World War I

1914-1918

USA entry- 1917

Nationalism in Europe

Deep attachments to one’s

own nation helped unify the

people and helped create

competition

Nationalism

Nations seeking economic

growth and expansion

Establish and expand global

empires

Imperialism

Build-up of military forces

among nations

Strong military competition

Militarism

Hardening of alliance systems

Triple Alliance—

Triple Entente—

Russia was traditionally

Serbia’s protector

Alliances

Building Global Empires and Military Alliances

Triple Alliance

Germany

Italy

Austria-Hungary

Great Britain

Russia

France

Triple Entente

Austria-Hungary Declares war on Serbia

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to

Austro-Hungarian throne, and wife,

Killed June 28, 1914 in

Sarajevo by Serbian Black Hand

member, Gavrilo Princip

Assassination

Austria issued ultimatum to Serbia;

Serbia partially agreed July 25

Summer of 1914

Franz Ferdinand assassinated June 28

Austria declared war on Serbia July 28

Russia mobilized to help Serbia July 30

Germany pledged to support Austria

Germany declared war on Russia Aug 1

France allied with Russia

Germany invaded Belgium Aug 3

Germany declared war on France Aug 3

Britain declared war on Germany Aug 4

World War I Begins………..

Central Powers

Germany, Austria-Hungary,

Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire

Allied

Powers

Great Britain, France,

Russia, Serbia, Belgium,

US, Japan,

Montenegro,

Italy

The Battles Begin

Schlieffen Plan—Germany’s war plan

drawn up in 1905

called for invasion of neutral Belgium

assumed slow Russian mobilization

allow for quick defeat of French

Problems with Schlieffen Plan

Invaded heavily fortified area of Belgium

Great Britain involved after invasion

Encountered strong resistance

Russian army mobilized quickly

Split Germany forces in East

Downfall of Schlieffen Plan

France attacked Germans in Alsace-

Lorraine

Caused delay in German advance

Battle of Marne caused German retreat

Signaled abandonment of Schlieffen Plan

Realized war would not end quickly

America now starts to come into the picture…

Germany’s

unrestricted

submarine

warfare

(Sinking of the

Lusitania)

Zimmerman

Telegram

Sinking of 4

US merchant

ships

US declares

war on

Germany

April 6, 1917

US entry into World War I

America_Joins_the_Ranks 4:17

Modern War Submarine warfare

Use to get around blockades and attack enemy shipping

Rapid fire machine guns Led to trench warfare

“Trench warfare” Thousands of miles of ditches for protection

6,250 miles of Trenches

In-between was “no man’s land”

Lines never moved resulting in “Stalemate”

Tanks Designed to break through barbed wire

Airplanes Primary function—to observe enemy activities

Poison gas Introduced by Germans to help break stalemates

Realities_of_War_the_Trenches_Weapons_and_Death 3:34

John

"Black Jack"

Pershing

Named Commander of

American Expeditionary Force

(AEF) during WWI by Woodrow

Wilson

Insisted that U.S. soldiers fight as a

unit and not be spread throughout

French forces

Led forces at Battle of Argonne Forest

The Home Front

Selective Service – 2.8 million

drafted

War Industries Board/CREEL

Committee– coordinate production

of war materials

Daylight savings time

Bonds – Liberty and Victory WWI Propaganda posters! Click here

Scheck vs. United States

Espionage Act of 1918

Committee on Public Information – selling the war to the public

Women’s Roles

Women

Fill jobs in factories

Military service

• Allowed to enlist in Navy

• Fill temporary jobs in Army

• Army nurses were only military

women allowed to go overseas

African AmericansServed in segregated

units in military

“Harlem Hell-Fighters”

• 369th Infantry Unit

“Great Migration”

Movement from

South to North to

fill factory jobs

1917 Russia pulls out of the War

• Closing Eastern front allowing the

German’s to focus on Western Front

• American troops arrive in 1917

Battle of Argonne Forest 1918

Allies launch Meuse-

Argonne Offensive

• Final assault

• General Pershing

assembled over

600,000 American

troops with 40,000 tons

of supplies and 4,000

artillery pieces at hand.

• The Americans had

heavy losses but

opened a hole into the

German lines.

Kaiser Wilhelm II

abdicates

Germany surrenders

1918_America_Arrives_Just_in_Time 2:00

War ends 11th Hour of 11th

Day of 11th Month 1918

Now what we know as “Veterans Day”

Treaty of Versailles

“Big Four” : United States, Great Britain,

France, Italy

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

Plan for peace after war

League of Nations (UN)

•General association of nations

Help preserve peace

Help prevent future wars

Treaty of Versailles….cont’d

Congress never signed Treaty of

Versailles

US never member of League of Nations • Henry Cabot Lodge was chief opponent of Wilson

• Senate saw the League as a “conflict of interest” that could pull us

into another war- saw it as an “Alliance”

Germany’s punishment

Accept blame for causing war

Reduce military

Pay war reparations $$$$

Effects of WWI on US

Developments in War

War-torn economies of

Europe

Bolshevik Russian

Revolution

Industrial demand of

wartime

Sacrifices of wartime;

disappointment with

Versailles Peace

Treaty

Effects on US

Boom in US economy;

emergence of US as

world industrial leader

“Red Scare” in

postwar US; suspicion

of immigrants

Internal migration in

US, especially African

Americans to Northern

cities (Great Migration)

Failure to join League

of Nations

Peace_Diplomacy_and_Reparation 6:50