A GENDA

Q UIZ … 1. List the four long-term causes of WWI. 2. What two countries were in competition over the Balkans? 3. Who assassinated the Archduke Franz Ferdinand? 4. Where was the Archduke from? 5. How did the assassination lead to WWI?

WWI: W AR C ONSUMES E UROPE 16.2

T HE A LLIANCE S YSTEM C OLLAPSES After the assassination of the archduke, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia Resulted in chain reaction Chain reaction went like this: Austria-Hungary attacks Serbia (with Germany’s unconditional support) Russia helps Serbia, attacks Austria-Hungary AND Germany Germany declares war against Russia Russia asks France for help

T HE S CHLIEFFEN P LAN Designed by General Arthur Graf von Schlieffen of Germany Plan to deal 2-front war. German soldiers would rush to the West to crush the French, and then back to the East to attack the Russians The Germans couldn’t get into France because the French troops were too deep, so they crossed through Belgium

W AR TORN FOREST …

Since Belgium was officially “neutral”, the German invasion outraged the British and then the British declared war on Germany too (August 4, 1914) Soon the two alliances (the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente) changed their names – turned into the Allies vs. The Central Powers

A LLIES VERSUS C ENTRAL P OWERS Great Britain, France, Russia = Original allies Italy – even though they were originally with the Germans – switched sides and joined the Allies Located in center of Europe – Germany and Austria-Hungary were the original two Joined by Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire

B ELGIANS BLEW OUT A BRIDGE TO HALT THE G ERMANS

F RENCH TANK STUCK IN G ERMAN TRENCH

A B LOODY S TALEMATE A LONG THE W ESTERN F RONT Germany’s attack of France = a long stalemate in French battlefields Deadlocked region = The Western Front Seemed like the Germans were going to beat France… not so much.

F RENCH SOLDIER TRAINING AN A MERICAN

T HE B ATTLE OF THE M ARNE French FINALLY defeat the Germans in the valley of the Marne River (north of Paris). Battle = important battle; showed the Germans that the Schlieffen Plan would not work.

T RENCH W ARFARE Armies fought each other from trenches (trenches are like big ditches) Trenches = muddy and rat infested; sleep was impossible Land b/w trenches = “no man’s land.” Even the new technology didn’t make war quick and easy, just more violent At the Battle of Verdun, the French and Germans EACH lost more than 300,000 men By the end of the Battle of the Somme (November 1916) each side had lost a half a million soldiers

“N O MAN ’ S LAND ”

S OLDIERS REPAIRING A TRENCH …

T HE B ATTLE ON THE E ASTERN F RONT Eastern front = stretch of land b/w Germany and Russia Russians and Serbs versus Germans, Austrians and Turks Central Powers dominated – killed more than 30,000 Russians in one battle!

G ERMAN SOLDIERS AIMING AT THE ENEMY …

R USSIA F ALLS A PART By 1916, Russia was near collapse – low on supplies. Ports blocked by the Ottomans and the Germans Russia’s HUGE population helped them stay in the war. Russians lost more than 2 million soldiers in 1915 alone

A MERICAN SOLDIERS THROWING HAND GRENADES …