“THE GREAT WAR” UNIT NOTES
Mr. Kirby-CHS
Guiding Questions: Could the Great War have been avoided? Who or what was really to blame?
Questions, Prompts, Thoughts
Lecture Notes
CAUSES OF THE WAR
1. Militarism
 Race to build bigger armies and navies
 Need to be ready for war
 Image of war as glorious
 Growing power of military leaders
 Conscription (forced enrollment in the military, aka a draft)
2. Alliances
 Triple Entente: France, Britain, and Russia (1907)
 Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy (1882)
 Russian agreements with smaller Slavic nations (Serbia)
 Agreements to defend each other in times of war
3. Imperialism
 Created strong economic competition among Britain, Germany, and France
 Each desired to be the leader of industry, therefore competition for colonies
– France and Germany wanted Morocco.
– Russia and Austria-Hungary were rivals in the Balkans (Serbia, Bosnia, etc.).
– Britain and Germany competed for control of Africa and the Middle East, and
for world markets.
4. Nationalism
 Definition: Extreme competition and pride in one’s nation
 A problem when a nation considers other nations inferior
 German pride in military and industry
 French anger toward Germany for earlier loss (Franco-Prussian War)
 Russian loyalty to Slavic people (as in, Serbia)
The Spark
 June 28th, 1914
 Franz Ferdinand was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne
 Was visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia, where he was shot point blank
 The assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was a Serbian nationalist who wanted Austria out of
Bosnia
EUROPE PLUNGES INTO WAR
War Timeline
 July 23 – Austria blames Serbia for Franz Ferdinand’s death
 July 28 – Austria declares war on Serbia
 August 1st – Germany declares war on Russia
 August 3rd – Germany declares war on France, invades Belgium
 August 4th – Britain declares war on Germany
 August 6th – Austria declares war on Russia
The Allies:
 Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia. Later: Japan and Italy (eventually U.S.A.)
Central Powers:
 Germany, Austria-Hungary. Later: Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
Summary
Guiding Questions: Could the Great War have been avoided? Who or what was really to blame?
Questions, Prompts, Thoughts
Lecture Notes
The War Begins
 Both sides thought it would be a fast war. Both sides were excited to fight. Millions
signed up to fight
The Schlieffen Plan
 Germany’s plan just in case there was a two-front war: German army would quickly
defeat the French in West. Then race east to defeat the Russians
 At first it seemed like it would work. 1st Battle of the Marne changed this (Sept. 1914).
Germans were defeated and this began stalemate on Western Front (northern France)
Western Front- Deadlocked region in northern France
Eastern Front -Stretch of battlefield along the German and Russian border where Russians and
Serbs battled Germans, Austrians, and Turks
Trench Warfare
• When soldiers fight each other from trenches. Huge losses of human life and small
gains. “No Man’s Land”: Area between two opposing trenches.
 Occurred mostly on Western Front; stretched for 500 miles. Nicknamed “terrain of
death”. Many new weapons slowed down gains in land: machine guns, poison gas,
tanks, large artillery.
 Slow gains: Battle of Verdun – Germany gained 4 miles. Battle of Somme – British
gained 5 miles.
 Trench foot - Common to both sides during WWI, also reemerged during Vietnam
Major battles of the Western Front
 1st Battle of the Marne Sept. 1914 – Germany loses, beginning of stalemate
 Battle of Verdun, 1916 – each side lost 500,000 men
 Battle of the Somme, 1916 – heaviest 1 day loss, lasts 6 months and over 1 million lives
lost
Eastern Front
 Russians and Serbs vs. Germans and Austro-Hungarians
 Russian army not industrialized, lacked food, guns, clothing. Only advantage =
numbers
 Unrestricted submarine warfare kept supplies from reaching Russia
 Winters particularly deadly
Global Conflict
 Battle of Gallipoli - Ottoman Empire vs. Allies. Allies give up leaving Russia cut off from
supplies
 Japan seizes German colonies in China
 English and French troops attack German colonies in Africa
 India provides 1.3 million men to fight with Allies
 Australia and N. Zealand provide many troops
Summary
Guiding Questions: Could the Great War have been avoided? Who or what was really to blame?
Questions, Prompts, Thoughts
Lecture Notes
Technology: Industrialization of War
• Poison Gas: Introduced by Germans; used by both sides. Some caused blindness,
others death by choking.
• Machine Gun: 200 bullets per minute
• Flame throwers: Made it possible to clear terrain faster
• Grenade launchers: But grenades themselves were often unreliable
• Krupp’s Big Bertha Gun: Could fire up to 80 miles in distance
• British Tank: First used at Battle of Somme 1916; not effective until 1918. Eventually
made trenches obsolete in WW2.
• Zeppelin: German airship used for transport and bombing of Britain. Also used for
reconnaissance.
• U-Boat: AKA submarines. Used torpedoes. Unrestricted submarine warfare (sinking
without warning) used until Lusitania. Renewed by Germans in 1917.
• The Airplane: First used on battlefront in 1915. Famous German Pilot – Red Baron
The Home Front
 WW1 was a total war – meaning all resources (including civilians) were dedicated to
the war effort.
 Factories were converted to munitions factories
 Many goods were rationed – like butter and leather
 Propaganda everywhere.
Women and the war effort: Many roles, including financing the war, recruited, munitions
workers, factory workers, farming, ambulance drivers, Red Cross nurses, soldiers, even
spies.
Art from the War
1917: AMERICA JOINS AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
America joins the war
• 1915 – Sinking of the Lusitania. 1,198 dead, including 128 Americans. After this,
Germany stops torpedoing civilian ships.
• Jan. 1917 – Germany begins unrestricted submarine warfare again and sinks ships
without warning.
• Feb. 1917 – Zimmerman note. Germany promises to help Mexico invade the U.S. This
is the last straw. America declares war on Germany in April of 1917.
Russian Revolution
 Russia is suffering huge losses; almost 2 million dead
 Czar Nicholas VERY unpopular.
 Women rebel over rationing of food, many strikes and riots
 March 1917 – Czar Nicholas forced to step down
 Germany transports Communist leader Vladimir Lenin to Russia
 Nov. 1917 – Lenin seizes power and withdraws troops, offers Germany a truce
 March 1918 – Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed between Germany and Russia
 Germany moves all troops to Western Front
Summary
Guiding Questions: Could the Great War have been avoided? Who or what was really to blame?
Questions, Prompts, Thoughts
Lecture Notes
THE ALLIES WIN THE WAR
The Great War Ends
 Russia withdraws, leaving Germany in a better position to win.
 But German soldiers were exhausted from 4 long years of fighting and were no match
against fresh American soldiers who had joined France on the Western Front
 1918 Flu Pandemic depletes all armies. 19,000,000 die by 1919.
 2nd Battle of the Marne – Germans tried one last big attack July 1918
 German soldiers too weak against fresh American troops
 Nov. 9, 1918 - Kaiser Wilhelm steps down
 Nov. 11, 1918 - Armistice – agreement to stop fighting
Legacy of the War
 9 million soldiers dead
 8 million civilians dead
 21 million wounded, including 7 million maimed for life
 Another 19 million dead due to the flu epidemic
 An entire generation in Europe is wiped out and the people left behind are called the
“Lost Generation”
VERSAILLES TREATY
Who was there?
 Treaty was created by: Woodrow Wilson (USA), Georges Clemenceau (Fr), David Lloyd
George (GB), Vittorio Orlando (It.)
 Germany, her allies, and Russia were not present.
Wilson’s 14 Points
 Wilson created a plan for lasting peace called the Fourteen Points. This included:
Reduction of military in all countries. An end to secret alliances. Giving colonies
freedom. Creating a League of Nations.
Versailles Treaty
 Britain and France hated Wilson’s plan. They wanted to keep their military and get
even with Germany. The treaty they created:
 Said Germany was solely responsible for the war and punished Germany by
forcing her to pay for the war.
 Stripped Germany of all power.
 The only part of Wilson’s plan they kept was the League of Nations.
Results:
 Left lasting feelings of bitterness in the hearts of Germans
 Austria-Hungary was split into four countries: Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and
Czechoslovakia.
 Ottoman Empire lost their entire empire to France and Britain
 Russia lost Poland and Romania
 The U.S. refused to follow the treaty and refused to join the League of Nations.
 Therefore the League of Nations was irrelevant since it was missing the most powerful
nation in the world.
 Japan was angry because she did not gain territory for helping the Allies.
 Leads the way to WW2.