27.2 Notes
“World War I: A New Kind of War”
I. The Belligerents
A. Central Powers- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, & Ottoman Empire
1. Name due to their “central” location in Europe
2. Germany is the most powerful country
3. The Central Powers had enemies on both sides and didn’t want to fight a two front war so they came up with the Schlieffen Plan
a) Plan by Germany to send a massive amount of troops to the west and defeat France
b) After defeating France this would block out British troops and the Central Powers would quickly move their troops back to attack Russia
1) Germany entered France through an unfortified section of neutral Belgium
2) They quickly marched through France winning small victories along the way
3) Got within 40 miles of Paris, France and had the Battle of Marne
· Allied forces met the Germans at the Marne river just outside of Paris, France
· 600 taxi cabs transported reinforcements in Paris to the front line
· Allied forces won the battle and stopped the advance of the Central Powers and the Schlieffen Plan.
· Results in a two front war
B. Allied Powers- GB, France, Russia (Original 3 – others joined as war escalated)
II. Innovations in Warfare
A. WWI differed from other wars because it was industrialized.
B. U-boats
1. Affected Allied shipping.
C. Poison Gas
D. Machine Guns
E. Long-Range Artillery
F. Airplane- WWI 1st war used (Originally used to spy on enemy troop movements)
G. Tank
1. Total War- a war in which nations turn all their resources to the war effort.
a. Women worked in factories, & men were drafted.
H. Propaganda- built patriotism
III. Trench Warfare
A. After the Allied victory at the Marne River in France the Western Front turned into a stalemate
B. This happened as a result of new technologies like machine guns, barbwire, long range artillery and poison gas.
C. Old war offensive tactics became completely obsolete
D. The result was digging trenches
E. Trenches were massive formations of ditches that housed soldiers
1. They were dangerous, dirty, disease ridden, secluded, water filled holes in the earth
2. They were dug by hand and lined with wood to prevent walls from caving in
3. Disease ran rampant due to overpopulation and lack of sanitation
F. Problems in Trenches
1. Bodies and body parts often remained in the trenches, this attracted large rats
2. Body lice ran rampant, they left itchy bite marks on the body and spread disease
3. Waterlogged trenches led to conditions such as trench foot
IV. Early Years of the War
A. Fighting in Gallipoli
1. Allied attempt to remove the Ottoman Empire from the war by capturing Constantinople- failed attempt.
B. Naval Warfare
2. Lusitania- Br. Passenger ship carrying US citizens that was sunk by Germans.
C. The Stalemate
3. War of Attrition- slow wearing down process of opponent. (Try to outlast opponent)
V. The US in WWI
A. US attempted to sell goods to both sides during the war while staying neutral.
B. Zimmerman Note- German attempt ally with Mexico & bring them into the war. – Cause the U.S. to protect its’ home-front.
C. U.S. was persuaded to join to help spread the belief of democracy.