1. War spreads throughout Europe
The Great War
War spreads throughout Europe

2. How the whole thing got started
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in June of 1914 was the spark that started a wildfire in Europe
Europe was already separated into two alliances
Triple Entente = Britain, France & Russia
Triple Alliance = Austria-Hungary, Germany & Italy
In response to Austria’s declaration of war on Serbia, the Russians moved troops to the Austrian-Russian border
Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany saw this as a threat and declared war on Russia

3. How the conflict widens
Russia looked to France for help, but Germany declared war on France before they could even decide
Germany adopted the Schlieffen Plan
Germany figured if they had to fight a war on two fronts (locations) they should pick where to start
Schlieffen Plan: A major portion of the Germany army would attack France on the west and then return to fight Russia in the east.
The Germans figured that Russia would have a harder time mobilizing (preparing) for war b/c it lacked railroads

4. Everyone Chooses Sides
Germany wanted to get to France, but the French had soldiers lined along the German/French border
Going through Belgium gave Germany an alternate route
When Belguim refuse to let Germany pass through the Germans invaded
Britain joined the conflict to protect its allies France & Belgium
The Triple Alliance & Entente were changed
Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire & Bulgaria
Allied Powers: Britain, France, Russia, Japan & Italy
Italy dropped out of its alliance w/ Germany after it invaded Belgium
Nine months later it joined the Allied Powers

5. Germany Attacks Western Front
At first, Germany’s Schlieffen Plan worked well
The Germans had trampled through Belgium & made it to France by September 1914
In the early days of September it looked like the Germans were about to take Paris
However, Germany’s lightning quick attack had turned into a long drawn out bloody stalemate in France
The battlefields of Northern France became known as the Western Front

6. Germany Invades France
On Sept. 5th the Germans attacked the northeast outskirts of Paris along the Marne River
However, the French had received intelligence beforehand telling them the exact location of the attack
French put every Marne even rushing reinforcements by taxi
After four days, the Germans retreated
By Sept. 13th the Germans had been pushed back 60 miles
The defeat destroyed the Schlieffen Plan b/c it called for a quick victory in the west and then attack Russia in the east
When Russia invaded Germany from the east, Germany had to split their troops to fight on both the Western & Eastern Front

7. Trench Warfare
By early 1915, the Central & Allied powers had dug miles of parallel trenches to protect themselves from enemy fire
Trench warfare: soldiers fought in trenches. Huge losses in men, resulted in only small gains in land (sometimes only hundreds of feet)
Life in the trenches was difficult at best. Soldiers lived in mud and had to endure all kinds of weather
They suffered with rats & lice
If men survived artillery fire they often suffered from trench foot, dysentery & shell shock
The land between opposing trenches was called “no-man’s land”
Lined with barbed wire & dangerous b/c one was an easy target to enemy fire

8. War Comes to a Standstill
The Western Front stretched 500 miles from the North Sea to the Swiss border
There were many new weapons & tools first introduced in WWI
The airplane, armored tank, machine gun & submarine were all new
Everyone thought that these new tools would make war more fast paced
Soldiers soon realized that it just caused more casualties, with little gain in land
The Germans tried to break the stalemate when they introduced posion gas as a weapon in 1915
It eventually became a tool for both sides
Mustard and Chlorine gas caused blinding, blisters & death by choking

9. War Rages on in East
People tend to forget that while battles were being fought on the Western Front, there were just a fierce warfare in the east
The Eastern Front of the war was fought along the German and Russian border
Russians/Serbs vs. Germans/Austrians/Turks
Battles on the Eastern Front tended to be more mobile than the trench warfare in the west
But again there was little gain on either side during the early years of the war

10. Russians Try to Hold On
Russia launched its initial attack in Germany & Austria
At first, the Russians were successful in Austria during the fall of 1914
However, during this same time period the Russians were being forced to retreat from Germany
With help from the Germans the Austrian pushed Russia out by Dec. 1914
Things didn’t look good for the non-industrialized Russians.
By 1916 they were short on equipment & supplies
2 million Russians were killed, captured or wounded in 1915
However, they were hanging tough and occupying the German army

11. War Spreads Outside of Europe
The Great War spread beyond Europe in 1915
The British & French attacked the Ottoman controlled Gallipoli peninsula in the Middle East (2/1915)
Gallipoli turned into another bloody stalemate
However the British supported Arabs in the Middle East who revolted against the Ottomans
The British & French recruited natives from their imperial holdings in places like Egypt, S. Africa, India & Indochina
These groups attacked German holdings in Africa & Asia
While Japan hit German ports in China

12. United States Joins War
Germany was short on food b/c bad crops & British naval blockade
Germany responded by putting a blockade around Britain
Germany warned the world that it would sink any ship near Britain
On 5/7/1915 the German U-boats (submarines) sank the Lusitania a British passenger ship
Germany said they sunk the ship b/c ammunition was on board
However, 128 Americans died, putting the country in outrage
Germany gambled & thought they could cripple Britain before the U.S. could enter the war, so they continued sinking ships
The final straw for the U.S. came when Britain decoded a message from Germany to Mexico in Feb. 1917
The Zimmerman Note was a German proposal for Mexico to align itself with the Central Powers & attack the U.S.
On April 2, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson & Congress declared war on Germany