World War I, Part 3:
The Bloody Conflict
Goal 6 and 8
Essential Idea
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The turning point of World War I was the
arrival of American troops on the Western
Front.
General John Pershing
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Leader of American
Troops: John “Blackjack”
Pershing
Troops: American
Expeditionary Force
Nickname: Doughboys
American Expeditionary Force
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Why the nickname? Compared to European
troops who had been fighting for three years,
A.E.F. troops were “fat”
Accomplishments: American troops helped the
Allies win World War I Pershing
The Schlieffen Plan
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The German Plan:
The Schlieffen Plan
The Plan’s Strategy:
Attack France by
sending troops
through Belgium
Why it caused a
bigger problem:
Belgium was neutral
and under Britain’s
protection
Germany vs. France and Britain
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Britain Reaction: Britain declared war on Germany
Joining Forces: Britain and France joined to fight Germany
Fighting Germany: Germany was so strong that it appeared that
both Britain and France could not stop Germany from taking Paris
(capital of France)
Russia Invades Germany
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The “Surprise”:
Russian decided to
invade Germany on
the Eastern Front
Germany Reaction:
had to pull troops
from France
(Western Front) to
fight Russia
Trench Warfare
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The Result:
A weakened
German army
was stuck in a
stalemate against
France and
Britain (trench
warfare began)
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Trench Warfare
1. Artillery guns –
huge guns that could
shoot large explosive
shells for miles
Big Bertha – the most
famous artillery gun
(German, shot a 2 ton
shell for 8 miles)
Trenches
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2. Trenches – networks
of trenches were dug to
protect troops against
artillery shells
3. Machine guns –
guns that could fire
thousands of rounds a
minute, used to defend
the trenches from
enemy troop charges
No-Man’s-Land
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4. Barbed Wire – used to keep enemies from attacking
trenches (used with machine guns)
5. No Man’s Land – the area between the trenches, full
of craters from artillery shells
Going “Over the Top”
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6. Hand to Hand Combat
– if troops survived going
“over the top” (charging
across no man’s land),
soldiers engaged in
bloody fighting with
grenades, pistols, knives,
rocks, bare hands, etc.
Thousands of troops
would die and neither
side would advance
Life in the Trenches
Going over the top
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The “Arms Race” of Trench Warfare
Artillery guns
Effect: Forced soldiers into
trenches to avoid artillery
shells
Machine guns
Effect: Used to defend the
trenches from enemy ground
attacks
Mustard Gas
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Poison gas
Effect: sprayed into enemy trenches to break
enemy lines; soldiers started to wear gas masks
Tanks
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Tanks
Effect: used to
attack trenches,
were bullet
resistant, could
overrun barbed
wire, but
sometimes got
stuck in No
Man’s Land
Airplanes
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Airplanes
Effect: use to scout trenches and drop
bombs on enemies
Dogfights
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Effect: Airplanes would
fight battles known as
“dogfights”
The average life
expectancy of a WWI
pilot was TWO WEEKS
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A Two-Front War
Where?
Eastern
Front
Who is
fighting?
Germany
and Russia
The Bolsheviks
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What happens in Russia:
The Russian Revolution took place in 1917
The Bolshevik Party, known as the “reds” overthrew the Russian
government
Vladimir Lenin
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Led by Vladimir Lenin,
the reds established a
communist government,
the Soviet Union
The Result:
Russia left World War I
Germany sent troops
back to the Western Front
just as Americans began
to arrive
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American Convoys
German Actions:
Tried to use U-boats to
keep American troop
ships away
American Actions:
Used convoys, where
were large groups of
ships that provided safety
from U-boats (how?)
American troops landed
safely to the Western
Front
Germany Pushing for France
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Germany’s Plan: The Hindenburg Plan
What it was: one final assault on the Allies to take France
before American troops arrived
What stopped it: One million American troops arrived
America Joins the Allies in France
The Battle: Second Battle of the Marne
Details: Took place in the town of ChateauThierry, a town on the Marne River, in July 1918
Second Battle of the Marne
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Germany
attacked
the Allies
French and
American
troops held
their
ground and
fought off
the German
attack
Battle of the Argonne Forest
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The Battle: Battle of the Argonne Forest
Details: The Allies mounted a massive counterattack in September 1918
General Pershing assembled 600,000 troops, 40,000 tons of supplies, and
4,000 pieces of artillery
Battle of Argonne Forest
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By November, German were retreating all along the Western Front
Armistice
November 11, 1918:
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Germany signed an armistice (a truce) to
surrender
How American helped the Allies win:
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Provided much needed troops, energy, and
supplies against a depleted German army