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World War I. 1914-1918. THE GREAT WAR. At its conclusion, The Great War, known as World War I or “the war to end all wars,” would wipe out an entire generation! In the U.S. it would also be called “ Mr. Wilson’s War”. Underlying Causes for World War I. Nationalism Imperialism
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World War I 1914-1918
THE GREAT WAR At its conclusion, The Great War, known as World War I or “the war to end all wars,” would wipe out an entire generation! In the U.S. it would also be called “ Mr. Wilson’s War”
Underlying Causes for World War I • Nationalism • Imperialism • Militarism • The Alliance System
Nationalism • Nationalism- the intense pride in one’s country and countrymen to the point of believing that they are superior to everyone else.
Imperialism Imperialism- the act of building an empire through the acquisition of colonies brought many European countries into conflict with each other.
Militarism Militarism- the buildup of arms beyond defensive purposes brought many countries to believe that they could easily win a war over a rival nation.
The Alliance System Alliances - The most powerful countries of Europe were locked into defensive alliance systems that made any conflict likely to involve many countries.
The Assassination • On July 28, 1914 Franz Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophia were visiting Sarajevo in the Bosnian region of the empire.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was next in line to Austrian-Hungarian throne until he was fatally shot on July 28, 1914.
Eighteen-year-old Gavril Princip was the assassin. He was a member of the Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand. His assassination of the Archduke was the event that caused the alliances to choose sides and declare war on each other, thus beginning WW I.
The Allied Powers: Serbia 1914 Russia 1914 France 1914 Belgium 1914 British Empire 1914 Italy 1915 U.S. 1917 And 20 other countries The Central Powers: Austria-Hungary1914 Germany 1914 Ottoman Empire 1914 Bulgaria 1915 The Combatants
The Leaders The Allies Czar Nicholas II Russia Woodrow Wilson United States David Lloyd George Great Britain The Central Powers Kaiser Wilhelm II Germany Archduke Franz Ferdinand Austria- Hungary
The Lusitania On May 7th, 1915 the British passenger ship the Lusitania was sunk by German U-boats. Among those killed were 128 U.S. passengers.
The Sussex Pledge • After the Germans sank the French ship the Sussex in March 1916 killing 2 Americans. Germany pledged not to sink passenger or merchant ships without warning and without saving human lives.
On February 1, 1917 Germany went back on their promise and resumed unrestricted submarine warfare.
Arthur Zimmerman, the foreign minister of Germany reportedly sent a coded message to the German ambassador in Mexico City. The message told Mexico that they should declare war on the U.S. in the hopes of regaining Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. This message was supposedly intercepted by the British who in turn decoded it and sent it to the U.S. in early March of 1917.
This is a copy of the infamous Zimmerman telegram sent by Western Union.
“The world must be made safe for democracy” ~ President Woodrow Wilson With these words President Wilson asked for a declaration of war on April 2, 1917 and Congress obliged the President.
U.S. soldiers during WWI were referred to as “doughboys” The U.S. did not enter the war until 1917, three years after the war began in Europe.
The U.S. soldiers aka the A.E.F. were commanded by Gen. John J. Pershing nicknamed “blackjack” Pershing because he had commanded African-American forces during the Spanish-American War.
Sgt. Alvin York Sgt. York became the U.S. most decorated WWI soldier. Sgt. York wrestled with the question of answering the call to arms. York’s religious convictions made him opposed to joining the army.
The First Modern War The Weapons
Big Artillery Heavy artillery was used in WWI. Some so heavy they had to move on railroad cars. One such German gun was called Big Bertha named after Bertha Krupp who owned the armament plant.
Long range guns were used to fire on civilian targets like libraries, cathedrals, and city districts.The biggest guns could shell a city from 75 miles.
Chemical Warfare A yellow-green chlorine fog sickened, suffocated, burned, and blinded its victims.
The bandages over the eyes would indicate that it probably was mustard gas
Gas mask were hot, stuffy, and sometimes did not work effectively
Soldiers had to take precautions against gas attacks at all times
The Machine Gun The machine gun changed forever the nature of warfare! Firepower increased to 600 rounds per minute.
Soldiers affixing their bayonets to their rifles. (Getting ready to charge across no man’s land)
Submarines (Unterseeboot) Germany’s undersea terror
Airplanes were used later on in the war originally for aerial surveillance. As pilots began to cross paths they began to engage in aerial combat referred to as dogfights.
Monfred von Richthoffen aka “Red Baron” was one of WWI’s most successful and colorful flying aces.
The Red Baron was credited with shooting down 80 Allied planes before he himself was shot down over enemy lines. He was well respected for his aerial exploits even among his enemies. His fighter combat tactics are still in the air force training manuals.
The area in between the opposing sides trench works was called no-man’s-land.
Soldiers relaxing a bit during a lull in the fighting. See the inserts dug on the sides of the trench walls.
Soldiers lived, ate, slept, fought, and died in the trenches during WWI.
The armistice the VersaillesTreaty was signed on November 11, 1918 officially ending the long, brutal and costly war.
The Conclusion and Aftermath of WWI • By the time the war was over there were over 30 countries involved from 6 continents • Deaths from WWI were over 20,000,000
The Czar of Russia would be executed and Russia would be the first country to turn communist during their Bolshevik revolution • Germany had been humiliated by what they considered an unfair Versailles Treaty • Gt. Britain and France were no longer considered world powers even though they were on the winning side • The maps of Europe and the Middle East had to be completely redrawn • The U.S. would emerge from the war determined never again to get involved in foreign conflicts
