World War I
1914-1918
MAIN Causes:
Militarism
System of Alliances
Imperialism
Extreme Nationalism
Militarism: Arms Race





General Staffs and Plans of Mobilization
and Attack
Von Schlieffen Plan
Tannenburg
Army and Navy size doubled from 18701914
Dreadnaught Battleships
Alliances in Europe 1914
A Precarious Balance
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy
France
England
Russia
Triple
Triple
Entente
Alliance
Imperialism



Desire and competition for colonies
Ottoman Empire Weakens
Serbia gains independence
B.8.1-4
Nationalism
Franco-Prussian War
Alsace-Lorraine
Pan-Slavism
The Black Hand
Assassination of
Archduke
Francis
Ferdinand of
Austria by a
Serbian
national…
June 1914
Germany attacks France by
going through neutral
Belgium
B.8.1-4
Click here for video
Vulture Nations
•Japan
•Italy
They hang around and eat the scraps for other people’s battles
First Battle of the Marne.

First example of total war

Taxi cabs used to move soldiers
B.8.1-4
The Schlieffen Plan
– Germany’s
strategy to win
World War I
Western Front
Eastern Front
VERDUN – a
key battle – 10
months and
1,000,000
killed.
January 1915, First German
zeppelin air raid on England.
April 22-May 5, 1915 Second
Battle of Ypres. First use of
chemical weapons.

First use of
chemical weapons.
The Eastern Front – Russia vs Central Powers
Allies attack at Gallipoli to take control
of the strategic Dardanelles - 1915
Battle of Jutland (May-June 1916)

Both sides claimed victory. The British had lost
more ships and many more sailors, but
Germany’s plan of destroying British navy power
had failed. For the remainder of the war, the
German High Seas Fleet stayed in port. They
continued to pose a threat that required the
British to keep their battleships concentrated in
the North Sea, but they never again contested
control of the seas. Instead, the German Navy
turned its efforts and resources to unrestricted
submarine warfare.
1917
Treaty of Brest Litovsk:
Russia Withdraws from the War
Serbia
England
France
Italy*
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
United States Enters The War
Serbia
England
France
Italy*
United States
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
B.8.1-4
U.S. Enters the War in 1917
CAUSES FOR THE U.S. ONLY: Sinking
of Lusitania
 In 1917, the United States entered the
war on the Allies side. Unrestricted
submarine warfare by the Germans led
the U.S. to declare war on the Central
Powers. U.S. entry into the war turned
the tide for the Allies.
 Zimmerman Note

B.8.1-4
By 1917, with Russia out of the war, Germany could devote all
of her troops and resources to the Western Front.
At 11:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918 a truce (armistice) ending
World War I was signed and this horrible war was over….
Effects World War 1
New Weapons / Technology






Submarines
Huge artillery guns
Tanks
Poison/nerve gas
Airplanes
Dirigibles
B.8.1-4
Total War:

All facets of the economy are mobilized for war, a
single battle would no longer determine the
outcome of war, but the whole will of the people
would have to be broken.






Children collect metal for recycling
Colonies supply soldiers
Rationing occurs
Propaganda used
Soldiers are drafted (Germany 16 to 60)
Government control of industry (planning boards
and quotas, wage and price controls)
The Home Front:
 Women
enter
workforce (bobbed
hair, dangerous work)
 Middle and Upper class
women gained more
than poor
 Rights are suspended
 Propaganda
Click here for Propaganda
World War I Effects














Loss of millions of lives
Europe devastated economically and physically
Collapse of empires
Emergence of U.S. as a growing world power
Unrest and instability in Europe
Economic depression
Genocide of Armenians in Ottoman Empire
Wilson’s 14 Points
Treaty of Versailles
League of Nations
First modern use of chemical weapons
Communist Revolution in Russia
Mandate System/Self-determination
Creation of many new nations in Europe
Treaty of Versailles
“A failed Peace”
Massive loss of life
Isolationism (USA)
League of Nations
In 1919, the Big 4 met in Paris to
negotiate the Treaty
Lloyd George of Britain, Orlando of
Italy,
Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow
Wilson of the U.S.
B.8.1-4