The Causes of WW1

1. The Causes of WW1 Militarism Alliances Imperialism Nationalism

2. Militarism • Germany was competing with the UK to build battleships. • ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Militarism • __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1880 1914 • Germany 1.3m 5.0m • France 0.73m 4.0m • Russia 0.40m 1.2m

4. Alliances • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • The alliances made it more likely that a war would start. • Once started, the alliances made it more likely to spread.

5. Imperialism • All the great powers were competing for colonies / territory, especially in Africa. • The British feared Germany in Africa. • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Nationalism • This was an age when all nations wanted to assert their _____________________________________. • In Europe, Slavs, aided by Serbia and Russia, wanted to ________ of Austria-Hungarian rule.

7. Significant Individuals “Germany must have its place in the sun, the world belongs to the strong.” Kaiser Wilhelm II • Built up German army and navy • Aggressive foreign policy • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • Distrusted by other powers

8. Significant Individuals Count Berchtold • Austria-Hungarian Prime Minister. • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “Were the Serbs to agree to all the demands, this would not be to my liking”

9. Significant Individuals Bethmann Hollweg • ___________________________________________________________________________ • Gave very strong support to ___________ during the July crisis while Kaiser was cruising on his yacht “The Austrian demands are moderate. Any interference by Britain, France and Russia would be followed by incalculable consequences”

10. The Spark that set off World War One: • ____________________ • Heir to Austrian throne Franz Ferdinand visits Sarajevo. • _______________________________________________________________________________. • Hotbed of Slav nationalism Seal of the Black Hand group

11. The Spark that set off World War One: • “Black Hand” terrorists attack the Arch Duke • Bomb attempt fails in morning • Gavrilo Princip _________ Archduke and wife in the afternoon. • _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

12. The Spark that set off World War One: • Austrians, supported by Germany, send Serbia a tough ultimatum. • Serbia agrees to all but two terms of the ultimatum. • ____________________________________________________ • ________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • Germany declares war on Russia “Demands must be put to Serbia that would be wholly impossible for them to accept …”

13. Why did Britain get involved? • _____________________________________________________________________. • Although they were only “friendly agreements”, French and Russians were given the impression that Great Britain would fight. . . . result? • The Schlieffen Plan Sir Edward Grey British Foreign Secretary … “There’s some devilry going on in Berlin”

14. The Schlieffen Plan • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • “Knock out blow” aimed at France first. • ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • Germans thought Britain would not intervene.

15. Britain’s Reaction • 1838- Great Britain had signed a Treaty to protect Belgium. • Britain also scared of Germany controlling Channel ports. • Great Britain did not want Germany to defeat France and dominate Europe. • Because if they did, then what? Would Britain be next? • _______________________________________________________________________________________. • Germany laughed and ignored the ultimatum.

16. When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, the complex alliance system in Europe drew much of the continent into the conflict.

17. One week after the war started, all the great powers of Europe had been drawn into it. • _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

18. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. The Summer of Six Million • Voluntary enlistment in the war was high in the beginning. • Crowds cheered men who believed that they were on their way to a great adventure. • All sides were confident that it would be a __________________________________________. • In August, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany sent the first waves of troops off with the promise that they would “_____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________.”

20. Stalemate • By September 1914, the war had reached a stalemate, a situation in which neither side is _____________________________________. • When a French and British force stopped a German advance near Paris, both sides holed up in trenches separated by an empty “________________________.” Small gains in land resulted in huge numbers of human _____________________________. • Both sides continued to add new allies, hoping to gain an advantage.

21. Life in the Trenches • Trench warfare was not new, it had been an occasional feature of many wars, most notably the American Civil War and the Russo-Japanese wars. • Never before, however, had an entire theatre of war been dominated by trenches. • _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

22. A ______________ was built into the forward wall so that soldiers could gain sufficient height to fire at the enemy. • Even the best trenches were nothing more or less than elaborate ________________. • ____________________________________________________________________. • They bred misery, depression, and disease, including frostbite from constant exposure to freezing water, ice, or snow.

23. _________________, a condition resembling frostbite was caused by constant immersion in water – if untreated, it could result in gangrene, amputation, and even death. • Trench mouth, a sever bacterial infection of the throat and the mouth was also common. • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

24. Soldiers shared the trenches with rats, fleas, garbage, human waste, and the remains of decaying corpses. • At night, ______________________________ ____________________________________. • __________________________________________________________________________. • Dawn brought the greatest danger of _______________, which might take the form of a trench raid, as enemy infantry swarmed over the trench.

25. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

26. No Man’s Land • No Man’s Land was the territory that divided the trenches of the two opposing armies. • This is where the phrase originated. • It was typically a space anywhere from 50 to 3,000 yards between the opposing trench lines. • Getting close enough to attack the enemy’s trench was not easy; no man’s land was littered with _____________________, thickly strewn all over, and shell holes to prevent or slow down the _________________________________________.

27. Modern Warfare • Neither soldiers nor officers were prepared for the new, highly efficient killing machines used in World War I. • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • As morale fell, the lines between __________ __________ began to blur. • The armies began to burn fields, kill livestock, and poison wells.

28. The American Response • Because many Americans were European immigrants or the children of European immigrants, many felt personally involved in the escalating war. • Although some had sympathies for the Central Powers, most Americans ______________________________________________________________________________.

29. Support for the Allies was partially caused by __________________________________________________________________________. • In addition, anti-German propaganda, or information intended to sway public opinion, __________________________________________________________________________. • To protect American investments overseas, President Wilson officially proclaimed the United States a __________________________________________________________________________.

30. The Preparedness Movement • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • In an effort to promote “preparedness,” the movement’s leaders persuaded the government to set up ___________________________ and increase funding for the armed forces.

31. The Peace Movement • Other Americans, including women, former Populists, Midwest progressives, and social reformers, advocated peace. • Peace activists in Congress insisted on paying for preparedness by increasing taxes. • __________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________ _________________, the movement remained strong.

32. German Submarine Warfare • To break a stalemate at sea, Germany began to employ U-boats, short for Unterseeboot, the German word for submarine. • U-boats, traveling under water, could sink British supply ships with no warning. • When the British cut the transatlantic cable, which connected Germany and the United States, _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

33. German Submarine Warfare • American public opinion was therefore swayed ______________ Germany’s U-boat tactics.

34. The Sinking of the Lusitania • On May 7,1915, a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania, which had been carrying ___________________________________________________________________________________.

35. Since ________________________________ had been on board, the sinking of the Lusitania brought the United States _______________ to involvement in the war.

36. The Sussex Pledge • More Americans were killed when Germany sank the Sussex, a French passenger steamship, on March 24,1916. • In what came to be known as the Sussex pledge, the German government promised that U-boats would warn ships before attacking, _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

37. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare • On January 31, 1917, Germany announced its intent to end the Sussex pledge and return to unrestricted submarine warfare. • This action caused the United States to break off ________________________________ with Germany. • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

38. The Zimmermann Note • During this time, Britain revealed an intercepted telegram to the government of Mexico from Germany’s foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann. • In this telegram, known as the Zimmermann note, ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • Neither Mexico nor President Wilson took the Zimmermann note seriously, but it brought America closer to entering the war.

39. The War Resolution • When the Russian Revolution replaced Russia’s autocratic czar with a republican government in March 1917, the United States no longer needed to be concerned about allying itself with an autocratic nation. • This removed one more stumbling block to an American declaration of war. • ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________, President Wilson’s patience for neutrality wore out.

40. The Russians Leave • A second revolution in Russia made things much harder for the Allies. • A Communist government was ushered into Russia and it quickly made a separate peace with Germany. • The war in the east ended, and a million German troops were now available for _______________ ________________________________________. • It was a new war.

41. The Americans Arrive • But, in their darkest hour, the Allies gained a whole new army. • __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

42. Building an Army • Despite the preparedness movement, the United States lacked a large and available military force. Congress therefore passed a _____________________________________ _____________________________________, drafting many young men into the military. • Draftees, volunteers, and National Guardsmen made up what was called the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), led by _____________________________________.

43. Energetic American soldiers, nicknamed doughboys, __________________________ _______________________________________________________________________.

44. Training for War • New recruits were trained in the weapons and tactics of the war by American and British lecturers at new and expanded training camps around the country. • Ideally, the military planned to give new soldiers several months of training. • However, __________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

45. The Convoy System • To transport troops across the Atlantic, the United States employed convoys, or groups of unarmed ships surrounded by armed naval vessels equipped to track and destroy submarines. • Due to the convoy system, German submarines ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

46. African American Soldiers in Europe • Many African Americans volunteered or were drafted for service. • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

47. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • General Pershing’s troops, however, pushed back the Germans in a series of attacks. • Finally, the German army was driven to full retreat in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive begun on September 26, 1918.

48. _____________________________________________________________________________________. • Austria-Hungary splintered into smaller nations of ethnic groups, and German soldiers mutinied, feeling that defeat was inevitable. • When the Kaiser of Germany _________________, a civilian representative of the new German republic signed an armistice, or cease-fire, in a French railroad car at _____________________________________________________________________________________.

49. Although guns fell silent six hours later, many more deaths were to follow. • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

50. ________________________________________ The estimated death toll of World War I was 8 million soldiers and civilians, including tens of thousands of Americans. Many more had lost limbs or been blinded by poison gas. However, the efforts of the Red Cross and other agencies had helped save many lives. ____________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. _________ In an act of genocide, or organized killing of an entire people, the Ottoman Empire had murdered hundreds of thousands of Armenians suspected of disloyalty to the government. Results of the War