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Chapter 29
The Great War
Section 1
The Stage is Set for War
Rising Tensions in Europe
Rise of Nationalism
Caused a rivalry among Europe’s
great powers
Competition for materials and
markets
Territorial disputes
Rising Tensions in Europe
Imperialism
Quest for colonies pushed nations
on the brink of war
Competed for overseas empires
Sense of rivalry and distrust
deepened
Rising Tensions in Europe
Materialism
Increase of an European arms
race
Needed a powerful military
Large standing armies
Militarism: glorifying military and
keeping an army prepared for war
Tangled Alliances
Bismark formed the Dual Alliance
Between Germany and AustriaHungary
Italy later joined
Triple Alliance
Bismark also made a treaty with
Russia
Tangled Alliances
Kaiser Wilhelm II forced Bismark
to resign
Did not want to share power
Let Germany’s treaty with Russia
lapse
Russia responded by forming an
alliance with France
Tangled Alliances
Wilhelm began a large ship
building program
Wanted to equal the British fleet
Great Britain formed an entente
with France
Entangling Alliances
Triple Alliance, 1914.
Triple Entente, 1914.
Crisis in the Balkans
Powder Keg of Europe
Freed themselves from the
Ottoman Empire
Formed the nations of Bulgaria,
Greece, Montenegro, Romania
and Serbia
Crisis in the Balkans
Nationalism was powerful in this
area
Each group wanted to extend its
borders
Serbia hoped to absorb all of the
Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula
Crisis in the Balkans
Austria annexed Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Both areas with large Slavic
population
Serbian leaders were outraged
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and
his wife were visiting Sarajevo
(the capital of Bosnia)
Shot by Gavrilo Princip, a
member of the Black Hand
Secret society committed to
riding Bosnia of Austrian rule
Franz Ferdinand and Sophie
Franz Ferdinand and Sophie
Gavrilo Princip
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Austria used the murders as an
excuse to punish Serbia
Presented them with an
ultimatum
Refusing the ultimatum would
lead to war
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Serbian leaders agreed to most of
the demands
Offered to have other settled by
an international conference
Austria did not want to negotiate
July 28, 1914 – Austria declares
war on Serbia
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Russia was an ally of Serbia
Russian leaders moved troops
toward the Austrian border
Other nations urged Austria and
Russia to negotiate
It was too late
Section 2
War Consumes Europe
The Great War Begins
Russia sent troops to the Austrian
border
Russia expected Germany to join
the war because Germany was
allied with Austria
Russia also sent troops toward
the German border
The Great War Begins
Russia’s mobilization toward
Germany was considered a
declaration of war
August 1, 1914 – Germany
declares war on Russia
Two days later, Germany declared
war on France
Great Britain then declared war on
Germany
Nations Take Sides
Central Powers: Germany, Austria
Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman
Empire
Allies: Great Britain, France,
Russia, Japan, Italy
World War I Europe
Stalemate
War turned into a long and
bloody deadlock
Western Front: region in northern
France where the fighting was
occurring
The Western Front
Schlieffen Plan
German battle strategy
Called for attacking France in the
west and then fighting Russia in
the east
Needed a quick victory in France
Schlieffen Plan
Schlieffen Plan
Battle of Marne was won by the
Allies
Single most important event of the
war
Ruined the Schlieffen Plan
Germany would have to fight on
two fronts
War in the Trenches
Trench warfare: miles of parallel
trenches to protect themselves
from enemy fire
Fought each other from the
trenches
War in the Trenches
Life in the trenches was misery
Swarmed with rats
Fresh food was nonexistent
Sleep was nearly impossible
Western Front stretched 500
miles
Life in the Trenches
Life in the Trenches
Life in the Trenches
Life in the Trenches
New Weapons of War
Machine gun
Poison gas
Armored Tank
Large artillery
Killed greater numbers of people
more effectively
World War I Machine Gun
British Victims of Poison Gas
Early Gas Mask
Armored Tank
Battle on the Eastern Front
Stretch of battlefield along the
German and French border
Russians and Serbs fought
Germans and Austro-Hungarians
The Eastern Front
Russia Struggles
By 1916, Russia’s effort was near
collapse
Russia had yet fully industrialized
Army was short of food, clothes,
boots and blankets
Allied supply shipments were
limited
Russia Struggles
Russia’s only asset was it
numbers
Suffered enormous numbers of
battles losses
Could use enormous population
to regroup
Section 3
War Affects the World
The Gallipoli Campaign
The Allies wanted to secure a
region of the Ottoman Empire
The Dardanelle
By securing this area, the Allies
could take Constantinople, defeat
the Turks, and establish a supply
line to Russia
The Gallipoli Campaign
Campaign began in February
1915
Turned into another stalemate
Allies gave up the campaign and
began to evacuate
Suffered 250,000 casualties
Battles in Asia and Africa
Germany’s colonial possessions
came under assault
Japanese troops invaded China
English and French invaded Africa
British and French recruited
subjects in their colonies to fight
America Joins the Fight
Germans announced a policy
called unrestricted submarine
warfare
Would sink without warning any
ship around Great Britain
America Joins the Fight
Sunk the British passenger ship,
The Lusitania
Killed 128 American citizens
President Wilson sent a protest to
Germany
Germany had agreed to not attack
neutral and passenger ships
America Joins the Fight
Returned to unrestricted
submarine warfare in 1917
Knew it might lead to war with
the U.S.
Germany sank three American
ships
America Joins the Fight
Intercepted telegram from Arthur
Zimmerman, German foreign
secretary
Germany would help Mexico gain
the land it has lost to the U.S. if
Mexico would ally with Germany
America Joins the Fight
The Zimmerman note was the
last straw
President Woodrow Wilson asked
Congress to declare war on
Germany
U.S. joined the Allies
War Affects the Home Front
WWI was a total war
Countries devoted all their
resources to the war effort
Government took control of the
economy
Told factories what to produce
War Affects the Home Front
All able bodies people were put
to work
Goods were in short supply
Rationing: people could buy only
a small amount of those items
needed for the war effort
War Affects the Home Front
Suppressed anti war activity
Used propaganda: one sided
information designed to persuade
or keep up moral and support for
the war
Women and the War
Thousands of women replaced
men in the factories, offices and
shops
Built tanks and ammunition
Plowed fields, paved streets
Kept the troops well supplied
Russia Withdraws
March 1917, Czar Nicholas is
forced to resign
Replaced by a provisional
government
Pledge to continue fighting in
the war
Russia Withdraws
November 1917 – Lenin seizes
power in Russia
Insists on ending Russia’s
involvement in the war
Signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,
which ends the war between
Russia and Germany
The Central Powers Collapse
Germany could now concentrate
on the Western Front
Mounted a massive attack and
victory seemed within reach
The Allies launch a counterattack
The Allies began heading toward
Germany
The Central Powers Collapse
Bulgarians and the Turks
surrendered
Revolution occurred in Austria
Hungary
The German soldiers mutinied,
and the public turned on the
Kaiser
The Central Powers Collapse
November 9, 1918 – Kaiser
Wilhelm II stepped down
Germany declared itself a
republic
Signed an armistice: an
agreement to stop fighting
November 11, WWI ends
Legacy of the war
New kind of war
War on a global scale
8.5 million soldiers died
21 million were wounded
Countless civilians dead
Legacy of the war
Devastating economic impact
Trained the treasuries of
countries
War cost $338 billion
Destroyed land, villages and
towns
Section 4
A Flawed Peace
Allies Meet and Debate
January 1919, a conference to
establish the terms of peace
began at Versailles
The major decisions were made
by the Big Four – U.S., Great
Britain, France and Italy
Germany and Russia were not
invited
Wilson’s Peace Plan
President Wilson drew up a series
of peace proposals
Fourteen Points
Outlined a plan for just and
lasting peace
Points 1-5
End of secret treaties
Freedom of the seas
Free trade
Reduced armies and navies
Adjustment of colonial claims
Points 6-13
Specific suggestions for changing
borders and creating new nations
Self determination: allowing
people to decide for themselves
under what government they
wished to live
14th Point
Proposed a general association of
nations
Would protect great and small
states alike
Could peacefully negotiate
solutions to world conflicts
The Versailles Treaty
Between Germany and the Allied
nations
Signed June 28, 1919
Created a League of Nations
International association whose
goal would be to keep peace
among nations
The Versailles Treaty
Treaty also punished Germany
Lost substantial territory
Restrictions placed on military
Article 231: War guilt clause
Germany is solely responsible
Pay reparations to the Allies
Other Treaties
Western powers signed separate
treaties with Austria Hungary,
Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria
Led to huge land losses
Several new countries were
formed
Russia after the war
Suffered land losses
Romania and Poland gained
Russian territory
Many new independent nations
formed
A Peace Built on Quicksand
Treaty did little to build lasting
peace
U.S. rejected the treaty
Many Americans objected to the
League of Nations
Wanted to stay out of European
affairs
A Peace Built on Quicksand
Left a legacy of bitterness in the
German people
Other countries felt cheated with
the peace settlement
Colonized people were angry with
the disregard of the
independence
A Peace Built on Quicksand
Some Allies were bitter as well
Italy and Japan both gained less
land than they had wanted
The League of Nations was in no
position to take action on any of
these complaints