World War I1914-1918

Causes of WWI

Militarism

• European nations built large armies.

• Europe became a armed camp.

• The only way for European nations to settle disputes was war.

Nationalism

• Ultra Nationalism• Europeans supported

their own governments even if it meant war.

• France wanted revenge against Germany.

• Slavic peoples wanted their independence.

Navalism

• England’s status as the number one naval power was being challenged by Germany.

Imperialism

• Competition for colonies and trade led to rivalry and tension among European countries.

The Alliance system

• The crisis became an international crisis when war was declared and the system of alliances went into effect.

The Alliance System

• In order to maintain a Balance of Power Europe became divided into two camps.

The Agreements

The Sides

• The Allies:• France• Russia• England• The Triple Alliance• Germany• Austria-Hungary• Ottoman Empire

The Spark that set off the “powderkeg”

• In June 1914 the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist group lit the fuse that set off WWI.

The Schlieffen Plan

• The Schlieffen Plan was Germanys plan for WWI.

• It called for Germany to attack and defeat France through Belgium.

• Germany could then turn and defeat Russia.

Characteristics of WWI

Trench Warfare

• After Germany’s failure to capture Paris and end the war quickly, both sides started digging trenches.

Trench Warfare

• Eventually hundreds of miles of opposing trenches stretched from the North Sea to Switzerland.

Trench Warfare

• British soldiers in their trenches in France waiting to attack.

Poison Gas

• German troops attack Allied trenches with Chlorine gas on the Eastern Front in 1917.

Poison Gas

• At first tear gas and chlorine gas was used.

• Then a more deadly phosgene and mustard gas were employed.

• Carrier pigeons in the service of the German Army are put in a gas protection box.

Poison Gas

• Was first used by the Germans in 1915.

• About 79,000 people died from it’s effects.

The Machine Gun

• The machine gun became part of the infantry during WWI.

The Machine Gun

• British machine gunners in action wearing gas masks helmets in 1916.

Trench Mortar

• This type of deadly short-range weapon was designed to be fired from the trenches.

Battlefield Communication

• German soldiers set up a light radio station on the Western Front, 1917.

The Airplane

• By November 1918 there were over 11,000 aircraft in use on the Western Front.

The airplane had many uses such as: observation, bombing, fighting in the air.

The Tank

• First introduced in 1917.

• The tanks of WWI were slow and easily defeated.

• The tank would be modified and became an offensive weapon in WWII.

The Armistice

• On the eleventh day, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh month . The great war ended.

• On November 11, 1918 Germany agreed to an Armistice.

The Armisitice

• On November 11, 1918 Germany agreed to an Armistice.

The Treaty of Versaille

The Terms

• Germanys forced to accept:

• War Guilt Clause• Reparations• Loss of its colonies• Loss of European

territory.• Disarmament

League of Nations

• An international peacekeeping organization.

• U.S. did not become a member.

• The league was doomed to fail.

New Nations

• Hungary• Poland• Yugoslavia• Czechoslovakia

Woodrow Wilsons Fourteen Points

• President Woodrow Wilson Wilson presented his plan for world peace Which included:

Fourteen Points

• Open Covenants• Freedom of the seas• Reduction of armaments• League of Nations• Adjustment of European boundaries in

accordance with the principles of Self Determination.