2. Causes of World War 1
• 1. Nationalism= a devotion to the
interests and culture of one nation
• Many feared Germany’s growing
power in Europe
• Many nations longed to be
independent
• Ethnic groups looked to larger nations
for protection
– Ex: Russia was the protector of
Europe’s Slavic peoples. Serbia was an
independent nation but millions of
ethnic Serbs were under rule of
Austria-Hungary
• Result: Russia and Austria-Hungary
were rivals over influence in Serbia
3. 2. Imperialism
• Imperialism= large
empires extending their
economic, military or
political power over
others
• As Germany industrialized,
it competed with France
and Britain in the contest
for colonies (to get raw
materials and find market
for their goods)
4. 3. Militarism
• Militarism= development of
armed forces and their use as a
tool of diplomacy
• Each nation wanted a stronger
armed forced than those of any
potential enemy
– In Europe, Germany, had the
strongest military
– Britain had the strongest navy in
the world (island nation)
• Naval Race: Germany wanted to
be as strong as British with their
navy. France, Italy, Japan and
the U.S. quickly joined the naval
arm race
5. 4. Alliance System
• Alliance System=
Nations joining
together to form a
pact to protect and
defend each other
• Triple Entente
(Allies)= France,
Britain and Russia
• Triple Alliance=
Germany, Austria-
Hungary, and Italy
(aka Central Powers)
6. The SPARK!!!
• Where: Balkan Peninsula,
aka “powder keg of Europe”
• Why there?
• Russia wanted a route to
Mediterranean Sea
• Germany wanted a link to the
Ottoman Empire
• Austria-Hungary was angry at
Serbia stepping over them and
trying to rule Bosnia (which A-H
had taken over)
Powder Keg was ready to
EXPLODE!
7. The Assassination that Led to a War
• 1914, Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to the
Austrian throne, and his
wife were shot while visiting
Bosnia (Remember: Austria
had power over Bosnia, but
Serbia was stepping on their
toes)
• Who killed him? Gavrilo
Princip, a Serbian nationalist
• Austria-Hungary declared
war with Serbia, but it was
expected to be a very short
war
9. Great War Begins
• Alliance System brought many into the war
• Germany, obligated by a treaty with Austria-Hungary,
declared war on Russia
• Germany then declares war on Russia’s ally France
• After Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war
on Germany and Austria-Hungary
11. • Why were so many European nations pulled
into the conflict?
12. Trench Warfare
• Between the trenches=
“no man’s land”
• 3 kinds of trenches
– Front line trench
– Support trench
– Enemy trench
– Dugouts were made as
officers’ quarters and
command posts
26. Americans Question Neutrality
• Many Americans say no
reason to join a war that
was 3,000 miles away
• War was not a threat to
American lives or
property
• This didn’t mean that
Americans didn’t have
their opinions as to who
would win the war
27. American Feelings
• Some (socialists) said the war was a
capitalist and imperialist struggle
between Germany and England to
control markets and colonies
• Pacifists believed the ward was evil and
that the U.S. needed to set an example
of peace
• Many U.S. citizens followed the war
because they had ties to the nations
from which they emigrated
• Many Americans sympathized with the
British (common ancestry and
language)
28. American Feelings
• America was tied more with
the Allies economically than
the Central Powers
• Allies ordered many war
supplies from Americans.
• U.S. shipped millions of
dollars of war supplies to the
Allies, but the requests kept
coming
• By 1915, the U.S. had a labor
shortage
29. • Why did the United States begin to favor
Britain and France?
30. The War Hits Home
• Many Americans favored the
Allies, but that did not mean
they wanted to join and fight
with them
• America mobilized against the
Central Powers because:
– 1. ensure Allied repayment of
debts to the United States
– 2. Prevent the Germans from
threatening U.S. shipping
31. British Blockade
• British blocked the German
coasts from receiving weapons
and other military supplies from
getting through (eventually
included blocking food too)
• Results:
• American ships going to Germany
didn’t get there
• Without food and fertilizers going to
Germany, Germany experienced a
famine (750,000 starved to death)
• Americans were angry that the
British were threatening freedom
of the seas and not allowing their
ships to reach German ports
32. German U-Boat Response
• German submarines
(U-Boats, from the German
word Unterseeboot)
would counter
blockade and sink
any British or Allied
ships
33. Lusitania
• Worst disaster was the sinking of the British liner,
the Lusitania.
– 1,198 people died, 128 were Americans
– Americans (Wilson) ruled out military response,
Germany did not keep promises to stop sinking ships
34. • How did the German U-boat campaign
affect U.S. public opinion?
35. 1916 Election
• Woodrow Wilson won against Charles Hughes
with the slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War!”
36. Wilson
• Wilson tried to mediate
between the warring alliances,
but his attempts failed
• Wilson called for a “league of
peace,” but Germany ignored it
• Germany said they would
continue to sink all ships in
British waters- hostile or
neutral- on sight
• Wilson said he would wait for an
overt attack before declaring
war
37. Zimmermann Note
• = a telegram from the
German foreign minister
to the German
ambassador in Mexico
was intercepted by
British agents
• Germany promised to
Mexico that if the U.S.
broke out into the war
that Germany would help
them recover “lost
territory in Texas, New
Mexico, and Arizona.”
38. • Why did the Zimmermann note alarm the U.S.
government?
39. America Acts
• When did America Enter?
1917
• Hopes of neutrality were over
“Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and
innocent people cannot be. The present German
submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against
mankind…We are glad…to fight…for the ultimate peace of
the world and for the liberation of its peoples…The world
must be made safe for democracy…We have no selfish
ends to serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We
seek no indemnities…It is a fearful thing to lead this great
peaceful people into war…But the right is more precious
than peace.”
-Woodrow Wilson, 1917
42. Raising An Army
• Selective Service Act= 1917, required men to register with
the government in order to be randomly selected for
military service
• By 1918, 24 million had registered
• Out of 24 million, 3 million were called up
• 2 million sent over, ¾ of those saw combat
43. Many Enlist
• 400,000 African Americans served
• Served in segregated units and were excluded
from the navy and marines
44. Training
• 8 month training ( ½ in
America, ½ in Europe)
• 17 hours a day on: target
practice, bayonet drill,
kitchen duty, and cleaning
up the grounds
• Real weapons were in short
supply- used fake weapons,
rocks instead of hand
grenades, wooden poles
instead of rifles
46. Women
• Not allowed to enlist
• Army Crops of Nurses (but
denied rank, pay and benefits)
• Served as nurses, secretaries
and telephone operators
47. Mass Production
• Transporting men, food and
equipment was hard with
German U-boats
• 4 steps:
– 1. shipyard workers were exempt
from draft
– 2. showed appreciation for
shipyard workers (flags flown over
home)
– 3. parts were built elsewhere and
then assembled at the yard
– 4. government took over shipyards
and converted them for war use
48. America Turns the Tide
• With U-boat problem, US military leaders
convinced British to try the convey system
• = heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant
ships back and forth across Atlantic
• US plants bombs in the ocean in path of U-boats
49. Fighting in Europe
• Allies were tired
from war
• Americans gave:
fresh blood,
freshness,
enthusiasm,
determination to
hit Germans hard
50. Fighting “Over There”
• American Expeditionary
Force (AEF) -nicknamed
doughboys (possibly
because of their white
belts which they cleaned
with pipe clay, or
“dough”)
51. New Weapons
• First large scale use of
weapons
– Machine gun
– Tanks
– Airplane (first used for
scouting, then for
early air combats, by
the end of the war
planes could carry
heavy bombs loads)
– Poison gas & gas
masks
– Observation balloons
53. War Introduces New
Hazards
• Men surrounded by filth,
lice, rats and polluted water
that caused dysentery
(disease of intestines)
• Inhaled poison gas and
smelled decaying bodies
• Lack of sleep
• “Shell Shock”
• Trench Mouth (infection of
gums and throat)
55. War Introduces New Hazards
(cont.)
• Trench foot- caused by
standing in wet trenches
for long periods of time
– Toes turn red or blue
– Then, they become numb
– Start to rot
– Solution: Amputate the toes
and sometimes the entire
foot
56. American Troops Go on the Offensive
• Russia pulled out of war in 1917, and Germans
now concentrated on the western front
• Americans arrived just in time to help French
when Germans were invading
• Americans began mounting offensive attacks
57. American War Hero
• Alvin York
– Tennessee blacksmith and
mountaineer
– Sought exemption as
“conscientious objector”- a
person who opposes warfare
on moral grounds
– Decided later to fight if the
war was for just cause
– Killed 25 Germans, captured
132 prisoners
– Became a celebrity when he
came home
59. The Collapse of Germany
• November of 1918, Austria-
Hungary surrendered to the
Allies
• Groups of Germans revolted
against German government,
exhausting Germans from
continuing to fight
• In the 11th hour, on the 11th
day, in the 11th month of
1918, Germany signed a truce
(armistice) that ended the war
60. Final Toll
• WW1 was the bloodiest
war up to that time
• Death total: 22 million
(more than ½ were
civilians)
• Wounded: 20 million
• Became Refugees: 10
million
• Cost of War: $338
Million
64. U.S. Losses
• Deaths to Combat:
48,000
• Deaths to Disease:
62,000
• Wounded: 200,000
65. Activity: Patriotic Song
• Listen to the song
and underline 5
parts you like.
• Write on the
worksheet the
reason why you
believe this song
was motivating to
the soldiers in
WW1. (3-4
sentences)
67. Congress Gives Power to Wilson
• Entire economy switch
from commercial to
warfare products
• Congress gave power to
Wilson to:
– directly control much of
economy, including fixing
prices and to regulate
certain war-related
industries
70. War Industries Board
• WIB
• Leader: Bernard M. Baruch
• What it did?
– Encouraged companies to use mass-
production technique to increase
efficiency
– Set production quotas and allocated
materials
• Railroad Administration controlled
railroads
• Fuel Administration controlled coal,
gas, and heating oil
• Daylight-saving time- first proposed
by Benjamin Franklin, but introduced
by Fuel Adm.
71. War Economy
• Wages increased
• Rising food prices and
housing costs
• National War Labor Board:
settle disputes between
management and labor
– Motto for obeying Board:
“Work or Fight”
73. Food
Administration
• = help produce and
conserve food
• Instead of rationing food,
people had…
– “meatless” once a week
– “sweetless” once a week
– “wheatless” twice a week
– “porkless” once a week
– Homeowners planted
“victory gardens”
– School children planted
after school hours
76. Selling the War
• After fixing the economy,
there were 2 major
tasks:
– 1. Raising $$$ for the war
– 2. Convincing the public
to support the war
77. 1. War Financing
• 1/3 of all money raised came from taxes
(income, tobacco, liquor, and luxury goods)
• Total Spent by U.S. 35.5 billion on war effort
78. 2. Committee on Public Information
• =nation’s first propaganda agency
• Biased communication designed to
influence people’s opinions
• Leader (George Creel) was a
muckracker
• Spread new by: newspapers,
pamphlets, speakers
• Other became outraged by this?
Who do you think this is?
While some were claiming patriotism, it angered others who were
seeking civil liberties of other ethnic groups and opponents of the war
79. Attacks of Civil Liberties Increase
• Anti-Immigrant Hysteria
• Attacks on recent immigrants,
especially those from Germany and
Austria-Hungary
– Many with German names lost their
jobs
– Orchestras refused to play the music of
Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms
– Towns with German titles changed
name
– Schools stop teaching German
– German books removed from libraries
– Physically attacked or lynched
– Changed name of food (ie:
Hamburger “liberty sandwich,”
sauerkraut “liberty cabbage”)
80. Espionage and
Sedition Acts
• =person could be fined
up to $10,000 and
sentenced to 20 years
in jail for interfering
with the war effort or
for saying anything
disloyal about
government
• These laws violated the
First Amendment
82. War Encourages Social Change
• African Americans
and the War
• Black opinion was
split about the war
– Do Not Support: Not
our war, why should
we?
– Support: Our
Support with help
strengthen calls for
racial justice
83. Great Migration
• =large scale movement of
hundreds of thousands of Southern
blacks to cities in the North
• Started during Jim Crow laws but
now increased dramatically
• Where? Chicago, New York, and
Philadelphia
• Why Move North?
– Escape racial discrimination
– Jobs!
– There was still discrimination in the
North, and this migration intensified
racial tensions.
84. Women at War
• Women moved into jobs previously only held by men
• Ie: railroad workers, cooks, dockworkers, and
bricklayers
• Didn’t help with equal wages between men and
women, but it did help bolster public support for
women suffrage (19th Amendment in 1920)
85. Flu Epidemic
• International flu epidemic
hits! (1918)
• Affected ¼ of population
of U.S.
• Possibly spread by the
soldiers to others they
were fighting
• Total Americans killed:
500,000
• Total (World) Killed: 30
Million
89. Wilson’s Plan
• 14 Points
• First 5: deal with issues to prevent
another war (no secret treaties,
freedom of seas, free trade among
nations, arms reduced…)
• Next 8: dealt with boundary
changes (ethnic groups were to
receive their own nation-state or
decide who they would belong to)
• 14th Point: creation of international
organization to address diplomatic
crisis (League of Nations)
90. Allies Reject Wilson’s Plan
• French wanted to prevent
further invasions of
Germany
• British wanted to “make
Germany pay”
• Italy wanted to control of
the Austria-held territory
• “Big Four”: leaders from all
these countries
• Wilson settled for most of
his points to get his League
of Nations
91. Treaty of Versailles
• Big Four gathered to sign
peace treaty (1919)
• Results:
– 9 new nations formed:
Poland, Yugoslavia,
Austria, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, Albania,
Latvia, Lithuania &
Estonia
– Germany could no longer
have an army
– Germany had to pay
reparations (war
damages)…about 33
billion to Allies
92. Treaty’s Weaknesses
• 1. Couldn’t provide lasting
peace for Europe
• 2. Germany was humiliated
– Treaty included a “War-Guilt
Clause” which forced Germany
to admit full responsibility for
starting WW1
– Germany was stripped of its
colonies and in no way could
pay back reparations without
them
• 3. Russians left out
– Fought with allies, lost more
territory then Germany, left
out of Conference
93. Opposition to the Treaty
• Many Americans thought
the Treaty was too harsh
• Many said we were just
switching one
imperialistic nation for
another
• Many didn’t like the new
borders
94. Debate Over the League of Nations
• Many thought it threatened the
U.S. foreign policy of
isolationism
• Many did not want to enter,
and in the end, and with
Wilson’s failing health, the U.S.
did not enter the League of
Nations, but maintained an
unofficial observer at League
meetings
98. Legacy of War
• In US:
– War strengthened the US military
– Social changes had occurred (African Americans and women)
– Discrimination (against ethnic groups)
• In Europe:
– political and social changes
– devastated by war
– rebuilding
