Outcomes of World War One

Demographic Effects:

• 722785 deaths, 11.8%
• The fastest fall of infant mortality in the first thirty years of the twentieth century.
• Life expectancy at birth rose between 1911 and 1921. From 49-56 for men and from 53-60 for women. 
• There was better maternity care after the war.
• More work and better pay for the bulk of the population.
• Industrial canteens and subsidized meals for workers became more common.
• The provision of school meals for children was extended.
• Health insurance was given automatically to all the armed services and their wives received maternity benefits.

Economic Effects:

• Funding the war had a severe economic cost in the United Kingdom.
• It went from being the worlds largest overseas investor to becoming one of its biggest debtors with interest payments.
• Inflation more than doubled between 1914 and its peak in 1920.
• The value of the pound fell by 61.2%
• The financial loss was around £300 million.
• 40% of the British merchant fleet were sunk by German U-boats.

Social Effects:

• During the war all classes were deemed equal.
• Women gained rights, including the right to vote and could have jobs.
• After the war the middle classes faced many issues.
• The upper class, including owners of businesses benefited from the inflated economy.

Political Effects:

• The Treaty of Versailles was created between Germany and the allied forces. 
• The dissolution of German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires created a large number of new small states in Eastern Europe.
• These big powers also lost political power.
• Russian revolution of 1917. 

People of World War One

Churchill

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) the First Lord of the British admiralty. Churchill is better known for his role as Britain's Prime Minister during World War Two but he played a significant role in World War One too. He was the head of Britain's navy until he was demoted in 1915 following the British failure at the Dardanelles. After, he resigned his post, he served on the western front as a battalion commander.

Kitchener 

Lord Horatio Kitchener (1850-1916) a British military leader and statesman who, as secretary of state for war in the first years of World War one, organised armies on an unprecedented scale. Unlike many in government and the military, he foresaw a war lasting for years and planned accordingly. Kitchener enlisted and trained huge numbers of volunteers for a succession of entirely new 'kitchener armies'. But his cabinet colleagues did not share the public worship of Kitchener and he was gradually relieved of his responsibilities. His support for the disastrous Dardanelles operation, combined with the 'shell crisis' of 1915 eroded his reputation further.

Haig

General Douglas Haig (1861-1928) a British commander on the Western Front for most of World War One. The huge casualties that his military strategy produced has made him a controversial figure. Haig believed that the war could only be won on the Western Front. This caused friction with Lloyd George, secretary of state for war and prime minister from December 1916, who disagreed with this strategy and supported alternate schemes and intrigued against Haig. Between August and November 1918 the allied forces under Haig's command achieved a series of victories against the German army which resulted in the end of the war.  

Other key individuals:

• Franz Ferdinand - The archduke of Austria, nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph and heir to the Habsburg throne. His assassination on June 28th 1914, by Serbian militant Gavrilo Princip is widely considered the unofficial start of World War One. 
• Paul Von Hindenburg - A German general credited with a major victory over Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. One month later, Hindenburg was promoted to commander in chief of the German land armies. He served this position until the end of the war.
• Constantine I - The king of Greece for much of the war. Although Greece remained neutral during his reign, Constantine had strongly pro-German sentiments. But his government favored the Allies. He abdicated on June 12th 1917 under pressure of a threatened Allied invasion. Less than one month later Greece entered the war on the side of the Allied forces.
• Woodrow Wilson - The President of the United States for the entire period of the war. During the first half of the war, Wilson maintained a strictly neutral position and tried to serve as an active intermediary between the two sides. However, he had to change his position when Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare and the American public was scandalized by the infamous Zimmermann telegram in 1917.

http://quizlet.com/1338231/key-people-wwi-flash-cards/

Key Battles of World War One

The war drew in all of the European powers after Germany enacted the Schlieffen Plan. Germany invaded France through the flat and accessible terrain of Belgium on the 1st August 1914. The British, keen to ensure that Germany did not get hold of French and Belgian ports and wishing to protect Belgian neutrality, declared war on Germany.

Phases:

Phase one - the race for the sea (1914):

After the British and French halted the German advance through Belgium and northern France in autumn 1914, both sides raced to control the nearby North Sea coastline.

Phase two - static trench warfare (1915 - 1917):

A Front line was established running through Belgium and northern France. The two sides established trench system. The war was primarily in a situation of stalemate.

Phase three - a war of movement again (1918):

The German high command decided to launch one final push against the Allies on the Western Front in the spring of 1918. Initial successes were short-lived however and by November, the allies had defeated the German army on the Western Front.  

Battles:

• Battle of the Falkland Islands - December 8th 1914, the British decimated the German East Asia Squadron during an attack on the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
• Battle of the Marne - September 5th 1914 - September 9th, the Allied forces, following their retreat from Mons, stopped the German forces on the banks of the Marne River and forced them back forty five miles to the river Aisne.
• Battle of Mons - August 23rd 1914, one of the earliest battles on the Western Front. The German advance in Belgium overwhelmed British and French forces who began a fourteen day retreat to the outskirts of Paris.
• Battle of Passchendaele - September 20th 1917 - October 12th, the British forces in Belgium continued to push the Germans back. The fighting was especially miserable because it was carried out during periods of heavy rain.
• Battle of the Somme - July 1st 1916 - November 18th, one of the biggest battles of the war fought in northern France. The battle of the Somme was the result of an allied offensive along a twenty five mile front. Although it ended up as a small victory for the allied powers, it cost them 146000 lives in order to advance less than six miles.    

http://www.home.zonnet.nl/rene.brouwer/majorbattles.htm
http://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/warzone/world-war-one/article/western-front-key-wwi-battles/

Causes of World War One

Long-term rivalry between the Great Powers of Europe:

Tensions between the European powers intensified before the First World War, making conflict more likely. Conflict and competition emerged over the size of armed forces and an arms race developed between Britain and Germany over naval armaments and Germany, France and Russia over army size.

The alliance system:

The formation of two groups of alliances added to tensions in Europe as France, Britain and Russia formed the Triple Entente. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy joined together to form the Triple Alliance. Germany feared the possibility of fighting against Russia and France simultaneously and developed the Schlieffen Plan. The Plan assumed that the Russians would take six weeks to be fully ready for war and therefore that in the event of a war, Germany had a chance to defeat France quickly before Russia was ready.

Problems in the Balkans:

Conflicts and power struggles that took place in the Balkans were a source of instability in Europe before the First World War. The Ottomans had controlled this area but their grip had weakened and some countries like Serbia had asserted independence. In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia, a multi-ethnic state containing many Serbs.

Short-term trigger - The murder of Franz Ferdinand (28th June 1914):

The murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne by Serb nationalists who wanted Bosnia to unite with Serbia caused a crisis as the Austrians blamed Serbia. Russia, concerned to prevent Austria-Hungary gaining more territory from Serbia, mobilised their army and the Austrians, backed by their ally Germany, invaded Serbia on 28th July.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_World_War_I
http://www.firstworldwar.com/origins/causes.htm