The Great War: WWI
The War Years:
1914-1917
Lecture 4 A: The Western Front
August, 1914
Ger use Schlieffen Plan against Fr
 Rus attacks Ger on Eastern Front to
force Ger to split troops and arms to
fight on two fronts.

September, 1914
Battle of the Marne
 Fr force Ger back to the Marne River
 Key Allied Victory: Ger knew that
they would not be home by Christmas
Autumn 1914
The Race to the Sea
 Ger stopped by Br at Ypres
 Stabilized western Ger advance

Trench Warfare and “No Man’s Land” :
and ineffective defensive strategy for
next 2 years.
1916 Stalemate
By end of year 2 million DEAD
 Verdun: 11 month battle
Dead: Fr: 300,000
Ger: 330,000
 Somme: 1,100,000 casualties
 Both symbolize the gross destruction of
modern warfare with little to no gain.
Other Fronts
Middle East
1915-1916
Br v. OE at Gallipoli to capture
Dardinelles Straits
 Br needed to get to Istanbul
 Unsuccessful. Br withdrew with heavy
casualties

Other Fronts
Northern Africa and into the
Arabian Peninsula
1915-1916
T.E. Lawrence organized Arab
nationalists for guerilla warfare against
OE
 Very successful in stopping the Berlin to
Baghdad RR

Lecture 4 B: Eastern Front
1914-1918
1914
Aug 1914: Rus invade E. Prussia at
Tannenberg and draw Ger to Eastern
Front
 Ger victory
 2 Rus armies defeated

1915
AH & Bulgaria defeat Serbia and Central
Powers occupy it.
 OE starts Armenian Genocide, continues
until 1918: 1.5 million die
 http://www.ibiscom.com/w1frm.htm

By end of 1915
Central Powers control Eastern Europe
from Berlin to Istanbul
1916
Rus launches massive assault against
CP in Ukraine
 Capture 500,000 AH troops but lost
1,000,000 Rus troops. Victory???

1917
Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrow
Tsar Nicholas Romanov
 Rumors are that Central Powers are
financing Lenin to hasten the close of
the Eastern Front.

March 3, 1918: Rus-Ger
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Ger will leave Rus alone if Rus gives…
 25-35% of people (Poland)
 90% of all coal mines
 all the oil fields
Eastern Front Secure
All Ger troops moved to Western Front…
Is it too late???
Lecture 4 C: Naval Warfare:
1914-1917
Ger damages Allied shipping
1915
Ger declares water around Br “war
zone” all Br enemy ships will be
attacked
 Br retaliates by blockading Ger and
seizing all goods headed for Ger
 Ger declares all ships going to Br as
enemy ships

1915
Ger sinks the Lusitania:
1100 civilians, 128 Americans die
1916
Ger face severe food shortage because
of Br blockade
 Ger build more U-boats to run
blockades
 Br warship perfect the “depth charge”
to sink U-boats

1917
Ger declare Unrestricted submarine
warfare on all ships including neutral
countries heading for Br or Fr
 Activity against US merchant ships
increases….

Lecture 4 D: U.S.A. Involvement
From Isolationist to World Leader
1914
President Woodrow Wilson declares US
neutrality
 Ger start attacking supply ships going
to Br and Fr
 US continues to supply all parties in the
war, but US citizens are influences by Fr
anti-Ger propaganda and Lusitania

March 1917: Zimmerman Telegram
Br intercept telegram from Ger (A.
Zimmerman) to Mex
 Ger offer to help Mex recover TX, NM,
AZ and parts of CA if Mex will join the
CP and attack US
 http://www.nara.gov/education/teachin
g/zimmermann/zimmerma.html

April 2, 1917
Pres. Wilson asks Congress to declare
war on Ger
 Wilson gives famous “…make the world
safe for democracy..” speech (Primary
Source reading)

June 1917
General “Black Jack” Pershing goes to
Fr to lead Allied forces
 Vows “No Trench Warfare” and “Drive
Hard and Fast to Berlin.”
 Ger sustain heavy losses.

Jan 1918
Wilson publishes 14 Point Plan for Peace
(see Primary Source)
 League of Nations suggested as 14th
pt.
 US rejects it. Wants to go back to being
isolationists.

July 18 Second Battle of the
Marne (Fr)
Ger army exhausted
 More than 2 million Amer. Troops fought
 Allied forces began to advance toward
Germany
 CP alliance crumbles.

Aug 8, 1918
Allied forces break through Ger lines
 Weak Ger army pushed back to Ger

Nov 9, 1918
Ger only remaining Central Powers
 Ger troops mutiny, Kaiser Wilhem II
abdicates and flees to Netherlands
 Ger declares a Republic

November 11, 1918
THE WAR IS OVER
GERMANS SURRENDER
Nov 11, 1918
Armistice Day
11:00 am Ger sign agreement in railroad
car in Compiegne forest in Fr. Only
request is that the peace settlement be
based on American Wilson 14 point
plan.
(Look at Primary Source)
Costs
In Lives
Lives
43,000,000
 10,000,000
 20,000,000
 13,000,000
causes

Killed/Wounded
Troops killed in battle
wounded in battle
civilians die of war-related
Total $ Cost of the War
$350,000,000,000
in destruction of property