World War I
Ms. Schroeder
Pictures
What We’ll Learn…
• Origins of the War
• The Central Powers and the Allied Powers
– Who were they
– Why they were fighting
• The United States’ initial position of
neutrality and the reasons for later entering
the War
• The roles of men and women in the War
•
•
•
•
Strategies used in warfare
Death tolls
The winners and losers
Results of the War
• Origins of the War
– Militarism, colonialism, and the desire to
conquer Europe and other countries
– Complicated alliances and defense treaties
– The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• June 28, 1914
– The War began in 1914 and lasted until 1918
The Central and Allied Powers
• The Central Powers
– Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the
Ottoman Empire
• The Allied Powers
– Great Britain, Russia, France and Italy (the
United States would join the Allies in 1917)
From Neutrality to Fighting with the
Allies
• Originally, President Woodrow Wilson had
declared a position of neutrality in the War
• The United States continued to trade with both
sides
• Both powers began to violate the United States’
neutral rights by trying to prevent trade
• By 1915, the U.S. had become partial to the
Allies and lent money and aid to Great Britain
and France
The U.S. Sided with the Allies and
Joined the War
– U.S. had bigger markets with Great Britain and
France
– Cultural similarities
– Perceived notion that Germany was the culprit
for the War
– German U-Boats attacked U.S. ships and took the
lives and property of the U.S.
• Sinking of Lusitania
– The Zimmerman Telegram
• Instruction from Germany to Mexico that should the U.S.
fight against Germany, Mexico would attack the U.S. and
be monetarily rewarded and receive lost provinces
– U.S. began to fear that Europe and even the world
could be dominated by Germany if they won
– Felt the need to protect American lives and property
• The United States abandoned neutrality and
entered the War in 1917
• Songs, posters, and other propaganda were
used to encourage men to join the service
“Over There” written by George M.
Cohan and sung by Billy Murray
• What is the song about?
• What’s the significance?
– http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/overther
e.htm
Roles, Warfare, Death Tolls, and the
Winners and Losers
• Roles of men in the War
– 24 million young men of 18+ years old were
registered by local Selective Service boards
– 3 million drafted into the military
– 2 million volunteered for service
– Relatively few men resisted
the draft
– Soldiers served on land,
sea, or in the air
• Roles of women of in the War
– Nurses in the War
– In the absence of men, women took industrial
positions customarily reserved for men
– Women also took positions in government war
bureaucracies
Warfare
• Trench
– Soldiers dug trenches to protect themselves
– The negative aspects of trenches
• Disease spread quickly
• Dead soldiers and decaying bodies were left in the trenches
• Chemical
– Poisonous gas attacks
– Deadly
Trenches were often
crowded and unsanitary
Dogs used as messengers had to wear
canine gas masks to avoid exposure to
poisonous gasses
• Submarine
– German U-Boats and submarine attacks
• Use of machine guns and barbed wire
– This made defense against and attack easier
than staging an offensive
• Airplanes and Tanks
– Strategists were slow to use airplanes and tanks
for offensive use
Death Tolls
• An estimated 8.5 million soldiers died
• Twice the number of those who perished
were wounded
• Many who were not killed in combat
succumbed to disease spread in the trenches
• Total casualties of both soldiers and civilians
reached 37 million
The Winners and Losers
• Allied Powers won, Central Powers lost
– In September of 1918, millions of Allied troops
advanced across the Argonne forest in France
and cut German supply lines
– In October, troops reached the German border
– German leaders asked for armistice (a truce) to
be followed by peace negotiations
– Having forced the Germans to agree to
numerous concessions (something unwillingly
admitted), the Allies ended the War on
November 11, 1918
Results of the War
• Punishment of Germany for its wartime
aggression
– Allies gave portions of northern Germany to
Denmark, and portions of eastern Germany to
Poland and Czechoslovakia
– Stripped of its entire navy and air force and
forbidden to place soldiers in western Germany
along the Rhine
– Allowed to keep an army of 100,000 men
– Forced to admit its responsibility for the war and
pay 33 billion to the victors
• The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty
of Versailles
• Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the
League of Nations: A new world order
– Fourteen Points accepted by both Germany and
the Allies as a basis for negotiations for peace
– The League of Nations was meant to function
as an international parliament and judiciary
– Conflict over ratification
– Failure and defeat of the Treaty
• The U.S. refused to ratify
• Failure of the peace process
• Created preconditions for another world war
– Added to Europe’s problems and delayed the
emergence of the U.S. as a leader in world
affairs
– The Versailles Treaty was neither lenient enough
to appease Germany or harsh enough to prevent
Germany from becoming a dominant power
again
• Treaty was not enough to completely neuter the
capability of Germany
• Allies did not occupy any part of Germany
• Created bitter resentment towards the Allies
– Germany had to accept their responsibility in the War and
assume “war guilt”
• Europe
– Substantial loss of lives (both of soldiers and
civilians) and property
– Weakened economy
– Weakened military, navy, and air force in
Germany
• United States
– Economy had become the world’s strongest
• Became the lenders of money and aid to other
countries rather than borrowers
• Triggered growth in the 1920’s
– Still struggled with class, ethnic, and racial
tensions