1. Characteristics & Technology
World War I
Characteristics & Technology

2. Essential Question
How did technology change the way that war was fought in World War I?

3. Advantages Alliances Germany Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Ottoman Empire
Central Powers
Allied Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Bulgaria
Ottoman Empire
Great Britain
France
Russia
America (Eventually)
Advantages
Central Powers
Allied Powers
Geography – Controlled from North Sea to Middle East
Quicker Action – Easier communication & troop movement
Better Trained Armies – Germany had strongest army in world
More Soldiers
Greater Industrialization – Could produce weapons & ammo
Controlled the Seas – British navy moved materials around the world

4. Innovations in Warfare
Weapons were mass produced
Many new weapons were used

5. U-Boats German Submarines Caused extensive losses to Allied ships
Germans also used poison gas against infantry

6. Machine Guns As powerful as multiple rifles
Made infantry attacks against heavily fortified positions costly
Protective trenches were used to combat this tactic

7. Long-Range Artillery Killed in large numbers
Could attack from long-distances
Defensive weapons

8. Airplanes Primarily used to observe troop movement
Slow & difficult to maneuver
Sometimes used in air battles called dogfights
Also used to drop bombs
Aces were high skilled fighter pilots
The Red Baron – Famous German fighter pilot

9. Tanks Introduced by Britain in 1916
Easily moved over rough terrain using treads
Enabled troops to cut through barbed wire & enemy lines

10. Soldiers Previous wars in Europe fought by professional soldiers
WWI soldiers were mostly drafted civilians
Undrafted men & women worked at home to support the war effort
Total War – A war in which nations use all their resources to help the war

11. Propaganda
The use of selective bits of information, true or false, to get citizens to support the war
Government set up agencies to control news
Generally showed enemy as brutal while praising own soldiers

12. Early Years
Germany attacked France, & advanced to Marne River, but was stopped by French & British troops – ended German hope of quick victory
Western Front – Trenches stretched from Switzerland to English Channel & North Sea
Eastern Front – Russia attacked to divert German forces from Western Front

13. Early Years Battle of Tannenberg – August 1914 Fighting on Gallipoli
Russia defeated by Germany
Half of Russian forces lost
Germans attacked Poland after victory here
Fighting on Gallipoli
Russia lacked weapons to arm soldiers
Britain & France tried to capture Constantinople to create route to get supplies to Russia
Used naval bombardment & infantry but failed to capture Constantinople

14. Naval Warfare
Britain blockaded North Sea to prevent Germany from obtaining supplies
Germany blockaded Britain using U-Boats
May 1915 – U-Boats sinks Lusitania
1,200 killed, including 128 Americans
Germany reduced blockade after U.S. condemned the attack

15. The Stalemate By late 1915 the war came to a stalemate
Military leaders on both sides wondered if they would ever break through enemy lines
Many lives lost
Became a war of attrition – slow wearing down process where each side tries to outlast the other

16. United States in World War I
Tried to remain neutral
Were most industrialized neutral nation, & supplied both sides
British propaganda influenced Americans; they didn’t know it was exaggerated or false
America was pushed to war by 3 things

17. America Pushed to War
Germany offers to help Mexico regain Arizona, New Mexico, & Texas if they helped Germany. Message intercepted by British & given to U.S.
Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare
Russia became democracy, so America was more likely to fight for democratic ideals

18. Declaration of War
President Woodrow Wilson told Congress, “the world must by made safe for democracy.”
April 6, 1917 – Congress voted to declare war on Germany