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The First World War

Chapter 8

A WORLD CRISISSection 1

M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI

• Militarismo Policy of military preparedness and build up of

weapons

o Germany started building up a powerful Navy and

Army and drawing up war plans▪ Schlieffen Plan- surprise invasion of France through

Belgium and then attack Russia

o Other countries start to build up to protect against

Germany

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• Allianceso Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italyo Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, Russia)

o During the War

o Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire)

o Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, Russia-eventually Italy and U.S. as well)

• Imperialism

o Many countries were expanding

o France, Great Britain and Austria-Hungary

o Germany wanted in too, so it started building up

its military

• Nationalismo Extreme pride people have in their country or

culture

o Italy and Germany were experiencing new waves

of nationalism- both were independently unified.

o Ottoman Empire was falling apart and the Austria-

Hungarian empire was moving into areas

populated by Slavs (especially Serbs), causing

tension in the region

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Part 1Part 2

War Breaks Out

• Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand caused Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia (supplied the assassins)

• Russia who protected the Serbs then declared war on Austria-Hungary

• Germany saw Russia’s military action as an act of war and declared war on Russia

• Germany followed up by declaring war on France (Russia’s ally)

• August 4, 1914 Germany crosses into Belgium- which cause Great Britain to declare war on Germanyo Soon over 30 countries would join on either side

A New Kind of Warfare

France• Not smart- wore bright red

uniforms

• Advanced in rows with bayonets fixed

• Fought an old style war– Had 15,000 die a day, early on

Germany

• Wore grey uniforms that worked as camouflage

• Mowed down enemies with machine guns– 600 bullets a minute

– Can be set up in 4 seconds

• Predicted it would beat the French in 2 months

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1st Battle of the Marne

• German troops advanced quickly

• After 1 month they were 25 miles outside Paris

• September 7, 1914- French Counterattack

– 2 million fought over 125 miles

– 5 days and 250,000 dead

– France pushed the Germans back 40 miles

– “Field of red poppies”

– Gave Russia time to mobilize

War Reaches a stalemate

• Stalemate at Marne led to trench warfare

• 400 miles of trenches

• Not new- but never on this scale

• Can’t charge trenches

– “no-man’s-land”

• Everyone’s stuck

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Weapons

• Bolt action rifle

• Machine guns

• Browning automatic rifle

• Grenade

New Weapons

• Germans– Poisonous gas- April 1915- canisters of Chlorine

gas• Mustard Gas 1917 used by Germans

• Britain– Motorized armored tanks

• Both sides had airplanes– Dogfights

– “Red Baron”- 80 downs, shot down 1918 Alfred Von Richthofen

THE UNITED STATES IN WWISection 2

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What do you think

For most of WWI (1914-1917) the U.S. stays neutral, refusing to be brought into the war in Europe.

• Was this the right thing to do, or should the U.S. have entered the war in the beginning?

Neutrality

• U.S. stays neutral– Isolationism- not being involved in the affairs of other

nations

• Wilson leans more towards the allies- doesn’t like German tactics– Have history with France and Britain

– Easier to trade with F & GB, German ports are blocked

• German submarine warfare– Germany is desperate to end blockade, declares the

water around GB a war zone. Attacks with u-boats

Heading Towards War

• 1915 Lusitania sank- Americans onboard– Germany agree to only attack supply ships

– 1916- Sussex sank- Germany promises not to sink merchant ships with warning or trying to save lives

• Wilson gets re-elected (barely) after promising to push for peace and keeping U.S. out of war– Germany starts unrestricted

warfare again

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• Zimmerman telegraph

– Note from Germany to Mexico, G offers M a deal-if they attack the U.S. and join G they can get some of their old lands back

• United States declares war April 6, 1917

Americans in Europe

• May 18, 1917- Selective Service Act- men 21-30 have to register for the draft

– Supplies were limited so they made do with what they had

– Only a few African American regiments trained for combat

– Some Latinos discriminated against too

Henry Johnson

• Americans sent to Europe were under General Pershing (June 1917)– Pershing wanted Americans to fight in their own units,

also to be trained more in Eastern France

• November 1917 Lenin takes over Russia, pulls out of the war.

• March 1918- Germany hits hard against the western front– Allies pushed back to the Marne

• A year after arriving in Europe, Americans see combat– Made a big difference!! Stopped German advances

• Women served as well, 20,000nurses and non-combat

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THE HOME FRONTSection 3

Mobilizing the Economy

• Wars are expensive

• War Revenue Act of 1917- high taxes, rich paid up to 77% of income

• Borrowed money: Debt 1916- 1.2B, 1919-25.5B (20B owed in liberty bonds)

• Regulation:– Industry and agriculture- make sure troops get goods

• War Industries Board- regulates all goods for war

– Food- laws passed to allow gov’t to control food and fuel.• Hoover in charge of Food Administration

• Promised farmers higher crop prices

• Victory Gardens and “meatless Monday”

• Limited/banned alcohol

– Fuel- Fuel Control Act• Daylight savings- extended daylight hours for factory workers

• Gasless Sundays & heatless Mondays

– U.S. supplied not just the U.S., Britain got weapons, ammunition and explosives from us.

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Mobilizing workers

• Profits skyrocket for corporations, sell goods to gov’t

• Wages increase but because of rising cost of goods, not much different– Long hours, questionable working conditions

– Workers join labor unions, 60% increase

• National War Labor Board- 1918– Judged disputes between workers and management

– Handled 1,200 cases, created 8 hour work day, equal pay for equal work, recognize labor unions

• Women enter the work force to take the place of men who went off to war– Worked on railroads, at docks, and in factories

– Many left or were forced out when men returned

– Women used these contributions to the war effort in their arguments for the right to vote

• Influenza (flu) spread in 1918– nearly half of U.S. troops to die during WWI died

from influenza

– 675,000 Americans died from it, some blamed the Germans

Propaganda

• Pres. Wilson created the Committee on Public Information after declaring war

• George Creel was hired to run the CPI and create propaganda- materials designed to influence people’s opinions

• Hired celebrities and artists to spread support

• Anti-German feelings began to grow

– EX: Dachshunds- liberty pups

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Discussion

• If you are anti-war does that make you anti-American?

Limiting Antiwar Speech

• As the gov’t tried to sway Americans to support the war, they tried to silence protests and opposition

• 1917- Espionage Act- punished those who aided the enemy or refused military duty

– Sedition Act- 1918- illegal to speak, print, write or publish anything disloyal, or criticize the gov’t, flag or military

– 1000+ were jailed

• Schenck

– Charles Schenck, socialist party

– Printed and handed out leaflets opposing the government war policies

– Convicted of violating the Sedition Act

– Supreme Court upheld Schenck’s conviction (9-0)

• Argued limits need to be in place with free speech during war time

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The War Ends

• July 15, 1918- 2nd Battle of the Marne– U.S. 3rd Division blew up every bridge across the river

preventing the Germans from crossing– August 3rd Germans retreated. 150,000 G casualties

• Allies counterattack in Sept. – American’s defeat the Germans at Mihiel– Allies push East towards Belgium

• Sgt. York– MoH winner- led an attack (ok- only him) on a machine

gun nest, took 32 machine guns, killed 20 Germans. In the end York and his 7 guys captured 132 others

• Battle of the Argonne Forest– Took over a month– U.S. army faced explosions and heavy machine gun fire– 120,000 American casualties– By November allies had reached Sedan

• Lost Battalion– 554 Americans surrounded by Germans in the Argonne forest

after they advanced too quickly and their side flanks (French) got stuck- 6 days of fighting off attacks by Germans• ~197 killed• ~150 MIA• ~194 rescued

– Saved by a pigeon… Cher Ami- delivered this “WE ARE ALONG THE ROAD PARALELL 276.4. OUR ARTILLERY IS DROPPING A BARRAGE DIRECTLY ON US. FOR HEAVENS SAKE STOP IT”

• Late 1918, German economy was crumbling

– Food riots, worker strikes in Germany

– Revolution spread in Austria-Hungary

– Surrendered Nov. 11, 1918

– 8.5 million killed

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PEACE WITHOUT VICTORYSection 4

Peace Conference

• Wilson’s 14 point peace plan reflected the new shift to progressive foreign policy.

• President Wilson traveled to Europe to participate in the conference.

• January 12, 1919 Paris Peace Conference begins– Big Four: US- Wilson, GB- David Lloyd George,

F- Georges Clemenceau, I- Vittorio Orlando

– Central Powers: no one.

Wilson’s 14 points1. No more secret agreements between countries. Diplomacy shall be open to the world.

2. International seas shall be free to navigate during peace and war.

3. There shall be free trade between the countries who accept the peace.

4. There shall be a worldwide reduction in weapons and armies by all countries.

5. Colonial claims over land and regions will be fair.

6. Russia will be allowed to determine its own form of government. All German troops will leave Russian soil.

7. German troops will evacuate Belgium and Belgium will be an independent country.

8. France will regain all territory including the disputed land of Alsace-Lorraine.

9. The borders of Italy will be established such that all Italians will be within the country of Italy.

10. Austria-Hungary will be allowed to continue to be an independent country.

11. The Central Powers will evacuate Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania leaving them as independent countries.

12. The Turkish people of the Ottoman Empire will have their own country. Other nationalities under the Ottoman rule will also have security.

13. Poland shall be an independent country.

14. A League of Nations will be formed that protects the independence of all countries no matter how big or small.

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• Pres. Wilson wanted peace, not to punish G.

• Europe: punish Germany completely

– And get reparations- payments for damages and expenses caused by the war

• 32 nations were present or represented

– Some leaders wanted self-determination

– Self-determination: the right for people to decide their own political status

• Treaty of Versailles-– Germany had no choice but to sign it, June 28,

1919

– Congress didn’t approve it, they had issue with the League of Nations and granting the LN power over our military

– Wilson went on a speaking tour to try and rally the people to support the treaty of Versailles and the LN, • his health declined while on tour and he suffered a

stroke. Spent the rest of his term living privately in the White House

– U.S. in 1921 (after Wilson) signed separate treaties with Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

Impact of the War

• 14 million dead from disease, the war or starvation.– 7 million disabled

– $280 Billion in war costs

• Political Impact- overthrow of monarchies in Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman Empire. – Brought Bolsheviks into power in Russia

– Sparked anti-colonial revolts in the middle east and Southeast Asia

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• Economic Impact- U.S. came out the worlds leading economic power– U.S. still faced inflation, high demand for certain goods,

and farmers hit hard by sudden lack of demand for crops.

• Social Impact- 19th Amendment passed– Many African Americans moved North for factory work

• Impact in Europe-– Europe hit hard, lost almost an entire generation

– France was destroyed

– Great Britain owed the U.S. a lot of money

– Germany crippled by the reparations it had to pay

• No lasting peace, still too much hostility, anger and issues not dealt with