The Great War
Boys and Girls! War Savings Stamps Poster by
James Montgomery Flagg 1917-18
I CAN:
Identify & analyze the causes & significant events of World War
I & their impact.
Evaluate the impact of the Treaty of Versailles.
2
What?
When?
•War involving nearly all the nations of the world
•1914-1918
3
Why?
Causes:
Long term 1. Nationalism—love
of one’s nation &
a desire to be
free from other
nations
2. Imperialism—
imperialist
competition
3. Militarism—
stockpiling of
weapons
4. Alliance system
4
Nationalism
is an extreme pride or devotion that people feel for their
country or culture
Nation: is a
psychological
characteristic that
people identify with
5
Many ethnic groups in the Balkans were unhappy that
they had been incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian
Empire.
6
Peoples of Austria-Hungary in 1914
Imperialism
The quest for colonial
empires.
Austria-Hungary, Great
Britain, France were all
imperialistic
Germany, under Kaiser Wilhelm II wanted to German
colonies which required a stronger military
7
Militarism
• Policy of military preparedness
& building up weapons.
Germany began strengthening & modernizing its
navy & army
Schlieffen Plan—war strategy to fight
France & Russia at the same time (2front war)
Britain, France, & Russia began building up their own militaries
to prepare for Germany
8
Alliance System

Some countries formed alliances for
protection; to keep peace

European leaders believed that they had
formed a balance of power & that would
prevent war
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Alliances
Triple Alliance
Triple Entente
Germany
France
Austria-Hungary
Russia
Italy
Great Britain
10
Short
term Assassination of Franz
Ferdinand of the
Austro-Hungarian
Empire
Ferdinand was shot by Gavrilo
Princip a Serb nationalist
His murder set off a
chain reaction that led
to world war
11
The First World War:
•Where?
12
Germany invades
Belgium
August
4, 1914
Germany crossed the
Belgian border following
the Schlieffen Plan
Belgium was unable to
give much resistance
Britain entered the war
as a result of the
invasion
13
Who?
Central Powers:
Allies:
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
Russia
France
Great Britain
Italy
Japan
United States (1917)
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known as "the great war" and the " war to end all wars" it
was the first modern war because attempts to break the
stalemate of trench warfare resulted in development of
several new weapon systems. Dogs were used for sending
messages.
15
Weapons of the Great War
John Moses Browning & his BAR
Little Willie Tank
16
German Vickers machine gun
German soldier throwing a grenade
Sniping enemy planes with a Lewis
gun
17
Weapons of the Great War
German U-Boat
Soldiers w/bayonets
before “going over the
top”
18
US soldier
demonstrating gas
masks for man &
horse
Weapons of the Great War
French flamethrowers
Mustard gas victim
Attaching a message to
a US Army Signal Corps
carrier pigeon
19
Antipersonnel agents: chemicals used against people. The first
large-scale use of poisonous chemicals in warfare occurred during
World War I (1914–18). More than 100,000 tons (90,000 metric tons)
of lethal chemicals were used by both sides in an effort to break the
stalemate of endless trench warfare. The most commonly used
chemicals were four lung-destroying poisons: chlorine, chloropicrin,
phosgene, and trichloromethyl chloroformate, along with a skinblistering agent known as mustard gas, or bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide.
These poisons caused about 100,000 deaths and another 1.2 million
injuries, almost all of which involved military personnel.
20
American troops wearing gas masks during World War I. The
soldier at left, unable to get his mask on in time, clutches his throat
as he breathes in the poisonous gas.
21
Weapons of the Great War
Allied observation balloon
French soldiers w/dogs
German Zeppelin
Sopwith Camel
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World War I Airplanes
148th American Aero Squadron
Petite Sythe, France. (August 6, 1918)
Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron,
was credited with 80 confirmed kills
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Sopwith Pup
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Sopwith Camel - Sunburst RAF
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Fokker DR-1 "Red Baron"
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The Great War was fought on
several fronts
• Eastern
Front
• Germany
vs
Russia
• Western
Front
• Germany
vs
France
28
Battle of the Marne
September 7, 1914
• Germans had moved within 25 miles
of Paris
• The French counterattacked along
the Marne River
• 2 million men fought along 125- mile
front
• Lasted 5 days; 250,000 killed
• Germans were pushed back 40 miles
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Battle of the Marne
30
Battle of the Marne
• The French paid a heavy price
• But they pushed back the Germans
• Helped the Allies by giving the
Russians more time to mobilize
• Germany had to send more troops to
the Eastern Front
• Ended in a stalemate
• Both sides dug trenches
• 400 miles across western Europe
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France, 1916, World War I
Two wounded British soldiers walk arm-in-arm with a
wounded German prisoner (left) towards a dressing
station.
32

The early trenches were unconnected holes in the earth.
They quickly developed into a complex system. Behind
the front line of trenches lay a secondary trench line.
The trenches themselves were built in a ziz-zag pattern,
to contain the blast from enemy shells and prevent the
enemy, should he capture part of a trench, shooting
along the entire line of the trench. The trenches, usually
four or five feet deep (less than 2m), were further built
up with three (1m) feet of sandbags. Wooden
duckboards formed a walkway over the sludge of water
and mud. There were dugouts to shelter troops, firing
steps to let the soldiers see above the sandbag parapet
to shoot at the enemy, and periscopes to let them
observe the other side without exposing themselves to
fire. No matter how well built, trenches were wet and
muddy, infested with rats, and worst of all, within range
of enemy artillery and sniper fire.
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Trench Warfare


Trenches protected soldiers from enemy artillery
& machine gun fire
Between the trenches of opposing forces lay noman’s-land
No-man’s-land was strewn with barbed wire
 Crossing no-man’s-land was deadly


Spending so much time in the trenches led to
diseases such as trench foot, trench mouth,
dysentery, etc.
34
France, 1914, World War I
A French soldier stands at the entrance to a trench.
35
Trench Warfare
French catapult
Inside the trenches
Trench foot
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Why did it take so long for America to
get involved in the war?
•America was isolationist
•“Why should I get involved in someone else’s
problems”
39
Thinking Slide:
•Is isolationism really an option for
a country as powerful as the United
States?
40
Which side should the US pick?
Central Powers:
Allies:
•11 million GermanAmericans
•Irish-Americans hated
Great Britain
•Close cultural ties
•Shared transatlantic
cables (so censored
stories)
•Big business loaned
much $ to allies
US Exports to both sides:
41
Nations
Britain
France
Germany
1914
1915
1916
$594,271,863 $911,794,954 $1,526,685,102
$159,818,924 $364,397,170 $628,851,988
$344,794,276 $28,863,354
$288,899
What did it take to get the US
involved?
1. Blockades
•Britain blockaded
(stopped) all
German ships
going to America
Y-53 German Submarine 1916
•Germany
announced a
submarine war
around Britain
• U-boats—
Unterseeboot undersea
boat
42
What did it take to get the US
involved?
1. Blockades
•In May, 1915 Germany told
Americans to stay off of British
ships
•They could/would sink them
• Unrestricted submarine
warfare
•Wilson warned Germany they
would be held responsible for
their actions
43
What did it take to get the
1.
Blockades
US involved?
•Lusitania
torpedoed, sinking
with 1200
passengers and
crew (including
128 Americans)
German Propaganda Justifying Lusitania sinking
•Was eventually
found to be
carrying 4200
cases of
ammunition
44
What did it take to get the US
involved?
1. Blockades
•The US sharply
criticized Germany
for their action
Note in Bottle After Lusitania Disaster
•Germany agreed
not to sink
passenger ships
without warning in
the future
45
Sussex Pledge
March 24, 1916 Germany attacked French
passenger ship the Sussex.
80 people were killed
Wilson threatened to end diplomatic relations
with Germany
Germany feared the US might enter the war
Sussex Pledge: promised not to sink
merchant vessels “without warning & without
saving human lives”
46
1916 Wilson’s reelection
Wilson won reelection with a campaign slogan
“He kept us out of war”
January 1917 Wilson attempted to get the
Central & Allied Powers to accept “peace
without victory”
Unacceptable to Allies who wanted Germany
to pay
Germany’s next move made peace impossible
47
What did it take to get the US
involved?
2. Unlimited Submarine Warfare
•1917 Germany
announced
“unlimited
submarine warfare”
in the war zone
Why? Otherwise
their blockade
would not be
48
successful
German U-boat sinking a British commercial
steamer - World War 1
49
What did it take to get the US
3. Zimmermann Note
involved?
•US intercepted a note from Germany to Mexico,
•It promised Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona back
in return for an alliance
•American newspapers printed the Zimmermann
Note
50
•
BERLIN, JANUARY 19, 1917
•
WE INTEND TO BEGIN ON THE FIRST OF FEBRUARY
UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE. WE SHALL
ENDEAVOR IN SPITE OF THIS TO KEEP THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA NEUTRAL. IN THE EVENT OF THIS NOT
SUCCEEDING, WE MAKE MEXICO A PROPOSAL OF ALLIANCE
ON THE FOLLOWING BASIS: MAKE WAR TOGETHER, MAKE
PEACE TOGETHER, GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND AN
UNDERSTANDING ON OUR PART THAT MEXICO IS TO
RECONQUER THE LOST TERRITORY IN TEXAS, NEW MEXICO,
AND ARIZONA. THE SETTLEMENT IN DETAIL IS LEFT TO
YOU. YOU WILL INFORM THE PRESIDENT [OF MEXICO] OF
THE ABOVE MOST SECRETLY AS SOON AS THE OUTBREAK
OF WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS CERTAIN
AND ADD THE SUGGESTION THAT HE SHOULD, ON HIS OWN
INITIATIVE, INVITE JAPAN TO IMMEDIATE ADHERENCE AND AT
THE SAME TIME MEDIATE BETWEEN JAPAN AND
OURSELVES. PLEASE CALL THE PRESIDENT'S ATTENTION TO
THE FACT THAT THE RUTHLESS EMPLOYMENT OF OUR
SUBMARINES NOW OFFERS THE PROSPECT OF COMPELLING
ENGLAND IN A FEW MONTHS TO MAKE PEACE.
ZIMMERMANN
51
Russian Revolution 1917



March 1917 Czar Nicholas II was forced to
give up the throne
Rebel leaders established a more republican
government
Removed one of the barriers that many
Americans had about siding with a monarchy

Believed the US should be promoting democracy
52
53
Not Good...
•Russia left the war after its communist revolution in November
1917
•Bolsheviks, communists led by Vladimir Ilich Lenin
•Communists—people who seek the equal distribution of
wealth & the end of all private property
•Signed a separate treaty with Germany
•Made it a one front war for Germany - all its troops could
concentrate on France
•March 1918 Germany began large offensive against Allies
•By May the Allies were backed up against the Marne River (70
NE of Paris)
54
What did it take to get the US involved?
•Zimmerman Note +
Russian revolution +
the sinking of 4
unarmed American
merchant ships led to
a declaration of war
55
Supplies:
•US
provided
the food,
money, and
fresh toops
needed to
win the war
American Troops March Through London
56
Raising an army

Selective Service Act (May 18, 1917)
• Men ages 21 to 30 had to register
• Some conscientious objectors


Most rejected
• Armed forces weren’t prepared
• Blacks were segregated & faced
discrimination
American soldiers formed the American
Expeditionary Forces in Europe
57
How the US mobilized

Regulating food

Food Administration




Herbert Hoover
Increase food production
& conserve food supply
“victory gardens”,
“meatless Mondays”,
“wheatless Wednesdays”
Regulating fuel

Fuel Administration

Introduced daylight savings
time
58
How the US mobilized

Financing the war


War Revenue Act, 1917
raised taxes
Borrowed money


War bonds
Regulating industry

War Industries Board


Regulated all materials
needed for the war effort
Bernard Baruch
Bernard Baruch
59
Mobilizing workers

National War Labor
Board




Judged disputes between
labor & management
Established the 8-hour
workday
Urged businesses to
recognize unions
Promoted equal pay for
women
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CONVINCING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Idealism: 2 Goals For War:
1. War to End All Wars
2. Making the World Safe for Democracy
61
Convincing the American
People
Posters
- Gee!!
•How do you think this poster helped
to convince the American people that
the war was a good idea?
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More Great War posters
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American Expeditionary
Forces


Commanded by Gen. John J. “Black Jack”
Pershing
First troops arrived in France in June 1917

Transported on ships escorted by battleships


Convoy system
Pershing sent them to training camps they
did not see combat for about 12 months
66
Battles that the AEF
participated in
•
•
•
•
•
Cantigny
Belleau-Wood
Chataeu—Thierry
2nd Battle of the Marne
Meuse-Argonne
67
Conscientious objector
from Tennessee;
drafted and assigned
to the 82nd
 Battalion commander
gave York two weeks’
leave to search his soul
about serving
 York returned having
decided to serve





Won the Medal of Honor for
heroism in the Argonne
Forest Oct 8, 1918
York’s battalion received fire
from German machine guns
and York’s 16-man platoon
was sent to flank the enemy
Nine Americans, to include
the platoon leader and the
other two corporals, were
killed our wounded
York was the only remaining
unhurt leader
SGT York

York's role as hero went beyond his exploit in the
Argonne and continues to both inspire and
confound. On October 8, 1918, Corporal Alvin C.
York and sixteen other soldiers under the command
of Sergeant Bernard Early were dispatched before
sunrise to take command of the Decauville railroad
behind Hill 223 in the Chatel-Chehery sector of the
Meuse-Argonne sector.

The seventeen men, due to a misreading of
their map (which was in French not English)
mistakenly wound up behind enemy lines. A
brief fire fight ensued which resulted in the
confusion and the unexpected surrender of a
superior German force to the seventeen
soldiers.
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
Once the Germans realized that the American
contingent was limited, machine gunners on the
hill overlooking the scene turned the gun away
from the front and toward their own troops. After
ordering the German soldiers to lie down, the
machine gun opened fire resulting in the deaths of
nine Americans, including York's best friend in the
outfit, Murray Savage.

Sergeant Early received seventeen bullet
wounds and turned the command over to
corporals Harry Parsons and William Cutting,
who ordered York to silence the machine gun.
York was successful and when all was said
and done, nine men had captured 132
prisoners.
74
Convincing the American People
Idealism: Fourteen Points
What? President Wilson’s Plan for
after the war
•Fourteen promises,
including freedom of
the seas & a League
of Nations to work for
peace
75
President Woodrow Wilson
How did the War Affect the US?
Women
•Women filled factory jobs
•May have led 19th
Amendment after the war
(Gave women the right to
vote)
African Americans
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•Black soldiers still served in Segregated Units
•“Great Migration” - thousands of African Americans
moved North to work in factories
The Atlantic Ocean, 1919, World War I
Nine African-American soldiers, winners of the Croix de Guerre,
return home on the USS Stockholm.
77
HOW DID THE WAR AFFECT THE US?
Enforcing Loyalty
•Hatred of all things German
•Ex. “Liberty Cabbage”
•Espionage Act 1917 &
Sedition Act of 1918
punished those against the
war (many labor leaders)
78
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Socialist, Charles Schenck, who attempted to distribute thousands of
flyers to American servicemen recently drafted to fight in World War I
was convicted of violating the Espionage Act.
The Supreme Court upheld
Schenck's conviction and
ruled that the Espionage Act
did not violate the First
Amendment.
The Supreme Court invented the famous "clear and present danger" test to
determine when a state could constitutionally limit an individual's free
speech rights under the First Amendment
79
Influencing public opinion
• Committee on Public
Information
• Headed by George
Creel
• Used propaganda to
influence people’s
opinions
80
Armistice
•November 11, 1918 at 11
a.m. (11/11 @ 11)
•Agreement to stop fighting
went into effect
•Germany agreed to stop
fighting, leave all occupied
territories, surrender all
aircraft, heavy artillery,
tanks, & u-boats.
•Celebrated as Armistice
Day—Today it is Veteran’s
Day
81
Wilson’s 14 Points







No secret treaties
Freedom of the seas
Free trade
Disarmament
Colonies to have a say in the future
German troops to leave Russia
Independence for Belgium
82
 France to regain Alsace-Lourraine
 Frontier between Austria and Italy to be
adjusted
 Self-determination for the people of
eastern Europe
 Serbia to have access to the sea
 Self-determination for the people of the
Turkish Empire
 Independent Poland
 League of Nations
83
TREATY OF VERSAILLES
The
Big Four
Great Britain—
Prime Minister
Lloyd George
France—Prime
Minister Georges
Clemenceau
Italy—Prime
Minister Vittorio
Orlando
U.S.A.—President
Woodrow Wilson
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Palace of Versailles
85
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To France:
500 stallions
30,000 fillies and mares
2,000 bulls
90,000 milch cows
1,000 rams
100,000 sheep
10,000 goats
To Belgium:
200 stallions
5,000 mares
5,000 fillies
2,000 bulls
50,000 milch cows
40,000 heifers
200 rams
20,000 sheep
15,000 sows
87
Impact of the Treaty of
Versailles
German people were horrified:
Had to accept blame & pay reparations
Germany lost 10% of land, 12.5 % of population, all colonies, & many
raw materials
At first Germany refused to sign
Army was symbol of pride—not fair, no one else disarmed
Insulted—not invited to join League of Nations
Germany fell behind reparations in 1922
88
Big Three criticized the treaty
Clemenceau: not harsh enough
Wilson: disappointed in it & could not get Senate to ratify it
Lloyd George: said it would lead to another war
91
Influenza epidemic


Half of American war
casualties were the
result of the flu
Soldiers brought it
back to the US
 675,000
Americans died
 Deadliest
epidemic in US
history
92
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American Casualties
World War I (1917–1918)
Total servicemembers
4,734,991
Battle deaths
53,402
Other deaths in service
(nontheater)
63,114
Nonmortal woundings
204,002
Living veterans
fewer
than 25
8.5 million dead overall counting all countries
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The last French veteran of
World War I, Lazare Ponticell,
an Italian immigrant who lied
about his age to join the
Foreign Legion and fight in the
trenches, died Wednesday,
March 12, 2008, aged 110.
Frank Buckles
America’s longest living World War I
veteran
February 1, 1901-February 11, 2011
97
In 1917 the United States entered the Great
Conflict in Europe. Sixteen-year-old Frank
Buckles decided he wanted in, too. He
figured he could fib about his age; say he's
18. But the Army recruiter told him, "No
good: you need to be 21." So he kept
shopping around until finally, he found a
recruiter who believed him when he said
his home state of Missouri didn't keep birth
records when he was born; it's back home
on the farm, an entry in the family Bible.
98
World War I Gravestone
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