Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia were all
important players in WWI
Alliances
• By mid-August 1914 the Central Powers
primarily of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
• The Triple Entente consisted of Britain,
France, and Russia
• The Triple Alliance consisted Germany,
Austria, and Italy
• Allied Powers—Britain, France, U.S. and
others.
Italy and Russia
• Italy backed out of the Triple Alliance
and Joined the Allies.
• Italy was an Allie of Germany, but waited
to see how the war progressed and joined
the Allies in 1915.
• Russia backed out of the war do to the
Russian Revolution.
The Russian
Revolution
Changed Russia
from a Monarchy
to a Communist
Dictatorship. The
Czar was removed
from power and
Lenin became the
Father of
Communism in
Russia
The names of the Alliances change
during WWI. What nations belong to
these alliances and what nations switch
sides and drop out?
When the WWI starts, everyone believes
that it will be over by Christmas. It would
last 6 to 12 weeks
Everyone was horribly wrong—WWI
lasted 4 years and became a war of
Attrition.
WWI turns out to be a very different
kind of war than in the past. Why is this
statement true and how does time play a
role in how the war evolves.
Limiting Antiwar Speech
Some Americans Speak Out
• Prominent Americans such as pacifist reformer Jane Addams and Senator
Robert La Follette spoke out against the war.
• Addams founded the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
• Wilson’s administration tried to limit public speech about the war.
Legislation
• Congress passed the Espionage Act, which punished people for aiding the
enemy or refusing military duty.
• The year after, it passed the Sedition Act, making it illegal for Americans to
criticize the government, flag, or military in speech or writing.
Opponents
• More than 1,000 opponents of war were jailed under those acts, including
Robert Goldstein, who directed a film called The Spirit of ‘76 and refused to
remove scenes of British brutality during the American Revolution.
• Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison for
criticizing the Espionage Act but was released after the war.
Opponents Go to the Supreme Court
• Many Americans thought the Espionage and Sedition Acts
violated the First Amendment, but others thought they were
essential to protect military secrets and the safety of
America.
• The Supreme Court also struggled to interpret the acts.
• In one case, Charles Schenck, an official of the American
Socialist Party, organized the printing of 15,000 leaflets
opposing the war and was convicted of violating the
Espionage Act.
• He challenged the conviction in the Supreme Court, but the
Court upheld his conviction, limiting free speech during war.
• Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote the Court’s
unanimous decision, stating that some things said safely in
peacetime are dangerous to the country during wartime.
Soldiers of WWI
U.S. was a Neutral Country when WWI
began.
The sinking of the Lusitania and the
Zimmermann Note caused the U.S. to join
the Allied Powers during WWI.
The sinking of the
Lusitania killed 128
Americans. It was
attacked by German UBoats
The coded telegram from Germany to
Mexico, calling for Mexico to attack the U.S.
Discuss U.S. involvement in WWI and
why the U.S. finally gets involved.
• Trench Warfare is a form of war in which
opposing armies fight each other from
trenches dung in the battlefield.
• WWI was Total War—a conflict in which
the participating countries devote all their
resources to the war effort.
• WWI became a stalemate—gains were small
loss of life was huge due to new weapons.
Body of an allied soldier
lies in the road. Rats and
other vermin quickly
devoured any exposed
flesh.
Soldiers often faced the problems of rats, lice, and disease in
the trenches.
The body of a German soldier
surfaces with the spring thaw. The
human carnage was so great that
bodies were often buried many
times only to be blown back out
by constant bombardment.
Explain what Trench Warfare is.
A Chain Reaction
•June 28, 1914- Franz assassinated
•July 28, 1914- Austria Hungary declares
war on Serbia
•July 30, 1914- Russia mobilizes troops
towards border
•August 1, 1914- Germany declares war
on Russia
•August 3, 1914- Germany declares war
on France
•August 4, 1914- Germany invades
Belgium
•August 4, 1914- Great Britain declares war
On Germany
•Mid- August, 1914- Bulgaria and Turkey
Join Central Powers
•Italy leaves Central Powers and joins
The allies
•By the end of 1914, millions
Had signed up to join their
Countries army
- It was the thing to do
- a War to end all wars
- sense of pride in your country
•Everyone thought it would be
Over by Christmas
WWI
I. WWI turned out to be very different from what
everyone thought it was going to be like
A) Everyone expected a short, bloodless war (very few
people killed or wounded)
B) The war lasted over 4 years and cost the lives of
8-12 million soldiers and was fought on 2 “fronts” .
C) The generals thought that it would be a war of fast
moving armies, but instead it turned out to be a war of
ATTRITION (who could kill more of the enemy)
D) Trench warfare became the military strategy of
WWI [latrines, rats, mustard gas, no man’s land]
WWI
II. The war was the first in which the Industrial
Revolution became an important factor.
A) Modern science and technology produced weapons of
great destruction and killing power (the machine gun,
artillery, airplane, submarine, poison gas, the tank)
B) The nation(s) with the greatest resources will win the war
C) It was the first world war, because so many nations
were involved.
III. The outcome of the war would have great importance,
because it would lay the foundation for the causes of WWII
What are the new weapons that are used
in WWI and what is a war of attrition?
Comprising the main Allied attack on the Western
Front during 1916, the Battle of the Somme is
famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000
British troops (one third of them killed) on the
first day of the battle, 1 July 1916, which to this
day remains a one-day record. The attack was
launched upon a 30 kilometre front, from north
of the Somme river between Arras and Albert,
and ran from 1 July until 18 November, at which
point it was called off.
Discuss the battle of the Somme and
why it is important.
During this battle, French and British forces were
able to upset the Germans plans for a quick and
decisive victory. 250,000 French casualties,
German casualties were estimated to be about the
same.
Paris Taxis bring
6,000 French
reserve troops to the
front lines to hold
the Germans back
Discuss the battle of the Marne and
why it is important.
The Battle of Gallipoli (sometimes referred to as the first DDay) took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli from
April 1915 to January 1916 during the First World War. A joint
British and French operation was mounted in order to
eventually capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul (at that
point Constantinople). The attempt failed, with heavy
casualties on both sides.
Discuss the battle of Gallipoli and
why it is important.
Trench system
Over the Top!
What was life like for the men in the
trenches. Do you think you could handle
living in the trenches during WWI?
Why or why not?
Dugout underneath the Trench
Australians resting up in a dug-out are sheltered from shelling 15 feet
underground
Machine Gun
No mans land
Artillery
White AreaNo Man’s Land
View of the Western Front Trenches
What were tanks used for during
WWI?
Poison Gas Dispenser
Gassed! Allied soldiers help each other to the
infirmary after suffering the blinding effects of
chlorine gas.
Effect of Poison Gas
Why was poison gas the most feared
of all the weapons during WWI?
Diseases such as trench fever (an infection caused by louse faeces), trench
nephritis (an inflammation of the kidneys), and trench foot (the infection and
swelling of feet exposed to long periods of dampness and cold, sometimes
leading to amputation) became common medical problems, and caused
significant losses of manpower.