1914-1918:
The Great
War
Causes
of the
War
1. The Alliance System
Triple Entente:
Great Britain
Triple Alliance:
Germany
Austria-Hungary
France
Russia
Italy
Two Armed Camps!
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
Great Britain
Germany
France
AustriaHungary
Russia
Ottoman
Empire
Italy
The Major Players: 1914-17
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
Nicholas II
[Rus]
Wilhelm II [Ger]
George V [Br]
Victor Emmanuel
II [It]
Enver Pasha
[Turkey]
Pres. Poincare [Fr]
Franz Josef [A-H]
Europe in 1914
2. Militarism & Arms Race
Total Defense Expenditures for the Great
Powers [Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br., Rus.]
in millions of £s.
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1914
94
130
154
268
289
398
1910-1914 Increase in
Defense Expenditures
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%
3. Economic & Imperial Rivalries
4. Aggressive Nationalism
The
“Spark”
Archduke Franz Ferdinand &
His Family
The Assassination: Sarajevo
The Assassin:
Gavrilo
Princip
Who’s To Blame?
The Schlieffen Plan
Plan for attacking France in the west and
then rushing to attack Russia in the east
Mobilization
 Home by Christmas!
 No major war
in 50 years!
 Nationalism!
Recruitment Posters
A German Boy Pretends to Be a
Soldier
Financing the War
For Recruitment
Munitions Workers
Working in the Fields
A Woman Ambulance Driver
Red Cross Nurses
Women in the Army Auxiliary
Posters:
Wartime
Propaganda
Australian Poster
American Poster
Financing the War
German Poster
Think of Your Children!
The Western
Front:
A “War of
Attrition”
A Multi-Front War
The Western Front
Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare
“No Man’s
Land”
War Is HELL !!
Krupp’s “Big Bertha” Gun
America
Joins
the
Allies
Terms to Know:
 Unrestricted Submarine Warfare-In
January 1917 Germany announced that it
would sink, without warning, any ship in
the waters around Britain.
 Total War-War in which the countries
devote all resources and workers to the war
effort.
The Sinking
of the Lusitania
May 7, 1915-(1,198 dead; 128 Americans)
The Zimmerman Telegram
February 1917
Americans in the Trenches
The War of
the
Industrial
Revolution:
New
Technology
French Renault Tank
British Tank at Ypres
U-Boats
Allied Ships Sunk by U-Boats
The Airplane
“Squadron Over the Brenta”
Max Edler von Poosch, 1917
The Zeppelin
Flame
Throwers
Grenade
Launchers
Poison Gas
Machine Gun
1918 Flu Pandemic:
Depletes All Armies
50,000,000 –
100,000,000 died
11 a.m., November 11, 1918
The Armistice is Signed!
World War I Casualties
10,000,000
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
Russia
Germany
Austria-Hungary
France
Great Britain
Italy
Turkey
US
Terms to know:
Treaty of Versailles-Treaty forced on Germany,
exactly 5 years after Franz Ferdinand was
assassinated. It severely punished Germany with
large fines, severe restrictions on its military, and
the humiliating
“War Guilt” clause.
League of Nations-League proposed by President
Woodrow Wilson and set up to be an international
association whose goal would be to keep peace
among nations.