Download The Great War

The Great War
1914 - 1918
The Pursuit of Peace
 By 1914 Europe had enjoyed a century of
relative peace
 The support of Pacifism – opposition to
all war
 1899 the first Universal Peace
Conference
 Hague Tribunal – World Court to settle
disputes between nations
Marching Toward War
 What was occurring in Europe that led to
a rise in tensions?
Causes of WWI
 Nationalism- a deep devotion to one’s
country
 Imperialism- a policy in which a strong
nation seeks to dominate other countries
politically, economically, or socially
 Militarism- a policy of glorifying military
power and keeping a standing army always
ready for war.
Rivalries Among European
Powers
Economic Rivalries
 Britain is threatened
by Germany’s rapid
economic growth
Imperialism Causes
Rivalries
 France and Germany
compete for colonies
i.e. Morocco
Militarism and the Arms
Race
 Militarism is the glorification of the
military
 The “Great Powers” expanded their
armies and navies
 Fierce competition in the “arms race”
 Military leaders became important figures
Causes of WWI (cont.)
 Bismarck sees France
as the greatest threat to
peace in Europe and
thought the French
wanted revenge for their
defeat in the FrancoPrussian War.
 What land did the
French lose in the
Franco-Prussian War?
Alsace and Lorraine
Otto von Bismarck
 Chancellor of Prussia
 Goal was to isolate
France to maintain
peace.
 In 1879 Bismark formed
the Dual Alliance
between Germany and
Austria Hungary.
 1881 made a treaty with
Russia
Causes of WWI (cont.)
 Kaiser Wilhelm forces Bismarck to resign
 allows treaty with Russia to lapse
 in return Russia forms an alliance with
France
 Wilhelm begins a tremendous shipbuilding
program and in return Britain forms an
alliance with France
Tangled alliances
 Triple Alliance
 Germany
 AustriaHungary
 Italy
 Triple Entente
 Great Britain
 Russia
 France
Crisis in the Balkans
 What is happening in this region
that adds to the tensions in
Europe?
Crisis in the Balkans
 Nationalism leads people to demand
independence
 Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia and
Herzegovina
 Bosnia was home to many Slavic people
 Serbians were furious at the takeover
Crisis in the Balkans
(cont.)
 Archduke Ferdinand
assassinated along with his
wife Sophie
 June 28th, 1914
 Ferdinand and his wife
Sophie visit Sarejevo –
Capital of Bosnia
 Shot was point blank
range.
 Killer Gavrilo Princip
 19 year old Serbian
 Member of the Black Hand
(Serbian terrorist group)
The Assassin:
Gavrilo
Princip
A Harsh Ultimatum
 Austria sent Serbia an ultimatum - a final
set of demands
 End all anti-Austrian agitation
 Punish any Serbian official involved in the
assassination
 Austria must join the investigation
 Serbia only partly agreed – July 28th
1914 Austria declared war on Serbia
The Great War Begins
 Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia
 This leads to a domino effect.
 Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary
 Germany declares war on Russia and
France
 Great Britain declares war on Germany
Nations Take Sides
Central Powers:
Allied Powers:
 Germany
 Austria-Hungary
 Ottoman Empire
 Great Britain
 France
 Russia
 Italy
20
The Two Fronts
 Western Front- Region in northern
France where the Allies and Central
powers battled each other.
 Eastern Front- Region along the GermanRussian border where Russians and Serbs
battled Germans, Austrians, and Turks.
German Problem: A Two
Front War
 German officials did not want to fight a
two front war
 Eastern Front vs. Russia
 Western Front vs. France
 What to do?
Schlieffen Plan
 Germany would have to defeat France quickly
then fight Russia
 Germany would have to march through
Belgium – 8/3/1914
 This causes Britain to declare war on
Germany
 Germany’s defeat at the Battle of the Marne
destroyed the Plan
 Why was this Germany’s battle strategy?
Battle on the Eastern
Front
 Russians launch initial attack on both
Germans and Austrians.
 In the end Germans counter and crush the
Russians, and the Austrians push the
Russians out.
 How did Russia’s lack of industrialization
affect its war efforts?
Trench Warfare
 Trench warfare was a form of warfare in
which both combatants occupied static
fortified fighting lines, consisting largely
of trenches, in which troops were largely
immune to the enemy's small arms fire
and were substantially sheltered
from artillery.
In the Trenches
 Warring armies burrowed into a vast
system of trenches
 Rats, lice and heat became major
problems
 “Over the top” orders were given and
soldiers would leave their trenches and
rush toward enemy lines
In the Trenches
In the
Trenches
Trench foot
 Many soldiers fighting in WWI suffered
from trench foot
 This was an infection of the feet caused by
cold, wet and unsanitary conditions.
 If untreated, trench foot could turn
gangrenous and result in amputation.
 20,000+ men in the British Army were
treated for trench foot in one year!!
Trench
Foot
Trench Foot Info..
 The only remedy for trench foot was
for the soldiers to dry their feet and
change their socks several times a
day.
 British soldiers were under orders to
change their socks at least twice a day
WWI Weapons
 Name some weapons used in WWI
 Explain how theses new weapons added
to WWI deaths
Technology in Modern
Warfare
 World War I was very devastating
due to new technology




Rapid fire machine guns
Poison gas
The Tank
Submarines
Poison
Gas
"Our men were swallowed up by the mysterious cloud. At
the same time, I felt its effect on my breathing. It burned in
my throat. I felt a pain in my chest and could barely
breathe any longer. I spit up blood and became dizzy. I
thought I was lost."
The Airplane
 Airplanes were
primitive
 Had only 1- 2 seats
 With machine gun
 Mostly used for
reconnaissance
 “Dog Fights”
 Air combat between
planes
Automatic Machine Gun
 Usually 2-man
teams
 Provided a
continuous stream
of bullets
 This weapon was
the main reason for
the war settling into
a STALEMATE
Submarine
 German “U-Boats”
 To sink merchant ships
 Unrestricted
Submarine Warfare
 Made the oceans unsafe
for all
 Allied response –
convoys
 Small groups of
merchant ships
protected by warships
Zeppelins
 Gas filled balloons
used by the
Germans to bomb
the English coast
 They were able to
carry a much
heavier load than
airplanes
The
Tank
 Developed to end
Trench Warfare
 Used a mounted
machine gun
 Ran by a 8 man
crew
A Global Conflict
Map of the World showing the Participants in World War I
Green: Allies (some entered the war or dropped out later)
Orange: Central Powers
Grey: Neutral Countries
War affects the world
 World War I was much more than a
European conflict
 Fighting took place outside of Europe
 Every continent (except Antarctica) was
involved






Europe
Asia
Africa
South America
Australia
North America
Brazil
 The only South
American country to
enter the war.
 They assist the Allies
in the naval war in
the Atlantic Ocean
 Send troops to the
Western front.
Africa
Japan
 Declared war on
Germany in 1914
 Seized German
colonies in China
and the Pacific.
 Secured sea lanes
in the South Pacific
Australia and New Zealand
 Both countries fight
on the Allied side
 Contribute a
significant amount of
troops to the
campaign in Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign
Aim of the Gallipoli
Campaign
 Attack and defeat the
Ottoman Empire via
the Dardanelles, a
narrow sea straight
that was the gateway
to the Ottoman
capital.
 Establish a supply
line to Russia.
Gallipoli Campaign
 Effort to take the
region took place in
1915.
 Allies including
Australia, New
Zealand (ANZAC),
British, and French
forces battled
Turkish troops
 Another bloody
stalemate- 250,000
casualties on Allied
side
America joins the fight
 Germany seeks to control the Atlantic
Ocean.
 Their aim is to cut off supplies to Britain, and
slowly starve them
 Begin to use unrestricted submarine
warfare
 Sink British ships without warning
Sinking of the Lusitania
 German submarine sinks the Lusitania, a
British passenger ship
 This angers the U.S. as Americans were
on board
 Germany decides to end submarine
warfare in 1915, but resumes it again in
1917.
The Zimmerman Note
Zimmerman note
 Telegram from Germany to Mexico
 Germany asks Mexico to join the fight on
their side
 In return Mexico would regain the lands they
had lost to the U.S.
War affects the home front
 Governments begin to:
 wage total war- nations devote all resources
to war
 Ration goods- people could only buy small
amounts of items needed for the war
 Use propaganda- one sided information
designed to keep up morale and support for
the war.
Propaganda
Anti-German propaganda
Rationing propaganda
War bond propaganda
Propaganda for women
Enlistment propaganda
Impact on Women
 Women took over
jobs
 Manufactured
weapons and
supplies
 Nurses worked on
the “front lines”
 Helped women’s
rights
The Allies win the war
 Russia withdraws in 1917
 Communist leader Vladimir Lenin seizes
power
- offers Germany a truce called the Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk, ending the war between
them
The Central powers
collapse
 Germany sends all of its forces to the
Western Front, victory seems close
 Americans send 2 million more troops
 Advance toward Germany
 Central Powers begin to crumble. Bulgarians
and Ottoman Turks surrender
End of the war
 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm steps down
 Germany is declared a republic
 French and German representatives
meet and sign an armistice - an
agreement to stop fighting
Legacy of the war
 8.5 Million soldiers
dead
 Death of countless
civilians by disease,
starvations, and
slaughter
 War devastates
economy of
European countries
A Flawed Peace
German cartoon: Versailles sends Germany to the guillotine.
The Allies meet
 The Big Four:
 Woodrow WilsonUnited States
 David Llyod GeorgeBritain
 Vittorio Orlando- Italy
 George
Clemenceau- France
Wilson’s 14 Points

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

End to secret treaties
Freedom of the seas and free trade
Reduced national armies and navies
Adjustment of colonial claims with
fairness toward colonial peoples
 Creation of new nations
 Self determination- allowing people to
decide for themselves under which
government they wished to live
Treaty of Versailles
 Adopting Wilson’s 14th point, the treaty
created the League of Nations- an
international association whose goal
was to keep peace among nations
 Germany punished harshly
 Lose territory
 Severe restrictions on military
 “war guilt” clause- places sole
responsibility of the war on Germany.
Germany was forced to pay war reparations.
New nations form
 New nations emerged where Ottoman and Austrian
empires stood
 Austrian Empire
 Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Austria and
Hungary
 Ottoman Empire
 Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and Lebanon
 Russia lost land as well
 Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia
 Poland established from Russia and Germany
Treaty causes trouble
 Countries felt cheated by treaty
 African and Asian territories were not
granted independence
 Italy and Japan gain less than what they
had wanted
 War guilt clause left a bitterness in
German people