World War I The Great War The War to end all Wars

The War that ended European domination in World Affairs New inventions made the war the bloodiest in history On an average day 5000 men died, sometimes that number went as high as 50,000 men dead each day

Why? World War I was caused by 4 things Nationalism-intense nationalism caused rivalries between the major European powers and caused ethnic minorities to demand their own countries Militarism- populations of all nations involved believed in the strength and power of their own military

Imperialism- the drive for Empires around the world worsened the rivalries between major European powers, especially between Germany, France, and Great Britain Alliances- the major European Powers grouped themselves into 2 main competing alliances

Alliances Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy Triple Entente- France, Great Britain, and Russia

Remember M.A.I.N. MilitarismAlliancesImperialismNationalismMAIN

Major players Kaiser Wilhelm II- Emperor of Germany from David Lloyd-George- British Prime Minister during WWI George Clemenceau- French Premier during WWI Tsar Nicholas II- Emperor of Russia from

Kaiser Wilhelm II

George Clemenceau

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

David Lloyd-George

Woodrow Wilson

Tsar Nicholas II

The Monk Rasputin

President Woodrow Wilson- President of the United States Archduke Franz Ferdinand- heir to the Throne of Austria-Hungary, whose assassination provided the spark for war Rasputin- a Russian Monk who had become an advisor for the Russian royal family

Characteristics of the war Trench warfare- the war on the western front stalemated and was fought from deep trenches Soldiers endured long periods of boredom and sniper fire and periods of intense brutal combat

Famous battles Battle of the Marne- September 1914 the German army is stopped before it could circle around Paris and destroy the French army Battle of the Somme first battle using Tanks, a brutal and bloody battle that cost 1,000,000 casualties on the British and German armies

Battle of Verdun- a battle fought merely to kill soldiers and it succeeded in killing more men than the Somme

French Cemetery at Verdun

New weapons Machine gun, Tank, airplane, long range artillery, chemical weapons, and submarines all had a part in the blood bath of WWI

A German tank (it had a crew of 18)

A French Renault tank

Fokker Tri-plane

Manfred Baron Von Richtofen

U-boat

Decisive moments 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Battles of Somme and Verdun US entry into the War Russian Revolution takes Russia out of the War

Why did the US enter in 1917? Unrestricted Submarine warfare by the Germans against the allies The Zimmerman Note- a diplomatic message sent to Mexico by the Germans to get Mexico to join Germany against the US.

Impact of the US 4 million fresh troops entered the war The industrial might of the US could re- arm the allies

The end of the War US troops prove decisive on the western front in 1918 Social unrest in Germany caused the Kaiser to abdicate November 11, 1918 an armistice or cease- fire was announced and fighting ceased

Treaty of Versailles Signed in May 1919 Germany was blamed for the war Germany was stripped of overseas possessions Germany lost territory in Europe Germany was not allowed to have a Navy Germany was not allowed to have an Air Force

Germany was not allowed to have long range artillery Germany was not allowed to have any tanks The German army was restricted to 100,000 men Germany was to allow the allies to occupy parts of western Germany

Germany was to pay “reparations” to the allies, totaling the entire cost of the war The total cost was determined to be 32 billion dollars.

Legacy of the Treaty 1) The Myth of the “Stab in the Back” began when German politicians signed the treaty 2) The German economy was crippled by the reparations portion

League of Nations Part of the Treaty created the League of Nations An international organization that was to prevent future wars The US would not join Without the US as a member the League was powerless to prevent future conflict

Mandate system Victorious allies divided the defeated empires up between them but did not call them “colonies” Nationalism in colonial areas required the European allies to create a new system The “Mandate System”

Technically the “Mandate System” was to be a temporary arrangement but the Europeans intended it to be permanent Britain and France divided up the middle eastern parts of the Otttoman Empire between them France got Syria and Lebanon, Britain got Palestine and Iraq