Download Chapter 19 Notes—World War I (1914

Chapter 19 Notes—World War I (1914-1918)
I.
Causes of World War I—From Neutrality to War
A. Nationalism or devotion to one’s nation or intense love for one’s country that ignores faults.
(_____________________ taken to an extreme) & competition heighten tensions between nations.
B. Countries were competing in the imperial race around the World to build & protect their empires. This causes
the war to be global because of the Colonies will participate as well.
C. The contest between Germany & Britain at sea & between Germany, France, & Russia on land guaranteed one
important thing: the next major war would involve more troops & more technologically advanced weapons than
ever before. Machine guns, mobile artillery, tanks, submarines, & airplanes would change the nature of warfare.
D. The _____________________________________ in 1870 was between France & Germany. Germany won &
Alsace-Lorraine was the territory France lost in this war. France longed to avenge its humiliating defeat &
regain this territory once again.
E. Alliances are going to make nations overconfident & reckless. A ________________________ was formed by
Germany because of fear of retaliation from France. The Triple Alliance or Central Powers included Germany,
___________________________, & Italy. At the start of World War I, Italy dropped out of this alliance,
initially maintaining a neutral position in regard to the war.
F. The __________________________ were the Allies & they included Great Britain, France, Russia, & the U.S.
G. The U.S. Entrance & Russia’s Exit—2 important developments in the war occurred in 1917. In early April,
the U.S., angered by attacks upon its ships in the Atlantic, declared war on Germany. Then, in November, the
Bolshevik Revolution prompted Russia to pull out of the war.
II.
An assassination hurtles Europe toward World War
A. Archduke, _________________________ & his wife of Austria-Hungary were shot on June 28, 1914 in the
capital city, Sarajevo by Serb nationalists that believed that Bosnia rightfully belonged to Serbia, & they saw
Franz Ferdinand as a tyrant. ________________________ pulled a pistol from his pocket & killed them. People
around the world were shocked by this assassination but no one expected it would lead to a great world war.
B. The fighting begins & alliances caused a chain reaction. Austria-Hungary confident that their ally Germany
would stand by them if a war began prepares to invade Serbia. After this, Russia comes to Serbia’s aid & France
joins Russia. Next, Germany declares war on France in support of Austria-Hungary & then Great Britain joins
the war in support of France. So the Alliance System turned a small regional war into a larger World War.
C. The U.S. in 1914 was led by President ____________________________ & he urged neutrality &
“______________________________” which encourages Americans to be neutral in thought as well as action.
D. _________________________-Quick strike against France, then a full scale invasion of Russia. It’s objective
was to avoid a 2-front war but was unsuccessful. On August 14, 1914 Germany invaded France.
E. Britain blockades Germany to keep essential goods from reaching their people. Contraband goods are defined
as weapons & other articles used to fight a war to be confiscated legally by any belligerent nation.
F. German ____________________ or submarines began sinking Allied ships. The reality of the German blockade
struck U.S. in 1915 when a German U-Boat sank the British passenger liner __________________ off the coast
of Ireland. 1,200 passengers were killed including 128 Americans. President Wilson was stunned but still
wanted peace. Germany helped to keep the U.S. out of the war by eventually promising not to sink any more
passenger ships. However, in 1916, Germany violated that promise by sinking the unarmed French passenger
ship, Sussex. Another wave of protest erupted in the U.S. but Germany pledged again to not sink unarmed ships
& this promise was called the Sussex Pledge. It would not last very long.
G. __________________________Each side digs in & trenches are made that run from the sea to Switzerland.
H. World War I is the first truly modern war. The advances in technology are going to greatly increase the
expense, death & damage done. __________________ were use mostly for scouting the enemy position.
I. Submarines, utilized by the Germans sank ships in the N. Atlantic to prevent Allies from being re-supplied.
J. ______________—Invented by the British. Broke the stalemate on the Western Front. Could cross trenches &
no man’s land (represented the area of ground between opposing armies & between trenches)
K. _____________________—Chlorine Gas, Heavier than air & could kill, blind, or burn their victims. The gas
sank down into the trenches & men died of asphyxiation. Wind changes were a danger w/this type of gas.
L. ______________________________—Interlocking fields of fire made the body count high. Could fire 600
bullets per minute. Officers did not adjust their tactics to the new weapons.
M. Artillery field guns—these long-range cannons caused more causalities than any other type of weapon.
N. ________________Used to prevent & slow down infantry advances so they could get shot up w/machine guns.
O. Late in 1914, the ___________________________________ was brought into the fray as well, after Germany
tricked Russia into thinking that Turkey had attacked it.
P. The middle part of the war, 1916&17, was dominated by continued trench warfare. Soldiers fought from dugin positions, striking at each other w/machine guns, heavy artillery, & chemical weapons. Though soldiers died
by the millions in brutal conditions, neither side gained any advantage.
Q. _____________—Semi-Automatic pistol of the American GI’s. Much different than revolvers of previous wars.
R. U.S. enters the war in early 1917 because of 2 events. Suffering severe supply shortages due to the blockade,
Germany took action. German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann sent a telegraph to Mexico known as
the _____________________. It proposed an alliance w/Mexico & if the U.S. declared war on Germany then
Mexico would declare war on the U.S. If the central powers win the war then Mexico would take back the states
of Texas, New Mexico, & Arizona. The exposure of Zimmermann’s telegraph was a major factor provoking the
U.S. into declaring war on Germany.
S. Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare against Britain. President Wilson no longer called for
peace & asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany.
T. When the U.S. entered WWI the army was only a fraction of the size of European armies, to build up the army,
President Wilson encouraged Americans to volunteer for service & Congress passed the __________________.
This authorized a draft of men for military service. People whose moral or religious beliefs forbid them to fight
in wars resisted the draft by becoming _____________________________________.
U. Most Americans didn’t understand the reasons for WWI so President Wilson formed the __________________
(CPI) to educate the public about the causes & nature of the war. The CPI had to convince Americans that the
war effort was a just cause. George Creel was appointed by Wilson to be the director of the CPI.
V. _______________________________—The American general in command of all U.S. forces in Europe during
the war. To the Allies’ concern, Pershing strongly opposed the idea of sending American forces to fight on the
front alongside regiments from Britain & France. Nevertheless, he did eventually reach a compromise, allowing
limited numbers of U.S. soldiers to do exactly that. _____________ was the name given to U.S. troops in WWI.
W. War of Attrition—A war in which victory is determined purely by which side is better able to endure
numerous, prolonged casualties instead of victory being determined by accomplishing a specific objective.
III.
The End of the War and a peace agreement
A. Although both sides launched renewed offensives in 1918, an all-or-nothing effort to win the war, both efforts
failed. The fighting between exhausted, demoralized troops continued to plod along until the Germans lost a
number of individual battles & gradually began to fall back. A deadly outbreak of influenza, took heavy tolls
on soldiers of both sides. Eventually, the governments of both Germany & Austria-Hungary began to lose
control as both countries experienced multiple revolts from within their military structures.
B. The war ended in the late fall of 1918, after the member countries of the Central Powers signed peace
agreements. Germany was the last on November 11, 1918. As a result of these agreements, Austria-Hungary
was broken up into smaller countries. Germany, under the ______________________________________, was
severely punished w/hefty economic reparations (Compensation or payment required from a defeated nation
for damage or injury during a war), territorial losses, & strict limits on its rights to develop militarily.
C. President Woodrow Wilson submitted _________________ that he believed the German Gov’t should submit
to. Wilson thought that the total aim of the peace treaty should be to prevent war from ever again happening.
D. The main points of Wilson’s plan were: for European domestic & economic equalization (& the removal of
Germany’s satellite states), for the independence of Belgium, for the giving of Alsace-Lorraine back to France,
for access to the Baltic Sea for the land-locked Poland, for war reparations to pay for the damage done by
invading German troops in France & Belgium, & for a League of Nations to settle all international disputes.
E. The Entente incorporated all this into the Treaty but exaggerated many of them to further weaken Germany.
They limited the German army to a size of 100,000 men, demilitarized a large section of Germany nearest
France, & forbade the German ownership of military aircraft, poison gas, or any naval units. The merchant
marine & navy were to give their ships to Britain. U.S. was strictly isolationist at this time.
F. The U.S. barely got involved in time to have any say in negotiations, & didn’t want any part in a “new world
order.” With this in mind, the Senate _________________ to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.
G. Many historians believe that the Allies were excessive in their punishment of Germany & that the harsh Treaty
of Versailles actually planted the seeds of WWII, rather than foster peace. The treaty’s declaration that
Germany was entirely to blame for the war was an untruth that humiliated the German people.
H. Furthermore, the treaty imposed steep war compensation payments on Germany, meant to force the country to
bear the financial burden of the war. Although Germany ended up paying only a small percentage of the
payments it was supposed to make, it was already stretched financially thin by the war, & the additional
economic burden caused enormous resentment. Ultimately, extremist groups, such as the _____________ were
able to exploit this humiliation & resentment & take political control of the country in the decades following.