THE FIRST WORLD WAR

1. THE FIRST WORLD WAR

2. CAUSES OF WORLD WAR I • There’s not just one reason or cause for the war; it requires an understanding of a number of different things that are all going on at the same time • The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was the spark that started it all – but there are a number of different components that provided the fuel…that’s what we’re going to try and understand today

3. NATIONALISM • Nationalism is an extreme pride or devotion that people feel for their country or culture • Helped form new nations like Germany and Italy in the 1870’s • Balkans (SE Europe) – nationalism was very strong • Different ethnic groups there wanted their own countries

4. THE BALKANS

5. NATIONALISM CONTINUED… • The Ottoman Empire, which had dominated that region, was falling apart • Austria-Hungary saw an opportunity – began to annex provinces like Bosnia and Herzegovina • Many Slavic people there, like the Serbs, resented outside rule; Russia supported them; tensions in the region were high

6. IMPERIALISM • Nationalism led to competition for overseas colonies – this quest for overseas empires was known as imperialism • Late 1800’s – France, Great Britain had colonial empires in Africa, Middle East, and Asia • Germany, under Kaiser Wilhelm II, wanted colonies, too • To get them, they would need a strong military

7. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

8. MILITARISM • Militarism is the policy of military preparedness and the building up of weapons • 1900 Germany began to build up both its navy and army – wanted to compete with Great Britain • Also began to draft war strategies – Schlieffen Plan – instructions for two-front war against France and Russia • Britain, France, and Russia began to build up their own militaries in response • Many Europeans believed strong militaries would prevent warfare

9. ALLIANCES • For protection, some nations began to form alliances with one another • Germany – Austria-Hungary – Italy – Triple Alliance • Britain – France – Russia – Triple Entente (entente – French – understanding) • Many leaders mistakenly thought the alliance system would decrease chances for war • Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand will prove this to be wrong

10. ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND

11. ASSASSINATION OF FERDINAND • 1912 GavriloPrincip joins Black Hand – terrorist organization • Princip wanted to free his country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from Austria-Hungary • Black Hand leaders developed a terrorist plot they hoped would lead to an independent Bosnia – ordered a team of assassins to kill the Archduke • June 28, 1914 Princip shoots and kills Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo, Bosnia

12. GAVRILO PRINCIP

13. BEGINNING OF WAR • In U.S., the assassination meant little • In Europe, the assassination would plunge the entire continent into war within five weeks • Europe’s long history of national tensions, imperial rivalries, and militarism proved too great for the alliance system to overcome

14. BEGINNING OF WAR • Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for assassination; declared war • Russia, which had promised to protect Serbia, then mobilizes its army • Germany views this as an act of aggression – declares war on Russia • Then Germany declared war on France, Russia’s ally

15. Map of World War I

16. GERMANY TAKES BELGIUM • Germany made first big move in war, following Schlieffen Plan – August 1914 Germany crosses into neutral Belgium • Britain had pledged to defend Belgium; they then declare war on Germany • Now most of the major European powers had taken sides • Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire • Allied Powers – Britain, France, Russia

17. GERMANY - BELGIUM • German attack on Belgium fierce – Germany had 700,000 soldiers; Belgium 38,000 • Germany burned entire villages to the ground; many times women and children were executed • Belgium was only able to briefly delay the German advance

18. NEW KIND OF WARFARE • French – still dressed in red; marched row by row into battlefield; their tactics had not changed much since the 1800’s • Germans – gray uniforms acted as camouflage; heavy artillery and machine guns • French expected close combat; were mowed down by German machine gun and artillery units

19. FIRST BATTLE OF THE MARNE • Germans move to within 25 miles of Paris within a month • Sept. 7, 1914 French launch counterattack along the Marne River • 2 million men fought along a line stretching 125 miles • 250,000 killed in 5 days • Germans were pushed back 40 miles

20. FRENCH SOLDIERS AT BATTLE OF THE MARNE

21. STALEMATE – TRENCH WARFARE • First Battle of the Marne ends in a standoff • French and German soldiers dug trenches for protection from enemy fire • By late fall 1914, two massive systems of trenches stretched 400 miles across western Europe

22. TRENCH WARFARE • Not a new strategy – American Civil War • But no soldier had ever experienced trench warfare on this scale • Soldiers lived in the trenches; surrounded by machine gun fire, grenades, artillery • Area between trenches called “No Man’s Land”; became littered with bodies • Rain – mud; trenches became infested with rats; cold • Neither side made significant advances; creating a deadlock • So both sides began looking for new ways to gain an edge

23. TRENCH FOOT

24. TRENCH PHOTOGRAPHS Germans in trench Germans

25. TRENCH PHOTOGRAPHS

26. NEW WEAPONS • Poisonous gas (chlorine gas) • Quickly destroyed soldiers’ lungs • 1st introduced by Germans; then British and French in response • Gas masks introduced

27. NEW WEAPONS • Tanks – could cross through barbed wire and trenches; cumbersome, slow • Shown – British WWI tank

28. NEW WEAPONS • Airplanes – mapped enemy positions, machine guns, bombs • Dogfights (Baron Manfred von Richtofen– The Red Baron)

29. NEW WEAPONS • U-boats – Germans (unterseeboot, which means “undersea boat” • Shown – German WWI u-boat

30. AMERICAN NEUTRALITY • Americans thought of the war as European conflict • Wilson declared the U.S. would remain neutral and follow its traditional policy of isolationism • U.S. was far from neutral financially – by 1917 we were sending British $75 million in aid each week

31. GERMAN SUBMARINE WARFARE • British blockade hurt Germany; in response Germany developed a plan to use U-boats in its naval war • Feb. 1915 Germany announced waters around Great Britain were a war zone – all enemy ships and some neutral ships would be destroyed • Angered most Americans – growing tensions between U.S. and Germany

32. TOWARDS WAR • May 7, 1915 British luxury liner Lusitania is sunk by German u-boat – 1,200 people (128 Americans) killed • Wilson demands end to unrestricted submarine warfare • Germany relents • Less than a year later Germans attack French passenger ship Sussex – led to Sussex pledge – German promise not to sink merchant ships

33. ELECTION OF 1916 • Wilson promised in campaign to keep U.S. out of war – barely won re-election • Jan. 1917 asked Allied and Central Powers to accept a “peace without victory” – angered Allies • All hope for peace ended when Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare on Feb. 1, 1917

34. THE ZIMMERMAN NOTE • German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman sends telegram to German official in Mexico • Proposed an alliance between Germany and Mexico – Mexico would get back New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas • Message intercepted by British; published on March 1 in American newspapers • Americans began calling for war

35. U.S. DECLARES WAR • Mid-march 1917 Czar Nicholas II forced to give up his throne – more democratic government is formed • Many Americans now became more supportive of Allies • Also in mid-March, German U-boats sank three American merchant ships • April 2, Wilson asks congress to declare war on Germany • April 6, 1917 U.S. enters the war

36. AMERICANS IN EUROPE • U.S. wholly unprepared for war – army needed to be raised, supplies needed, troops needed to be trained and shipped to Europe • May 18, 1917 Selective Service Act is passed – required all men 21-30 to register for the draft • Americans soldiers overseas formed the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) – commanded by General John J. Pershing • First U.S. troops arrived June 1917 • Convoy system

37. AMERICANS IN EUROPE • Allied situation was grim when Americans arrived – Germans occupied all of Belgium and part of NE France; Russia struggling to defend itself – hunger, civil war

38. RUSSIAN REVOLUTION • Nov. 1917 group called the Bolsheviks had taken over Russian government – Communists • New government – led by Vladimir Lenin; sign peace agreement with Central Powers • Now Germany could focus on Western front

39. GERMAN OFFENSIVE • Mar. 1918 Germans launch massive offensive in west • “Big Berthas” – could fire 2,100 pound shell 75 miles • By late May Germans had pushed Allies back to Marne River

40. AMERICAN MILITARY WOMEN • Switchboard operators – “Hello Girls” – kept lines of communication open between front and AEF HQ • 20,000 nurses • Typists, bookkeepers, radio operators, telegraphers

41. THE WAR ENDS • July 1918 last German offensive – Second Battle of the Marne • Aug. 3 German army retreats – Allies began a counterattack • 1st time Americans fought as a separate army • Defeated Germans at Mihiel on French-German border • Continued north through French city of Sedan; through Argonne Forest • Battle of the Argonne Forest – 120,000 American casualties

42. THE ARMISTICE • By late 1918 war was crippling German economy – food riots and strikes • Austria-Hungary – revolution; sign peace treaty early November • Armistice (agreement to stop fighting) signed with Germany on Nov. 11, 1918 • Germany surrendered its aircraft, heavy artillery, u-boats, and tanks

43. MOBILIZING THE ECONOMY • War – extremely expensive • War Revenue Act 1917 – increased taxes on wealthiest Americans – federal revenues went up by 400% within two years • Also borrowed – Liberty Bonds to American people • National debt – 1916 - $1.2 billion; 1919 - $25.5 billion • War Industries Board – regulated all materials needed for war effort • Bernard Baruch – head of the board • American industrial production increased by 20%

44. REGULATING FOOD • Food Administration – created to manage and increase food production • “victory gardens”, “Meatless Mondays”, Wheatless Wednesdays” • Wine – grapes; beer – wheat; Congress limited alcohol content so these crops could be used for food production • Many Progressives linked brewing industry to German Americans • As war progressed temperance movement gains momentum; 1919 18th Amendment ratified – ban on alcohol

45. LABOR • National War Labor Board – 1918; judged disputes between workers and management; outlawed strikes; improved working conditions • 8-hour work day, equal pay for women • Women – worked on railroads, docks, factories; built ships, airplanes – 1 million entered work force • Suffragists used women’s contributions to war as justification for granting them right to vote

46. INFLUENZA OUTBREAK • 1918-1919 deadliest flu epidemic in U.S. history • ½ of American troops who lost their lives was from flu • Killed healthy people within days • 675,000 Americans lost their lives • estimated at nearly 20 million worldwide

47. INFLUENCING PUBLIC OPINION • Committee on Public Information • Nationwide campaign of propaganda • Posters, speeches, newspaper stories, newsreels • Anti-German hysteria in U.S. • Sauerkraut – “liberty cabbage”; hamburger – “liberty steak”; dachsund – “liberty pups” • Towns, street names changed • Oklahoma – Kiel, OK became Loyal, OK

48. WORLD WAR I PROPAGANDA

49. WORLD WAR I PROPAGANDA

50. WORLD WAR I PROPGAGANDA