Transcript World War I

World War I
Bell Ringer:
 Based on your reading, do you feel America was justified
in entering WWI? Why or why not?
 IF YOU SEE YOUR NAME BELOW COME SEE ME:
 Sahil Nigam
 Derek Miltner
 Elizabeth Mettam
 Rebecca Wolcott
 If you have any late work to turn in – TURN IT IN ON
THE CHAIR
World War I Begins
Section 1
Causes of World War I
 Nationalism
 Imperialism
 Militarism
 The Alliance System
A Cause of World War I:
Nationalism
 Nationalism – devotion to the interests and culture of one’s
nation
 Led to competitive & antagonistic rivalries among nations
 Many feared Germany’s growing power
 Ethnic groups resent those controlling them & desire
independence
 Russia – considered itself protector of Europe’s Slavic peoples
 Serbs – Slavic people, under rule of Austria-Hungary
 Russia and Austria-Hungary rivals over Serbia
A Cause of World
War I: Imperialism
• Imperialism –
building empires
•Germany competed
with France and
Britain in the
contest for colonies
•Closely linked with
industrialization.
A Cause of World War I:
Militarism
 Militarism - a policy under which nations built up
their armed forces, was a major cause of World
War I.
 Germany - strongest nation on the European continent.
 Britain – strongest navy in the world
 1897 Germany competes to build up largest battleships
and destroyers
 France, Italy, Japan, & United States join the naval arms
race.
A Cause of World War I:
The Alliance System
 Alliance System – by 1907 defense alliances form in
Europe.
 Triple Entente (AKA: Allies) – France, Britain, & Russia
 Triple Alliance (AKA: Central Powers) – Germany, AustriaHungary, & Italy, by 1914 also the Ottoman Empire
(mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks)
 If not for the alliance system the war might have only
involved, Austria-Hungry and Serbia.
 Provide a measure of international security
An
Assassination
Leads to War
• Interest in the Balkan
Peninsula
• Russia wanted for
Mediterranean Sea access
• Germany wanted for rail
link to Ottoman Empire
• Austria-Hungary taken
control of Bosnia accuses
Serbia of subverting its rule
An
Assassination
Leads to War
• Archduke Franz
Ferdinand
• Heir to Austrian throne, shot
while driving through the
Bosnian capital Sarajevo by
Serbian nationalist Gavrilo
Princip (member of Black Hand –
promoted Serbian nationalism)
• One nation after another pulled
into the conflict
Timeline of Events
• One nation after another pulled into the conflict
• July 28 – Austria declares war on Serbia
• August 1 – treaty forces Germany to support Austria
Hungry, declares war on Russia (it supported Serbia)
• August 3 – Germany declares war on France
• Germany invades Belgium
• Britain declares war on Austria-Hungry
The Fighting Starts
 The active fighting begins when Germany invades Belgium
 The ultimate goal of The Schlieffen Plan was to take over
Belgium’s capital. The plan called for Germany to attack the western
powers of Europe while troops held off the Russians in the east.
 After France had fallen, all German forces would be directed at
defeating the Russian Czar
 For more than three years, Trench warfare was used as the major
form of fighting on the western front.
 Armies lined up and stationed behind fort like structures with an area
between them called “no man’s land”

Front line, support, & reserve (P. 376)
 Millions died and little ground was gained – At the First Battle of
the Somme 1.2 million died in 7 months over 7 miles of land
 Fighting is deadlocked for two years.
Trench Warfare
Americans Question Neutrality
 Divided Loyalties
 Socialists – view war as a capitalist and imperialist struggle
between Germany and Britain to control markets and colonies in
China, Africa & Middle East
 Pacifists – view all war as evil and feel the US should set an
example of peace to the world.
 Parents – didn’t want sons to experience horrors of war
 Naturalized US Citizens – had ties to nations from which they
emigrated (from nations involved in the war)
 Germans support Germany
 Irish feel it is their chance to gain independence
The War Hits Home
•
The British Blockade
• Blockade the German coast to prevent weapons, other military supplies
& food getting through
• Causes widespread starvation in Germany
• American ships don’t reach destination – Germany
• Angry that the British blockade threatened freedom of the seas
The War Hits
Home
 German U-Boat Response

U-boat = submarine –
sunk any ship in British waters

Lusitania - May 7, 1915 - 128 Americans killed

British Liner, Off coast of Ireland - Germans said liner carried
ammunition, Americans are outraged

Arabic – July 1915 – 2 Americans killed

Sussex – March 1916 – 80 passengers killed, some Americans

Unarmed French passenger steamer
 U.S. uses groups of guarded ships to overcome the threat of German UBoats
 U.S. warns it would break diplomatic relations if Germany did not stop
using these tactics, Germany agrees, only if U.S. convinces GB to lift its
blockade.
The War Hits Home
• The 1916 Election
• Democrat – Wilson, “He Kept Us Out of War”
• Republic – Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes,
believed he won
The United States Declares War
 German Provocation
 Zimmermann note – Telegram between German foreign minister to
the German ambassador in Mexico, intercepted by GB

Proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico if the U.S. got
involved in the war – promised to retrieve Texas
 The sinking of 4 American unarmed merchant ships – 36 lives
 Russia replaces its monarchy with a representative govt. becomes viewed as democracies vs. brutal monarchies
 America Acts
 April 2, 1917 – President Wilson deliver war resolution

“The world must be made safe for democracy”
 Neutrally finally shattered – pave way for future order of peace and
freedom
World War I Map Activity
Section 1: Primary Source
The Zimmerman note
Section 1: Primary Source
The Zimmerman note
 According to this telegram, what did the German government
decide to begin on February 1, 1917?
 Unlimited submarine warfare
 What did Zimmerman propose if the United States went to war
with Germany during World War I?
 He proposed that if Mexico formed a military alliance with
Germany, then Germany would help Mexico recover New
Mexico, Texas, and Arizona from the United States.
 If this telegram had not been intercepted by British agents,
what do you think might have happened? Cite evidence from
your textbook to support your opinion.