APRIL 27, 2015MONDAY

• What “caused” World War I?• Who were the Allied Powers and

the Central Powers?• Why and when did the United

States enter World War I?

LT: UNDERSTAND BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT WORLD WAR 1, IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND ITS IMPACT ON THE CURRENT WORLD.

CAUSES OF WW1 – MANIA!

• Militarism – policy of building up a strong military to prepare for war

• Alliances – agreements between nations to provide aid and protect one another

• Nationalism – extreme pride in one’s country

• Imperialism – when one country takes over another country economically and politically

• Assassination – of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand

MILITARISM1910-1914: Increase in Defense Spending

France 10%

Britain 13%

Russia 39%

Germany 73%

What looks suspicious about these numbers?

DEFENSE ALLIANCES

European powers formed rival alliances to protect themselves Triple Alliance: Germany,

Austria-Hungary, Italy Triple Entente: Great Britain,

France, RussiaPROBLEM? One event could drag all countries involved into a conflict.

TRIPLE ALLIANCE

TRIPLE ENTENTE

ASSASSINATION OF ARCHDUKE- Gavrilo Princip (The Black Hand Organization)

- main objective was creation of a greater Serbia by means of violence.

THE WAR BEGINS

WORLD WARCentral Powers

Germany

Austria-Hungary

Ottoman Empire

Bulgaria

Azerbaijan

Ukraine

Allied Powers Great Britain

France

Russia

U.S.A.

Belgium

Serbia

Greece

Romania

Montenegro

Portugal

Italy

Japan

U.S. INVOLVEMENT

• Initial position was neutrality

-President Woodrow Wilson believed that all Americans needed to “act and speak in a spirit of neutrality”

-Most Americans felt Europe was too far away, and the conflict was not trustworthy

SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA

May 17, 1915

-British ocean liner Lusitania is fired upon and sunk by German U-boats off the

coast of Ireland.

-1,198 passengers killed (mostly civilian), including 128 Americans

-Broke international agreements regarding unrestricted warfare

-Enraged Americans and Allies

ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM

January 1917

-Secret German telegraph sent to Mexico

-asking for help from Mexico in fighting America in future war

-British intercept letter and share with U.S.

-Mexico quickly chooses not to join Germany

FIGHTING BECOMES STALEMATE

What is a stalemate

-Neither side can make a move to win

Reasons:

-19th century tactics, 20th century weapons

-Trench warfare

Life in a Trench

Results:

-Millions die without gaining ground

Trench Warfare

NEW WEAPONS

• Machine guns

• Poison gas

• Airplanes

• Submarines

• Tanks

RESULTS OF WW1

• Germany surrenders

• Treaty of Versailles 1919

-Declares Germany guilty for war

-Germany must pay reparations to Allied Powers

• Stage is set for WW2

• League of Nations formed to prevent future war

CASUALTIES

• Total troops mobilized by all countries in WW1

• 65,038,810

• Total troops dead from all countries in WW1

• 8,556,315

• Total troops wounded from all countries in WW1

• 21,219,452

• Total troops missing or POWs

• 7,750,945