WWI – The Great
War
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Early 1900s – situation in Europe was very
tense
Rivalry between industrial nations caused
extreme feelings of nationalism
Suspicious of one another, the nations formed
defensive alliances waiting for someone to
throw the first punch
Triple Alliance - 1882
 Germany
 Italy
 Austria-Hungary
Triple Entente - 1907
 France
 Great Britain
 Russia
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Spark = ethnic nationalism in Austria-Hungary
These groups wanted their own nations
Result? A series of uprisings
Serbia was a new nation in the Balkan area
supported by Russia (made things even more
tense) – known as the “powder keg of Europe”
European leaders
trying to keep the
lid on the cauldron
representing
trouble in Serbia
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The Assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
and his wife, Sophia
Shot by Gavrilo Princip, a
young Serbian nationalist
and member of The Black
Hand – they wanted Bosnia
(a part of Austria-Hungary)
to become a part of Serbia)
DON’T WRITE THIS!!
During July and August of 1914, peace in Europe quickly fell
apart – Austria blamed the Serbs for trying to break up its
empire. It declared war against Serbia. Serbia’s ally, Russia,
then prepared its army for war. Fearing that Russia would
attack it as well as Austria, Germany declared war on
Russia. Russia was France’s ally. When France offered to
help Russia, Germany declared war on France. To attack
France, Germany invaded neighboring Belgium. Belgium’s
ally, Britain, then declared war against Germany. Soon all of
Europe was at war…
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War spread like
wildfire
Triple Alliance
= Central
Powers
Triple Entente
= Allies
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1915 – sinking of the
Lusitania – British ship
that carried cargo and US
passengers (sunk by
German torpedo)
The US began to view
Germany as a bully and
began to side with the
Allies
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Zimmerman letter – intercepted telegram from
German foreign minister to German US
ambassador – said that Germany would help
Mexico win back Texas, Arizona, and New
Mexico
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Why?
Trench warfare – each
side dig trenches deep
enough for soldiers to
stand in
This eventually turned
into a stalemate,
neither side could
move more than a few
miles
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Airplanes – used for observation and then
bombing enemy targets
Machine guns – rapid fire, great in trenches
Poison gas – sickened and killed soldiers –
masks were the only protection
Submarines – German U-boats attacked at sea
Tanks
Trench Warfare and weapons
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUCaqpt
NqKM&safe=active
War Horse clip – make a list of the weapons/ war
tactics that you see in the clip
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo3x2khwZ0&safe=active
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April 1917 – US declared war on Germany
More than 1 million US troops came to Europe
to counter the final German advance
After a year, it was clear that Germany could
not win
Allies agreed to an armistice – cease fire
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Casualties: 8.5 million
Wounded: 17 million
Regions where war had been fought lay in ruin
War debt: millions
Question? Who would pay for the rebuilding
and debt?
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Paris Peace
Conference 1919
The Big Three –
GB, France, US
(decision
makers)
Germany was
not allowed to
take part in the
negotiations
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The big three disagreed about what the treaty
should contain:
GB/France – wanted Germany to be disarmed
and pay the entire cost of the war
US – Woodrow Wilson wanted to set up a
League of Nations (LON)– international
peacekeeping organization
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1.
2.
3.
The LON was included in his 14 points along
with goals like:
End to secret treaties
Freedom of the seas
Right for people to govern themselves
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In the end, he had to give many of the points
up, but he stuck to his idea of a LON and the
Allies finally accepted it
BUT the US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty
of Versailles (they thought the US would be
giving up its ability to act in its own interests)
Soooo without the US, Wilson’s idea lost a lot
of it’s power
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Germany/Austria Hungary – admit they
started the war
Germany – paid $30 million in damages
German army/navy reduced in size
Area btw. Germany and France was not
allowed to have forts, trenches, weapons
Germany had to return land to France
German colonies in Africa and Asia were taken
A tough pill to swallow
Which one’s Germany??
Quick video!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J31vkB4IdS0&safe=active
The short end of the stick…