WORLD WAR I AND ITS
AFTERMATH
A Bloody Conflict
LEARNING TARGETS
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After this lesson you will:
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Understand the nature of trench warfare
Recognize the new weapons developed during WWI
Know to what the nickname “doughboy” refers
Relate Vladimir Lenin’s rise to leadership in Russia
with Russia’s withdrawal from the war
Describe the major battles of WWI
Recognize the military leaders of WWI
Know when the fighting stopped
Analyze Wilson’s Fourteen Points doctrine
Understand the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
Describe the U.S. reaction to the Treaty of Versailles
Understand U.S. involvement in the League of
Nations
COMBAT IN WORLD WAR I
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Trench Warfare
The rapid fire machine gun changed the nature of warfare
 On the Western Front, troops dug trenches to “hide” in
from the English Channel to the Swiss Border
 “No Man’s Land”
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COMBAT IN WORLD WAR I
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New Technology
Poison gas used for the first time
 The tank was introduced
 AIRPLANES!!!
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THE AMERICANS AND VICTORY:
“Doughboys”
 Winning the War at Sea
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Convoys
Russia leaves the War
In 1917 riots broke out in Russia over the war and a lack
of food and fuel
 Czar Nicholas II left the thrown
 The Boshevik communist political party led by Vladimir
Lenin took control and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
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THE AMERICANS AND VICTORY
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The German Offensive Falters
March 21, 1918—The Germans launch a massive attack and
move within 40 miles of Paris
 March 28, 1918—American troops launch a counter-attack
and capture Cantigny.
 May 31, 1918—American and French troops block the
German advance to Paris at Chateau-Thierry
 July 15, 1918—German’s launch one last attack to take
Paris.
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THE AMERICANS AND VICTORY:
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The Battle of Argonne Forest
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French Marshall Ferdinand Foch—Supreme
Commander of Allied Forces
Ordered massive counter-attacks all along the Western
Front
 Drove back German forces at Saint-Mihiel
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General John J. Pershing—led 600,000 troops,
40,000 tons of supplies, and 4,000 artillery pieces
the most massive American attack in history
 Between the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest
(September 26, 1918)
 Americans took on heavy casualties
 German defenses had been shattered and a massive
hole in the German lines formed
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A FLAWED PEACE
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The War Ends
Revolution took place in Austria-Hungary
 The Ottoman-Turks surrender
 The German people rebel and force their emperor to step
down
 At the 11th hour, on the 11th day, in the 11th month of
1918—the fighting just sort of…stopped. (Armistice Day)
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A FLAWED PEACE
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The “Big Four”
President Wilson (U.S.), David Loyd George (G.B.),
Georges Clemenceau (France), Vittorio Orlando
(Italy)
 Met to decide what should be done after the war
 Wilson presented his “14 Points” to congress in Jan.
1918
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Wanted to form a “general association of nations”
(League of Nations which would later fail). This
would be the front runner of the United Nations
Today.
THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES
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Three of the “Big Four” (all except
Wilson) wanted to punish Germany for the war.
Germany was stripped of its armed forces
 Germany was made to pay $33 billion dollars
 Germany was to acknowledge guilt for WWI.
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The Russian, Ottoman, German, and AustriaHungarian Empires were dissolved.
 Yugoslavia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia created.
 Wilson was disappointed in the harsh treatment
of Germany but was glad that the League of
Nations would be formed.
 The U.S. Senate rejected the treaty!
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REVIEW QUESTIONS
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What was the nature of trench warfare?
What were the new weapons developed during WWI?
To what does the nickname “doughboy” refer?
How did Vladimir Lenin’s rise to leadership in Russia
result in Russia’s withdrawal from the war?
What were the major battles of WWI?
Who were the military leaders of WWI?
When did the fighting stop?
What were the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles?
What was the U.S. reaction to the Treaty of Versailles?
What was the U.S. involvement in the League of Nations?
ESSAY QUESTION
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Describe Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points plan by
summarizing the main purpose of the first five points, then
the next eight points, and finally the fourteenth point.
ESSAY QUESTION
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Describe Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points plan by
summarizing the main purpose of the first five points, then
the next eight points, and finally the fourteenth point.
 In the first five points, President Wilson proposed to
eliminate the general causes of war through free trade,
disarmament, freedom of the seas, impartial adjustment of
colonial claims, and open diplomacy instead of secret
agreements. The next eight points addressed the right of selfdetermination. They also required the Central Powers to
evacuate all of the countries invaded during the war. 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.