Read the excerpt and examine the picture on P. 742 and answer these questions:

1. Should you always support a friend, no matter what he or she does?

2. What might be the risks of refusing to help an ally?

3. What might be the consequences of a war involving all of Europe?

• Started on July 28, 1914• Ended on November 11, 1918

• Almost 10,000,000 dead. *** Russia the most = 1.7 million• Another 20,000,000 wounded…..•and another 8 million are missing. And that’s just the military casualties – it doesn’t include civilians.

• Map of Europe greatly changed.

Extreme nationalism – pride in country Imperialism --- Militarism – glorifying military power and

building up military Alliance system - <KEY REASON>

PROBLEM? One event could drag all countries involved into a conflict.

Describe the formation of the Triple Alliance by Bismarck. Otto von Bismarck freely used war to unify Germany. After 1871 Bismarck declared Germany to be a “satisfied

power.” Saw France as their greatest threat. In 1879, Bismarck formed the Dual Alliance between

Germany and Austria-Hungary. 3 years later, Italy joined the two countries, forming the Triple Alliance.

What actions did Wilhelm make to destroy the peace that Bismarck had created?

1. Lapse of the Treaty between Russia – Russia formed a defensive military alliance with France in 1892.

2. Competition with British navy.3. Alarmed, Great Britain began to enlarge its own fleet. 4. Triple Entente – Britain, France, and Russia.

The stage is set for the major conflict. What would set off this amazing blaze?…..

Massive amounts of different ethnic groups with nationalistic ambitions.

Balkan groups struggle to make their own nations. What new nations were formed?

Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. Describe the conflict between Austria and

Serbia/Russia:1. Serbian nationalism 2. 1908 Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina –

these were two Balkan areas with large slavic populations. Serbian leaders had sought to rule these provinces were outraged.

A Shot Rings Throughout Europe -

The main objective of the Black Hand was the creation, by means of violence, of a Greater Serbia.

Its stated aim was: "To realize the national ideal, the unification of all Serbs. This organization prefers terrorist action to cultural activities; it will therefore remain secret."

The one event that started the Great War happened in the Balkans.

The Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Austria) was assassinated while visiting Bosnia.

The Black Hand was responsible….

Franz

Franz’s wife, Sophie

Franz and Sophie arriving

in Sarajevo.

Sophie was shot in the

abdomen and Franz in the neck. They

both die within 15 minutes.

Princep, second from right, being

arrested moments later.

The car.

Franz’s last words were, “Sophie dear, don't die! Stay alive

for our children!”

• Austria moves to punish Serbia, Russia comes to the aid of Serbia, and then all those alliances engage as everybody declares war on everyone else in a tragic domino effect.

• Traditional warfare

• Traditional tactics utilized mass infantry formations, where you just have a lot of foot soldiers lined up or charging together.

• Those classic images of the rows of soldiers lining up and firing at each other is an example.

• They did this because they used muskets, most of which have smoothbore barrels and all were relatively slow-firing.

Steps for Loading a Muzzleloader 1. Measure powder charge. 2. Pour measured powder down barrel. 3. Place patch and ball on muzzle. 4. Tap ball into barrel with starter. 5. Take out ramrod. 6. Ram ball down barrel. 7. Be sure ball is completely seated. 8. Clear vent hole with pick if necessary. 9. On flintlock muzzleloader, pour powder into pan and close frizzen. 10. On percussion lock muzzleloader, place cap on nipple.

• The introduction of rifled barrels changes this. Rifled barrels have spirals grooves going down the barrel that put a spin on the bullet as it exits. This spin stabilizes the bullet in the air and makes it much more accurate.

• Think of the rifling as being like putting a spin on a football.

• The spin makes it fly straight because it stabilizes the ball. Without the spin, there’s no telling what will happen.

Musket accuracy Rifle accuracy

• Bolt action meant that a bolt at the breech could be operated, which ejected the spent casing and, unless it was single shot, load another cartridge in the process.

• This allowed for much more rapid firing.

• The British used the Lee-Enfield rifle.

• The Germans relied on the Mauser Gewehr 98.

• The Americans used the Springfield M1903.

• WWI also saw the introduction of machine guns.

• These were automatic weapons capable of firing 400-600 rounds per minute of belt-fed ammunition. Compare that with maybe 12-15 rounds a minute for the bolt action rifleman.

• The machine guns were big and heavy, though. They typically weighed anywhere from 70-120 pounds. This meant you tended to have gun emplacements with a crew operating them.

• The big problem with them is keeping them cool. Such a high rate of fire produced a lot of heat that could overheat the barrel. The early varieties used water cooling systems.

There was a water jacket around the barrel connected to a pump to dissipate heart. They’d still only last about two minutes without fresh cool water. Crews would

sometimes use their own urine if water wasn’t available. This is a British Vickers.

John Browning’s version.

• Artillery had also become a lot better with rifled barrels and high explosive shells.

• The German Big Bertha was a 43 ton artillery piece capable of lobbing a 2,200 lb. shell 9 miles.

15 inch howitzer

• The big daddies were the railway guns.

French Cyclone railway gun in Belgium.

French 320mm gun. That’s a bore of 12.6 inches.

French 274mm gun. WWI gun used by the Germans in WWII and captured by the Americans.

• The big one was the Germans’ Paris gun, so called because they used to shell Paris… from 75 miles away.

• It was capable of firing a 210 lb shell 81 miles (that was after it could reach an altitude of 25 miles).

• The shell would take nearly three minutes to hit its target and the rotation of the earth had to be taken into account when calculating its aiming trajectory.

• Most artillery pieces were, of course, much smaller and some were mobile. They were used to great effect during the war. It’s estimated that nearly 32 million shells were fired in the Battle of Verdun alone.

• It was during WWI that the term “shell shock” was coined. Most modern memoirs describe that the most unnerving maddening thing in battle is artillery detonations.

• And finally, chemical weapons get experimented with.

• Tear gas gets used first and then it escalates to chlorine gas, which produces a greenish cloud that very quickly destroys lung tissue as the soldier dies choking, vomiting, and in general agony.

• It was deadly if inhaled, but easy to counteract by either getting to higher ground or just covering the mouth with a damp rag. And it was easy to see coming.

• Next used is phosgene, a chlorine hybrid gas. It wasn’t as obvious as normal chlorine and didn’t cause the initial choking, meaning more gas would be inhaled and it was therefore deadlier. It was also more difficult to protect against than chlorine.

• It could take 24 hours for symptom onset, though.

• The big one was mustard gas, which is a mustard color and smells mustardy (when mixed with other stuff), but it isn’t related to ordinary mustard. It causes blistering of the skin and the interior of the lungs as well as blindness.

• It could penetrate clothing.

• Mustard gas produces blistering on any skin it touches within 4-24 hours of exposure. It strips away the mucous membranes causing a great choking pain.

• Eyes become red and swollen and may go blind.

• It was actually fatal in only about 1% of cases, but it was completely incapacitating. Defense against it was hard too since it could saturate clothing, the ground, and be absorbed through the skin.

• Recovery could take one or two months.

• Gases were typically “administered” either through opening up gas cylinders or through artillery shells.

WWI images. Warning for what’s next.

Modern images of mustard gas victim from the Iran-Iraq War.

“You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees!!”

the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I. February 1916 – December 1916

Two million men were engaged.

The intention of the Germans had been a battle of attrition in which they hoped to bleed the French army white.

In the end, they sustained almost as many casualties as the French; an estimated 328,000 to the French 348,000.

Map 31.1: Major U.S. Operations in France, 1918

Figure 31.1: Approximate Comparative Losses in World War I

First war to be fought on 3 continents. First industrialized conflict. First use of chlorine & mustard gas. First use of the flame thrower. First tank battle. First use of mass airplanes. First use of x-ray in the military. First use of a blood bank. First use of guide dogs by blinded soldiers. First four-star general, General John J. Pershing First use of trillion in estimating war costs. First commissioning of war art for propaganda. First use of the IQ Test given to Doughboys of 1917. First U.S. president to visit a European country while in office was

Woodrow Wilson on 12/04/18.

Over the Top, Trench Coat, Ace, Buddy, Pushing up the Daisies, Red Tape, Zoom, Sniper, Washout, Cootie, Tune Up, Zero Hour, Busted, Ticked Off,Put a Sock in it, Hit the Deck, Washout, Rookie, Coffin nail, Fed Up, Rise & Shine, Pipe down, Mess up, Get knocked off, Hike, Gadget, Kick the Bucket, Rank & File, Chow Down, Cushy, Scrounge, Humdinger, Basket Case