The First World War

1. The First World War

2. World War I Begins Chapter 19, Section 1

3. Long-Term Causes of WWI

4. Nationalism • The term nationalism refers to the strong feelings people have for their own country. • It may also refer to the desire of people ruled by others to throw off this foreign rule and create their own nation.

5. Imperialism • The quest for new territories led to intense competition among the countries of Europe. • France, Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia all competed for influence in Europe.

6. Militarism • Militarism is the policy of maintaining a strong fighting force in readiness for war. • As Germany began to expand her army and navy in the late 1890s, other European nations, especially Great Britain, tried to stay ahead of this military expansion (arms race).

8. System of Alliances • The nations of Europe entered into a series of alliances to maintain a balance of power if war erupted. • These alliances helped maintain a balance of power, but they also meant that a minor incident could provoke a war. • The prewar alliances, with a few exceptions, became the belligerents, or warring nations.

9. The Triple Alliance • Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy belonged to the Triple Alliance, later known as the Central Powers. • The Ottoman Empire, an empire of mostly Middle Eastern lands controlled by the Turks, later joined the alliance. • In 1915, Italy would join the Allies in return for promised territorial gain.

10. The Triple Entente • The Triple Entente, later known as the Allied Powers or the Allies, consisted of France, Russia, and Great Britain. • Russia would withdraw in 1917 (we’ll talk more of this later). • Eventually, some 30 nations would take sides in the Great War.

13. The Spark • Many feared that an incident that would lead to war could take place in the Balkans, a region so unstable that some called it the “powder keg of Europe.” • On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife were gunned down during a visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, a province within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

16. The teenage gunman turned out to be a member of a secret society called the Black Hand, with aims to unite all Serbs under one gov’t. • Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia for the assassination, and declared war on Serbia one month after the assassination. • The alliance system pulled one nation after another into the conflict.

17. The Fighting Begins • Fighting started on the western front when Germany invaded Belgium on Aug. 4, 1914. • The German plan was to defeat France quickly and then turn its attention to Russia (Schlieffen Plan). • However, Belgium and France were able to resist long enough for Great Britain to come to the aid of France.

18. In spite of heavy losses by the Allies, the French finally stopped the German advance at the Battle of the Marne. • At the same time, the Russians were fighting the Germans on the eastern front. • By the end of 1914 troops from both sides along the western front had dug trenches that stretched from the North Sea to Switzerland.

21. The war on the western front eventually settled into a stalemate, where neither side could win a decisive victory. • From July to Oct. 1916, the Allies gained 2.5 miles of land at a cost of 1 million lives at the Battle of the Somme River.

23. The Trial of Neutrality • At the outset of the war in 1914, President Wilson issued a Proclamation of Neutrality and urged Americans to remain “neutral in fact as well as in name.” • As the war progressed, the US tended to favor the Allies due to a cultural, ancestral, and language ties to Britain.

24. America’s freedom of the seas (right to trade with any country) was again challenged. • The British stopped American ships and forced them into port for inspection. Goods headed for Germany were seized. • German u-boats sank any ship it suspected of carrying cargo for the Allies.

28. The British blockade of the North Sea was brutal and successful. • US trade with Germany/Austria-Hungary fell from $169,289,775 in 1914 to $1,159,653 in 1916. • In the same time period, US trade with the Allies rose from $824,800,327 to $3.2billion. • An estimated 750,000 Germans starved to death at the hands of the blockade.

29. German u-boats were responsible for 75,000 deaths. • Wilson and the American people could stomach the loss of property more than they could the loss of life. • On May 7, 1915, a German sub torpedoed the British cruise ship theLusitania, killing 1,198 passengers (128 Americans).

32. In March 1916 a German sub sunk the French ship, the Sussex. • The US threatened to sever diplomatic relations. • Germany responded by issuing the Sussex Pledge, promising to sink no more merchant vessels without warning, provided the US also compelled the British to observe international law regarding blockade practices.

33. America remained neutral, but began expanding its army and navy in preparation for entering the war. • While neutral, it was clear that the US favored the Allies. • In addition to increased trading with the Allies, private loans were also extended to the Allies. • By the time the US entered the war, the Allies had borrowed $2.25 billion.

34. The Election of 1916 • Wilson narrowly won reelection in 1916 with the slogan, “He Kept Us Out Of The War.” • In Jan. of 1917, Wilson gave a speech that expressed his hope that the war could end with a “peace without victory.” • That was not the intentions of the belligerents in Europe.

36. Believing that they now possessed enough u-boats to starve Britain into submission, the German leaders took the risk of war with the US and renewed their unrestricted submarine warfare.

37. The Zimmerman Note • A few weeks later, British agents intercepted a note, written by German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman, suggesting to Mexico that a German-Mexican alliance might be arranged which would enable Mexico to recover TX, NM, and AZ. • It was hinted that Japan might also join in an attack on the US.

39. The US Enters the War • More American ships were sunk by the Germans. • On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war, stating that, “The world must be made safe for democracy.” • Congress declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917.

41. American Power Tips the Balance Chapter 19, Section 2

42. Military Expansion • The US’s armed forces was small when the US declared war. • There were about 200,000 men in the army when the US entered the war. • The Selective Service Act of 1917 required all men 21-30 to register with draft boards (later extended to 18-45).

43. By the end of the war more than 2 million men had gone overseas, of whom some 1.4 million engaged in active fighting. • Women could not serve in the army, but the navy allowed them to serve as nurses, secretaries, and telephone operators. • Most of the 200,000 black Americans sent to Europe served in noncombatant roles and were met with discrimination.

44. By the end of the war the navy consisted of 500,000 men and 2,000 ships. • The US navy was instrumental in aiding in the British blockade, attacking German u-boats, and participating in the convoy system (a group of vessels sailing under the protection of an armed escort).

45. America in France • 12 weeks after war had been declared, the 1st US troops landed in France. • Leading the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was General John J. Pershing. • American soldiers were called “Yanks” or “doughboys” by their allies.

50. The Eastern Front • After the Russian people overthrew the czar in March, 1917, political turmoil continued until Nov., when the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power. • The Bolsheviks opposed the war and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in march 1918, ending the fighting on the eastern front.