WORLD WAR I
T H E WA R TO E N D A L L WA R S
DECLARATIONS OF WAR
1914
• July 28 Austria-Hungary declares war on
Serbia.
• July 31 Russia announces full
mobilization.
• August 1Germany declares war on Russia.
• August 3 Germany declares war on
France.
• August 4 Germany invades Belgium,
Britain declares war on Germany
• August 5 Montenegro on Austria Hungary
• August 6 Austria-Hungary declares war on
Russia Serbia declares war on Germany.
• August 9 Montenegro declares war on
Germany.
• August 11 France declares war on AustriaHungary.
• August 12 The United Kingdom declares
war on Austria-Hungary.
• August 22 Austria-Hungary declares war
on Belgium.
• August 23 Japan declares war on
Germany.
• August 25 Japan declares war on AustriaHungary.
• November 1 Russia declares war on
the Ottoman Empire.
• November 3 Montenegro declares war
on the Ottoman Empire.
1915
• May 23 Italy declares war on AustriaHungary.
• October 14 Bulgaria declares war on
Serbia
• October 15 The United Kingdom
declares war on Bulgaria.
• October 16 France declares war on
Bulgaria.
1916
• August 27 Italy declares war on
Germany; Romania enters on the
Allied side
1917
• April 6 The United States declares
war on Germany.
• December 7 The United States
declares war on Austria-Hungary.
TRENCH WARFARE
• Miles of trenches lined the
battle fields
– Zigzag patterns
• Protect from enemy
• No Man’s Land
– “Over the top”
• Trenches were dirty, wet and
cold
– Rats and insects
– Trench foot
– Diseases
WESTERN FRONT
• Name given to the battle lines
–Belgium, France & Germany
• Stalemate
–Deadlock
–Neither side advances or defeats
the other
THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN
• Called for Germany to quickly crush
France before Russia was fully ready
• Belgium
N. France
• Plan had many faults:
–more resistance in Belgium; German
advances delayed
–Russia mobilized faster
–Britain met German forces in northern
France
MA JOR
BATTLES
AT YOUR TABLE GROUPS…
• You will be assigned a specific battle from WWI
• As a group, you will create a poster with the following information and
will be shared with the class:
– Dates
– Location
• City? Country? Region?
– Also, place on your WWI map
– Summary (countries involved, who won, casualties)
– Primary Source quote
– Historical Impact/Significance
• Thesis statement should answer the following question: Why was this
battle historically significant to the first World War?
– Two visuals
– *Fun Facts
FIRST MARNE
FIRST YPRES
VERDUN
SOMME
TANNENBERG
GALLIPOLI
MEUSE-ARGONNE
WEAPONS &
TECHNOLOGIES
TOTAL WAR
• By 1917, Europe had lost more men
in battle than in the previous 300
years combined
• Governments in Europe devote
everything to war effort
• Positive
–no unemployment
–women in the workforce
WAR OF ATTRITION
•Military strategy, each side
attempts to wear down the
enemy through continuous
losses in personnel and
materials—hopefully to the
point of collapse.
• New tools of warfare did not
deliver the expected fast-moving
war
• All the new technology did was
kill greater numbers of people
more effectively
• Introduced by the Germans but
used by both sides
• Caused
–Blindness
–severe blisters
–death by choking
• Fires ammunition
automatically-had been much
improved by WWI
• By wiping out waves of
attackers the machine gun
made it hard for forces to
advance.
• Appeared for the first time in battle by the end of
1915
• First used to spot enemy’s position
• Attacked ground targets (communication centers)
• Zeppelins used to bomb England
– Caused little damage
• Initially pilots shot at each other with pistols before
machine guns were mounted.
• Armored combat vehicle that
moved on chain tracks
• Could cross many types of terrain
• Different models introduced
throughout the war
• Labeled as a water tank in
transport to keep the new machine
a secret—hence the name Tank
• Introduced by the Germans in
1914
• Effective warship — primary
weapon against ships was the
torpedo, an underwater missile