Download Impact of War

The Great War
or
The War to End All Wars
1914 - 1918
Causes of World War I
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Militarism:
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Alliances:
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The arms race.
Secret military pacts
Imperialism among European
Nations
Nationalism:

Idea that the Nation is more important
Loss
Germany
 Russia
 France
 Britain
 United States

2 million
1.7 million
1.4 million
.9 million
112,000 (half due to
flu)
The spark that started WWI
The assassination of
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne,
in Sarajevo on 28 June
1914.
 Ferdinand's death at the
hands of a Serbian
nationalist, set in motion
a series of events that
culminated in the world's
first global war.
US Foreign Trade
1914
1915
1916
Allied
Powers
800 Million
2 Billion
3 Billion
Central
Powers
170 Million
12 Million
1 Million
Neutral
Powers
190 Million
300 Million
300 Million
Central Powers
Germany: the leading
power on the
Continent.
 Austria-Hungary: was
not a nation of one
people, but an empire
of many nationalities.
 Ottoman Empire
(Turkey)

Allied Powers
FRANCE:
France was waiting for the chance to reestablish its power on the
continent.
Great Britain/UK:
Germany was a threat to industrial strength, as well as to Britain's
naval power.
Russia:
Russia felt a need to prove its strength to the other nations of
Europe. Leaves the Allies in 1917 after the Russian Revolution.
Japan: in 1914
Italy joins the Allies after removing itself from her alliance with
Germany
United States would join the Allied Powers in 1917.
US Enters the War
1915:
 German Submarine
Warfare
 Germany sinks the
British Liner Lusitania
 Germany puts in
Submarine rules of
war
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1916:
February 25,
Zimmerman Telegram
Unrestricted
Submarine Warfare
1917:
America enters the
war
German U-Boots
Unrestricted Warfare
German U-Boot
Unterseeboot
Lusitania sunk 1915
Causes for US to Enter War
US involvement: Zimmerman Telegram
Weapons of World War I
Chemical Weapons

Germany, which released
chlorine gas in 1915.
Chlorine killed or maimed
its victims by burning the
lungs; it also caused
panic among soldiers.

Both sides used Chemical
Weapons.

Mustard gas (actually a
liquid) was introduced by
the Germans in 1917.
Chemical Weapons
Although the chemical
poisons killed tens of
thousands of soldiers,
they were of little
military consequence.
 Because they often
drifted back toward
the perpetrators.

Chlorine and Mustard Gas
Reality of Trench War
After a Bombardment
Casualty Rates
Airplanes
U.S. Scout Plane
British Bomber Plane
Tanks
By the time the war
drew to a close the
British and French
had produced and
used over 6,000
tanks.
 The Germans, never
convinced of its
merits, produced just
20.

Early Tanks
Submarines
World War I
The American and French Leaders
The American Homefront
War Industries Board
Organized industry to increase efficiency,
maximizing production
Railroad Administration
Assumed temporary control of rail lines to
modernize equipment and increase
operating efficiency
Food Administration
Supervised agricultural production,
promoted food conservation and rationing
Fuel Administration
Increased production of coal and oil;
maintained conservation of fuel with such
innovations as daylight savings time
National War Labor Board
Maintained cooperation between industry
management and labor unions; acted as
mediator to prevent and quickly settle
disputes
Committee on Public
Information
Provided propaganda to rally citizen
support of all aspects of the war effort
Wilson’s Goals for the War
Wilson had three central goals:
 1. protect free trade (freedom of the
seas);
 2. promote democracy,
 3. command a seat at the table in order to
direct the terms of peace.

America Before the War
SGT Alvin York

Practically unassisted
he captured 132
Germans, thirty-five
machine guns, and
killed no less than
twenty-five of the
enemy. Most
decorated American
in WWI.
CPT Eddie Rickenbacker

Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker
shot down 26 enemy
aircraft in World War I
and earned the Medal of
Honor for his actions. His
feats and others, ushered
in an era of air-to-air
combat that changed the
role of aircraft in military
operations forever.
Baron Von Richthofen
(The Red Baron)

The Red Baron was one
of those heroes whose
life seems almost
scripted. Discipline, pride,
hunting skills, and
patriotism all combined in
this man, bringing him to
the pinnacle of fame
which long outlasted the
man himself. The Red
Baron methodically
claiming 80 aerial
victories, before falling
himself, in April 21, 1918.
Cpl Carl Berggren of New Sweden,
Texas
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117th Motor Supply Train, First Army A.E.F.
Left the United States on Aug 22nd, 1918
Aug. 26, 1918 – missed three submarine attacks
Was part of a unit to deliver gas to main front
At 11am on Nov 11, 1919 the last guns were
fired
Cpl Carl Berggren
Truck Corp
Time for Meals: In Camp and the
Field
The American Homefront
The government encouraged civilians to conserve wool and certain foods
so that soldiers in Europe would have what they needed.
After the War
Peace (Versailles)
Clemenceau
Orlando
The
Big
Four
Wilson
Lloyd-George
Fourteen Points
 Plan for peace designed by Wilson
 Presented to U.S. Congress in January
of 1918
 Supported idea of self-determination
 Encouraged open trade, adjustment of
borders based upon native (ethnic)
populations
 Proposed a League of Nations
Versailles Treaty
 Laid blame of war on Germany
 Forbade Germany a military
 $33 billion restitution
League of Nations
 Plan for League of Nations belonged to
President Wilson
 Ratified by the Allied leaders at Versailles
 U.S. Senate rejected the treaty because of the
League
 Replaced in 1946 with United Nations
 Purpose- oversee world affairs
 Prevent future wars
 Permanent membership for U.S., Britain, Italy,
France, and Japan
Impact of War
 Economic recession and depression
 Increased cost of living
 Increased membership in unions
 Worker’s strikes
 Seattle General Strike (1919)
 Boston Police Strike –National Guard called in
 Steel Strike (1920)
 Rising unemployment
 Returning soldiers
 Causes racial tensions because of Great Migration
 Race riots in Houston, Philadelphia, and East St. Louis
Impact of War
 Russia becomes communist after Bolshevik revolution
(1917)
 Revolution pulled Russia out of war early
 Cause of “Red Scare” in U.S.
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Fear of communist revolution
Mail bombs sent to leading politicians and industrial giants
Associated with workers’ strikes
Formation of the F.B.I. and the Palmer raids
 Palmer raids- private homes of suspected Communist sympathizers
sacked and searched
 Ended in deportation of many suspected
 Civil liberties violated
 Denied legal council
 Held without charge
Impact of War
 Greater political freedoms for women
 Nineteenth Amendment ratified in 1920