Download The American Empire III Unit 11 The Great War: World War I The

THE AMERICAN EMPIRE III
UNIT 11
THE GREAT WAR: WORLD WAR I
The beginning of the 20th century saw a huge growth in size of militaries, especially in Europe, as nations began
preparing the imperial nations for the event of war. With a small spark, Europe becomes engulfed in war that became
known as the Great War.
LONG TERM CAUSES
Wars like World War I don’t happen overnight, but are the product of long-term causes. Nationalism, militarism,
imperialism and the system of alliances all played their part in leading Europe in the Great War.
nationalism – the movement of ethnic and national pride like ones that had unified Italy and Germany were
sweeping through many areas including the Balkans (southeastern Europe)
militarism – the glorification of military strength caused the major nations of Europe to increase the size and
strength of their armies
imperialism – the desire to acquire power over territories led to tensions between nations who sought to weaken
their competitors by taking their territory for their own
system of alliances – these alliances led to the rapid secession of the war in July and August 1914 as two
alliances in Europe drug indirect nations into war
THE SPARK
While the outbreak of World War I had long-term causes, the spark that ignites the war happened on June 28th, 1914
when a member of the Serbian terrorist organization known as the Black Hand assassinated Archduke Ferdinand (heir
to the Austrian throne)
- exactly a month later, Austria formally declares war on Serbia gaining support from Germany in the event
Russia joins with Serbia (Germany/Austria = German) (Serbia/Russia = Slavic)
- that event comes true when Russia begins to mobilize (assemble troops and supplies for war) on Austria’s
border  this is seen as an act of war
August 1st, 1914 – Germany declares war on Russia who was allied with France who begins to mobilize on the
German border  Germany declares war on France two days later
- to deal with France, Germany decides to avoid attacking French defenses by invading Belgium (a neutral
country)  Belgium has a military alliance with Great Britain who declares war on Germany for violating
Belgian neutrality
- now all the great European powers were at war who believe the war would be over by Christmas
ALL IS NOT QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Now that Europe was at war, the lines were clearly drawn between two opposing forces
Allies (Triple Entente) – France, Great Britain, Russia (later Japan, Italy, and U.S. who would remain neutral at
the start of the war)
Central Powers (Triple Alliance) – Germany, Austrian Empire, Ottoman Empire
Schlieffen Plan – German military plan to invade France through Belgium, defeat France quickly (6 weeks) by sweeping
around Paris, and then redeploy to the east to defeat Russia
Battle of Marne (Sept 1914) – Germany advances as far as Paris before being halted and pushed back by
French and British forces
- this battle creates a stalemate with neither side being able to overtake the other
- both sides literally digging in, holding out for most of the war representing the end of mobility on the
Western Front (western side of the war near the French-German border)
trench warfare – war fought from trenches dug along the front lines of opposing forces with the area inbetween called “No Man’s Land”
- these long trenches stretched from the North Sea to the Swiss border
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NEW WARFARE TECHNOLOGY
machine gun – new automatic weapons allow hundreds of bullets a minute causing a high casualty rate
tanks – armored vehicles (usually without a cannon) used to overcome trenches
airplane – Wright Brother’s invention finds a military use for its ability to do reconnaissance & attack enemy position
poison gas – a deadly gas used to burn or suffocate victims used by the primarily by the Germans
- mustard gas and chlorine gas were the most popular gas  both could be overcome with gas masks
u-boats –submarines that were capable of sneak attacks against military and cargo ships
zeppelins – large airships used for reconnaissance and bombing
radio – like the Wright Brothers, Marconi’s invention finds a military use as wireless technologies made communication
more effective
As the war drags on after the first year, it becomes a war of attrition (war based on wearing down the other side
through heavy attacks and losses). When this seems ineffective, both sides begin to look for allies to unbalance the
stalemate in their favor
AMERICA TAKES SIDES
As the war in Europe focused not only the world’s attention but also the United State’s attention to Europe, President
Woodrow Wilson urged Americans to remain “impartial in thought as well as deed.”
Pro-Central Powers Side – within the United States were nearly 8 million German-Americans who supported their
ancestral lands and supported Germany and the Central Powers
- also 4.5 million Irish-Americans who had longstanding resentment for British rule over part of their ancestral
lands for centuries also sympathized with the Central Powers
Pro-Allies Side – the majority of Americans sympathized with the Allied leaders of Britain and France valuing our
British heritage, language and political beliefs along with historic links to French that dated back to the
Revolutionary War.
- many banks and business that had strong ties to Britain and France began loaning them money to support the
Allied cause further entangling America into the financial side of the war:
Allies win  get the money back
Allies lose  don’t get the money back
Neutrality Side – favored by Woodrow Wilson and other pacifists, (those opposed to all war) like Jeanette Rankin and
Eugene Debs, some believed that this was a strictly European conflict that America should avoid, continuing to
stay out of European affairs as it had for over a century.
Election of 1916 – with the war raging in Europe, President Wilson runs for reelection campaigning on the slogan:
“he kept us out of war,”  he wins
Although Wilson kept the United States out of war his first term and promised to continue to do so during the election of
1916, he would find this almost impossible during his second term as the U.S. was already financial involved and had
taken as side…just not officially.
AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT
America’s long-time friend Britain, started a naval blockade of Germany attempting to prevent supplies and other
contraband (prohibited material) from reaching Germany
- Germany realized the Allies relied on supplies from overseas and began using unrestricted submarine
warfare launching its own naval blockade of Britain in unrestricted attacks on any ship thought to carry
weapons to Britain
Lusitania (1915) – this British passenger ship is sunk by a German U-boat killing 1,200 passengers including
128 Americans  the first of many ships that are sunk killing innocent Americans
- Woodrow Wilson condemns the act but stops short of going to war
Zimmerman Note (1917) – fearing American involvement might unbalance the war in the allies favor, the
Germans send a telegraph to Mexico that asks Mexico to join the Central Power against the U.S. if they
entered the war promising American land in return  message intercepted by Britain who turns it over to the
United States
The Zimmerman Note on top of more American ships being sunk forces the President Woodrow Wilson to ask Congress
for a declaration of war against Germany “to make the world safe for democracy” and to finish “the war to end all
wars.”  they approve and America goes to war!
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