The World War I Era
(1914–1920)
Chapter 19
Section 1:
The Road to War
A. Causes of World War I
Chapter 19, Section 1
Main Causes of World War I
1 .Imperialism
Competition for colonial lands in Africa and elsewhere led to
conflict among the major European powers.
2 .Militarism
By the early 1900s, powerful nations in Europe had adopted
policies of militarism, or aggressively building up armed forces
and giving the military more authority over government and
foreign policy.
3.Nationalism
One type of nationalism inspired the great powers of Europe to
act in their own interests. Another emerged as ethnic
minorities within larger nations sought self-government.
4. Alliances
In a complicated system of alliances, different groups of
European nations had pledged to come to one another’s aid in
the event of attack.
1. Imperialism --Economic &
Imperial Rivalries
2. Militarism (& Arms Race)
Total Defense Expenditures for the Great
Powers [Ger., A-H, It., Fr., Br., Rus.]
in millions of £s.
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1914
94
130
154
268
289
398
1910-1914 Increase in
Defense Expenditures
France
10%
Britain
13%
Russia
39%
Germany
73%
Militarism cont.
• Germany was
competing with the
UK to build
battleships.
• The British feared an
attack on their Empire
Militarism cont.
• Germany was
competing with Russia
and France to expand
their armies
1880
1914
• Germany 1.3m 5.0m
• France
0.73m 4.0m
• Russia
0.40m 1.2m
3. Nationalism
4. The Alliance System
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
The Major Players: 1914-17
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
Nicholas II
[Rus]
Wilhelm II [Ger]
George V [Br]
Victor Emmanuel
II [It]
Enver Pasha
[Turkey]
Pres. Poincare [Fr]
Franz Josef [A-H]
B. How the War began-the spark
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
of Austria-Hungary
The spark that ignited the power keg
and started World War I:
Who’s To Blame?
Seal of the
Black Hand
group
• Convinced that Serbia was behind the Archduke’s
assassination, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on
July 28, 1914.
• Russia, as Serbia’s protector, began mobilization, or the
readying of troops for war.
• France, Russia’s ally, and Germany, Austria-Hungary’s ally,
also began mobilization.
• Germany, located between France and Russia, wanted to
conquer France quickly to avoid the need to fight on two
fronts. To get to France, German forces had to pass
through neutral Belgium; the invasion of Belgium brought
Britain into the conflict as well.
• One week after the war started, all the great powers of
Europe had been drawn into it. Germany and AustriaHungary formed the Central Powers, while Russia,
France, Serbia, and Great Britain were called the Allies.
The Crisis cont.
• “Black Hand”
terrorists attack the
Arch Duke
• Bomb attempt fails
in morning
• Gavrilo Princip
shoots Archduke and
wife in the
afternoon.
• Austrians blame
Serbia for
supporting
terrorists.
C. The Schlieffen Plan
• Germany’s
military plan to
defeat France
and Russia.
• Germany could
not win a two
front war. They
must deliver a
“Knock out
blow” aimed at
France first.
• Avoid French
defences by
invasion of
Belgium.
Britain’s Reaction to invasion
of neutral Belgium
• 1838- UK had signed a
Treaty to protect
Belgium.
• Britain also scared of
Germany controlling
Channel ports.
• Did not want Germany
to defeat France and
dominate Europe.
Britain next?
• UK issued ultimatum to
Germany to withdraw
troops from Belgium.
War declared August 4
1914
German Atrocities in Belgium
D. Stalemate and Modern Warfare
Stalemate on the Western Front
• By September 1914 the German advance on Paris
had been stopped. The war had reached a
stalemate, a situation in which neither side is able
to gain an advantage.
• Both sides holed up in trenches separated by an
empty “no man’s land.” Small gains in land
resulted in huge numbers of human casualties.
• Both sides continued to add new
allies,
hoping to
Central
Powers
gain an advantage.
Allied Powers
Trench Warfare
The soldiers had very
little decent food,
and what food they
had was often
attacked by rats.
These rats were the
size of small rabbits
and badgers because
they had fed on the
decomposing bodies
of dead soldiers.
Many men killed in the trenches were buried almost where
they fell. If a trench subsided, or new trenches or dugouts
were needed, large numbers of decomposing bodies would
be found just below the surface. These corpses, as well as
the food scraps that littered the trenches, attracted rats.
One pair of rats can produce 880 offspring in a year and so
the trenches were soon swarming with them.
• Some of these rats grew extremely large. One soldier
wrote: "The rats were huge. They were so big they would
eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself." These
rats became very bold and would attempt to take food from
the pockets of sleeping men. Two or three rats would
always be found on a dead body. They usually went for the
eyes first and then they burrowed their way right into the
corpse.
• One soldier described finding a group of dead bodies while
on patrol: "I saw some rats running from under the dead
men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human flesh. My
heart pounded as we edged towards one of the bodies. His
helmet had rolled off. The man displayed a grimacing face,
stripped of flesh; the skull bare, the eyes devoured and
from the yawning mouth leapt a rat."
Rats killed in one trench
The British government
wanted to encourage
men to enlist for war.
They said the war
would be safe, hardly
any fighting, a good
lark and over by
Christmas.
A picture of soldiers going
‘Over the Top’
They used advertising
posters to encourage
this idea!
Modern Warfare
• Neither soldiers nor officers were prepared for
the new, highly efficient killing machines used
in World War I.
• New weapons killed thousands of soldiers who
left their trenches to attack the enemy.
• The machine gun / hand grenade / artillery /
bayonet / poison gas / flame thrower /
submarine / airplane /barbed wire /
Weapons of WWI
New Technology + old tactics = horrible losses
Trench knife
Trench Shovel-Germans
Gas Masks
German stick grenade
WWII grenade
At times electrified cable ran thru the mass of barbed wire-had to be cut first!
Barbed wire strung out over No Man’s Land slowed
speed of the advance of the attacking troops
The Machine Gun
Germans first to mass produce it– the British thought it was not “sporting”
Poison Gas
Chlorine Gas – 1915 Germans first used it
rags soaked in water or urine
Gas Mask
Mustard Gas-sulfuric acid gas - yellow
Mustard Gas
The most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the
war, it was almost odorless and took twelve hours to take
effect. Yperite was so powerful that only small amounts had to
be added to high explosive shells to be effective. Once in the
soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.
The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, the eyes became
very sore and they began to vomit. Mustard gas caused internal
and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes,
stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful
and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It usually
took a person four or five weeks to die of mustard gas
poisoning. One nurse, Vera Brittain, wrote: "I wish those people
who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could
see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great
mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck
together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere
whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know
they will choke."
British-first tanks
Tanks
Early tank-Little Willie 1915
French Tank
German Tank – lagged behind Allies in
tank development
Both sides used bolt action
rifles for the infantry
U-boats
Submarines
U-Boats
In the beginning they surfaced
to warn the other ship
1918 depth charges improved
1917 Convoy system used by British + French to get US weapons to Europe
Fokker
Dog Fight
Airplanes
The Flying Aces of World War I
Eddie
Rickenbacher, US
Francesco
Barraco, It.
Eddie “Mick”
Mannoch, Br.
Willy Coppens de
Holthust, Belg.
Rene Pauk
Fonck, Fr.
Manfred von
Richtoffen, Ger.
[The “Red Baron”]
Zeppelins
Flamethrowers
• By 1912 Krupp had produced a 420mm
weapon that fired a 2,100 lb shell over 16,000
yards. As it weighed 175 tons, it was designed
to be transported in five sections by rail and
assembled at the firing site. This concerned
the German Army and they asked for it to be
adapted to be moved by road. By 1914
company had produced a mobile howitzer
called Big Bertha (named after Gustav Krupp's
wife). This 43 ton howitzer could fire a 2,200
lb shell over 9 miles. Transported by DaimlerBenz tractors, it took its 200-man crew, over
six hours to re-assemble it on the site.
E. The American Response
1914 -1916
Chapter 19, Section 1
• Because many Americans were European immigrants or
the children of European immigrants, many felt
personally involved in the escalating war. Although some
had sympathies for the Central Powers, most Americans
supported the Allies.
• Support for the Allies was partially caused by Germany’s
rule by an autocrat, a ruler with unlimited power. In
addition, anti-German propaganda, or information
intended to sway public opinion, turned many Americans
against the Central Powers.
• To protect American investments overseas , President
Wilson officially proclaimed the United States a neutral
country on August 4, 1914.
F. The Preparedness and
Peace Movements
Chapter 19, Section 1
The Preparedness Movement
• Americans with business
ties to Great Britain
wanted their country to be
prepared to come to
Britain’s aid if necessary.
• In an effort to promote
“preparedness,” the
movement’s leaders
persuaded the government
to set up military training
camps and increase funding
for the armed forces.
The Peace Movement
• Other Americans, including
women, former Populists,
Midwest progressives, and
social reformers, advocated
peace.
• Peace activists in Congress
insisted on paying for
preparedness by increasing
taxes. Although they had
hoped that a tax increase
would decrease support for
preparedness, the
movement remained strong.
Section 2:
The United States Declares War
A. The course of the war 1914-1916
Both sides use a naval blockade
to stop supplies-British surface ships
Germans -- submarines
1914-1915 Germans stopped in the West—1915-1916 trench warfare brings
stalemate in the West.
Russians retreat in the East
B.The Germans lost the propaganda
war to win the U.S. over to its’ side.
• When the British cut the transatlantic cable, which
connected Germany and the United States, only
news with a pro-Allied bias was able to reach
America. American public opinion was therefore
swayed against Germany’s U-boat tactics.
• Sinking of passenger ships and a proposed deal
with Mexico also hurt German popularity.
1. The Sinking of the Lusitania
• On May 7,1915, a German U-boat sank the British
passenger liner Lusitania, which had been carrying both
passengers and weapons for the Allies.
• Since 128 American passengers had been on board, the
sinking of the Lusitania brought the United States closer
to involvement in the war.
2. The Sussex
Pledge
• More Americans were killed when Germany sank the
Sussex, a French passenger steamship, on March 24,1916.
• In what came to be known as the Sussex pledge, the
German government promised that U-boats would warn
ships before attacking, a promise it had made and broken
before.
The Sinking
of the Lusitania
3. The Zimmerman Note
• During this time, Britain revealed an
intercepted telegram to the government of
Mexico from Germany’s foreign minister,
Arthur Zimmermann.
• In this telegram, known as the Zimmermann
note, Germany offered to return American
lands to Mexico if Mexico declared war on the
United States.
• Neither Mexico nor President Wilson took the
Zimmermann note seriously, but it brought
America closer to entering the war.
C. Early 1917 –The pivotal time.
• Germans gamble on (Feb. 1917) unrestricted
submarine blockade of England and France.
(They know that the U.S. may enter the war
against them but they believe that the U.S.
can not help enough in time.)
• The all out sub blockade works!! The Allies are
in danger of loosing the war!!!
• April 1917— Wilson asks for and Congress issues
a declaration of war against Germany ETC.
• The U.S. does make a difference—Convoy
System of escorting merchant ships across the
Atlantic brings supplies to Br. and Fr.
Allied
Ships
Sunk by
U-Boats
Sept. 1916-April 1917
May 1917-Jan 1918
In the final analysis, why did the
U.S. go to war vs Germany?
• Sub blockade by Germans—we violated the
German zone (subs had to sink) and not the
Br. zone (surface ships could just stop).
• Anti German propaganda—only one source
of news—sent by the British.
• U.S. sales and loans to Allies –$$$ Billionswe enter the war at Allies darkest hour to
save our investment.
• Wilson favored and admired the British.
Americans on the
European Front
Section 3
A. Us had to build an army from nothing
Building an Army
Training for War
• The United States lacked a • New recruits were trained
large and available military
in the weapons and tactics
force. Congress therefore
of the war by American
passed a Selective Service
and British lecturers at
Act in May 1917, drafting
new and expanded training
many young men into the
camps around the country.
military.
• Ideally, the military
• Draftees, volunteers, and
planned to give new
National Guardsmen made up soldiers several months of
what was called the
training. However, the
American Expeditionary
need to send forces to
Force (AEF), led by General
Europe quickly sometimes
John J. Pershing.
cut training time short.
Chapter 19, Section 3
B. April 1917--Nov. 1917: With U.S.
supplies the Fr. and Br. make gains
•Convoy system allows supplies to get to Br.
and Fr.thru German sub blockade—Germans get
no supplies thru Br. Blockade.
•US troops not yet in Europe but the allies push
back Germans in mid to late 1917.
•In the spring of 1917, Germany provided safe
passage for Vladimir Lenin, leader of the
Russian Bolsheviks, from Switzerland to Russia.
•November 1917 Communist Revolution in
Russia overthrows govt and made peace with
Germany.
C. Spring 1918--Germans make one last
all out attack
•Without Russia in the war it meant that the German
military could concentrate exclusively on the
Western front.
•( March – June 1918) Before the arrival of American
troops, Germany launched a furious attack that was
able to gain ground in France, coming within 50 miles
of Paris.
•AEF begins to arrive in large numbers.
•General Pershing’s troops (AEF) pushed back the
Germans in a series of attacks.
•Finally, the German army was driven to full retreat
in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive begun on September
26, 1918.
D. American Soldiers in Europe
• By 1918, European nations had begun to run
out of men to recruit. Energetic American
soldiers, nicknamed doughboys, helped replace
the tired fighters of Europe.
• Amer. soldiers were plugged into the front lines
where need -most often as part of Br. or Fr.
units. Pershing and his AEF were finally given a
section of the front to control at St. Mihiel.
• Many African Americans volunteered or were
drafted for service. However, these men served
in segregated units and were often relegated to
noncombat roles.
E. Ending the War- late 1918
Chapter 19, Section 3
• In the face of Allied attacks and domestic revolutions, the
Central Powers collapsed one by one. Austria-Hungary
splintered into smaller nations of ethnic groups, and
German soldiers mutinied, feeling that defeat was
inevitable.
• When the Kaiser of Germany fled to Holland, a civilian
representative of the new German republic signed an
armistice, or cease-fire, in a French railroad car at 5am on
November 11, 1918.
• Although guns fell silent six hours later, many more deaths
were to follow. The influenza epidemic of 1918 killed more
people, both in the United States and Europe, than all of
the wartime battles.
1918 Flu Pandemic:
Depletes All Armies
Some estimates place the dead at 20-40 million
50,000,000 –
100,000,000 died
By the fall of 1918 a strain of influenza seemingly no different from that of
previous years suddenly turned so deadly, and engendered such a state of
panic and chaos in communities across the globe, that many people
believed the world was coming to an end. It struck with amazing speed,
often killing its victims within just hours of the first signs of infection. So
fast did the 1918 strain overwhelm the body's natural defenses, that the
usual cause of death in influenza patients---a secondary infection of lethal
pneumonia---oftentimes never had a chance to establish itself. Instead, the
virus caused an uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and
patients would drown in their own body fluids.
As their lungs filled … the patients became short of breath and increasingly
cyanotic. After gasping for several hours they became delirious and
incontinent, and many died struggling to clear their airways of a bloodtinged froth that sometimes gushed from their nose and mouth. It was a
dreadful business.
Not only was the Spanish Flu strikingly virulent, but it displayed an unusual
preference in its choice of victims---tending to select young healthy adults
over those with weakened immune systems, as in the very young, the very
old, and the infirm. The normal age distribution for flu mortality was
completely reversed, and had the effect of gouging from society's
infrastructure the bulk of those responsible for its day to day maintenance.
No wonder people thought the social order was breaking down. It very
nearly did.
Americans on the Home Front
Section 4
A. Financing the War--how we paid for it
• The government raised money for the war in part
by selling Liberty Bonds, special war bonds to
support the Allied cause.
• Like all bonds, these could be redeemed later for
their original value plus interest.
• Many patriotic Americans bought liberty bonds,
raising more than $20 billion for the war effort.
Chapter 19, Section 4
B. Managing the Economy
Chapter 19, Section 4
•United States entry into the war caused many industries to switch
from commercial to military production. Industry was forced to
produce war materials and workers could not strike.
•Using the slogan, “Food will win the war,” Herbert Hoover, head of
the Food Administration. Voluntary meatless-wheatless-heatless
days of the week. “Victory gardens” planted. Save Grain-WWI
added strength to the prohibition movement --18th Amendment.
•Although he had the power to impose price controls, a system of
pricing determined by the government, and rationing, or
distributing goods to customers in a fixed amount, Hoover
preferred to rely on voluntary restraint and increased efficiency.
•Daylight savings time was created to save on fuel use and increase
the number of daylight hours available for work. This involved
turning clocks back one hour for the summer, creating one more
hour of daylight.
•Women filled “men’s jobs” – earned them the right to vote 19th
C. Enforcing Loyalty
Chapter 19, Section 4
Enforcing American Loyalty During World War I
Fear of
Foreigners
Fear of espionage, or spying, was widespread; restrictions on
immigration were called for and achieved.
“Hate the Hun”
The war spurred a general hostility toward Germans, often referred
to as Huns in reference to European invaders of the fourth and fifth
centuries. German music, literature, language, and cuisine became
banned or unpopular.
Repression of
Civil Liberties
Despite Wilson’s claim that the United States fought for liberty and
democracy, freedom of speech was reduced during the war.
Sedition, or any speech or action that encourages rebellion,
became a crime.
Political
Radicals
Socialists, who argued that workers had no stake in the war, won
popular support in some states.
The radical labor organization Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
tried to interfere with war production; vigilantes took the law into
their own hands.
D. Changing People’s Lives
Chapter 19, Section 4
New Roles for Women
African Americans and
Other Minorities
• With much of the work
force in the military,
factory owners and
managers who had once
discriminated against
minorities began actively
recruiting them.
• The flood of African
Americans leaving the
South to work in northern
factories became known
as the Great Migration.
• The diminished male
work force also created
new opportunities for
women.
• Many women joined the
work force for the first
time during the war.
Some found work on
farms with the Woman’s
Land Army; others took
jobs traditionally
reserved for men.
Posters:
Wartime
Propaganda
Global
Peacemaker
Section 5
A. President Wilson’s Proposals
Chapter 19, Section 5
• As the war neared an end, President Wilson
developed a program for peace around the world
known as the Fourteen Points, named for the
number of provisions it contained.
• One of Wilson’s Fourteen Points called for an end
to entangling alliances; another involved a
reduction of military forces. Another dealt with the
right of Austria-Hungary’s ethnic groups to selfdetermination, or the power to make decisions
about their own future.
• Although both Wilson and the German government
assumed that the Fourteen Points would form the
basis of peace negotiations, the Allies disagreed.
During peace negotiations, Wilson’s Fourteen
Points were discarded one by one.
B. The Paris Peace Conference
Chapter 19, Section 5
Wilson Forced to
Compromise
• Although Wilson claimed
that he was not
interested in the spoils,
or rewards, of war, his
Allied colleagues were
interested in making the
Central Powers pay for
war damages.
• Wilson was forced to
compromise on his views,
especially concerning
self-determination for
former German
colonies.
The League of Nations
• One of Wilson’s ideas, the
formation of a League of
Nations, was agreed upon at the
Paris Peace Conference. The
League of Nations was designed
to bring the nations of the world
together to ensure peace and
security.
• Republicans in Congress,
however, were concerned about
Article 10 of the League’s
charter, which contained a
provision that they claimed
might draw the United States
into unpopular foreign wars.
Chapter 19, Section 5
C. The Peace Treaty
• The treaty which was negotiated at the Paris Peace
Conference redrew the map of Europe to the Allies’
advantage.
• Nine new nations were created from territory taken from
Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany. Although most
borders were drawn with the division of ethnic minorities
in mind, the redivisions created new ethnic minorities in
several countries.
• France insisted that Germany be humiliated and
financially crippled. The peace treaty required Germany
to pay billions of dollars in reparations, or payment for
economic injury suffered during the war. Wilson,
however, opposed this plan, claiming that these demands
would lead to future wars.
• On June 28, 1919, the peace treaty, which came to be
known as the Versailles Treaty, was signed at Versailles,
outside of Paris.
D. Reactions at Home
Congress and the Treaty
of Versailles
• Despite Wilson’s intensive
campaign (suffered stroke)
in favor of the Versailles
Treaty, Congress voted
against ratifying it in
November 1919.
• The United States declared
the war officially over on
May 20, 1920. It ratified
separate peace treaties
with Germany, Austria, and
Hungary. However, the
United States did not
join the newly formed
League of Nations.
Chapter 19, Section 5
Difficult Postwar Adjustments
• The war had given a large boost to
the American economy, making the
United States the world’s largest
creditor nation.
• Soldiers returned home to a hero’s
welcome but found that jobs were
scarce.
• African American soldiers, despite
their service to their country,
returned to find continued
discrimination.
Republicans angry they were not invited
The Somme American
Cemetery, France
116,516 Americans Died
World War I Casualties
10,000,000
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
Russia
Germany
Austria-Hungary
France
Great Britain
Italy
Turkey
US