Title: The First World War Adapted from McIntyre at http:worldhistory.pppst.com
1The First World War Adapted from McIntyre at
http//worldhistory.pppst.com
- U.S. government WWI posters
2The First World War
What?
- War involving nearly all the nations of the world
3The First World War
Long term causes 1. Militarism 2. Alliance sy
stem 3. Imperialism 4. Nationalism (Memory tip
Think MAIN.)
Short term cause Assassination of Franz
Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
4The First World War
Central Powers
Allies
- Germany
- Austria-Hungary
- Ottoman Empire
- Bulgaria
- Russia
- France
- Great Britain
- Italy
- Japan
- United States (1917)
5The First World War
6Why did it take so long for America to get
involved in the war?
- America was isolationist.
- Why should I get involved in someone elses
problems?
- The Monroe Doctrine (1823) sought to
isolate the American
continents from European
influences and problems.
7Thinking Slide
- Is isolationism really an option for a country
as powerful as the United States?
- What are the disadvantages of isolationism?
- What are the advantages?
8Which side should the U.S. pick?
Central Powers
Allies
- 11 million German- Americans
- Irish-Americans hated Great Britain
- Close cultural ties to other allies
- American, England, and Frances economies were
increasingly interdependent.
US Exports to both sides
9What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
1. Blockades
- Britain blockaded (stopped) all German ships
going to America.
10What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
1. Blockades
- May, 1915 Germany told Americans to stay off
British ships, and they could and would sink
them.
- Germany torpedoed the Lusitania, sinking it with
1200 passengers and crew (including 128
Americans).
- It was eventually found to be carrying 4200
cases of ammunition.
11What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
1. Blockades
- The US sharply criticized Germany for its
action.
- Germany agreed not to sink passenger ships
without warning in the future.
12What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
2. Unlimited Submarine Warfare
- In 1917, Germany announced unlimited
submarine warfare in the war zone.
- Otherwise, Germanys blockade would not be
successful.
13What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
3. Zimmerman Note
- The U.S. intercepted a note from Germany to
Mexico.
- It promised to give Texas, New Mexico,
and
Arizona back to
Mexico in return for an
alliance and attacking
the United States.
14What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
- The Zimmerman Note and the sinking of four
unarmed American ships led to a declaration of
war.
15How was the war looking for the allies?
Not Good...
- Russia left the war after its communist
revolution in 1917.
- Russias withdrawal allowed Germany to fight a
one- front war with all its troops concentrated
on France (remember this point when you study
WWII!).
16Convincing the American People
- How do you think these posters helped to
convince the American people that the war was
a good idea?
17Convincing the American People
Idealism 2 Goals For War
- Wilson had to convince American that this would
be the War to End All Wars.
- He had to convince American that beating the
Germans and its allies would make the world safe
for democracy.
18Convincing the American People
Idealism Fourteen Points
President Wilsons Fourteen Points was his vision
for the future after the war, including freedom
of the seas and a League of Nations to work for
world peace.
19What did the U.S. do to help?
Supplies
- The U.S. provided the food, money, and fresh
troops needed to win the war.
20How did the war affect the U.S.?
Women
- Women filled factory jobs
- Womens war effort helped bring about passage of
the 19th Amendment after the war giving women the
right to vote.
African Americans
- Black soldiers still served in segregated units.
- In the Great Migration thousands of African
Americans moved to the North to work in factories.
21How did the war affect the U.S.?
Enforcing Loyalty
- Hatred of all things German spread across the
U.S. For example sauerkraut was renamed
Liberty Cabbage.
- The Espionage Act 1917 and the Sedition Act of
1918 punished those against the war, many of
whom were labor leaders.
22What ended the war?
The Treaty of Versailles
- After the Central Powers were exhausted by the
war, especially after the US began fighting, it
sought an armistice (the end of fighting).
- The Treaty of Versailles (ver-sigh)
was signed
between the Allied powers
and Germany. - It took land away from Germany.
- It dismantled Germanys military.
- It forced Germany to make reparations
(payments) to the countries it harmed
in the war.
- This treaty so destroyed the German economy and
the morale of the German people, that within 20
years, they would start another world war.
23Extend your learning
Movies
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- A Farewell to Arms
- Gallipoli
- Paths of Glory
- Wings
Literature
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- A Farewell to Arms
- Johnny Got His Gun
- Under Fire