Transcript world war i - worldhistorydchs

WORLD WAR I
Lead up to War
• This video clip shows some of the
reasons why World War I occurred.
• While watching the video, write down
the reasons why World War I began.
Beginnings of World War I
4 Words that Lead to War
1) Nationalism – the belief that the interests of one
country are more important that cooperation among
countries. Each nation in Europe thought they were
supreme to the others.
2) Imperialism – European countries were trying to
increase their power and influence in the world by
taking land, which led to conflict.
3) Militarism – building up armed forces
4) Alliances – several countries in Europe made
treaties promising to protect and defend each other.
Choosing Sides
• Triple Entente –
France, Great
Britain, and
Russia
• Triple Alliance –
Germany,
Austria-Hungary,
and the Ottoman
Empire
The Spark of War
• The Assasination of the Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of Austria
Fighting Begins
• Germany was forced to fight on two fronts – the
Russians in the east and the French in the west
• Schlieffen Plan – a plan developed years before WWI
which called for German troops to quickly defeat the
French and then move east to fight Russia.
• For Germany the quickest way to get to France was
to go through the neutral country of Belgium
1914
• Battle of the Frontiers – a series of battles between France,
England, and Germany. Overall the Germans were victorious
• At the same time the Russians invaded Germany but were
crushed.
• Even though the Russian attack was a failure it did distract
German forces and allowed the Allies to attack.
• Battle of the Marne – Allied troops were able to drive back
German forces. While the Germans retreated the dug a series
of trenches which set up a stalemate on the Western Front
A New Kind of War
• WWI saw the introduction of new
fighting styles and weapons
• 1) Trench warfare – while not new it
was not used on such a large scale until
WWI.
A New Kind of War
• 2) Poison Gas – mustard gas, tear gas,
chlorine, and other types of gases were
used as chemical weapons. While
deadly it had its drawbacks such as
changes in wind direction and the ease
of obtaining gas masks.
A New Kind of War
• 3) Rapid fire machine gun – combined with trenches,
these weapons proved to be very deadly.
• 4) Tanks – armored vehicles. Not very reliable and
used mostly at the end of the war
• 5) Aircraft – used mostly for observing enemy
locations at the beginning of the war, by the end
airplanes were used to drop bombs from the air.
• Despite the new technologies, neither side was able
to break the stalemate created by the trenches.
Battles of the Western
Front
• 1) The Italian Front – In May 1915 Italy
entered the war on the side of the Allies.
Italy attacked Austria-Hungary but was
able to make little progress.
Battles on the Western
Front
• 2) Battle of Verdun – Germany planned to
attack the French fortress of Verdun and to
“bleed France white”. The battle lasted for
nine months and while the Germans did kill
400,000 French soldiers, the Germans lost
nearly as many. The battle left both sides
weakened and the stalemate continued.
Battles on the Western
Front
• 3) The Battle of the Somme – In June 1916
the British attacked the Germans in an
attempt to pull soldiers away from Verdun.
On the first day of fighting 60,000 British
soldiers were killed. Fighting ended in
December and like Verdun there had been no
major breakthroughs and both sides lost
thousands of troops.
Battles on the Western
Front
• 4) The Third Battle of Ypres – in the spring of
1917 a failed French offensive led to rebellion
among some French soldiers. In July the
British began to attack the Germans at Ypres
and by November had made up no ground.
After 3 years of battle the front lines in Europe
were virtually unchanged
War Around the World
• While much of the fighting of WWI took place in
western Europe, over 30 nations took part in the war
and fighting spread all over the world
• The Gallipoli Campaign – battles between the Allies
and the Ottoman Empire over an area called the
Dardanelles. The Allies were unsuccessful in taking
the Dardanelles and was a failure for the Allies.
War Around the World
• The Armenian Massacre – in late 1914 the Russians attacked
the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus mountains. A group of
ethnic Armenians lived there, and the Ottoman Empire
suspected the Armenians of aiding the Russians because they
were Christian. Ottoman leaders began to remove Armenians
from the area and over 600,000 Armenians died from violence
and starvation.
• Other battles took place in Asia and Africa, and soldiers from
around the world fought in WWI.
The U.S. Enters the War
• America declared neutrality –
declaring no side
• However, America supported
the Allies by providing aid and
money.
• This angered Germany and
they used U-boats to sink the
British ship Lusitania, killing
more than 1000 people,
including 128 Americans.
• Germany then announced that
it would sink all ships in British
waters, regardless of where
they were from
The U.S. Enters the War
• Americans were already upset
over the sinking of British
ships
• In 1917 British agents
intercepted the Zimmerman
Note – a telegram that
proposed an alliance between
Germany and Mexico against
the United States.
• On April 6, 1917 Congress
declared war on Germany.
The War Comes to an End
• Germany knew that the addition of the
United States would greatly strengthen
the Allies so they decided to attempt
one final blow before the U.S. had time
to get to the front lines.
• Without the Russians involved Germany
focused all its efforts on the western
front.
The War Comes to an End
• German forces were able to advance
into France and were within 40 miles of
Paris.
• However, the Germans lost 800,000
troops during the offensive, and by that
time American troops had arrived.
The War Comes to an End
• The Second Battle of the Marne – the Allies stopped the
German offensive and used tanks and aircraft to attack the
Germans.
• The Allies gained territory and many German soldiers simply
gave up
• In October 1918 Allied forces broke through the Hindenburg
Line and German leaders approached the Allies seeking an
armistice, or truce.
• On November 11, 1918 the armistice was signed and World
War I was over.
Treaty of Versailles
• Three nations and leaders involved
– 1) England led by David Lloyd George
– 2) France led by Georges Clemenceau
– 3) United States led by Woodrow Wilson
• Each nation had very different desires for the treaty
• After a long period of negotiation the three nations
finally came up with a treaty they could agree upon,
even though the treaty most resembled the desires of
the French.
Treaty of Versailles
• Effects of the treaty
– 1) Germans were furious over the humiliating
terms but they had no choice other than signing
– 2) The creation of a League of Nations
• However, Germany was left out of the League
and the United States rejected the Treaty of
Versailles because Americans feared that
joining the League would eventually drag them
into more European wars.
Other Treaties
• The Austria-Hungary empire was broken into
several smaller nations
• The Ottoman Empire was turned into a series
of mandates – territories to be ruled by
Europeans
• In 1917 the British issued the Balfour
Declaration – favored establishing a Jewish
state in Palestine
The Costs of War
• 1) Humans – approximately 15 million people
were killed during WWI.
– In the spring of 1918 a deadly influenza
epidemic killed 50 million people
• 2) Economic – the war destroyed national
economies, farmland and cities were
devastated, and Europe lost its role as the
most powerful region of the world.
The Costs of War
• 3) Political Changes – Communists took control in
Russia, established monarchies were overthrown,
and Germany was greatly weakened.
• 4) Unrest in colonies – people living in colonies
began to question the ideas of freedom and
democracy, especially after so many had died
fighting for their mother country. German, Austrian,
and Ottoman colonies were not set free but rather
came under control of other colonial powers.