The War to End All Wars:
World War I
Mr. Phipps
U.S. History
STHS
California State Standards
11.4.5--Analyze the political, economic, and
social ramifications of World War I on the
home front.
Questions
•
•
•
•
How was World War I different than previous wars?
What were the long term causes of the Great War?
What were the immediate causes of the Great War?
What were the main strategies and techniques used
during the war?
• How did military technology change?
• Why did the U.S. enter the war? Why did the U.S. enter
the war so late?
• What position in the global community did the U.S. have
at the conclusion of the war?
#1 On separate paper, answer the following questions
Vocabulary
• Total War: A war of attrition, in which compromise is not sought, no deals
•
•
•
•
•
•
are accepted other than total surrender; A war in which armies and civilians
work together in the war effort; A war that affects all aspects of society:
farmland, military, cities, etc.,
Schlieffen Plan: German military strategy to invade France first, then
Russia; Reason--Russia would be unable to mobilize due to lack of
railroads
Mobilization: A nation’s effort to prepare for war, requires the
development of military technology, training of armies, and deployment of
armies.
Nationalism: Extreme pride in one’s country; The belief that one’s
country is superior (in all ways) to all other countries.
Militarism: A national desire to prove military superiority.
Imperialism: A country’s agenda to take over other countries for land,
resources, etc.,
Alliances: A relationship one country has with another, usually for mutual
protection and benefit.
The Great War: In a Nutshell
• The first war to include multiple countries
• The first war to include countries from Europe,
the Middle East, and Asia--drawn together by
complex alliance system
• The first “modern” war
• Use of modern technology: first airplanes, first
tanks, first gas attack
• Most dead in a single battle
• The first “European” war the U.S. fought in
• Largest mobilization effort, to date
The Great War: The Numbers
A llied Powers
Rus s ia
Franc e
Britis h E mpire
I taly
U nited S tates
J apan
Romania
S erbia
Belgium
G reec e
P ortugal
M ontenegro
Total
Cent ral Powers
G ermany
A us tria- H ungary
T urkey
Bulgaria
Total
Grand Total
Mobilized
KIA
W ounded
Prisoners/MNIA
Casualt ies
Casualt ies &
1 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 ,7 0 0 ,0 0 0
4 ,9 5 0 ,0 0 0
2 ,5 0 0 ,0 0 0
9 ,1 5 0 ,0 0 0
7 6 .3
8 ,4 1 0 ,0 0 0
1 ,3 5 7 ,8 0 0
4 ,2 6 6 ,0 0 0
5 3 7 ,0 0 0
6 ,1 6 0 ,8 0 0
7 6 .3
8 ,9 0 4 ,4 6 7
9 0 8 ,3 7 1
2 ,0 9 0 ,2 1 2
1 9 1 ,6 5 2
3 ,1 9 0 ,2 3 5
3 5 .8
5 ,6 1 5 ,0 0 0
6 5 0 ,0 0 0
9 4 7 ,0 0 0
6 0 0 ,0 0 0
2 ,1 9 7 ,0 0 0
3 9 .1
4 ,3 5 5 ,0 0 0
1 2 6 ,0 0 0
2 3 4 ,3 0 0
4 ,5 0 0
3 6 4 ,8 0 0
8 .2
8 0 0 ,0 0 0
300
907
3
1 ,2 1 0
0 .2
7 5 0 ,0 0 0
3 3 5 ,7 0 6
1 2 0 ,0 0 0
8 0 ,0 0 0
5 3 5 ,7 0 6
7 1 .4
7 0 7 ,3 4 3
4 5 ,0 0 0
1 3 3 ,1 4 8
1 5 2 ,9 5 8
3 3 1 ,1 0 6
4 6 .8
2 6 7 ,0 0 0
1 3 ,7 1 6
4 4 ,6 8 6
3 4 ,6 5 9
9 3 ,0 6 1
3 4 .9
2 3 0 ,0 0 0
5 ,0 0 0
2 1 ,0 0 0
1 ,0 0 0
1 7 ,0 0 0
1 1 .7
1 0 0 ,0 0 0
7 ,2 2 2
1 3 ,7 5 1
1 2 ,3 1 8
3 3 ,2 9 1
3 3 .3
5 0 ,0 0 0
3 ,0 0 0
1 0 ,0 0 0
7 ,0 0 0
2 0 ,0 0 0
40
42,188,810
5,152,115
12,831,004
4,121,090
22,104,209
52.3
1 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
7 ,8 0 0 ,0 0 0
2 ,8 5 0 ,0 0 0
1 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0
22,850,000
1 ,7 7 3 ,7 0 0
1 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0
3 2 5 ,0 0 0
8 7 ,5 0 0
3,386,200
4 ,2 1 6 ,0 5 8
3 ,6 2 0 ,0 0 0
4 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 5 2 ,3 9 0
8,388,448
1 ,1 5 2 ,8 0 0
2 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0
2 5 0 ,0 0 0
2 7 ,0 2 9
3,629,829
7 ,1 4 2 ,5 5 8
7 ,0 2 0 ,0 0 0
9 7 5 ,0 0 0
2 6 6 ,9 1 9
15,404,477
65,038,810 8,538,315 21,219,452 7,750,919 37,508,686
6 4 .9
90
3 4 .2
2 2 .2
67.4
57.6
#2
• Identify two long range causes of World
War I.
• Identify two short range causes of World
War I.
The Long Term Causes of WWI
•
•
•
•
Nationalism
Imperialism
Militarism
Alliances
#3 Rate the
importance of each:
1-4 (1=most
important factor)
Nationalism
• Causes
– The belief that each country
was culturally superior to any
other countries
– Evident in the competition for
resources
– Long term cultural hatred (the
Russians hated the Germans,
the Bosnians hated the Serbs,
the Ottomans hated the
Greeks, etc)
– Based on social customs,
religion, cultural
accomplishments
– Unified people
• Effects
– Resulted in a global effort
to prove superiority
– Evident in growth of
military, the growth of
industry, the acquisition of
territories
– Resulted in large scale
international tension
#4 In what ways does the
U.S. illustrate nationalism?
How is nationalism positive?
Negative?
Imperialism
• Causes
– Quest for resources in
order to increase
national economy
– Prove superiority to
other countries
#5 How did the U.S.
benefit from imperialism
during the late 1800s?
• Effects
– Resulted in competition
over territorial acquisition
– Resulted in long-term
aggression over border
disputes, natural
resources, and new
markets
– Examples:
• France v. Germany over
Alsace-Lorraine
• Austria-Hungary v. Russia
over Balkans
#6 What changed
between 1890-1910?
How did this
contribute to
international tension?
Militarism
• Causes
– Competition for
military superiority
– Use of industry to
create military
technology
• Effects
– Resulted in an “arms
race”
– Resulted in the
creation of new deadly
war machines
The Alliance System
• The Triple Alliance
– A.K.A. The Central Powers,
“The Bad Guys”, “The
Huns”
– Formed by secret alliance
treaties in 1887
– Purpose to take back land
from France and balance
power
– Included Austria-Hungary,
Germany, and the
Ottoman Empire
• The Triple Entente
– A.K.A. The Allies, The
“Good Guys”, “Tommies”
(G.B.), “Doughboys”
(U.S.A.)
– Formed by treaty in 1907
– Purpose to challenge
German naval control
– Included Great Britain,
France, Russia, Serbia,
and the U.S.A.
#7 How does this cartoon describe the alliance
system before the war?
Immediate Causes of WWI
• The Allies
– Great Britain, France,
Russia, and Serbia
• The Central Powers
– Austria-Hungary,
Germany, the Ottoman
Empire
•All countries are struggling for world domination.
•All countries consider themselves the most able to rule the world.
•All countries are bound to each other through complex alliances.
•All countries are unified in their support for the war.
•All countries are fully armed and hate every other country.
The Balkans
The Snowball Effect…
• In the spirit of nationalism and selfdetermination, the small country of Serbia seeks
independence from Bosnia, the Ottoman
Empire, and Austria-Hungary.
• The region, the Balkans, is THE highway for all
trade and communication between Europe and
Asia.
• The Balkans is a region ALL COUNTRIES want
to control.
• The Balkans is convulsed by civil war.
Gathering Momentum…
• On June 28, 1914,
Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian
nationalist and member of
the Black Hand, kills
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand and his family
while they are supervising
a military exercise in
Sarajevo.
• Targeting the heir to the
Austrian-Hungarian
throne, Princip attempts
to declare Serbia
independence.
Degenerating to War: The Fall of 1914
• June 28, 1914: Austria-Hungarian Archduke
assassinated
• July 28, 1914: Austria-Hungary mobilizes army and
declares war on Serbia
• July 31, 1914: Russia mobilizes army against AustriaHungary to protect Serbian ally
• August 1, 1914: Germany declares war on Russia
• August 3, 1914: Germany declares war on France
• August 4, 1914: Germany invades Belgium
• August 4, 1914: Angered, Great Britain declares war on
Germany
• August 6, 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on
Russia
The Funeral Procession
So What?
• Russia rushes to
protect its ally
• Germany declares
war on everyone
• Germany engages
Schlieffen Plan,
invading France first
• All sides expect a
short war, over by
Christmas 1914
The Great War Begins
• Sept. 5-10, 1914: The First Battle of the
Marne
– Germany pushes through Belgium to attack France at
the Marne River, outside of Paris
– Quickly mobilizing, France sends 600 taxicabs full of
soldiers to fight back
– The first trenches are dug, and France forces
Germany to retreat
– Effects:
• Russia quickly mobilizes and attacks Germany on the
Eastern Front
• Shows Germany that the Schlieffen Plan would not work
• Both sides dig in for long, defensive war
How did it happen?
• Bad Directions!!!
– A German officer, taking a wrong turn out of
the General’s camp drove into a French patrol
and was murdered.
– In the officers bag: a map which showed the
exact location of German troops and the
direction of the next day’s offensive.
Stalemate
• The Tactics of Trench Warfare
– Generals were unprepared for the development of
trench warfare: their training was in army mobility
– Main strategy:
• To use a combination of heavy artillery and MORE MEN to
break the trench line
• First, to use artillery to “soften up” the enemy and destroy
barbed wire
• Second, to fix bayonets and lead a charge across No Man’s
Land
• Third, to kill the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
– Exceptions, by mutual consent:
• No bombing the latrines.
• No bombing before breakfast.
• No bombing on major holidays.
Life in the hole
• The Equipment:
– 1 rifle, 1 bayonet, 170
rounds of ammo, 1 gas
mask, 1 shovel, wire
cutters, a full water
bottle, food rations, extra
clothing, medical
supplies, portable
cooking stove and fuel,
personal belongings
• Total Weight: 60 lbs.
The Trench System
Draw a sketch of the trench system in your notes.
British trench, Thiepval Woods, France
Write a Letter from the Trench
• Directions: You will write a letter to your family or a friend from the
trenches of the Western Front. The letter should be written so that
your reader understands the stress and trauma of life in the
trenches. You may use any notes to help you with this exercise.
The letter should be AT LEAST one full page in length.
• Time: February 7, 1915
• Place: Trenches outside Verdun, France
• It should include:
– The fear and anticipation you feel in the trenches
– Your living conditions and daily life in the trenches
– Any extraordinary events
– Your morale and what you do to keep yourself entertained
– It should be detailed, explicit, and graphic--use imagery!!!
Total War: 1915
• January 1915: TOTAL
WAR
– Germans introduce poison
gas to push the Western
Front and break the Allied
Defense.
• May 7, 1915: H.S.S.
Lusitania Sunk
– En route from NYC to
Britain, the British
passenger ship is
torpedoed by German UBoats.
The Lusitania Incident
• Germans accused the British that the Lusitania secretly
carried guns and ammo to strengthen allied defense.
• Germans accused the Americans for violating neutrality
and selling the Brits war materials.
• The H.S.S. Lusitania took 18 minutes to sink fully below
water.
• Due to the location of the explosion, the poor positioning
of the lifeboats, and the confusion, 1195 people (over
60%) of the passengers died--128 of whom were
American.
• The Lusitania Incident resulted in angering the American
public, calling for war.
• Woodrow Wilson waited two years before declaring war.
Why was the bombing of the Lusitania so scandalous?
Was it fair for the Germans to torpedo it? Explain.
The Battle for 1916:
• The Battle of Verdun: February-December, 1916
– The longest battle of the WWI, lasting over 10 months.
– Over 1 million dead on the battlefield
– The battle became symbolic for WWI: French stubbornness to
defend vs. German stubbornness to “bleed the French dry.”
Total War at Verdun
Battle of the Somme:
1916
• The Battle of the
Somme: JulyNovember, 1916
– British offensive to
relieve French allies at
Verdun
– British casualties on
the first day: 20,000
– Most dead on both
sides: 1 million
A New Technology
Cyanide/Mustard Gas:
launched by artillery,
gas would stay close to
the ground; Results in
drowning/suffocation
U-Boats: unrestricted, underwater,
undetectable could fire self-propelled
missiles
Machine Guns: rapid fire, automatic
weapons
Armored Tank: combat vehicle on
tracks; used to cross barbed wire in
No-Man’s Land
The Results
Battlefield Flanders, 1916
Battlefield Verdun, 1917
Battlefield Ypres, 1917
Battlefield Flanders, 1917
Battlefield Chateau Wood, 1917
Mass Grave, Eastern Front
The U.S. Joins the War: 1917
• January 1917: U.S.
intercepts the
Zimmerman Telegram
– Sent by Germany to
Mexico
– Asked Mexico for support
on a North American
invasion of the U.S. in
exchange for North
American territory
– Violated the Monroe
Doctrine--No intervention in
Western Hemisphere
– Equaled a declaration of
war for the U.S.
American Intelligence
The U.S. Declares War!
• February 1917: Germany declares unrestricted
submarine warfare on ALL allies: Great Britain,
France, Russia, and the U.S.
• April 1917: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
asks Congress for Declaration of War
• April 6, 1917: Congress declares war on
Germany--the U.S. officially joins the war
• July 1917: The American Expeditionary Force
(A.E.F.) is mobilized and sent to the Western
Front.
American Mobilization
• American factories
earn government
contracts to make
armaments, tanks,
and ammunition.
• The A.E.F. begins
mobilization effort
Should the U.S. have
joined the war?
Would you have joined
the war? Why? Why
not?
America Prepares
• Council of National Defense,
War Industries Board, National
War Labor Board
– Oversaw mobilization,
shipbuilding, and armament
production
– Expanded size of American
government
• Food Administration Board
– Supported rationing,
abstinence programs, and
home gardens (liberty
gardens)
– Passed 18th Amendment-Prohibition of Alcohol
• Draft passed in 1917
The War at Home
•
The Committee of Public
Information
– Headed by George Creel
– Publishes propaganda and radio
addresses
– Called for immediate mobilization
of 75,000 men
•
Espionage and Sedition Acts
– Infringed on civil liberties
• Spying on citizens, targeted
“adversaries”, wrongfully
imprisoned critics of war
– Instituted to encourage loyalty
among American citizens
(especially German-Americans,
Socialists, liberals, and unionists.)
•
Restricted immigration
1917: The Western and
Eastern Fronts
• The Western Front
– Dragged by failed
offensives on both sides,
the war is at a stalemate
– Resources: ammunition,
food, and morale is
exceedingly low
– American forces boost
morale and supplies
• The Eastern Front
– Dragged by failed
offensives on both sides,
the war is at a stalemate
– Resources: ammunition,
food, and morale is
lower for both sides
– Russia, starving, is left
without any help
The Tide Turns
• November 1917: The
Communist Revolution
– Desperate for food and angry at
Czar Nicholas and the Romanov
Dynasty for stupidity, a group of
radicals declare a revolution
– Led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon
Trotsky
– The Bolsheveik Revolution
declared:
• A return of property to the
poor
• A return of power to the
people
• A complete and total
withdrawal from the war
• The killing of all royals
The Results: 1917
• The U.S. joins the war
• Russia withdraws
from the war
• The Western Front is
reinforced
• The Eastern Front is
lost to AustriaHungary
• Communism is “born”
The War Unravels: 1918
• January 8: Wilson proposes 14 Point Peace
Plan
• May 3: German offensive at Paris is stopped
• July: Germans begin to desert the army
• September: Allies begin final offensive and
breaks the German “Hindenberg Line”
• October: The German Army collapses
• November 11: The Germans sign armistice and
surrender to the army
The Sum of All Fears
A llied Powers
Rus s ia
Franc e
Britis h E mpire
I taly
U nited States
J apan
Romania
Serbia
Belgium
G reec e
P ortugal
M ontenegro
Total
Cent ral Powers
G ermany
A us tria- H ungary
T urkey
Bulgaria
Total
Grand Total
Mobilized
KIA
Wounded
Prisoners/MNIA
Casualt ies
Casualt ies &
1 2 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 ,7 0 0 ,0 0 0
4 ,9 5 0 ,0 0 0
2 ,5 0 0 ,0 0 0
9 ,1 5 0 ,0 0 0
7 6 .3
8 ,4 1 0 ,0 0 0
1 ,3 5 7 ,8 0 0
4 ,2 6 6 ,0 0 0
5 3 7 ,0 0 0
6 ,1 6 0 ,8 0 0
7 6 .3
8 ,9 0 4 ,4 6 7
9 0 8 ,3 7 1
2 ,0 9 0 ,2 1 2
1 9 1 ,6 5 2
3 ,1 9 0 ,2 3 5
3 5 .8
5 ,6 1 5 ,0 0 0
6 5 0 ,0 0 0
9 4 7 ,0 0 0
6 0 0 ,0 0 0
2 ,1 9 7 ,0 0 0
3 9 .1
4 ,3 5 5 ,0 0 0
1 2 6 ,0 0 0
2 3 4 ,3 0 0
4 ,5 0 0
3 6 4 ,8 0 0
8 .2
8 0 0 ,0 0 0
300
907
3
1 ,2 1 0
0 .2
7 5 0 ,0 0 0
3 3 5 ,7 0 6
1 2 0 ,0 0 0
8 0 ,0 0 0
5 3 5 ,7 0 6
7 1 .4
7 0 7 ,3 4 3
4 5 ,0 0 0
1 3 3 ,1 4 8
1 5 2 ,9 5 8
3 3 1 ,1 0 6
4 6 .8
2 6 7 ,0 0 0
1 3 ,7 1 6
4 4 ,6 8 6
3 4 ,6 5 9
9 3 ,0 6 1
3 4 .9
2 3 0 ,0 0 0
5 ,0 0 0
2 1 ,0 0 0
1 ,0 0 0
1 7 ,0 0 0
1 1 .7
1 0 0 ,0 0 0
7 ,2 2 2
1 3 ,7 5 1
1 2 ,3 1 8
3 3 ,2 9 1
3 3 .3
5 0 ,0 0 0
3 ,0 0 0
1 0 ,0 0 0
7 ,0 0 0
2 0 ,0 0 0
40
42,188,810
5,152,115
12,831,004
4,121,090
22,104,209
52.3
1 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
7 ,8 0 0 ,0 0 0
2 ,8 5 0 ,0 0 0
1 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0
22,850,000
1 ,7 7 3 ,7 0 0
1 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0
3 2 5 ,0 0 0
8 7 ,5 0 0
3,386,200
4 ,2 1 6 ,0 5 8
3 ,6 2 0 ,0 0 0
4 0 0 ,0 0 0
1 5 2 ,3 9 0
8,388,448
1 ,1 5 2 ,8 0 0
2 ,2 0 0 ,0 0 0
2 5 0 ,0 0 0
2 7 ,0 2 9
3,629,829
7 ,1 4 2 ,5 5 8
7 ,0 2 0 ,0 0 0
9 7 5 ,0 0 0
2 6 6 ,9 1 9
15,404,477
65,038,810 8,538,315 21,219,452 7,750,919 37,508,686
6 4 .9
90
3 4 .2
2 2 .2
67.4
57.6
• “Numbers have dehumanized us. Over breakfast coffee we read of 40,000
American dead in Vietnam. Instead of vomiting, we reach for the toast. Our
morning rush through crowded streets is not to cry murder but to hit that
trough before somebody else gobbles our share.
• An equation: 40,000 dead young men = 3,000 tons of bone and flesh,
124,000 pounds of brain matter, 50,000 gallons of blood, 1,840,000 years
of life that will never be lived, 100,000 children who will never be born.
• Let us use his same arithmetic for World War I; 9,000,000 dead young men
equal 1,350,000,000 pounds of bone and flesh, 27,900,000 pounds of brain
matter, 11,250,000 gallons of blood, 414,000,000 years of life that will
never be lived, and 22,500,000 children who will never be born. The dry if
imposing figure "9,000,000 dead" seems a little less statistical when we
view it from this perspective.”
» Dalton Trumbo, “Johnny Got His Gun.”
The War to End All Wars
• The war ends on the 11th day, of the 11th
month, at the 11th hour
• The Treaty of Versailles
– Germans surrender
– Germans completely demilitarize
– Germans forced to pay war damages to Great
Britain and France
– All countries form a League of Nations to
diplomatically solve international problems
The Terms
•
German Armistice, Nov. 11, 1918
–
–
–
–
–
Germany was required to evacuate all occupied
territories everywhere. The iniquitous treaties of
Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest were annulled.
Germany was to surrender 5,000 pieces of light
and heavy artillery, 25,000 machine guns,
3,000 minenwerfers, 1,700 airplanes, 5,000
locomotives, 150,000 railroad cars, and 5,000
motor lorries. All these were to be in perfect
condition. All submarines were to be
surrendered, together with 10 battleships, 6
battle cruisers, 8 light cruisers, and 50
destroyers. The remaining naval vessels were to
be disarmed and placed under allied
supervision.
Prisoners of war in German hands were to be
yielded up without reciprocity.
All territory on the left bank of the Rhine was to
be occupied by the allied armies, and three
bridgeheads were to be established at Mayence,
Coblenz, and Cologne, each with a radius of
eighteen miles. A trip of territory six miles wide
on the right bank of the Rhine was to constitute
a neutral zone.
The period of armistice was one month, with
provision for renewal if necessary.