Causes of World War I

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Causes of World War I
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Assassination leads to war

• Balkan Peninsula Powder keg of Europe
• 1) Ethnic Rivalries
• 2) Leading rivals had economic and
  political
• interests
• The Spark Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
  shot by Serbian nationalist

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Situation 1

• War breaks out in Europe between two great
  alliance systems
• Allies (France, Britain, and Russia)
• Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and
  Ottoman Empire)
• Archduke Franz Ferdinand is killed ( July 28,
  1914 Austria Hungary declares war against Serbia)
• US stays neutral, sells to both sides

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Situation 2

• Aug. 3, 1914 Central Power (Germany) attacks and
  quickly defeats neutral Belgium.
• Gruesome (Yellow Journalism) stories appear in
  American newspapers concerning how Germans
  treated the Belgian people.
• Schlieffen Plan hold Russia, drive through
  Belgium, on to Paris, then Russia
• US Remains neutral

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Situation 3

• Allies stop US ships and confiscates goods
  purchased by Central Power (Germany)
• They ignore formal US complaints
• The US stays neutral because (see situation 4)

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Situation 4

• 1915-1917 Allied powers blockade the ports of
  Germany. In desperation
• Central Powers launch submarine warfare to attack
  all ships sailing to and from Great Britain
• Neutral US ships were sunk
• US stays neutral under Woodrow Wilson

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Situation 5

• May 7, 1915 the US luxury liner Lusitania was
  sunk.
• 1,198 persons die (including 128 Americans)
• Germany boasts about actions
• US Public opinion begins to turn

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Situation 6

• 1915 Sussex Pledge Germany says we will sink no
  more passenger ships without warning
• March 1916 Germany breaks promise. Sussex sinks
  80 Americans killed/injured
• US warned it would break diplomatic relations in
  Germany didnt stop sinking ships
• Germany agreed if US could convince British to
  lift blockade

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Situation 7

• Wilson wins 1916 Election- Calls for peace
• Germany renewed unrestricted submarine warfare
• Zimmerman note proposed an alliance between
  Mexico and Germany and if US was defeated in war,
  Mexico could recover lost Texas territory.
• Congress declares war in April of 1917