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WWI
The Stage is set for
war
Nationalism
• One force at work that would propel
Europe into war was nationalism or
deep devotion to one’s nation. By the
turn of the 20th century, a fierce rivalry
had developed between Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Russia,
Italy, and France.
Nationalism
• This rivalry stemmed from
competition for materials and
markets.
• Germany had the fastest growing
economy because of their new
industries. Germany and Great
Britain were now competing for
industrial dominance.
Imperialism
 Another force that helped set the stage
for war in Europe was imperialism. The
nations of Europe competed for colonies
in Africa and Asia. As they continued to
compete for overseas empires, their
sense of rivalry and mistrust of one
another deepened.
Militarism
• Increasing nationalism led to an
arms race. The policy of
glorifying military power and
keeping an army prepared for
war was known as militarism.
Tangled Alliance
Growing international rivalries had led to
the creation of several military alliances
among the Great Powers as early as the
1870s.
Prussia’s chancellor Bismarck saw France
as the greatest threat to peace so he tried
to isolate them.
Tangled Alliance
• In 1879, Bismarck formed the Dual
Alliance between Germany and AustriaHungary. Three years later, Italy joined the
two countries forming the Triple Alliance.
Tangled Alliance
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Kaiser Wilhelm II became ruler of Germany and
forced Bismarck to resign. He was eager to show
the world how mighty Germany had become. He
let his treaty with Russia lapse in 1890 and
Russia responded by forming a defensive military
alliance with France.
Wilhelm also built a large navy, which threatened
Great Britain. In 1904, Britain formed an entente,
or alliance, with France. In 1907, Britain made
another entente with both France and Russia
called the Triple Entente.
Triple Entente
The Balkans
• New Countries formed from nationalism including
Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia.
The Balkans
• Russia and Austria-Hungary were in direct conflict
over Serbia. Russia was mostly a Slavic nation, like
Serbia, and supported Serbian nationalism. Austria
feared rebellion from its Slavic population. In 1908,
Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, which both
had large Slavic populations. Serbian leaders were
outraged and Russia offered support, but they were
unprepared for war. Germany backed Austria and
Russia backed down.
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
• The heir to the
Austrian throne was
Archduke Ferdinand.
Him and his wife were
shot as they rode
through the streets of
Sarajevo. The killer
was 19 year old
Gavrilo Princip.
A Shot Rings Throughout
Europe
• Since the assassin was a Serbian,
Austria decided to punish Serbia.
Germany supported Austria.
• Austria gave Serbia a list of demands,
which the Serbians accepted most of
them. They wanted the rest of the
demands to be settled by an
international conference. Austria
rejected the offer and declared war.
Russia backed Serbia.
The Schlieffen Plan
• Under the Schlieffen plan, a large part of the
German army would race west to defeat the
French, and then return to the east to fight
the Russians.
The Schlieffen Plan
• Germany demanded that its troops be allowed to pass
through Belgium on their way to France since the French
had left that border unprotected. Belgium refused,
Germany invaded, bringing Great Britain into the conflict.
European Nations take Sides
Germany and Austria-Hungary were
known as the Central Powers and were
later joined by Bulgaria and the Ottoman
Empire.
 Great Britain, France, and Russia made up
the Allies and were later joined by Italy,
Japan, and the U.S.

Western Front
• By the end of August,
the Germans had
overrun Belgium and
swept into France. On
September 5, the Allies
attacked the Germans
northeast of Paris.
After four days, the
German Generals gave
the order to retreat.
Western Front
• The First Battle of
the Marne was
perhaps the single
most important
event of the war.
A quick victory in
the West was no
longer possible.
Germany would
now have to fight a
long war on two
fronts.
The Trenches
• By early 1915, opposing armies on the
Western Front had dug trenches to protect
themselves. This became known as trench
warfare. Armies traded huge losses for small
land gains.
Trench Warfare
• Military strategists were at a
loss. All this new technology
did was kill huge numbers of
people more effectively.
Trench Warfare
• It reached a peak in 1916. Germans launched
a massive attack against the French at
Verdun. Both sides lost more than 300,000
men. The British tried to relieve the
pressure from the French and attacked the
Germans northwest of the Verdun. By the
end of the Battle of the Somme, each side
had suffered over 500,000 casualties.
Eastern Front
In the Eastern Front, a battlefield along the
German and Russian border, was a more
mobile war than that in the west.
Russia had launched attacks into both
Germany and Austria. They were
defeated in Germany quickly. Eventually,
with the help of the Germans, Austria
defeated the Russians.
Eastern Front
 By 1916, Russia’s war effort was near
collapse. Because Russia had not yet
industrialized, they were in constant
shortages of supplies and food. The Central
Powers set up blockades to prevent the
Allies from shipping supplies
 Russia’s greatest asset was its population.
More than 2 million Russian soldiers were
killed, wounded, or captured in 1915 alone.
And yet the army was able to rebuild itself.
 This was important because it forced
Germany to fight on two fronts.
Gallipoli Campaign
• As the war dragged on, Allies searched for a way to end the
stalemate. A promising strategy was to attack the
Dardanelles to gain the gateway to the Ottoman capital,
Constantinople. This would allow them to establish supply
lines to Russia. This became known as the Gallipoli
campaign.
Gallipoli Campaign
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By May, Gallipoli had turned to a stalemate,
which the Allies gave up on in December.
Determined to topple the Ottoman Empire,
British helped nationalists rise up against
their Turkish rulers. Allied armies took
control of Baghdad, Jerusalem, and
Damascus.
WWI
• The Japanese took control of
the German outposts in China
and Germany’s Pacific Island
colonies.
• English and French seized three
of four of Germany’s African
colonies.
United States
• Germany decided to establish a blockade
around Britain. In 1917, the Germans
announced they would sink without warning
any ship in the waters around Britain
United States
• The Germans knew that
this might lead to war
with the United States.
They gambled that
their blockade would
starve Britain before
the U.S. could mobilize.
They sank three
American ships.
United States
• The British intercepted a telegram
from Germany’s foreign secretary,
Zimmermann, to the German
ambassador in Mexico. The
message said that Germany would
help Mexico re-conquer the land it
had lost to the U.S. in exchange for
being a German ally. When the
Zimmermann note was made public,
the U.S. called for war against
Germany
Russia Withdraws
• By 1917, nearly 5.5 million
Russian soldiers had been
wounded, killed, or taken
prisoner and the war-weary
Russian army refused to fight.
• Lenin came to power in Russia.
He offered Germany a truce
and March 1918, Germany and
Russia signed a treaty, which
ended the war between them.
Allied Victory
• In March 1918, the
Germans mounted one
final, massive attack in
France. At first, the
Germans crushed
anything in their way
and again reached the
Marne River, less than
40 miles outside of
Paris.
Allied Victory
• The Allies counterattacked the exhausted German
troops with 140,000 fresh American troops. In July
1918, the Allies and Germans clashed at the Second
Battle of the Marne. With 2 million more fresh
Americans, Allied forces began to advance on
Germany. The Central Powers began to crumble.
Allied Victory
• Final on November 11, 1918,
World War I came to an end.
Treaty of Versailles

President Wilson had drawn up a series of
proposals known as the Fourteen Points.
– The first 5 points were to end secret treaties,
freedom of the seas, free trade, and reduce
national armies and navies.
– 6 through 13 were specific suggestions for
changing borders and creating new nations.
The guiding idea behind these points was self
determination which meant a nation was to
determine how they wanted to be governed.
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
• The treaty between the
Allied powers and
Germany signed on
June 28, 1919, was
called the Treaty of
Versailles.
• Adopting Wilson’s 14th
point, the treaty called
the League of Nations
that would keep
international peace.
Treaty of Versailles
• The treaty also punished Germany. The
defeated nation lost territory and had
restrictions placed on its military. It also
placed sole responsibility for the war on
Germany and they were forced to pay
reparations to the Allies.
Treaty of Versailles
 In the end, the Treaty of Versailles did little for a lasting
peace. There are several reasons why:
1. U.S. rejected the treaty.
2. The war-guilt clause left a legacy of bitterness and
hatred in the hearts of the Germans.
3. Throughout Africa and Asia, people in the mandated
territories were angry at the way the Allies disregarded
their desire for independence.
4. Both Japan and Italy, who fought with the Allies, had
gained less territory than they wanted.
Legacy of the War
• About 8.5 million died as a result of the
war and another 21 million wounded. An
entire generation of Europeans wiped out.
• One account put the total cost of the war
at 338 billion.