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World War I
Chapter 23
Chapter 23 Section 1
pp. 666-670
Did You Know?
• Founder and first chancellor of the
German Empire, Otto von Bismarck,
predicted that the start of a great war
would occur because of some “ foolish
thing in the Balkans.” Bismarck’s
prediction came true when Archduke
Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a
Serbian nationalist, starting World War I.
Troubles in Europe
Tensions in Europe grew as European
nations pursued dreams of empires, built
up their armies, and formed alliances.
Troubles in Europe
Nationalism, or a feeling of intense
loyalty to one’s country or group, was a
cause of much tension.
•It encouraged new nations to unify and
establish their place in the world.
•It also encouraged certain ethnic
groups to break away and form
independent nations of their own.
Troubles in Europe
Imperial expansion added to the tension.
Nations looked to expand their empires,
settling colonies that brought raw
materials, new markets, and prestige.
Troubles in Europe
•Great Britain and France already had
large overseas empires in Africa, Asia,
and other parts of the world.
•Germany, Italy, and Russia looked to
increase their colonies. Few areas were
left to colonize, however, so conflict
often occurred.
Troubles in Europe
Militarism, or building up a nation’s army
and navy, also created tension. As one
nation built up its military powers, rival
nations felt threatened and also built up
their military powers.
Troubles in Europe
•Germany, France and Russia had huge
armies in the early 1900s.
•A bitter rivalry that threatened peace
in Europe grew between Germany and
Great Britain. Britain had the world’s
largest and strongest navy and Germany
challenged it.
Troubles in Europe
The alliance system also contributed to
the tension in Europe. Two defense
alliances, or agreements among nations
to defend each other during a war,
aimed to keep peace by creating a
balance of power among the European
nations. However, this system actually
created a great danger because an
attack on one nation could trigger a war
with many nations.
Troubles in Europe
•Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
created the Triple Alliance.
•Great Britain, France, and Russia
created the Triple Entente.
Discussion Question
Explain how nationalism, imperialism,
militarism, and alliances resulted in
World War I.
Crisis in the Balkans
Attempts to unify the Slavic people in
the Balkans by the Slavic nationalists
created nationalist and ethnic rivalries.
Serbia, a nation bordering AustriaHungary, supported the Slavs and
opposed the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Crisis in the Balkans
In June 1914, the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to
the throne of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, destroyed the balance of power
in Europe. Within weeks, World War I
began in Europe.
Crisis in the Balkans
•Gavrilo Princip and other Serbian
nationalist plotted the assassination to
secure freedom from Austria-Hungary
and unify the Slavic peoples.
•The rulers of Austria-Hungary blamed
Serbia for the killing and moved to crush
the Serbian nationalist movement.
Crisis in the Balkans
As opposing nations declared war on one
another, the alliance system cause the
war to spread throughout Europe.
•Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
in July 1914, when Serbia refused to
honor conditions of an ultimatum.
Crisis in the Balkans
•Russia prepared for war because it had
agreed to protect Serbia.
•Germany, as Austria-Hungary’s ally, declared
war on Russia in August.
•Germany then declared war on France,
Russia’s ally.
•When Germany invaded neutral Belgium in
August, Great Britain declared war on
Germany to honor its pledge to protect
Belgium.
A World War Begins
The two sides in the war were the
Allies and the Central Powers.
•The Allies were Great Britain, France,
Russia, and later Japan and Italy.
•The Central Powers were Germany,
Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman
(Turkish) Empire.
A World War Begins
Germany wanted to sweep across
Belgium, France and then move east to
Russia. Britain and France were able to
mobilize their troops while the Belgians
held out against the Germans.
A World War Begins
Although the Germans defeated the
Belgians, the British and the French
stopped them at the Battle of the
Marne, fought in September 1914. They
saved Paris, boosted French morale,
and showed that neither side would
have a quick or easy victory.
A World War Begins
The fighting for the next three years
was mostly trench warfare. Frontline
trenches protected soldiers, and
support trenches behind the lines were
headquarters, first-aid stations, and
storage areas.
A World War Begins
Then the Germans and the French
launched offensives in 1916.
•The Battle of Verdun, a German
offensive in northern France from
February to December, was one of the
longest and bloodiest battles of the
war. More than 750,000 French and
German soldiers were killed.
A World War Begins
•The Battle of the Somme was a British
and French offensive in northern
France in July. It, too, saw many
causalities.
A World War Begins
New weapons such as improved cannons,
better rifles, poison gas, and the
armored tank caused the high rate of
causalities. The airplane enabled both
sides to watch from the skies for troop
movement and then bomb enemy
targets.
The Red Baron
A World War Begins
Both sides began fighting on the seas
because land armies were deadlocked.
Great Britain blockaded all ports under
German control, causing shortages of
food and supplies. Germany used Uboats, or submarines, to prevent
supplies from reaching Great Britain.
U-boat attacks eventually changed the
course of the war.
Discussion Question
How did advances in technology
influence warfare?
Chapter 23 Section 2
pp. 671-676
Did You Know?
• Although submarines played a new role in
World War I, they were not a new idea. In
1623, Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel,
hired by King James I of England, built
what might have been the first working
submarine. It was decked over a row boat
powered by 12 oarsmen. Drebbel’s
submarine made a submerged journey
down the Thames River at a depth of
about 15 feet.
American Neutrality
At the beginning of the war, President
Woodrow Wilson declared that the United
States would be neutral. However, people
soon chose sides, most siding with the Allies.
Many Americans were foreign-born or
children of immigrants, and they sided with
their countries of origin. Ties of language,
customs and traditions linked the United
States and Britain.
American Neutrality
President Wilson sympathized with the
Allies. Both sides used propaganda to
influence American opinion. Allied
propaganda was more effective than
propaganda for the Central Powers.
Propaganda
American Neutrality
America’s early involvement included trade
with both Germany and Britain. Because of
Britain’s blockade, the United States was
barred with trading with Germany but
continued to trade with Britain. Involvement
also included lending Britain and France
billions of dollars to help pay for their war
efforts. The United States experienced an
economic boom as a result. Germany was
angry because the United States, a neutral
nation, was helping the Allies.
American Neutrality
Germany used it U-boats to stop American
aid to Britain, ignoring President’s Wilson’s
warning that it would hold Germany
responsible for any American lives lost.
•In May 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed
the British passenger liner Lusitania. The
ship sank and more than 1,000 people died,
including 125 American citizens.
American Neutrality
Another attack occurred sever months later
when a German U-boat torpedoed an
unarmed French passenger ship, Sussex. The
resulting Sussex Pledge was a German
offering to compensate injured Americans.
The Pledge was also a promise to warn
neutral ships and passenger vessels before
attacking. It temporally resolved the issue
and kept America out of the war.
Discussion Question
What position did the United States take at
the beginning of World War I?
How could the actions of the U.S. contradict
American position?
The End of Neutrality
• In 1916, before the United States entered
the war, it strengthen its military.
Legislation doubled the size of the army
and provided money to build new
warships, even though President Wilson
hoped to stay out of the war and antiwar
sentiment was strong.
The End of Neutrality
• American neutrality ended when Germany
reversed its submarine-warfare policy. It
said it would sink all merchant vessels,
armed or unarmed, sailing to allied ports.
President Wilson broke off diplomatic
relations with Germany.
The End of Neutrality
• A new wave of anti-German feeling grew
when a secret telegram, the Zimmerman
note, was published. In February 1917,
German foreign minister Arthur
Zimmerman sent a telegram to Mexico
with an offer of financial support and
reclaimed territory of Texas, New Mexico,
and Arizona if Mexico invaded the U.S.
The End of Neutrality
• Other events occurred that convinced President
Wilson that the United States could no longer
stay neutral. The United States would join the
war on the side of the Allies.
• In 1917 a revolution in Russia toppled the
monarchy and replaced it with a temporary
government that promised free elections.
America believed that this new democratic
government would help the Allies to defeat
Germany.
The End of Neutrality
• In March 1917, Germans attacked and
sank four American ships.
• In April 1917, Wilson asked Congress for a
declaration of war against Germany.
Congress did not agree immediately. After
much debate, Congress came to the
conclusion that if the United States was
going to remain a great world power and
defend its rights war was necessary.
The End of Neutrality
• On April 6, 1917, President Wilson signed
the declaration of war.
The End of Neutrality
• In order to raise an army, Congress
passed the Selective Service Act on May
18, establishing a military draft. Men ages
21 to 30 registered. The draft age was
later extended to include men up to age
45. By the end of the war about 24 million
men had registered and about 3 million
had been called to service. About 2 million
men joined voluntarily.
The End of Neutrality
• Women also enlisted in the armed forces. They
served as non-combat workers operating radios,
and as clerks and nurses.
• Many African Americans were accepted into the
army and navy but not the marines. They faced
discrimination and racism. Many held low-level
jobs. Of the 140,000 sent to Europe, only 40,000
fought. Some received medals for bravery from
the French government, and one African
American soldier received the French Cross of
War, the highest medal bestowed from that
country.
Discussion Question
• What events brought the United States
into World War I?
Americans Join the Allies
Chapter 23 Section 3
pp. 677-682
Did You Know?
• The term home front came into use during
World War I, when the role of civilian
production in the United States became as
important to victory as the battles of the
war front in Europe.
Supplying the Allies
The American forces were greatly needed by
the Allies. The existing Allied army was tired
of fighting, and the British had started to un
out of war supplies and food. German
submarines were sinking one of every four
ships that left British ports.
Supplying the Allies
The United States navy took two steps to be
sure supplies reached Britain.
•It helped the British find and destroy
German submarines.
•Navy destroyers escorted groups of
merchant ships, or convoys, across the
Atlantic. The convoy system reduced Allied
shipping losses and protected ships bound for
Europe so that no American soldier was lost
to submarine attack.
Supplying the Allies
A second revolution in Russia caused Russia
to withdraw from the war in March 1918.
•In November 1917, the Bolsheviks, a group
of Communists led by Vladimir Lenin,
overthrew the democratic government.
•Lenin wanted to focus on setting up a new
communist state, so he took Russia out of the
war.
Supplying the Allies
•The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed with
Germany surrendered Poland, the Ukraine,
and other territory to the Germans. In
return Germany promised to end the war
with Russia.
Supplying the Allies
Germany now had a new offensive. It
transferred hundreds of thousands of troops
from Russia and the Eastern Front to the
Western Front in France. Now Germany had a
more powerful army to fight the Allies.
Germany moved closer to Paris. It looked as
if Germany might win the war.
Supplying the Allies
The American troops needed months before
they were ready to fight. General John J.
Pershing led the American Expeditionary
Force ( AEF), or American troops, in Europe.
Supplying the Allies
•The first serious fighting in June 1918
helped turn back a German offensive at
Chateau-Thierry on the Marne River east of
Paris. By the middle of July, the Allies
stopped the Germans.
•In September, the Allies defeated the
Germans at Saint Mihiel, east of Verdun, in
an Allied offensive.
Supplying the Allies
•Later in the month, more than one million
American troops joined the Allies in the
Battle of the Argonne Forest, west of
Verdun. They fought for almost seven weeks.
The Allies were victorious, pushing the
Germans back and breaking through enemy
lines.
The End of the War
The Germans saw their defeat coming.
American boosted the number of Allied
troops, while Germans suffered from
shortages of food and supplies. The Germans
requested an armistice, or an agreement to
end the fighting, in October 1918. President
Wilson consented under certain
circumstances.
The End of the War
•Germany had to accept Wilson’s peace plan
and promise not to renew hostilities.
•All German troops must leave Belgium and
France.
•Negotiations were to be with civilian, not
military, leaders.
The End of the War
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany was forced to
give up his throne. Germany became a
republic and its new leaders agreed to the
armistice.
The End of the War
In November 1918, the armistice began and
the Great War ended.
Discussion Question
What events brought about the end of World
War I?
Chapter 23 Section 4
pp. 683-686
Mobilizing the Nation
Americans readied for the war by
mobilizing their resources.
•The government created the National
War Labor Board in April 1918 to ensure
production of vital war materials.
•The nation’s industries had to expand to
provide supplies and weapons.
Mobilizing the Nation
•Women and minorities joined the
workforce to fill the labor shortage
created by millions of men who left jobs
to serve in the armed forces.
•Hundreds of thousands of African
Americans moved to the northern cities
from the rural South and thousands of
Mexicans migrated to the United States
in search of jobs.
Mobilizing the Nation
World War I cost the country about 32
billion dollars. Two-thirds of that money was
raised by selling war bonds, or liberty bonds.
The government also raised money by
increasing the income and business taxes.
Liberty Bonds
Mobilizing the Nation
The Food Administration, a new agency
headed by Herbert Hoover, encouraged
American farmers to expand food
production and the American people to
consume less food. It imposed price
controls on certain agricultural products
to encourage voluntary rationing, or
limited use.
Rationed goods
Mobilizing the Nation
The War Industries Board, another
government agency, supervised the
nation’s industrial production by
overseeing that factories were converted
to produce war-related goods and be
setting prices for key products.
Mobilizing the Nation
The Committee on Public Information was
created to build support for the war.
Antiwar sentiment still remained strong.
The committee distributed millions of
pro-war pamphlets, posters, articles, and
books. It also provided newspapers with
government accounts of the war and
advertisements.
Americans and the War
The war had harmful effects on
American society even though it also
boosted the economy. For example, some
American became suspicious of anyone
who was against the war. German
Americans also came under suspicion, so
some Germans concealed their heritage.
Americans and the War
During the Great Migration, or
tremendous northward migration of
African Americans from 1914 to 1920,
many African Americans found jobs.
However, they also found life difficult.
Racial prejudice, crowded living
conditions, and segregated neighborhoods
made the settlement in northern cities
uneasy for many African Americans.
Americans and the War
Several northern cities saw terrible race
riots. While Socialist opposed the war
because they felt it only profited the
wealthy and hurt working Americans.
Pacifists opposed the war because they
disapproved of violence. Some German
Americans and Irish Americans
sympathized with the Central Powers and
were against American involvement with
the Allies.
Americans and the War
Laws were passed to prevent dissent,
traitors, and disloyal Americans.
•The Espionage Act of 1917 gave the
government a way to combat dissent. The
Act called for stiff penalties for
espionage, or spying; for helping the
enemy; and for interfering with army
recruiting.
Americans and the War
An even harsher measure passed in 1918
was the Sedition Act. It was a crime to
say, print, or write almost anything that
was perceived as negative about the
federal government. Thousand of people
were convicted, especially immigrants,
socialists, pacifists, and labor activists.
Some Americans spoke out against the
laws, but many believed that in wartime, no
measure was too drastic.
Discussion Question
How did the war effect Americans?