Transcript WWI – Major battles, trench warfare File

WWI – Major battles, trench
warfare and civilian life
As the Ottoman Empire lost power - new
nations in the Balkans were born
•An intense rivalry develops between Russia
and Austria-Hungary as they compete to
control the new nations
•1908 Austria-Hungary annexed the country of
Bosnia
•Serbia resents Austria-Hungary for this
June 28, 1914 - Austrian
Archduke Francis Ferdinand & wife
Sofia visit the Bosnian capital of
Sarajevo.
7 assassins from the Serbian
terrorist group the “Black Hand”
tried to kill him
19 year old Gavrilo Princip then
shoots the Archduke and his wife.
They both die instantly and he
is arrested.
Austria-Hungary issues an ultimatum to
Serbia (either surrender or be destroyed)
Serbia had Russia’s military support and
refused the ultimatum.
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on
July 28, 1914
Russia supported Serbia & moved
troops to the German & Austrian
border
Germany supported Austria & sees
Russia’s move as an act of war.
Within one week almost all of
Europe is plunged into war!
Central Powers and Allied Powers
• The Central Powers were…
– Germany
– Austria-Hungary
– The Ottoman Empire
• The Allied Powers…
– Britain
– France
– Russia
Three major battle fronts
• The Western Front
– Extended across Belgium and northeastern France to
the border of Switzerland
• The Eastern Front
– Ran from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea
• The Southern Front
– Ran between Italy and Austria-Hungary.
• Fighting also took place in Africa and the MidEast
An Industrialized War
• The technology developed during WWI
resulted in increased military causalities in
battles fought during the war
• Many other recent inventions were
adapted for use in WWI
– Internal combustion engine
– Airplane
– Communication devices
– Dynamite
•Machine Gun
•Artillery
•Greater power & carried much
further
•24 million shells were used in the
Battle of Verdun alone
•Flame throwers
•Poison Gas
Machine Gun in an English
Trench
Effects of a Gas Bomb
World
War I
Tanks
Flame
Thrower
•Britain suffered 57,470 casualties
on the first day of the Battle of the
Somme
•Total losses for WWI exceed 10
million lives
•On both sides, soldiers dug into the
ground to escape the constant rain
of bullets & shells
•The Western Front trenches
stretched for 475 miles from the
North Sea in Northern France to the
Swiss border
No Man’s Land
•Soldiers fixed bayonets to the end
of their rifles and waited for the
order “to go over the top” & charge
the enemy trench.
•Life was boring and terrifying and
often caused shell shock (PTSS)
• A soldier showing some symptoms of shell shock.
•Living conditions were horrible
•Many died by drowning in the
quagmire
•There was no way to shower and no
latrines
•Trench Foot was common
•Rats grew to be as big as 10lbs
• Trench foot in an advanced stage
The War to end all Wars
Civilian Life
• WWI was fought at home as well as on
the battlefield
– A war fought this way is called total war
• In total war, all of a nation’s resources go
into the war effort
• Women filled jobs that soldiers left
behind
Examples of Total War…
• Gov’t drafts men to fight in the war
• Gov’t raises taxes and borrows $$ to pay
for the war
• Gov’t rations, or limits, the supply of goods
at home to supply the military
• Gov’t uses the press to print propaganda
– The spreading of ideas to promote a cause or
damage an opposing cause
“We teach you to run!”
Open to pages 467-471 of your
TEXTBOOK
1. What are some ways
governments tried to improve their
chances to win the war?
2. Why and how did governments
restrict freedom of speech during
the war?
3. Describe how wartime atrocities
were used as propaganda during
the war.
4. Discuss why the morale of
troops and civilians was starting to
fall by 1917.
5. How did the war effect Russia?
What happened there?
6. How did Russia’s withdrawal
from the war affect the fighting
strategy of the Allies?
7. What are three factors that led
the United States to enter the war?
8. Why did Germany ask the allies
for an armistice to end the war?
Provide three reasons.