1. World War I
The Great War

2. What were the Causes of World War One?

3. What were the Causes of WWI?
Nationalism
Imperialism/Colonialism
Militarism

4. What else?
Diplomatic Failures
Alliance System

5. Pre-WWI Alliances 1882 Triple Alliance 1894 Franco-Russian Alliance
1904 Entente Cordiale
1907 Anglo-Russian Entente

6. Alignment on the Eve of War
Entente: Britain, France, Russia, US (sort of)
Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire

7. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
June 28, 1914
Heir to Austro-Hungarian throne
Killed in Sarajevo by Serbian separatists
Austro-Hungarian Empire accuses Serbian government of endorsing the assassination

8. The July Crisis
A-H demands reparations from Serbian government, they refuse
A-H declares war
Russia sees this as a threat to their influence in the region, declares war on A-H
Boom. WWI starts.

9. Kaiser Wilhelm II Last German emperor and king of Prussia
Aggressively pursued colonial expansion
Alienates Britain with naval expansion
One of the most hated men in Europe outside of Germany
Offered full support to A-H as Serbian crisis intensified

10. The Schlieffen Plan Germany knew it was going to face a 2-front war
Predicted that Russia would be slow to mobilize
Planned to defeat France quickly, then turn attention to Russia
Basis of German strategy in WWI and WWII

11. The Western Front
Germany invades Belgium in 1914, forces Britain into the war
Constant fighting
8 Million Entente casualties
5.6 Million Central Power casualties

12. Trench Warfare
The Western Front became an intricate series of trenches
Snipers, machine guns, artillery
Little protection from the elements
Disease

15. The Vickers Machine Gun

17. First and Only Legal Use of Chemical Warfare

18. Why do you think chemical and biological warfare are now considered a war crimes?

19. Battle of the Marne, Sept. 6-10, 1914
High-water mark of German dominance in the W. Front
Germans planned to hit the northern flank of the French, push them back, encircle French army and Paris simultaneously

20. Battle of the Marne, Sept. 6-10, 1914
France counterattacks, Forcing the Germans to move south of Paris, preventing encirclement
Germans become bottle-necked in the Marne River Valley
Halting Germany at the Marne was the first major German defeat of the war

21. Battle of Verdun, February-December 1916
Longest battle of WWI
Verdun region held 20 major forts and 40 smaller forts
German military realizes that a decisive victory here could be an immediate knock out punch

22. Beginning of the Battle
Germany moves in 140,000 soldiers and 1,200 artillery guns that would put down 2.5 million shells on the French
French forts weakened  only 30,000 French soldiers in the region at the start

23. Flamethrowers
First use of flamethrowers in combat was during the Battle of Verdun
Use of flamethrowers in combat is now considered a war crime

24. Verdun Verdun quickly turns into a stalemate
The Germans are unable to capture the city
360,000 Germans and 340,000 French are lost during the battle

25. The Somme Joint British-French attack
Entente leaders intend to bleed Germany of resources
World War One military strategy essentially assured a stalemate

27. Somme
The battles of the Somme and Verdun were the epitome of World War One battles. Enormous troop movements and artillery bombardments that result in stalemates.