World War One1914-1918

Causes of World War 1 (MAIN)

• Militarism = – Having a large army & navy– Glorifying military service – Arms Race between Imperial

Nations

• Alliances = Countries pledged mutual protection and support

• Imperialism = Competition between nations to hang onto / increase size of Empires that creates rivalry

• Nationalism = Devotion to the nation (extreme patriotism)

“The Spark”

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Future emperor of Austria-Hungary) assassinated on June 28,1914

• Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia & set off a chain reaction of war declarations around Europe

The Central Powers

• Germany• Austria-Hungary• The Ottoman Empire & Bulgaria joined to regain

lost territory

The Allied Powers

• Great Britain• France• Russia• Japan & Italy

Germany’s Strategy = The Schlieffen Plan

• 1st Attack France = Immediate threat• 2nd Attack Russia = Slow to organize troops / No

Railroads

Trench Warfare (Review) = miles of parallel, underground trenches, where

soldiers live & fight 24 hours a day over a small amount of land

“Over the Top” into “No Man’s Land”

Life in the Trenches• 24 hours a day

soldiers had to deal with:– Slept in mud, washed

in mud (trench foot)– Rats (Big ones)– Artillery Fire = “Shell

Shock”– Diseases (influenza)– No fresh food & lack of

sleep (lice & fleas)

New Technology & Old Strategies• Rapid Firing Rifles• Machine Guns• Poison Gas• Tanks• Airplanes• Submarines

• “Over the Top” = mass infantry charge over “No Man’s Land”

• RESULT = 1914-1918 Casualties on both sides = 9+ million soldiers (21 total)

Major Battles (Pointless)• Battle of Verdun (1916) =

German attack against French causes 600,000 deaths– Gain = 4 miles gained by

Germany

• Battle of the Somme (1916) = British attack against Germans: 1 million deaths– Gain = 5 miles by the British

• Eastern Front collapses after Russia surrenders in 1917

U.S. Enters The War• Loans to Allies

– British & French receive huge loans and equipment

– U.S. is invested in an Allied victory

• The Sinking of the Lusitania – Passenger ship carrying supplies from NY to London (128 Americans Dead)

• The Zimmermann Telegram – Germany’s secret offer to Mexico / Will return U.S. land for an alliance

• Joins Allies in 1917