By: Madison

The event that is credited as being the spark of World War I is the murder of Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Serbia. Ferdinand was the Archduke to be in Austria-Hungary ( Austria- Hungary controlled Serbia). When he and his wife decided to visit their soon to be subjects, a murderer in the Black Hand group ( Gavrilo Princip ) killed them by pistol shooting. When Austria- Hungary demanded an apology, Serbia refused.

VS.Archduke

Franz Ferdinand

Gavrilo Princip

Soon after the shooting of Franz Ferdinand, Serbia knew that Austria- Hungary would most likely declare war so they turned to their ally Russia for help. Russia agreed to help Serbia fight. Austria- Hungary turned to their ally Germany for assistance which Germany agreed to give. On August 1st, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. These alliances held almost through the whole war.

At the beginning of the war Woodrow Wilson wanted the United States to stay neutral and not enter the war. When German U-boats or submarines sank five US ships in nine days, the US government could no longer stay neutral and was thinking about entering the war.

Isolationism didn’t Work that Well

ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM

On January 16th, 1917 Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to a German representative in Mexico. The telegram had to pass through Great Britain as well as the United States. When Great Britain intercepted the telegram, they had to decode and read it as best they could. The telegram asked Mexico to declare war on the U.S so that we could not interfere with the war in Europe. If Mexico agreed, Germany would help them get Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona back. Mexico declined Germanys offer on April 14th, 1917.

THE LUSITANIA

The Lusitania was a British passenger ship which was sailing from the U.S. At the half way point of this ships journey, German U-boats or submarines, shot missiles sinking the ship. When The Lusitania sank, 128 Americans died. This ship sinking was one of the final straws for the U.S entering the war.

ALLIED POWERS

United States Great Britain France Russia Serbia

CENTRAL POWERS

Austria – Hungary Germany Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Romania

United States

Great Britain

France

Russia

Serbia Austria -Hungary

Germany Bulgaria

Ottoman Empire

Romania

The U.S did not have many volunteer soldiers so their government put in place the Selective- Service Act. This act said that any men between the ages of 21 to 30 were required to register to be in the military. The government then selected random people to serve in our military. When the U.S finally entered the war in 1917, we fought on the Allied Powers side. About the same time that we entered the war, Russia dropped out of it because communists took over their government.

These posters encouraged men to join the U.S military and women to join the Red Cross.

Most of WWI was fought in France. During the war both sides used trench warfare which is when you dig deep trenches to hide and shoot from. Between the two sides was a no man’s land filled with barbed wire and deep holes.

No Man’s Land

Trench Warfare

France

New weapons such as machine guns, tanks, and poison gas were used for the first time in WWI. Airplanes were first used to fight in this war.

WWI ended on November 11th, 1918 in the 11th hour. Finally The Great War which had more than 130 Countries involved had ended. Woodrow Wilson wanted to create a League of Nations which would involve a representative from each country to talk about world issues. Every country signed this peace plan except the U.S. Our government felt that they did not want to be dragged into European conflicts.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY POWERPOINT!!!