World War I

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World War I
Warm-Up Please answer the following question-
Why is World War I known as the Great War?
John Nash, Over the Top, oil on canvas Source
http//www.art-ww1.com/gb/index2.html
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I. Long Term Causes of the War

1. Modernization in Europe
2. Imperialism
3. Militarism
4. Nationalism
5. Complex Systems of Alliances

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II. The Belligerents

• Triple Alliance
• Germany
• Austria-Hungary
• Italy

• Triple Entente
• France
• Russia
• Great Britain

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III. The immediate causes of World War I

• Contributing Causes of World War I
• Assassination of Austro-Hungary Archduke Franz
  Ferdinand
• National desires for empire, wealth and
  territory
• Treaties that if one country went to war, more
  would follow
• Social turmoil brought about by the Industrial
  Revolution
• Miscalculation by rulers and generals in power

The Great War was without precedentnever had so
many nations taken up arms at a single time.
Never had the battlefield been so vastnever had
the fighting been so gruesome. Jay Winter
and Blaine Baggett The Great War and the
Shaping of the 20th Century
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IV. World War in 5 Days

• July 28, 1914 Austria-Hungary declares war on
  Serbia, confident with German backing.
• July 29 - Russian government orders mobilization
  of forces.
• August 1 France honors treaty with Russia and
  begins to mobilize forces and minutes later
  Germany does as well.
• August 3 German troops enter Belgium expecting
  France to surrender before the British get
  involved.
• August 4 Britain demands German withdrawal from
  Belgium, Germany refuses and Britain declares war
  on Germany.

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V. The Western Front

• A. Intention
• Germany tried to take France quickly in the
  Western Front and then turn to fight Russia
• B. Reality
• battle lines formed in northeastern France
• Little change (Stalemate)
• C. Battles on the Western Front
• Verdun -680,000 causalities
• Somme Over one million casualties

The Schlieffen Plan
Battle of Verdun, 1916
Battle of the Somme, 1916
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The Western Front
Key Military Technologies
Machine Guns Good for defense, useless for
offensive moves Trenches Dug for defense and
also communication trenches Poison Gas Used by
both sides Tanks Introduced in Battle of the
Somme by British
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VI. The Eastern Front

• Russian lack of modern technology
• caused Russia enormous defeats
• Treaty signed with revolutionary government in
  Russia
• lost one-fourth of country

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VII. The Balkan Front

• A. Ottoman Empire joins Central Powers
• Old rival of Russia
• The allies abandoned attempts to land in Balkans
  after losing
• Allied Victories
• Limited
• Only real victories in the Middle East

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VIII. The Italian Front

• A. Italians joined Triple Entente in 1915
• B. Fought Austria-Hungary

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IX. New Weapons Used in the War
Deadly Pigeon German plane used to bomb Paris
World War I marked the first use of chemical
weapons, the first mass bombardment of civilians
from the sky and the centurys first genocide.
Jay Winter and Blaine Baggett The
Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century
Picture posed in France to illustrate effects of
phosgene gas
Turkish ethnic cleansing practices killed over a
million Armenians
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X. Results of Modern War

• Massive Human Casualty
• Tactics of sending masses of men toward enemy
  didnt work against modern weapons
• Britain suffered 57,470 casualties on the first
  day of the Battle of the Somme
• Trench Warfare
• 475 miles of trenches were dug across northern
  France
• British troops used over 10 million shovels
  during the war
• Life in the trenches
• Charging over the top crossing no mans land to
  reach enemy trenches
• Boring terrifying and caused shell shock
• Horrible living conditions

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XI. Effects of the war on the Home Front

• A. Mobilizing for the total war
• B. Home front sacrifices
• Governments controlled industries, supplies
  through rations
• Lives of Women Impacted

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XII. The War Ends

• Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were first
  Central Powers to be defeated
• Revolts inside Austria-Hungary and Germany helped
  end the war quickly
• German republic proclaimed and new German leaders
  signed the Armistice ending the Great War on
  November 11, at 11 A.M.
• The Return Home