Download Ch_7World War I post - Hialeah Senior High School

General Information…
•Called the “Great War” or
“The War to end all Wars”
• Started on July 28, 1914
• Ended on November 11, 1918
• Almost 8,000,000 dead.
*** Russia the most = 1.7 million
• Almost 22,000,000 wounded…..
• Map of Europe greatly changed.
Reasons for start of war…
“main causes of World war I”
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Militarism
Building up armed forces to
prepare for war.
Building up armies, navies, and
other armed forces. It also meant
using them as a tool for
negotiation with other countries.
Alliance System
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• Two Main Groups
Allies-France, Great
Britain, and Russia
(later joined by the
U.S.) and Italy, Serbia
Empires were expensive to build
and defend. The growth of
nationalism and imperialism led to
increase military spending.
Germany built a strong navy to
rival Britain’s
Germany enlarged, bought latest
weapons.
Britain, France, and Russia
began to prepare, too.
Some countries in Europe
had made treaties
promising to defend each
other.
Central PowersGermany, AustriaHungary, and Ottoman
Empire, Bulgaria
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PROBLEM? One event
could drag all countries
involved into a conflict.
Reasons for start of war…
“main causes of World war I”
Imperialism
Nationalism
• The policy in which stronger
nations take over weaker
ones.
• A devotion to the
interests and culture of
one’s nation
• Countries tried to increase
the power and influence
around the world. This led
to conflicts among them.
• This led to competition
and rivalries among
nations.
• Late 1800s: Britain and
France already had large
empires.
• Various ethnic groups
resented domination by
others and longed for
their nations to become
independent.
• German emperor, Kaiser
Wilhelm II, wanted colonies
for Germany.
• Many ethnic groups
looked to larger nations
for protection.
The spark that lit
the fuse….
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The one event that started the Great War happened in the Balkans.
The Archduke Franz Ferdinand who had been the heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary was assassinated while visiting Serbia.
Gavrilo Princip stepped from the crowd and shot the Archduke and his
wife Sophie. He was a member of the Black Hand.
Austria-Hungary declared war against Serbia. Germany obligated by
treaty to support Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia and France.
After Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war on Germany and
Austria-Hungary. The Great War had begun.
The Black Hand..
• A military secret
society. The main
objective of the Black
Hand was the creation,
by means of violence, of
a Greater Serbia.
• Its stated aim was: "To
realize the national
ideal, the unification of
all Serbs. This
organization prefers
terrorist action to
cultural activities; it will
therefore remain
secret."
German Emperor
Kaiser Wilhelm II
“You will be
home before
the leaves
have fallen
from the
trees!!”
The Fighting Starts
Where did the fighting begin?
• Germany began invading Belgium. It planned to overrun France
and then to attack Russia.
• The British and French could not save Belgium but did manage
to stop Germany’s advance.
• By spring 1915, two lines of deep trenches had developed in
France. The Germans occupied one line the Allies occupied
the other line.
• Between the two lines lay “no man’s land”a barren expanse
of mud pockmarked with shell craters and filled with barbed
wire.
• The soldiers would climb out of their trenches and try to
overrun enemy lines. They did this while facing machinegun
fire and poison gas.
Schlieffen Plan-Go through
Belgium in order to get to
Paris
How did Americans feel?
• Public opinion about the war was strong but
divided.
• Socialists saw the war as a imperialist struggle.
• Pacifists believed that all wars were bad and
urged U.S. to set an example for peace.
• Many naturalized U.S. citizens still had ties to
the countries they came from and would
sympathized with them.
The United States Stays Neutral
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Americans thought of World War I as a European conflict with little effect on their
country.
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Just after the war broke out, President Wilson declared that the U.S. would stay
neutral.
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Wilson’s decision reflected the U.S.’s longstanding policy of isolationism, or not
being involved in foreign affairs.
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Privately, Wilson favored the Allied cause because Germany's tactics and invasion of
Belgium was worrisome.
– The U.S. also had greater political, cultural, and commercial ties to Great Britain
and France than to Germany.
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Financially, the U.S. did more business with the Allies.
– The British fleet blockaded German ports and transportation routes, and few
American businesses could sell goods to German forces.
– Doing business with the Allies was easier, and by 1917 Britain purchased nearly
$75 million worth of war goods each week.
The War Hits Home
How did the war affect Americans?
The British Blockade
• The War affected American shipping
• Great Britain set up a blockage along the
German coast to keep goods from getting
through. American ships would not challenge.
• The German plan for unrestricted submarine
warfare angered Americans, and Wilson
believed it violated the laws of neutrality.
• Wilson held Germany accountable for
American losses.
German U-Boat Response
• Germany suffered because of the British
blockade, so it developed small submarines
called U-boats to strike back at the British.
• U-boats are named after the German for
“undersea boat.”
• In February 1915 the German government
declared the waters around Great Britain a
war zone, threatening to destroy all enemy
ships.
• Germany warned the U.S. that neutral ships
might be attacked.
America’s Involvement
• In 1915, Germany sank a luxury passenger
ship to Great Britain called the Lusitania,
killing many, including 128 Americans
• Americans were outraged, and Wilson
demanded an end to unrestricted submarine
warfare.
• The Germans agreed to attack only supply
ships but later sank the French passenger ship
Sussex, killing 80 people including
Americans.
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The U.S. Declares War
Why did the U.S. join the war?
Wilson promised not to go to war, and after his re-election in 1916 he
began to work for a settlement of “peace without victory.
1.
German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann sent a
telegram to a German official in Mexico proposing an
alliance between Germany and Mexico against the U.S.
The Zimmermann Note asked for Mexico’s help in
exchange for its lost Southwest territory
(Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona).
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The Mexicans declined, but the British decoded the note, and
Americans called for war.
Germany announced it would sink “all” ships in British waters.
Germans ignored Wilson’s calls for peace.
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2.
The submarine warfare, the sinking of ships and the
killing of Americans, and Wilson’s cabinet convinced
him to declare war, which Congress approved.
On April 6, 1917, the United States joined the Allies. Now they
needed to raise an army, train them, and ship supplies and troops.
The End