“A Global Conflict”
Chapter 29 - Section 3
Introduction
 World War I was much more than a European conflict
Australia and Japan, for example, entered the war on
the Allies’ side, while India supplied troops to fight
alongside their British rulers. Meanwhile, the Ottoman
Turks and later Bulgaria allied themselves with Germany
and the Central Powers. As the war promised to be a
grim, drawn-out affair, all the Great Powers looked for
other allies around the globe to tip the balance. They
also sought new war fronts on which to achieve victory.
War Affects the World
 The Gallipoli Campaign
 Allies move to capture
Ottoman Dardanelles strait
in February 1915.
 Hope to defeat the Ottoman
Empire, a Central Powers
ally.
 Also want to open a supply
line through region to
Russia.
 Effort ends in costly Allied
defeat.
The Gallipoli Disaster, 1915
War Affects the World
 Battles in Africa and Asia
 Allies take control of German holdings in Asia and Africa.
 Britain and France use their colonial subjects to help in
war effort
Sikh British Soldiers in India
Fighting in Africa
Black Soldiers in the
German Schutztruppen
[German E. Africa]
British Sikh
Mountain Gunners
Fighting in Africa
3rd British Battalion, Nigerian Brigade
War Affects the World
 America Joins the Fight
 Germany seeks to control Atlantic Ocean to stop supplies
to Britain.
 Germany uses unrestricted submarine warfare, and ship
near Britain are sunk without warning.
 Germany halts this policy in 1915 after the sinking of the
Lusitania angers the United States
RMS Lusitania arriving in New York on her maiden voyage
arriving in New York in September 1907. Upon its sinking
by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915, 1,198 people died
when the ship went down.
The Sinking
of the Lusitania
War Affects the World
 Germany renews unrestricted policy in 1917 in hopes to
starve Britain quickly.
 Renewal of policy angers the United States.
 Zimmermann Telegram—effort to enlist Mexico in war
against the United States—angers the United States.
 The United States declares war against Germany in April
1917 joining the Allies.
The Zimmerman Note
War Affects the Home Front
 Governments Wage Total War
 World War I becomes a “total war”—nations devote all
resources to war.
 Governments take control of the economy to produce war
goods.
 Nations turn to rationing—limiting purchases of warrelated goods.
 Propaganda—one sided information to build morale and
support for the war.
Australian Poster
American Poster
Financing the War
German Poster
Think of Your Children!
War Affects the Home Front
 Women and the War
 At home, thousands of women fill jobs previously held by
men.
 Many women also experience the war by working as
nurses.
Financing the War
For Recruitment
Munitions Workers
French Women Factory Workers
German Women Factory Workers
Working in the Fields
A Woman Ambulance Driver
Red Cross
Nurses
Women in
the Army
Auxiliary
Russian Women Soldiers
Spies
 “Mata Hari”
 Real Name:
Margareetha
Geertruide
Zelle
 Double-Agent?
1918 Flu Pandemic:
Depletes All Armies
50,000,000 – 100,000,000 died
The Allies Win the War
 Russia Withdraws
 Civil unrest in Russia forces Czar to step down from throne
in 1917.
 Communists soon take control of Russia’s government.
 Russia signs a treaty with Germany in March 1918, pulls
out of war.
The Allies Win the War
 The Central Powers Collapse
 With Russia gone, Germany moves most forces to Western
Front
 Engage in major fighting; Allies force Germans to retreat.
 Allies win war; armistice—end of fighting—signed
November 1918.
11 a.m., November 11, 1918
The Armistice is Signed!
The Legacy of the War
 A High Price
 War takes heavy toll; 8.5 million soldiers dead, 21 million
wounded
 War devastates European economies, drains national
treasuries.
 Many acres of land and homes, villages, towns destroyed.
 Survivors suffer disillusionment and despair; reflected in
the arts.
“A Street in Arras”
John Singer Sargent, 1918
“Oppy Wood” – John Nash, 1917
“Those Who Have Lost Their Names”
Albin Eggar-Linz, 1914
“Gassed and Wounded”
Eric Kennington, 1918
“Paths of Glory”
C. R. W. Nevinson, 1917