Download Chapter 26: World War I

Chapter 26: World
War I
Chapter 26: Section 1
THE GREAT WAR BEGINS
Section 1: The Great War
Begins
There were four main causes to WWI:
 1. Militarism: Massive military buildup.
 2. Alliances: Countries formed
partnerships to protect themselves.
 3. Imperialism: Rival empires seek to
keep power.
 4. Nationalism: Loyalty and devotion to
their country or culture.

The Triple Alliance
Great powers were
forming alliances,
called ententes, to try
to keep peace.
 Triple Alliance
included:

– Germany
– Austria-Hungary
– Italy
The Triple Entente

The Triple Entente
included:
– Russia
– France
– Great Britain
How they lined up
Central Powers
 Germany
 Austria
Allies
 Russia
 France
 Britain
Overseas Competition
In 1914 European
Powers competed to
protect their status.
 Overseas rivalries
divided them, as they
fought for new
colonies in Africa and
elsewhere.
 They began to build
their armies and
navies.

Rise to Militarism
-
A rise to militarism
helped to feed this
arms race.
-
Sensational
journalism stirred the
public against rival
nations
Nationalism vs. Nationalism



Germans proud of their
military and economic
power
The French yearned for
the return of Alsace and
Lorraine
Russia supported a
powerful form of
nationalism called PanSlavism. This led Russia
to support nationalists in
Serbia.
Nations are Concerned
Austria- Hungary
worried that
nationalism might
lead to rebellions
within its empire.
 Ottoman Turkey felt
threatened by nearby
new nations in the
Balkans, such as
Serbia and Greece.

Powder Keg
Serbia’s dreams of a
South Slav state could
take land away from
both Austria-Hungary
and Turkey.
 Unrest made the
Balkans a “powder
keg.”


The event that triggered the war was the
assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 in
Sarajevo, Bosnia.
He was killed by Gavrilo Princip,
a member of a terrorist
organization known as the Black
Hand.
Ultimatum sent to Serbia
Some Austrian leaders
saw this as an
opportunity to crush
Serbian nationalism.
 Austria sent Serbia an
ultimatum, which
Serbia refused to
meet completely.

Domino Effect

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
on July 28. Russia had promised that they
would protect Serbia, so then Germany
declared war on Russia as well as France.
Central Powers: Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Ottoman
Empire.
Allies: France, Great Britain,
Russia, United States.
Chapter 26: Section 2
A NEW KIND OF WAR
Schlieffen Plan
Germany had developed a battle plan
years earlier called the Schlieffen Plan.
 It called for German troops to quickly
defeat France in the West and then head
East to fight Russia.
 The first thing Germany did was to move
through Belgium, a neutral country,
which led to Great Britain declaring war
on Germany.

Schlieffen Plan
Belgian Slows Germany’s
Advance
Millions of French,
British, Russian and
German soldiers
mobilized for battle.
 German forces fought
their way towards
France, but Belgian
resistance foiled
Germany’s plans for a
quick victory.


The Battle of the Marne in September
1914, was the beginning of trench
warfare.

Both sides dug
trenches along the
battlefront to protect
their armies from
enemy fire.
The Germans were on their way to Paris
when the Allies pushed them back. The
Germans and the Allies then dug a series
of trenches and the battle quickly
became a stalemate.
 This region became known as the
Western Front.


Life in trenches was miserable. Rainstorms
produced puddles and thick mud and
sanitation was a big problem.
Modern Warfare
Technology made
World War I different
from earlier wars.
 New Technology:

–
–
–
–
–
Tanks
Airplanes
Modern Submarines
Zeppelins
Machine Guns
Zeppelins
Fight for air supremacy

Pilots known as
“flying aces”
confronted each
other in the skies,
but these “dog
fights” had little
effect on ground
war.
Battle of the Seas
German submarines,
called U-boats, did
tremendous damage
to Allied shipping.
 To defend against
them, the Allies
organized convoys, or
groups of merchant
ships protected by
warships.

Dead bodies would often stay there for
days and lice and rats were always
around.
 Sometimes soldiers would go “over the
top” and attack the enemy trench. Many
soldiers would be cut down by machine
guns.

Poison gas was used for the first time. It
could blind, choke, or burn soldiers and
even kill them.
 Gas masks were developed as a way to
combat this. Machine guns came into wide
use as well as artillery and shells.


Tanks and airplanes were used for the
first time during WWI. Tanks could cross
rough terrain and offered some protection.
Aircraft was used for observation and
attack.

Factories started to produce military
equipment and civilians conserved food
and goods so they could be used by the
military.
Russia’s Eastern Front



Eastern Europe’s battle
lines shifted back and
forth, sometimes over
large areas.
Casualties rose higher
than on the Western
Front.
Russia was ill-prepared
for and suffered a
disastrous defeat when
pushing into eastern
Germany.
Other Countries Enter the War
In 1915, Italy
declared war on
Austria-Hungary and
Germany.
 In 1917, the Austrians
and Germans
launched a major
offensive against the
Italians.

Global Conflicts

World War I was a global conflict.
– Japan used war to seize outposts in China and
islands in the Pacific.
– Ottoman empire joined the Central Powers.
– Its strategic location enabled it to cut off
Allied supply lines to Russia through the
Dardanelles, a vital strait.
– Arab nationalists revolted against Ottoman
rule. British sent T.E. Lawrence, or Lawrence
of Arabia, to aid the Arabs.
Chapter 26: Section 3
WINNING THE WAR
WWI Women




World War I= total war
Participants fueled all
resources into the war
effort.
Universal conscriptions or
“the draft” requiring all
young men to be ready to
fight.
As millions of men left to
fight, women took over
their jobs, keeping
economies running.
British blockades kept ships from carrying
other supplies, such as food, in and out of
Germany.
 In retaliation German U-boats torpedoed
the British passenger liner Lusitania.

Sinking of Lusitania

Governments also censored newspapers
and used propaganda to influence
people’s opinions. Women also started to
work in factories.
Battle of Verdun (Feb-Dec 1916):
Attack by the Germans in an
attempt to kill as many French
troops as possible. France would
suffer 400,000 casualties. It ended
in a stalemate.
Battle of the Somme (July-Nov
1916): British launch attack to push
Germans away from Verdun. The
British would lose 60,000 troops
the first day. Over a million troops
would die in all. The battle also
ended in a stalemate.

Gallipoli Campaign (April-Dec 1915): The
Allies used the Dardanelles to ship
supplies to Russia. The Allies would give
up after 200,000 troops had been killed.
In late 1914, Russia launched an attack
on Turkey where ethnic Armenians lived.
 Ottoman leaders claimed the Armenians
were helping the Russians so they ordered
the removal of Armenians.
 600,000 Armenians would die and the
Ottoman Empire would be accused of
genocide.

Costs of War

As time passed, war
fatigue set in.
– Long causality lists
– Food shortages
– Failure to win led to
peace calls.
– Morale plunged
– Russia’s incompetent
generals and
corruption led to
Revolution.
United States joins the war

Until 1917, the United States had been
neutral, but that year it declared war on
Germany.
– Germany’s unrestricted U-boat warfare.
– Americans had cultural ties with Allies.
 2 million joined Allies on the Western Front.
Zimmerman Note

In February 1917, the
Zimmermann Note
was discovered. This
proposed that
Mexico attack the
United States with
German support. By
April 1917, the U.S.
entered the war on
the Allied side.
End of war in sight
March 1918, Allies
drove back the
Germans.
 In September,
German generals told
the Kaiser that the
war could not won.
 Kaiser stepped down
and new German
government sought
an armistice.

Chapter 26: Section 4
MAKING OF PEACE
Costs of War
The human, material,
and political costs of
World War I were
staggering.
 Huge loss of life was
even made worsened
by the 1918 pandemic
of influenza.

More Costs of WWI

From France to Russia…
– Homes , farms, factories, and roads had been
bombed to rubble.
– Allies blamed the war on their defeated foes.
– Allies wanted war reparations.
– Governments had collapsed in Russia,
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman
empire.

Allies met at the Paris
Peace Conference to
discuss the fate of
Europe.
– Central Powers and
Russia were not
included in the talks.
(Why is Russia left out?)
Allies Differences

Different agendas creates problems:
– Britain focused on rebuilding Britain.
– The French wanted to punish Germany
severely.
– American President Wilson wanted to create
an international League of Nations.
Woodrow Wilson had
come up with his own
plan for peace called
the Fourteen
Points.
 It called for freedom
of the seas and for
the right of all people
to choose their own
government.

Fourteen Points
Woodrow Wilson had
come up with his own
plan for peace called
the Fourteen
Points.
 It called for freedom
of the seas and for
the right of all people
to choose their own
government.

League of Nations

It also called for a
League of Nations,
a place where all
countries could meet
to discuss their
differences.
Treaty of Versailles

In June of 1919, the Allies
ordered representatives of the
new German Republic to sign
the Treaty of Versailles.
– Germany had to accept full
blame of war.
– Germany had to pay huge
reparations in a very bad
German economy.
– Limited the size of
Germany’s military.
Nearly 9 million
soldiers were killed in
battle. 13 million
civilians died and over
20 million were
wounded.
 The war cost about
$332 billion

50 million
more people
would die in
the Spring of
1918 because
of a world wide
influenza
outbreak.
Chapter 26: Section 5
REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA

The Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir
Lenin and wanted to make Russia a
socialist country.
Economic conditions started to worsen in
Russia and many people wanted Russia to
leave WWI by 1917.
 On March 8, 1917, Russian citizens took to
the streets to protest a lack of food and
fuel.
 Police would not follow orders to shoot the
protesters.


Czar Nicholas II ordered the Russian
Duma to disband, which they didn’t. By
March 15, Nicholas realized that he no
longer had power over the Russian people
and he was forced to step down. A
provisional government would be put in
place.

In November 1917, Bolshevik factory
workers attacked the government, which
caused it to collapse.
The Bolshevik’s
controlled Russia and
their leader was
Vladimir Lenin.
 He would establish a
Communist
government. They
would give land to
Russian peasants.

Russia then signed the Treaty of BrestLitovsk ending their involvement in WWI.
This upset some people because the
Russians lost land.
 Two armies fought for control: White
Army and Red Army.
 The Bolsheviks would win in late 1920.
