A Review of World War I

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A Review of World War I

• Part 1 War Breaks Out in Europe

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I. The Start of WWI

• A.  Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria
• visits Sarajevo on a Serbian national
• holiday.
• 1. June 28, 1914 was Serbias
  Independence Day.
• 2. The day was also a day of mourning to
• commemorate a military defeat
  centuries before.
• B. Ferdinand and his wife are shot and
• killed by a Serbian nationalist/patriot
  .
• C. One month later, Austria declared war on
• Serbia. One by one, the nations of
  Europe
• chose sides and the Great War (WWI)
• began.

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II. Causes of World War I

• A.  Imperialism -
• 1. Britain, France, Germany and Italy
  competed for colonies in Asia and
  Africa.
• 2.  Germany was jealous of the other
• imperialist nations because
  it did
• not have as many colonies.
• Germany felt it deserved
  more.

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• B. Nationalism -
• 1. European nations wanted to prove that
  their individual nation was the best.
• 2. They felt that their countrys interests
  were far more important than the others.
  This created arrogance!
• Militarism This is the belief that a nation
  needs a large military force. European nations
  were building up their armies and navies during
  peacetime to show their power to the world.

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• D. Alliances In 1914, a tangled network of
  competing alliances bound European nations
  together. An attack on one nation forced its
  allies to come to its aid. A small conflict
  could become a larger war.
• European nations had divided into 2
  opposing alliances
• The Central Powers Austria-Hungary, Germany,
  Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.
• The Allied Powers (the Allies) Serbia,
  Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy, and seven
  other countries.

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III. New Methods of Warfare

• A.  Trench Warfare (troops huddled in rat
  infested trenches and fired artillery and
  machine guns at one another cost
  thousands of lives with little gain)
• B.  New Technologies
• 1. Tanks (a British invention)
• 2. Poison gas (burned and blinded
  soldiers)
• 3. U-boats or submarines (guns
  torpedoes to block
  trade sank over 11 million tons
  of Allied shipping)
• 4. Airplanes (first major combat
  used - Manfred von Richthofen (the Red
  Barron) shot down over 80 planes (5
  Ace)
• 5. Machine gun (fired 600 bullets a
  minute)

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IV. The US Switches from Neutrality to an Ally
Power.

• A.    The Germans sink the Lusitania, killing
  1,198
• people including 128 Americans.
• 1.  It was a British passenger
  ship.
• 2.  The event turned many
  Americans
• against the Germans.
• B. Zimmermann Telegram -
• 1. A telegram written by a German
  foreign
• minister (Arthur Zimmermann)
  that was
• intercepted by the British.
• 2.  Germany was trying to persuade
  Mexico to join
• the Central Powers. Germany
  promised to help
• Mexico get back the colonies it
  lost to the US
• in the Mexican-American War.
  (Texas, New
• Mexico and Arizona)
• 3. This news made Americans furious.

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A Review of World War I continued . . .

• Part 2 America Joins the Fight

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I. The Draft Begins

• A. The draft started so that the
• government could fulfill its need for
  
• troops. (The US had less than 200,000
  soldiers.)
• B. In May 1917, Congress passed the
• Selective Services Act, which
• required all males between the ages
• of 21 and 30 to sign up for military
• service. By the end of 1918, nearly 3
  
• million men had been drafted.

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II. The U.S. Enters the War

• A. By the time the first American troops arrived
  in
• June 1917, the Allies had been at war
  for
• almost three years.
• B. The troops helped shift the balance in favor
  of
• the allies by giving the other Ally
  countries a
• morale boost.
• C. Americans were proud of the contribution
  their
• troops made to the war effort.
• (About 2 million American soldiers
  went to France. Around
• 400,000 African-Americans also
  served in the armed forces and
• it was the first time in US
  history that women served in the
• military.)

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III. Armistice Day

• A. On November 11, 1918 at 11am (the
• 11th hour of the 11th day of the
  11th month)
• the Germans agreed to an armistice
• or an end to fighting. (Armistice
  Day)
• B. About 8.5 million soldiers (5 million
• Allied/3.5 million Central Powers)
  died
• in the war and about 21 million were
• wounded.

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A Review of World War I Continued . . .

• Part 3 Life on the Home Front

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I. The Wartime Economy

• A. War bonds were low interest loans by
• civilians to the government, meant to
  be repaid in a number of years.
• B. The war brought more government
• control of the economy. To produce
  
• such needed war supplies, President
• Wilson set up the War Industries
• Board.

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II. Propaganda

• A. Propaganda - opinions that are
• expressed for the purpose of
• influencing the actions of the people.
• B. Patriotic propaganda did much to win
• support for the war however its anti-
• German/anti-foreign focus also fueled
• prejudice. Suddenly people distrusted
• anything German.

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III. Influenza Epidemic

• A. After the war, in the year 1918, a
• deadly flu epidemic swept the globe.
• B. The epidemic started in an army
• training camp in Kansas and spread
• rapidly through the air.
• C. The flu killed more than 20 million
• people on six continents by the time
  
• it disappeared in 1919.

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A Review of World War I The Dramatic
Conclusion!

• Part 4 The Legacy of the Great War

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I. Wilsons Fourteen Points

• On January 8, 1918, President Wilson outlined his
  vision for the postwar world in a plan known as
  the Fourteen Points.
• The Fourteen Points were a list of specific
  proposals for postwar peace.
• Key goals of the Fourteen Points
• End secret alliances
• Encourage free shipping
• Remove barriers to trade
• Reduce armies and navies
• Resolve colonial claims
• Support the right of people to choose their
  own government
• Settle border disputes
• Establish the League of Nations

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II. Treaty of Versailles

• A. Conditions of the Treaty
• 1. Germany had to pay 33 billion in
  reparations
• in order to pay for the
  destruction that it
• caused during the war.
• 2. Germany had to admit its guilt for
  causing the
• war.
• 3. Large empires like Austria-Hungary and the
• Ottoman Empire were divided up.
• 4. The League of Nations was created.

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• B. Aftermath of the Treaty
• 1. Due to stress, Woodrow Wilson suffers a
  stroke in
• September 1919. (In 21 days, he
  traveled almost
• 10,000 miles and gave over 30
  speeches.)
• 2. The Senate refuses to approve the League
  of
• Nations treaty.
• 3. League of Nations is formed without the
  US.
• C. Results of the Treaty
• 1. It failed to make Europe safer without
  the US in
• the League of Nations.
• 2. Germans grew resentful because of
  admitting
• guilt and paying reparations.
• 3. Germany goes through a Depression.

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German Economic Problems After WWI

• In January 1921, German currency was worth 64
  marks to the dollar.
• By November 1923, one dollar was worth
  4,200,000,000,000 marks.
• Price of a Loaf of Bread 1918 just over
  half a mark
• 1922 163 marks/loaf
• 1923 (Nov) 201,000
• million marks/loaf

• Treaty of Versailles
• (limitations)
• Type Amount Allowed
• Planes 0
• Warships 6
• Soldiers 100,000
• Conscription Banned
• (involuntary labor demanded by an established
  authority)