WWI Facts
• Alliances
– TRIPLE ENTENTE:
• Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary
– TRIPLE ALLIANCE:
• Britain, France, Russia, (USA)
• War lasted from: 1914 – 1918
• People thought war would last no longer than 6
weeks
• 10 million deaths:
– 116,000 US soldiers
– 2,000,000 German soldiers
– 1,500,000 French soldiers
– 1,000,000 English soldiers
– over 5,000,000 civilians
Causes of WWI
• Arms Race
– Competition between enemies to build up their armies
and navies; creation of new battleships
• Nationalism
– People in some European countries developed sense
that their nation was better than others and should
control other countries
• Imperialism
– Definition: a country’s desire to own, control, and
develop groups of people in other parts of the world
besides their own country, usually for power and profit
– Germany wanted to strengthen itself by having more
colonies around the world like England and France had
• Propaganda War
– England and Germany (enemies) tried to persuade
Americans to support their own side
Why did the USA support the
Alliance so quickly?
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America shared English language with Britain
France had helped USA during the Revolutionary War
Many USA businesses had ties with England & France
British propaganda painted Germany as attacking
innocent women & children in the war
• German U-boat (submarine) sunk the Lusitania cruise
ship, killing 100 Americans, USA begins to support
England
• Germany continues to destroy British and French
ships, & declares any US ship heading to England will
be attacked; 2 US ships destroyed
• Zimmermann telegram: Germany tries to send
telegram to Mexico offering southwest part of USA to
them if they’ll attack USA (if USA joins the war); US
officials intercept it
America Prepares
for War
• Draft Act:
– law states any man ages 21-31 can be called to
military duty
– draft wasn’t needed, military went from 200,000
men to 9 million in one day (June 5, 1917) due to
volunteers
• Factories
– begin working day & night producing war supplies
– new guns, battleships, submarines, tanks,
airplanes, gas masks, uniforms created to help
Allies and Americans in war
Fighting in the War
•America saves Paris
–Allies were outnumbered by Entente
troops/supplies
–30,000 American soldiers came and
helped keep Paris in Allies hands
•Argonne Forest
–700 “Yanks” (American soldiers) were
surrounded by German troops in the forest
–US soldiers became known as the “Lost
Battalion”
–US Major sent messages for help by
carrier pigeon
–American cannons accidentally attacked
the trapped US soldiers instead of German
troops
–After 5 days of fighting the Lost Battalion
was saved, only 194 men survived
•2 million new American troops ready to fight
–Germany realized it couldn’t keep up with
the US troops
–Triple Entente troops surrendered in
1918
Wilson tries to end the war fairly…
• Armistice: agreement between enemies to stop
fighting until a treaty is reached
• President Wilson wanted
“peace without victory,” meaning
Germany wouldn’t be punished for
the war (let things get resolved peacefully)
• (What other US President didn’t want to
punish the enemy for war after it ended?)
• Wilson’s plan for peace was called
The 14 Points
– it was so fair that even Germany liked it
– League of Nations was suggested
• goal was to unite countries around the world and
prevent another world war through peaceful talks
Germany Punished…
Germany, 1914
• Other Allied powers wanted to punish
Germany, making it weak so that it
couldn’t cause another world war again
– Some German land & all of its colonies
taken away to keep Germany small
– Germany lost all profitable companies,
had to pay major war debts
• Germany refused to sign the treaty at first
– “We would have continued to fight if we
knew we were going to be punished so
Germany, 1918
severely”
– Germany gave up its weapons & ships,
& signed the Treaty of Versailles
• President Wilson feared that Germany
would resent the world for this treaty,
leading to another world war
The League of Nations is developed…
• Goal:
– an association of countries who
work to resolve future international
conflicts together to prevent future
world wars
• USA refuses to join, even though
President Wilson created it and
started it up
– USA fears:
• members of the League
would have to help other
members if a war did ever
develop; USA didn’t want to
get involved in world wars ever
again
• USA concerned that the League
would have more power than the
US Constitution in America