WORLD WAR I-Causes
History Channel Article
FOUR MAJOR CAUSES OF WWI 1914-1919:
The spark that lit the fuse…. The one event that started the Great War happened in the Balkans.
WHY DID THE UNITED STATES ABANDON ITS POLICY OF ISOLATIONISM?
ORGANIZING THE WAR EFFORTS:
NEW SOCIAL/ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES:
SUSPENSION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES:
CONCEPTS AND TERMS:
- Imperialism: Competition for land, resources, etc
- Alliance System: European powers formed rival alliances to protect themselves. One event could drag all countries involved into a conflict.
- Militarism: building large armies and navies during the pre-war years
- Nationalism: Intense feeling of pride in one’s country
The spark that lit the fuse…. The one event that started the Great War happened in the Balkans.
- The Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Austria-Hungary) was assassinated while visiting Serbia.
WHY DID THE UNITED STATES ABANDON ITS POLICY OF ISOLATIONISM?
- Isolationism: neutral, staying out of the war in Europe
- The U.S., as a neutral nation, claimed the right to trade with either side in the war… although U.S was selling many more weapons & supplies to Allies
- German submarines, called U-boats, torpedoed enemy ships and neutral ships trading with the enemy (unrestricted submarine warfare)…. Sinking of Lusitania
- Zimmerman Telegram: Secret message from Germany to Mexico urging Mexico to attack the U.S. if the U.S. declared war on Germany. Germany promised to help Mexico regain land it lost to the U.S. in the Mexican War
- Revolution in Russia: Events in Russia made the U.S. entry into the war more urgent for the Allies
- Military failures, food shortages, soaring inflations…. Led to riots & protests forcing Russia’s Czar Nicholas II from power
- October 1917 – The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, took power in Russia and began the communist revolution.
- Communism – a theory that supports the elimination of private property and promotes the equal distribution of goods
- Russia signs a peace treaty with Germany: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- Wilson asked Congress to declare war shortly thereafter.
ORGANIZING THE WAR EFFORTS:
- Enlistment: Was not a success
- Selective Service Act: Draft (1917) – required all men from the age of 21 to 30 to register for the military draft
- Propaganda
- U.S. Food Administration: Conservation, rationing. Examples: “wheat-less Monday’s”, “meat-less Tuesday’s” Liberty gardens, Liberty Bonds
NEW SOCIAL/ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES:
- Women took over the jobs of men fighting in the war.
- African-American men: Great Migration 1916 – 1919: 70,000 African Americans migrated from the south to the north to work in war industries
- Enlistment in segregated units.
SUSPENSION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES:
- Espionage Act – 1917 – a law that set heavy fines and long prison terms for antiwar activities.
- Sedition Act: 1918- law that made it illegal to criticize the government.
CONCEPTS AND TERMS:
- No Man’s Land: the land in between the trenches where many soldiers died because of them going over the top. Many of them would die before they even got close to the enemy’s trench.
- Battle of Marne: a battle that ended Germany’s hope for a quick victory on the Western Front
- Battle of Verdun: fought between the Germans and the French. Verdun was near a series of forts and the French believed that they should not lose it. Both sides suffered huge losses. To help the French, Britain attacked the Germans at the Somme.
- War Bonds: a low-interest loan by the civilians to the government meant to be repaid in a number of years
- Western Front: name of the front line that ran through France and Belgium. For three years, as a result of trench warfare, it barely moved a great deal.
- Propaganda War: spreading of ideas- opinions expressed for the purpose of influencing the actions of others.
- Militarism: policy of making military power a primary goal of the nation
- U-boat: German submarine
- Allied Powers: Group of countries that included UK, France, and Russia. Also includes the United States when they enter the war
- Central Powers: Group of countries that included Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Germany
- Schlieffen Plan: a plan designed for Germany to avoid a two front war by invading Belgium to get to France. This however made Britain mad and declared war against Germany
- Zimmerman Note: a note that was intercepted by the British from a German foreign minister seeking Mexico’s support against the United States in exchange for helping Mexico recapture their lost territory (NM, TX, AZ)
- Lusitania: British liner torpedoed by a German submarine in May 1915
- Trench Warfare: type of warfare used in WWI
- Armistice: November 1918 - an agreed cease-fire in the war that proved to be the end of the war
- Fourteen Points: President Woodrow Wilson’s goals for peace after WWI
- League of Nations: an organization set up after WWI to settle international conflicts
- Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of: signed between Russia and Germany. It took Russia out of the war in 1917 and took huge amounts of Russian land away from the country.
- Treaty of Versailles: peace terms signed by Germany in June 1919.. ended WWI
- Reparations: money that a defeated nation pays for the destruction if caused in other countries
- Red Scare: in 1919-1920 a fearful reaction that the US was threatened by a Communist revolution
World War I Trench Warfare Games
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/trenchwarfare.shtml
https://www.warmuseum.ca/overthetop/
https://www.activehistory.co.uk/WW1_Trenches/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/trenchwarfare.shtml
https://www.warmuseum.ca/overthetop/
https://www.activehistory.co.uk/WW1_Trenches/
- 32 different countries were involved in World War I and more than 15 million people were killed.
- World War I began on July 28, 1914. The conflict lasted four years, three months and 14 days, ending on November 11, 1918.
- World War I has many different names. It was called The Great War, the World War, the War to End all Wars, World War I, WWI the War of the Nations and more.
- Chemical weapons were first used in WWI. Using poison gas was considered a war crime, but tear gas wasn’t considered to be a conflict by the troops. The Germans were the firs to use lethal gases when they used a chlorine gas attack. Later they also developed and used the most effective gas of the First World War — mustard gas. The British were shocked at the German use of poison gas, but developed their own gas warfare to retaliate.
America joined World War I on April 6, 1917.
- This was because a German submarine had sunk a British passenger ship, Lusitania, that killed 1,195 passengers. 128 of those were American citizens and the people were outraged — putting pressure on the U.S. government to declare war. The President, Woodrow Wilson, wanted a peaceful end but the Germans announced that they would sink any ship that approached Britain. This was when President Wilson entered the war to help restore peace to Europe.
Sides
- The Central Powers consisted of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, and Ottoman Empire (now Turkey). (BAD GUYS)
- The Allied Powers consisted of Belgium, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia and the United States. (GOOD GUYS)
Troop Statistics:
- 4,734,991 - Total number U.S. troops served
- 8,528,831 - Total Military Deaths for all countries involved
U.S. Deaths:
- Battle: 53,402
- Non-battle: 63,114
- Total In-Theatre: 116,516
- Total U.S. soldiers wounded: 204,002
Other Military Casualties by Country:
- Austria-Hungary: 1,200,000 dead; 3,620,000 wounded
- Belgium: 13,716 dead; 44,686 wounded
- Bulgaria: 87,500 dead; 152,390 wounded
- France: 1,357,800 dead; 4,266,000 wounded
- Germany: 1,773,000 dead; 4,216,058 wounded
- Great Britain: 908,371 dead; 2,090,212 wounded
- Greece: 5,000 dead; 21,000 wounded
- Italy: 650,000 dead; 947,000 wounded
- Ottoman Empire (Turkey): 325,000 dead; 400,000 wounded
- Portugal: 7,222 dead; 13,800 wounded
- Romania: 335,706 dead; 120,000 wounded
- Serbia & Montenegro: 48,000 dead; 143,148 wounded
- Russia: 1,700,000 dead; 4,950,000 wounded
TIMELINE:
- June 28, 1914 - Gavrilo Princip, who has ties to the Serbian terrorist-type group the Black Hand, assassinates Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.
- July 28, 1914 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.
- August 2, 1914 - Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and Germany sign a secret treaty of alliance.
- August 4, 1914 - Germany invades Belgium. President Woodrow Wilson declares that the United States is neutral. Britain declares war on Germany. TRENCH WARFARE BEGINS
- August 10, 1914 - Austria-Hungary invades Russia, opening the fighting on the Eastern Front.
- August 1914 - Battle of Tannenberg, Prussia.
- September 12, 1914 - First battle of Aisne, France.
- November 3, 1914 - Russia declares war on Ottoman Empire (now Turkey).
- November 5, 1914 - Great Britain and France declare war on Ottoman Empire.
- May 7, 1915 - A German U-20 submarine sinks the British passenger ship, the Lusitania; 1,198 are killed, including 128 Americans.
- April 22, 1915 - Second Battle of Ypres begins, marking the first use of poison gas by Germany.
- June 1915-November 1917 - Battles of the Isonzo, Italy.
- 1915 - Battle of Krithia, Gallipoli peninsula, Ottoman Empire.
- February 21-July 1916 - Battle of Verdun, France, the war's longest battle, with almost a million casualties.
- May 31-June 1, 1916 - Battle of Jutland, North Sea near Denmark - a sea battle between British and German navies.
- July 1, 1916-November 1916 - First Battle of the Somme River, France. The British introduce the tank.
- March 1917 -US intercepts Zimmerman Telegraph-a secret diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico if the United States entered World War I against Germany.
- April 6, 1917 - U.S. declares war against Germany after the interception and publication of the Zimmermann Telegram (March) and the sinking of three U.S. merchant ships by German U-boats.
- June 26, 1917 - American troops begin landing in France.
- November 20, 1917 - Battle of Cambrai, France.
- December 3, 1917 - Russia signs an armistice with Germany.
- March 3, 1918 - Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending hostilities with the Central Powers and withdrawing Russia from this war.
- March 21-April 5, 1918 - Second Battle of the Somme River.
- September 29, 1918 - Bulgaria signs an armistice.
- October 30, 1918 - Ottoman Empire (Turkey) signs an armistice.
- November 3, 1918 - Austria-Hungary signs an armistice
- November 11, 1918 - Germany accepts the armistice terms demanded by the Allies, ending the war.
- June 28, 1919 - The Treaty of Versailles is signed at the Palace of Versailles, France.