Essential Understandings
World War I (1914-1918) was caused by competition among industrial nations in Europe and a failure of diplomacy.
The war transformed European and American life, wrecked the economies of Europe, and planted the seeds for a second world war.
Essential Questions
What were the factors that produced World War I? What were the major events of the war? Who were the major leaders? What were the outcomes and global effects of World
War I? What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
Essential Knowledge
Causes of World War IMilitarism-A national policy based on military strength
and glorification of war.
Alliances that divided Europe into competing camps
Imperialism
Nationalistic feelings
Diplomatic failures
Competition over colonies
Essential Knowledge
Major eventsAssassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand
United States enters war
Russia leaves the war
Essential Knowledge
Outcomes and global effectsColonies’ participation in the war, which increased
demands for independence
End of the Russian Imperial, Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires
Enormous cost of the war in lives, property, and social disruption
Essential Knowledge
After the War:
Treaty of Versailles:
Forced Germany to accept guilt for war
Germany lost territory
Germany had to pay reparations
Limited the German military
League of Nations
Goal was to prevent future conflicts
Objectives
At the end of this three day lesson you will be able to:
1. Explain the causes, conditions, and consequences of WWI.
2. Identify the alliances of WWI on a map.
Why Are We Doing This Activity?
We are doing this activity in order to gain a deeper understanding of the causes, conditions and consequences of WWI.
Activity Instructions
1. Sit in teams of two.
2. Look at each placard and the Smartboard to answer the questions on the handout. Use your prior knowledge, make predictions, discuss with your partner and then answer the questions.
3. Answers do not need to be in complete sentences.
4.When you have completed a placard do not proceed to the next placard as we will discuss your findings as a group.
5. You will have 5 minutes per placard to analyze and answer the questions.
Causes of the War
What do you see here?
What do the different colors represent?
Who is allied with whom?
Why might these countries make alliances?
Which countries might have the greatest or least need to join an alliance?
What are the advantages of joining an alliance?
What are the disadvantages of joining an alliance?
Pre-War Alliances
Triple Alliance Triple Entente
Germany Great BritainItaly FranceAustria-Hungary Russia
What do you see here?
How are people dressed?
Why are some people saluting?
Who might the couple in large hats be?
How do they seem to be feeling?
Do they look like popular leaders?
What do you think happens to them ?
The War Breaks Out
http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome06/index.php
Franz Ferdinand and wife Sophie
Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.
On June 28, 1914, Serbian, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated Archduke Franz-Ferdinand
and his wife Sophie of Austria
One Thing Led to AnotherSo then, we have the following remarkable sequence of events that led to the War Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia's response to her ultimatum concerning
inquiry into the crime A-H declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilization of its vast armyGermany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilization as
an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after an inadequate warning declared war on Russia on 1 August.
France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.
Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a "moral obligation" upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August. Her reason for entering the conflict lay in another direction: she was obligated to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty.
What do the colonies do?
Alliances and Fronts of the War
What do you see here?
Who were the Allied Powers?
Who were the Central Powers?
Which side appears to be winning the war?
What makes you think they are winning the war?
http://www.the-map-as-history.com/demos/tome06/index.php
WWI Alliances and Neutral Countries
Central Powers Allied Powers
Germany Great Britain
Ottoman Empire France Japan
Austria-Hungary Russia Italy
Bulgaria United States (1917)
Spain Norway
Switzerland Sweden
Neutral Countries
Reality of Soldiers Lives
What do you see here?
Why is this soldier covering his face?
How old might he be?
How might he be feeling?
What might he be thinking about?
Do you think this picture was taken in the beginning or middle of the war?
Why?
http://www.awm.gov.au/visit/visit-mustsee-first.asp
New weapons used in the War
What do you see here?
Why might these soldiers be wearing gas masks?
How are machine guns different from older guns?
How might machine guns affect military strategy?
Poison Gas and Gas Masks
Chlorine gas was first used on the battlefield in April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium.
Mustard gas was used later.
First defenses against gas were makeshift, mainly rags soaked in water or urine
WWI Technology
Technology during World War I reflected a trend toward industrialism and the application of mass production methods to weapons and to the technology of warfare in general.
Tanks and Horses at the Battle of the Somme
The old and the new – a horse-drawn team passes a tank that seems to have broken down on the side of the road. Over 100,000 British horses were estimated to have been killed in the Somme offensive.
Aircraft
Early air spotters were unarmed, they soon began firing at each other with handheld weapons and even throwing spears.
An arms race commenced, quickly leading to increasingly agile planes equipped with machine guns.
A key innovation allowed a machine gun to be mounted behind the propeller
The Red Baron
80 Allied kills.
Shot down and killed April 21, 1918 at age 25.
During my whole life," Richthofen wrote, "I have not found a happier hunting ground than in the course of the Somme battle." And it was on this battle ground that he fought his last fight.
Trench Warfare
What do you see here?
What are the soldiers in this trench doing?
Why might they be sleeping in the daytime?
Why do you think soldiers are fighting in trenches?
What might soldiers in the trenches fear?
Effects of the War on the Home Front
What do you see here?
What are these women doing?
Why are women needed to work in factories?
What new skills might women learn working in industries during the war?
How might this affect the traditional role of women?
How do you think women felt when they lost their jobs at the end of the war when the men returned?
Who Won the War?
The Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, the US, Italy and their allies won the war.
The armistice (formal agreement between enemies to stop fighting a war) was signed at 5 a.m. on the morning of 11 November 1918, and came into effect six hours later at 11 a.m.
11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. 1918
Post War Economic Crisis
What do you see here?
What is this woman putting in the stove?
Why is she performing this action?
What has happened that causes her need to do this?
Is her action a reflection of what is happening in her society?
Inflation in the Weimar Republic made it cheaper for this woman to burn money than firewood
The Paris Peace Conference 1919
What do you see here?
Who might these people be?
Why might they be meeting at the Palace of Versailles in France?
What do you think they are signing?
What terms might the French and British leaders demand from the Central Powers before signing?
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 and consisted of 440 Articles setting out the terms for Germany's punishment.
The treaty was greeted with shock and disbelief in Germany.
The terms of the treaty can be classified into three groups:
territorial - provisions that took land away from Germany
military - provisions that limited Germany's armed forces
financial and economic- Germany’s reparations to the victors (primarily France and Great Britain)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/thetreatyrev1.shtml
The Main Terms of the Treaty of Versailles were:
War Guilt Clause - Germany must accept the blame for starting World War One
Reparations - Germany had to pay millions for the damage caused by the war – mainly to France and Great Britain.
Disarmament - Germany was only allowed to have a small army and six naval ships. No tanks, no air force and no submarines were allowed. The Rhineland was to be de-militarized (area between France and Germany).
Territorial Clauses - Land was taken away from Germany and given to other countries-ALL colonies were lost. Alsace-Lorraine given back to France. Anschluss (union with Austria) was forbidden.
Key articles1-26:The Covenant of the League of Nations - Germany was not allowed to join.42:The Rhineland was demilitarised - the German army was not allowed to go there.45:The Saar, with its rich coalfields, given to France for 15 years.51: Alsace-Lorraine returned to France.80: Germany forbidden to unite with Austria.87: Lands in eastern Germany - the rich farmlands of Posen and the Polish corridor
between Germany and East Prussia - given to Poland.100:Danzig made a free city under League of Nations control.119:All Germany's colonies taken and given to France and Britain as 'mandates'.160:The German army restricted to 100,000 men.181:The German navy restricted to six battleships and no submarines.198:Germany not allowed to have an air force.231:Germany was responsible for causing all the loss and damage caused by the war.232:Germany would have to pay reparations, to be decided later - eventually set at 132
billion gold marks.
Who Negotiated the Treaty?
In 1919, Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson from the US met to discuss how Germany was to be made to pay for the damage world war one had caused.
US President Wilson Led the Waywith His Fourteen Points
Wilson became the spokesperson for a new world order based on democracy and international cooperation and seen as a hero at the conference in Versailles
Wilson’s Fourteen PointsAll alliances need to be made open and public All non-Russians leave Russia and let Russia become who it wants to be Austria-Hungary chooses how to reform itself Belgium is restored and chooses its own government Colonies should be able to decide for themselves what happens to them Create Poland and give them freedom to choose what they want to be and
freedom of seas Creates the League of Nations France should get all of its territory back including Alsace-Lorraine Free and open seas Free trade among the nations Italy is restored and the boundaries include all Italian-speaking areas Reduce all militaries to just what is needed to keep themselves safe Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be able to be free and set up
themselves Turkey is its own country; the other part of the Ottoman Empire can decide
what to do with themselves
League of Nations
Wilson argued at the Paris Peace conference most strongly for a League of Nations to prevent future wars.
The U.S. never joined the League in favor of remaining isolationist.
Germany was not allowed to join the League.Russia, with its new communist government was also
not permitted to join.The League of Nations eventually fails, but is
considered the forerunner to the United Nations.
Results of WWI in Germany
The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and thought that it was too harsh.
Germany could not afford to pay reparations
During the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor.
There were not many jobs and the price of food and basic goods was high.
People were dissatisfied with the government and voted to power a man who promised to rip up the Treaty of Versailles.
His name was Adolf Hitler
Lawrence of Arabia
T.E Lawrence was a British officer who urged princes in the Middle East to revolt against their Ottoman overlords
Britain had promised the local Arabs, through Lawrence, independence in exchange for their supporting the British in WWI.
http://www.pbs.org/lawrenceofarabia/players/lawrence.html
Mandates in the Middle East
The European powers broke promises of Arab independence and self-determination by creating mandates in territory previous controlled by the Ottoman Empire
A mandate is a region ruled by an outside power
After WWI much of the oil rich Middle East was placed under the administration of one of its European member states by the League of Nations
Who Got What?
Under the mandate system, Syria and Lebanon went to the French.
The British took over Palestine and three Ottoman provinces of Mesopotamia and created modern-day Iraq.
Almost immediately after the war, Arab resistance movements emerged to challenge European dominance
Distrust of the West continues because of broken promises and foreign domination
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae -1915
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on rowThat mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
War of Attrition
Attrition- wearing the other side down with constant attacks.
WWI on the Western front was characterized by hundreds of miles of trenches