World War I: The Great War

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World War I The Great War

• PowerPoint Presentation by
• Mr. Hataway
• La Vega High School
• Created 11/11/04
• Revised 10/11/11

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U.S. Enters the War
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American Neutrality

• Wilsons Proclamation of Neutrality in 1914.
• American tradition stay out of European affairs
• maintain economic ties with both sides

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Reasons for U.S. Entry to WWI

• German Proclamation (1915)
• Said waters around British Isles were considered
  an official war zone.
• Germany attempted to sink any ship that entered
  this area.
• Unrestricted submarine warfare

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Reasons for U.S. Entry to WWI

• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
• German submarine torpedoed British ocean liner
  Lusitania off southern coast of Ireland,
  resulting in death of 128 Americans in May 1915.
• Sink the Sussex in March 1916

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German U-Boats

• German U-Boats, or submarines
• (German Unterseeboot)

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Reasons for U.S. Entry to WWI

• Sussex Pledge (1916)
• Germany makes a pledge not to sink merchant ships
  without warning (did not uphold their pledge)

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Reasons for U.S. Entry to WWI

• Jan. 1917
• Germany resumes U-Boat attacks on U.S. ships.
• Diplomacy failed to call off unrestricted
  submarine warfare.

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Reasons for U.S. Entry to WWI

• Historic Ties to Great Britain
• The U.S. conducted a significant amount of trade
  with Great Britain which would be affected if
  Germany won the war.

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Reasons for U.S. Entry to WWI

• Zimmerman Telegram
• British intelligence intercepted the Zimmerman
  telegram which revealed Germanys plan to
  approach the Mexican government for a military
  alliance.

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U.S. Declares War

• Wilsons 2nd term
• began in March 1917
• April 2, 1917
• Wilson asks Congress to declare war to make the
  world safe for democracy

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Moving Toward War (cont.)
What events led to the United States declaring
war against Germany?
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Moving Toward War (cont.)
The British navy blockaded Germany to keep it
from getting supplies. To get around the
blockade, Germany deployed U-boats. The
Lusitania, a British passenger liner, was hit by
the Germans, killing almost 1,200 passengers
including 128 Americans. A German official,
Arthur Zimmermann, cabled the German ambassador
in Mexico, proposing that Mexico ally itself with
Germany. In return, Mexico would regain territory
it had earlier lost to the United States. The
Zimmermann telegram was intercepted by British
intelligence and leaked to American newspapers.
In February 1917, Germany went back to
unrestricted submarine warfare and, soon after,
sank six American merchant ships. On April 6,
1917, the United States declared war against
Germany.
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WWIMobilizing Americas Home Front
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Essential Question

• How did Americans help with the war effort
  (mobilize) at home?

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Home Front

• The Draft
• Passage of the Selective Service Act (May 1917)
• Men age 21 to 30 (later 18 to 45)
• Put 3 million men into uniform

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Home Front

• The Draft
• Women not drafted.
• Women served in non-combat positions
• Nurses, secretaries, and telephone operators.

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Home Front

• Selling the War
• Increased the income tax
• Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds
• loan to the government
• government used famous artists to make posters,
  and used movie stars to host bond rallies.
• Al Jolson, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and
  Charlie Chaplin were among the celebrities.

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Home Front
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Home Front

• Economic Effects
• WWI led to great levels of industrialization in
  the U.S.
• Increase exports
• Increased agricultural production

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Home Front

• Constitutional Issues
• Soon after declaring war in 1917, Congress ruled
  that the U.S. mail could not be used for sending
  any material urging treason, insurrection or
  forcible resistance to any law.
• Punished offenders with a fine of up to 5,000
  and a five-year prison term.

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Home Front

• Constitutional Issues Schenk v. the United
  States (1919)
• Supreme Court ruling limiting individuals
  freedom of speech if words spoken constitute a
  clear and present danger.
• Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

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The American Expeditionary Force in WWI
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Contributions of the A.E.F

• American Expeditionary Forces
• U.S. military sent to the Western Front (France
  predominately).
• Fought alongside British and French allied forces
  the last year of World War I.
• Nicknamed the Doughboys

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Contributions of the A.E.F

• General John J. Pershing
• Commander of the American Expeditionary Forces.
• Nickname Black Jack
• Insisted on an American Army, not divisions
  fighting for British and French militaries.

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Battle of Argonne Forest

• September 26 - November 11, 1918
• a.k.a. the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
• Part of the final Allied offensive of World War I
  that stretched along the entire western front.

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Battle of Argonne Forest

• Objective was the capture of an important
  railroad/train station which would break the rail
  network supporting the Germany Army in France.
• Allied victory in the battle is credited for
  leading to the Armistice.

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Sergeant York

• Alvin York
• Most decorated American soldier in World War I
• Awarded the Medal of Honor for leading an attack
  on a German machine gun nest.

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Sergeant York

• Alvin York
• Took out 32 machine guns, killed 28 German
  soldiers, and captured 132 others.
• Event occurred during the U.S.-led portion of the
  Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France.

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Wars End

• Ottoman Empire (Turkey) surrendered Oct. 31
• Austria-Hungary granted cease-fire on Nov. 4

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Wars End

• Armistice Day
• 11/11/1918 at 1100 a.m.
• cessation of hostilities on the Western Front
  between Germany and the Allied Powers
• German Kaiser, Wilhelm II abdicated thrown Nov. 9

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Weapons of World War I
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New Weapons of War

• The Tank
• First introduced by the British

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New Weapons of War

• Big Bertha
• Long range cannon
• Could fire a shell up to 9 miles

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Impact of Significant Technological Innovations
in WWI

• Machine Guns
• Relatively new technology at the beginning of the
  war.
• Many difficulties with keep machine cool.
• Made it nearly impossible to cross defended
  ground.
• Late in war used on tanks and airplanes.

British gun crew firing a Lewis machine gun
during WW1, circa 1918
German infantrymen operating a Maxim machine gun
during World War I
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New Weapons of War

• Machine guns
• The 1914 machine gun, usually positioned on a
  flat tripod, would require a gun crew of four to
  six operators.
• 90 of deaths in WWI caused by machine guns

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New Weapons of War

• Flame Thrower
• Could be used against tanks

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Impact of Significant Technological Innovations
in WWI

• Airplanes
• Early in the war used as spotters.
• Planes were unarmed but pilots would carry
  handheld weapons.
• Later larger plan4es crated and able to bomb the
  enemy.

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New Weapons of War

• Airplanes
• Observation and dog fights

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Impact of Significant Technological Innovations
in WWI

• Poison gas
• Chlorine gas and Mustard gas
• Sometimes used to create a smoke screen to hide
  attacking soldiers.
• Used to force evacuation of enemy trenches.

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New Weapons of War

• Poison Gas (and the gas mask)
• First use of poison gas (chlorine gas) introduced
  by the Germans on 22 April 1915, at the start of
  the Second Battle of Ypres
• Over 100,000 deaths and millions of casualties.

German Gas Canisters
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New Weapons of War

• Submarines
• Called U-boats by the Germans

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Impact of Significant Technological Innovations
in WWI

• Trench Warfare
• Resulted in stalemate on the Western Front
• Form of warfare in which combatants occupy
  fighting lines, comprised of trenches.
• Area between opposing trench lines was known as
  no mans land.

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Trench Warfare
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New Weapons of War

• Trench Warfare
• Snipers
• Rat infestation
• Lice and trench fever
• Boredom
• Patrols in no mans land
• Smells and poison gas

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Some information and pictures obtained from
www.firstworldwar.com
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Major Issues of WWI
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Major Issues of WWI

• World War I
• Isolationism v. Internationalism
• Self-determination of all peoples

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Major Issues of WWI

• Fourteen Points Plan
• League of Nations and its defeat in U.S.
• How its defeat defined our international position

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Major Issues of WWI

• Treaty of Versailles
• Unjust treatment of Germans in Treaty of
  Versailles, including the reparations payments
• Established new political boundaries in Europe.