World War I
The MAIN Causes of
WWI in Europe
1910-1914 Increase in
Defense Expenditures
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%
Total Defense Expenditures for the
Great Powers in millions of pounds
(Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, France,
Britain, and Russia)
1870
• 94
1880
• 130
1890
• 154
1900
• 268
1910
• 289
1914
• 398
Militarism
 The development of armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy.
 Caused by the increase in imperialism and nationalism.
 By 1890, Germany had the strongest army in Europe and England had
the strongest navy.
Alliances
• By 1907, there were two major defense systems in
Europe:
• The Triple Entente (the Allied Powers)
– France, Britain, and Russia
• The Triple Alliance (the Central Powers)
– Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
– (Italy left this group in 1915 and the Ottoman Turks
joined in late 1914)
Europe
in 1914
I=
Imperialism
Colonial
Rivalries:
Africa in
1914
I = Imperialism
Colonial Rivalries: Asia in 1914
The British Empire in 1914
• Through the colony building practices of imperialism, the world was more
connected as England was no longer a single country but the British Empire
• Caused many countries to increase the size of their navy
Nationalism
• A devotion to the interests
and culture of one’s nation
• This concept grew in the
1800’s
• Caused rivalries among
countries
• Caused countries like Russia
to feel a link to other
countries with their Slavic
culture like Serbia
World War One Begins
The Assassination: Sarajevo
June 1914
Gavrilo Princip
assassinates
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary
Who’s To Blame?
The Dominoes Fall…
AustriaHungary
declared war on
Serbia
Russia felt that
is should
support its
Slavic brother
(Serbia)
Germany
supported
AustriaHungary by
declaring war
on Russia and
then France
Germany
invaded
Belgium and
Great Britain
declared war on
Germany
Multi Front War
• The Western Front:
– Trenches
– Germany vs. England and France
– More horrible than previous wars by a lot
• The Eastern Front:
– More mobile
– Germany and Austria Hungary vs. Russia
– Russia has a revolution and drops out in 1917
• Other Fronts:
– Italy vs. A-H; Middle East; Africa; Colonial Holdings in
Asia (Japan was an Allied Power)
A Multi-Front War
New Technology of
Warfare
Trench
Warfare
How do
you win?
The Tank
• The tank was invented
to roll across no man’s
land and over enemy
trenches.
• The British Mark I was
the first successful tank
used on the battlefield
(September 1916)
• The Americans also
developed a smaller,
two man tank, the FT17
Submarines / The U-Boat
• The U-Boat (or
unterseeboot in German)
was the German
submarine used in
WWI.
• They were very
effective at blockading
England for a time and
destroyed both English
(and American) Navy
and merchant vessels.
U-Boats
Allied Ships Sunk by U-Boats
 September 1916-April 1917
May 1917-June 1918
Fighter Planes and Zeppelins
• The new technology of the airplane saw its first use in battle during WWI.
• Originally used as reconnaissance, then fighters, by the end of the war they were
also used as bombers.
• The Zeppelin blimps were also used as spy ships and bombers during the war.
Flame
Throwers
Grenade
Launchers
Machine
Guns
(improved
for WWI)
Poison Gas
• Chlorine gas was first used by the Germans
at the Second Battle of Ypres in April of
1915.
• Mustard gas which caused blindness and
often death from pneumonia was invented
and used in the last years of the war.
Poison Gas Casualties of WWI
Nation
Gas casualties (estimated)
Fatal
Non-fatal
Russia
50,000
400,000
Germany
10,000
190,000
France
Britain
8,000
8,000
182,000
181,000
Austria-Hungary 3,000
97,000
USA
1,500
71,500
Italy
4,500
55,000
Total
85,000 (3% of
combat deaths)
1,176,500
American Neutrality
Fails
America wanted to trade with those at war ($$$), but since England
blockaded Germany, America was left trading with the Allies. This
made the US an increasing problem for the Central Powers
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
•Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare in
the Spring of 1917
•America was already upset by the deaths of Americans
on Allied ships (like the Lusitania)
Election of 1916
• Democrats – Wilson again
“He kept us out of war”
• Republicans – Charles Evan
Hughes
• Progressives – TR refused to
run and split Republicans
again
1916 Election Results
Democrat Woodrow Wilson
Republican Charles E. Hughes
277 elec
254 elec
49.2%pop
46.1% pop
The Zimmerman Telegram
• Germany wanted
Mexico to join the war
and fight America –
promised Mexico
support during the war
• England intercepted
the telegram and told
America
• Mexico said no thanks!
The Yanks are
Coming!
 Wilson went before Congress on
April 2, 1917
 Congress voted to declare war on
April 7, 1917
Americans Mobilizes for
War
Preparing America for
War
 America instituted a draft since the
US army was so small (units were
still segregated in this war)
 Women were allowed to work for
the military in non-combat
positions such as nurses,
secretaries, and telephone
operators
 Mass Production of war goods
occurred in factories
 Propaganda began to encourage
citizens to help the war effort
Enlist Now
For Big and Little Soldiers
The Singingest War Ever!
1917 Selective Service Act
 24,000,000 men registered for the draft by the end of 1918.
 4,800,000 men served in WWI (2,000,000 saw active combat).
 400,000 African-Americans served in segregated units.
 15,000 Native-Americans served as scouts, messengers, and
snipers in non-segregated units.
 11,000 women enlisted in the navy and 269 in the marines –
non-combat positions
The American
Homefront
Council of National Defense
 War Industries Board – Bernard Baruch
 Allocated resources and pushed factories to war production
 Food Administration – Herbert Hoover
 Idea of sacrifice instead of rationing
 Doubled American production of grain – would have dire
consequences in the 1920’s
 Railroad Administration – William McAdoo
 Nationalized railroads for the war
 National War Labor Board – W. H. Taft & Frank P. Walsh
 Asked unions not to strike
 Employed Progressive measures for war workers
 8-hour day
 Overtime
 Equal pay for women
The Great Migration
 400,000 African
Americans left the
Jim Crow South to
work in northern
factories
 Kept the factories
going during wartime
 Led to the Harlem
Renaissance
 Other minority
groups were also
given jobs because of
the war
US Food Administration
 America never rationed
during WWI though
European countries did
 Check out the amazing
WWI food propaganda
posters on my front
wall!
US Food Administration
National War Garden Commission
US Shipping Board
 America had to quickly
mobilize to get troops and
supplies to Europe
US Fuel Administration
Results of New Economic
Organization
 Unemployment virtually disappeared.
 Expansion of “big government.”
 Excessive government regulations in economy
 Some gross mismanagement -> overlapping jurisdictions.
 Close cooperation between public and private sectors.
 Unprecedented opportunities for disadvantaged groups.
Committee on Public
Information
 Run by George Creel
 Anti-German
Propaganda
 Selling American
Culture and Patriotism
 Multimedia!
 4-Minute Men
 Visual Propaganda
 Songs
Issues at
Home in
America
During World War One, the
United States experienced
intense nativism against
immigrants of German descent
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Espionage Act– 1917
 Forbid actions that
obstructed recruitment or
efforts to promote
insubordination in the
military.
 Ordered the Postmaster
General to remove Leftist
materials from the mail.
 fines of up to $10,000
and/or up to 20 years in
prison.
Sedition Act – 1918
 It was a crime to speak or
protest against:
 The Draft
 War Bonds
 The War
 The Government…
Where have we seen this
before in US History?
Schenck and Abrams 1919
 Socialist was jailed for circulating leaflets against the Draft
 Supreme Court supported this decision against free speech in Schenck
vs. US
 Every act of speech must be judged according to the
circumstances in which it was spoken.
 The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in
falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic - Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes
 If an act of speech posed a clear and present danger, then Congress
had the power to restrain such speech.
 Abrams v. US said that the leafletters were inciting violence based on the
clear and present danger idea
 Holmes and Brandeis dissented in Abrams:
 The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself
accepted in the competition of the market, denying that a “silly
leaflet” published by an “unknown man” constituted such a danger.
WWI Ends –
The Treaty of Versailles
Major Players of WWI
Primary Allied Powers
Primary Central Powers
 Great Britain
 Germany
 France
 Austria-Hungary
 Italy
 Ottoman Empire
 Russia
 Bulgaria
 left March 3, 1918
 USA
 entered April 7,
1917
The First WORLD War
Allied Powers
Neutral Countries
Central Powers
The End of WWI
Germany’s Failed Spring
Offensive
The Central Powers Fall
 On November 3, 1918,
 Central Powers had won on the
Austria-Hungary surrendered.
Eastern Front
 Germany planned an offensive for  On November 9, 1918,
socialist leaders took over the
the Spring of 1918 in the hopes that
German capital and
they could beat the Allies before too
established a German republic;
many Americans arrive
the Kaiser gave up the throne.
 Failure because:
 Finally, Germany agreed to
 Put all of their forces into this
sign an armistice (truce).
 All of the best troops were put
 On the eleventh hour of
in special units on the front line
the eleventh day in the
(stormtroopers) and got killed
eleventh month of 1918,
first…
World War I was over.
 No plan for victory
The War to End All Wars?
• World War I was the bloodiest war in history to that
time.
– 22 million were dead – more than half of them
civilians.
– 20 million people were wounded
– 10 million became refugees.
• The U.S.A. lost 48,000 men in battle with another
62,000 dying of disease. More than 200,000
Americans were wounded.
Negotiations
• After Germany signed an armistice in 1918,
negotiations began:
• The peace treaty was dictated by the leaders of the
four remaining Allied Powers: Great Britain,
France, Italy, and America.
– Russia was not allowed to enter into the treaty because
they had dropped out of the war (and because they
were communist).
– This was one of the first major occasions where only
the victors sat at the negotiation table.
Wilson’s 14 Points
What are the 3 types of points?
1.
No secret treaties between nations
2.
Freedom of the seas
3.
Lower or abolish tariffs between nations for free trade
4.
Reduce arms stockpiles
5.
Colonial policies should take the interest of the colonial people into
consideration as well as the imperialist powers
6-13 Dealt with establishing boundaries in Europe along ethnic identities
when larger nations were broken up
14. Establish a League of Nations so countries can settle their
grievances before a war begins
Problem!
 All the European leaders rejected Wilson’s
14 points. They wanted to make Germany
pay and Wilson was left fighting for his
most important point: the League of
Nations.
Problems for Wilson
• Imperialist leaders in Europe weren’t as idealist as Wilson and wanted
to punish Germany
• Isolationist senators at home said they wouldn’t pass the League of
Nations – this gave the Europeans more power at Versailles
• Wilson collapsed and then had a stroke in Colorado during his tour to
take the League to the people (9/25/1919)
• Senator Lodge smelled blood and tried to strip the treaty, but Wilson
was still able to get loyal Democrats to vote against the pared down
version
• Because of this in-fighting, the treaty never passed and died
• America NEVER joins the League of Nations
The Treaty of Versailles 1919:
Would lead directly to WWII
 Austria Hungary was dismantled and created new
countries along ethnic boundaries
 Germany would be punished:
 Could not maintain an army
 Had to give land back to France from a previous war
 Had to $33 billion to the Allies in war reparations
 Had to take full responsibility for the war
 Was stripped of colonial possessions
 President Wilson’s idea of a League of Nations was
formed, but America never joined
Election of 1920
• Republicans nominated
Ohioan, Senator Warren
G. Harding with Calvin
Coolidge as his VP
• Democrats nominated
Ohioan, Governor James
M. Cox with FDR as his
running mate!
• Harding wins (with a
landslide) in an attempt to
“return to normalcy”…
– “I like Ike” after WWII is
the same thing
Post
WWI
The Treaty
of Versailles
sets up
WWII
The Middle
East
Mandates
set up
problems
forever…