Chapter 13
The Great War

Section 1
The Stage is Set for War

Causes of WWI
Rise of Nationalism
Caused a rivalry among Europe’s great powers
Competition for materials and markets
Territorial disputes

Causes of WWI
Imperialism
Quest for colonies pushed nations on the brink of war
Competed for overseas empires
Sense of rivalry and distrust deepened

Causes of WWI
Militarism
Increase of an European arms race
Needed a powerful military
Large standing armies
Militarism: glorifying military and keeping an army prepared for war

Causes of WWI
Alliances
Bismark formed the Dual Alliance
Between Germany and Austria-Hungary
Italy later joined
Triple Alliance
Bismark also made a treaty with Russia

Causes of WWI
Kaiser Wilhelm II forced Bismark to resign
Did not want to share power
Let Germany’s treaty with Russia lapse
Russia responded by forming an alliance with France

Causes of WWI
Wilhelm began a large ship building program
Wanted to equal the British fleet
Great Britain formed an entente with France

Triple Alliance, 1914.
Triple Entente, 1914.

Crisis in the Balkans
Powder Keg of Europe
Freed themselves from the
Ottoman Empire
Formed the nations of Bulgaria,
Greece, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia

Crisis in the Balkans
Nationalism was powerful in this area
Each group wanted to extend its borders
Serbia hoped to absorb all of the
Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula

Crisis in the Balkans
Austria annexed Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Both areas with large Slavic population
Serbian leaders were outraged

A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were visiting Sarajevo
(the capital of Bosnia)
Shot by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand
Secret society committed to riding Bosnia of Austrian rule

Franz Ferdinand and Sophie

Franz Ferdinand and Sophie

Gavrilo Princip

A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Austria used the murders as an excuse to punish Serbia
Presented them with an ultimatum
Refusing the ultimatum would lead to war

A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Serbian leaders agreed to most of the demands
Offered to have other settled by an international conference
Austria did not want to negotiate
July 28, 1914 – Austria declares war on Serbia

A Shot Rings Throughout Europe
Russia was an ally of Serbia
Russian leaders moved troops toward the Austrian border
Other nations urged Austria and
Russia to negotiate
It was too late

Section 2
War Consumes Europe

The Great War Begins
Russia sent troops to the Austrian border
Russia expected Germany to join the war because Germany was allied with Austria
Russia also sent troops toward the German border

The Great War Begins
Russia’s mobilization toward
Germany was considered a declaration of war
August 1, 1914 – Germany declares war on Russia
Two days later, Germany declared war on France
Great Britain then declared war on
Germany

Nations Take Sides
Central Powers: Germany, Austria
Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman
Empire
Allies: Great Britain, France,
Russia, Japan, Italy

World War I Europe

Stalemate
War turned into a long and bloody deadlock
Western Front: region in northern
France where the fighting was occurring

The Western Front

Schlieffen Plan
German battle strategy
Called for attacking France in the west and then fighting Russia in the east
Needed a quick victory in France

Schlieffen Plan

Schlieffen Plan
Battle of Marne was won by the
Allies
Single most important event of the war
Ruined the Schlieffen Plan
Germany would have to fight on two fronts

War in the Trenches
Trench warfare: miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire
Fought each other from the trenches

War in the Trenches
Life in the trenches was misery
Swarmed with rats
Fresh food was nonexistent
Sleep was nearly impossible
Western Front stretched 500 miles

Life in the Trenches

Life in the Trenches

Life in the Trenches

Life in the Trenches

New Weapons of War
Machine gun
Poison gas
Armored Tank
Large artillery
Killed greater numbers of people more effectively

World War I Machine Gun

British Victims of Poison Gas

Early Gas Mask

Armored Tank

Battle on the Eastern Front
Stretch of battlefield along the
German and French border
Russians and Serbs fought
Germans and Austro-Hungarians

The Eastern Front

Russia Struggles
By 1916, Russia’s effort was near collapse
Russia had yet fully industrialized
Army was short of food, clothes, boots and blankets
Allied supply shipments were limited

Russia Struggles
Russia’s only asset was it numbers
Suffered enormous numbers of battles losses
Could use enormous population to regroup

Section 3
War Affects the World

The Gallipoli Campaign
The Allies wanted to secure a region of the Ottoman Empire
The Dardanelle
By securing this area, the Allies could take Constantinople, defeat the Turks, and establish a supply line to Russia

The Gallipoli Campaign
Campaign began in February
1915
Turned into another stalemate
Allies gave up the campaign and began to evacuate
Suffered 250,000 casualties

Battles in Asia and Africa
Germany’s colonial possessions came under assault
Japanese troops invaded China
English and French invaded Africa
British and French recruited subjects in their colonies to fight

America Joins the Fight
Germans announced a policy called unrestricted submarine warfare
Would sink without warning any ship around Great Britain

America Joins the Fight
Sunk the British passenger ship,
Lusitania
The
Killed 128 American citizens
President Wilson sent a protest to
Germany
Germany had agreed to not attack neutral and passenger ships ( Sussex
Pledge )

America Joins the Fight
Returned to unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917
Knew it might lead to war with the U.S.
Germany sank three American ships

America Joins the Fight
Intercepted telegram from Arthur
Zimmerman, German foreign secretary
Germany would help Mexico gain the land it has lost to the U.S. if
Mexico would ally with Germany

America Joins the Fight
The Zimmerman note was the last straw
President Woodrow Wilson asked
Congress to declare war on
Germany
U.S. joined the Allies

War Affects the Home Front
WWI was a total war
Countries devoted all their resources to the war effort
Government took control of the economy
Told factories what to produce

War Affects the Home Front
All able bodies people were put to work
Goods were in short supply
Rationing: people could buy only a small amount of those items needed for the war effort

War Affects the Home Front
Suppressed anti war activity
Used propaganda: one sided information designed to persuade or keep up moral and support for the war ( Propaganda SlideShow )

Women and the War
Thousands of women replaced men in the factories, offices and shops
Built tanks and ammunition
Plowed fields, paved streets
Kept the troops well supplied

Russia Withdraws
March 1917, Czar Nicholas is forced to resign
Replaced by a provisional government
Pledged to continue fighting in the war

Russia Withdraws
November 1917 – Lenin seizes power in Russia
Insists on ending Russia’s involvement in the war
Signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ends the war between
Russia and Germany

The Central Powers Collapse
Germany could now concentrate on the Western Front
Mounted a massive attack and victory seemed within reach
The Allies launch a counterattack
The Allies began heading toward
Germany

The Central Powers Collapse
Bulgarians and the Turks surrendered
Revolution occurred in Austria
Hungary
The German soldiers mutinied, and the public turned on the
Kaiser

The Central Powers Collapse
November 9, 1918 – Kaiser
Wilhelm II stepped down
Germany declared itself a republic
Signed an armistice: an agreement to stop fighting
November 11, WWI ends

Legacy of the war
New kind of war
War on a global scale
8.5 million soldiers died
21 million were wounded
Countless civilians dead

Legacy of the war
Devastating economic impact
Trained the treasuries of countries
War cost $338 billion
Destroyed land, villages and towns

Section 4
A Flawed Peace

Allies Meet and Debate
January 1919, a conference to establish the terms of peace began at Versailles
The major decisions were made by the Big Four – U.S., Great
Britain, France and Italy
Germany and Russia were not invited

Wilson’s Peace Plan
President Wilson drew up a series of peace proposals
Fourteen Points
Outlined a plan for just and lasting peace

Points 1-5
End of secret treaties
Freedom of the seas
Free trade
Reduced armies and navies
Adjustment of colonial claims

Points 6-13
Specific suggestions for changing borders and creating new nations
Self determination: allowing people to decide for themselves under what government they wished to live

14 th Point
Proposed a general association of nations
Would protect great and small states alike
Could peacefully negotiate solutions to world conflicts

The Versailles Treaty
Between Germany and the Allied nations
Signed June 28, 1919
Created a League of Nations
International association whose goal would be to keep peace among nations

The Versailles Treaty
Treaty also punished Germany
Lost substantial territory
Restrictions placed on military
Article 231: War guilt clause
Germany is solely responsible
Pay reparations to the Allies

Other Treaties
Western powers signed separate treaties with Austria Hungary,
Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria
Led to huge land losses
Several new countries were formed

Russia after the war
Suffered land losses
Romania and Poland gained
Russian territory
Many new independent nations formed

A Peace Built on Quicksand
Treaty did little to build lasting peace
U.S. rejected the treaty
Many Americans objected to the
League of Nations
Wanted to stay out of European affairs

A Peace Built on Quicksand
Left a legacy of bitterness in the
German people
Other countries felt cheated with the peace settlement
Colonized people were angry with the disregard of the independence

A Peace Built on Quicksand
Some Allies were bitter as well
Italy and Japan both gained less land than they had wanted
The League of Nations was in no position to take action on any of these complaints