World War I (1914-1918)

Key People and Events

Woodrow Wilson

• President of the USA (1913-1921)– Opposed imperialism– Declared the U.S. neutral

at the outbreak of WWI– President when the US

declared war on Germany and the Central Powers in April, 1917• Unrestricted submarine

warfare• Zimmemann Message

Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941)

• German Kaiser– Wilhelm was an overtly

militaristic man– Sought to strengthen

Germany's armed forces.

– Wanted to develop a German navy the equal of Britain's Royal Navy

Archduke Franz Ferdinand• Heir to the Austro-Hungarian

throne• Visited the Bosnian capital of

Sarajevo in late June 1914• A Serbian nationalist named

Gavrilo Princip rushed his car and shot Franz Ferdinand and his wife to death.

• Following his assassination, the Austro-Hungarian government decides to crush Serbia in order to prevent Slavic nationalism from undermining its empire.

Arthur Zimmerman• A German official who sent a

note to the German ambassador in Mexico in January, 1917 known as the Zimmermann telegram.– Instructed him to make an offer to

the Mexican government:• Mexico should ally itself with

Germany in the event of war between Germany and the USA

• In return, Mexico would regain its “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona” after the war

• The note made Americans angry and convinced many to enter World War I on the side of the Allies

Lusitania

• A British liner, one of the world’s largest passenger ships, sunk without warning in May, 1915 by German. U-boats (submarine)

• Killed 1,198 people (including 128 Americans).

Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution

• In April 1914, President Wilson ordered US troops to seize the Mexican port of Veracruz to help Venustiano Carranza overthrow the government of Victoriano Huerta.

• Huerta had overthrown the democratically elected president of Mexico led by Francisco Madero and killed him.

• Wilson was outraged and refused to recognize the Huerta’s government.

• Wilson used the invasion as a pretext to help Carranza seize power and prevent Mexican nationalists like Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata from seizing power.

Pancho Villa and the Mexican Revolution

• Feeling betrayed, Pancho Villa led a group of Mexican guerrillas in an attack on the small town of Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. – Villa’s force burned the town and

killed several Americans– Wilson responded by sending

6,000 U.S. troops led by General John J. Pershing into Mexico to capture Villa

– Pershing did not succeed and was later recalled and sent to Europe when the US entered WWI

Czar Nicholas II• Leader and last Czar of the

Russian empire • Ascended to the throne in

1894• In March, 1917, after three

long years of war and scarcity of food and fuel, Russians rebelled against Czar Nicholas II.

• He abdicated the throne in February, 1917

• He was executed by the Bolsheviks in July 1918

Vladimir Lenin• Leader of the Bolshevik Party, a

group of Communists in Russia.• Helped organize the overthrow

of the Russian government in November, 1917.

• After taking power, he agreed to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany on March 3rd, 1918. – Withdrew Russia from WWI– Russia ceded the Ukraine, its

Polish and Baltic territories, and Finland to Germany

John J. Pershing

• Commander of the American forces in World War I.

• Led American forces at the Battle of the Argonne Forest

Battle of the Argonne Forest

• Turning Point of WWI– Began on September 26th,

1918– Led by U.S. General John J.

Pershing – Involved 600,000 American

troops

• Americans suffer heavy losses, but shatter the German defenses

• Germany later surrendered on November 11th, 1918

• Armistice: cease-fire

Europe after World War I (1923)

Europe Before/After WWI