World War I

War Begins

• Alliances– Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, Russia,

Italy, Japan, Australia, Canada

– Central Powers: Austria-Hungary, Germany, Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

German Attack

• Schlieffen Plan– Germany feared a simultaneous attack from

G.B., France, & Russia as a result of the Triple Entente

– Created in 1905 by Germany’s Army Chief of Staff

– Called for quick defeat of France• Britain and Russia would be unwilling to carry on

the fight

Schlieffen Plan Cont.

• It would take 6 weeks for Russia to mobilize for an attack on Germany– Vital that France surrender before Russia was

mobilized

• 90% of German forces would be needed to defeat France– Wanted to avoid French forts on the German/French

border– Called for an attack through Belgium, Luxembourg, &

Holland– Remaining forces would be sent east to defend

against a Russian attack– Plan revised in 1906; Holland no longer included

Germany Attacks

• August 2, 1914: Germany invades Belgium– Schlieffen Plan put into action– Belgium resists longer than Germany had

anticipated– Germany surprised by the speed of the

Russian attack on East Prussia and by the quick reaction of the British military

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War Begins

• Battle of the Marne (6, September 1914)– Allies launch fierce counter-attack against the

German Army at the Marne River– In meeting the attack the German Army is split– Germans forced to retreat– Schlieffen Plan fails, but the German retreat is

successful– German Army immediately builds trenches stretching

from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier– All hopes for a short war are lost

Warfare Tactics

• Trench Warfare– Germans had the best ground– Many allied trenches were in terrain less than

3 ft. above sea level– Most frontline trenches were 6-7 ft. deep– Parapet: front of trench, lined with sand bags– Fire steps allowed soldier to see over the top– Trenches were built with fire bays or in zig zag

patterns. Why?

Trench Foot

New Technology

• Machine Guns• Tanks• Airplanes• Blimps• U-Boats• Improved artillery• Poison gas• Flame thrower

Outcomes

• The two front war combined with the British naval blockade drained German morale and productivity on the home front.

• Unrestricted U-Boat warfare was adopted by the Germans to starve the British out of the war.

• This led to the sinking of the Lusitania, which spurred the U.S. to enter the war on the side of the Allies

Outcomes

• As the U.S. entered the war, the German & Austrian governments had ended hostilities with Russia on the Eastern front.

• Both sides looked for a quick and decisive end to the war in a battle to be fought somewhere on the Western front.

• Initial German successes on the Western front in 1918 were nullified by successful Allied counterattacks as the Americans bolstered the Allied forces.

• German losses coupled with anti-war sentiment led to a German request for armistice.

Impacts of War

• Warfare in the industrial age was much different than previous wars

• Many common tactics were outdated• Devastation was unimaginable

– Physical destruction (no man’s land)– Massive casualties– 8,500,000 dead– 21,200,000 wounded– 58% of enlistees became casualties