The Great War- World War I

Lesson 17: 1914-1919

World War I was from 1914-1918.

The U.S. would not enter the war until 1917.

Countries from all over the world participated in the conflict, but it

started mostly in Europe.

WWI grew out of the world powers expanding and coming

into conflict because of imperialism.

WWI is also known as the Great War, the War to End All Wars, and

the Imperialist War.

Many new technologies and weapons would be utilized for the

first time during the war.

The imperial nations in Europe as well as others in the world

were practicing ideas that helped lead to a global conflict.

Among these were imperialism, militarism, nationalism, and

secret alliances.

Each of these helped to bring about war in their own way.

As countries competed for power, the people of each country took pride in its success.

A wave of nationalism, or pride in one’s country swept Europe.

Each country took pride in being the best, the strongest, or the most powerful when it could.

Nationalism also applied to ethnic groups living within countries.

Nations are groups of people, countries are political units of government.

Multiple nations can live within one country.

In the Balkan region of Europe, many different ethnic groups wanted to separate themselves from the country of Austria-Hungary.

One of these groups was the Serbians, who had more ties to the country of Russia than to Austria-Hungary, which controlled them.

Russia wanted these groups who had stronger ties to them to break away from Austria-Hungary, but it would most likely have meant war.

The countries of Europe were all looking for new areas to trade and new territories to add to

their empires.

The British and French were both concerned over the growing

power of Germany.

As countries spread out and expanded, tensions grew.

Each nation thought it would need more strength to protect

itself from the growing power of the others.

This led to an arms race of major countries in the world.

Imperialism and expansion led to militarism, the building up of the armed forces.

The military was not just strengthened, but glorified.

Being a soldier was seen as heroic and full of adventure.

The leaders of the military became leading figures in the major imperial nations.

Everyone built more ships and trained more troops to protect territorial gains as well as

their homelands from other imperial nations.

As one nation increased the size and power of its military, the others did as well. This is

known as escalation.

Fear of one country using its new powerful military on another became a real

threat in Europe.

Hoping to avoid attacks, the countries of Europe

formed alliances, or agreements to come to each others’ defense if

attacked.

These alliances ensured that any kind of conflict would quickly involve

multiple countries.

This threat of an escalating conflict kept countries from being aggressive… at first.

The major European

countries carefully chose an alliance to join to protect themselves, but also to hopefully avoid a military

conflict.

Two major alliances formed:

The Triple Alliance and the Triple

Entente.

Other countries would later choose to help one side or

the other.

The Triple Alliance included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

Later on the Triple Alliance will be known as the Central Powers

The Triple Entente included Great Britain, France, and Russia.

Later on the Triple Entente would be known as the Allies.

The Balkans is an area in southern Europe that includes Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It is named for the the Balkan Peninsula.

The small countries on the peninsula were battling for territory after the Ottoman Turks had given up control of the area.

Austria-Hungary had annexed (added) Bosnia-Herzegovina to its territory, angering the Russiansand the Serbians.

Most people in the Balkans were Slavic, speaking languages and having customs that were more similar to the Russians than the Austria-Hungarians.

Displeasure with the Austrians led to Serbia taking action.

World War I began with a murder.

While visiting the city of Sarajevo, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was

murdered by Serbian Gavrilo Princip.

Princip represented a group called the Black Hand.

Ferdinand had been sent by the Emperor of Austria-Hungary to examine the status

of the region after Bosnia-Herzegovina had been added to Austria-Hungary.

Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and had plans to regroup and take over much of the Balkan Region.

His death led to a declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia.

When Austria-Hungary declared war, it set off a chain of events because of the alliance system already in place.

3 days after war was declared, Russia began to mobilize (prepare for war) all of its armed forces on July 31, 1914.

In response, Austria-Hungary’s ally Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, and Russia’s ally France on August

3.

Germany invaded Belgium, a neutral country on August 4. That same day Great Britain, ally of France and Russia, declared war on Germany after promising Belgium it

would protect them.

Europe had exploded, and World War I officially had begun.

More than 20 countries would participate before the war ended. The Ottoman Turks would join the Central Powers

in the war against France, Great Britain, and Russia.

Germany had plans long before WWI began on how to deal with France and Russia, who were allies.

Germany is between the two countries, which would force them to fight on both sides of their country.

German General Alfred von Schlieffen, suggested that the Germans knock out France quickly, to avoid a two

front (war on two sides) war.

His plan became known as the Schlieffen Plan.

His plan led the German army through neutral Belgium to reach France quicker.

The Belgians were led in their defense by King Albert, but failed to stop the Germans from reaching France.

The British and French armies however received much needed time to prepare for the German Army, that

met the Allies at the Marne River.

The German Army was only 30 miles from the capital of France, Paris.

The British and French fought the Germans at the Battle of the Marne, halting the German advance and preventing them from

getting to Paris to capture France.

Both sides lost half a million (500,000) soldiers.

After the Battle, both sides began a long stalemate where neither side had the advantage.

The result was the digging in on both sides and the formation of long trenches for defense.

These trenches would be in place for over 3 years, with neither side able to move forward very far without being stopped.

Trenches became the homes of soldiers on the front lines, and were the only protection they had from machine guns, artillery,

and snipers.

New technologies helped make World War I much more deadly.

Airplanes began to be used to spy and provide reconnaissance. They also could drop grenades from

above.

The tank was invented to bridge the gap between trenches, and overrun enemy defenses.

Machine guns sprayed bullets across No Man’s Land by the thousands, cutting down anyone who tried to attack

the other side.

Artillery (cannons) shelled the other side from miles behind enemy lines.

The worst however was gas attacks. Poison gas would be released with the capability of blistering the skin of the

enemy (mustard gas), or choking and suffocating the enemy (chlorine gas).

The area in northeastern France where the trenches formed was known as the “Western Front.”

Between the Allied and German trenches was an area known as “No Man’s Land” where barbed wire, mines, craters, and dead bodies.

Both sides would order charges across No Man’s Land to the other set of trenches are were mowed down by machine guns, grenades, enemy soldiers, and artillery.

Soldiers would fight over small amounts of land, with the two lines moving only feet, at the cost of thousands of lives.

Trenches filled with mud and water from rain, and soldiers were constantly being shelled (bombed) from the other side. Rats, lice, frogs, were also all over. Disease spread easily.

Wet feet led to trench foot, a condition that would require amputation.

Each morning both sides would start their day with “Stand To”, with everyone ready for a morning attack from the other side. This was repeated at dusk in case of a night attack.

The trenches were filled with the smells of rotting bodies, overflowing latrine holes, the odor of dirty soldiers, mud, poison gas, smoke, and disinfectants.