World War I

1. World War I

2. Long Term Causes of WWI • Militarism Aggressive preparation for war (spending money on weapons and planning for war). • Alliance System The alliances formed for security made war between all European countries more likely. • ImperialismEuropean countries competed for control of colonies all over the world. • NationalismNations acted in their own national self interest. Also, ethnic groups without their own nation usually attempted to form their own country.

3. The Road to War . . . 12.1 Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophia are assassinated in Bosnia. A-H blames Serbia and declares war Russia mobilizes to defend Serbia Germany declares War on Russia Ger & A-H demand Russia stop mobilization France and Germany begin to mobilize when Russia refuses Alike in size and strength, neither side could gain an advantage, resulting in a Stalemate. Germany uses the Schlieffen Plan to knock out France By crossing thru Belgium, Germany causes GB to declare War on Germany

4. Stalemate • The Germans advanced into France but were stopped 30 miles outside Paris. • The two sides reached a stalemate with trenches dug on both sides and a “no man’s land” in between. • Germany had hoped to take out France and then deal with Russia. However, the Russians were moving westward so Germany diverted troops from the Western Front to deal with Russia.

5. Great Britain Russia Germany Austria-Hungary France Romania Italy Bulgaria 1915 Ottoman Empire (Turkey) 1914

6. From Cheers to Tears • Soldiers marched off to war in pep rally like send-offs with ideas that the war would be over in weeks or months. • New, modern weapons like machine guns, hand grenades, poison gas and artillery made standard military strategy obsolete. • No one bothered to tell the generals and thousands died in desperate, fruitless attempts to attack the enemy. • At the Battle of the Somme, the British lost 20,000 troops in one day.

8. “Over the top” Final scene from Gallipoli. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eeijbtbnjQ

9. The American Response • Many Americans were surprised that such civilized countries could not avoid war. • Many German-Americans and Irish-Americans disliked Britain and favored the Central Powers. • Most Americans supported Great Britain. Also, many immigrants were from Italy or areas ruled by Austria-Hungary and hoped that those regions could win their independence if Austria-Hungary lost. • Germany also seemed to be less democratic and more warlike than the other European countries. This swayed many to support the Allies. • Propaganda was another reason public opinion swayed against Germany as British newspapers published stories designed to gain support.

10. Kadaververwertungsanstalt

11. Neutrality • The United States had seen its trade with Europe skyrocket in the years leading up to the war. • President Wilson proclaimed the U.S. neutral and protested the actions of both sides. • Those sympathetic to Great Britain influenced the nation’s leaders to promote “patriotic education”. • They also persuaded the government to increase spending on the armed forces. Preparedness