Download World War I 2015

World War I
The War to End All Wars…or the
Seed of Even Greater
Destruction
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Long Term Causes of WWI
• Competition/Alliances sparks Militarism
– German massive naval build up leads Britain to build up
navy & form alliance with France & Russia
– All nations on continent begin building up their armies
• Entangling Alliances
– Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia (Italy will join later)
• Britain vows to protect neutral Belgium
– Triple Alliance/Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Ottoman Empire (Italy abandoned C. Powers in 1915)
• Alsace & Lorraine: Disputed territory b/n Germ. & FR
• Imperialism
• Nationalism
– Intense pride in one’s homeland
– Serbs/Slavs push for independence from Austria-Hungary
• Serbian/Slavic/Russian ethnic ties
Military Alliances: 1914
Alsace-Lorraine
The Black Hand & the Assassination of
the Archduke
• The Black Hand:
– Serbian Nationalist
Organization
• Archdukes assassination is
immediate cause of WWI:
– Assassin: Gavrilio Princep of
Black Hand
• Draw Aus.-Hung. into a war
with Russia
– Why?
World War I is Triggered
• Austria Declared War on Serbia (a Russian Ally)
– German “Blank Check” to Austria-Hungary
• Russia Mobilizes against Austria-Hungary
• Germany Declares War on Russia, France, Belgium
• Great Britain Declares War on Germany as they
enter Belgium
• How did the alliance system drag these countries
into war with each other?
– When one country attacked another, all those country’s
allies were drawn in…
Schlieffen Plan
• Germany’s plan for victory in
a war in which the German
Empire might find itself
fighting on two fronts:
– France to the west and Russia
to the east.
– Goal:
• Knock France out of the war
before it can mobilize
• Then use the railroad to quickly
mobilize German troops against
Russia
U.S. Isolationism
• Beginning of WWI
(1914-April 1917)
– Woodrow Wilson issue
Proclamation of Neutrality on
August 4, 1914.
– U.S. follows a policy of
isolationism…why?
U.S. Inches toward WWI
NOTICE!
Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic
voyage are reminded that a state of war exists
between Germany and her allies and Great
Britain and her allies; that the zone of war
includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles;
that, in accordance with formal notice given by
the Imperial German Government, vessels
flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her
allies, are liable to destruction in those waters
and that travellers sailing in the war zone on
ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their
own risk.
IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 22, 1915.
U.S. Inches toward WWI:
German Submarine Warfare
• German U-Boat sinks
Lusitania (May, 1915)
– British Ocean Liner
– 128 Americans Killed
– Enrages Americans, but
just first step
• German U-Boat attacks
pulls U.S. Closer to
entering the war v.
Germany
• Sussex Pledge
U.S. Enters WWI:
Zimmerman Telegram
• Zimmerman Telegram
– German telegram to Mexico
– Germany tries to encourage
Mexico to go to war w/ U.S.
– Intercepted/Decoded by
British…pass to U.S.
• Communist Revolution in
Russia begins 1917
• April 2, 1917
– U.S. Declares War on
Germany
• U.S. buys Virgin Islands in
1917, why?
Mobilizing for War
John Green: America and WWI
Funding the War
Making Sacrifices
Women in the War
U.S. Government Limits Civil Liberties
during War
• Espionage Act (1917)
– Prohibited actions that limited recruitments or
promoted insubordination (disobedience) in the
military
• Sedition Act
– Crime to speak against the sale of war bonds
– Crime to speak against the government, the US
Constitution or the armed forces
• Schenck v. United States
– Clear and Present Danger Doctrine
• Government can limit free speech that poses a “clear &
present danger” to national security
John Green: America and WWI
Selective Service Act: 1917
•
•
•
•
24,000,000 men registered for
the draft by the end of 1918.
4,800,000 men served in
WW1
(2,000,000 saw active
combat).
400,000 African-Americans
served in segregated units.
15,000 Native-Americans
served
as scouts, messengers, and
snipers in non-segregated
units.
The Horrors of War: Life in the Trenches
The Horrors of War:
Life in the Trenches
New Weaponry
World War I: The “Great” War
• 1914-1918
–
–
–
–
65 million men mobilized for war
37 million casualties (killed, missing, wounded)
9.7 million military deaths
8.8 million civilian casualties
• Eastern Front
– Communist Revolution in Russia: 1917
– Russia Surrenders to Germany (Oct. 1917)…leads to Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
– Civil War in Russia: Rise of Lenin and Communist Party…impact in America?
• Western Front: Trench Warfare
– Stalemate from 1914-1918
• U.S. Enters War (1917)
– Allied Powers
• U.S., Britain, France
– Why did this help break the stalemate?
• 2nd Battle of the Marne (1918)
– Turning Point on Western Front
The War Ends (11/11/1918)
Fourteen Points
• Fourteen Points: Woodrow Wilson’s Peace Plan
for WWI
– Globalization:
• Reduce chance of war by creating economic ties/cutting
down on armaments
– Self Determination:
• Break up colonies/grant independence
– League of Nations
• 1st International Organization Whose Goal Was to Keep
Peace (predecessor of United Nations)
• How might each of these have prevented future
wars?
Treaty of Versailles
• Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919)
– Peace Treaty Officially Ending War b/n Germany & Allied Powers
• Treaty Establishes the League of Nations, but few of
Wilson’s other suggestions.
• Treaty Intended to Punish & Weaken Germany
– War Guilt Clause
• Germany must accept full responsibility for the war
– Had to pay massive reparations to the allies
• Most of reparations would go to France/Belgium
– German military dismantled…why?
• Army reduced to 100,000 men
• Not allowed to have Tanks or Air Force
• Demilitarized Rhineland
– Germany suffered major territorial losses
• Lose: Alsace & Lorraine, Baltic States (land won from Russia), Poland, &
more
U.S. Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles
• Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Leads Charge against
Treaty of Versailles
• U.S. Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles…Why?
– League of Nations…What was their concern?
• Influence of George Washington?
– Washington’s Farewell Address warns against entangling
alliances/getting involved in foreign affairs
• Return of U.S. Isolationism
Significance of the Treaty of Versailles
• How did the Treaty of Versailles help lead to
the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany?
– Caused many Germans to want to seek revenge
after WWI
– Anger combined with economic chaos in Germany
during Great Depression, caused Germans to look
to nationalistic & militaristic leader like Hitler