World War I

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World War I
APWH Unit 6

• The Great War
• The War to End All Wars
• 1914-1918

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Militarism

• The glorification of war and increase in
  military spending.
• Germany competed against Englands naval
  superiority.
• European nations were competing for colonies.
• Creating imperial tensions

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The System of Alliances

• Triple Alliance
• Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
• Triple Entente
• France, Russia, and Great Britain

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Nationalism in the BalkansPath to War

• People with diverse religions, ethnic
  backgrounds, languages.
• As Ottoman Empire receded, new nations were born.
• Russian and Austrian competed for control of new
  nations.
• Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia in 1908 and Serbia
  resents this.

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Nationalism

• Great pride in ones country or aspiring to
  become ones country.
• Germany and Italy had recently become independent
  countries.
• Many countries had fighting between different
  nationalist groups.
• Combination of militarism and imperial
  competition, created tension in Europe.

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Reasons for War

• Long Term
• Alliance System
• Imperial Competition
• Stockpiling of Weapons
• Nationalism

• Short Term
• Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria by
  a Serbian radical group.
• This was the spark that started World War I.

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The Alliance System Leads to War

• After the assassination, Austria-Hungary declared
  war on Serbia.
• Russia supported Serbia and Germany supported
  Austria-Hungary.
• Within one week, almost all of Europe was at war
• Germany declares war on Russia and France
• Britain declares war on Germany

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Alliances of the War

• Triple Entente (Allies)
• Britain, France, Russia, Belgium
• United States joined in 1917, Russia drops out.
• Central Powers
• Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire

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Fronts of the War

• Western Front
• Northeastern France
• Major Battles
• Verdun and Somme
• Eastern Front
• Russian border
• Balkan Front
• Allies gave up after major defeat at Gallipoli
• Italian Front
• Italy joined the Triple Entente in 1915.

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Western Front had over 400 miles of trenches
across Belgium and France
Most offenses resulted in heavy casualties but
gained little territory.
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Weapons of the Industrial Age

• Machine Gun
• Replaced the single-fire, short-range rifle
• Flame Throwers
• Tanks
• Airplanes
• Poison-Gas Bombs

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Artillery

• Greater power and carried much further.
• 24 million shells used in the Battle of Verdun
  alone.

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Casualties of Modern Weaponry

• 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.
• Total losses for World War I exceeded 10 million.

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Military Casualties in World War I

• Germany 1,935,000
• Russia 1,700,000
• France 1,368,000
• Austria-Hungary 1,200,000
• British Empire 942,135
• Ottoman Empire 725,000
• Italy 680,000
• Romania 300,000

• United States 116,516
• Bulgaria 87,495
• Belgium 45,550
• Serbia 45,000
• Greece 23,098
• Portugal 8,145
• Montenegro 3,000
• Japan 1,344

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War is Great...oh waitIT SUCKS

• Many Europeans looked forward to the start of
  war.
• Attitude Change.
• Soldiers changed Europeans optimistic outlook
  through letters about the horrors of the war.

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Trench Warfare

• 475 mile of trenches were dug across northern
  France.
• British troops used over ten million shovels
  during the war.
• 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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Trench Warfare was a type of fighting during
World War I in which both sides dug trenches
protected by mines and barbed wire.
Cross-section of a front-line trench 
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British trench, France, July 1916
(during the Battle of the Somme)
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French soldiers firing over their own dead
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Officers walking through a flooded communication
trench.
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Soldiers digging trenches while protected against
gas attacks
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A photograph of a man suffering from trench foot.
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Trench Rats

• Many men killed in the trenches were buried
  almost where they fell.
• The corpses, along with food scraps, attracted
  rats.
• Quotes from soldiers fighting in the trenches
• "The rats were huge. They were so big they would
  eat a wounded man if he couldn't defend himself."
  
• "I saw some rats running from under the dead
  men's greatcoats, enormous rats, fat with human
  flesh. My heart pounded as we edged towards one
  of the bodies. His helmet had rolled off. The man
  displayed a grimacing face, stripped of flesh
  the skull bare, the eyes devoured and from the
  yawning mouth leapt a rat."

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Womens Changing Role

• Worked in jobs traditionally held only by men,
  who were at war.
• Women worked in paramilitary organizations to
  support soldiers at war.
• Women discovered the benefits of financial
  freedom.
• Some refused to return to domestic service.
• Women won the right to vote throughout Europe.

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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.

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The New Europe

• Treaties similar to the Treaty of Versailles were
  signed with the other Central Powers.
• Many countries experienced a change in their
  borders.
• Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia
  lost territory.
• Many new countries were created.

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Treaty of Versailles

• Italy and Britain wanted territory.
• France wanted to punish Germany.
• Italy and United States left, leaving peace
  settlement to France and Britain .
• France and Britain created a severe treaty that
  punished Germany.
• Germany had to
• Return land to France.
• Keep area near France, called Rhineland,
  demilitarized (no military).
• Pay 32 billion dollars.
• Agree to they were guilty for the war.