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List the 4 Causes of WWI
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July 28, 1914 – AustriaHungary declares war
on Serbia
 Russia
Austria-Hungary
 Germany
Russia
 France
Germany
 What would Great Britain
do?
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Many Europeans were
excited about war
› “Defend yourself against
the aggressors”
› Domestic differences
were put aside and
nations pulled together
to fight the Great War
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The belief was that
modern, industrial
war could not be
conducted for more
than a few months
without a winner
 “Home by
Christmas” was the
thinking on both
sides
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Propaganda
It is the manipulation of public opinion. It is
generally carried out through media that is
capable of reaching a large amount of people
and effectively persuading them for or
against a cause.
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“Breakfast in Paris and
dinner in St. Petersburg
 After defeating France,
get Russia
 A two-front war would
not be in Germany’s
best interests
 This plan was supposed
to prevent it
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Germany made an encircling
movement through Belgium
to surround Paris
They by-passed French forts
built after 1871
Britain joined Allies when
Belgium was invaded
› Belgium fought back and
delayed the Germans
› Britain quickly sent troops to
France
› The French rushed their army
to front lines
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First Battle of the Marne
(Sept. 5-10, 1914;
Germany was driven
back from Paris
Russian forces had
indeed invaded
Germany
Both sides dug trenches
along the Western Front
Germany now had to
fight on two fronts
A 4-year stalemate
resulted
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By 1915 both sides had
built trenches from the
English Channel to
Switzerland
The Western Front
spanned 415 miles!
6,250 miles of trenches
total!
6 to 8 feet deep
Millions died and little
land was won
It was really insane!
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Elaborate systems
of defense
› barbed wire
› Concrete machine
gun nests
› Mortar batteries
› Troops lived in holes
underground

“No Man’s Land”
› Land between
trenches where
soldiers were often
mowed down.
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
Boredom
› Soldiers would read,
write letters, gamble,
play games to help
pass the time.
› Rats (corpse rats) also
kept them busy as did
fighting to be rid of lice.
› Many soldiers went
crazy from “shell shock”
due to constant artillery
bombardments
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“We all had on us the
stench of dead
bodies.” Death
numbed the soldier’s
minds.
Shell shock
Psychological
devastation
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Medical services were primitive and lifesaving antibiotics had not yet been
discovered. Relatively minor injuries could
prove fatal through onset of
infection and gangrene. The Germans
recorded that 12% of leg wounds and
23% of arm wounds resulted in death, mainly
through infection.
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Trench warfare
baffled military
leaders
› Attempt a
breakthrough = Over
the top!
› Then return to a war of
movement
› Millions of young men
sacrificed attempting
the breakthrough
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“The rats were huge. They were so big they would eat a
wounded man if he couldn't defend himself.“

“ If you left your food the rats would soon grab it. Those rats
were fearless. Sometimes we would shoot the filthy swines. But
you would be put on a charge for wasting ammo, if the
sergeant caught you.”

“I can't sleep in my dugout, as it is over-run with rats. Pullman
slept here one morning and woke up to find one sitting on his
face. I can't face that, so I share Newbery's dug-out.”
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“Rats. There are millions!! Some are huge fellows, nearly as big
as cats. Several of our men were awakened to find a rat
snuggling down under the blanket alongside them!”
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“Rats came up from the canal, fed on the plentiful corpses,
and multiplied exceedingly. While I stayed here with the
Welch. a new officer joined the company and, in token of
welcome, was given a dug-out containing a spring-bed. When
he turned in that night he heard a scuffling, shone his torch on
the bed, and found two rats on his blanket tussling for the
possession of a severed hand.”
German soldiers after rat hunting in their trenches
Write a short diary entry (5-7 sentences)
describing your life in a World War I
combat trench.
 Beginning Review: WW I Alliances and
the Schlieffen Plan
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=XiyWP7EM0tg
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German-Russian Border – Ger.
& A-H vs. Russia & Serbia
The Frozen Front – lack of food
and clothing; 100’s froze to
death daily
Russia not industrialized was
always short on food, clothing,
weapons, and ammo
Russia’s asset was its numbers
Germany blockaded the
Baltic Sea and the Ottoman
Empire controlled the Black
Sea
WWI was the first major
war to use chemical
weapons
 Mustard Gas and Chlorine
Gas
 The two most popular
weapons: They caused
suffocation, blindness, skin
disorders, and usually
death!
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Mustard gas
› Carried by the wind
› Burned out soldier’s lungs
› Deadly in the trenches
where it would
sit at the bottom
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U-boats
submarines used by Germans in
WWI and WWII
› developed by Germans
Unrestricted submarine warfare
› any ship traveling in water around Great
Britain was subject to attack
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 easy
to attack
without being
seen
 attack
merchant ships
› cut off (British)
supply lines
 Great
Britain
developed
convoys
› helped against
threat of attack
Allied Ships Sunk by U-Boats
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Uses of aircraft:
 observe enemy positions
 armed with machine guns
& bombs
 attacked battlefields &
cities
 attacked enemy planes
(“dogfights”)
 useful from beginning of
war
Ace = a person who shoots
down 5 or more enemy
planes
Manfred von
Richthofen –
Germany’s Red
Baron had 80
kills
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Most countries had few
planes at start of war
 18’ – 23’ long X 28’ – 30’ wide
 120 MPH; 23,000’ altitude; 2
HR flight times
 Planes had to be easy to fly
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› first, designed for stability
› later, designed for
maneuverability
Generals began including
planes in planning
 France had had 140 planes
at the start of war  ended
with 4,500. 10,000 existed
among all combatants at
end of war
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•The Germans also used Zeppelins and by
1918 had over 100 of these airships capable of
bombing missions on London and Paris.
•60 – 70 MPH tops
•Could fly at high altitude but it took longer to
climb
•28-man crew
•4 machine gun pods for defense
 aka:
Landships
 1st armored vehicles
 First tank; “Little Willie” built
by Britain, but soon all
nations built their own
› 14 tons (weight) with 12foot long track frames
› space for three men
(cramped)
› maximum speed of 2
mph (on rough terrain)
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These early tanks
were very slow
and not really
effective
Invented in Great
Britain, but all
powers eventually
built them
It was thought
they would break
the stalemate on
Western Front

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdgnZyR
X5F0
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rapid-fire
machine guns were used early
were big & heavy
needed a crew of four to six people to
operate
lacked cooling
mechanisms
shot 400-600 small
caliber rounds per
minute
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Improved and Deadlier Artillery
Germany’s “Big Bertha” 43 ton howitzer could fire
a 2,200 lb shell over 9
miles!
It took its 200-man
crew, over six hours to
re-assemble it on the
site.

http://www.youtu
be.com/user/mra
llsop#p/c/9DBE5F
08B042293F/20/V
DkhMn911ek
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