World War I and the Aftermath

By: Whitney R. McBethOak Grove High SchoolHattiesburg, MS 39402

Setting the Stage• At the end of the 1800s (19th Century)

and beginning of the 1900s (20th Century), Europe was setting up for a major conflict.

• Many powers were involved and many factors were the cause.

Causes• Aggressive Nationalism

– France v. Germany– Pan-Slavism in Eastern Europe

• Imperialism• Militarism and the Arms Race• Alliances

– Triple Alliance/Central Powers (Germany, Austria & Italy)

– Triple Entente/Allied Powers (France, Britain, Russia [1914-1917] and U.S. [1917-1918])

The Guns of August• Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-

Hungary decided to visit Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia).

• Many Serbs and Slavs lived in Bosnia and didn’t like that they were controlled by Austria-Hungary.

• Many people living in Bosnia and neighboring Slavic nations were unhappy with the visit.

• The Serbian terrorist group carried out an assassination of the Archduke and his wife on their visit.

• Princip, a member of the Black Hand, was captured and imprisoned for the assassinations.

• The emperor of Austria-Hungary wanted Serbia to turn Princip over to him. They refused and the war was on!

• Germany promised to support Austria-Hungary if they took action.

• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.

• Serbia received helped from its fellow-Slavic country, Russia.

• Germany declared war on Russia.• France declared war on Germany and

Germany, in turn, declared war on France.

• Britain tried to stay out of the conflict but was not successful.

• Germany planned to fight France and Russia using the Schlieffen Plan.

• This means they would defeat France quickly and then turn their attention toward Russia.

• In order to fight France they would have to cross into neutral Belgium.

• Britain vowed to protect Belgium’s neutrality and was eventually drawn into the conflict.

The Course of the War• When battle on the Western Front

(French/German border) took longer than expected, both sides “dug in” to the countryside.

• This type of fighting was called Trench Warfare.

• Battles like Verdun and the Somme took months to fight with no true victor.

• New technology aided both sides:– Machine guns-good for “No Man’s Land”– Poison gas– Gas masks– Tanks– Planes– U-Boats--German weapon of choice!

• Fighting also occurred in Eastern and Southern Europe, as well as in the Colonies.

The Cost of War• At the beginning of WWI, Europeans

everywhere were excited about the conflict.

• However, they changed their minds as it became a total war.

• Total war is the channeling of a nation’s entire resources into a war effort.

• European governments enacted the Draft.

• Governments raised taxes and rationed supplies to send to the war front.

• Above all, governments had to get the public involved in the war effort, so they waged a propaganda war.

• Propaganda-the spreading of ideas to promote a cause or to damage an opposing cause.

Examples of Propaganda

• Women joined the war effort by taking on many men’s jobs while they were fighting.

• This kept Europe’s many economies going strong.

• Women also became nurses to help on the war front.

• Women’s role in World War I helped them gain the right to vote in places like Britain and the United States.

• In the meantime, Russia had to pull out of the war in 1917 because Communists were trying to take over there.

• However, the U.S. joined the Allies in 1917 for a couple of reasons:– Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

• Sinking of the Lusitania• Sinking of the Sussex• Violation of the Sussex Pledge

– Cultural Ties to the Allies– Zimmermann Note-Germany plea to get Mexico to

distract the U.S. for the duration of the War.

• When the U.S. joined, morale was restored to the Allied Powers.

• Within a year, the Central Powers surrendered.

• President Woodrow Wilson of the United States took the lead in deciding the terms of peace.

• He issued his 14 Points, his post-war plan for the world:– Reduction of Arms– Self-determination for Eastern Europe– Peacekeeping organization for the world

Making the Peace

• At the end of the war, millions had died in war related deaths.

• The physical, economic and social structure of European countries were destroyed.

• The Treaty of Versailles promised to solve the problems the war had created.

• The leaders of Britain, France and the U.S. took the lead in the Treaty. They were known as the Big Three.

• The Treaty of Versailles made the following decisions:– Germany had to pay the Allies $30 billion in

reparations, or war payments– Limited the size of Germany’s military– Alsace and Lorraine were returned to

France– Germany was stripped of its overseas

empire– Territories around the world came under

the control of western powers

Self-Determination for Eastern Europe

• New countries were created:– Latvia– Lithuania– Estonia– Poland– Czechoslovakia– Austria– Hungary– Yugoslavia

The League of Nations• The League of Nations promised to be

the peacekeeping organization for the world after WWI.

• While it was President Wilson’s idea, Congress refused to allow the U.S. to join the organization.

• In time, it would prove to be a disaster.