Causes of the War in Europe

•Imperialism•Militarism

•Nationalism•Alliances

1

imperialism

•Competition for territory to colonize

•Mostly in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific

2

militarism

•Aggressively building up a nation’s armed forces in preparation for war

3

nationalism

•Countries act in their own best interest as a matter of pride

•The desire of ethnic minorities to create an independent homeland

4

nationalism•Germany had conquered

Alsace-Lorraine in 1871•France wanted it back

Too bad. She’s ours now.

We had her first and we

want her back.

Too bad! She’s

ours now.

nationalism• Bosnia and Serbia were inhabited

by Slavic people • Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia

in 1908• Serbia had wanted to join with

Bosnia to create a Serbian kingdom

Serbia

Austria-Hungary

SerbiaBosnia

alliances

•The great powers had promised to come to each other’s aid if attacked

5

alliances

•Germany + Austria-Hungary•Russia + France

•France + Great Britain

European Alliances Just Before the Great War

Franz Josef, Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian

Empire

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Josef

von Habsburg Lothringen

Nephew to Franz Josef, Heir to the Austrian

Throne

How the Great War Begins

• June 28, 1914 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the Archduchess Sophia make an official visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia

• Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist shoots them both with a pistol in protest over Austria’s annexation of Bosnia

6

SerbiaBosnia

Sarajevo

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

& Archduchess Sophia

June 28, 1914

Leaving for Sarajevo

The Archduke’s Car is Attacked

Gavrilo Princip Shoots the

Archduke and Archduchess

Gavrilo Princip

Member of a secret

Serbian Nationalist

society called the

Black Hand

Princip is Arrested

The Chain Reaction

• July 28 – Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

• July 29 – Russia (Serbia’s protector) mobilizes its troops

• July 30 – France (Russia’s ally) mobilizes its troops

• August 1 – Germany declares war on Russia, but plans to attack France first

7

The Chain Reaction

• August 3 - Germany invades Belgium on the way to attack France

• August 4 - Great Britain (Belgium’s ally) joins the war against Germany

• August 4 – U.S. declares neutrality

7

2

3

41

56

78

June 28 – August 4, 1914

And so . . .

“the war to end all wars”

begins.

Central Powers

•Germany•Austria-Hungary

8

Franz Josef

Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian

Empire

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Emperor of the

German Empire(grandson of

Queen Victoria)

Allied Powers

•Great Britain•Russia•France•Serbia

9

Queen Victoria of England

1837 - 1901

Grandmother of Kaiser Wilhelm II

George V Tsarina Alexandra

King George V

of England

1910 - 1936

Grandson of Queen Victoria

Cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm II & Czarina

Alexandria

King George V

in full royal regalia

Tsar Nicholas

II

Emperor of

Russia

Tsarina Alexandra of Russia

Granddaughter of Queen Victoria

Cousin of George V & Kaiser Wilhelm II

The Tsar & Tsarina

Tsar Nicholas & Family

Modern Weapons of Warfare

• Machine guns• Rapid fire artillery

• Hand grenades• Submarines

• Dirigibles (Zeppelins)• Airplanes

• Poison gas

10

Machine Guns

Lewis Air-Cooled Machine Gun

French Machine Gunners

American Machine Gunners in France

Belgium

Dog Teams Used to Pull Machine Gun Carts in Belgium

Belgian Machine Gun

Movement

More Belgians

Russian Machine Gun Captured by Germans

German Anti-Aircraft

Gun

German soldiers examine captured Russian machine

gun

Russian- Built

Machine Gun

U.S. Marines – Machine Gunners

British “mono-plane” for scouting missions

A “bi-plane” – 2 wings

French “tri-plane”

(those silly French)

Russian “super bi-plane”

(those scary Russians)

British Sea Plane

German Curved-back

Bi-plane

German Taube

Crash Landing

United States bi-planes over San Antonio, Texas

LTA’s

Lighter Than Air Airships (Dirigibles)

Dirigibles• Rigid airships made of a lightweight wooden or

aluminum frame• Covered with cloth• Filled with hydrogen gas - FLAMABLE• 400 – 800 feet long• Used primarily by the Germans and British for

reconnaissance and bombing• Called “Zeppelins” when made by the German

Zeppelin Company• Could reach higher altitudes than early planes and

difficult to shoot down• Could hover in one spot or travel up to 60 mph

British Airship - 1909

British Airship1912

British Airship and a “Blimp” 1918

German Zeppelin

German Zeppelin hovering over an airship shed

Zeppelin guarding German fleet

German Zeppelin in hanger

Zeppelin

stern (rear) view

French Reconnaissance Airship

United States

dirigible

British bi-plane

bombs a German Zeppelin

German Zeppelin wrecked in Finland

German Zeppelin shot down over England

Poison Gas

Ariel view of gas attack

German gas attack

Mustard Gas

Yperite was first used by the German Army in September 1917. It was one of the most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war. It was almost odorless and took twelve hours to take effect. Yperite was so powerful that only small amounts had to be added to high explosive shells to be effective. Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.

Mustard Gas

The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, the eyes became very sore and they began to vomit. Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It usually took a person four or five weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning.

Mustard GasOne nurse, Vera Brittain, wrote: "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-colored blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke."

World War I Mustard Gas Victim

Mustard Gas Burns

Mustard GasBurns

British Soldiers Blinded by Mustard Gas

Early Gas Mask – the

British Hypo Helmet – effective against

chlorine gas

British Small Box Respirator – first

used in April 1916 – Effective against mustard

gas

Military Training Poster

Horsies Too

Volunteers in French engineering school test masks

The “Front”

•Where the opposing sides in a war meet and engage in battle

11

Trench Warfare

• Both sides dug a system of deep trenches to hide in for protection

• Stretched for miles along the front• Muddy, lice and rat infested• Lines of trenches separated by

empty “no man’s land”

12

Stalemate

•A situation in which neither side is able to gain the advantage

13

Neutrality

•Not taking either side in a conflict

•America’s official policy until 1917

14

How America Enters the Great War

Unterseeboots•German submarines•Known as “U-Boats”

15

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

• Germany began to sink merchant ships carrying supplies to Great Britain “without warning”

• U-boats were undetectable• Passenger and merchant

ships were helpless

16

German U-boat

German U-boat deck with

quick-fire gun lowered

British sub

Quick-fire Gun

The Lusitania

• British passenger ship

• Secretly carrying weapons for Allies

• May 7, 1915 Germany sank it

• 1200 passengers died

• 128 Americans on board

17

The Lusitania Sinks

The Sussex

• French passenger ship• March 24, 1916 torpedoed by

the Germans• Killed or injured 80

passengers• 2 Americans• America threatened to cut

diplomatic ties to Germany

18

• German government again pledged not to sink passenger ships without warning

• January 31, 1917 – Germany informed the U.S. it would resume unrestricted submarine warfare the next day

19 Sussex Pledge

Zimmerman Note

• Arthur Zimmerman – Germany’s foreign secretary

• Feb. 1917 - Makes a secret offer to Mexico – if Mexico would attack U.S., Germany would reward them with U.S. land (Arizona, New Mexico, & Texas)

• Telegram is intercepted by Britain

20

The Zimmerman Telegram inDiplomatic

Code

Russian Revolution

• March 1917 – Tsar Nicholas II is overthrown and a republic is set up

• U.S. had not wanted to join sides with an autocrat

• Americans now felt more comfortable joining the Allies

21

War Resolution

• March 16–18, 1917, Germany sank 3 U.S. ships

• April 2 – Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war against Germany

• “The world must be made safe for democracy.”

• April 6 – Congress passes a war resolution

22

AEF• American Expeditionary

Force• June 1917 - 14,500 men sent

to France, led by General John J. Pershing

• Pershing recommends the army be expanded to 1 million by 1918

23

General John J. Pershing

Selective Service Act

• May 1917 - Congress authorizes the draft

• By November 1918, 24 million men had registered

• 3 million draftees sent to serve

24

Convoy• Group of unarmed ships

surrounded by destroyers and other armed naval vessels for protection

• Very successful way to get American troops to Europe

• German U-boats did not sink any U.S. troop transport ships

25

The Tide of the War

Turns

New Technology

The British develop the Mark IV tank which can roll right over trenches

The British Mark IV

Bolshevik Revolution

• November 1917 – Communists led by Vladimir Lenin overthrow the republic

• March 1918 – Lenin signs treaty with Germany, surrendering much of Russia’s western territory

26

Saving Paris

• May 1918 – German forces were only 50 miles from Paris

• American Marines and Army forces met attacking German troops just east of Paris

• Refused to dig trenches – “The Marines will hold where they stand.”

• Battle of Chateau-Thierry – half of American troops were lost

• Paris was saved

27

Meuse-Argonne Offensive

• September 1918• Over 1 million AEF troops drive

the Germans through the Argonne Forest and out of France

28

Austro-Hungarian Empire Falls

• October 1918 – Austria-Hungary breaks apart creating independent ethnic groups

• Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Hungarians

29

Armistice• October 29, 1918 – German sailors

mutiny• November 10 – Kaiser Wilhelm flees to

Holland• November 11 – The armistice is signed

and at 11 a.m. all fighting stops • “11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th

month”

30

War Casualties

• Battle Dead: 8 million– Americans – 51,000– Other Allies – 4.9 million– Central Powers – 3.1 million

• Wounded / disabled: 21 million– Americans – 206,000– Other Allies – 12.6 million– Central Powers – 8.4 million

31

Paris Peace Conference

January 1919Woodrow Wilson meets

with leaders from Britain, France,

and Italy

32

The BIG Four

Lloyd George Orlando Clemenceau Wilson

Britain Italy France U.S.

Wilson’s 14 Points

• Wilson’s plan for keeping world peace after the war. He wanted– end to secret treaties– removal of trade barriers– reduction of military forces– self-determination for ethnic groups– formation of a permanent agency

where countries could resolve disputes

33

President Wilson asks

Americans for support of his plan for the League of Nations

League of Nations

• Wilson’s plan for global security• Members of the League would

consider an attack on one to be an attack on all

• The League would have no military power

• The Senate rejected the League, believing it would draw the U.S. into future wars in Europe

34

Treaty of Versailles

• Signed June 28, 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in France

• 9 new nations formed• Ottoman Empire became Turkey• Germany forced to accept guilt for

the war and would pay the Allies $33 billion in reparations

35

The Palace of Versailles

Fighting the War on the Home Front

Economic Measures

• Liberty Bonds • Daylight Savings Time

• Food Rationing

36

Daylight Savings Time

moved an hour of daylight to the end of the

work day – saving

America’s energy

consumption

The sale of bonds to the public helped

finance the war.

Political Measures

• Immigration halted• “Hate the Hun” campaign• 1918 – Espionage and Sedition Act

prohibited– obstructing the sale of Liberty Bonds– promoting disloyalty toward the U.S.

government, the Constitution, or the military

37

How the Great War Changed Us

Political Effects of the War

•U.S. is recognized as a world military power

•U.S. becomes an economic power as bankers loaned $11 billion to Allies

38

Economic Effects of the War

• 400,000 women take men’s jobs during the war, but many are forced to quit as troops returned

• 500,000 blacks migrate from the South to the North to take industrial jobs, but face resentment and discrimination

• Economy booms during the war, but slows as troops returned home

39

Psychological Effect of the War

Feeling of gloom and disillusionment because of the terrible destruction and loss of

life

“a lost generation”

40

Cemetery at Montfaucon, France

14,246 graves

German Cemetery at Neuville-St. Vaast, France 44,000 graves

The world mourned “a lost generation”