World War I on the Home Front

U.S. History

Teacher Instructions• As you review the lecture with your students,

they will take notes in the Storybook: WWI on the Home Front.

• See Storybook directions to create books.• Review teacher notes under slides for specific

instructions.• You may want to give your students the

corresponding worksheet to be completed as homework.

• You can assess their knowledge at the end of the lecture with the quiz.

Statement

TRUE FALSE

Correct Answer

1. The four underlying causes of WWI were:

Militarism, Nationalism, Imperialism and Religion.

2. WWI began in 1914

3. The U.S. did not join WWI until 1917.

4. The President during WWI was William Taft

5. Germany and Austria-Hungary were called the AXIS Powers.

6. The U.S. joined the Allies.

7. Latin America was known as the “Powder Keg” of Europe

8. The Allies won WWI.

9. Over 10 million people died in WWI.

10. The immediate cause of WWI was when the Archduke of Italy was killed.

Anticipation Guide

Standard

•11.4.5: Analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front.

Objective

•Students will be able to analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front by completing a storybook.

Causes of World War I

The First World War

aka the Great War

or the War to end all wars

Film Clip; The Roots of War

Nationalism

Imperialism

Militarism

System of Alliances

Causes of WWI

Page 3

Take notes about the causes of World War

the roots of WWI were in theIndustrial Revolution

European countries industrialized and

needed new markets and sources of raw

materials – they also competed for

industrial domination

Imperialism

The need for raw materials and new markets led European powers to compete for new

territory…

European nations fought for colonies around the world, and they argued about territory

within Europe…

Militarism

Militarism Europeans

thought that great nations had

to have great armies.

The European nations built up

their military and kept them

permanently ready for war.

This would lead to trouble…

Nationalism

Nationalism• Definition: Pride in one’s country• Problems arise when there is too much

nationalism• Causes competition with other countries

for domination • Competition came from:

– Economic: wanted to control same raw materials and markets

– Political: Europeans countries wanted to prove they were the most powerful country

Alliances

Alliances• the European countries distrust one

another

• to protect themselves from being alone, all of the countries form alliances

• The Triple Entente – Great Britain, France, and Russia

• The Triple Alliance – Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

The “spark” that lit the “fire”

Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated

Austrian prince, Franz Joseph goes on holiday to Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia Herzegovina that is under

Austrian control. He is killed by members of the Black Hand – a group with ties to the Serbian intelligence. Austria makes unrealistic demands of the Serbians.

The Serbians waver and Austria declares war. Russia and Germany join in…

Page 3

Woodrow Wilson’s Intervention in WWI

• Allied Powers

• United States• Britain• France

• Central Powers• Germany• Austria-Hungary• Ottoman Empire

•When war broke out in Europe, the United States had a policy of Neutrality.

Page 4

Film Clip: The U.S. Enters the War

The United States was unable to remain Neutral because:

• Economy• Loaning Money• Submarine Warfare• Public Opinion• Zimmerman Telegram

Page 4

Economy•The U.S. had huge economic investments with the British and French. If they were to lose, then they would not be able to pay the U.S. debt back (amounting to about two billion dollars while Germany only borrowed a mere 27 million).

Page 4

Loaning Money

• If Allies could not pay back all the loans made to them by the American bankers, the US's economy could collapse.

• France and England were financing their war with U.S. loans. In addition, they were buying massive amounts of arms from the U.S. on credit. The U.S. wanted to make sure that it got paid back. Germany also purchased arms, but in a much more limited fashion.

Page 4

January 1917, Germany announces Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

In March 1915, German submarines sunk the British ship the Lusitania, killing 128 US citizens.

Public Opinion

• No one remained neutral in the United States, with many people siding with their mother country.

• Germany and the Central Powers were looked down upon because of their invasion of neutral Belgium

• Propaganda was used by both sides, with the allies being more successful.

Page 4

In February 1917, the British intercepted a telegram from the

German foreign minister, Arthur

Zimmerman, to the German ambassador in

Mexico City.

The British decoded the telegram and gave it to

the USA.

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson

asked Congress to declare war on

Germany.

• In 1917, the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies. They were unprepared for war, and were unable to quickly mobilize.

• To prepare for war, the United States:– Started a military draft– Converted factories, so that they were

making military goods– “Work or Fight” Campaign

Effects of WWI on the Home Front

• Political ramifications• Social ramifications• Economic ramifications

Page 5

Political• Committee on Public Information

was created to convince Americans to support the war by creating propaganda.

• Espionage and Sedition Acts – war protestors were imprisoned – Limited free speech

• 18th Amendment: You cannot buy, sell or make alcohol

• 19th Amendment: Women have the right to vote

• The Selective Service Act:– Created a draft

Page 5

Social• African Americans:

– had new job opportunities in the north because men were off to war

– Were able to fight in WWI

• German Americans were persecuted and attacked

• Citizens were encouraged to save money and plant “victory gardens” to grow their own food

Page 5

Economic• Businesses were

controlled by the government

• War was expensive– Government had to

raise taxes to pay for war

– Government also sold bonds

Page 5

On the Home Front• What is

propaganda?

• What was the goal of propaganda?

• Draw your own propaganda poster from the war.

Page 6

The End of the War

Film Clip; WWI Comes to an End

The War to End All Wars ended on November

11, 1918

Europe was left to wonder what had happened…

Over 65 million men were mobilized…

There were 37,500,000 casualties…

Over 8,500,000 men died

Over 21 million men

returned injured

The war cost over $31,000,000,000

someone had to pay…the question was who…

The Victorious Allies have different visions of peace

Georges Clemenceau was the French leader.

France had been invaded by Germany in 1870 and in

1914. the French wanted the Germans to be made weak

so that they would not attack them again.

The war had been fought mostly in France. The

countryside was destroyed. Villages burned and the population decimated.

Germany needed to pay to repair the damage their

invasion of France caused.

David Lloyd George was the British leader.

He publicly called for the Germans to pay for starting the war. Privately, he worried that if the Germans were too weakened,

the Communists could take over the country.

Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United

States.

He wanted to rebuild the world after the devastation

of the World War. He pushed hard for a peace that would

include an international body that would make sure

that there would be no future wars. The League of Nations was created for this purpose. Unfortunately the American public wanted the US to remain isolated and

they never joined the League.

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

January 8, 1918

Page 7

1. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

2. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.

4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

5. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

6. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.

7. secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant. • A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great

and small states alike.

8. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.

9. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.

10.A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.

11.The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.

12.Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into.

13.The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

14.An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and

Pair-Share

What were Wilson’s goals outlined in the

Fourteen Points?

Page 7

The Victorious Allies make the Germans sign a peace treaty at the Palace of Versailles

But the Germans were forced to accept very harsh conditions… the treaty would lead to future problems.

The Treaty of Versailles

• made Germany accept blame for starting the war.

• took a lot of German land away for other countries

• took German land for new countries

• split the Austria-Hungary Empire into two countries

• created many new European nations, like Poland, Czechoslavakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland

• made the Germans pay a huge financial debt to the allies – known as reparations

• created demilitarized zones

• demilitarized the German army

WILSON’S FOURTEEN POINTSSays – Means – Matters

• What was one of the main reasons Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points failed to be adopted by the Versailles conference?

– He refused to compromise his moral values

Pair-Share

• All armies are the same

• Publicity is fame

• Artillery makes the same old noise

• Valor is an attribute of boys

• Old soldiers all have tired eyes

• All soldiers hear the same old lies

• Dead bodies always have drawn flies– Hemingway’s Poem

– What point is Hemingway making about war?

Wrap-Up

• Please take out a piece of paper and title it: Quiz: WWI on the Home Front.

• Write the answer on your own paper.