World War I and Its Aftermath

Causes of the WarGreat War BeginsU.S. Enters the War

SSUSH15: The student will analyze the origins & impact of U.S. involvement in World War I.

M.A.I.N. Causes of World War I

1. Militarism: Germany, Great Britain, Russia, France and Austria-Hungary all were building up their armies and preparing for war which made war more likely to occur.

2. Alliances: European countries created complicated system of alliances designed to help each other out. It bound countries together should war break out.

3. Imperialism: Scramble to gain colonies by all the major European powers. Sharpened rivalries among the nations.4. Nationalism: Pride in one’s country and desire to see it be the greatest power bolstered support for war.

o Ethnic diversity in Austria-Hungary. Ethnic groups wanted to be their own nations.

Alliances: these were made before WWI beganTriple Entente

France

Russia

Great Britain

Triple Alliance Austria-Hungary

Germany

Italy

Spark of the War…

•Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 by a Serbian nationalist—Gavrilo Princip

• Member of the Black Hand Party

•Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia•Germany: ally of Austria-Hungary; declared war on Russia•In one week Britain & France had declared war on Germany

Alliance System

Central Powers

1. Germany

2. Austria-Hungary

3. Ottoman Empire

4. Bulgaria

Allied Powers

1. France

2. Russia

3. Italy: turned on their TA partners & joined the Allies in 1915

4. Great Britain

5. Serbia

6. United States-- 1917

Germany’s Military Strategy Goal: massive attack against France to defeat the

country quickly, this would leave GB alone on an island

Schlieffen PlanGerman forces would avoid the French-German

border by invading France through Belgium First Battle of the Marne

Germans invaded France, Allies pushed back to the Marne River; Allies pushed the Germans back & both sides started digging in by building trenches

War Becomes a Stalemate 1915: both sides occupied trenches running for

hundreds of miles from the North Sea to Switzerland Land separating the 2 sides: No Man’s Land; filled

with barbed wire & land minesNew type of fighting: trench warfare

Massive artillery barrages, soldiers would go over the top & charge across No Man’s Land

War becomes a stalemate; no side was gaining any ground

Battle of Verdun

Took place in Verdun, France On the Western Front Longest battle of the war Lasted 9 months Over 1 million casualties on each side; half of

those were deaths Both sides tried to wear the other side; war

turned into a war of attrition

The American Response President Wilson proclaimed American neutrality at the beginning of the war

Tension increased between the US & Germany over unrestricted submarine warfare by German U-Boats (Submarines)- attacking ships thought to carry weapons for the Allied Powers

Germany attacked the Lusitania (British Passenger ship); 128 Americans killed; Americans were outraged

Germans warned they would sink anything in the Atlantic Ocean

U.S. was told the Germans would stop using submarine warfare but it did not

Then America Declares War Zimmerman Note– sent by Arthur Zimmerman

of Germany to the Mexican government; urged Mexico to attack the U.S. (Mexico could then gain back lands taken by the U.S.); Arizona, New Mexico, & Texas

Finally on April 6, 1917 the U.S. declares war on Germany

Woodrow Wilson:“It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace.”

Zimmerman Note

America Prepares Congress initially sent $3 billion in loans to the Allies, naval

support, arms, supplies and 14,500 troops. American soldiers called “doughboys”- inexperienced, but fresh troops

May 1917—Congress passes the Selective Service Act (the draft) authorizing young men to enlist in military service. By November 1917, 24 million men had enlisted and the U.S. had picked 3 million draftees to serve in the war.

Convoy System—By April 1917, German U-Boats had sunk 430 Allied ships. Starting in May, all ships carrying soldiers traveled in a convoy which was a group of unarmed ships surrounded by a ring of destroyers, torpedo boats and other armed naval vessels. No other soldiers were killed while crossing the Atlantic