Transcript REGENTS REVIEW ww1 - John Bowne High School

Aim: How do we review WWI for the U.S.
History and Government Regents Exam?
Do Now: Copy the following Causes of WWI onto
your review sheet.
Causes of WWI
The fundamental causes of the World War I, or the Great War as
it was known at the time, were Militarism, Alliance System,
Nationalism, Imperialism, and the Assassination of Archduke
Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
The Archduke Franz Ferdinand (of Austria) was
assassinated while visiting Serbia.
The spark that lit the fuse…
• The one event that started the Great War
happened in the Balkans. The Archduke Franz
Ferdinand (Austria) was assassinated while visiting
Serbia. The Black Hand was responsible….
The Powder Keg of Europe
Serbia’s location made it a potentially explosive
area. Additionally, nationalistic and imperialistic
rivalries were increasing in the region.
Stalemate
• Most of World War I was a
stalemate. Entrenched
positions on both sides
were only able to move a
few miles in a battle that
lasted the better part of a
year. The conditions of
trench warfare were brutal;
trench-foot, disease, lice,
and inadequate supplies
made fighting difficult.
A New Kind of War – Military Firsts
WWI was the first major war in over 40 years. Both sides had
amassed new weapons and technology that had never been used
before in actual combat. It was a war with many “firsts” including
the first use of:
Tanks & Trucks
Airships & Planes
Submarines
Wireless Communication (telegraph)
Machine Guns
Long Range Artillery
Exploding Shells (designed to do as much damage as possible
with flying shrapnel)
Flame Throwers
Poisonous Gas
What was the United States initial Plan?
1. Remain neutral. Keep the sea-lanes open
for commerce.
2. Keep trade relations open with all
belligerents.
3. Encourage the warring countries to
negotiate a peace settlement.
Sussex Pledge
A. The U.S. attempted several times to get the warring parties to
negotiate a settlement to the war. Wilson proposed a “Peace
without Victory” but neither side wanted to accept Wilson’s offer to
mediate the dispute.
 Germany, did not want to make any concessions to Britain &
France.
Allies did not want to settle because they felt the Germans
needed to be punished for the damage and casualties they
had caused.
In spite of the “Sussex Pledge” Germany had made
to the U.S. after the sinking of the “Sussex” in 1916 to
stop “Unrestricted Submarine Warfare”, the German
high command began to press Kaiser Wilhelm to allow
them to resume unrestricted submarine warfare” aimed
at cutting off shipping to Britain.
The convoy system was introduced by
the Allies in May 1917 as a response
to mounting losses of merchant
shipping to u-boat attacks. Under the
convoy system, a large number of
ships would gather in port, then all
sail at the same time and at the same
speed. This meant the British navy
could provide warships to escort
them, making it harder for u-boats to
launch successful attacks.
The U.S. Enters The War
The passenger ship referred to above, the RMS Lusitania,
was sunk in May 1915, and the US went to war against
Germany in April 1917. In other words, about 23 months
passed between the two. The sinking of the Lusitania
helped to turn American opinion against Germany, but it is
certainly not the only reason for US involvement. It is far too
remote. Most historians agree that it was not a single
influence that provoked the US to declare war; rather, it was
a confluence of many factors.
1. Unrestricted submarine warfare: the Germans sunk the
Lusitania which was carrying innocent civilians (along
with supplies and weapons for Great Britain)
2. The Zimmerman note: an encoded telegram sent from
Germany to Mexico. It stated that if Mexico invaded the
US they would get back some of their land. Fortunately
the British intercepted the message and cracked the
code in time to warn us.
3. Economic issues: the US had invested over $2.6 billion in
the war. If the allied powers lost, we weren't ever going
to get that money back.
The Zimmerman Note
• Wilson broke off Diplomatic
Relations with Germany on February
3rd 1917 but decided to wait for an
unchallengeable “Overt Act” of
hostility before asking Congress for a
formal declaration of war.
• 1. British Intelligence released to
the United States an intercepted
diplomatic cable from Germany’s
Foreign Secretary Arthur
Zimmerman to the German
Ambassador to Mexico.
• a. the “Zimmerman Note” asked the
Ambassador to lobby the Mexican
government to join in an Alliance
with Germany.
How Did American Troops Help Turn the
Tide?
• Germany failed to achieve a decisive victory
against the Allies before Americans entered
the war. As the Central powers were falling
apart the Allies were becoming stronger. The
Allies reorganized their command structure
and the presence of the Americans gave the
Allied troops a huge morale boost. While
Germany’s numbers were dwindling, America
was adding troops to the Allied forces at a rate
of 250,000 a month.
The Homefront
Total war: all of the resources of a nation go into the war effort
•Government drafted men to fight in the war
•Government raised taxes and borrowed money to pay for the
war
•Governments rationed goods at home so that the military could
be provided for
•Governments used the press to print propaganda (see below)
•Women at home took jobs that the soldiers had left behind.
Some women joined the armed services; other women went to
the fronts as nurses.
•Selective Service Act of 1917, or Selective Draft Act, enacted
May 18, 1917, for the American entry into WWI
Propaganda: the spreading of ideas to promote a cause or to
damage an opposing cause
Neutral: not supporting either side
Liberty bonds = War bonds that were sold
in the United States to support the allied
cause in World War I
The Sedition Act of 1918 enacted May 16,
1918) was an Act of the United States
Congress that extended the Espionage Act
of 1917 to cover a broader range of
offenses, notably speech and the
expression of opinion that cast the
government or the war effort in a
negative light or interfered with the sale
of government bonds. “
Armistice
The ceasefire of the
First World War took
effect on the 11th
hour, of the 11th day
of the 11th month of
1918. The war was
over. Peace and safety
was new and a
difficult concept for
many to grasp.
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points were first outlined in a speech Wilson gave to the
American Congress in January 1918. Wilson's Fourteen Points became the basis for a peace
programme and it was on the back of the Fourteen Points that Germany and her allies
agreed to an armistice in November 1918.
1. No more secret agreements ("Open covenants openly arrived at").
2. Free navigation of all seas.
3. An end to all economic barriers between countries.
4. Countries to reduce weapon numbers.
5. All decisions regarding the colonies should be impartial
6. The German Army is to be removed from Russia. Russia should be left to develop
her own political set-up.
7. Belgium should be independent like before the war.
8. France should be fully liberated and allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine
9. All Italians are to be allowed to live in Italy. Italy's borders are to "along
clearly recognisable lines of nationality."
10. Self-determination should be allowed for all those living in Austria-Hungary.
11. Self-determination and guarantees of independence should be allowed for
the Balkan states.
12. The Turkish people should be governed by the Turkish government. Non-Turks in
the old Turkish Empire should govern themselves.
13. An independent Poland should be created which should have access to the sea.
14. A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial
independence of all states.
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th, 1919. The Treaty
was meant to end the war, bring peace and to hold Germany
responsible for paying for the war.
This was the treaty between Germany and the Allies. Germany was
forced to pay heavily for her defeat. Germany had to:
1. Accept the new map of Europe
2. Accept the decisions made by the new League of Nations
3. Limit the size of its army and navy
4. To give up its Empire
5. To accept blame for the war and to pay reparations to
countries that suffered damage during the war
Reparations = payments made by the defeated countries to repair
the damage done to the victorious countries.
The League of Nations: was
made so that countries could
settle problems through
negotiation and peacefully,
instead of by war. More than
40 countries joined and
agreed to take military and
economic action against any
aggressor state. The United
States never entered the
League of Nations because
they didn’t want to get
involved in Europe’s problems.
Because they never joined,
the US weakened the League
of Nations.
The treaty was a compromise between all the victorious nations. Germany was
weakened a great deal, and many Germans were angry at their treatment. Many
historians argue that mistakes made at this treaty – by treating Germany too harshly –
caused the Second World War. The size of the reparations threatened to make every
German poor.
The ‘War guilt clause’ blamed the war entirely on Germany. In 1921 Germany was
given the bill of £6600 million to repair the damage.
Growing nationalism and
militarism in Europe and the
creation of secret alliances were
(1) reasons for the rise of democracy
(2) causes of World War I
(3) requirements for economic
development
(4) reasons for the collapse of communism
What was a major cause of World War I?
(1) rebellions in colonial lands in Africa and
Asia
(2) expansion of communism into western
Europe
(3) militarism in the nations of Europe
(4) inability of the League of Nations to
keep the peace
The Balkans were referred to as
the “Powder Keg of Europe” in
the period before World War I
because of their
(1) manufacturing ability
(2) stockpiles of weapons
(3) nationalistic rivalries
(4) economic strength
What was the immediate cause
of World War I in Europe?
(1) start of the civil war in Russia
(2) sinking of the British liner, Lusitania
(3) assassination of the heir to the throne of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
(4) attack on Poland by the German army
“Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
Form Triple Alliance”
“Serbian Nationalism Grows in Balkans”
“Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Assassinated in Bosnia”
The events in these headlines contributed most
directly to the
(1) beginning of World War I
(2) outbreak of the Cold War
(3) development of communist rule in Europe
(4) strengthening of European monarchies
The harsh terms included in the treaties
ending World War I have been used to
explain the
(1) Fascist Revolution in Spain
(2) Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
(3) rise of Nazism in Germany
(4) Armenian massacre in Turkey
The Treaty of Versailles punished
Germany for its role in World War I
by
(1) forcing Germany to accept blame for the
war and to pay reparations
(2) dividing Germany into four occupied
zones
(3) supporting economic sanctions by the
United Nations
(4) taking away German territory in the
Balkans and Spain