Europe Plunges into War

1. Europe Plunges into War

2. Great War Begins • Russia began mobilizing army toward Austria-Hungary • Russia mobilized toward German front because they expected Germany to help Austria-Hungary • Germany took it as a sign of war so Germany declared war on Russia and then on France • Great Britain declares war on Germany

3. Central Powers • Germany and Austria-Hungary • Bulgaria and Ottomans would quickly join

4. Allied Powers • Great Britain, France and Russia • Japan • Italy switches sides and joins the Allies

6. Bloody Stalemate • Deadlock region known as the western front • Schlieffen Plan • named after German General • 2 front war, defeat the French and then the Russians • Russia, slow mobilization, poor railroads

7. Western Front

8. Weapons • Tank—invented to get through barbed wire • Airplane • Flame Throwers • machine gunners • trench warfare • Chemical Warfare—gases • mustard gas—burns, blisters, blindness • Phostine—fluid enters lungs, asphyxiation • Poison—sneezing, nausea, vomiting

9. Trench Warfare

10. Fighting Reaches its Peak • Feb. 1916, German offensive at Verdun • Each side lost 300,000 • British retaliate north of Verdun in the Valley of the Somme River (July 1916) • Somme • 20,000 British die • battle ended November, each side lost ½ million • Gains • Verdun: Germans advance 4 miles • Somme: British gained 5 miles

11. Battle on the Eastern Front • Eastern Front: German/Russian boarder • Russian offensive into Austria and Germany • German counterattack at Tannenberg. Germans won. • Austria defeated the Russians • 1916, Unindustrialized Russia near collapse, low on supplies, food, and bullets

12. EasternFront