Transcript File - EMS Secondary Department

A Global Conflict
CHAPTER 29
SECTION 3
Main Idea
 World War I spread to
several continents and
required the full resources
of many governments.
 The war propelled the
United States to a new
position of international
power, which it holds today.
Introduction
 WWI was much more than a
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European conflict.
Australia and Japan entered
the war on the Allies’ side.
India supplied troops to
fight alongside their British
rulers.
Ottoman Turks and Bulgaria
allied themselves with
Germany and Central
Powers.
Countries were searching for
other allies and new war
fronts to tip the balance.
War Affects the World
 Main combatants looked
beyond Europe for a way
to end the stalemate.
 However, none of the
alliances they formed or
new battlefronts they
opened did much to end
the slow and grinding
conflict.
The Gallipoli Campaign
 The Allies had a strategy they thought could work:
attacking Dardanelles in the Ottoman Empire to seize
Constantinople and establish a supply line to Russia.
 They began their attack on Dardanelles in Feb 1915. This
was called the Gallipoli Campaign. British, Australian,
New Zealand and French troops took part.
 Turkish troops who were commanded by German officers
defended Gallipoli. It is known as the second bloody
stalemate and both sides dug trenches.
 The Allies gave up at the end causing 250,000 casualties.
Battles in Africa and Asia.
 Germany’s colonies in Asia and Africa were
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attacked.
Japanese captured German colonies in China and
the Pacific island.
English and French troops attacked Germany's four
African possessions & seized control of 3.
Britain and France recruited troops and laborers
from their colonies like India, South Africa, Senegal,
Egypt, Algeria and Indochina.
Some colonial subjects wanted nothing to do with
their European rulers and others like Mohandas
Gandhi thought that it was a way for their
Independence.
America Joins the Fight
 1917 – the focus of the war
shifted to the high seas.
 Germans intensified the
submarine warfare that had
raged in the Atlantic Ocean.
 Germans announced their policy
of unrestricted submarine
warfare.
 Their submarines would sink
any ship without warning
in the waters around Britain.
 Germans used their submarines
(U-boats) to stop supplies
from reaching the Allies.
Lusitania
 May 7, 1915 – German U-boat
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sunk the British passenger ship
Lusitania.
 1,198 dead
 128 U.S. citizens
Germany claimed the ship was
carrying ammunition.
 True
American public = outraged
President Woodrow Wilson sent
a strong protest to Germany.
After two more attacks, Germany
agreed to stop attacking neutral
or passenger ships.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
 Germany soon changed its
mind and returned to
unrestricted submarine
warfare.
 Germans were aware that
this might lead to war
with the United States.
 Germans thought that their
blockade would starve
Britain into defeat before
the U.S. could mobilize.
 German U-boats sank
three American ships.
Zimmerman Note
 February 1917, another event
occurred that pushed the U.S.
closer to war.
 Officials intercepted and decoded
a telegram written by
Germany’s foreign secretary,
Arthur Zimmerman.
 The note stated that Germany
would help Mexico “reconquer”
land it had lost to the U.S., if
Mexico aligned itself with
Germany.
 Basically, Germany thought
Mexico should attack the U.S.
and align with Germany.
The Last Straw
 The Zimmerman Note was the
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last straw for the United States.
American population already
favored the Allies.
They had a bond with Britain –
common language, ancestry,
legal systems and democratic
institutions.
America’s economic ties were
closer with the Allies than the
Central Powers.
April 2, 1917 – President Wilson
asked Congress to declare war
on Germany.
United States entered the war
on the side of the Allies.
Questions
1. What is unrestricted submarine warfare?
2. Why did Germany sink the Lusitania?
3. What is the Zimmerman note?
4. Why did America side with the Allies?
War Affects the Home Front
 By the time the U.S. joined
the war, it had been going
on for nearly three years.
 In those three years,
Europe lost more men in
battle than in the past 300
years.
 The Great War touched
not only the soldiers, but
the civilians as well.
Governments Wage Total War
 WWI soon became a total
war.
 Countries devoted all
resources to the war
effort.
 Governments told
factories what to
produce and how
much.
 Facilities were converted
to munitions factories.
 Nearly every able-bodied
citizen was put to work.
Rationing
 So many goods were in
short supply that
governments turned to
rationing.
 Under this system, people
could buy only small
amounts of those items that
were also needed for the
war effort.
 Eventually rationing
covered everything from
butter to shoe leather.
Propaganda
 Governments also
suppressed antiwar
activity.
 They censored the news
about the war.
 Many leaders felt that
honest reporting of the war
would turn people against it.
 Governments also used
propaganda.
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One-sided information
designed to persuade, to keep
up morale and support for the
war.
Women and War
 Due to total war, governments
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turned to help from women as
never before.
Thousands of women replaced
men in factories, offices and
shops.
Women built tanks and
munitions, plowed fields, paved
streets, and ran hospitals.
After the war, women left the
work force.
However, the war had changed
the view about what women
were capable of doing.
Russia Withdraws
 March 1917 - Civil unrest in
Russia forced Czar
Nicholas to step down.
 The new government
pledged to continue the
war.
 At this point nearly 5.5
million Russians were
killed, wounded or taken
prisoner.
 The Russian army refused
to fight any longer.
Communism in Russia
 Eight months after withdrawing,
communism takes over
Russia.
 Communist leader Vladimir
Lenin seized power in
November, 1917.
 Lenin insisted on ending
Russia’s involvement in the war.
 March 1918 – Germany and
Russia sign the Treaty of Brest
Litovsk that ends the war
between them.
The Central Powers Collapse
 With Russia’s withdrawal, Germany
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could focus solely on the Western
Front.
Germany quickly advances to
France.
They crushed everything in their
path.
Germany was 40 miles away from
Paris, it seemed they would win.
However, they grew tired and the U.S.
sent 140,000 troops to aid the Allies.
Shortly later 2 million U.S. troops
were sent.
Bulgarians and Ottoman Turks
surrendered.
Collapse of Germany
 November 9, 1918 – Kaiser
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Wilhelm II stepped down.
Germany declared itself a
republic.
A German representative met
with a French commander on a
railway car.
The two signed an armistice, an
agreement to stop fighting.
 Cease-fire
On November 11, 1918 World
War I came to an end.
The Legacy of the War
 WWI was a new kind of
war.
 It involved the use of new
technologies.
 Put war on a global
scale.
 Left behind a landscape of
death and destruction
that had never been seen
before.
Casualties
 About 8.5 million
soldiers died.
 21 million were
wounded.
Impacts
 Economic Impact – war
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drained the treasuries of
European countries.
Total cost ~ 338 billion
Land was destroyed.
Western society was left in
disillusionment, insecurity and
despair.
Future peace agreements
brought some security but also
led to anger and resentment.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbggEGUaE28
Questions
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6.
What is total war?
How was propaganda used during WWI?
What was the treaty that ended the war between
Germany and Russia?
On what day did WWI end?
How many people died in WWI?
What was the total cost of WWI?