Chapter 27 – World War I and Its Aftermath

Chapter 27 – World War I and Its Aftermath Section 4 – Winning the War

Setting the Scene By 1917, European societies were cracking under the strain of war. Instead of praising the glorious deeds of heroes, war poets began denouncing the leaders whose errors wasted so many lives. British poet and soldier Siegfried Sassoon captured the bitter mood in "Suicide in the Trenches" : "You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go” In 1917, a revolution in Russia and the entry of the United States into the war would upset the balance of forces and finally end the long stalemate.

I. Total War Total war is the channeling of a nation's entire resources into the war effort

I. Total War All nations except Britain imposed a “draft”; Germany set up a system of forced civilian labor Protect Your Children! Protect Your Women! Protect Yourself! Join the Army Today!

I. Total War Governments raised taxes and borrowed money, rationed products, and established economic controls Ration Coupons

I. Total War Special boards censored the press to keep casualty figures and defeats from reaching the people

I. Total War Both sides waged a propaganda war, spreading stories that were exaggerated or made up

I. Total War Women played a critical role in total war by working in factories, on farms, or by joining the military

II. Collapsing Morale By 1917, the morale of both the troops and civilians reached a low point "To the memory of the brave lads who fell at Gallipoli, 1915." The bag is captioned: "Interest on war loans". British soldiers - victims of a poison gas attack

II. Collapsing Morale In March 1917, bread riots in St. Petersburg grew into a revolution that brought down Czar Nicholas Lenin Czar Nicholas and Family

II. Collapsing Morale In 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, ending Russian participation in the war

III. The United States Declares War In May 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British ship Lusitania, killing 128 Americans

III. The United States Declares War Because of US threats, Germany stopped unrestricted submarine warfare until December 1916

III. The United States Declares War In 1917, the British intercepted a telegram from German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann

III. The United States Declares War Zimmermann promised Germany would help Mexico "to re-conquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona”

III. The United States Declares War In April 1917, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany; by 1918 two million US soldiers had entered the war Wilson before Congress

III. The United States Declares War Wilson issued the Fourteen Points, his list of terms for resolving WWI and future wars

III. The United States Declares War In March 1918, the Germans launched a huge offensive that pushed the Allies back 40 miles

III. The United States Declares War The Allies counterattacked and pushed the Germans out of France and Belgium

III. The United States Declares War When the German people began rioting, Kaiser William II stepped-down and fled into exile

III. The United States Declares War The new German government sought an armistice and at 11 am on November 11, 1918, the Great War came to an end

Chapter 27 – World War I and Its Aftermath