Transcript WWI: Part 1
WWI: Part 1 Causes and Why America Joined the Triple Entente Background By 1914, Europe was ripe for war There were several forms of “ammunition” that had been developing for years Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand = the “trigger” Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo While visiting, the archduke was shot by Gavrilo Princip Serbian nationalist Member of the Black Hand organization The assassination sparked “The Great War” Forms of “Ammunition” Nationalism Extreme pride, devotion and love that people feel for their country or culture Led to competition for power among countries The Balkans – home to a lot of nationalism The Ottoman Empire, which had ruled the Balkans for hundreds of years was starting to fall apart during the 1800s The Austro-Hungarian Empire saw this as an opportunity to expand and began to push themselves and their power into the region Many Slavic peoples there, such as the Serbs, did not like the control of these outsiders Forms of “Ammunition” Imperialism Growing nationalism also led nations to compete for oversees colonies Colonies provided markets and rich natural resources Forms of “Ammunition” Militarism The world soon also saw the rise of militarism In 1900 Germany began to build a navy that could help them compete for colonies They also enlarged their army, supplying it’s troops with the latest weapons Aware of Germany’s growing supply of weapons, Great Britain, France and Russia worried about Germany’s intensions Each country began to build its own military in order to defend itself should war break out Forms of “Ammunition” Alliances For protection, some nations formed alliances or partnerships believed to created a balance of power Germany formed an alliance with Austria-Hungry and Italy This alliance = The Triple Alliance Fearful of Germany’s growing power, France, Russia and Great Britain formed an alliance This alliance = The Triple Entente Why America Joined the Triple Entente Propaganda A form of communication that tries to influence an audience toward a cause or position It is bias It is presented in order to gain an emotional instead of a rational response from its audience Britain had a lot of effective propaganda and they used it to persuade America toward their side Many of the American people also cared about their “mother country” Why America Joined the Triple Entente Economic Ties During the beginning of the war, Britain had established a trade blockade against Germany This made US trade with the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungry, Italy) limited and trade with the Entente (Great Britain, France, Russia) more dominant Because America traded more with the Triple Entente, they had more of an investment in their success during/after the war Why America Joined the Triple Entente Submarine Issue Germany saw the submarine as a useful weapon against the British blockade and announced that it would begin sinking British, French and Russian ships in war zones 1915-Germany sunk the Lusitania (a British passenger ship) without warning, which happened to have neutral Americans on board President Woodrow Wilson responded by having notes sent to Germany demanding that they stop attacking unarmed and neutral ships However, Germany kept sinking ships 1915-Arabic attacked (British passenger ship) 1916-Sussex attacked (French passenger ship Germany’s unrestricted warfare seriously tested American neutrality Why America Joined the Triple Entente Zimmermann Telegram It was a message sent by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to the German minister in Mexico The message suggested that if America and Germany went to war, Mexico should fight against the US in order to receive its lost territory of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona This led President Wilson to declare war against Germany and its allies Why America Joined the Triple Entente Revolution in Russia Overthrow of the czars or monarchs of Russia eventually leads the US to joining the war on the side of the Entente Why? Because now the US would be fighting among all democratic countries (Russia formed a temporary Republic after the overthrow of the czars) This would strengthen its ultimate goal of making the world safe for democracy