Transcript The Great War - RoshanVarghese

WARMUP #1
Just before World War I, about one-third of all Americans were first- or
second-generation immigrants. When the war broke out in Europe, many
of these American citizens still felt very close to their “old countries.”
Which ethnic groups in the United States might have favored the nations of
the Central Powers? Why? Write 1-2 sentences explaining your answer.
Which ethnic groups in the United States might have favored the nations of
the Allied Powers? Why? Write 1-2 sentences explaining your answer.
Road to The Great War
(World War I)
John Green's WWI
Long Term Causes (M-A-I-N)
1. Militarism
• the massive need to increase armies = bloody wars
• conscription: military draft = armies doubled, 1890-1914
• most countries aggressively preparing for war because the perception of needing to look strong
• military commanders had extensive plans for invasion (very inflexible with limited diplomatic
options)
• NEW weapons! Germany: machine guns, mustard gas, U-boats (submarines); Great Britain:
tanks (vs. trenches)
2. Alliance System
• by 1907, 2 major alliances in Europe:
• Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary & Italy
• Triple Entente: Great Britain, France & Russia
3. Imperialism
• competition over colonies = bitter rivalries
4. Nationalism
• each nation should be able to govern itself = feelings of superiority & competition
Alliances
The “SPARK”
• Nations in Southeastern Europe (the Balkans) struggling:
• to create own states (self-determination)
• gain freedom from Ottoman Empire & Austria-Hungary
• Serbia determined to create greater Slavic state
• ethnic Serbs in other areas controlled by Austria-Hungary
• Austria-Hungary determined to avoid this!
• June 28th, 1914
• the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his wife (Sophie) visited Sarajevo
(Bosnia)
• assassinated by Gavrilo Princip of Serbian nationalistic group, the Black Hand
• Austria-Hungary
• checked with Germany & then gave ultimatum to Serbia
• Serbia
• rejected the demands…thus Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia!
• Russia (sides with fellow Slavic nationalities)
• mobilized (assembled troops & supplies for war) against both Austria-Hungary & Germany
Archduke Franz (& Sophie) Ferdinand
Gavrilo Princip (Black Hand)
Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum to Serbia
1. To suppress any publication which incites hatred and contempt of the Austrian Monarchy.
2.To dissolve immediately societies which engage in propaganda against Austria.
3.To eliminate without delay from public instruction in Serbia, both as regards the teaching body and the methods of instruction, all that serves or might
serve to foment propaganda against Austria-Hungary.
4.To remove from the military service and the administration in general all officers guilty of propaganda against Austria-Hungary, names of which were to
be provided by the Austro-Hungarian government.
5.To accept the collaboration in Serbia of the Austro-Hungarian government in the suppression of the subversive movement directed against the territorial
integrity of the monarchy.
6.To take judicial proceedings against the accessories to the plot of June 28th who are on Serbian territory, with the help and direction of organs
delegated by the Austro-Hungarian government.
7.To immediately arrest two named persons implicated by the preliminary investigation undertaken by Austria-Hungary.
8.To prevent by effective measures the cooperation of Serbia in the illicit traffic in arms and explosives across the frontier.
9.To furnish Austria-Hungary with explanations regarding statements from high Serbian officials both in Serbia and abroad, who have expressed hostility
towards Austria-Hungary.
10.To notify Austria-Hungary without delay of the execution of the ultimatum! The Serbian government agreed to all but one stating that a foreign
country can’t participation in its judicial proceedings it would be unconstitutional. Regardless, Austria-Hungary severed diplomacy (July 25) and
declared war (July 28) through a telegram sent to the Serbia.
Germany’s Reaction
• Germany (Kaiser Wilhelm II) declared war on Russia & France…putting the Von
Schlieffen Plan (1905) into effect:
1) keep the Russians busy with small army
2) use most of the army to attack France via Belgium
3) once France was defeated, then attack Russia
• when Germany moved through Belgium (a neutral nation), Great Britain declared
war on Germany!
• Central Powers
• Germany, Austrian-Hungary & the Ottoman Empire
• the empires in the center of Europe
• Allied Powers
• Great Britain, France & Russia
Von Schlieffen Plan (1905)
Germany is the 2 men,
Austria-Hungary is the pig...interpret the meaning!
Early Fighting
• August 1914: the GREAT WAR starts
• Russia attacked with HUGE losses at the Battle of Tannenberg
• mildly effective because distracted the Germans from France & Great Britain
• the ironies of Wilhelm II & Nicholas II (Willy-Nicky)
• France & Great Britain counterattacked at the First Battle of the Marne
• both the Allied & Central Powers dug trenches
• the Western Front (in Western Europe)
• war stalemates!
Battle of Tannenberg
The Western Front
WARMUP #2
On March 1, 1917, the text of a telegram was published in American
newspapers. It was called the Zimmerman Telegram. This telegram made
many readers angry. It helped make people more willing to consider war
with Germany & the other Central Powers.
Who wrote the Zimmerman Telegram? To whom was it addressed? What
was the basic message of the telegram? What was the motive of the
person (or nation) sending this message? Write 1 clear paragraph
explaining your answer.
The Great War (World War I)
Trench Warfare
• trenches: elaborate ditches dug by troops to stay out of enemy sight
• separated by “no-man’s-land” with barbed wire, dead bodies, & the holes from bombs &
grenades
• soldiers suffered from trench foot & bad conditions
• “shell shock” → PTSD
• “over the top” orders: getting out of the trenches, running across “no-man’sland” to attack the enemy trenches, while being fired upon by machine guns &
having grenades launched at them!
Trench Warfare
No Man’s Land
Trench Foot
War of Attrition
• Italy (at first) on the side of the Central Powers, but switched to side with the
Allied Powers (1915)
• war of attrition: wear the other side down with constant attacks & heavy losses
until they cannot recover & thus have to surrender
• Battle of Verdun (France): best example of the war of attrition
• 10 months (February to December 1916)
• a few miles’ movement
• 800,000 men died fighting
• to pull Germany away from Verdun, Great Britain launched an attack at the
Somme River, but the exact same results as at the Battle of Verdun
• for three years (1914-1917), battle lines did not really move on the Western
Front!
Battle of Verdun
Technology in the War
• poison gas (mustard gas) used, but backfired if the wind changed…outlawed at
the Geneva Convention
• gas masks developed to counter gas attacks
• machine guns developed before the War, but military tactics had to change &
adapt to accommodate them
• tanks & armored cars developed, but unsteady & dangerous…used more
effectively in WWII
• submarines (U-Boats) used mostly by Germany to attack supply ships in the
Atlantic Ocean headed to Great Britain or France
• sinking of Lusitania (1915) outraged United States
Mustard Gas
U-Boats (Submarines)
Air War
• airplanes developed…but used to see & drop bombs on enemy
• machine guns were added to airplanes & they fought each other in the air
(dogfights)
• flying aces: pilots who shot down at least 5 planes in combat (the Red
Baron: Germany)
• Germany also used Zeppelins to bomb cities, but they were filled with
hydrogen gas & thus, highly explosive
Air War
Home Front
• total war: all parts of society involved in the war effort
• Herbert Hoover: chosen to run U.S. Food Administration, to effectively ensure population
had enough food grown to feed BOTH soldiers & civilians
• propaganda: information designed to influence the opinions of the general public
• George Creel: Committee on Public Information
• Germans portrayed as Huns…& all German-related items were deemed as such (i.e.
German measles = Hun measles)
• with the overflow of men at War, women stepped into the workforce at factories:
• made weapons, etc.
• served as nurses on the battlefields
• increased push for women’s suffrage
• 19th Amendment in USA (1920, not long after war’s end)
Propaganda
WARMUP #3
The United States joined World War I in 1917. This helped turn the tide of the war in Europe.
All the events took place in 1918 & involved American troops. Number them 1-5 in chronological
order.
_____ (a) Saint Mihiel Offensive (France): General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing leads as the
American Expeditionary Force (A.E.F.) overcome a German stronghold & take thousands of
prisoners.
_____ (b) Ypres-Lys Offensive/Passendale (Belgium): This unsuccessful British-led drive results in
many Allied causalities.
_____ (c) Aisne-Marne Offensive/Second Battle of the Marne (France): U.S. troops help keep
Germans from crossing the Marne River in a key battle of the war.
_____ (d) Meuse-Argonne Offensive (France/Belgium/Germany): The U.S. First Army takes major
German offensives in the turning point of the war. As a result, armistice talks begin.
_____ (e) Battle of Vittorio-Veneto (Italy): This battle succeeds in driving out the Austrian army.
AMERICA ENTERS THE GREAT WAR
America Enters The Great War
• from 1914-1917: United States officially neutral & isolationist (trades with both sides)
• Woodrow Wilson, U.S. President, reelected in 1916 with campaign slogan: “he kept us out of war”
• after Lusitania (1915) & sinking of the French passenger liner, the Sussex (1916):
• Sussex Pledge: Germany agreed to stop unrestricted submarine warfare…to keep USA out of the Great
War
• by 1917, Germany had restarted unrestricted submarine warfare because it needed to defeat Great
Britain
• 1917: Russia leaves the Allied side (Russian Revolution)
• January 16th,1917
• Germany sent Zimmermann Telegram to Mexico saying if Mexico entered war vs. United States,
Germany would give Mexico the land it lost in the Mexican-American War (1846-48)
• Germany would use Mexico for site of invasion
• Great Britain decoded Zimmerman Note & sent it to the United States…”Note” published in newspapers,
outraging Americans!
• April 1917:
• President Wilson went to Congress for declaration of war vs. Germany!
• The United States entered World War I, with the Allies!
Zimmerman Telegram
DARK GREEN: Mexico in 1917
LIGHT GREEN: Territory
promised to Mexico in the
Zimmerman Telegram
RED LINE: Mexico’s border with
U.S. before the MexicanAmerican War (1846-48)
President Woodrow Wilson
The Fighting Ends…
• Germany knew they could not hold off the United States as well, so they tried to end
the War before the U.S. could mobilize & arrive
• got within 40 miles of Paris before they were stopped (KEY BATTLE: the 2nd Battle
of the Marne)
• with American soldiers (“doughboys” led in the AEF by General John J.
“Blackjack” Pershing) & supplies, the Allies had the definite advantage
• TURNING POINT: Meuse-Argonne Offensive…very difficult for Allied Forces b/c of
dense forests & many rivers to cross!
• in Germany, political, economic & social situations: “serious but not desperate”
• in Austria-Hungary, situations: “desperate but not serious”
• Kaiser Wilhelm II deposed & democratic government put in power (Weimar,
Germany)
• Germany asked for the fighting to end
• the Allied & Central Powers signed & declared an Armistice on November 11th, 1918
(“on the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918”) with the leaders
deciding to meet in Paris, for a peace treaty!
The Great War Ends!
…& Its Aftermath…
Armistice!
November 11th, 1918
Paris Peace Conference (1919)
• Paris Peace Conference (1919)
• “Big Four”
• Woodrow Wilson (USA), George Clemenceau (France), David Lloyd George (Great
Britain), & Vittorio Orlando (Italy)
• Germany NOT INVITED!!!
• Woodrow Wilson: very idealistic
• 14 Points as basis of peace treaty
• Point #14: League of Nations to keep world peace
• importance of self-determination where each ethnic group had its own
government
• the other “3” wanted to make Germany pay for the effects of the War!
Paris Peace Conference (1919)
Treaty of Versailles (1919)
• Treaty of Versailles
• Germany takes full responsibility for the Great War (war guilt clause)
• pays huge reparations to the Allies ($33 billion)
• demilitarize (or shrink army to no more than 100,000 soldiers with a small navy & no air
force)
• Treaty of Versailles: huge insult to Germany!
• Germans saw it as unfair…setting the stage for Adolf Hitler & World War II
• League of Nations: only Point of Wilson’s plan adopted into Treaty
• U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles…thus never joining League of Nations!
Treaty of Versailles (1919)
Rejection of Treaty of Versailles
Aftermath of War
• map of Europe totally redrawn!
• old empires disappeared (Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, etc.)
• new countries created (Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia) OR recreated (Poland)
• created mandates: territories “helped” by European powers
• 1917 Balfour Declaration: Great Britain favored the creation of Jewish homeland in
Palestine
• problematic because mostly Arab inhabitants there!
• human cost of war
• “Lost Generation” because over 43 million killed, wounded or captured…could not
go back to normal life
• France, Belgium & Germany: badly damaged during war economically & struggle to
recover
• left voids in political power in countries
• people did not trust governments & thus felt disillusioned
• Washington Naval Conference (1921-22): reduction of the size of navies
• Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928): 63 nations outlaw “declarations of war”
Gertrude Stein’s “Lost Generation”
WARMUP #4
Choose the letter on the map that
correctly identifies each of the
E
C
following locations:
B
_____ 1. Rhine River
_____ 2. Neutral nation at the source
G
of the Rhine River
_____ 3. London
F
_____ 4. Paris
_____ 5. Meuse-Argonne Offensive
D
A
World War I's Aftermath:
Attack on Civil Liberties & Betrayal at Versailles
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson hailed as hero in Dover, England (1919)
I. Attack on Civil Liberties
A. Committee on Public Information propaganda effectively cast Germans as
evil force in World War I (George Creel)
B. Espionage & Sedition Acts
1. loosely worded laws which gave the government wide authority to
prosecute war critics
2. numerous arrests & convictions with long prison sentences for those
seen as "disloyal“ (Palmer Raids lead to arrests & executions of Sacco
& Vanzetti)
3. Supreme Court upheld acts, using "clear & present danger" doctrine to
limit free speech in time of war (Schenck vs. United States)
C. Persecution of radicals: Wilson administration focused on IWW & Socialist
Party as targets of suppression
II. The Red Scare
A. following Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, American hatred for Germany was transferred to
communist Russia (→ Soviet Union: U.S.S.R.)
B. President Woodrow Wilson sent American troops to Russia in 1918 in attempt to
undercut Bolshevik government
C. following the war, a number of strikes, particularly in the steel industry, alarmed
Americans
D. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer exaggerated radical threat & created the Federal
Bureau of Investigation to fight it
1. series of mail bombs set off panic among government officials
2. Palmer Raids (January 1920): with blatant disregard for civil liberties, federal officers
raided suspected anarchists & aliens without search warrants (Sacco & Vanzetti:
Italian immigrant anarchists arrested & executed)
3. Palmer eventually lost credibility with his tactics, though the FBI survived & became
the federal crime-fighting unit
III. The Paris Peace Conference (1919)
th
November 11 , 1918: Armistice!
A. hailed as a hero by the British & French, President Wilson faced some major obstacles in
implementing his 14 Points (League of Nations, freedom of the seas, etc.)
1. Republicans had won control of Congress in 1918 & many were opposed to his plans
2. Allies were determined to impose a harsh peace of Germany
B. Wilson forced to accept compromises at Paris Peace Conference (Versailles)
1. Germany accepts sole responsibility for war
2. Germany ordered to pay massive reparations despite economic deprivation ($33 billion)
3. League of Nations is established with collective security concept to stop aggression
C. American debate over Treaty of Versailles
1. Treaty was criticized in Congress for Article X, which called for American troops to be placed
under the command of League of Nations officers
2. In an attempt to win support from the country, Wilson embarked on a nationwide speaking
tour…but suffered collapse & a paralyzing stroke!
3. U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles. Unwilling to give up tradition of nonalignment & to
commit the U.S. to collective international action (Henry Cabot Lodge, Republican)
IV. The Experience of War
A. exposed the heterogeneity of the American people & the divisions among them
B. government intervened in the economy & influenced people's lives to an extent
it had never done previously
C. U.S. is now the world's leading economic power & largest trading nation
D. international system that came into being was unstable, fragmented & lacked
American cooperation (…return to American isolationism)
E. civil liberties restricted in attempt to achieve unity (Espionage & Sedition Acts)
F. ended Progressivism & brought mood of cynicism & discouragement to
American intellectuals (Gertrude Stein’s “Lost Generation”)
U.S. Involvement in World War I
anti-German propaganda
(Imperial War Museum, London)
Archduke Ferdinand assassinated (June 28, 1914: Sarajevo, Bosnia)
•
unsteady alliances erupt into war as Russia, Serbia's ally, begins to mobilize
Germany declares war on Russia & France (August 1, 1914)
•
although guaranteeing Belgian neutrality, Germans march through Belgium into France (von Schlieffen Plan)
Nations align for war (August 1914)
•
Bulgaria & Turkey join Germany & Austria-Hungary in the Central Powers. France, Great Britain, Russia (later Japan & Italy) join the
Allied Powers
Wilson declares U.S. neutrality (August 4, 1914: Washington, D.C.)
•
reflecting strong public opinion, Wilson states that U.S. will not join the war
Germany declares waters around British Isles a war zone (February 15, 1915)
•
neutral vessels are warned of potential U-boat attacks. Wilson warns Germany that it would be accountable for any loss of American
life
Lusitania sunk by Germans (May 7, 1915: off coast of Ireland)
•
torpedoed without warning, the Lusitania sinks in 18 minutes, killing 1198 (128 Americans) → “convoy system” initiated by Allies
Arabic Pledge (September 1, 1915: Berlin)
•
Germany promises not to sink unarmed liners following sinking of British liner, Arabic
Sussex Pledge (May 31, 1916: Berlin)
•
following sinking of French steamer, Sussex, Germany again agrees to "visit & search" rules, but insists that Great Britain should also
agree to obey international laws regarding freedom of the seas
Wilson wins 1916 presidential election (November 1916: U.S.)
•
declaring "he kept us out of war," Wilson & Democrats barely defeat Hughes & Republicans (277 to 254 in Electoral College)
Wilson calls for "peace without victory" (January 22, 1917: Washington, D.C.)
•
frustrated with his efforts to mediate a peace, Wilson becomes convinced that both sides needed to cease hostilities
Germany resumes (1) unrestricted submarine warfare (January 31, 1917: Berlin)
•
confident that U.S. help would be too late, Germany seeks to starve England into submission
(3) Zimmermann note discovered (February 1917: Berlin to Mexico City)
• Foreign minister Zimmermann asks Mexico to join Germany in exchange for return of southwest U.S….British intercept message
Wilson asks Congress for greater powers (February 1917: Washington, D.C.)
• Senate, led by Lafollette of Wisconsin, refuse to grant Wilson power to wage an undeclared naval war
(2) Russian Revolution deposes Czar Nicholas (March 15, 1917: Russia)
• instability in Europe encourages Wilson to act
(1) + (3) + (2) = Wilson asks for declaration of war (April 2, 1917: Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.)
• "The world must be made safe for democracy," Wilson insists
Food Administration formed (May 1917: Washington, D.C.)
• Herbert Hoover heads effort to conserve food & boost agricultural output
Creel Committee issues official propaganda (May 1917: Washington, D.C.)
• daily "Official Bulletins" seek to convince Americans of the crusade for freedom & democracy & the bestial nature of the "Huns“
War Industries Board created (May 1917: Washington, D.C.)
• led by Bernard Baruch, the W.I.B. set prices & determined what goods should be produced by private industry
Selective Service Act passed (May 28, 1917: Washington, D.C.)
• Nearly 10 million men are listed & a lottery chooses first 687,000 to serve. Eventually 3,000,000 men serve as draftees in the war
14 Points declared (January 1918: Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.)
• Wilson lists his goals for a war-free world, including a League of Nations (Point #14)
Cantigny (May 28, 1918: north of Paris)
• first victory for American troops
Chateau-Thierry (May 1918: France)
• French & American troops block German advance
Belleau Wood (June 1918: France)
• American forces suffer heavy losses but defeat Germans
Second Battle of the Marne (July 1918: France) (KEY BATTLE!)
• Allied forces defeat Germans who begin retreat east
Meuse-Argonne Offensive (September to November 1918: eastern France) (TURNING POINT!)
• General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing loses 120,000 men (10%) of his troops in heavy fighting
Sedan (October 1918: eastern France)
• American troops cut German supply lines 50 miles behind German front
Germans “surrender”, expecting a peace drawn up under Wilson's generous 14 Points (November 11, 1918:
Compiegne, France) *ARMISTICE DAY*
• worst war in world history is over. 10 million soldiers killed, 10 million civilians die from disease &
starvation
Treaty of Versailles signed (June 28, 1919: Versailles, France)
• Germany signs treaty drafted by "Big Four" which includes huge reparation demands