World War I

War to End All Wars

Alliances

• The alliance system in Europe started with Prussia

• Prussia wanted to unite the German states into a German nation

• Germany united (allied) with Austria-Hungary and Italy

• France and Germany were enemies and so France allied with Russia

Alliances

• Great Britain remained neutral until Germany started to build up its navy

• Great Britain loosely allied with France and Russia forming the Triple Entente

• Nationalism – intense pride for one’s homeland was a powerful idea in Europe

• Self-determination – the idea that people who belong to a nation should have their own country and government, was a basic idea of nationalism

Alliances

• A small country called Serbia, allied with Russia, wanted a unified Balkan nation

• A Serb national assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand

• This assassination forced Austria-Hungary to declare war with Germany siding with them

• Russia, allied with Serbia, declared war with France siding with them (France wanted Germany defeated)

Spark:Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

of Austria-Hungary

Chain Reaction:The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Germany declares war on Russia.

France pledges their support for Russia.

Germany declares war on France.

Germany invades Belgium on the way to France.

Great Britain supports Belgium and declares war on Germany.

MAIN causes of WW I

Militarism / Alliances / Imperialism / Nationalism

Spark: Archduke Ferdinand (Austria) assassinated

Alliances

• Great Britain then joined Russia and France and these three countries made up the Allies.

• Germany and Austria-Hungary (with smaller nations) made up the Central Powers.

• Germany and France were locked in a stalemate for 3 years

• More land was gained on the Eastern front

World War I

The war began in Europe in 1914:

Central Powers

Germany and Austria-Hungary

Allies

Britain, France, and Russia.

Moving Toward War

• Wilson declared the U.S. neutral• Wilson’s slogan in 1916, “He kept us out of war”• Americans, however, began showing their

support for one side or the other with immigrants supporting their homeland

• Wilson’s cabinet was pro-British• The British used propaganda – information

used to influence opinion, to gain U.S. support

US & the War

• 1914-1917: • America remained

neutral

Why?

George Washington!!!

Moving Toward War

• U.S. companies had strong ties to Allied countries.

• Many U.S. banks gave loans to the Allies• American prosperity was tied to the war• The money would only be paid back if the

Allies won.• While most Americans supported the Allies,

they did not want to enter the war.

Moving Toward War

• British ships blockaded Germany to keep it from getting supplies

• To get around the blockade, Germany used submarines, U-boats

• They threatened to sink all ships, including civilian ships, that entered waters around Britain.

• They sank the Lusitania, a British passenger liner.

German “unrestricted submarine warfare”

Lusitania: 1100 people dead / 120 Americans

Moving Toward War

• America warned Germany to stop the U-boat attacks .• Germany did not want America in the war so they

signed a pledge to stop sinking merchant ships, Sussex Pledge

• Germany agreed not to sink passenger ships without warning in the future

• A German official, Arthur Zimmerman, sent a message to his ambassador in Mexico proposing that Mexico ally itself with Germany

Moving Toward War

• The Zimmerman telegram was intercepted by British intelligence and leaked to American newspapers.

• Germany went back to unrestricted submarine warfare and sunk four American merchant ships

• On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war against Germany

Zimmerman Telegram

Germany to ask Mexico to attack the U.S.

America enters the war

• The decision to enter the war was the result of continuing German submarine warfare (violating freedom of the seas) and American ties to Great Britain.

• Americans wanted to “make the world safe for democracy.” (Woodrow Wilson)

• America’s military resources of soldiers and war materials tipped the balance of the war and led to Germany’s defeat.

What is the main idea of this cartoon?

Building Up The Military

• As the U.S. entered the war, it was necessary to recruit more soldiers.

• Many progressives thought conscription, or forced military service, violated both democratic and republican principles

• A new system, selective service, resulted in about 2.8 million Americans being drafted.

• It required all men ages 21-30 to register to be drafted for war. A lottery randomly decide the order in which they were called to service.

1917 – Selective Service Act1917 – Selective Service Act

24,000,000 men registered for the draft by the end of 1918.2.8 million drafted

4,800,000 men served in WW1

400,000 African-Americansserved in segregated units.

15,000 Native-Americans served as scouts, messengers, and snipers

Building Up The Military

• African Americans faced discrimination and prejudice

• They served in segregated units with white officers.

• Many won praise from their commanders and received war medals

• World War I was the first war in which women officially served. Army nurses were the only women in the military to go overseas

Organizing Industry

• The War Industries Board(WIB) was created to coordinate the production of war materials

• The Food Administration was responsible for increasing food production while reducing consumption

• The director, Herbert Hoover, asked people to plant victory gardens to raise their own vegetables in order to leave more food for the troops.

Victory Gardens

Civilians should raise their own food, so the troops could have more

Organizing Industry

• The Fuel Administration encouraged people to conserve coal and oil.

• Daylight savings time was introduced to conserve energy.

• To raise money to pay for the war, the government began selling Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds.

• This was loaning the government money that would be paid back with interest in a specified number of years.

Financing the WarFinancing the War

Liberty Bonds & Victory

Bonds: Sold to the public to raise $$$ for the war

Mobilizing the Workforce

• To prevent strikes, the government made deals with labor leaders

• The war increased the need for women in the workforce

• They took factory and manufacturing jobs• The war stopped the flow of immigrants to the

United States, which allowed African Americans wartime jobs.

Mobilizing the Workforce

• Between 300,000 and 500,000 African Americans left the South to settle in the North.

• This “Great Migration” changed the racial makeup of many Northern cities.

• Many Mexicans moved north, providing labor for farmers an ranchers in the Southwest

• They also moved to cities for wartime jobs• They faced discrimination and hostility

Ensuring Public Support

• Espionage, or spying to acquire secret government information, was addressed in the Espionage Act of 1917

• The Sedition Act of 1918 went a step further by making it illegal to criticize the president or the government

• Suspicions of disloyalty led to the mistreatment of German Americans.

Espionage and Sedition Act

• Illegal to criticize, oppose, interfere, in the war effort

• Limited free speech • 1500 people arrested

during the war

American Dissent• Espionage &

Sedition Act

Speaking Out was a “clear & present danger”

Freedom of Speech limited

Ensuring Public Support

• In the case of Schenck v. the United States, the Supreme Court ruling limited an individual’s freedom of speech if the words spoken constituted a “clear and present danger.”

Was the Espionage and Sedition Acts Constitutional?

Supreme Court Case Schenck v. US

Background •Charles Schenck•Socialist •Arrested for mailing

thousands of leaflets urging people to resist the draft

What did the Supreme Court decide?

• Schenck’s actions were creating a “clear and present danger”

• Speech that create a “clear and present danger” are not protected by the 1st Amendment

• You can’t yell fire in a crowed movie theatre

Combat in World War I

• Soldiers dug trenches as a means of protection from modern weapons

• “No man’s land” was the space between the opposing trenches

• Soldiers charge the enemy which made them easy targets

• Both sides lost several hundred thousand men• To break enemy lines and reduce casualties,

new technologies were created

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare

Trench WarfareTrench Warfare

“No Man’s Land”

“No Man’s Land”

Trenches

Combat in World War I

• Poison gas, first used by the Germans, caused vomiting, blindness, and suffocation.

• Tanks were unsuccessfully used• Airplanes dropped small bombs on the enemy

and engaged in air battles (dog fights)• Flame throwers were also used for the first

time

Advanced Weapons

Tanks Gas

Airplane

Machine Guns

Poison Gas

Tanks

The Americans and Victory

• “Doughboys” was a nickname for American soldiers.

• Although inexperienced, they boosted the morale of the Allied forces

• Although Russians supported the war effort, their government could not handle major problems.

• In 1917 Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party, overthrew the govt. and replaced it with a Communist one.

Eastern Front: Russia

Drop out of war in 1917 after Bolshevik Revolution

The YanksAre

Coming!

The YanksAre

Coming!“To Make The World Safe For

Democracy”

The Americans and Victory

• Lenin pulled Russia out of the war allowing the Germans to leave and concentrate on France.

• American and French forces kept Germany from gaining Paris

• In September 1918, Pershing put together the most massive attack in American history

• On November 11, 1918, Germany finally signed an armistice, or cease-fire, that ended the war

11 a.m., November 11, 1918

11 a.m., November 11, 1918

End of WW I

A Flawed Peace

• Wilson’s peace plan was known as the Fourteen Points, and it addressed “the principle of justice to all people and nationalities.”

• The points included eliminating the general causes of the war through free trade and disarmament

• Open diplomacy instead of secret agreements

Wilson’s 14 Points

• Wilson’s goals for the world after the war

• “War to end all wars!”

A Flawed Peace

• The right to self-determination• The fourteenth point, known as the League of

Nations, called for member nations to help preserve peace and prevent future wars

• The other Allied governments felt it was too lenient toward Germany

• The Treaty of Versailles weakened Wilson’s proposal

Principles of 14 Points

• Self determination• Freedom of the seas• Non punishment• Mandate system• No secret treaties• Free trade

14th Point• League of Nations• Settle conflicts

before they turn into war

• Wilson’s most important point

• Most controversial

Treaty of Versailles

• Germany – Full blame for war– Demilitarized– $30 Billion bill

(reparations)• League of Nations

created – No Germany– No U.S.

A Flawed Peace

• The Treaty of Versailles stripped Germany of its armed forces

• It forced Germany to pay reparations, or war damages to the Allies.

• The Treaty and the League of Nations were opposed by US lawmakers because they did not want US foreign policy decisions being made by an international organization

• Wilson, exhausted by trying to sell his plan, suffered a stroke

• The Senate refused to ratify the treaty

Treaty of Versailles1- Germany was forced to

-Reduce size of military

-Hand over all of its colonies

-Agree to pay Reparations

-Accept all of the blame

2- New countries were created

3- Creation of a League of Nations

“Big Four”: David Lloyd George of Britain, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson the principal architects of the Treaty of Versailles.

The President makes Treaties

The Senate ratifies Treaties

An example of Checks and Balances

Why did the Senate reject the Treaty?

US would have to join the League of Nations

What happens if the League needs to use military force?

Could be dragged into a war without Congressional approval.

This weakens the power of Congress

• Never ratifies treaty or joins League of Nations

• Return to Normalcy= Isolationism

• World War I had many changes in the U.S.– Strengthened military– Social change for African

Americans and Women

THE LEGACY OF THE WAR