World War I“The Great War”

1914 - 1918

Important things to remember…

EUROPE IS A CONTINENT NOT A

COUNTRY

WAR BEGINS AND THEN THE US

ENTERS

“WORLD WAR” MEANS MANY COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD AT WAR AT THE SAME TIME…DOESN’T MEAN

THE ENTIRE WORLD IS AT WAR

Franz and Sophie Ferdinand Heir to Austro-Hungarian Empire Assassinated June 28, 1914 by the

“Black Hand” A group of Bosnia Herzegovina who

wanted to leave the Austro-Hungarian Empire and join Seria

First hand account Recipe for WWI

Causes of War

After the Ferdinand’s death Austria-Hungary issued Serbia an unacceptable ultimatum, to which Serbia consented almost entirely.

Germany promises to back Austria-Hungary

Russia promises to back Serbia and France promises to back Russia

Falling Dominoes (1914) July 28 -Austria-Hungary declared war on

Serbia August 1 - Germany declared war on Russia August 2 – Germany declared war on France Belgium wanted to remain neutral, but

Germany invaded Belgium to attack France. This prompted Britain to declare war on Germany.

World War I had begun.

AlliesAllied Powers

or AlliesBritainFranceRussia

Italy (1915)

Central Powers

Austria-Hungary

Bulgaria

Germany

Ottoman Empire

So what was everyone’s problem?

Ethnic Groups! Many ethnic groups made up large

empires in Europe (Austria-Hungary Empire)

Each ethnic group wanted to be free of their empire to form their own country (Bosnia-Herzegovina or “Black Hand”)

Each ethnic group felt nationalism towards their group not their country

Other problems in Europe

Countries felt they needed strong militaries to be safe. As one country’s military increased, other countries felt unsafe and increased their military.

This lead to countries making alliances with each other and becoming allies, incase a war ever broke out.

US Involvement

May 7, 1915 a U-boat (submarine) sank the British passenger ship the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland.

128 Americans were killedWe decide to wait…

1917 Germany said they would sink any ships in British waters

German U-boats sank 3 US merchant ships, killing many Americans

April 6, 1917 the US joined the Allied Forces

“The world must be made safe for democracy.”

Changes in the US - Men Military Draft – the military did not have

enough people so the “draft” was created How the draft worked:

1. Men between the ages of 18-30 had to register with the Draft Board

2. As more people were needed, names were pulled to send men over to war

Changes in the US - Women

Women were not allowed to fight in war

Women were allowed to serve in medical jobs in the war

Women had to take over jobs that were left by men who were overseas

Women on the Farm

Woman in a Factory

Changes in the US – Daily Life War Industries Board – helped to

insure products that were needed for the war were made

Food Administration – paid farmers to raise more crops to send overseas and asked Americans to conserve food by growing “Victory Gardens”

Changes in the US – Daily Life Fuel Administration – helped save fuel

and coal, created Daylights Savings time (work during daylight hours so no fuel is needed for lights)

Taxes and War bonds – taxes were increased and the government sold war bonds (you invest your money in government and they pay you back after war)

Victory Garden Poster

New Weapons German machine gun – fired hundreds of

rounds per minute British tanks German poison gas Gas mask provided protection for G.P.G Airplanes and bombs dropped by them German U-boats or submarines

Gasmask and Machine Gun

Gas mask

Tank

Airplane (Possible)

Aircraft Carrier (USS Langley)

German U-Boat Captured by US

New War Techniques U-boats to surprise attack No-Man’s-Land – territory, between

trenches, that was covered in barbed wire, land mines, and bombs (p. 298)

Dropping bombs from planes Tanks to plow over dangerous land Throwing gas into tanks because bullets

and bombs didn’t hurt them

The War Ends

November 11, 1918

Germany surrenderedGermany signed an

armistice (very much like a treaty)

Treaty of Versailles

Ended WWI and set up the League of Nations

US Senate did not approve of the treaty and did not vote for it

Isolationism

Remaining separated from the rest of the world

Isolationism describes the attitude the US Senate wished the US would return to after WWI