Objectives
• Students will explore why Europe was on the brink of
war in 1914.
• Students will identify the indirect and direct of the
war.
• Students will discover how warfare changed during
WWI.
• Students will explore how the United States entered
the war.
• Students will explore the issues made the peace
process difficult.
• Students will discern the cost of war.
By Ken Cawthon
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One has indeed personally to
come under the shadow of
war to feel fully its
oppression; but as the years
go by it seems now often
forgotten that to be caught
in youth by 1914 was no less
hideous an experience than
to be involved in 1939 and
the following years. By 1918,
all but one of my close
friends were dead.
— J.R.R. Tolkien, forward to
The Lord of the Rings
Indirect Causes of
World War I
Central Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Allied Powers (Triple
Entente)
Great Britain
France
Russia
Serbia
War Breaks Out
In the midst of the tensions with Serbia, archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary
decided to visit the Bosnian city of Sarajevo.
The Impact
Fighting Begins
• Serbian Gavrilo Princip assassinated
archduke, wife
• Germany faced war on two fronts:
Russia to east, France to west
• Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia
• Decided to strike France quickly then
move to Russia
• Russia prepared to support Serbia
• Began with quick strike into neutral
Belgium
• Austria-Hungary ally Germany saw
Russia as threat
• Germany declared war on Russia, ally
France
• Attack on neutral country led Great
Britain to declare war on Germany
Fighting in 1914
Germany’s plan
• Germany wanted to quickly defeat France, move east to fight Russia
• Great Britain’s declaration of war on Germany doomed its plan
• The Great War became bloody stalemate
Early battles
• Battle of the Frontiers pitted German troops against both French and British
• Both sides suffered heavy losses
• Germany victorious
Russia enters fighting
• Russia attacked German territory from the east
• Russians defeated in Battle of Tannenberg
• Germany distracted from France, Allies turned on German invaders
“What is this war? It is mud, trenches, blood, rats,
lice, bombs, pain, barbed wire, decaying flesh, gas,
death, rain, cats, tears, bullets, fear and a loss of faith
in all that we once believed in“
Otto Dix
Battles on the Western Front
While people on the home front supported their troops, the war in Western Europe
was going badly for the Allied Powers.
The Italian Front
• Italy joined Allied Powers, May 1915
• Sent forces against Austria-Hungary
at border with Italy
• Series of back-and-forth battles
• Little progress made
The Battle of Verdun
• Germans planned assault on French
fortress, Verdun
• Believed French would defend
fortress at all costs
• Battle of Verdun meant to kill, injure
as many French soldiers as possible
• 400,000 French casualties in 10
months of fighting, almost as many
for Germany
The Battle of the Somme
• British launched attack in Somme River area to pull German troops away from
Verdun
• Main assault during 1916, but no major breakthrough
• Both sides lost great number of troops; British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties on
the first day of fighting
The Third Battle of Ypres
• Failed French offensive caused rebellion among French soldiers, spring 1917
• British began offensive near Ypres, Belgium, site of German attacks
• Third Battle of Ypres a disaster for British
• After 3 years of battle, front lines remained virtually unchanged
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-bloodiest-battles-of-world-war-i.php
Armenian Massacre
• Different conflict elsewhere in
Ottoman Empire during Gallipoli
Campaign
• Russia launched attack in Caucasus
• Mountain region between Black and
Caspian seas
• Home to ethnic Christian Armenians,
minority in Muslim Ottoman Empire
Use of Force
• Ottoman leaders claimed Armenians
aided Russians
• Began forcibly removing Armenians
from Caucasus, spring 1915
Violence, starvation
• 600,000 Armenians died in massacre
• Ottoman leaders accused of genocide, destruction of racial, political or cultural
group
The Russian Revolution
By the end of 1916, Russia was once again on the edge of a revolution. As the new
year began and conditions in Russia continued to worsen, the Russian people clearly
wanted a change.
Revolution Begins
Czar Nicholas II
• Citizens protested in
streets of Petrograd,
March 8, 1917
• Ordered legislature to
disband
• Police, soldiers refused
to shoot rioters
• Citizens, government,
military refused to obey
Czar
• Government was
helpless
• His order defied
• Forced to abdicate,
March 15, 1917
Calendar Change
• March revolution
known as February
Revolution
• Russian calendar at
time 13 days behind
• New calendar adopted,
1918
The Russian Revolution
Provisional Government
Bolsheviks
• Duma established temporary
government
• Led opposition to Kerensky’s
provisional government
• Led by Aleksandr Kerensky
• Wanted fundamental change in
government and society
• Many unhappy with new leadership
• Planned Marxist revolution
Bolshevism
• Abolish private property
• Enforce social equality
• Later known as Marxism-Leninism
Vladimir Lenin
• Bolshevik leader forced to live outside
Russia
• Returned, April 1917
• Germany hoped Lenin would weaken
Russian war effort
The Bolshevik Revolution
Kerensky’s final offensive
• Kerensky ordered final military offensive against Central Powers along Eastern
Front, mid-1917
• Drive failed and led to widespread rebellion in Russian army
• Weakened Russian army collapsed
Bolshevik takeover
• Conditions ideal for Lenin
• Armed Bolshevik factory workers, Red
Guard, attacked provisional
government, November 1917
• Known as October Revolution
• Kerensky’s government collapsed after
nearly bloodless struggle
Lenin became leader
• Established radical Communist
program
• Made private ownership of land illegal
• Land given to peasants
• Control of factories given to workers
After the Revolution
Lenin sought to end Russian involvement in World
War I
• Sent Leon Trotsky to negotiate peace with Central Powers
• Russia’s army virtually powerless
• Trotsky had to accept agreement harsh on Russia
• Russia gained peace, gave up large parts of empire
http://www.lpusd.k12.ca.us/rm1/online/hotpotatoestav/lusitania-nyt2.JPG
The End of the Fighting
German leaders knew America entering the war would increase the strength of
Allied Powers.
A New German Offensive
Assault on West
• Wanted to deal decisive blow to
Central Powers before U.S. had time
to ready for war
• Launched major assault, March 1918
• Made progress, advanced to within
40 miles of Paris
• Opportunity came with Russia’s
withdrawal from war
– Russia out by end of 1917
– German troops no longer
needed on Eastern front
• High cost to Germany, lost 800,000
troops
• By June, 1918, U.S. troops arrived in
Europe
• Gave Allies hope, discouraged
Germans
– Could launch new offensive in
the west
German Collapse
Balance of power shifted
• Allied forces stopped German assault in Second Battle of the Marne
• Allies now on the offensive
• Allies used tanks, aircraft; gained huge amounts of territory
Germany a defeated force
• Many Germans gave up without a fight
• Began to doubt their own power
• Great turmoil within German ranks
End of war
• Allied forces broke through Hindenburg Line
• German leaders sought armistice with Allies
• Other Central Powers also admitted defeat, war ended
The Allied governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of
Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied
governments and their peoples have been subjected as a result of the war.
The Treaty of Versailles, Clause 231 (the 'War Guilt' clause))
Germany had to pay £6,600 million (called Reparations) for the
damage done during the war.
Germany was forbidden to have submarines or an air force. She could
have a navy of only six battleships, and an Army of just 100,000 men.
In addition, Germany was not allowed to place any troops in the
Rhineland, the strip of land, 50 miles wide, next to France.
Germany lost Territory (land) in Europe. Germany’s colonies were
given to Britain and France.
A Difficult Peace
Although peace had come to the battlefield, the leaders of the war’s major countries
still had to work out a formal peace agreement. This task would prove difficult.
Wilson’s Vision
Allied Goals
• Wilson announced his vision of world
peace, Fourteen Points
• Leaders of four major Allies all had
different ideas of peace treaty
• Included reduction of weapons, right
of people to choose own government
• French wanted to punish Germany,
reparations for cost of war
• Proposed organization of world
nations, protect from aggression
• British wanted to punish Germany, but
not weaken it
Italy’s leader hoped to gain territory for his nation, but was disappointed to find
himself mostly ignored by other leaders during peace talks.
Aftermath
League of Nations
Main goals
• Organization of world governments
proposed by Wilson
• Encourage cooperation, keep peace
between nations
• Established by Treaty of Versailles
• Germany excluded
• U.S. did not ratify treaty, not member,
weakened League
Other treaties
Changes in Europe
• Separate agreements with all defeated
Central Powers
• Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
lands broken apart
• Made important changes to Europe
• Independent nations created: Austria,
Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia,
Turkey
The Middle East
Changes in Middle East
• Former Ottoman lands turned into
mandates, territories to be ruled by
European powers
• Syria, Lebanon became French
mandates
• Palestine, Iraq became British
mandates
• European nations supposed to control
mandates only until they were able to
govern selves
Zionist movement
• Movement to create a Jewish state in
the Middle East
• Balfour Declaration favored
establishing Jewish state in Palestine
• Britain created Transjordan from
Palestine Mandate
• Mandates eventually became colonies
The Allied governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of
Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied
governments and their peoples have been subjected as a result of the war.
The Treaty of Versailles, Clause 231 (the 'War Guilt' clause)
Germany had to pay £6,600 million (called Reparations) for the damage
done during the war.
Germany was forbidden to have submarines or an air force. She could have
a navy of only six battleships, and an Army of just 100,000 men. In
addition, Germany was not allowed to place any troops in the Rhineland,
the strip of land, 50 miles wide, next to France.
Germany lost Territory (land) in Europe (see map, below). Germany’s
colonies were given to Britain and France.
The Cost of War
Country
Total Mobilized
Forces
Killed
Prisoners and
Missing
Wounded
Total Casualties
Casualties as % of
Forces
ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
Russia
12,000,000
1,700,000
4,950,000
2,500,000
9,150,000
76.3
British Empire
8,904,467
908,371
2,090,212
191,652
3,190,235
35.8
France
8,410,000
1,357,800
4,266,000
537,000
6,160,800
73.3
Italy
5,615,000
650,000
947,000
600,000
2,197,000
39.1
United States
4,355,000
116,516
204,002
4,500
323,018
7.1
Japan
800,000
300
907
3
1,210
0.2
Romania
750,000
335,706
120,000
80,000
535,706
71.4
Serbia
707,343
45,000
133,148
152,958
331,106
46.8
Belgium
267,000
13,716
44,686
34,659
93,061
34.9
Greece
230,000
5,000
21,000
1,000
27,000
11.7
Portugal
100,000
7,222
13,751
12,318
33,291
33.3
50,000
3,000
10,000
7,000
20,000
40.0
42,188,810
5,142,631
12,800,706
4,121,090
22,062,427
52.3
11,000,000
1,773,700
4,216,058
1,152,800
7,142,558
64.9
Austria-Hungary
7,800,000
1,200,000
3,620,000
2,200,000
7,020,000
90.0
Turkey
2,850,000
325,000
400,000
250,000
975,000
34.2
Bulgaria
1,200,000
87,500
152,390
27,029
266,919
22.2
TOTAL
22,850,000
3,386,200
8,388,448
3,629,829
15,404,477
67.4
GRAND TOTAL
65,038,810
8,528,831
21,189,154
7,750,919
37,466,904
57.5
Montenegro
TOTAL
ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
Germany