World War I : 1914-1920
Even though the nation had become very Nationalistic…most Americans by 1914 were also Isolationists
**The Causes of World War I**
1. Imperialism: Germany was ANGRY…they felt
cheated out of their fair share of land claims in
Asia and Africa
3.
2.
Nationalism: Europeans were very
proud of their heritage and
competitive amongst one another.
Militarism: this is the belief that a nation needs a large military force to
demonstrate its power. European nations were spending billions of dollars to
raise armies and navies!
**The Causes of World War I**
The Assassination that nearly Ended Life on Earth
*Archduke Francis Ferdinand heir to Austria-Hungary’s throne, Ferdinand made a trip to visit
Bosnia (a slavic region of A-H) on June 18, 1914. He was making to visit to to share his plans
to give the Slavic people of Bosnia an equal voice in the Austrian government.
As Ferdinand and his wife rode through the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia (in a convertible) they
were ambushed and shot by 7 assassins from the Balkan state of Serbia
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia…….Germany and the Ottoman
Empire did so as well
**The Causes of World War I**
The Assassination that nearly Ended Life on Earth
*Archduke Francis Ferdinand heir to Austria-Hungary’s throne, Ferdinand made a trip to visit
Bosnia (a slavic region of A-H) on June 18, 1914. He was making to visit to to share his plans
to give the Slavic people of Bosnia an equal voice in the Austrian government.
As Ferdinand and his wife rode through the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia (in a convertible) they
were ambushed and shot by 7 assassins from the Balkan state of Serbia
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia…….Germany and the Ottoman
Empire did so as well
**The Causes of World War I**
GB liked Neutrality because it was CHEAP…this time they didn’t have a choice
Why?......
German forces began to push through the country of Belgium on
their way to the French border
Belgium was neutral In 1839
Germany, France, Russia, and GB
signed a treaty promising to
honor Belgium’s neutrality
throughout any conflict
The U.S. Prepares for War-1917
*Selective Service Act 1917 required all men between the ages of 2130 to sign up for military service.
WHAT IS A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR?
A person who refuses to enter the draft or serve in the military because they
believe it violates their religious/spiritual beliefs.
HOW DID THE GOVT HANDLE THIS ISSUE?
1. They still made them serve in the military BUT THEY COULD NOT FORCE
THEM TO FIGHT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE A VILOLATION OF THE 1st
AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION
2. Conscientious Objectors were assigned to non-combative roles such as
cooks, medics, mechanics, etc. This freed up men who were willing to fight
to go out in the trenches while conscientious objectors performed the behind
the scenes work of the war effort.
The U.S. Prepares for War at Home
Selling the War at Home Despite all that had happened, half the nation
was still cold to involvement in Europe. The government decided it was
their job to sell the nation on War!
**Red Scare**
The government’s propaganda created Anti-Foreign feelings towards
American immigrants, led to acts of violence against German American
citizens, and Congress began passing laws limited the freedoms of anyone
not on board with the war!
**The government created the FBI to raid businesses, homes, agencies
looking for evidence of communist or German conspiracy
As the U.S. Prepared for War
….Russia was on the verge of Revolution
-Widespread poverty, military disasters, supply shortages, economic
bankruptcy…..the hostility between the Russian people and Czar Nicholas
was reaching a boiling point by 1917!
**Russian Revolution**
-In March 1917 the nation
erupted in revolution
between supporters of the
Czar and the working
people of the nation.
-By mid-March 1917
Nicholas had been taken
hostage by rebel forces
along with his wife, 3
daughters, and only son
The capture, execution of the Royal family,
and new government were set up by a
aggressive group called the BOLSHEVICS
The Leadership of the Revolution
*Bolshevic Beliefs**
The Bolshevics began to call themselves
“Communists”…. *WHAT IS
COMUNISM?*
Communism(COMMAND)
An economic theory which stresses that the control of the
means of producing economic goods in a society should
reside in the hands of those who invest their labor for
production. In its ideal form, social classes cease to exist,
there is no coercive governmental structures, and everyone
lives in abundance without supervision from a ruling class.
Lenin set out to build greater support by signing a deal with
Germany to get Russia out of the war.
Wilson’s Plea for Peace with Honor
President Wilson wanted to establish a peace that would help Germany
rebuild and avoid further confrontation.
His Plan was called the “FOURTEEN POINTS”
**The Fourteen Points*
The Fourteenth point called for the creation of the League of Nations. The League’s member nations
would help preserve peace and prevent future wars by pledging to respect and protect each other’s
territory and political independence.
The Treaty of Versailles
-The Fourteen Points was a failure. European nations wanted Germany
to pay dearly for what it had done. Also, the U.S. Congress did not
want part of anything that meant continued U.S. involvement in Europe.
**Treaty of Versailles**
1.
Germany was stripped of all its
colonies
2.
Germany forced to pay $33
billion in reparations (war
damages)
3.
Germany forced to disband
most of its armed forces
4. Austria-Hungary and
Ottoman Empire divided to
create Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia, and Poland
**The League of Nations
did begin but was a failure
due to a lack of U.S.
leadership!
World War I
Lets look at a couple samples of how questions look on the OGT that
will test your knowledge of the World War I
A. Without Germany as a
competitor for colonies, Britain
and France put little effort into
rebuilding their navies.
As a result of the Versailles
Treaty, Germany lost its
overseas colonies in Africa.
How did the loss of these
colonies contribute to the
outbreak of World War II?
B. The Nazis exploited German
resentment of their colonial
losses by engaging in territorial
expansion in Europe.
C. Rivalries between Britain and
France for territory in Africa
prevented these countries from
taking action to stop aggression
in Europe.
D. The United States ignored
Germany’s military build-up
because Germany was not
likely to become powerful
without raw materials from its
former African colonies.
World War I
Lets look at a couple samples of how questions look on the OGT that
will test your knowledge of the World War I
During World War I,
conscientious objectors to
military service were
often accused of disloyalty,
and some conscientious
objectors were sentenced to
prison. However, other
conscientious objectors
were willing to accept
noncombatant service.
The assignment of
conscientious objectors to
noncombatant service was
an attempt by the
government to:
A. promote ethnic diversity
within the military.
B. educate people about their
constitutional rights.
C. balance individual rights
and the common good.
D. encourage people to
apply for conscientious
objector status.
World War I
Lets look at a couple samples of how questions look on the OGT that
will test your knowledge of the World War I
During World War I, two
revolutions took place in Russia
while Russia was at war with
Germany.
Vladimir Lenin, leader of the
Bolshevik Revolution, said:
There can be no doubt that our
army is absolutely in no
condition... to beat back a
Germanoffensive successfully.
...
Source: V. I. Lenin, Collected
Works, 4th English Edition,
Progress Publishers, Moscow,
1964, p. 447.
The excerpt above could be
used to support the thesis that
A. Lenin had few skills as a
military leader.
B. Russia shared in the
responsibility for World
War I.
C. Lenin believed that Russia
should withdraw from
World War I.
D. The Bolshevik Revolution
had the support of the
Russian army.