UNIT 7

Great britain and the usa in the first half of the 20-th century

LIST OF WORDS

emerging economy

trade routes

at a global level

tension

world supremacy

arms race

military spending

to be left behind

to lack support

casus belli

Provisional Government

to conclude / sign a peace treaty

to denounce the treaty

controversial

hostile

an armistice

TEXT 1. Read the text and answer the questions that follow it.

Causes of World War I

The causes of World War I, which began in central Europe in July 1914, included many intertwined factors, such as the conflicts and antagonisms of the four decades leading up to the war. 

Countries such as the United Kingdom and France accumulated great wealth in the late 19th century through their control of foreign resources, markets, territories, and people. Other empires - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia - all hoped to do so as well. Their frustrated ambitions and British policies of strategic exclusion created tensions. In addition, the limits of natural resources in many European nations began to slowly alter trade balance, and make national industries seek new territories rich in natural resources.

Rivalries for not just colonies, but colonial trade and trade routes developed between the emerging economic powers and the incumbent great powers. German interests were to counter the British Empire at a global level, and Turkey's interest was in countering their Russian rivals at a regional level.

Rivalries among the great powers were exacerbated starting in the 1880s by the scramble for colonies which brought much of Africa and Asia under European rule in the following quarter-century; it also created great Anglo-French and Anglo-Russian tensions and crises that prevented a British alliance with either until the early twentieth century.

German industrial and economic power had grown greatly after unification and foundation of the empire in 1870. From the mid-1890s on, the government of Wilhelm II used this base to devote significant economic resources to building up the Imperial German Navy  in rivalry with the British Royal Navy for world naval supremacy. The arms race between Britain and Germany eventually extended to the rest of Europe, with all the major powers devoting their industrial base to the production of the equipment and weapons necessary for a pan-European conflict. Between 1908 and 1913, the military spending of the European powers increased by 50 percent.

The intent of German policy was to drive a wedge between the British and the French, but in both cases produced the opposite effect and Germany was isolated diplomatically, most notably lacking the support of Italy despite Italian membership in the Triple Alliance.

In 1914, there were no outstanding colonial conflicts, Africa essentially having been claimed fully, apart from Ethiopia, for several years. However, the competitive mentality, as well as a fear of "being left behind" in the competition for the world's resources may have played a role in the decisions to begin the conflict.

However, the immediate origins of the war lay in the decisions taken by statesmen and generals during the July Crisis of 1914, casus belli for which was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by Gavrilo Princip, an irredentist Serb.

Answer the questions.

1. What economic factors promoted World War I?

2. What two major groups of countries were economic rivals?

3. How did colonial expansion intensify economic rivalry?

4. What processes occurred in the military sphere?

5. What was the major field of economic competition?

6. What was casus belli for World War I?

TEXT 2. Read the text and answer the questions that follow it. You may need additional information.