1 / 52

World War I (1914-1918)

World War I (1914-1918). Chapter 14. I. The Road to War :. Hidden Causes of WWI : existed well before 1914 Imperialism : -European powers had been building empires for centuries -the colonies supplied European powers with raw materials. I. The Road to War :.

carter-mays
Download Presentation

World War I (1914-1918)

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. World War I (1914-1918) Chapter 14

  2. I. The Road to War: • Hidden Causes of WWI: existed well before 1914 • Imperialism: -European powers had been building empires for centuries -the colonies supplied European powers with raw materials

  3. I. The Road to War: -European powers competed for territory around the world which… -led to conflicts in those areas • Militarism: -def: policy of building up a nation’s armed forces in preparation of war -empires were expensive to build and defend -by 1890, the strongest European nation was Germany

  4. I. The Road to War: -England was not concerned because they had the strongest navy in the world -in 1897, Germany’s Kaiser (emperor) decided that his nation should also become a major sea power -Germany and England began to compete in the building of warships -France, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. quickly joined the naval arms race

  5. I. The Road to War: • Nationalism: -def: a devotion to the interests and culture of one’s nation -often leads to competition and rivalries among nations -many feared Germany’s growing power in Europe -also, various ethnic groups resented domination by others and wanted their nations to become independent -those ethnic groups looked to larger nations for protection

  6. I. The Road to War: -Russia viewed itself as the protector of Europe’s Slavic peoples, no matter which gov’t they lived under -ex: the Serbs – Serbia was an independent nation, but millions of ethnic Serbs lived under the rule of Austria-Hungary -that led to a rivalry between A-H and Russia for influence over Serbia

  7. I. The Road to War: • Alliances: -def: a formal agreement or union between nations -developed in Europe during the late 1800s -designed to increase a nation’s security and to defend each other during an attack

  8. I. The Road to War: -two great alliances formed in Europe by 1907: a. Triple Alliance – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy b. Triple Entente – England, France, Russia

  9. I. The Road to War: • Immediate Cause of WWI (sparkplug) was… -the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofie on June 28, 1914 -he was the heir to the throne in Austria- Hungary -shot while visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia, which was a province of A-H -killed by Gavrilo Princip (19 yrs old), a member of the “Black Hand” (terrorist group promoting Serbian nationalism)

  10. I. The Road to War: • After the assassination, A-H met with Germany • Germany issued the “Blank Check”- promise to back Austria-Hungary up if they went to war -July 28: A-H blamed the Serbian gov’t and declared war on them -July 29: Russia, Serbia’s protector, began mobilization (the readying of troops for war) - Germany, A-H’s chief ally, demanded that Russia stop mobilizing - Russia refused – Russia’s ally, France, began mobilization as did Germany

  11. I. The Road to War: -Aug. 1: Germany declared war on Russia -Aug. 3: Germany declared war on France -The U.S. remained neutral

  12. I. The Road to War: • Germany knew it would be forced to fight a two-front war (East and West) eventually • so…they had a plan called theSchlieffen Plan: -called for a quick strike on France to knock them out of the war and then they would turn and attack Russia

  13. II. War Begins: • To get to France as quickly as possible, the German Army passed through Belgium, a neutral country -the invasion brought England, Belgium’s protector, into the war on Aug. 4 -Germany had hoped England, with the world’s strongest Navy, would stay out of the war

  14. II. War Begins: • After the start of the war, countries in Europe began to take sides: Central Powers: Allied Powers (Allies) Germany France Russia A-H Italy (1915) Serbia Bulgaria Romania Greece Ottoman Empire (Turkey) Montenegro Portugal Belgium U.S. (1917) Great Britain

  15. II. War Begins: • The war reached a stalemate, a situation in which neither side could gain an advantage, on the Western Front (in France) -the Allies began to dig trenches to help reduce casualties and the Germans did the same (trench warfare) -the move to the trenches prolonged the war -heavy casualties resulted from soldiers going “over the top” into “no man’s land” (area between the trenches)

  16. II. War Begins: • New Weaponsused during WWI: • Machine gun – forced the soldiers to the trenches – fired up to 450 rounds a minute 2) Tanks – first used by the British – used mainly to smash barbed wire fences to clear the way for the infantry (foot soldiers) 3) Poison gas – chemical warfare – used by the Germans first

  17. II. War Begins: • U-boats – German submarines -attacked without warning – used to fight the British blockade -interfered with American trade and threatened the safety of Americans 5) Airplanes – used only for observation at first -later armed with machine guns and bombs -Manfred von Richthofen “Red Baron” (German ace pilot– shot down over 80 planes)

  18. II. War Begins: • The U.S. remained neutral at first and continued to trade with both sides -we were an isolated country at that time

  19. III. U.S. Declares War: • 3 Major Eventsled the U.S. to join the Allies: • Germany’s use of unrestricted submarine warfare – Ex: a. Sinking of the Lusitania (May 7, 1915) – British passenger liner sunk by a German u- boat because it was secretly carrying weapons for the Allies – 1,200 died (128 Americans)

  20. III. U.S. Declares War: • Election of 1916 – Pres. Wilson ran under the slogan “He kept us out of the war” and was re-elected • Feb. 1, 1917: Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare – thought they could defeat the British and win the war before the U.S. could make a difference

  21. III. U.S. Declares War: • Zimmerman Note / Telegram – German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, made a secret offer to Mexico -if they would attack the U.S., then they would be given back the lost territory in TX, AZ, and NM -the note was intercepted by the British -neither Wilson nor Mexico took the note seriously -however, the American public called for war

  22. III. U.S. Declares War: • Revolution in Russia – March 1917, Czar Nicholas II was overthrown and replaced by a republican (democratic) gov’t -since a czar was no longer in power, the U.S. viewed Russia as an acceptable ally -this was the last stumbling block to a full Am. commitment to the Allies

  23. III. U.S. Declares War: • Pres. Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany saying… “The world must be made safe for democracy.” • War was declared on April 6, 1917

  24. V. Americans on the European Front: • American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) – led by Gen. John J. Pershing -arrived in Paris on June 14, 1917 – provided reinforcements to British and French troops -U.S. soldiers nicknamed doughboys

  25. VI. Postwar: • An armistice (cease fire) was signed on Nov. 11, 1918 (11th hour, 11th day, 11th month) • WWI Casualties: -Russia – 9 million -Germany – 7 million -France – 6 million -A-H – 7 million -England – 4 million -U.S. – 364,000

  26. VI. Postwar: • Pres. Wilson’s Plan for Peace: -to prevent future world wars he outlined his goals in his “Fourteen Points” speech before Congress – included: • Ban on secret treaties / alliances • Freedom of the seas • Reduction of arms

  27. VI. Postwar: • self-determination, or power to make decisions about one’s own future, for all A-H’s ethnic groups • League of Nations – international org. that would help keep world peace and maintain order

  28. VI. Postwar: • Paris Peace Conference (Jan. 1919) – attended by the “Big 4” (leaders of the 4 major Allied powers): • Woodrow Wilson (U.S.) • David Lloyd George (G.B.) • George Clemenceau (France) • Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

  29. VI. Postwar: -remember: Russia had dropped out of the war in 1917 and Italy joined Allies in 1915 -Goals – Wilson concerned about world peace – brought 14 Points with him – the other 3 leaders wanted to punish Germany (esp. France)

  30. VI. Postwar: -Treaty of Versailles – officially ended WWI – compromise – included: • War Guilt Clause – forced Germany to take the blame for starting the war (big mistake!) • Germany stripped of all colonies and loses some land in Europe -Alsace Lorraine back to France, territory taken from Germany and used to create Poland, Rhineland becomes a DMZ between France and Germany • Germany forced to pay reparations (payment for damages) to Allies - $33 billion total

  31. VI. Postwar: • German military restricted -not allowed to have Air Force -navy restricted -army reduced to 100,000 • League of Nations created

More Related