World War I
Inevitability of war
• June 28, 1914 Archduke
Francis Ferdinand of
Austria assassinated
• July 5, 1914 Germany
issues A-H “blank check”
– pledging military
assistance if A-H goes to
war against Russia
• July 23, 1914 Austria
issues Serbia an
ultimatum
The inevitability of war
• July 28, 1914 A-H
declares war on Serbia
• July 29, 1914 Russia
orders full mobilization
of its troops
• August 1,1914 Germany
declares war on Russia
• August 2, 1914 Germany
demands Belgium declare
access to German troops
“Belgium is a country, not a road”
• King Albert I of Belgium
denied permission
• August 2, 1914 Germany
declared war on France
– Why???
– The Schlieffen Plan!
• August 4, 1914 Great
Britain declared war on
Germany for violating
Belgian neutrality
1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate
• Many Europeans
were excited about
war
– “Defend yourself
against the
aggressors”
– Domestic differences
were put aside
1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate
• War would be over in
a few weeks
– Ignored the length and
brutality of the
American Civil War
(prototype to World
War I)
1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate
• Belief that Modern
industrial war could
not be conducted for
more than a few
months
• “Home by Christmas”
1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate
• “Fatal attraction of
war”
– Exhilarating release
from every day life
– A glorious adventure
– War would rid the
nations of selfishness
– Spark a national rebirth based on heroism
The Schlieffen Plan’s
Destructive Nature
The Schlieffen Plan
• Invade western front
1st
• After defeating
France concentrate
on the Eastern front
• Avoid fighting a 2
front war
The Schlieffen Plan’s
Destructive Nature
• Germany made vast
encircling movement
through Belgium to
enter Paris
• Underestimated
speed of the British
mobilization
– Quickly sent troops to
France
The Schlieffen Plan’s
Destructive Nature
• Sept 6-10, 1914
– Battle of Marne
– Stopped the Germans
but French troops
were exhausted
– Both sides dug
trenches for shelter
STALEMATE
The Trenches
• Trenches dug from
English Channel to
Switzerland
• 6,250 miles
• 6 to 8 feet deep
• Immobilized both
sides for 4 years
The Trenches
Life in the Trenches
• Elaborate systems of
defense
– barbed wire
– Concrete machine gun
nests
– Mortar batteries
– Troops lived in holes
underground
Life in the Trenches
• Boredom
– Soldiers read to pass the
time
– Sarah Bernhardt came out
to the front to read poetry
to the soldiers
Life in the Trenches
• Trenches had horrible conditions
• They were often filled with rats (thousands) and
were filled with stagnate, sitting water
• Standing in this type of muddy and wet
environment would cause “trench foot”
• Bodies would pile up for weeks until they could
be removed-they smells, sights and sound were
unimaginable
“Death is everywhere”
• “We all had on us the
stench of dead bodies.”
Death numbed the
soldier’s minds.
• Shell shock
• Psychological devastation
“Death is everywhere”
• Mustard gas
– Carried by the wind
– Burned out soldier’s lungs
– Deadly in the trenches
where it would
sit at the bottom
Life in the Trenches
• Trench warfare
baffled military
leaders
– Attempt a breakthrough
– Then return to a war of
movement
– Millions of young men
sacrificed attempting the
breakthrough
Battle of Verdun
• 10 months
• 700,000 men killed
Battle of Verdun
• 10 months
• 700,000 men killed
The changes of war
• New weapons crippled the “frozen front”
– Poison gas (mustard gas)
– Hand grenades
– Flame throwers
– Tanks
– Airplanes
– Tanks
– Subs
The changes of war
• Airplanes
– Dog fights in the air
– Bombing inaccurate
– Romanticized the
battlefields
– Paris and London
bombed
– Pilots fired pistols and
threw hand grenades
The Eastern Front
• Russian army moved into
Eastern Germany on
August 30, 1914
– Defeated
• The Austrians kicked out
of Serbia
• Italians attacked Austria
in 1915
• G. came to Austrian aid
and pushed Russians
back 300 miles into own
territory
The Eastern Front
• Much more mobile
more than the West
– But loss of life still very
high
– 1915: 2.5 million
Russians killed,
captured, or wounded
The Eastern Front
• Germany and Austria
Hungary joined by
Bulgaria in Sept. 1915
– Attacked and
eliminated Serbia from
war
The Home Front
• Women took war
factory jobs
• Received lower
wages than males
• Food shortages made
running a household
difficult
The Home Front
• Censorship
– Not told about high
death toll
– Romanticized the
battlefields
“soldiers have died a
beautiful death, in
noble battle, we shall
rediscover
poetry…epic and
chivalrous”
The Home Front
• Censorship
“Newspapers described
troops as itching to go
over the top.”
“Government reported to
the press that life in the
trenches promoted good
health and clear air”
The Home Front
• “On Leave”
Troops would stay
together so they
could sympathize
with each other
The Home Front
• Impossible to
hide death
– Women in
mourning
– Badly wounded
soldiers returned
home
– Opposition began
to emerge
Social Impact
•
•
•
•
•
Men lost limbs and were mutilated
Birthrate fell markedly
Invalids unable to work
Ethnic hostility
Influenza epidemic
Psychological impact
• “Never such innocence again”
• Bitterness towards aristocratic officers
whose lives were never in danger
Complete a brief outline of the
following topics
• Increased Government Powers• Manipulation of Public Opinion• Total War and Women-
• Print off –The United States Enters World
War 1 handout
• Nearly 2 million American soldiers would
serve in WWI. These “doughboys” a
nickname for American soldiers were
largely inexperienced, but they were fresh,
so their presence immediately boosted the
morale of Allied forces.
Winning the War at Sea
• American Admiral William S. Sims proposed
using a new method for sending merchant
ships and troop transports across the
Atlantic. It was decided that they should
travel in convoys or closely ordered groups.
• If submarines wanted to attack a convoy,
they would have to get past the warships
protecting it.
• The convoy system greatly reduced shipping
losses and ensured that American troops
arrived safely in Europe.
Russia Leaves the War
• In March 1917, riots broke out in Russia over
the government’s handling of the war and
over the scarcity of food and fuel.
• On March 15, Czar Nicholas II, the leader of
the Russian Empire, abdicated his throne.
The government was under the control of a
temporary government, that favored
continuing in the war. However they were
unable to deal with the major problems facing
the nation.
• Discussion of Russian Revolution
• Questions
• The Bolsheviks, a group of Communists, soon
competed for power in Russia. In November 1917,
Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party,
overthrew the Russian government and established a
Communist government.
• Lenin’s first act after seizing power was to pull Russia
out of the war and concentrate on establishing a
Communist state.
• He accomplished this by signing the Treaty of BrestLitovsk with Germany in March 1918. In this treaty
Russia gave up the Ukraine, Polish and Baltic
territories and Finland. Germany agreed to remove
troops from all other territories.
The German Offensive Falters
• On March 21, 1918 the Germans launched
a massive attack along the Western Front.
Reinforced by troops from Russian front,
they pushed deep into allied lines.
• American troops played an important role
in containing the German offensive.
American and French forces were able to
block multiple German movement towards
Paris.
The Battle of the Argonne Forest
• With the German drive
stalled, French Marshal
Ferdinand Foch,
supreme commander of
the Allied forces,
ordered counterattacks
all along the front. In
mid-September,
American troops drove
back German forces at
the battle of SaintMihiel.
• The attack was a prelude to a massive American
offensive in the region between the Meuse River
and the Argonne Forest. General Pershing
assembled over 600,000 American troops, some
40,000 tons of supplies, and roughly 4,000 artillery
pieces for the most massive attack in American
history.
• The attack began on September 26, 1918. Slowly
one German position after another fell to the
advancing American troops. The Americans
suffered heavy casualties, but by early November,
the Americans had shattered the German
defenses opened a hole in the German lines.
The War Ends
• While fighting raged along the Western Front,
a revolution engulfed Austria-Hungary and
the Ottoman Turks surrendered.
• Germany’s allies surrendered and a rebellion
occurred in Germany that caused the
emperor to step down. On the 11th hour on
the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918, the
fighting stopped and Germany signed an
armistice of cease-fire.
A Flawed Peace
• What was Wilson’s post-war plan called?
– Describe these points
• What were the first 5 about?
• The next 8?
• What was the 14th? What did it create? What was
the purpose?
The Treaty of Versailles
• What did this treaty do to Germany?
• What empires were dissolved at the end of
World War I? What new countries were
created?
• Why did many U.S. law makers oppose
the treaty and the League of Nations?
• Why do you think the lack of U.S.
membership in the league cause future
problems?
Cost of the war
• 15 million people were killed.
– About 1/3 of the soldiers that fought in the
war were wounded.
• The economic cost was severe.
– Estimates put the damage at about 100
trillion modern U.S. dollars.
– The European economy was left in
shambles and the U.S. emerged as the
dominant world economic power.
The Spanish Flu
(Influenza)1918
• Struck in the trenches of the western front and then
flourished when soldiers returned home.
• It became the greatest public health disaster of modern
history
– The pandemic killed between 22 and 30 million people
worldwide, or roughly twice as many as had died during
the fighting
– In Spain, it killed roughly 40 percent of the population (8
million), thus giving it the name of the Spanish Influenza.
– British colonial troops carried it to India where it killed 12
million.
– No disease, plague, war, famine, or natural catastrophe in
world history had killed so many people in such a short
time.