World War I Aim: How did World War I have devastating global effects?

WWI – Battlefronts (copy) Western Front (of Germany) Germany vs France + Great Britain Schleiffin Plan (go through neutral Belgium) Trench Warfare – leads to stalemate and War of Attrition Famous Battles: Verdun, Somme USA joins by 1918 and make clear “War of Attrition” will be Allies victory Eastern Front (of Germany) Germany + Austria-Hungary + Ottoman Empire vs Russia + Great Britain (naval participation) + Arab Nationalists Areas of Battles: Russia, Black Sea region, Middle East/North Africa Russian casualties high – poor technology Famous Battles – Gallipoli Russia leaves War by 1917 – Russian Revolution

New technology Machine guns Artillery (cannons) i.e. “Big Bertha” Gas grenades Transportation (trains, automobiles) Communication (radios, telephones) Tanks Planes Naval Units technology

War: Fantasy vs. Realilty The following slides are courtesy of: ars/firstwwlinks/worksheets/realityofwar.pp t#1War: Fantasy vs. Realiltyhttp:// ars/firstwwlinks/worksheets/realityofwar.pp t#1War: Fantasy vs. Realilty

By Miss Boughey

The British government wanted to encourage men to enlist for war. They said the war would be safe, hardly any fighting, a good lark and over by Christmas. They used advertising posters to encourage this idea! A picture of soldiers going ‘Over the Top’

The reality of ‘going over the top’ was very different!

Soldiers were expected to carry all of their equipment with them at all times. They were supposed to keep it clean and in good condition – they were British after all.

How the uniform and equipment changed after just three weeks in the trenches…

Posters always showed men ready and willing to fight. They never showed the boredom of the trenches or actual fighting taking place. Why do you think the government showed no fighting?

No smiling and relaxed faces… No clean uniforms… Their equipment is scattered everywhere… Boredom and sleep are obvious…

The soldiers had very little decent food, and what food they had was often attacked by rats. These rats were the size of small rabbits and badgers because they had fed on the decomposing bodies of dead soldiers.

Initially believed to be a symptom of poor morale by military authorities, 'trench foot' was in fact a fungal infection of the feet brought on by prolonged exposure to damp, cold conditions allied to poor environmental hygiene.

THE RATS Google images

A HOPELESS SITUATION

TRENCH WARFARE

ANATOMY OF A TRENCH

POETS OF THE GREAT WAR By Ms Stubbs Downloaded from

The Dead (1914) R. Brooke

Poetry from the First World War was written by soldiers who served at the Western Front. They saw the horrors of War first hand. They wrote about what they really saw. Their poems were published just after the war, so they were not censored. They are first hand and often unbiased sources.

All Quiet On the Western Front By:

WILFRED OWEN Wilfred Owen is one of the more famous War Poets. He was (British) born March 18 th, He joined the Army in 1915 as an Officer in the “Artists Rifles”. Wilfred Owen served in some of the worst conditions during the following months.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST By Wilfred Owen Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent double like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

November 4 th, 1918: Owen and his men went ‘over the top’. He was shot and killed by German machine guns on the banks of the Sambre-Ouse Canal (Northern France). The War ended just a week later on November 11 th. Wilfred Owen was 25 years old.

Compare the poems of Brooke and Owen, specifically with their attitudes toward war. Brooke Owen

Why did the U.S. enter World War I? President Wilson had wanted the U.S. to remain neutral and not get pulled into World War I. Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality

Rising Tensions In 1915 a German U-Boat sank The Lusitania, a British passenger liner. 124 Americans were killed on board this ship. The Germans tried to prevent shipments from reaching the British and attacked U.S. merchant ships en route to Britain. This all shifted American opinion against Germany. Wilson's note to Germany

The Zimmerman Telegram The Zimmerman Note (Background and the telegram itself).The Zimmerman Note

The U.S. entered the War on April 2, 1917

When it was all over… More than 8.5 million were dead 17 million wounded Famine and disease were widespread in many regions. The financial cost of the war is said to have amounted to almost $38 billion for Germany alone; Britain spent $35 billion, France $24 billion, Russia $22 billion, USA $22 billion and Austria-Hungary $20 billion. In total the war cost the Allies around $125 billion; the Central Powers $60 billion. (Firstworldwar.com)