World War I: Causes, Controversies and
Consequences
The Great War
Michael Quiñones, NBCT
www.socialstudiesguy.com
Macro Concepts
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Conflict-problem or troubling
issue that can cause problems
without compromise.
Power-the authority to control
citizens by using regulations and
laws.
Leadership-the method of setting
examples positive or negative for
others to follow.
Idealism-a way of thinking that
stresses optimism and positive
thinking.
Micro Concepts
Militarism-a focus on heavy build up and
use of military equipment.
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Alliances-the cooperation and
organization of nations into teams.
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Imperialism-the act of stronger nations
taking over weaker nations.
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Nationalism-an extreme and sometimes
dangerous devotion to a nation/country.
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Trade-the act of buying and selling goods
between nations.
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Isolationism-the act of staying away from
alliances and foreign nations.
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Mobilization-the act of coming together to
gather war supplies to win a war.
Key Vocabulary
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Nationalism
Propaganda
Militarism
Causes of WWI
Triple Alliance
Triple Entente
Isolationism
Modern war
techniques
Treaty of Paris
(Versailles)
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Sussex Pledge
Idealism
Pacifism
Bolshevik Revolution
Wilson’s 14 Points
Reservationists
League of Nations
Militarism
[Provide an explanation in your own words for
what the above term means and how it may
have led to WWI]
Who were the “good guys”
and why?_______________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
Alliances
[Provide an explanation in your own words
for what the above term means and how it
may have led to WWI]
Key incident #1 that provoked
the United States__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
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__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Causes of World War I
M.A.I.N.
Key incident #2 that provoked the
United States___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Imperialism/Isolationism
[Provide an explanation in your own words for what the
above term means and how it may have led to WWI]
Who were the “bad guys” and
why?________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
Nationalism
[Provide an explanation in your own words
for what the above term means and how it
may have led to WWI]
Militarism
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Two principal reasons
for the rise of
militarism:
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(1) Desire to be
powerful in order to
take over other
countries.
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(2) Desire to defend
themselves from
powerful countries.
Alliances
An alliance is essentially a group of
countries that pledges (promises) to
offer protection and support each
other in case of military attack by
another foreign country or alliance.
Benefits: Members of alliances are not
on their own.
Detriments: Members of alliances are
obligated to defend all members even
if they disagree or had no role
antagonizing a war.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Example of Pre-World War I Alliance was
the Central Powers of Europe:
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Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy
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Goal:
Protect members of their alliance.
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To dominate Europe and control it.
German Chancellor Bismarck [Led Germany until 1890]
Alliances
Triple Entente:
 Russia, France
and England.
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Goal:
 protect
themselves from
the Triple
alliance.
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Isolationism: American Involvement
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France got their butts kicked
by Germany and needed
help.
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The United States wanted to
remain neutral and isolate
[isolationism] itself from the rest
of the world.
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The United States came to their
aid and joined their alliance in
1917.
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American firepower and
industrial power was the key
the Triple Entente’s victory.
Nationalism
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Extreme feelings of pride
for a country.
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What can this lead to?
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Feeling jealous, envious,
suspicious, fearful or
hateful toward another
country.
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These “feelings” can be
exploited by a
government’s leadership.
Some causes of WWI
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In June of 1914 The Archduke of
Autria-Hungary was
assassinated by a “crazy” person who
did not like him.
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Germany, his country’s ally, believed
its enemies were behind his murder
and started to get its troops ready to
attack countries such as France and
England.
Sinking of RMS Lusitania
•In May of 1915 a
passenger cruise ship, RMS
Lusitania, was sunk by a
German U-Boat [submarine]
off the coast of Ireland
killing nearly 2,000 people
including almost 200
Americans.
•This aggression caused the
Americans to be even
angrier at Germany and
made them confident they
made the correct decision to
fight them and eventually
win.
Taking Sides
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Europe had a “trouble
maker ” from the 1850s1914.
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Who was it?
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Many people believed that
to be Germany because
of its imperialist
tendencies.
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The Kaiser [German
monarch] wanted more
land and power.
Weapons of War
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Many new weapons were
invented for use during the
Great War.
Such as?
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Machine guns,
warplanes, land mines,
tanks, chemical gas and
gas masks.
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Purpose?
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To kill or injure as many
people as possible.
Weapons of War
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Tanks- Soldiers were able to travel on the battlefield quickly with
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Landmines- Soldiers were able to place explosive devices beneath the
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protection and heavy firepower.
ground in order to injure, maim or kill without great risk to themselves.
Mines activated by weight pressure of person walking on top of mine.
Exception: Landmines would sometimes malfunction and kill the person
placing it.
Striving to be the best
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The principal goal of war is to destroy the enemy.
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Two basic goals during war.
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Attacking (offense) or defending against attack (defense).
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Tactic used both on offense and defense were trenches.
No Man’s Land
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The most dangerous area on the World War I battlefield was No Man’s
Land.
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The area between enemy trenches exposed troops to enemy fire and land
mines.
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Stalemates were often ended when troops entered No Man’s Land.
How can a government convince its people
to think or feel a certain way?
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Using propaganda.
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What is that?
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Speeches, books, posters
or images used to
influence someone.
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Sometimes they are meant
to scare, warn, help or
encourage people.
The Zimmerman Note [telegram]
•The foreign secretary of
Germany, Arthur
Zimmerman, in January of
1917 sent a telegram [old
version of a text message]
to the president of Mexico in
“code” asking him to attack
the U.S. in exchange for
return of territories [Texas,
New Mexico, and Arizona].
•The telegram was
intercepted and angered the
U.S. to the point of joining
the allies against Germany.
What are these
things and how
and why were
they used
during World
War I?
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
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To attempt to control Germany’s up and coming powerful navy the
British decided to blockade German ports.
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Every ship German or not was stopped by England and inspected for
contraband [illegal cargo including military weapons].
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Germany responded by declaring it would sink any ship around
English waters using U-boats [submarines].
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Germany sank many ships including the Lusitania in 1915.
The Idealism of Wilson
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President Wilson for several years attempted to keep the
U.S. neutral and isolated from European conflict.
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He hoped his idealism could be viewed as constructive to
world peace.
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However, after German aggression via unrestricted U-boat
submarine warfare and plotting with Mexico to invade the
U.S. he had no choice but to enter WWI.
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Wilson promised to break off connections with Germany if
they continued unrestricted submarine warfare. Germany
got nervous and promised to end its bombing called the
Sussex Pledge.
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To supply military personnel the U.S. Congress passed the
Selective Service Act in 1917 requiring men 21-30 to
register for the draft.
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A random lottery would determine who was called to serve
first.
President Wilson’s 14 Points
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Towards the very end of World War I President Woodrow Wilson
gave a speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918.
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The purpose of the speech was to assure the United States that
America’s purpose in the war and its aftermath was just.
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Wilson laid out 14 main points but perhaps the most important were
points 1-5 and 14.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
There should be an end to all secret diplomacy amongst countries.
Freedom of the seas in peace and war
The reduction of trade barriers among nations
The general reduction of armaments
The adjustment of colonial claims in the interest of the inhabitants
as well as of the colonial powers
[14] A league of nations to protect "mutual guarantees of political
independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations
alike."
Election of 1916
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Because of the power of Big Business and his crusade against them
Wilson almost lost his re-election bid in 1916.
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However, because many citizens did not want to change president
during the war Wilson won the election by less that 500,000 votes.
Democrat
Woodrow Wilson
Republican
Charles Evan Hughes
Isolationism and Pacifism
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Isolationism was rejected by
most Americans after
Americans died aboard the
Lusitania and the Zimmerman
Telegram was made public.
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The first woman elected to the
U.S. Congress Jeanette
Rankin to represent a district
in Montana.
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She voted against a
declaration of war against
Germany and she was ruined
publicly.
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She voted for a draft to get
Americans to think about the
consequences of a world war.
WWI U.S. Soldiers: Doughboys
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Millions of American men were drafted or
volunteered for service in World War I.
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Almost 400,000 African-American men
were drafted as well but they were
unfortunately placed into segregated units
with only white commanders.
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American soldiers who fought fiercely and
victoriously came to be known as
doughboys.
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The origin of the name is unclear but many
people believe it either came from the
chalky white dust that covered uniforms
during the Mexican-American War or from
the types of food they cooked in the field
which was usually biscuits and rice.
General John J. Pershing Commander of the American Expeditionary
Force
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General John J. Pershing, also known as
Black jack had been well known for his
pursuit of Mexican rebel leader Pancho
Villa in 1911.
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General Pershing was assigned by
President Wilson to lead the American
Expeditionary Force [U.S. armed forces
army and marines] against the Central
Powers in Europe.
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Pershing was well known for his refusal to
allow U.S. troops to be integrated [mixed
into] into British and French forces.
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He believed U.S. forces should be lead by
U.S. commanders. Wilson supported his
decision.
The Peace at Paris
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The Allied Powers [led by the U.S.]
defeated the Central Powers by
1918.
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The Germans were forced to surrender.
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Everyone involved in the war met at
Versailles to negotiate a treaty.
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Forced to pay reparations [pay
damages].
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Forced to sign a guilt clause [take
blame for starting the war] on the
treaty.
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Forbidden to possess a military
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The U.S. Senate refused to ratify
the treaty because it would limit
its exclusive power to declare war.
The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917
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During WWI Russia had been part of the Triple Entente [later the Allied
Powers.
The Russian Tsar [King] had not handled Russia's involvement very well and
many Russian citizens suffered food and fuel shortages.
Many Russian citizens were furious with the Russian royal family. Tsar
Nicholas II abdicated [gave up] his throne in 1917.
The Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the temporary
Russian government that was set up after the Tsar abdicated.
Bolsheviks withdrew from the Allied Powers to focus on creating a strong
communist party and made Germany’s task to win the war easier.
The League of Nations
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President Wilson’s 14th Point wanted
to create a League of Nations.
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The League of Nations was intended
to act as a world wide alliance to
prevent future wars.
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However, members of the U.S.
Senate who were known as
Reservationists because they had
reservations [doubts] about the
League refused to allow the treaty
to be ratified.
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According to the Senator Henry
Cabot Lodge [leader of the
reservationists] only Congress had
the power to declare war and this
treaty would give foreign nations
power to bring the U.S. into future
wars.
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