World War One

“The Great War”

Total War

• As World War One dragged on, nations

realized that a modern, mechanized war

required the total commitment of their

whole society.

• The result was total war, the channeling of

a nation’s entire resources into the war

effort.

Economic Impact

• All of the warring nations except Britain imposed

universal military conscription, or “the draft”

which required all young men to be ready for

military service.

• Germany set up a system of forced civilian

labor as well.

• Governments raised taxes and borrowed huge

amounts of money to pay for the costs of the

war, set prices and outlawed strikes.

Propaganda War

• Total war meant controlling public opinion.

• Complete casualty figures and other

discouraging news would be censored from the

people.

• Propaganda is the spreading of ideas to

promote a cause or to damage an opposing

cause.

• The press told stories of enemy atrocities, or

horrible acts against innocent people.

WWI & It’s Impact on Women

• As millions of men went off to fight, women

took over their jobs in factories making

weapons and supplies or joining the

armed forces to be nurses.

• After the war, women in Britain and the

U.S. received suffrage, or the right to vote.

Russian Revolution 1917

• V.I. Lenin and the communists overthrew

the czar in Russia. They withdrew from

the war and signed the Treaty of Brest-

Litovsk with Germany ending the war

on the eastern front.

• In the spring of 1918, Germany was able

to concentrate on the western front.

The U.S. Enters the War

• One major reason the U.S. entered the

war was German unrestricted submarine

warfare.

• U-boats attacked merchant and passenger

ships carrying American citizens.

• Many of these ships were transporting

supplies to the Allies (an act prohibited by

U.S. neutrality).

Lusitania

• May 1915, a German submarine torpedoed the British ocean liner the Lusitania.

• Almost 1,200 passengers were killed, including 128 Americans.

• U.S. President Wilson threatened to cut off relations with Germany.

• Germany justified the attack, arguing that the Lusitania was carrying weapons.

• Germany agreed to restrict its submarine

warfare.

• Before attacking any ship, German U-

boats would surface and give warning,

allowing neutral passengers to escape to

lifeboats.

• In December 1916, Germany resumed

unrestricted submarine warfare.

Zimmerman Note

• In early 1917, the British intercepted a

message from the German foreign

minister, Arthur Zimmerman, to his

ambassador in Mexico.

• Germany promised to give Mexico the

states of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona

if Mexico attacked the U.S.

• Anti-German feelings increased in the U.S.

Declaring War

• In April 1917, U.S. President Wilson asked

Congress to declare war on Germany.

• “A war to make the world safe for

democracy” and a “war to end war”.

• By 1918, about two million fresh American

soldiers joined the war-weary Allied troops

giving them a much needed morale boost

& financial aid provided by the U.S.

• The German people were angry with the

kaiser and he stepped down from power.

• The new German government sought an

armistice, or agreement to end fighting,

with the Allies.

• At 11 am on November 11th, 1918, the

Great War came to an end.

The Cost of World War I

1914-1918

Cost of War Country Mobilized Killed Wounded Total Casualties

Africa 55,000 10,000 unknown unknown -

Australia 330,000 59,000 152,000 211,000 64%

Austria-Hungary 6,500,000 1,200,000 3,620,000 4,820,000 74%

Belgium 207,000 13,000 44,000 57,000 28%

Bulgaria 400,000 101,000 153,000 254,000 64%

Canada 620,000 67,000 173,000 241,000 39%

The Caribbean 21,000 1,000 3,000 4,000 19%

French Empire 7,500,000 1,385,000 4,266,000 5,651,000 75%

Germany 11,000,000 1,718,000 4,234,000 5,952,000 54%

Great Britain 5,397,000 703,000 1,663,000 2,367,000 44%

Greece 230,000 5,000 21,000 26,000 11%

India 1,500,000 43,000 65,000 108,000 7%

Italy 5,500,000 460,000 947,000 1,407,000 26%

Japan 800,000 250 1,000 1,250 0.2%

Montenegro 50,000 3,000 10,000 13,000 26%

New Zealand 110,000 18,000 55,000 73,000 66%

Portugal 100,000 7,000 15,000 22,000 22%

Romania 750,000 200,000 120,000 320,000 43%

Russia 12,000,000 1,700,000 4,950,000 6,650,000 55%

Serbia 707,000 128,000 133,000 261,000 37%

South Africa 149,000 7,000 12,000 19,000 13%

Turkey 1,600,000 336,000 400,000 736,000 46%

USA 4,272,500 117,000 204,000 321,000 8%

Flu Pandemic

1918

• A pandemic is the spread of disease

across an entire country.

• Killed more than 20 million people

worldwide.

The Treaty of Versailles

& “The Big Four”

Georges

Clemenceau

Woodrow Wilson

David Lloyd

George

Vittorio

Emanuele

Orlando

14 Points

• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson wanted a

“peace without victory”.

• Collective Security: a group of nations

acts as one to preserve the peace of all.

• League of Nations

Signed at

Versailles,

June 28th,

1919

Palace at Versailles

Hall of Mirrors

Provisions of the Treaty

What is a provision? Is it…. A Noun? Yes!

1.the action of providing or supplying

something for use.

2.an amount or thing supplied or provided.

3.a condition or requirement in a legal

document.

4.an appointment to a position in a church

before it became vacant.

• Germany had to take full responsibility

for the war –war guilt

• Germany had to pay for all the war

damages (reparations) - $33 billion.

• Germany’s army was reduced to 100,000

men.

• Germany could have no air force or

submarines, and was limited to six

large ships.

• Germany to lose territory on all sides, &

split in two by new nation of Poland.

• Germany to lose all her colonies.

• The unfair demands on Germany led

them to be very resentful.

• The Treaty of Versailles at the end of

World War I led to the rise of Hitler and

World War II.