World War I

Inevitability of war

• June 28, 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria assassinated

• July 5, 1914 Germany issues A-H “blank check” – pledging military

assistance if A-H goes to war against Russia

• July 23, 1914 Austria issues Serbia an ultimatum

The inevitability of war

• July 28, 1914 A-H declares war on Serbia

• July 29, 1914 Russia orders full mobilization of its troops

• August 1,1914 Germany declares war on Russia

• August 2, 1914 Germany demands Belgium declare access to German troops

“Belgium is a country, not a road”

• King Albert I of Belgium denied permission

• August 2, 1914 Germany declared war on France– Why??? – The Schlieffen Plan!

• August 4, 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany for violating Belgian neutrality

1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

• Many Europeans were excited about war– “Defend yourself

against the aggressors”

– Domestic differences were put aside

1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

• War would be over in a few weeks– Ignored the length and

brutality of the American Civil War

(prototype to World War I)

1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

• Belief that Modern industrial war could not be conducted for more than a few months

• “Home by Christmas”

1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

• “Fatal attraction of war”– Exhilarating release

from every day life– A glorious adventure– War would rid the

nations of selfishness– Spark a national re-

birth based on heroism

The Schlieffen Plan’s Destructive Nature

The Schlieffen Plan

• Invade western front 1st

• After defeating France concentrate on the Eastern front

• Avoid fighting a 2 front war

The Schlieffen Plan’s Destructive Nature

• Germany made vast encircling movement through Belgium to enter Paris

• Underestimated speed of the British mobilization– Quickly sent troops to

France

The Schlieffen Plan’s Destructive Nature

• Sept 6-10, 1914– Battle of Marne– Stopped the Germans

but French troops were exhausted

– Both sides dug trenches for shelter

STALEMATE

The Trenches

• Trenches dug from English Channel to Switzerland

• 6,250 miles• 6 to 8 feet deep• Immobilized both

sides for 4 years

The Trenches

http://www.information-imaging.com/speakman/wwi/trench01.html

Life in the Trenches

• Elaborate systems of defense– barbed wire– Concrete machine gun

nests– Mortar batteries– Troops lived in holes

underground

Life in the Trenches

• Boredom– Soldiers read to pass the

time– Sarah Bernhardt came out

to the front to read poetry to the soldiers

Life in the Trenches

• Trenches had horrible conditions• They were often filled with rats (thousands) and

were filled with stagnate, sitting water• Standing in this type of muddy and wet

environment would cause “trench foot”• Bodies would pile up for weeks until they could

be removed-they smells, sights and sound were unimaginable

“Death is everywhere”

• “We all had on us the stench of dead bodies.” Death numbed the soldier’s minds.

• Shell shock• Psychological devastation

“Death is everywhere”

• Mustard gas– Carried by the wind– Burned out soldier’s lungs– Deadly in the trenches

where it would sit at the bottom

Life in the Trenches

• Trench warfare baffled military leaders– Attempt a breakthrough– Then return to a war of

movement– Millions of young men

sacrificed attempting the breakthrough

Battle of Verdun

• 10 months• 700,000 men killed

Battle of Verdun

• 10 months• 700,000 men killed

The changes of war

• New weapons crippled the “frozen front”– Poison gas (mustard gas)– Hand grenades– Flame throwers– Tanks– Airplanes– Tanks– Subs

The changes of war

• Airplanes– Dog fights in the air– Bombing inaccurate– Romanticized the

battlefields– Paris and London

bombed– Pilots fired pistols and

threw hand grenades

The Eastern Front

• Russian army moved into Eastern Germany on August 30, 1914– Defeated

• The Austrians kicked out of Serbia

• Italians attacked Austria in 1915

• G. came to Austrian aid and pushed Russians back 300 miles into own territory

The Eastern Front

• Much more mobile more than the West– But loss of life still very

high– 1915: 2.5 million

Russians killed, captured, or wounded

The Eastern Front

• Germany and Austria Hungary joined by Bulgaria in Sept. 1915– Attacked and

eliminated Serbia from war

The Home Front

• Women took war factory jobs

• Received lower wages than males

• Food shortages made running a household difficult

The Home Front

• Censorship – Not told about high

death toll– Romanticized the

battlefields

“soldiers have died a beautiful death, in noble battle, we shall rediscover poetry…epic and chivalrous”

The Home Front

• Censorship “Newspapers described

troops as itching to go over the top.”

“Government reported to the press that life in the trenches promoted good health and clear air”

The Home Front

• “On Leave”

Troops would stay together so they could sympathize with each other

The Home Front

• Impossible to hide death– Women in

mourning– Badly wounded

soldiers returned home

– Opposition began to emerge

Social Impact

• Men lost limbs and were mutilated

• Birthrate fell markedly

• Invalids unable to work

• Ethnic hostility

• Influenza epidemic

Psychological impact

• “Never such innocence again”

• Bitterness towards aristocratic officers whose lives were never in danger

Complete a brief outline of the following topics

• Increased Government Powers-

• Manipulation of Public Opinion-

• Total War and Women-

• Print off –The United States Enters World War 1 handout

• Nearly 2 million American soldiers would serve in WWI. These “doughboys” a nickname for American soldiers were largely inexperienced, but they were fresh, so their presence immediately boosted the morale of Allied forces.

Winning the War at Sea

• American Admiral William S. Sims proposed using a new method for sending merchant ships and troop transports across the Atlantic. It was decided that they should travel in convoys or closely ordered groups.

• If submarines wanted to attack a convoy, they would have to get past the warships protecting it.

• The convoy system greatly reduced shipping losses and ensured that American troops arrived safely in Europe.

Russia Leaves the War

• In March 1917, riots broke out in Russia over the government’s handling of the war and over the scarcity of food and fuel.

• On March 15, Czar Nicholas II, the leader of the Russian Empire, abdicated his throne. The government was under the control of a temporary government, that favored continuing in the war. However they were unable to deal with the major problems facing the nation.

• Discussion of Russian Revolution

• Questions

• The Bolsheviks, a group of Communists, soon competed for power in Russia. In November 1917, Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, overthrew the Russian government and established a Communist government.

• Lenin’s first act after seizing power was to pull Russia out of the war and concentrate on establishing a Communist state.

• He accomplished this by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918. In this treaty Russia gave up the Ukraine, Polish and Baltic territories and Finland. Germany agreed to remove troops from all other territories.

The German Offensive Falters

• On March 21, 1918 the Germans launched a massive attack along the Western Front. Reinforced by troops from Russian front, they pushed deep into allied lines.

• American troops played an important role in containing the German offensive. American and French forces were able to block multiple German movement towards Paris.

The Battle of the Argonne Forest

• With the German drive stalled, French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, supreme commander of the Allied forces, ordered counterattacks all along the front. In mid-September, American troops drove back German forces at the battle of Saint-Mihiel.

• The attack was a prelude to a massive American offensive in the region between the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest. General Pershing assembled over 600,000 American troops, some 40,000 tons of supplies, and roughly 4,000 artillery pieces for the most massive attack in American history.

• The attack began on September 26, 1918. Slowly one German position after another fell to the advancing American troops. The Americans suffered heavy casualties, but by early November, the Americans had shattered the German defenses opened a hole in the German lines.

The War Ends

• While fighting raged along the Western Front, a revolution engulfed Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Turks surrendered.

• Germany’s allies surrendered and a rebellion occurred in Germany that caused the emperor to step down. On the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918, the fighting stopped and Germany signed an armistice of cease-fire.

A Flawed Peace

• What was Wilson’s post-war plan called?– Describe these points

• What were the first 5 about?• The next 8?• What was the 14th? What did it create? What was

the purpose?

The Treaty of Versailles

• What did this treaty do to Germany?• What empires were dissolved at the end of

World War I? What new countries were created?

• Why did many U.S. law makers oppose the treaty and the League of Nations?

• Why do you think the lack of U.S. membership in the league cause future problems?

Cost of the war

• 15 million people were killed. – About 1/3 of the soldiers that fought in the

war were wounded.

• The economic cost was severe. – Estimates put the damage at about 100

trillion modern U.S. dollars. – The European economy was left in

shambles and the U.S. emerged as the dominant world economic power.

The Spanish Flu (Influenza)1918

• Struck in the trenches of the western front and then flourished when soldiers returned home.

• It became the greatest public health disaster of modern history– The pandemic killed between 22 and 30 million people worldwide, or

roughly twice as many as had died during the fighting– In Spain, it killed roughly 40 percent of the population (8 million),

thus giving it the name of the Spanish Influenza.– British colonial troops carried it to India where it killed 12 million. – No disease, plague, war, famine, or natural catastrophe in world

history had killed so many people in such a short time.