Transcript World War I - Henchen US History

THE FIRST WORLD WAR
INTRO to WWI:
"The Great War was
without precedent ...
never had so many
nations taken up arms at
a single time. Never had
the battlefield been so
vast… never had the
fighting been so
gruesome...“
"World War I marked the
first use of chemical
weapons, the first mass
bombardment of civilians
from the sky, and the
century's first genocide..."
Causes of WWI
(graphic organizer)
(1)
4 Main Factors led to Outbreak of WWI
3) Militarism---meant building up armies,
Nationalism — A
navies, and other armed forces. It also
devotion to the
meant using them as a tool for
negotiating with other countries
interests and culture of
one’s nation. This led to (diplomacy).
competition and rivalry
among nations.
(4) The Alliance system---Some countries in
(2) Imperialism--- Extending
economic and political
control over various
peoples of the world.
This led to conflicts
among countries.
Europe had made treaties promising to
defend each other. These mutual-defense
treaties placed European countries in two
main groups:

The Allies (Triple Entente) were made
up of France, Great Britain, and
Russia.

The Central Powers (Triple Alliance)
were made up of Germany, AustriaHungary, and the Ottoman Empire
(Turkey).
What is it called when one honors and
promotes one's own nation above all
others?
Answer-Nationalism
What is it called when one country
builds up armed forces in aggressive
preparedness for war?
Answer-Militarism
What was the name of the WWI
grouping of Great Britain, France
and Russia?
Answer--Allies
What was the group of nations
led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the
Ottoman Empire (Turkey)?
Answer—
Central
Powers
Which European war (1914-1918) was
also known as the Great War and
the War to End All Wars?
Answer—
World War I
An Assassination Leads to War
(Click on map: http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/index.html
In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was
assassinated (heir to the throne of AustriaHungary)
His killer was a Serb who wanted to unite all
Serbs (including those in Austria-Hungary)
under one government.
This touched off an action to punish Serbia.
The alliance system pulled one nation after
another into the conflict.
If a nation had sworn to protect another, it had
to declare war on that nation’s enemies.
Germany and Austria-Hungary were facing
France, Great Britain, and Russia.
“ One thing leads to another….”
The assassination of which individual
sparks the beginning of WWI?
Answer--Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Of Austria-Hungary
One Things Leads to Another….
June 14: assassination of
Archduke Ferdinand & his
wife
July 28: Serbia rejects
Austria’s
ultimatum…(justice against
assassins)
July 28: Austria declares
war
August 1: Germany
declares war on Russia and
France
August 3: Germany invades
Belgium and Britain
declares war on Germany.
France declares war on
Austria-Hungary and
Germany
The Fighting Begins….
August 13: Germany invades
Belgium known as the Schlieffen
Plan:
Germany began by invading
Belgium.
It planned to overrun France and
then to attack Russia.
The British and French could not
save Belgium.
They did, however, manage to
stop Germany’s advance.
By the spring of 1915, two lines of
deep trenches had developed in
France.
“No Man’s Land” and Trench Warfare
Germans occupied one line.
The Allies occupied the other
line.
Between the two lines lay “no
man’s land.”
The soldiers would climb out
of their trenches and try to
overrun enemy lines.
They did this while facing
machine gun fire and poison
gas.
This bloody trench warfare
continued for more than three
years.
Neither side gained territory,
but more than one million
soldiers died.
Map of Schlieffen Plan
What is the military operation in which the
opposing forces attack and counterattack
from systems of fortified ditches?
Answer—
Trench Warfare
French Trench
Verdun
Verdun
1. Why did countries sign treaties w/one
another?
2. What were the 2 alliances formed?
3. Why was it called the Great War?
4. How long did the war last?
5. What was “No Man’s Land?”
6. How did technology change the war?
7.What was life like in the trenches?
In 1914, America saw no
reason to join a war 3,000
miles….what finally caused
U.S. to enter in 1917?
Americans Question Neutrality
In the U.S. public opinion about the war was strong but divided.
What were the different opinions?
 Socialists saw the war as an imperialist struggle between
German and English businessmen.
 Pacifists believed that all wars were bad. They urged the
United States to set an example for peace.
 Many other Americans simply did not want to send their sons
to war.

Many naturalized U.S. citizens still had ties to the countries
they came from (i.e. Germany)
Americans tended to sympathize with Great Britain and France.
 Common language and heritage with Britain.
 Horrified at Germany’s brutal attack on Belgium.

“Germany was the bully of Europe”
 And they had strong economic ties with the Allies.
Finally….The War Hits Home
Americans mobilized for war against
Central Powers for 2 reason:
1. to ensure Allied repayment of debts to
the U.S.
2. to prevent the Germans from
threatening U.S. shipping.

the war affected American shipping.

Great Britain set up a blockade
along the German coast to keep
goods from getting through.
American ships would not challenge
Britain’s blockade.
German U-boats (submarines) attacked
ships from all nations.
A U-boat sank the British ship
Lusitania, killing more than a thousand
people, including 128 Americans.
(Controversy…..warning by Germans?)
WWI Timeline Recap (1915)
German submarines try to break British blockade,
disrupt British trade
British passenger ship Lusitania,
Brits smuggle ammo on board
Americans become outraged…
President Wilson ruled out military response
WWI German U-boat
Unterseeboot
(under sea boat)
WWI Timeline Continued
Germans agree to stop
Attacking “neutral ships”
British keep smuggling
British naval blockade,
Starving Germany by 1917
Germany, submarine warfare against ALL
ships trading w/British
Lusitania departed Pier 54 in New
York on 1 May 1915. The German
Embassy in Washington had issued
this warning on 22 April.[8]
NOTICE!
TRAVELLERS intending to
embark on the Atlantic voyage
are reminded that a state of war
exists between Germany and her
allies and Great Britain and her
allies; that the zone of war
includes the waters adjacent to
the British Isles; that, in
accordance with formal notice
given by the Imperial German
Government, vessels flying the
flag of Great Britain, or any of her
allies, are liable to destruction in
those waters and that travellers
sailing in the war zone on the
ships of Great Britain or her allies
do so at their own risk.
IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY,
Washington, D.C. April 22, 1915
What is the British passenger
ship that was sunk by
a German U-boat in 1915?
Answer
Lusitania
The United States Declares War
1.
2.
3.
3 incidents brought the U.S. into the war.
First, in January 1917, Germany announced it would
sink all ships in British waters on sight whether they
were hostile or neutral.
Second, British agents intercepted the Zimmermann
note, a telegram that proposed an alliance between
Germany and Mexico against the U.S.
Third, the replacement of the Russian monarchy with a
representative government allowed American to
characterize the war as a struggle of democracies
against brutal monarchies.
RESULT???-----On April 6, 1917, at President
Wilson’s request, Congress declared war on Germany.
ORIGINAL MESSAGE BELOW
DECODED MESSAGE ABOVE
What was the message sent by
German foreign minister
proposing German-Mexican
Alliance?
Answer
Zimmerman
Note
VIDEO CLIP:
The War
Comes to the
U.S.
History in
Focus
1910-1919
America Mobilizes….Ready for a Showdown
When war was declared, only about 200,000
men were in service in U.s.
RESULT---Congress passed the Selective
Service Act. (May 1917)

Required men to register with the gov’t so
that they could be randomly selected for
military service.

This process — called the draft — put
about 3 million men in uniform.
Many African Americans served in the military.

They were placed in separate units, but
some blacks were trained as officers.

Blacks were among the first to receive the
French honor of the Croix de Guerre.
Women were not drafted…not allowed.
But the navy accepted women in non-combat
positions.
Woman served as nurses, secretaries, and
telephone operators.
Video Clip:
Role of AfricanAmericans during
WWI
What was the 1917 law that required
men to register for military service?
Answer
Selective
Service Act
America Turns the Tide
To reduce the loss of ships to
German submarine attacks, the
U.S. and Britain began to use the
convoy system.
 In this system, merchant ships
traveled in a large group
guarded by naval vessels.
American soldiers helped turn the
tide of battle in Europe.
The Allies had absorbed many
casualties and were running out
of men.
Thousands of fresh American
soldiers were eager for battle.
What is the system called
that protects merchant
ships from U-boats by
having ships travel in
large groups escorted by
warships?
AnswerConvoy system
Fighting “Over There”
The American Expeditionary
Force was led by General
John J. Pershing.
American infantrymen =
doughboys (because of the
white belts they wore and
cleaned them with pipe clay,
or dough.)
New weapons played a
decisive role in the war.
The two most innovative
weapons were the tank and
the airplane.
Pilots went from shooting at
each other with pistols to
using mounted machine guns.
What was the name of the Leader of the
American Expeditionary Forces in WWI?
Answer—
Gen. John J.
Pershing
WWI Tanks
Aviation in WWI
Video Clip: Bombers in WWI
Technology in WWI
WWI American War Heroes
•Eddie Rickenbacker was an
American ace pilot.
•fought in 34 air battles and shot
down 26 enemy planes.
•American soldiers arrived in Europe
just in time to stop a German advance
on Paris.
•One soldier from Tennessee, Alvin
York, became a war hero for his
actions in battle.
• York had been a conscientious
objector (a person who opposes
war on moral grounds), but he
then agreed to fight.
•For his actions in battle he was
promoted to sergeant and called a
hero
Video Clip: Reality of War, Trenches,
Weapons, and Death
Communication designed to
influence people’s thoughts and
actions.
Ans-Propaganda
Congress passed the Espionage and Sedition
Acts to punish people who did not support the
war effort. People could not interfere with the
draft or obstruct the sale of war bonds. They
could not even speak against the war effort.
These laws violated the spirit of the First
Amendment, which guarantees freedom of
speech. The chief targets of the Espionage and
Sedition Acts were socialists and union leaders.
Labor leader Eugene V. Debs was jailed for
making a speech about the economic causes of
the war. The Industrial Workers of the World
urged workers to strike. This was considered an
antiwar activity, and they received jail sentences.
Two laws that
imposed harsh
penalties on
anyone
interfering with
or speaking
against US
participation in
WWI.
Ans—
Espionage and
Sedition Acts
The war sped up the Great
Migration. This was the
movement of thousands of
African Americans from the
farms in the South to the cities
of the North. They wanted to
escape racial discrimination.
They also wanted to find jobs
in Northern industries.
The large-scale
movement of
African
Americans from
the South to
Northern cities
th
in early 20
century.
Ans—
Great
Migration
US supreme court case that upheld
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Ans—
Schench vs
US
President Wilson presented his plan for world
peace to Congress in January 1918. The plan was
called his Fourteen Points. The first five points suggested
ways that wars could be avoided. They stated that (1)
countries should not make secret treaties with one another,
(2) freedom of the seas should be maintained, (3) tariffs
should be lowered to promote free trade, (4) countries
should reduce their arms, and (5) the interests of the
colonial people should be considered. The next eight points
suggested new national boundaries. Wilson believed in selfdetermination: different ethnic groups should be able to
decide for themselves what nation they would belong to.
The fourteenth point called for a League of Nations. This
international organization would address problems between
countries before they led to war.
The principles making up Woodrow
Wilson’s plan for world peace
following WWI.
Ans– Fourteen
Points
Association
of nations
established
in 1920 to
promote
international
cooperation
and peace.
Ans—League of
Nations
On June 28, 1919, the leaders of the Allies and the
Central Powers met at the Palace of Versailles in
France. They were to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The
Treaty of Versailles had three basic weaknesses.
The first was its harsh treatment of Germany. Germany
was humiliated. Germany was not the only country that
had also been militaristic, yet Germany alone was
punished. And, Germany would not be able to pay the
huge reparations. The second weakness was that the
Soviet Union (formerly Russia) lost more territory than
Germany did. Russia had been one of the Allies, and
had suffered more casualties than any other country.
The Soviet Union was determined to get its territories
back. The third weakness concerned colonies. The
treaty did not recognize the claims of colonies for selfdetermination.
The 1919 peace treaty the ended
WWI
Ans—Treaty of
Versailles
The treaty took away
Germany’s army and navy.
It forced Germany to pay
reparations, or war damages,
to the winners. In addition, the
treaty contained a war-guilt
clause. Germany had to admit
that it was responsible for
causing the war.
Compensation
paid by a
defeated
nation for the
damage or
injury it
inflicted during
a war
Ans-reparations
Wilson brought the treaty back to the United
States for approval. He found several groups
opposed it. The main opposition to the treaty was
over the League of Nations. Conservative senators,
headed by Henry Cabot Lodge, opposed joining the
League. They did not like the idea of working with
other countries to take economic and military action
against European problems and aggression. Wilson
refused to compromise on the League. As a result,
the Senate failed to ratify the treaty. The United
States never entered the League of Nations. It finally
signed a separate treaty with Germany in 1921, when
Wilson was no longer president.
US Senator who led fight against the
US joining the League of Nations.
Ans—Henry
Cabot Lodge
The war had transformed the United States and the
world. World War I had strengthened both U.S military
power and the power of government. It accelerated
change for African Americans and women. In Europe,
the war left a legacy of massive destruction, loss of
life, political instability, and violence. Communists
ruled in Russia and soon after the war fascist
organizations seized power in Italy. Americans hoped
that the war had convinced the world to never fight
again. But in Europe the war settled nothing. In
Germany, Adolf Hitler exploited Germans’ discontent
with the Treaty of
Versailles and threatened to fight again. Hitler was
true to his predictions; America did have to fight
again years later in a second world war.
Hitler's Father