The Great WarWhy Did It Happen?

LONG TERM FACTORS

Militarism Buildup of forces

Large standing armies

Naval race between Britain & Germany

New technologies

Alliances Secret treaties between nations

• Triple Alliance/ Central Powers

- Germany- Austria-

Hungary- Italy

* Triple Entente/ Allied Powers

- France- Russia- Great Britain- United

States in 1917

Nationalism Internal Conflict – Disputes over

territory

* Germany & France – over Alsace Lorraine

* Balkans/Slavic peoples wanting independence

Imperialism Over natural resources/markets in Asia

& Africa

* France v. Germany over Morocco* Russia v. Japan over Manchuria/Korea

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/342WorldHistoryModern.html

IMMEDIATE FACTORS

Austria-Hungary governs over Bosnia & Herzegovina

Upsets Serbia

Serbia is allied to Russia (seen as the protector of the Slavs)

- Similar ethnic

heritage

Assassination - 1914

Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to throne) and wife Sophie visit Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia)

Black Hand – Serbian nationalist/terrorist group Gavrilo Princip – assassinates

Ferdinand & Sophie

Reaction!

A-H believes Serbia plotted the murder – Gives ultimatum – final set of demands Serbia must…Crack down on anti-Austrian groupsDismiss nationalistic government officials ***Let Austria investigate in Serbia***

Austria-Hungary declares war on SerbiaRussia/Tsar Nicholas II begins to

mobilize army Germany declares war on France

(Russia’s ally)After Germany invades Belgium, Great

Britain declares war on Germany, etc., etc., etc.,

Could war have been avoided?

Germany’s immediate plan of action

Schlieffen Plan

Attack France through Belgium to sack Paris

- Move quickly before Russia

can mobilize

- Avoid fighting a two-front war

The First World War:• Why?

Long term -

1. Militarism

2. Alliance System

3. Nationalism

3. Imperialist Competition

Short term –

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his Wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg one hour before their deaths, June 28, 1914

The First World War:

Why did it take so long for America to get involved in the war?

• America was isolationist • “Why should I get involved in someone

else’s problems”

Thinking Slide:

•Is isolationism really an option for a country as powerful as the United States?

Which side should the US pick?

•11 million German-Americans •Irish-Americans hated Great Britain

•Close cultural ties •Shared transatlantic cables (so censored stories)•Big business loaned much $ to allies

Central Powers: Allies:

Nations 1914 1915 1916 Britain $594,271,863 $911,794,954 $1,526,685,102 France $159,818,924 $364,397,170 $628,851,988 Germany $344,794,276 $28,863,354 $288,899

US Exports to both sides:

What did it take to get the US involved?

•Britain blockaded (stopped) all German ships going to America

•Germany announced a submarine war around Britain

Y-53 German Submarine 1916

What did it take to get the US involved?

•Lusitania torpedoed, sinking with 1200 passengers and crew (including 128 Americans)

•Was eventually found to be carrying 4200 cases of ammunition

German Propaganda Justifying Lusitania sinking

What did it take to get the US involved?

•The US sharply criticized Germany for their action

•Germany agreed not to sink passenger ships without warning in the future

Note in Bottle After Lusitania Disaster

What did it take to get the US involved?

Zimmerman Note

•US intercepted a note from Germany to Mexico,

•It promised Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona back in return for an alliance

What did it take to get the US involved?

•Zimmerman Note + the sinking of 4 unarmed American ships led to a declaration of war

How was the war looking for the allies?

•Russia left the war after its communist revolution in 1917

•Made it a one front war for Germany - all its troops could concentrate on France

Not Good...

Convincing the American People

• Posters - Gee!!

•How do you think this poster helped to convince the American people that the war was a good idea?

Convincing the American People

1. War to End All Wars

Idealism: 2 Goals For War:

2. Making the World Safe for Democracy

Convincing the American People

Idealism: Fourteen Points

What? President Wilson’s Plan for after the war

•Fourteen promises, including freedom of the seas & a League of Nations to work for peace

President Woodrow Wilson

What did the US do to help?

• Convoy system helped to provided food and money

• Selective Service Act – provided fresh troops needed to win the war

• Shipyard workers “exempt”

American Troops March Through London

Supplies:

The Armed Forces

• Selective Service Act (1917) draft: 2.8 million draftees, 2.9 million volunteers

• Eventually 2 million were sent to Europe

• African Americans - 400,000 served, few officers; served in segregated units (369th Infantry, one example)

• African Americans hoped service abroad = equal rights at home (not so)

Trench Warfare

Going over the top!

No man’s land

New Weapons in World War I

Machine Guns

Browning Machine Guns used by British and American forces - water cooled and fires 450 to 600 rounds a minute

New Weapons in World War I

Poison Gas was first used in 1914 by the French

Gas masks were needed for soldiers and horses

“Gas was one of a soldier’s greatest fearseven though only it killed only 3% of soldiers in the war.”

New Weapons in World War I

Tanks were first used in 1916 by the British.

tanks frightened the Germans, but they were rather unreliable and broke down often.

New Weapons in World War I

U Boats – German submarines unrestricted submarine warfare

New Weapons in World War I

German U Boat attacking a US ship in 1915.

New Weapons in World War IAirplanes First used for observation, Later pilots were dropping bombs and shooting at each other.

German Tri Plane

British Sopwith Camel

Wartime Public Opinion

• Committee on Public Information – PROPAGANDA agency in America (George Creel) “do your bit” for the war

– Popularize war– Recruit volunteers– Raise money

• Positives: Promote patriotism

• Does propaganda have a negative impact?

• Hate the Hun, Liberty Cabbage, Liberty measles, Liberty pups, Can the Kaiser

25_10.jpg

Your Mission

Design an ad campaign to urge people to do one of the following:

*help produce & conserve food for the war effort

*buy bonds to support the war*volunteer for the military or red cross

Your ad poster must be creative, colorful and neat!! You will be graded on effort,

NOT artistic ability.

Mobilization in the USA

• Espionage & Sedition Acts – restrict civil liberties

• War Industries Board (Bernard Baruch) coordinated production and price controls

• Food Administration (Herbert Hoover) voluntary efforts to conserve food for soldiers

• Financing - Liberty Bonds

American Society• Women took men’s jobs

while men were “Over There” led to Nineteenth Amendment

• Mexicans - left Mexico (upheaval and revolution) and took jobs in American West

• African Americans - Great Migration to northern cities for job opportunities and to escape poverty