WORLD WAR I

1914-1918

4 CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I

1) Nationalism

2) Imperialism

3) Militarism

4) Formation of a system of alliances

NATIONALISM

  • A devotion to the interests and culture of one’s nation. It led to competition & rivalries among nations.
  • Many ethnic groups would look to larger nations for protection from domination.
  • Russia - protector of the Slavic nations
  • Slavs - people who come from Eastern & Central Europe such as Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Croatia

MILITARISM

  • The development of armed forces as a tool for diplomacy-negotiations between countries
  • Each nation wanted a stronger army than those of a possible enemy
  • By 1890, strongest European power was Germany

FORMATION OF A SYSTEM OF ALLIANCES

  • 1907-two major defense alliances in Europe
  • -Triple Entente=France, Britain, Russia-agreed to aid one another in war with Germany or Austria-Hungary
  • -Triple Alliance=Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy-mutual self-defense

“POWDER KEG OF EUROPE”

  • Russia wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea
  • Germany wanted a rail link to the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
  • Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of trying to rule Bosnia.

JUNE, 1914

  • Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austrian throne) visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia.
  • As Ferdinand rode through the city, Gavrilo Princip shot the Archduke and his wife killing them both.
  • FRANZ FERDINAND-Archduke of Austria-Hungary
  • GAVRILO PRINCIP-Assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife
  • FRANZ JOSEPH-Ruler of Austria-Hungary after death of Franz Ferdinand

JULY 28, 1914

  • Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia as retaliation for the assassination of Franz Ferdinand
  • Russia felt that it had to defend Serbia to protect their status as a strong European power.
  • Russia believed that Germany would come to the aid of Austria-Hungary.
  • Russian armies began to gather along the borders of Germany & Austria-Hungary.
  • Germany demanded that Russia stop threatening acts & that France pledge neutrality in the event of a war between Russia & Germany.
  • France and Russia both rejected Germany’s demands.

BELGIUM

  • German army crossed neutral Belgium on its way to invade France.
  • Britain believed the Germans would try to take over Belgium.
  • To protect Belgium, France declared war on Germany
  • Europe would now be divided into two camps.
  • Allies-those fighting for the Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia)
  • Central Powers-(formerly known as the Triple Alliance) Germany & Austria-Hungary & would later be joined by the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria
  • Where’s Italy?
  • Switched sides in 1915
  • KAISER WILHELM II-RULER OF GERMANY
  • PAUL VON HINDENBURG-GERMAN HIGH COMMAND
  • PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON-U.S. President from 1913-1921

NEUTRALITY IN THE U.S.

  • President Wilson believed this conflict should remain in Europe
  • U.S. would remain neutral
  • This was “a war with which we had nothing to do”.
  • U.S. had a strong link with France and sided with the Allies (Britain, France, and Russia)
  • Trade-the U.S. began quadrupling exports such as war materials, food, and even money to the Allies.
  • Germans invented the U-boat and began sinking unarmed passenger and crew ships.
  • Submarine warfare changes the way Naval battles are fought
  • Lusitania-1915-British passenger liner was sunk by Germans. 1200 passengers drowned including 128 Americans.

SUSSEX PLEDGE

  • March, 1916-French passenger ship, the Sussex, was torpedoed by a U-boat injuring several Americans on board.
  • Pres. Wilson gave Germany a final warning by demanding that the German government abandon submarine warfare or risk war with the U.S.

MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN-German Ace also known as the “Red Baron.” Had 80 victories.

EDDIE RICKENBACKER-American Ace. Had 26 victories.

AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS

  • Referred to Germany as the “bully of Europe” which would spark American sympathy for the Allies.
  • By 1917, America had begun mobilizing for war against the Central Powers for two reasons:
  • To ensure the Allied powers would repay their debts to the U.S. for supplies during the war
  • To prevent the Germans from threatening U.S. shipping

ZIMMERMAN NOTE

  • A telegram from the German foreign minister to the German ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents.
  • It proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany and promised that if war with the U.S. broke out, Germany would support Mexico in recovering “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona”.
  • Germans sank four unarmed U.S. merchant ships causing 36 deaths.
  • U.S. not prepared for war:
  • -Only 200,000 men in service
  • -Needed to build a large army

SELECTIVE SERVICE ACT

  • Required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for military service.
  • 1918-3 million were drafted
  • About 20% were foreign-born
  • 400,000 were African-Americans-served in segregated units & weren’t allowed to join the Navy or Marines.

EXPANDING THE NAVY

  • The U.S. took 4 steps to expand its naval fleet:
  • Gov’t exempted many shipyard workers from the draft & gave others a “deferred” classification that would delay their participation in the service
  • U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined in a public relations campaign to emphasize the importance of shipyard work.
  • Shipyards used fabrication techniques by using standardized parts that would be built elsewhere and assembled at the yard.
  • Gov’t took over commercial and private ships and converted them for transatlantic war use.
  • U.S. had to find a way to transport men, food, & equipment across the ocean while the Germans were attacking any enemy ship that approached waters.
  • Used the convoy system-heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships back & forth across the Atlantic in groups.

WOMEN OF WWI

  • Served in the Army Corps of Nurses
  • 13,000 women served in the Navy and Marines as nurses, secretaries, and telephone operators.
  • Allied forces were tired and the U.S. would bring freshness and enthusiasm to the war.
  • American Expeditionary Force (AEF)-led by General John J. Pershing-included men from different parts of the country
  • Nicknamed “doughboys”

MOBILIZATION

  • 1.The War Industries Board converted factories to war production.
  • 2. The Railroad Administration took charge of the railroads and ran them as a single system.
  • 3. The Fuel Administration was in charge of boosting coal and oil production; people were encouraged to conserve.

PATRIOTIC ACTIVITIES

  • Slogans such as “Food Will win the War-Don’t Waste It;” families were encouraged by “serving just enough” and by having Wheatless Mondays and Meatless Tuesdays; citizens were encouraged to plant victory gardens

NEW WEAPONS OF WWI

  • TANKS – BRITISH
  • FLAME THROWER – GERMANS
  • U-BOATS (UNTERSEEBOOTEN)
  • AIRPLANES - BIPLANES
  • GAS
  • POISON
  • MUSTARD
  • MACHINE GUNS
  • TANK TRAPS
  • NEW WAY TO FIGHT – TRENCH WARFARE
  • MINES

HAZARDS OF WORLD WAR I

  • Lice
  • Rats
  • Dysentery
  • Poison gas
  • Shell shock
  • Trench foot
  • Trench mouth

US INVOLVEMENT IN WWI
(1917-1918)

  • Inability to remain neutral
  • German “unrestricted submarine warfare” – the sinking of the Lusitania
  • U.S. economic and political ties to Great Britain

CHATEAU-THIERRY & BELLEAU WOOD

  • U.S. troops will play a major role in pushing back the German attacks at these areas.
  • The Americans would arrive just in time to help stop the full force advance in France.

RUSSIAAND WORLD WAR I

  • Czar Nicholas II-Rulerof Russia
  • Czarina Alexandra-Wife of Czar Nicholas II
  • Rasputin-Russianmonk and political adviser

RUSSIA PULLS OUT OF THE WAR

  • 1917-Bolshevik Revolution occurring in Russia led by Vladimir Lenin
  • Bolsheviks seized power in Russia and founded the Soviet Union under a Communist rule
  • Vladimir Lenin-Led the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia that would force Russia to pull out of World War I

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION (also known as the Bolshevik Revolution)

  • November 3, 1918-Austria-Hungary surrenders to the Allies
  • Who are the Allies?-Britain, France, U.S.
  • November 11, 1918-At the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, in the eleventh month of 1918, Germany agreed to a cease-fire and signed the armistice, or truce, that ended the war.
  • World War I was the bloodiest war in history up to this time.
  • Deaths=22 million-more than ½ of these would be civilians
  • 20 million people were wounded
  • Cost of the war=$338 billion
  • U.S. lost 48,000 men in battle and 62,000 died of disease

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE

  • VITTORIO ORLANDO-ITALY
  • DAVID LLOYD GEORGE-GREAT BRITAIN
  • GEORGES CLEMENCEAU-FRANCE
  • WOODROW WILSON-USA

WOODROW WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTS

The first 5 points were issues that Wilson believed had to be addressed to prevent another war.

  • POINT 1 No secret treaties among nations
  • POINT 2 Freedom of the seas for all nations
  • POINT 3 Removal of tariffs as trade barriers
  • POINT 4 Reduction of arms to defensive levels
  • POINT 5 Colonial policies should consider the interests of the colonial people as well as the interests of the imperialists power

The next 8 points dealt with boundary changes. In other words, groups that claimed distinct ethnic identities were to form their own nation-states or decide for themselves to what nation they would belong

  • POINT 6 EVACUATION OF ALL FOREIGN TROOPS FROM THE SOVIET UNION
  • POINT 7 EVACUATION OF ALL FOREIGN TROOPS FROM BELGIUM
  • POINT 8 GERMAN EVACUATION OF FRANCE; ALSACE-LORRAINE RESTORED TO FRANCE
  • POINT 9 READJUSTMENT OF ITALY’S BORDERS
  • POINT 10 SELF-DETERMINATION FOR NATIONALITIES IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
  • POINT 11 EVACUATION OF FOREIGN TROOPS FROM RUMANIA, SERBIA, AND MONTENEGRO
  • POINT 12 SELF-DETERMINATION FOR NATIONALITIES IN TURKISH EMPIRE
  • POINT 13 ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENT POLAND

The 14th point called for the creation of the League of Nations-an international organization that would address diplomatic crises like those that had sparked the war.

  • POINT 14 ESTABLISHMENT OF LEAGUE OF NATIONS
  • The League would provide a forum for nations to discuss & settle their problems without having to resort to war.
  • Congress would not approve the U.S. joining the League of Nations so the U.S. would never join.
  • 1939-Russia would be expelled from the League of Nations for attacking Finland.
  • The League of Nations was created as a result of the Paris Peace Conference

TREATY OF VERSAILLES-Officially ended World War 1

  • Established 9 new nations
  • Germany lost:
  • 13% of its territory
  • All of its overseas colonies
  • 16% of its coal fields and 50% of its iron & steel industry
  • Forbade a union with Austria
  • Germany could no longer maintain an army
  • Had to pay $33 billion in war reparations/damages
  • Business after the war
  • Cutbacks would now be made due to the lack of need for war materials.
  • Wilson was given control of the economy to help prevent massive unemployment.

FOREIGN INTERVENTION

  • Before WWI, the U.S. limited its involvement to the W. Hemisphere
  • As the war would progress, this position become impossible to maintain
  • The U.S. involvement greatly strengthened its armed forces and revealed out military potential.
  • After the war, the U.S. returned to a policy of isolationism.
  • It would take Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor to force the U.S. to once again abandon its policy of isolationism and launch us into WW II.

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