A Review of World War I
Part 1: War Breaks Out in
Europe
I. The Start of WWI
A. Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria
visits Sarajevo on a Serbian national
holiday.
1. June 28, 1914 was Serbia’s
Independence Day.
2. The day was also a day of mourning to
commemorate a military defeat
centuries before.
B. Ferdinand and his wife are shot and
killed by a Serbian nationalist/patriot.
C. One month later, Austria declared war on
Serbia. One by one, the nations of Europe
chose sides and the Great War (WWI)
began.
II. Causes of World War I
A. Imperialism 1. Britain, France, Germany and Italy
competed for colonies in Asia and
Africa.
2. Germany was jealous of the other
imperialist nations because it did
not have as many colonies.
Germany felt it deserved more.
B. Nationalism 1. European nations wanted to prove that
their individual nation was the best.
2. They felt that their country’s interests
were far more important than the
others. This created arrogance!
C. Militarism – This is the belief that a
nation needs a large military force.
European nations were building up their
armies and navies during peacetime to
show their power to the world.
D. Alliances – In 1914, a tangled network
of competing alliances bound European
nations together. An attack on one
nation forced its allies to come to its aid.
A small conflict could become a larger
war.
•
•
European nations had divided into 2
opposing alliances:
The Central Powers – Austria-Hungary,
Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman
Empire.
The Allied Powers (the “Allies”) – Serbia,
Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy, and
seven other countries.
III. New Methods of Warfare
A. Trench Warfare (troops huddled in rat
infested trenches and fired artillery and
machine guns at one another – cost
thousands of lives with little gain)
B. New Technologies –
1. Tanks (a British invention)
2. Poison gas (burned and blinded
soldiers)
3. U-boats or submarines (guns &
torpedoes to block
trade – sank over 11 million tons
of
Allied shipping)
4. Airplanes (first major combat used Manfred von Richthofen (the Red
Barron) shot down over 80 planes (5+ =
Ace)
5. Machine gun (fired 600 bullets a
minute)
IV. The US Switches from Neutrality to an Ally
Power.
A.
The Germans sink the Lusitania, killing 1,198
people including 128 Americans.
1. It was a British passenger ship.
2. The event turned many Americans
against the Germans.
B. Zimmermann Telegram 1. A telegram written by a German foreign
minister (Arthur Zimmermann) that was
intercepted by the British.
2. Germany was trying to persuade Mexico to join
the Central Powers. Germany promised to help
Mexico get back the colonies it lost to the US
in the Mexican-American War. (Texas, New
Mexico and Arizona)
3. This news made Americans furious.
A Review of World War I
continued . . .
Part 2: America
Joins the Fight
I. The Draft Begins
A. The draft started so that the
government could fulfill its need for
troops. (The US had less than 200,000 soldiers.)
B. In May 1917, Congress passed the
Selective Services Act, which
required all males between the ages
of 21 and 30 to sign up for military
service. By the end of 1918, nearly 3
million men had been drafted.
II. The U.S. Enters the War
A. By the time the first American troops arrived in
June 1917, the Allies had been at war for
almost three years.
B. The troops helped shift the balance in favor of
the allies by giving the other Ally countries a
morale boost.
C. Americans were proud of the contribution their
troops made to the war effort.
(About 2 million American soldiers went to France. Around
400,000 African-Americans also served in the armed forces and
it was the first time in US history that women served in the
military.)
III. Armistice Day
A. On November 11, 1918 at 11am (the
11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month)
the Germans agreed to an armistice
or an end to fighting. (Armistice Day)
B. About 8.5 million soldiers (5 million
Allied/3.5 million Central Powers) died
in the war and about 21 million were
wounded.
A Review of World War I
Continued . . .
Part 3: Life on the
Home Front
I. The Wartime Economy
A. War bonds were low interest loans by
civilians to the government, meant to
be repaid in a number of years.
B. The war brought more government
control of the economy. To produce
such needed war supplies, President
Wilson set up the War Industries
Board.
II. Propaganda
A. Propaganda - opinions that are
expressed for the purpose of
influencing the actions of the people.
B. Patriotic propaganda did much to win
support for the war; however its antiGerman/anti-foreign focus also fueled
prejudice. Suddenly people distrusted
anything German.
III. Influenza Epidemic
A. After the war, in the year 1918, a
deadly flu epidemic swept the globe.
B. The epidemic started in an army
training camp in Kansas and spread
rapidly through the air.
C. The flu killed more than 20 million
people on six continents by the time
it disappeared in 1919.
A Review of
World War I –
The Dramatic
Conclusion!
Part 4: The Legacy of the
Great War
I.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
On January 8, 1918, President Wilson outlined his
vision for the postwar world in a plan known as the
Fourteen Points.
The Fourteen Points were a list of specific proposals
for postwar peace.
Key goals of the Fourteen Points:
* End secret alliances
* Encourage free shipping
* Remove barriers to trade
* Reduce armies and navies
* Resolve colonial claims
* Support the right of people to choose their own
government
* Settle border disputes
* Establish the League of Nations
II.
Treaty of Versailles
A. Conditions of the Treaty
1. Germany had to pay $33 billion in reparations
in order to pay for the destruction that it
caused during the war.
2. Germany had to admit its guilt for causing the
war.
3. Large empires like Austria-Hungary and the
Ottoman Empire were divided up.
4. The League of Nations was created.
B. Aftermath of the Treaty
1. Due to stress, Woodrow Wilson suffers a stroke in
September 1919. (In 21 days, he traveled almost
10,000 miles and gave over 30 speeches.)
2. The Senate refuses to approve the League of
Nations treaty.
3. League of Nations is formed without the US.
C. Results of the Treaty
1. It failed to make Europe safer without the US in
the League of Nations.
2. Germans grew resentful because of admitting
guilt and paying reparations.
3. Germany goes through a Depression.
German Economic Problems After WWI
• In January 1921, German
currency was worth 64
marks to the dollar.
• By November 1923, one
dollar was worth
4,200,000,000,000 marks.
Price of a Loaf of Bread
1918 – just over half a mark
1922 – 163 marks/loaf
1923 (Nov) – 201,000
million marks/loaf
• Treaty of Versailles
(limitations)
Type
Amount Allowed
Planes
0
Warships
6
Soldiers
100,000
Conscription*
Banned
*(involuntary labor demanded by
an established authority)