World War IWorld War I

Major BattlesMajor Battles

U.S. Entry in the WarU.S. Entry in the War

War of AttritionWar of Attrition

• A slow wearing down of the enemy• An attempt to “bleed” the other side

until they are incapable or unwilling to continue the fight

• Both sides try to outlast the other

TannenbergTannenberg

• August 1914: Tannenberg – Eastern Front– Russians defeated by Germans in Eastern Germany

GallipoliGallipoli

• April 1915• Great Britain attempts

to take control of the entrance to the Black Sea controlled by the Turks –Mainly Australians

fighting for British

GallipoliGallipoli

•British are unsuccessful

•145,000 British causalities

Battle of JutlandBattle of Jutland

• May 1916• Naval Battle between British and

German forces• Germany tried to break through the

British blockade on Germany• British victory

Battle of VerdunBattle of Verdun

• Dec. 1916• Western Front• German attempt to “bleed’ France by

attacking the French city Verdun• France holds city• German 330,000• French 350,000

Battle of the SommeBattle of the Somme• July 1916• Western Front• British suffer huge losses in an unsuccessful

attempt to break the stalemate– 19,000 British soldiers killed in the first day of the

battle– 40,000 British soldiers wounded

The Russian CollapseThe Russian Collapse

• Russia pulls out of the war in Oct. 1917– Eastern Front– 2,000,000 Russians had been killed in the war

• Overthrow of the Russian Czar– Communist revolution in led by Vladimir Lenin – Czar Nicholas II is overthrown

• Russian soldiers began desert the army• War on the Eastern Front ends

The Romanov FamilyThe Romanov Family

LeninLenin

Revolution Revolution

Death of the Romanoff Death of the Romanoff FamilyFamily

Russia Pulls Out of the Russia Pulls Out of the WarWar

• October 1917• Civil War breaks out in Russia–White army (loyal to the czar) vs. the

Red Army (communists)– Communists led by Lenin and Trotsky

win

U.S. Troops Arrive in U.S. Troops Arrive in FranceFrance

• June 1918• Germany had just begun a new

offensive• American Expeditionary Force led by

Gen. Pershing• Americans stop the German offensive

at the Marne River in July 1918• American victories at Verdun and

Argonne Forest push Germans back to German border– Germans faced with invasion of Germany

ArmisticeArmistice

• Germans ask for an end to the fighting on October 14, 1918

• Armistice takes effect at 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918– 11th hour of the 11 month of the 11 day – Veteran’s Day