World War I (1914 – 1920)

1. World War I(1914 – 1920) Mr. Leasure Harrison Career Center Winter 2013

2. War Breaks Out Across Europe After World War I broke out, the United States eventually joined the Allied side. This was the first time that the United States was involved in a European conflict.

3. Causes of World War I

4. Causes of World War I • A single action, the assassination of the archduke, started World War I. • But the conflict had many underlying causes..

5. Causes of World War I • The first major cause of World War I was IMPERIALSIM: • The European powers (Britain, France, Germany, and Italy) competed for colonies in Africa and Asia. • Because it had fewer colonies than Britain and France, Germany felt it DESERVED more colonies.

6. Causes of World War I

7. Causes of World War I • The second major cause of World War I was NATIONALISM: • Europeans were very nationalistic, meaning they had strong feelings of pride, loyalty, and protectiveness toward their own countries. • They wanted to PROVE their nation were the best!

8. Causes of World War I • They placed their countries’ interest above all other concerns. • In addition, some ethnic groups hoped to form their own separate nations and were willing to fight for such a cause.

9. Causes of World War I • The third major cause of World War I was MILITARISM: • The belief that a nation needs a large military force is militarism. • In the decades before the war, the major powers built up their armies and their navies.

10. Causes of World War I • The fourth major cause of World War I were ALLIANCES: • In 1914, a tangled network of competing alliances bound European nations together. • An attack on one nation forced all its allies to come to its aid. ANY small conflict could become a larger way QUICKLY.

11. Causes of World War I Central Powers Allied Powers • Austria Hungary • Germany • Ottoman Empire • Bulgaria • Serbia • Russia • France • Great Britain • Italy • Seven other countries.

12. Causes of World War I .

13. Stalemate in the Trenches

14. Stalemate in the Trenches • When the war began in August, most people on both sides assumed it would be over within a few months. • With France as it’s goal, the German army invaded Belgium on August 4, 1914.

15. Stalemate in the Trenches

16. Stalemate in the Trenches • Despite stiff resistance, the Germans fought their way west into France. • They reached the Marne River about 40 miles from Paris. • Supported by the British, the French rallied and prepared to fight back.

17. Stalemate in the Trenches • The First Battle of the Marne, in September 1914, stopped the German advance. • Instead of once side quickly defeating the other, the two sides stayed in the mud for more than 3 years.

18. Stalemate in the Trenches • The solders were fighting a new kind of battle, trench warfare. • Troops huddled at the bottom of rat-infested trenches.

19. Stalemate in the Trenches • They fired artillery and machine guns at each other. • Lines of trenches stretched across France from the English Channel to the border with Switzerland.

20. Stalemate in the Trenches

21. Stalemate in the Trenches • For more than 3 years, the battle lines remained almost unchanged. • Neither side could win a clear victory.

22. Stalemate in the Trenches • In the trenches, snipers faced the constant threat of sniper fire. • Artillery shelling turned the area between the two opposing armies into “no mans land” too dangerous to occupy.

23. Stalemate in the Trenches • When soldiers left their trenches to attack enemy lines, they rushed into a hail of bullets and clouds of poison gas. • When battles did take place, they cost many lives, often without gaining more than an inch for either side.

24. Stalemate in the Trenches DO NOT WRITE • The Battle of Somme between July and November 1917 resulted in the allies gaining only 7 miles of new territory. • What was the cost? 1.2 million causalities.

25. A War of New Technology

26. A War of New Technology • New technology raised the death toll: • The TANK smashed through barbed wire, crossed trenches, and cleared paths through no man’s land. • Solders used MACHINE GUNS that fired 600 bullets a minute. • POSION GAS, used by both sides, burned and blinded soldiers.

27. A War of New Technology • The war was the first major conflict in which the airplane was used in combat. • By 1917, fighter planes fought each other far above the trenches. • At sea, the German’s used submarines called U-Boats, they were equipped with both guns and torpedo's.

28. America’s Path to War

29. America’s Path to War • When the war started in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson announced a policy of neutrality, or refusing to take either side in the conflict. • Over time, German attacks shifted public opinion in the U.S. in favor of joining the Allied cause.

30. America’s Path to War Central Powers Allied Powers • Austria Hungary • Germany • Ottoman Empire • Bulgaria • Serbia • Russia • France • Great Britain • Italy • Seven other countries.

31. America’s Path to War • When the war started in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson announced a policy of neutrality. • Over time, German attacks shifted public opinion in the U.S. in favor of joining the Allied cause.

32. America’s Path to War • In May of 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British passenger ship Lusitania, killing nearly 2000 people, including 128 American citizens. • The sinking turned many American’s against Germany.

33. America’s Path to War • The American’s were committed to neutrality and did not enter the war effort. • The American government warned Germany if they continued to attack merchant ships, they would enter the war on behalf of the Allies. • Germany obeyed until 1917..

34. America’s Path to War • In January of 1917, the German U-boats resumed their attacks on allied merchant ships out of desperation. • Germany knew the American’s would intervene on the allies behalf BUT they believed they could win the war before the American’s arrived.

35. America’s Path to War • In February of 1917, another blow to German – American relations developed. • The Americans discovered the Zimmerman Telegram. • The telegram was sent to Mexico by Germany. In the message, the Germans promised to help Mexico regain the American southwest, in exchange for aiding the Germans during the War.

36. America’s Path to War • In March of 1917, German U-boats sank three American ships. • President Woodrow Wilson asked for a declaration of War. • The U.S. Congress agreed to the declaration and the U.S. joined the war effort on behalf of the Allies.

37. America’s Path to War Central Powers Allied Powers • Austria Hungary • Germany • Ottoman Empire • Bulgaria • The United States of America • Serbia • Russia • France • Great Britain • Italy • Seven other countries.

38. Revolution in Russia

39. Revolution in Russia • Events in Russia made U.S. entry into the war more urgent for the Allies. • By early 1915, the huge Russian army had been outfought by a smaller German army led by better trained officers.

40. Revolution in Russia • In August 1915, Czar Nicolas II insisted on taking control of the troops himself but his poor management was blamed for more deaths. • By 1917, food shortages led to riots, and soaring inflation led to strikes by angry workers in Russia.

41. Revolution in Russia • In March 1917, the Russian Czar was forced to step down and the new government continued to participate in the war effort. • The Russian people continued to become more angry.

42. Revolution in Russia • In November 1917, the Bolsheviks, a communist group led by Vladimir Lenin, took power. • Communism is a political system in which the government owns key parts of the economy, and there is no private property.

43. Revolution in Russia • Because the war devastated Russia, Lenin at once began peace talks with Germany. • In March 1918, Russia withdrew from the war and signed a peace treaty with Germany. • German troops could not turn from Russia and focus their entire military on the western front.

44. Revolution in Russia • The Allies urged the American’s to come quickly!

45. America Joins the Fight U.S. forces helped the Allies win World War I. For the first time, the United States asserted itself as a world power.

46. Raising an Army and a Navy • The U.S. Army was not ready for war. • American fighting forces totaled fewer than 200,000 soldiers, many of them recent recruits. • To meet it’s need for troops, the government started a draft.

47. Raising an Army and a Navy • In May 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act. • This act required all males between the ages of 21 and 30 to sign up for the military service. • By the end of 1918, nearly 3 million men had been drafted for the war effort.

48. Raising an Army and a Navy • About 2 million American soldiers were sent to France. • They served under John J. Pershing as the American Expeditionary Force, or AEF.

49. Raising an Army and a Navy • British commanders asked the U.S. to mix the AEF soldiers with existing French and British combat units – President Wilson refused. • President Wilson believed having “separate and distinct” American combat units would guarantee the U.S. a major role in the peace talks at the war’s end.

50. Raising an Army and a Navy • Close to 50,000 American women served in WWI. For the first time in U.S. history, women served in the U.S. military. • The Navy recruited 12,000 women to be clerical workers and over 1,000 women went overseas in the Army. • Nurses made up the largest group of women in the Armed Services.