Transcript World War I and the Aftermath

World War I and the
Aftermath
By: Whitney R. McBeth
Oak Grove High School
Hattiesburg, MS 39402
Setting the Stage
• At the end of the 1800s (19th Century)
and beginning of the 1900s (20th
Century), Europe was setting up for a
major conflict.
• Many powers were involved and many
factors were the cause.
Causes
• Aggressive Nationalism
– France v. Germany
– Pan-Slavism in Eastern Europe
• Imperialism
• Militarism and the Arms Race
• Alliances
– Triple Alliance/Central Powers (Germany, Austria
& Italy)
– Triple Entente/Allied Powers (France, Britain,
Russia [1914-1917] and U.S. [1917-1918])
The Guns of August
• Archduke Francis Ferdinand of AustriaHungary decided to visit Sarajevo
(capital of Bosnia).
• Many Serbs and Slavs lived in Bosnia
and didn’t like that they were controlled
by Austria-Hungary.
• Many people living in Bosnia and
neighboring Slavic nations were
unhappy with the visit.
• The Serbian terrorist group carried out
an assassination of the Archduke and
his wife on their visit.
• Princip, a member of the Black Hand,
was captured and imprisoned for the
assassinations.
• The emperor of Austria-Hungary wanted
Serbia to turn Princip over to him. They
refused and the war was on!
• Germany promised to support AustriaHungary if they took action.
• Austria-Hungary declared war on
Serbia.
• Serbia received helped from its fellowSlavic country, Russia.
• Germany declared war on Russia.
• France declared war on Germany and
Germany, in turn, declared war on
France.
• Britain tried to stay out of the conflict but
was not successful.
• Germany planned to fight France and
Russia using the Schlieffen Plan.
• This means they would defeat France
quickly and then turn their attention
toward Russia.
• In order to fight France they would have
to cross into neutral Belgium.
• Britain vowed to protect Belgium’s
neutrality and was eventually drawn into
the conflict.
The Course of the War
• When battle on the Western Front
(French/German border) took longer
than expected, both sides “dug in” to the
countryside.
• This type of fighting was called Trench
Warfare.
• Battles like Verdun and the Somme took
months to fight with no true victor.
• New technology aided both sides:
– Machine guns-good for “No Man’s Land”
– Poison gas
– Gas masks
– Tanks
– Planes
– U-Boats--German weapon of choice!
• Fighting also occurred in Eastern and
Southern Europe, as well as in the
Colonies.
The Cost of War
• At the beginning of WWI, Europeans
everywhere were excited about the
conflict.
• However, they changed their minds as it
became a total war.
• Total war is the channeling of a nation’s
entire resources into a war effort.
• European governments enacted the
Draft.
• Governments raised taxes and rationed
supplies to send to the war front.
• Above all, governments had to get the
public involved in the war effort, so they
waged a propaganda war.
• Propaganda-the spreading of ideas to
promote a cause or to damage an
opposing cause.
Examples of Propaganda
• Women joined the war effort by taking
on many men’s jobs while they were
fighting.
• This kept Europe’s many economies
going strong.
• Women also became nurses to help on
the war front.
• Women’s role in World War I helped
them gain the right to vote in places like
Britain and the United States.
• In the meantime, Russia had to pull out of the
war in 1917 because Communists were trying
to take over there.
• However, the U.S. joined the Allies in 1917 for
a couple of reasons:
– Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
• Sinking of the Lusitania
• Sinking of the Sussex
• Violation of the Sussex Pledge
– Cultural Ties to the Allies
– Zimmermann Note-Germany plea to get Mexico to
distract the U.S. for the duration of the War.
• When the U.S. joined, morale was
restored to the Allied Powers.
• Within a year, the Central Powers
surrendered.
• President Woodrow Wilson of the
United States took the lead in deciding
the terms of peace.
• He issued his 14 Points, his post-war
plan for the world:
– Reduction of Arms
– Self-determination for Eastern Europe
– Peacekeeping organization for the world
Making the Peace
• At the end of the war, millions had died in war
related deaths.
• The physical, economic and social structure
of European countries were destroyed.
• The Treaty of Versailles promised to solve the
problems the war had created.
• The leaders of Britain, France and the U.S.
took the lead in the Treaty. They were known
as the Big Three.
• The Treaty of Versailles made the
following decisions:
– Germany had to pay the Allies $30 billion in
reparations, or war payments
– Limited the size of Germany’s military
– Alsace and Lorraine were returned to
France
– Germany was stripped of its overseas
empire
– Territories around the world came under
the control of western powers
Self-Determination for
Eastern Europe
• New countries were created:
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Latvia
Lithuania
Estonia
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Austria
Hungary
Yugoslavia
The League of Nations
• The League of Nations promised to be
the peacekeeping organization for the
world after WWI.
• While it was President Wilson’s idea,
Congress refused to allow the U.S. to
join the organization.
• In time, it would prove to be a disaster.