Transcript World War I

World War I
SOL WHII.9
World War I lasted from 19141918 and was caused by
competition among industrial
nations in Europe and a failure of
diplomacy.
The war transformed European
and American life, wrecked the
economies of Europe, and planted
the seeds for a second world war.
There were alliances that divided
Europe into competing camps.
• Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary
formed an alliance known as the Triple
Alliance
• Great Britain, France, and Russia
formed an alliance known as the Triple
Entente
Here are the factors that fueled
World War I!
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Nationalistic feelings
Imperialism
Militarism
Competition over colonies
Unfortunately, all diplomatic
attempts to settle differences
failed!
The spark that ignited the war
was the assassination of Archduke
Francis Ferdinand and his wife
when they were visiting Sarajevo.
In 1917, a revolution erupted in
Russia as Lenin and the Bolsheviks
attempted to take over the
government. Russia signed a
separate peace with the Central
Powers and took Russian troops
home.
With Russia out of the war, France
and Great Britain were at a
disadvantage. The United States
voted to enter the war and join
the Allied Powers after Germans
aggressively used submarine
warfare.
Woodrow Wilson, President from
the United States, was a major
leader of World War I. He
viewed the war as a battle to
safeguard democracy for
mankind.
Wilson proposed Fourteen Points
for settling WWI. The “star” of
these points was the formation of
the League of Nations which
would be an international
organization that would help
provide an avenue of collective
security.
Kaiser Wilhelm II was the leader
of Germany during WWI. He was
also the leader of the Central
Powers.
World War I ended several
European empires:
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Ottoman Empire
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Russian Imperial Empire
German Empire
This global war had an enormous
cost in lives, property, and social
disruption.
Colonies that participated in the
war increased their demands for
independence.
The Treaty of Versailles brought
an end to World War I. This
treaty forced Germany to:
• Accept guilt for starting the war
• Pay reparations – payment for war
damage
• Loss of large chunks of territory
In addition, Germany had to
abolish its military draft and was
allowed an army of only 100,000.
This severely limited the German
military.