Department of History | World War I, Episode 1 | The World at War

Department of History | World War I, Episode 1 | The World at War

Department of History | World War I, Episode 1 | The World at War

In this documentary series commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War, professors in York University’s Department of History examine various aspects of the war and the role Canada played in it.
In this first episode - The World at War - Professors Deborah Neill, Stephen Brooke, William Wicken, Molly Ladd-Taylor and Jennifer Stephen discuss the origins of the war, in particular, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austria-Hungary Empire and how the countries of Europe got involved followed by certain non-European countries.

http://www.yorku.ca/uhistory/
http://www.yorku.ca/laps/ww1/
Media Release: http://news.yorku.ca/2014/04/24/york-…


Content

1.9 -> PROFESSOR DEBORAH NEILL: It's worth noting that
3.27 -> the Canadian government hoped for and, in a way,
6.37 -> received benefits from this war in the sense that Canada
10.34 -> acquired greater autonomy for itself
13.469 -> because of this war. It became a linchpin in
16.55 -> the supplies and materials part of the war effort.
19.89 -> And the sacrifices that the
23.48 -> Canadian soldiers made in a way
26.609 -> paid off in terms of benefits to Canada post-war.
30.17 -> One could blame Gavrilo Princip,
33.69 -> the somewhat hapless terrorist from
36.8 -> a Serbian terrorist organization who, of course,
40.28 -> crosses the border into Bosnia and shoots the heir to the Austrian
45.149 -> throne
45.69 -> Franz Ferdinand and his wife in the summer of 1914.
49.14 -> PROFESSOR STEPHEN BROOKE: Tensions and rivalries had already been
54.19 -> building within Europe since the turn of the 20th century,
55.51 -> but the assassination was the trip-wire that set off war
58.93 -> with Britain, France, Russia and Italy on one side
63.25 -> and Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey
66.33 -> on the other. Austria-Hungary, who are determined to avenge the death of their
71.57 -> heir, want to invade Serbia but Serbia is protected
75.29 -> by the Russians. In turn,
78.34 -> Germany issues the infamous blank check
81.46 -> to Austria-Hungary saying whatever you decide to do here we will support you.
85.96 -> This gets the other great powers in Europe very nervous
90.03 -> and on top of that, Russia has an alliance with France.
93.049 -> When the Russians are orders a partial mobilization
96.78 -> of the Russian troops, the Germans see this as an act of provocation
101.4 -> and a flurry of declarations of war
104.84 -> begin: Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia;
108.479 -> You have France coming in, you have Germany coming in.
116 -> The British
117.619 -> have a nominal alliance with the Russians
120.67 -> and the French but they don't have a hard-and-fast
125.479 -> reason to come in at this point, but the German invasion plans because the
129.44 -> Germans are facing a two-front war,
131.14 -> it's a military plan known as the Schlieffen Plan which will
135.16 -> ideally allow Germany to conquer France
138.379 -> in a few short weeks. The problem with this plan is it requires
142.31 -> the invasion of Belgium which is a neutral country
145.92 -> whose neutrality has been guaranteed by Great Britain.
149.19 ->
153.74 -> PROFESSOR WILLIAM WICKEN:
155.75 -> It becomes publicized throughout the western world, in Canada
159.1 -> and in Great Britain, the depredations which had been committed by the German
163.05 -> troops against Belgian civilians.
165.1 -> That sort of enthusiasm is in part motivated by seeing
169.09 -> this German army as committing
172.54 -> terrible brutality against the civilian population
175.73 -> as well as invading a neutral country.
178.99 ->
182.01 ->
185.74 ->
188.86 ->
192.74 ->
194.25 -> So when Britain declared war on the first of August, 1914
200.45 -> it did so on behalf of not simply of people living in Britain,
204.29 -> but also people living throughout the British world.
207.63 -> This included India, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
211.56 -> as well as the South African veldt and the outports in Newfoundland
215.24 -> which was then a separate dominion. PROFESSOR MOLLY LADD-TAYLOR:
222.9 -> The United States had a long tradition of
225.3 -> not becoming involved in European affairs. President Woodrow Wilson had
228.84 -> just been elected on a platform of
230.6 -> neutrality. The United States was not ready militarily.
234.27 -> The US Army just had under 200,000
237.8 -> troops and they were spread across the United States and really focused on Mexico
242.489 -> in the Mexican Revolution there and defending US business interests in
246.15 -> Mexico.
246.93 -> There was an active peace movement with
250.39 -> leading Americans who were all opposed to the war
253.47 -> and finally the most, perhaps the most important reason
257.109 -> that the United States was late to arrive to the war
260.58 -> was that Americans were divided about which side
263.729 -> to support. A number of Protestant Americans naturally supported
268.37 -> England and France, but remember in 1914, 1917
274.12 -> a large percentage of Americans were of German-American background,
279.09 -> had relatives in the Austria-Hungarian Empire,
282.54 -> Italian-Americans, people who were Catholic and Irish-Americans
286.43 -> were not too keen to enter the war on the side of
289.52 -> England. PROFESSOR JENNIFER STEPHEN:
294.539 -> The war changed the relationship between citizens and their government and their
298.509 -> state.
299.22 -> Canada lost almost an entire generation
302.59 -> of young men. One in every 10 Canadian men who served died.
306.569 -> One in every four Newfoundlanders who served died
309.659 -> Canada had full autonomy and independence over its domestic affairs
316.15 -> but not over its foreign policy and this would change as the war dragged on
320.05 -> and Britain needed more and more support from its various dominions.
324.2 -> Either Canada would seek
326.81 -> autonomy within the British Empire or equality within the British Empire,
330 -> but in either case, this was now Canada's war.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo45oqw2XNg