The War to End all Wars: WWI

1. The War to End all Wars: WWI

2. Tarantino WWI

3. MAIN Causes of World War I • M • Militarism • A • Alliances • I • Imperialism • N • Nationalism

4. Militarism • Militarism • Following the Industrial Revolution, military technology and the ability to mass produce weaponry improved greatly • As countries competed economically, major European powers began to compete in military stockpiling as well • Military stockpiling created a great rivalry between the powerful Great Britain and the quickly emerging power, Germany

5. Alliances • Alliances • European powers made alliances, promising to militarily support other countries, as a way of protecting themselves and seeking an advantage • Alliances would greatly increase the size and destruction of World War I • Without alliances WWI would have just been another regional skirmish

6. Imperialism • Imperialism • The European powers had created great rivalries in their attempts to colonize as much of the world as possible • These economic and territorial tensions created bad blood between countries • Oversees colonies gave resources and soldiers to the war, making the war a worldwide affair

7. Nationalism • Nationalism • Intense loyalty and pride for one’s country helped fuel the excitement for a war • More importantly, many ethnic minorities still sought a national homeland • Many of these ethnic minorities were located on the Balkan Peninsula

10. Trouble in the Balkans As the Ottoman Empire was weakening, it struggled to maintain control of the Balkan Peninsula Many of the ethnic groups of the Balkan Peninsula were excited by this and took this opportunity to break free and establish their own countries However, Austria-Hungary saw this as an opportunity to expand over more land, thereby preventing the sovereignty of many of the Slavic groups located on the Balkan peninsula

11. Back to Alliances • Being the largest of the Slavic countries, Russia saw it as its duty to ally with the newly independent Slavic nations. • Especially Serbia, a growing force who wanted to annex Bosnia & Herzegovina, territories held by Austria-Hungary • Russia also allied itself with France • Austria-Hungary allied itself with Germany, a country that shared many ethnic and cultural characteristics

12. The Spark: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand On June 28, 1914 the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo, with his wife Sophie, to inspect the imperial armed forces of this territory annexed in 1908 GavriloPrincip, a member of a Serbian Terrorist group known as the Black Hand, shot Franz Ferdinand and his wife On July 28, 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia sparking a chain reaction that erupted into the deadliest, most gruesome war the world had ever seen

15. Alliances, again • Russia, immediately stepped in on the side of Serbia • Russia’s ally, France, then declared war as well • Germany declared in war in support of their ally, Austria-Hungary • This split Europe into 2 camps • Triple Entente • France • Russia • Later (1914)… Great Britain • Much Later (1917)… The United States • Central Powers • Germany • Austria-Hungary • Ottoman Empire

16. Rush to War Europe had not seen a large scale war since the fall of Napoleon Consequently, warfare had been glorified in Europe Soldiers on both sides rushed to enlist to go to War They feared they would miss this glorious adventure Soldiers ran off to war exclaiming to their loved ones “I’ll be home by Christmas”

20. Schlieffen Plan In an effort to avoid fighting a two front war, Germany sought to quickly defeat France and then turn its forces on Russia before they could mobilize To do this, Germany marched through a neutral Belgium, thus violating their neutrality This angered Great Britain, who stepped in on the side of the Triple Entente Germany was nearly successful in defeating France, but they stalled about 30 miles outside Paris, where nearly zero progress was made for the next 4 years

21. Stalemate: Trench Warfare Technology had created a stalemate, where neither side could advance or gain an advantage The machine gun prevented large scale advances over open fields Generals found their military tactics outdated and became very frustrated Both sides dug into trenches, where neither side won or lost much land in the next 4 years http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=decZP5PfrVM

25. Trench Warfare The soldiers lived in trenches dug into the ground Any movement above the trench would invite heavy fire from opposing snipers Both sides lived in these terrible trenches surrounded by death In between each sides trench was a middle ground called no man’s land Occasionally, frustrated generals would order their men to go “Over the Top” in an assault on the opposing trench which often resulted in mass death

27. Technology Kills • Airplane • At first the planes were used mainly for observation, but later individual combat occurred. • Automatic Machine Gun • Few gunners could now mow down waves of soldiers. This created a 4 year stalemate • Mustard Gas • The effects were so devastating that after the war this weapon was outlawed in warfare. • Submarine • German U-Boats with torpedoes were used to destroy Allied Shipping

29. Before & After Mustard Gas

31. Disillusionment with war “You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you’ll never know the hell where youth and laughter go” –British Poet Siegfried Sassoon By 1917, the morale of both troops and civilians had plunged in all countries Both sides saw death in numbers they could have never imagined before

32. Total War • As a result of modern, mechanized war, societies saw that war would require the total commitment of their whole society for producing supplies, money, morale, and manpower • This was known as “Total War” • Total War often depended on Propaganda: • The spreading of ideas to promote a cause or to damage an opposing cause. These ideas are usually promoted with emotional images and often promote emotion over reason • Often false stories were spread of atrocities that never happened

33. Propaganda

35. Russia Exits Revolution broke out in Russia as stories of incompetent generals, widespread corruption, and massive death reached civilians who were dealing with food shortages. Russia, was proven to be far behind in industrialization, which prevented them from being a major force in the war. In a strategic maneuver, the Germans sent the formerly exiled communist revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, back to Russia Czar Nicholas II abdicated Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, officially exiting the war

36. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare • With Russia out, Germany could focus all their energy on the Western front • Germans sank commercial sea liners of enemy nations that carried weapons under their innocent passengers • 128 Americans were killed on the Lusitania • The Zimmerman telegram was sent in early 1917, from Germany to Mexico. • In this, Germany promised that in return for Mexican support in the war, Germany would help Mexico “reconquer the lost territory of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona”

37. U.S. Declares War U.S. President Woodrow Wilson pledged to make the “World safe for Democracy” and congress agreed to enter the war By 1918, 2 Million fresh, confident American soldiers had joined the war-weary Allied troops Equally important, the U.S. lent financial aid to the allies (France & Great Britain)

38. The End In March of 1918,the Germans launched a huge offensive pushing the Allies back 40 miles. The Allies launched a counterattack pushing the Germans back into France & Belgium German Generals advised Kaiser William II that war could not be won The Kaiser fled to exile in the Netherlands On November 11, 1918 the new German government sought an armistice to end fighting with the Allies

39. Casualties http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/FWWcasualties.htm

40. Add Armenian for next year

41. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWtETJ0Pt4g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNdRUvtr2zM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAm4IfdAS8Q