Transcript World War One

World War One
War and Peace
Warfare
• Technology
– Industrialization and new technology made World War
One highly destructive.
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Machine Gun
Tank
Submarine
Poison gas
– All of these new weapons and technology lead to large
numbers of casualties, death and destruction.
Warfare
Trench Warfare
• When French and British troops stopped the
advance of the German Army in France both sides
dug in trenches.
• Neither side was able to advance over the next four
years.
• Life in the trenches was horrid
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Rats
Mud
Lack of sleep
Death
Trench Warfare
• If militarism glorified war, trench warfare did
everything it could to demystify the idea of a
glorious war.
Trench Warfare
• Rats infested trenches.
• The brown rat was especially
feared. They ate human
remains and they could grow
to the size of a cat.
• A single rat couple could
produce up to 900 offspring in
a year spreading infection and
contaminating food.
Trench Warfare
• Lice were a never-ending
problem, breeding in the
seams of filthy clothing
and causing men to itch.
• Even when clothing was
washed lice eggs invariably
remained hidden in the
seams.
Trench Warfare
• Trench Fever a particularly
painful disease that began
suddenly with severe pain
followed by high fever was
caused by lice.
• Recovery away from the
trenches took up to twelve
weeks.
Trench Warfare
• Trench Foot was a medical
condition common to
trench life.
• It was an infection of the
feet caused by cold, wet
and unsanitary trench
conditions.
• It could turn gangrenous
and result in amputation.
Trench Warfare
• The Smell
• Rotting carcasses lay around in the thousands. For example,
approximately 200,000 men were killed on the Somme
battlefields, many of which lay in shallow graves.
• Overflowing latrines would also give off a most offensive
smell.
• Men who had not been afforded the luxury of a bath in
weeks or months would smell like the odor of dried
sweat. The feet were generally accepted to give off the worst
odor.
Trench Warfare
• The land between the
trenches was known as
“No Man’s Land”.
• The venture into this
area alone meant
certain death.
Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare
Warfare
• Battle of Verdun
(Western Front)
– In February 1916 the
German Army launched an
attack on Verdun.
– The attack was meant to
decimate the French Army.
– In 11 months of fighting the
German Army advanced
only four miles
– The Germans lost 328,500
men
– The French lost 348,300
men.
Warfare
• Battle of the Somme
(Western Front)
– In July 1916 the British tried to help
the French at Verdun by attacking
the Germans in the Somme River
valley
– In the first day of battle the
British lost 19,000 men.
– By November the British gained
eight miles.
– The allies lost 615,000 men
– The Germans lost 500,000 men.
Russia’s Withdraw
• Prior to the beginning of the war Russia had not
become industrialized.
• The Russian Army was ill-equipped for the war and
was short of weapons, food and fuel.
• In 1915 the Russians suffered the loss of 2 million
men.
• By 1917 there was social unrest in Russia and the
government was close to collapse.
• By 1917 the Russian Army refused to fight.
• In November 1917 Lenin and the Communist take
control of the government.
Russia’s Withdraw
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
– Lenin wanted to end the war
and offered a truce.
– The treaty was harsh towards
Russia
– Russia had to give up
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Finland
Poland
Ukraine
The Baltic States
Russia’s Withdraw
• Outcome
– The German Army was able to place more
troops on the Western front which angered the
British and French.
– The Germans tried to push towards Paris.
America joins the War
• Up until 1917 The U.S. had remained neutral.
• In 1917 the German Navy began a policy of
unrestricted submarine warfare and attacked any
ships trying to reach Britain.
• President Wilson told the Germans that if more
U.S. ships were sunk the U.S. would enter the war.
• The Germans ignored the warning and continued to
sink U.S. ships.
America joins the War
• The Zimmerman Telegram
– In February 1917 the Germans
sent a telegram to Mexico
– The telegram stated that if the
U.S. entered the war then
Germany would become an ally
to Mexico and help Mexico gain
land lost to the U.S.
– The telegram was intercepted
and made public.
– The U.S.was outraged and on
April 2, 1917 entered World
War One.
End of War
• With fresh U.S. troops and the exhaustion of four year of
fighting by the German Army the Central Powers began to
fall apart.
• The Ottoman Empire surrendered.
• In October the Austria-Hungarian Empire was overthrown
and they stopped fighting.
• In October the German Army mutinied and on November
9, the Kaiser stepped down.
• Finally on November 11, 1918 an armistice was signed
ending World War One.
– On the 11th day on the 11th hour at the 11th minute.
Cost of the War
• Casualties
– 8.5 million dead
– 17 million wounded
– Famine threatened
many countries
– Spread of disease
• Economic
– Factories and farms
destroyed
– Nations had huge war
debts to repay
– The allies were bitter at
the Central Powers for
the war.
(hard feelings on both
sides)
Winners and Losers
• Winners (Allies)
– Britain
– France
– Italy
– United States
• Losers (Central Powers)
– Germany
– Austria-Hungary
– Ottoman Empire
Homework
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Complete note summary
Finish postcard home.
Study for Quiz # 3.
Read pages 760-763, & 801-806
– Answer the following questions
1. Why was the Versailles Treaty so harsh towards the
Germans?
2. What was the hope for Wilson’s 14 Point peace plan?
3. Why does the book say that the Treaty of Versailles was
a peace built on quicksand?
Class Work
• You have been fighting in the trenches for three months.
– It is mid November and has rained almost every day. The leather on
your boots has rotted to your feet and your food is wet. The only
hope you have is that it is November and the ground and mud will
soon freeze, but so will you.
– The Germans have been shelling your trench for the past twelve
nights and you have not gotten any sleep.
– Men who have charged into “No Man’s Land” and have become
wounded and are unable to make it back moan in pain for help. To
go out and get them would be suicide so you just listen to them. All
day and all night.
– Yesterday you tried to look over the trench and a German sniper
almost shot you.
– A whistle blows! The Captain says you have one hour before you try
to take the German trench!
Class Work
• Create a postcard to a loved one at home.
– On the front of the postcard draw a picture of the front,
what life was like. Use color.
– On the back explain, in writing, what life and death was
like in the trenches and during the war. Be descriptive to
let the people at home know what you are facing in this
Great War.
– Use a blank 8 ½ by 11 piece of paper.
– Make sure your name is on the postcard.
Note Summary
• Take five minutes, look over your notes and the on a separate
sheet of paper label it “World War One War and Peace” and
summarize your notes.
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What new technology aided in the large lost of life during the war?
What were the conditions of trench warfare?
What was the outcome of most battles fought?
Why did Russia withdraw from the war and what was the impact on Russia
and the rest of Europe?
– How and why did America enter the war?
– What were some of the final outcomes of the war?