1914-1918

• Why the German Plan Failed• Stalemate: why neither side

could gain an advantage• Impact of the new weapons of

war• Total War, propaganda, and

the Home Front• New Allies: 1917• Events of 1918: how the war

ended

The Great War: 1914-1918MAIN IDEAS:

• Russia stronger than expected

• Belgium resists

• Britain enters the war

• “Miracle of the Marne” halts German attack

Schlieffen Plan Fails

STALEMATE ON THE WESTERN FRONT

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

GERMANY

FRANCE

ITALY

RUSSIA

A major factor of the First World War was that on the battlefield, the defense had

the advantage over the offense.

Role of Technology: NEW WEAPONS OF WAR

Machine Gun

Heavy Artillery

Heavy Artillery Guns

Gas shells exploding in front of trenches

Mustard gas victim

                                                                                                         

U-Boats

Battles of Verdun and the Somme

Battle of the Some

Territory gained by Attacks at Verdun and the Somme

For the first time in history, propaganda plays a major

part in warfare.

The major theme was German brutality, especially in

Belgium.

THE EASTERN FRONT

1917: Allies Change• Revolutions in Russia

– March Revolution: Fall of the Czar

– Nov. Revolution: Communist (Bolshevik Revolution): Lenin

• US enters the War– U-boat warfare– Zimmermann Telegram– Ties to Allies

Events of 1918Woodrow Wilson: Fourteen PointsSpring German Offensive fails US troops arrive in large numbersFall Allied offensive gains groundGerman collapse at homeArmistice: Nov. 11, 1918

The Western Front in 1918

World War I Casualties

• U.S.-- 100,000 men

• Italy-- 500,000 men

• Austria-- 800,000 men

• Britain -- 1 million men

• France-- 1.5 million men

• Germany--1.5 million men

• Russia-- 2 million men

MILITARY DEATHS

• 10 MILLION SOLDIERS KILLED

• 10 MILLION CIVILIANS KILLED

• 20 MILLION SEVERLY INJURED

• SHELL SHOCK

• SPANISH INFLUENZA EPIDENIC KILLS ANOTHER 20 MILLION

DEVASTATION DURING AND AFTER THE WAR…

• Total War

• Industrial weapons of masskilling

• Extreme Nationalism

• Civilians targeted

• Genocide: Turks slaughter Armenians

• Communist Revolution

• Terrorism

New Horrors for a New Century

CONCLUSION•World War I has been called

a “War with many causes but no objectives.”• This profound sense of

waste and pointlessness will shape European politics in the post- war period.