THE E

ND OF

WW

I: 1917-

1918

GERMANY’S UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE

Germany began using “unrestricted naval warfare”

They said they would attack any ship

America would not like this because _________?

UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE

Germany began sinking ships, including ones that had American passengers on board

The most famous was the Lusitania (1915)British ship (unarmed but carrying munitions)They were warned to stay away – didn’t listen1,198 people died128 were American

UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE

U.S. and Germany signed the Sussex Pledge in 1916 to stop unrestricted naval warfare

In 1917 Germany threatened to start up again this helps turn the tide for the U.S. to enter the war

ZIMMERMANN NOTE

German foreign minister sent a telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico

The British intercepted the note – showed it to the U.S.

Suggested an alliance between Germany and Mexico

If war broke out with the U.S. Germany would support Mexico and help them regain territories in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico

AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR

• President Wilson asked Congress for war on April 2, 1917

• Congress voted in support for war against Germany on April 4, 1917

• U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917

• America was slow in moving their troops to Europe didn’t make much of a difference until 1918

GERMANS TURN THEIR ATTENTION TO THE WEST

• With the removal of Russian from the

war (1918) Germany turned their full

attention to the west

• French army was in fully mutiny

• The Austrians with Germany support

defeated the Italians

• Central Powers were only checked with

the arrival of U.S. support

GERMANY’S LAST OFFENSIVE

• March 1918 Germany gambled everything on a last offensive This was Germany’s attempt to end WWI

• Was actually successful at first but the supply lines could not keep up with the troops and it began to disintegrate

• U.S. troops kept arriving and supporting the British – Germany’s worst scenario

• Between March – July 1918 Germany lost over 1,000,000 men

THE ARMISTICE

• November 11, 1918 the Germans agreed to an

armistice

• November 9 Kaiser William II abdicated

• Government was replaced by the majority

branch, the Social Democratic Party Germany

was now a republic (soon known as the German

Republic or the Weimar Republic)

• The German people were largely unaware of

what was happening at the end of the war and

believed they had been tricked into peace

EFFECTS OF WWI

• European population decimated “The Lost Generation”•9.4 million soldiers died•15.3 million wounded•Millions of civilians died

• German, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russian, and Turkish empires were gone

• Disappointment, resentment, economic disaster led the way for: cynicism, nihilism, dictatorship, fascism, statism, racism, and class warfare

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

• U.S. = President Woodrow Wilson

• Britain = David Lloyd George

• France = Georges Clemenceau

• Italy = Vittorio Emanuele Orlando

• The “Big Four”

• Met at Versailles

• Germany and Russia are excluded

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

• Main Aspects:

•Demilitarized Germany• 100,000 men• 6 battleships, no submarines•No air force

• Land was handed over, lost overseas colonies•Germany forbidden to unite with Austria• Pay reparations•Accept the “War-Guilt” Clause • League of Nations

• Five separate treaties in all