and there was freedom of trade in the centre of Africa.
5.6 THE OCCUPATION OF OTHER CONTINENTS
ASIA: European occupation was based on the system of conseccions: the Asian states were already well
organized. However, some territories became colonies ( India – UK; Indochina – France; Indonesia –
Netherlands.

AMERICA: The USA extended its influence to Puerto Rico and Cuba (after the Spanish-American War), &
occupied the territory where the Panama Canal was being built.

OCEANIA: The British took possesion of Australia and the USA occupied some archipiélagos, such as
Hawaii.

CONSEQUENCES
NATIVES:
1. Local governments in the colonies were subjected to foreign control.
2. The native economy was altered as the colonies replaced local crops with plantations of products
for exportation.
3. Industrial development did not take place in these territories and frontiers were nor clearly
marked, which would bring later conflicts.
4. Society was divided between a foreign dominating minority and the native majority.
Colonial possessions in 1914
Colonialism meant political power, raw materials and new markets (MONEY), greater social peace
and knowledge of other civilizations. (POSITIVE for the metropoles)

But it also intensified political and social confrontations that led to WWI.

For the dominated nations, colonialism was NEGATIVE = arbitrary drawing of borders, local
governments removed, internal conflicts, traditional economy altered, unequal trade, society
divided into wealthy foreigners and
 5.7. THE FIRST WORLD WAR
In 1914 a war began in Europe that affected all the other continents due to the colonial expansion of the
European countries: the Great War. It lasted 4 years. (1914-1918)

CAUSES OF THE WAR

COMMERCIAL COMPETITION
European countries fought against each other to establish their dominion in other territories
(companies, colonies, raw material, cheaper labour force and new markets to sell). This “capitalism” led
to a series of confrontations between countries.
NATIONALISTIC CONFLICTS
Colonial clashes, empires confronting each other in Balkan Wars
TERRITORIAL CONFLICTS
France: Wanted to recover Alsacia & Lorena from Germany.
Italy: Territories taken by Austro-Hungary.
Austro- Hungarian Empire & Russia: both wanted to conquer the Balkans. It meant they would control
the Mediterranean Sea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4vlYneZ2V8
UNEQUAL COLONIAL DIVISION OF AFRICA & ASIA
France & England were the real beneficiaries fron the division. In contrast, Germany was the most
negatively affective.

NATIONALIST CONFLICT IN THE BALKANS

Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, …….

DEFENSIVE ALLIANCES
Imminent war: countries needed allies.
Triple Entente: France, Britain & Russia.
Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary & Italy.

- In case of war and the participation of any of the members of the alliances, the rest of the allies
had to join the war.

MILITARISM (“PAZ ARMADA”)

With the possibility of an emminent war, the different nations invested all their capital in weapons to
guarantee their security. Although the war hadn´t started yet, this period was known as the “Paz
Armada” peirod. A climate of war had started.

Germany: Highest investement.

Industry (Metalurgy) got benefits since theiy increased their production and consequently, their
benefits.
 CAUSES OF THE WAR
ARE STILL ARGUED BY HISTORIANS TODAY…

• ALLIANCES: they were important because they meant that

some countries had no option but to declare war if their allies
did so
• IMPERIALISM: GB and France owned most of Africa and this
increased the rivalry with Germany who had entered late
• MILITARISM: the armies of both France and Germany doubted
between 1870 and 1914 and there was competition between
GB and France. Most countries had attack plans in place
• NATIONALISM: Germany and Italy had been divided up in the
Congress of Vienna. France was angry that some land had been
 THE SPARK OF THE WAR
ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND

He was heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary

Assassinated in Bosnia on June 29, 1914 by a Serbian nationalist

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (who initiated the system

of alliances)
CONFLICT IN THE BALKANS
1914: The Balkans was made up of a group of independent countries (Turkish Empire). However, both
the Austro-Hunagarian Empire & Russia wanted to establish their dominion in the Balkans
(Mediterranean Sea).

Another problem: Serbia wanted to dominate Bosnia. As a aconsequence, Bosnia finally joined the
Austro- Hungarian Empire. The same did Serbia, which joined Russia because they felt threatened.

The murder in Sarajevo (Bosnia) of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne

ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND
by a Serbian nacionalist student (June 1914). This was considered a political conflicto. The Austro-
Hungarian Empire declared the war to Serbia a month later.

Russia helped Serbia as they had joined. Germany thought Russia used that alliance as a pretext to
advance to the south to continue with its imperialist desire. France and Britain joined Russia as part of
the TRIPLE ENTENTE. Other countries and their colonies also joined both alliances. Only a few
countries remained neutral, such as Spain.

http://media.news.com.au/nnd/war-diaries/franz-
ferdinand/index.html#chapter1
5.8. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WAR

The were a number of characteristics that made the First World War different from previous wars.

1. TERRITORIAL EXTENSION: 16 nations participated (some of them with large colonial empires).
Consequently, the war took place over a very extended área with many different battlefronts.

1. NEW WEAPONS AND TACTICS: The introduction of new weapons (machine gungs, flamethrowers, poison
gas, mines, submarines, airplanes), new defensive systems, such as trenches and new tactics like
phychological warfare, made this war much more lethal and frightening tan any previous conflict.
3. TOTAL WALFARE: For the first time in history the entire economy
of each of the countries invlved in the conflict focused on the war
effort:

- Conscription of all able men was made necessary.

- The invention and production of weapons became a priority.
- Women started working to replace the men that were fighting.
- Food was rationed.
- The civil population suffered directly from air raids.
5. 8.THE FIRST WORLD WAR
6.1 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WAR
People thought thae war would be short but it lasted for more than 4 years and it went through different
stages:

1914: The war started almost simultaneously on two fronts, the Eastern and the Western fronts with
significant offensive advances by the German & Russian troops.

1915-1916: As there was no decisive victory, the conflict became a war of attrition (desgaste) (The war of
trenches). The fronts were formed by long lines of trenches protected by machine guns and barbed wire
(alambradas). (Battle of Verdun : 750,000 soldiers died at war and due to diseases ).

1917: The USA entered the war, joining the Allies; Although the USA had been neutral at first, it finally decided
to fight after many of its trade ships had sunk at the hands of Russia. Russia abandoned the conflict after the
triumph of the Soviet Revolution.

1918: After an attack on all fronts by the Allies, the Central Powers started to surrender. Finally, Germany was
alone and without supplies so the emperor Wihelm II had to abdicate & the government of the new republic
signed the armistice (tregua). The war ended on 11 November 1918 (the ceasefire (alto al fuego) came into
effect “on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”).
ALLIES (Triple Entente: France, Britain & Russia). : At war against the CENTRAL POWERS (Germany &
Austro- Hungary); Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy and Austro- Hungary.
5.8. THE PARIS CONFERENCE & THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

In 1918 the American president Wooddrow Wilson issued his Fourteen Points, a document that contained the
foundations for future peace.

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE (1919): The victorious countries agreed on the terms for the defeated countries.
Five different treaties were prepared. They all included costly economic sanctions, territorial concessions and
the reduction of the armies.

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES: It was especially hard on Germany. Germany was made responsable for the war.
It had to abandon all its colonies, return Alsace & Lorraine to France, reduce its army & pay costly reparations.
This treaty humiliated Germany & created a desire for revenge.

6.3 THE NEW MAP OF EUROPE

The map of Europe was redesigned as a consequence of the partition of the Russian & Austrian empires. New
countries & frontiers appeared: Poland, Austria, Hungary, Yogoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia
& Lithuania.