THE FIRST WORLD
WAR
1914-1918
CAUSES OF THE WAR
MILITARISM – The growth of
nationalism and imperialism led to
increased military spending
ALLIANCE SYSTEM – By 1907
Europe was divided into two armed
camps
IMPERIALISM – Economic and
political control over weaker nations
NATIONALISM – a devotion to the
interests and culture of one’s nation
1. MILITARISM:
 Building
up of the Armed Forces
Empires had to be defended.
European nations increased
military spending
France, Italy, Japan and the United
States quickly joined in the naval
buildup
2. ALLIANCE SYSTEM
By 1907 there were two major defense
alliances in Europe

TRIPLE ENTENTE
 The Triple Entente aka Allies, = France,
Britain, and Russia
The Triple Alliance aka Central Powers =
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the
Ottoman Empire
FRANCE
BRITAIN
RUSSIA
3. IMPERIALISM
European nations built
empires for money and
power
 Colonies supplied European
nations with raw materials
and provided markets for
manufactured goods
 As Germany industrialized it
competed directly with
France and Britain
4. NATIONALISM
Love of your
country leads to
rivalries and
conflicts between
nations
Ethnic groups (like
the Serbs) resented
domination by
others and wanted
independence
Germany was allied with
Austria-Hungary while
Russia, France and Britain
were partners
THE SPARK: AN ASSASSINATION
 The Balkan region = “the powder
keg of Europe”
 Russia wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea
 Germany wanted a rail link to the Ottoman Empire
 Austria-Hungary, wanted Bosnia
Serbia wants independence from Austria-Hungary
The Archduke is
assassinated in
Sarajevo in June
1914
1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand,
heir to the Austrian throne was
assassinated by a Serbian radical
The Fighting begins
Austria declares war on Serbia,
Russia declares war on Austria,
Germany declares war on Russia,
France declares war on Germany
and so on.
The Alliance
system pulled one
nation after another
into the conflict =
World War I

The Schliefflen Plan
THE WAR BECOMES A STALEMATE
German invasion
stopped in France

 Begin Trench Warfare
British soldiers standing in mud
Life in the
Trenches was
miserable
1.Death possible,
even probable all the time…
Men of the 42nd Division during the
Second Marne. These men were killed
by artillery fire just 5 minutes after this
photo was taken
.
2. MUD, MUD, and more MUD
And TRENCH FOOT
3. RATS! Lots of rats… the
size of cats from feeding on
dead humans.
4. LICE.
Body louse
Lice hunting = fun
The many varieties of lice
NEW WEAPONS USED
Machine Guns – Guns could fire 600 rounds per minute
Submarines
Tanks
Poison Gas
Flame throwers
Animals were also
susceptible to gas
“No man’s land” – The land between the
trenches. An area pockmarked with shell
craters and filled with razor wire
New killing technology = huge number of
casualties
Trench warfare = Little to no land was gained.
A war of attrition: who ever runs out of bullets
or people first loses.
 During the First Battle of
the Somme - which began
July 1, 1916 and lasted until
mid-November – the British
suffered 60,000 casualties
the first day !!!
Gas attacks were common
features of trench life and often
caused blindness and lung
disease
 Final casualties for the
First Battle of the Somme
totaled 1.2 million, yet only 7
miles of ground was gained
AMERICAN NEUTRALITY
 In 1914, most Americans
wanted not to pick sides
(remain Neutral) WHY?
1. Not our business
2. war = 
But…Many
Americans felt close to the
British because of a shared
ancestry and language and
French propaganda poster
British propaganda portrayed
portrayed the Germans as
inhuman and impacted
the Germans as monsters
American attitudes toward
the Germans
THE LUSITANIA DISASTER
May 7, 1915
 A German U-boat
sank the British
passenger liner
killing all aboard
including 128
American tourists
May 7, 1915
1916 ELECTION
Wilson won a
close election
using the
slogan, “He
kept us out of
war”
Wilson
America loses its neutrality
 Americans
sell war materials $$$
 Both the Germans and British
imposed naval blockades on each
other = most business goes to allies
(England)
 The Germans used U-boats
(submarines) to prevent shipments
to England
German U-boat 1919
 Any ship found in the waters
around Britain would be sunk
Reasons for U.S. entry into WWI
1)Unrestricted Submarine
warfare- (4 U.S. ships sunk)
****this is biggest reason****
2) The Zimmerman Note- a
telegram from Germany to
Mexico proposing an alliance
against the U.S.
(Zimmerman note)
Zimmerman
note
intercepted
by a British
agent and
decoded
AMERICA DECLARES WAR
April 2, 1917
Wilson said, “The
world must be safe
for democracy”
“A war to end all
wars”
AMERICAN POWER TIPS THE
BALANCE
1917: Russian Revolution = Russia
becomes Communist and drops out of
World War I …… Germany can now focus
100% on Western Front
Luckily for France and England (the allies)
the Americans arrived just in time and
help push the Germans back
AMERICAN WAR HERO

Alvin York
,
a blacksmith from Tennessee,
originally sought an exemption from
the war as a Conscientious Objector
 York eventually decided it was
morally acceptable to fight if the
cause was right
 On October 8, 1918, armed with
only a rifle and a revolver, York killed
25 Germans and (with six doughboys)
captured 132 prisoners
The man
The movie
GERMANY
COLLAPSES,
GERMANY realizes they
WAR
ENDS
can’t beat the U.S.’s
endless supply of troops
and guns so… On the 11th hour, on
the 11th day, of the
11th month of 1918
 Germany signed a
truce= End of World
War I
War ends 11/11/18
Summary: be sure to include…
• 1. Causes of World War I
• 2. Describe the types of fighting (include
land and sea and new weapons)
• 3. Reasons for U.S. entry into the War
• 4. Who won the war and why?