Transcript The First World War

THE FIRST WORLD
WAR
Chapter 19
Warm Up
Causes of WWI
4 long-term causes of the war
1) Nationalism – devotion to the interests and
culture of one's nation

Led to competition and antagonistic relationships
between countries
 Existed between ethnic groups within a single country
as well
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
Serbs living in the Balkan Peninsula wanted their own
country, but were ruled by the Austro-Hungarian empire
2) Imperialism – European nations had been
building empires for centuries

Countries competed over colonies for raw materials
and markets for their goods
Causes of WWI
3) Militarism – developing armed forces and
using them as a tool of diplomacy
 Countries
wanted stronger armies than their
enemies
 Germany
had focused on army, until it decided to
become a power at sea as well
4) Alliance System – 2 major alliances in Europe
– France, Britain, Russia
 Triple Alliance – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
 Allies
 Germany
and Austria-Hungary later allied with the
Ottoman Empire to create the Central Powers
Assassination of the Archduke

Balkan Peninsula was the "powder keg of Europe"
Ethnic rivalries
 Europe's leading powers had interests in territory

Russia – access to Mediterranean
 Germany – railroad link to Ottoman Empire
 Austria-Hungary – accused Serbia of trying to overthrow its
rule over Bosnia

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Austro-Hungarian heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand
visited Bosnia, was assassinated by Serbian
Nationalist Gavrilo Princip
Alliance System pulled countries into war with
each other

Germany declared war on Russia and France, then
Britain declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary
Fighting Begins

Germany followed the Schlieffen Plan
 Half
of army invades Belgium to reach Paris,
other half keeps Russia at bay until the army
reunites to invade Russia
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Allies unable to save Belgium, Allies retreated
to France and dug in their heels to stop
Germany
Created a new style of fighting
How WWI Was Fought

Trench warfare – 2 opposing sides dig out territory
to keep safe from enemy fire (front line, support,
reserve)
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Soldiers spent time in all 3
Dugouts used as command posts and officers'
quarters
Between trenches was "no man's land" – barren
expanse of mud, filled with barbed wire
Rat infested, dirty, filled with disease, clouds of
mustard gas drifted through
Occasionally soldiers would charge another
Americans Question Neutrality
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Socialists saw war as a capitalist and imperialist
effort
Pacifists thought war was evil, and that the US
should set an example of peace
Many did not want their sons to go to war
Many naturalized citizens followed the war closely
because of family and ties back home
Many felt sympathetic to Britain, and thought
Germany was "the bully of Europe"
 America
 Britain
had strong economic ties to the Allies
and France requested supplies during the early part
of the war
British Blockade

Britain blockaded Germany to prevent
weapons and other supplies from getting
through
 Eventually
included food
 Stretched to the North Sea
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American ships carrying supplies to Germany
did not challenge the blockade
Germany had a difficult time importing food and
fertilizer, resulted in a famine
Americans were outraged at the result of the
blockade
Germany’s Response

Germany counter-blockaded with U-boats
(submarines)
ship found near Britain was sunk – not
always possible to warn them of an attack
 Any
H.M.S. Lusitania

May 1915, a U-boat sank the Lusitania (128
Americans were aboard)
 Germany
claimed it was justified because the ship
was carrying ammunition

American opinion began to turn against
Germany
 President
Wilson opted for a protest against
Germany and German goods

August 1915, a U-boat sank another British
ship, the Arabic, which carried 2 Americans
 Germany
apologized and promised not to sink
another passenger ship
H.M.S. Lusitania

March 1916, Germany broke that promise, and
sank a French passenger ship
 US
warned Germany of another protest, German
promised to change their tactics if the US was
able to convince Britain to lift its blockade
US Declares War
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Wilson wanted to mediate between the 2
alliances in Europe, wanted to create a "peace
without victory.. a peace between equals"
Germans ignored this call for peace, answered
with a declaration that all ships in British
waters would be sunk
Wilson refused to go to war until "actual overt
acts" took place
Overt Acts of War
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Zimmermann Note – telegram from Germany
to the German ambassador in Mexico –
proposed an alliance between them if the US
joined the war (promised to return Texas, New
Mexico, and Arizona)
4 unarmed American merchant ships were
sunk
Russian monarchy ended, so now the war
would be between democracies and
monarchies
America Declares War


April 2, 1917 – President Wilson officially
declares war
Wanted to make the world safe for democracy
Chapter 19 Section 2

Answer the questions in the packet using the
copies of the section in the book.

We will go over the answers together
Congress Gives Power to
Wilson
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War was no longer fought only by the soldiers
– the entirety of the country had to shift its
focus in order to support the Allies
Businesses and government had to work
together to produce war supplies rather than
consumer goods
Congress gave more power to the president in
order to execute the changeover
 Wilson
 Could
had more direct control over the economy
set prices on goods and regulate war-related
industries
War Industries Board (WIB)
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Encouraged companies to use mass-production to
increase efficiency and standardize products to
reduce waste
Set production quotas and allocated raw materials
Industry increased by about 20% under WIB
However, prices on retail goods soared

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Everyday products as much as doubled in price (steel,
meatpacking, oil, chemical production)
Americans responded by reducing the amount of
products used "gasless Sundays", "lightless nights"

Introduced Daylight Savings Time – take advantage of
the longer hours of sunlight in the summer
War Economy
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Wages rose during the war (about 20%), but
this was hampered by the increase in cost for
food, housing, and fuel
Companies began to see a distinct difference
between the amount of money earned by the
workers versus the managers
Result of the uneven pay, plus longer working
hours, child labor and a rushed environment
led to a growth in unions
War Economy

Wilson created the National War Labor Board
to deal with the disputes between
management and labor
 Workers
who refused to obey the NWLB's
decisions could lose their draft exemptions
 NWLB worked to improve working conditions (8
hour workdays, factory safety inspections,
banned child labor)
Food Administration
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Wilson wanted Americans to limit how much food
was wasted
Scheduled certain days of the week to lessen the
demand for products
"sweetless", "meatless", "wheatless", "porkless"
 Restaurants removed sugar bowls from the table, and
only offered bread after the 1st course
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Homeowners planted "Victory gardens" to grow
their own fruits and vegetables
Some even sprung in public parks
prices on wheat and other staple foods were set
high, so farmers responded by planting an extra
40 million acres
War Financing

US spent $35 billion on WWI
 Had
to increase taxes to pay
 Progressive
income tax (higher incomes charged a
higher rate)
 War profits tax
 Higher taxes on tobacco, liquor and luxury goods
 Sold
bonds to the public (buy a bond for a certain
amount, cash it in later)
Committee on Public
Information
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To popularize the war, the gov't set up a
propaganda agency
Persuaded artists to create thousands of
posters, paintings, cartoons, and sculptures
promoting the war
Ordered 25 million copies of "How the War
Came To America" – publicize Wilson's war
message
Distributed 75 million pamphlets, leaflets and
booklets
Anti-Immigrant Hysteria

Attacks on immigrants increased during the
war
 Especially
on those from Germany and Austria-
Hungary
 Americans with Germany names lost their jobs,
orchestras refused to play music by German or
Austrian composers, schools stopped teaching
German, libraries removed books by German
authors, and towns with German names changed
their names
 Some incidences of people of German descent
being tarred and feathered or lynched
Espionage and Sedition Acts

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A person could be fined up to $10,000 and
sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with
the war effort or saying anything disloyal,
profane or abusive about the gov't
Led to over 2,000 prosecutions for loosely
defined activities
 Newspapers
and magazines lost mailing rights
 Universities fired professors

People were put in jail and then deported for
speaking out against the US' actions in WWI
African-Americans and the War

African-Americans were divided over the war
 Some
thought support for the war would
strengthen calls for racial justice
 Others thought that victims of racism should not
support the actions of a racist gov't
The Great Migration

Large scale movement of thousands of
Southern African-Americans to cities in the
North
 Sought
to escape racial discrimination
 Boll weevil infestation, flood, and droughts ruined
cotton crops
 North had more job opportunities
 Northern
manufacturers sent recruiters to hire more
Southerners
Women in the War
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Women moved into jobs that were traditionally
held by men
 Railroad
workers, cooks, dockworkers,
bricklayers, coal miners, shipbuilders
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Volunteered in Red Cross, encouraged sale of
bonds, and planting victory gardens
Wilson acknowledged that women had played
a large part in helping to win the war, which
increased support for women's suffrage
The Flu Epidemic

Fall 1918 – US suffered a flu epidemic that
affected 25% of the population
Companies and mines shut down or staggered
working hours to avoid contagion
 Cities ran short of coffins, and corpses of poor people
lay unburied for a week
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Doctors did not know what to do, only prescribed
cleanliness and quarantine
More than a quarter of soldiers caught the disease

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In some units, more than 1/3 of the troops died
Possibly spread around the world by soldiers

Killed about 30 million people worldwide
Summation Activity

List the changes made for each group in
society.

Use the space provided in your notes.
Fourteen Points & Treaty of
Versailles

Answer the questions in your notes using the
handout provided

We will go over the answers together
Debate Over the League of
Nations

Some opponents of the Treaty thought that it
threatened the US policy of isolationism
 Suspicious
of the provision for joint economic and
military action against aggression
Wilson Refuses to Compromise

Wilson was not willing to compromise on the
League of Nations
 Toured
the country looking for support for the
League, ended up suffering a stroke
 Wilson could not maintain enough support in the
Senate to approve the Treaty

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US ended up signing a separate treaty with
Germany
US never joined the League of Nations (acted
as an unofficial observer at League meetings)
Legacy of the War
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After the war, many Americans looked forward to a
return of "normalcy"
WWI had strengthened both the US military and
the power of gov't
Accelerated social change
Propaganda campaign provoked powerful fears
and prejudices that did not change after the war
Europe was left with political instability and
violence
Americans called WWI "the war to end all wars"
(hoped humanity would not engage in such a war
again)

However:

Treaty of Versailles ended nothing