03/04 Bellringer 5+ sentences

When war erupted in Europe in 1914, most Americans wanted no part of it. The US entry into the war forever changed foreign policy. We were no longer a country that minded our own business.

What do you think of the policy of neutrality? Should the US go back to that policy?

If Americans wanted to remain neutral, why did the United States entered WWI?

a. The US felt like it was under attack despite its neutrality…b. War is “good for business”…c. Democracy needed to be protected…d. If the Allies lost, they would not be able to pay back the loans they borrowed from the US…e. The British are kind of like “family” – the US and Great Britain have a shared history and heritage…

Group Activity: If Americans wanted to remain neutral,

why did the United States entered WWI?

• In pairs, evaluate the primary documents to gain a better understanding of why the United States entered World War I in 1917: – Examine the documents provided and complete

the chart in your notes–When finished, create a one sentence thesis that

explains why the USA entered WWI–Be prepared to discuss your ideas with the class

Governments committed all their nation’s resources and took over industry to win the war

Combatants in World War I quickly began to use total war tactics

Soldiers were drafted, the media was censored, propaganda was created to support the war

New, industrial weapons were introduced on the battlefield such as machine guns, airplanes, blimps...

These weapons led to unprecedented deaths

and casualties

…heavy artillery, tanks, poison gas, flame

throwers, submarines

To protect soldiers from enemy fire, both the Allies and Central Powers built trenchesTrench warfare made

it difficult for either side to gain an advantage

Fighting on the Western Front slowed to a stalemate as neither side could gain an advantage

2 million soldiers were killed or

wounded during the battles of

Verdun and Somme

German u-boats patrolled the Atlantic

Ocean attacking Allied cargo ships

Russia was struggling to produce enough weapons or food to

support the war effort

Millions of Russian soldiers and civilians died in the war

By 1917, Russia was on the brink of collapse

Russian women training for combat

On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was struggling to hold on against the German military

In Nov 1917, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian government and established

the Soviet Union, the first communist nation

The Century: America’s Time (Ep 2: Shell Shock)• Why do you think the sinking of the Lusitania was seen as such a

negative event?• What was life like in the US during the early years of the war when the

US was still neutral?• How did propaganda impact America’s view of the war?• What was life like in the trenches of the Western Front?• How did industrialization impact WWI?• Describe how new weapons like machine guns, tanks, and poison gas

impacted the war.• How did WWI help bring about the revolution in Russia?• How did Europeans view the US entry into the war?• What did US veterans encounter when they returned to the US after

the war?• One of the veterans when interviewed said, “Nobody wins in a war…

they lost, we didn’t win.” What do you think he meant by this?