You are in the quad at lunch and you see a crowd rushing toward the senior circle. You quickly realize that 2 of your friends
are about to fight. Friend 1 is on your sports team and your coach has been emphasizing team unity all season.
Friend 2 owes you money but you made a pact with him last year that you would
always have each others backs if anything ever happened. You also notice that Friend 2’s iphone is hanging out of
his back pocket. What do you do?
FIGHT!
A. You help Friend 1 because he’s on your team and you want to make sure you help keep your team strong.
B. You help Friend 2 because you made a pact and you always keep your promises.
C. You join the fight so that you can grab Friend 2’s iphone because he owes you money.
D. You join the fight to show off your awesome fighting skills to everyone!
OPTIONS
MILITARISM
ALLIANCES
IMPERIALISM
NATIONALISM----------------------
+ASSASSINATION
4 Causes of WWI1914-1918
POLICY OF GLORIFYING MILITARY POWER AND KEEPING AN ARMY PREPARED FOR WAR
EUROPE HAD 30 YEARS OF PEACE
1890-1914 MILITARY SPENDING AMONG EUROPEAN NATIONS INCREASED 300%
GREAT BRITAIN & GERMANY BUILT HUGE NAVIES
RUSSIA HAD ARMY OF 6 MILLION TROOPS
MILITARISM
ALLIANCES Countries
aligned for protection
Conflict will automatically drag everyone into war
“An attack on one is an attack on all!”
TRIPLE ALLIANCE◦ “CENTRAL POWERS” 1882
◦Germany
◦Italy
◦Austria-HungaryTRIPLE ENTENTE
◦ “ALLIES” 1907 (response to triple alliance)
◦Russia
◦England
◦France
◦ European countries compete for other countries
Distrust each other & rivalries
◦ They also want to protect what they already have
Resources, new markets, etc…
◦ Colonies are a sign of a country’s strength
◦ Chance to get more from “spoils of war”
IMPERIALISM
DEEP DEVOTION TO YOUR COUNTRY Can be a unifying force within your country but… Causes intense competition between countries Can be very dangerous when extreme France angry at Germany for losing Alsace-Lorraine
territory during Franco-Prussian war 40 yrs earlier BALKAN COUNTRIES WANT INDEPENDENCE (SERBIA!!!)
NATIONALISM
Called the “Powder Keg of Europe”◦ Why?
Many different ethnic groups & nationalistic uprisings (want independence)
Serbia gained independence from Ottoman Empire (Turkey) a few years earlier (map 409)◦ Want all Slavs to be united in Serbia◦ Supported by Russia (mainly Slavic)◦ Bosnia had large Slavic population but
controlled by Austria Hungary Black Hand, Gavrilo Princip & ARCHDUKE
FRANZ FERDINAND collide in Bosnia
The Balkan Peninsula
Triple Alliance (GIA) Triple Entente (Oui! It’s French) 4 MAIN CAUSES Why was the Balkans the
“Powder Keg of Europe? ASSASSINATION OF AUSTRIAN
ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND!◦Who assassinated him?
Who declares war FIRST? WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
CAUSES OF WWI
July 28, 1914-Austria declares war on Serbia
Russia mobilizes along the German border
Russia expects Germany to join Austria Triple Alliance
German government considers this an act of war
Aug. 1-Germany declares war on Russia
Russia looks to its ally France for help
WWI Begins
2 days after declaring war on Russia, Germany declares war on France
Great Britain declares war on GermanyBelgium gets
attacked by Germany
(uh-oh the Schlieffen Plan)
I Declare War! Central Powers
Germany Austria-
Hungary Bulgaria Ottoman
Empire
Allies◦ Russia ◦ Great Britain◦ France◦ Italy◦ Japan
Germany’s plan for the war Attack and defeat France
quickly in the west and rush east to fight Russia before Russia had a chance to gather its forces
Rationale◦ Russia lagged behind the rest
of Europe with its railroad system and would take longer to supply its front lines
German leaders knew they must win a quick victory for this to work
The SCHLIEFFEN PLAN
German troops reached outskirts of Paris Sept. 5
Every soldier thrown into battle, all resources used
4 days of fighting, Germany retreats (most important battle?)
DESTROYED GERMANY’S SCHLIEFFEN PLAN
Now Germany is forced to fight on 2 fronts◦ Russia invades Germany
War on Western Front becomes a stalemate…trench warfare
First Battle of the Marne
Machine guns, tanks, poison gas, and airplanes are used in battles along the Western Front
Trench warfare: huge losses of human life for small land gains◦ CREATES STALEMATE ON WESTERN FRONT!!!◦New technology produces
huge casualties… (millions die)
Life in trenches was absolutely miserable◦rats, lice, trench foot,
no food, no sleep, dead bodies
The Western Front: Trench Warfare
Airplanes, Zepplins, Observation Balloons… Poison Gas (Ypres) Flamethrower (Verdun) Tanks (Somme) Machine guns U-Boats (unrestricted submarine warfare,
Lusitania) Much more
New Weapons
Eastern Front (Russia & Serbia VS Germany & Austria-Hungary) more mobile but than western front but slaughter & stalemate common
Kept German army on 2 fronts Battle of Tannenberg
◦ August 1914-most important battle on Eastern Front
◦ Equipment outdated, not enough weapons, poor leaders
◦ Many drowned in swamp Russia never recovers from
this battle
The Eastern Front: Russia Struggles
Sinking of the Lusitania◦ Unrestricted submarine warfare◦ 1200 dead, 128 Americans
Zimmerman Telegram◦ German telegram to
ambassador in Mexico◦ Unrestricted sub warfare, if US
joins war Mexico should attack US
◦ Mexico will reconquer land (Texas, NM, Arizona)
◦ Britain intercepted, decoded, sent to US
MAJOR TURNING POINT OF WWI
U.S. Enters WWI
Total War: devoting all resources to the war effort◦Factories make war supplies
◦Women in factories◦Rationing◦Propaganda
Total War
1917 U.S. joins Allies Nov. 1917 Russian Revolution &
Russia withdraws◦ Sign Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
with Germany Germany sends all forces to
Western Front!◦ March 1918 Germany plans
one final attack on Allies◦ Wanted to reach Paris before
Americans arrived◦ Crushed Allied forces on the
way to Paris (800,000 dead)◦ German military weakened
(#s dwindling, lose half million)
Germany Full Force
2nd Battle of the Marne-July 1918◦ 2 million fresh US troops, tanks…
Central Powers crumble Bulgaria & Ottoman Empire
surrender Austria-Hungary revolutions,
surrender German soldiers mutiny
◦ Kaiser Wilhelm II steps down◦ November 11, 1918
Germany surrenders WWI is over!!! Kinda…what
will be the terms?
WWI Ends
Total Mobilized
Forces
Killed or
DiedWounde
d
Prisoners
OrMissing
TotalCasualti
es
Casualty Rate
CentralPowers
22,850,000 3,386,200 8,388,488 3,629,829 15,404,407
67%
Allies 42,188,810 5,142,631 12,800,706
4,121,090 22,064,427
52%
The Human Cost of WWI
• 8.5 million soldiers died, countless civilians• An entire generation of Europeans was wiped
out• 21 million wounded• Economic Impact: $338 billion!!!!!
• Destruction of farmland, towns• Disillusionment…despair…the world would
not be the same