World War I 1914-1918

 Causes of the war

 Technology of the war

 Military techniques / Battles

 War at Home “Total War”

 US / Russia and the end of the

war
Traditional European
Rules of War
 1.A country must declare war before
attacking another country.

 2.
Each side must wear uniforms or
identify themselves to each other
before attacking. Soldiers wearing an
enemy uniform will be shot as a spy.
Traditional European
Rules of War
 3.
Commanding officers should not
be targeted

 4.Civilians, Surrendering Soldiers

and Medical Personnel will not be
attacked.
Traditional European
Rules of War
 5.Hand to Hand combat is
honorable, shooting from a distance
is cowardly

 6.
Soldiers must be given the
opportunity to surrender honorably.
Roots of War
Long Term Causes
 Nationalism-
 Deep Devotion to One’s Nation
 Competition and Rivalry developed

between European nations for

territory and markets
 (Example France and Germany-

Alsace-Lorraine)
Long Term Causes
 Militarism-
 GlorifyingMilitary Power
 Keeping a large standing army

prepared for war

 Arms race for military technology
Long Term Causes
 Imperialism-
 European competition for colonies
 Quest for colonies often almost led

to war
 Imperialism led to rivalry and

mistrust amongst European nations

Long Term Causes
 Alliance System-
 Designed to keep peace in Europe,
instead pushed continent towards
war
 Many Alliances made in secret

 By 1907 two major alliances: Triple

Alliance and Triple Entente

 The Two Sides
Triple Alliance Triple Entente
Germany England
Austria-Hungary France
Italy Russia
Central Powers Allied Powers
Germany England, France,
Austria-Hungary Russia, United
Ottoman Empire States, Italy, Serbia,
Belgium, Switzerland
 Leaders
Triple Alliance Triple Entente
Kaiser Wilhelm II David Lloyd George
(Germany) (England)
Franz Joseph I Raymond Poincare
(Austria-Hungary) (France)
Vittorio Orlando Czar Nicholas II
(Italy) (Russia)
 Major Colonies

 Triple Entente  Triple Alliance

 France- Vietnam,  Germany-
Parts of Africa Africa, Parts of
 England- Africa,
Asia
Australia, Hong
Kong, India,
Canada, S. America
Short-Term Cause
 June 28th 1914
 Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
 Summer of 1914
Triple Entente/Triple Alliance Actions

 July 23rd Austria Hungary Presents Serbia with

an ultimatum
 July 28th Austria-Hungary declares war on
Serbia
 July 29th Russia Mobilizes its troops
 August 1, 1914 Germany mobilizes troops.
 Summer of 1914
Triple Entente/Triple Alliance Actions

 August 2nd Germany declares war on Russia

Germany invades Poland and Luxemburg,
invasion of France starts
 August 3: Germany declares war on France
 August 4: Germany declares war on Belgium
and invades it,
 August 4:England declares war on Germany
 August 5: Austria declares war on Russia and
Great Britain
Who Declared War on Who?
 Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia
 Russia Declares War on Austria Hungary
 Germany Declares War on Russia
 Germany Declares War on France
 England Declares War on Germany and
Austria Hungary
 By the end of 1914, not only Europe
was at war, but also all of Europe’s
colonies in Asia, Africa and South
America.
Modern Warfare
New Technology
Guns

The Machine Gun

 It
was used by both sides, hundreds
of rounds a minute could be shot by
one person.
 The German plan against France was
to rush into the country as fast as
possible: The Schlieffen Plan

 The Machine Gun stopped this plan

Trench Warfare

 Both sides dug long trenches that faced each

other. The trenches ran for miles.

 From time to time, one side would attempt to

cross the “No-Man’s Land” the area in
between the trenches.

 Trench warfare made WWI extend from a few

months of fighting to four years of fighting
French Soldiers Attacking a
German Trench
Technology:
Chemical Weapons

WWI was the first major war to use

chemical weapons

Mustard Gas and Chlorine Gas were

the two most popular weapons: They
caused suffocation, blindness, and
death
Soldiers would protect themselves
using Gas Masks
Technology:
The U-boat (Submarine)

 Germany’s secret weapon during the

war

 Sankdozens of British ships,

controlled the oceans.
Why would the British think the U-
boat was breaking the rules of War ?
Technology:
Airpower
 Both sides used aircraft for observation,
limited bombing, and air battles

 Airplanes were slow, clumsy, and unreliable,

 The most famous German pilot was Baron von

Richthofen (The Red Baron)
Red Baron
Technology:
Tanks
Technology:
Tanks
Technology:
Flame Throwers
 The Great War
Western Front

 Germans, Austria-Hungarians vs. French,

British and later Americans

 Germany develops the Schlieffen Plan

 Battle of the Marne (1914- German

Defeat)

 Trench Warfare on the Western Front

 Western Front: Battles
 Battle of Verdun
 Ten months long
 French and German armies.
 Estimated 540,000 French and 430,000 German casualties
 No strategic advantages were gained for either side.
 Battle of Somme
 English and French vs Germany
 Six months of fighting
 Five miles of advancement for Allies
 1 million men killed
 Eastern Front
 Russians and Serbs vs. Germans and
Austria-Hungarians

 War more mobile but still a stalemate

 Russia’s disadvantages
 Not Industrialized
 Short on Supplies
 Russia’s advantage
 People
Eastern Front: Battles
 Battle of Tannenberg:
 August 1914- First major eastern battle.
 Russia was badly defeated and pushed back.
 Russia lost millions of men against Germany,
undersupplied, under gunned
 Other Fronts
 Japan, Australia, India join Allies

 Ottoman Turks, Bulgaria join Central Powers

 Gallipoli Campaign in the Ottoman Empire

 Battles occur in Africa and Asia for Colonial

Possessions
Russia Exits the War

 In March 1917, Nicholas II abdicates his

throne,
 the Russian Duma continues to fight.
 In October 1917: Lenin and the Bolsheviks
take command: The Soviet Union is created.
 March 1918: Soviets and Germans sign the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending the war in
the East.
US claims Neutrality

I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier

I brought him up to be my pride and joy
Who dares to place a musket on his
shoulder,
To shoot some other mother’s darling boy?
US Road to War
 British Blockade
did not allow products to leave or enter Germany

 German U-Boat Response

counter to blockade, destroy all boats headed
for British shores
US Road to War
May 7th 1915
Sinking of the Lusitania
1916 Presidential Election
And the Winner is…

Woodrow Wilson

Because
“he kept us
out of the
war”
US Road to War
The Last Straw

Zimmerman Note
US Declares War
 Senate Declares War April 4th 1917
 House of Representatives Declares War
April 6th 1917
 Wilson’s reasoning for War
make the world “Safe for Democracy”
 War on the Homefront
 World War I as a Total War
 All Resources devoted to homefront

 Gov’t took over factories to make Military goods

 All had to work (Women took place of men in

factories)

 Rationing- limit consumption of resources/goods

necessary for the war effort

 Propaganda- one-sided information to keep support

for the war
Propaganda
US
Propaganda
Great Britain
Propaganda
Germany
Total Warfare in the US
Ending the War 1917-1918
 US Enters the War in April of 1917
 March 1918 Russia and Germany sign the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
 Germans now use all resources on
Western Front
 March of 1918 Germany begins a massive
attack on France
 Ending the War (1918)
The Tide Turns
 German troops fatigued
 US had 140,000 “fresh” troops
 2nd Battle of the Marne (June 1918)
 Central Powers Crumble
 Revolutions in Austria Hungary
 Ottoman Empire surrenders
 German soldiers mutiny, public turns against
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Ending the War (1918)
 Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates on November 9th
1918
 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month
in 1918 Germany agrees to a cease-fire
 8.5 million soldiers dead
 21 million soldiers wounded
 Cost of 338 billion dollars
 Ending the War
The Paris Peace Conference
 Meeting of the “Big Four” at the Paris
Peace Conference
 Wilson Proposes his “14 points”
 “Big Four” create Treaty of Versailles
 War Guilt Clause
 Break up of German, Austrian, Russian and
Ottoman Empire
 Reparations
 Legacy of bitterness and betrayal
 Effects of World War I
 Before World War I feeling of optimism and
progress of Human Kind
 After the War feelings of pessimism
 New forms of Art, Literature, Philosophy and
Science
 (ex. Surrealism, “Lost” Generation, Psychoanalysis,
Existentialism)