World War I - WeeblyWorld War I •The war in Europe. – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was...

World War I• The war in Europe.

– Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia Herzegovina.

– Bosnia Herzegovina was a territory ruled by Austria-Hungary. A Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand attempted to make a statement that would earn Bosnia’s independence by assassinating the prince of Austria.

• The Russians were probably the most to blame for what happened next.

• The Austrians wanted to punish Serbia for funding the Black Hand, while Russia wanted to protect their “little brother” Serbia, which was also slavic.

• Germany was allied with Austria, so they said they would back them up in war.

• Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia declared war on Austria, Germany declared war on Russia, and then Germany attacked France.

• Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy had an alliance called the Triple Alliance.

• Russia, Great Britain, and France had a weak alliance called the Triple Entente.

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• The war lasted for three years before the Americans entered.– President Woodrow Wilson promised to keep

America out of the war.– Americans did not want to fight, but the

German navy was attacking and sinking unarmed American vessels taking supplies and passengers to Great Britain.

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• Germany declared war on France on August 4, 1914, then attacked Belgium.

• The Germans followed the Schlieffen Plan to try to defeat France.

• Because Britain and France were allies, Britain declared war on Germany and mobilized the “Old Contemptibles” in the British Expeditionary Force or B.E.F.

World War I• The nations split into two groups, the Allies,

consisting of France, Britain, Italy, the U.S., and Russia, and the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.

• Germany had hoped to defeat France in a few weeks, and avoid a two-front war, but Russia attacked in the East, allowing the Allies to hold Germany at bay.

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• The Battle of the Marne stopped the German advance, but the Germans then dug miles of trenches and stayed there for much of the war.

• The French plan, called Plan XVII, involved attacking Germany through the provinces of Alsace and Loraine.

• The French were known to be extremely brave, and one of their main tactics was a swift charge against enemy lines.

• This was called “attaque à outrance” and relied on “élan” meaning dash or spirit.

• Instead of camouflage or dark clothing, they wore red pants and blue shirts at the beginning of the war.

• When one French official proposed changing the uniform of the French army, the proposal was met with a great deal of criticism. One general replied “LE PANTALON ROUGE, C'EST LA FRANCE!”

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• This fighting spirit was noble, but resulted a huge number of casualties due to the new machine guns. On one day, the French lost 27,000 men while attacking the Germans at the Battle of Frontiers.

• After this battle, Christmas of 1914 marked the death of old Europe.

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• On Christmas day, 1914, soldiers from Britain and France left their Trenches and met the Germans in No Man’s Land, singing Christmas carols together and exchanging small gifts of food and candy.

• The next day, the fighting resumed, and Europe never really returned to what it was before.

World War I• Most of the war was defined by stalemate, in

which on a few miles could be won by either side even with massive offensives and huge numbers of dead. In the meantime, many new tactics were developed, like using zeppelins for bombing, airplanes for fighting and reconnaissance, and mustard gas for destroying infantry.

A zeppelin built by the Germans for the U.S. Navy after the war. This was not used in the war itself, but shows you what

they were like.

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• Lafayette Escadrille was a branch of the French air service during WWI that was composed almost entirely of American volunteers.– It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette,

who was one of Washington’s most trusted aids and companions.

– The planes during WWI were biplanes or triplanes, and were very poor airplanes.

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• Lafayette Escadrille– The American flyers were known for reckless

bravery and were seen as old fashion knights errant.

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• Lafayette Escadrille– The corps was made up of strange individuals

and were even stranger as a group.– Their mascots and pets were two lion cubs.

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• Lafayette Escadrille– The Flyboys with their lions, Whiskey and

Soda.

The Lusitania• On 7 May 1915, a British passenger ship

traveling from New York to Liverpool was struck by a German submarine torpedo.

• Of the 1,962 passengers, 1,191 died in the subsequent sinking Lusitania.

• Many of the passengers were Americans, and the U.S. government demanded that the German government apologize and pay reparations.

The Zimmermann Telegram

• On January 31, 1917, Germany announced it was resuming unrestricted submarine warfare.

• Sometime late in February, the British gave the U.S. government a decoded telegram from German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann to Mexico, attempting to convince Mexico to declare war on America.

Russian Revolution

• In March of 1917, Tsar Nicolas II was overthrown by a faction in Russia who hoped to revive the war.

• In November, the new government was replaced by Communists under Vladimir Lennon, and Russia withdrew from the war.

• Russia remained Communist until Christmas of 1991.

U.S. Enters the War

• On April 6th 1917, Wilson signed the Congressional declaration of war.

• It was not until 1918, however, that the Americans were in Europe with enough numbers to make any difference in the war.

• France stopped attacking the Germans, and instead waited for the Americans to tip the scales of the war.

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• When the Americans entered under General Pershing, the Allies wanted to break the American divisions up, and use them to fill gaps in the front line.

• Pershing refused, and used his troops in bulk, in a way that would really damage the German army.

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• In one of the last great German offensives, the German army was stopped by American soldiers and marines at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood. This is where the Marines earned the name Devil Dogs.

• Finally, the German army was beaten at the 47 day long battle of Meuse-Argonne, the bloodiest battle in American history. (26k)

After the War

• On November 9th in 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was deposed and replaced by a popularly elected government called the Weimar Republic.

• This new government quickly ended the war, and surrendered to the Allies, but the Allies never actually invaded Germany, but rather accepted a conditional surrender.

• The countries of the war met in Versailles, France, and adopted the Treaty of Versailles, which assigned the blame for the war to Germany.

• The War Guilt Clause blamed Germany and demanded that they pay the Allies reparations.

• Europe had relative peace for about 20 years.

Chapter 17.2 Fighting the War

I. Introduction

A. Most Americans supported Wilson’s

decision to go to war1. Believed U.S. was doing the right thing

2. Wilson’s idealism built enthusiasm for the war

II. Getting Ready for WarA. U.S. needed to build a larger army

1. Some favored all volunteer army2. Wilson said only fair and efficient way was draft

a. Apply equally to all men regardless of race or wealthb. May, 1917- Congress passed draft lawc. All men 21-40, amended to include men 18-45

The Draft

The Draft

The Draft

II. Getting Ready for Ward. 2.8 million drafted within 18 monthse. More than 1million volunteered f. One in five drafted was an immigrant

B. Training included English and U.S. historyC. Segregated Units

1. Blacks enlisted in large numbers2. Segregated units commanded by white officers

II. Getting Ready for War

C. Segregated Units

3. Most blacks assigned low level jobsa. Loading and unloading shipsb. moving suppliesc. laborers

4. U.S. “loaned” 100,000 black soldiers to French Army

a. Many served on front lines

b. Earned special distinction and honors

D. Training the Army1. Job of training army given to General John J. Pershing

a. Tough enforcer of military discipline

b. Refused to send troops into battle until training complete

E. “Over There”1. Song by George Cohan2. Captured spirit of adventure for many entering war

II. Getting Ready for WarF. Getting soldiers to Europe was a problem

1. German submarines prowled AtlanticG. U.S. adopted convoy system

1. Warships accompanied groups of and troop transports2. Carried new weapon – depth charges

a. Bombs designed to explode underwater

3. Convoy system was very effective

Allied convoy

III. New Leaders in Russia

A. Russia played key role in early part of war

B. As war continued, conditions in Russia worsened

1. Heavy losses on battlefield2. Tsar overthrown in March 1917

3. New leaders could not gain hold of the country4. November, 1917 – another revolution occurred

a. Communists lead by Vladimir Lenin

1917 Russian Revolution

1917 Russian Revolution

III. New Leaders in Russia5. Lenin considered both sides evil and wanted to stabilize his new

government

C. March, 1918 communist signed peace treaty with Germany

1. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk2. Blow to Allies3. Germany could now move troops to western front

D. Role of U.S. would be crucial

Communist Revolution

IV. The Allies Push AheadA. First Americans arrive in France in June, 1917

1. Brought new hope to Allies

2. 14,000 soldiers paraded through streets of Paris

3. Stopped at Lafayette’s graveB. In next year U.S. had force of 1 million soldiers

American’s Arrive

IV. The Allies Push AheadC. Germans realized their submarine strategy was failing

1. Steady streams of U.S. supplies and troops pouring in to Europe

2. Germans launched massive land attack in March 1918 called Spring Offensive

a. Broke through Allied linesb. Made final push for Parisc. U.S. soldiers filled holes in British and French linesd. Stopped German advance

D. Allies take the offensive1. June, 1918 – U.S. troops ordered to Marne River

2. Stopped German advance, launched own offensive3. Won victories in battles at Belleau Wood

a. 10,000 American casualties

Belleau Woods

E. The Argonne Forest

1. Final Allied offensive began in late September 1918

2. Through most difficult part of western front- Argonne Forest

a. Swamps, ravinesb. German minefieldsc. Machine gun nestsd. Trenches, barbed wire, heavy artillery

E. The Argonne Forest

3. Fighting lasted for 47 days

4. 1.2 million Americans took parta. Largest battle in U.S. history

5. 120,000 U.S. casualties6. Broke through German lines, assured victory7. Last major battle of World War I

Argonne Forest

F. The German Retreat

1. By October, German army in full retreata. Had suffered more than 1 million casualties

2. Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria surrendered3. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated office

G. American losses1. 49,000 American soldiers killed in battle2. 63,000 died from disease3. 2,300,000 wounded

Kaiser Abdicates