World War I 1914 1918 The Great War

World War I 1914 -1918 The Great War

The Sides Central Powers • Germany • AH • Ottomans • Italy (until 1915) • Bulgaria Allied Powers • GB • France • Russia • Belgium • Italy (1915) • Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Romania, Portugal. Luxembourg, Albania, Japan, USA

I. Alliance System leads to war A. AH presented Serbia with an ultimatum (final set of demands) 1. Said Serbia must end all agitation and punish any Serbian officer involved in the murder 2. Serbia refused and Austria declared war on July 28, 1914

II. The Western Front A. Germany, France, GB, Belgium B. The Schlieffen Plan 1. Gen. Alfred von Schlieffen dev. A plan against France - designed to avoid a 2 -front war (France west, Russia east) 2. assumed Russia would be slow to mobilize 3. Russia mobilized fast! 4. Plan = defeat French in a quick attack, then move on to Russia

5. Aug. 3, 1914 – Germany invaded Belgium – Since Belgium signed a treaty with Britain and other European powers to remain neutral, an enraged Britain declared war on Germany

C. Battle of the Marne 1. French pushed Germans back 2. Schlieffen plan abandoned 3. French morale boosted (b/c of victory) Battle of the Marne

D. Trench Warfare 1. trenches stretched from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel 2. underground network linked bunkers, communication trenches, and gun emplacements a. soldiers roasted under the boiling hot summer sun or freezing through long winters b. soldiers shared their food with rats and their beds with lice

A trench would after a while collect water. Still, men stood and sat in the murky liquid in the trenches. The result of this was trench foot … This disease was the basic rotting of your flesh and the wearing of your bones from consistent water in your shoes or boots. Not only were a man’s feet engulfed in this mud, their legs and sometimes entire bodies were consumed.

The first thing was it smelled bad. It smelled bad because there were bodies rotting everywhere. Nothing could be done about them. It’s hard to imagine people living for years in the middle of that smell. Then, of course, no bunks, no places to lie down when you weren’t on duty; so you lay in the mud, in a hole cut in the side of a trench.

There’s nothing to do all day, except listen to the bangs as shells went off everywhere. And, the object of each side was to try to put mortar shells into the enemy trench and destroy it or blow it up, or kill people in it. So, there’s constant noise and bombardment all day long.

A German Trench Mortar in Action

Rats & Lice. There were rats the size of cats. Both the Germans and the British were troubled with rats. The rats ate corpses, then they came in and snuggled next to you while you were sleeping. And, they ate your own food, and they were filthy creatures. And, they also carried disease-- bubonic plague, primarily. Actually, more American troops died of flu than of bullets and shell fragments in the war!

3. b/w opposing trench lines lay “no man’s land”; - soldiers peered over coils of barbed wire watching for their next attack Crossing No Man’s Land

E. Costly Battles 1. In 1916 both the Allies and Central Powers launched massive offenses to break the stalemate (deadlock in which neither side is able to defeat the other) F. Battle of Verdun (11 months) 1. Allied Victory 2. One of the bloodiest battles in the war First shot fired at Battle of Verdun

G. Battle of Somme 1. British and French launched an attack against Germany—lasted 6 months 2. Just as bloody as the one in Verdun 3. GB introduced the tank--too clumsy and slow Arial View of the Battle of Somme

Australian anti-aircraft gun in position Anti-aircraft guns were used for the first time in WWI because WWI was the first war in which airplanes were used!

German Krupp Railroad Gun

German 420 mm Krupp Howitzer

Excavated site of a Big Bertha

Long Range Gun of U. S. Coastal Artillery Water

“Calamity Jane”A U. S. Field Artillery Howitzer Fired the last U. S. shot of the war at 10: 59 AM on Nov. 11, 1918 Germany signed the armistice at 11 am

A ten-acre British Ammunition Warehouse

The Gauze Mask--> This is an early version of a gas mask. Gauze bandages would be moistened with water to filter out the gas.

Gas Warfare had never been seen on the battlefield until 1915. The Germans have been credited with the first use. At first, gas was a crippling nuisance, often only wounding and causing widespread panic instead of outright killing. Later on, the canister gas mask was developed to protect the soldier from the use of more deadly gases, such as chlorine gas. Chlorine gas would travel in a greenish-yellow five mile cloud! There was no gas mask that could offer protection from the blistering mustard gas, which attacks all exposed flesh!

Caused temporary blindness and greatly inflamed the nose and throat of the victim. Included is chlorine gas. Forms hydrochloric acid when coming in contact with moisture, such as found in the lungs and eyes. It is lethal. First used by the Germans at Verdun. The most dreaded of all chemical weapons in WWI. This gas acts on any exposed, moist skin: the eyes, lungs, armpits, groin. Would produce large burn-like blisters wherever it came in contact with skin. Blisters could appear for the first time days after exposure!

Between 1916 and 1917, there were approximately 17, 700 gas casualties! In 1918 a German corporal by the name of Adolf Hitler was temporarily blinded by a British gas attack. Having suffered the agonies of gas first hand, his fear of the weapon would prevent him from deploying it as a tactical weapon on the battlefields of the Second World War!

H. Allied naval blockade of Central Powers GB Superior! 1. Dramatic shortages of food and raw/military materials in Austria and Germany

III. Eastern Front A. Battle of Tannenberg 1. Russian Disaster in Poland 2. Russia – lack of modern tech. a. Troops under supplied b. Troops poorly equipped c. ¼ of troops went into battle w/o weapons 3. Important: the speed of Russia’s move surprised both Germany and AH 4. By 1917, Russia pulled out of war b/c of the Russian Revolution (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)

Russian POWs after Tannenberg What was left after the battle

IV. Southern Front 1. 1915 - Bulgaria joins Central Powers and crushes Serbia 2. 1915 - Italy declares war on GER/AH • Secret treaty made with Allies that they would gain AH lands 3. Oct. 1917 AH/GER attack Italy and they retreat 4. GB/FR mount an offensive to stop the retreat

V. THE U. S. Enters the war 3 Reasons US enters… A. Sinking of the Lusitania 1. In May 1915, a German submarine torpedoed the British liner, Lusitania 2. Germany justified the attack, arguing that the Lusitania was carrying weapon 3. 1917 Pres. Wilson broke diplomatic relations w/ Germany

B. Zimmermann Telegram 1. Message from Zimmermann (German Foreign Minister) to his ambassador in Mexico 2. If Mexico supports Germany, then they’d help Mexico regain New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona!

C. The sinking of four American merchant ships 1. Pres. Wilson declared war--“make the world safe for democracy” 2. Breakthrough for the allies! Ø American intervention 1. Boosted Allied morale 2. Gave the Allies much needed resources (both industrial and human)

VI. Total War/Industrialized War A. Channeling of a nation’s entire resources into a war effort B. Increased powers of the gov’t 1. Recruited, drafted, trained, and supplied large armies 2. Raised taxes and borrowed vast sums of $ 3. Allowed censorship of the press to control public opinion and keep morale high

C. Propaganda War 1. in democratic countries, special boards censored the press 2. aim was to keep casualty figures and other discouraging news from reaching the people 3. Both sides waged a propaganda war; often stories were exaggerated

VII. Global War A. War reached beyond Europe B. Resources needed from their empires C. Colonial Asians and Africans expected citizenship or independence at war’s end… didn’t happen

VIII. End of Fighting A. July 1918, an Allied breakthrough on the W. Front 1. Allied forces stopped a huge German offensive 2. Allies launched counterattack that pushed exhausted Germans back to border of Germany B. Bulgaria surrendered first C. Collapse of Ottoman Empire D. AH surrendered their defeat E. Nov. 9, 1918 Kaiser was overthrown (abdicated and fled to the Netherlands) German Republic proclaimed

F. Nov. 11, 1918 Germans signed an armistice, or agreement to end the fighting (11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month, 1918)

Peace At Last 1919

I. Effects of the War A. Increased political and social instability in Eur. B. Boundaries had to be redrawn C. Human misery became commonplace 1. 10 mill soldiers died 2. 21 mill soldiers wounded 3. 13 mill civilians died of disease and starvation

Death toll • military and civilian = 40 million

II. The Paris Peace Conference – Jan. 1919 – delegates from 27 nations gathered to work out 5 separate treaties known as the Peace of Paris A. “Big Four”: 1. Pres. Woodrow Wilson (USA) 2. Georges Clemenceau (France) 3. David Lloyd George (GB) 4. Vittorio Orlando (Italy) B. Central Powers and Russia not invited C. Brit. and Fra. wanted to make Ger. pay for the war— reparations D. Wilson wanted support for his int’l assembly of nations (League of Nations)

III. Fourteen Points A. Pres. Wilson’s peace plan 1. Int’l recognition of freedom of the seas and of trade— GB objects 2. Wilson--“no annexations, no contributions, and no punitive damages” (reparations) as result of the war— Fra. objects 3. Limitations on arms 4. End to all secret alliances 5. Just settlements of colonial claims 6. Right of self-rule for all nations 7. **Est. of a “general assembly of nations” to settle future problems peacefully--League of Nations**

A. Most important of Peace of Paris IV. The Treatytreaty of Versailles B. Germany will be punished! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Reduced army Banned Conscription Banned manuf. of major war weapons Reduced in size (on the map) Stripped of all overseas colonies Forced to accept blame for causing the war Pay reparations to Allies

V. A. Bitterness in Europe Millions dead; homes and lives destroyed B. Many minorities in newly formed nations C. Minorities hope for citizenship— never happened D. Defeated lands bitter about the loss of territory and prestige

E. Austria-Hungary broken up F. New nations emerged from old German, Russian, and Austrian empires: • Finland • Lithuania • Czechoslovakia • Yugolslavia • Estonia • Latvia • Poland

VI. A. Germans’ resentment from WWI Eco. strength remained intact: war fought on foreign soil and used resources from other countries B. Provisions of treaty left Ger. weakened, humiliated, and deprived of great-power status C. Reconciliation w/ Allies was difficult D. **Germans’ resentment burst forth upon the world with even greater violence two decades later in the form of Nazism**