World War I (1914-1918)

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World War I (1914-1918)

• Chapter 14

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I. The Road to War

• Hidden Causes of WWI existed well before 1914
• Imperialism
• -European powers had been building empires for
  centuries
• -the colonies supplied European powers with raw
  materials

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I. The Road to War

• -European powers competed for territory around
  the world which
• -led to conflicts in those areas
• Militarism
• -def policy of building up a nations armed
  forces in preparation of war
• -empires were expensive to build and defend
• -by 1890, the strongest European nation was
  Germany

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I. The Road to War

• -England was not concerned because they had the
  strongest navy in the world
• -in 1897, Germanys Kaiser (emperor) decided
  that his nation should also become a major sea
  power
• -Germany and England began to compete in the
  building of warships
• -France, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. quickly
  joined the naval arms race

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I. The Road to War

• Nationalism
• -def a devotion to the interests and culture
  of ones nation
• -often leads to competition and rivalries among
  nations
• -many feared Germanys growing power in Europe
• -also, various ethnic groups resented domination
  by others and wanted their nations to become
  independent
• -those ethnic groups looked to larger nations
  for protection

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I. The Road to War

• -Russia viewed itself as the protector of
  Europes Slavic peoples, no matter which govt
  they lived under
• -ex the Serbs Serbia was an independent
  nation, but millions of ethnic Serbs lived
  under the rule of Austria-Hungary
• -that led to a rivalry between A-H and Russia
  for influence over Serbia

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I. The Road to War

• Alliances
• -def a formal agreement or union between
  nations
• -developed in Europe during the late 1800s
• -designed to increase a nations security and to
  defend each other during an attack

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I. The Road to War

• -two great alliances formed in Europe by 1907
• a. Triple Alliance Germany, Austria-Hungary,
  Italy
• b. Triple Entente England, France, Russia

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I. The Road to War

• Immediate Cause of WWI (sparkplug) was
• -the assassination of Archduke Franz
  Ferdinand and his wife Sofie on June 28,
  1914
• -he was the heir to the throne in Austria-
  Hungary
• -shot while visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia, which was
  a province of A-H
• -killed by Gavrilo Princip (19 yrs old), a
  member of the Black Hand (terrorist group
  promoting Serbian nationalism)

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I. The Road to War

• After the assassination, A-H met with Germany
• Germany issued the Blank Check- promise to back
  Austria-Hungary up if they went to war
• -July 28 A-H blamed the Serbian govt and
  declared war on them
• -July 29 Russia, Serbias protector, began
  mobilization (the readying of troops for war)
• - Germany, A-Hs chief ally, demanded that
  Russia stop mobilizing
• - Russia refused Russias ally, France,
  began mobilization as did Germany

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I. The Road to War

• -Aug. 1 Germany declared war on Russia
• -Aug. 3 Germany declared war on France
• -The U.S. remained neutral

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I. The Road to War

• Germany knew it would be forced to fight a
  two-front war (East and West) eventually
• sothey had a plan called the Schlieffen Plan
• -called for a quick strike on France to knock
  them out of the war and then they would turn
  and attack Russia

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II. War Begins

• To get to France as quickly as possible, the
  German Army passed through Belgium, a neutral
  country
• -the invasion brought England, Belgiums
  protector, into the war on Aug. 4
• -Germany had hoped England, with the worlds
  strongest Navy, would stay out of the war

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II. War Begins

• After the start of the war, countries in Europe
  began to take sides
• Central Powers Allied Powers (Allies)
• Germany France Russia
• A-H Italy (1915) Serbia
• Bulgaria Romania Greece
• Ottoman Empire (Turkey) Montenegro Portugal
• Belgium U.S. (1917)
• Great Britain

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II. War Begins

• The war reached a stalemate, a situation in which
  neither side could gain an advantage, on the
  Western Front (in France)
• -the Allies began to dig trenches to help reduce
  casualties and the Germans did the same (trench
  warfare)
• -the move to the trenches prolonged the war
• -heavy casualties resulted from soldiers going
  over the top into no mans land (area between
  the trenches)

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II. War Begins

• New Weapons used during WWI
• Machine gun forced the soldiers to the trenches
  fired up to 450 rounds a minute
• 2) Tanks first used by the British used
  mainly to smash barbed wire fences to clear the
  way for the infantry (foot soldiers)
• 3) Poison gas chemical warfare used by the
  Germans first

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II. War Begins

• U-boats German submarines
• -attacked without warning used to fight the
  British blockade
• -interfered with American trade and threatened
  the safety of Americans
• 5) Airplanes used only for observation at
  first
• -later armed with machine guns and bombs
• -Manfred von Richthofen Red Baron (German ace
  pilot shot down over 80 planes)

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II. War Begins

• The U.S. remained neutral at first and continued
  to trade with both sides
• -we were an isolated country at that time

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III. U.S. Declares War

• 3 Major Events led the U.S. to join the Allies
• Germanys use of unrestricted submarine warfare
  Ex
• a. Sinking of the Lusitania (May 7, 1915)
  British passenger liner sunk by a German u-
  boat because it was secretly carrying
  weapons for the Allies 1,200 died (128
  Americans)

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III. U.S. Declares War

• Election of 1916 Pres. Wilson ran under the
  slogan He kept us out of the war and was
  re-elected
• Feb. 1, 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted
  submarine warfare thought they could defeat the
  British and win the war before the U.S. could
  make a difference

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III. U.S. Declares War

• Zimmerman Note / Telegram German foreign
  secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, made a secret offer
  to Mexico
• -if they would attack the U.S., then they
  would be given back the lost territory in TX, AZ,
  and NM
• -the note was intercepted by the British
• -neither Wilson nor Mexico took the note
  seriously
• -however, the American public called for war

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III. U.S. Declares War

• Revolution in Russia March 1917, Czar Nicholas
  II was overthrown and replaced by a republican
  (democratic) govt
• -since a czar was no longer in power, the
  U.S. viewed Russia as an acceptable ally
• -this was the last stumbling block to a full
  Am. commitment to the Allies

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III. U.S. Declares War

• Pres. Wilson asked Congress to declare war on
  Germany saying
• The world must be made safe for democracy.
• War was declared on April 6, 1917

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V. Americans on the European Front

• American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) led by Gen.
  John J. Pershing
• -arrived in Paris on June 14, 1917 provided
  reinforcements to British and French troops
• -U.S. soldiers nicknamed doughboys

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VI. Postwar

• An armistice (cease fire) was signed on Nov. 11,
  1918 (11th hour, 11th day, 11th month)
• WWI Casualties
• -Russia 9 million -Germany 7 million
• -France 6 million -A-H 7 million
• -England 4 million
• -U.S. 364,000

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VI. Postwar

• Pres. Wilsons Plan for Peace
• -to prevent future world wars he outlined his
  goals in his Fourteen Points speech before
  Congress included
• Ban on secret treaties / alliances
• Freedom of the seas
• Reduction of arms

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VI. Postwar

1. self-determination, or power to make decisions
   about ones own future, for all A-Hs ethnic
   groups
2. League of Nations international org. that would
   help keep world peace and maintain order

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VI. Postwar

• Paris Peace Conference (Jan. 1919) attended by
  the Big 4 (leaders of the 4 major Allied
  powers)
• Woodrow Wilson (U.S.)
• David Lloyd George (G.B.)
• George Clemenceau (France)
• Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

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VI. Postwar

• -remember Russia had dropped out of the war in
  1917 and Italy joined Allies in 1915
• -Goals Wilson concerned about world peace
  brought 14 Points with him the other 3 leaders
  wanted to punish Germany (esp. France)

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VI. Postwar

• -Treaty of Versailles officially ended WWI
  compromise included
• War Guilt Clause forced Germany to take the
  blame for starting the war (big mistake!)
• Germany stripped of all colonies and loses some
  land in Europe
• -Alsace Lorraine back to France, territory taken
  from Germany and used to create Poland, Rhineland
  becomes a DMZ between France and Germany
• Germany forced to pay reparations (payment for
  damages) to Allies - 33 billion total

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VI. Postwar

• German military restricted
• -not allowed to have Air Force
• -navy restricted
• -army reduced to 100,000
• League of Nations created

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VI. Postwar

• Germany signed it on June 28, 1919
• Republicans in Congress were upset that they were
  not represented in Versailles (Wilson was a Dem.)
• -so they refused to approve the treaty The
  U.S. never joined League of Nations (very weak
  without U.S.)