1. Journal #5, April 29, 2009
• Would you ALWAYS support an ally, no
matter what?
• Why/ Why not?
Header image courtesy of: www.usgennet.org/.../ preservation/dav1/pg185.htm
2. • MAIN Causes of the Great War
–Militarism
–Alliances
–Imperialism
–Nationalism
Header image courtesy of: www.usgennet.org/.../ preservation/dav1/pg185.htm
4. How did these alliances start?
• 1871 – Germany is a ‘satisfied power’
– Aimed now at keeping peace
– France is biggest threat to peace
– Try to isolate France by taking away allies
• 1879 – Germany forms Dual Alliance
– Germany
– Austria-Hungary
– 3 years later, Italy joins forming the Triple Alliance
• 1881 – Germany signs treaty with Russia
– taking another ally away from France.
http://www.worldwar1.com/tlalli.htm#dual – For a complete timeline of all alliances
5. Kaiser Wilhelm II
• German Ruler
• “I and the army were
born for one another”
6. • 1890 – new German leader
allows treaty with Russia to
lapse
• Russia retorts by forming an
alliance with France
– just what Germany didn’t want
– Germany would be forced to fight
from two sides
• Germany starts building ships
comparable to British ships
7. • Britain reacts by forming an alliance with France
• 1907 – Britain then makes another treaty with Russia
and France, forming the Triple Entente
• Britain was not bound to fight with France and Russia,
but rather promised not to fight against them.
9. • 1908 – Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Serbia who had hoped to rule these provinces became
upset.
• Tension between Serbia and Austria grew…
– Serbia continually vowed to take the land back
– Austria continually vowed to crush any Serbian effort
of the land…
• Eventually the heir to the Austrian throne was killed by a
Serbian nationalist…
10. This was the “trigger” that started it all…
• June 1914
– Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Heir to the Austrio-Hungary throne and his
wife shot dead while visiting the capital of Serbia.
– Assassins were Serbian, so Austria used the assassinations as an
excuse to punish Serbia.
– Austria gave Serbia an ultimatum, in which Austria only honored a few
demands
– Austria was upset with this and declared war on Serbia.
– That same day Russian troops were ordered towards the Austrian
border….
War was now inevitable.
11. Neutral Countries: Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland
Triple Entente
Britain
France
Russia
Triple Alliance
Italy
Germany
Austria
VS.
Allied Powers
Britain
France
Russia
Italy
Japan
Central Powers
Italy
Germany
Austria
Bulgaria
Ottoman Empire
Italy
Germany
Austria
12. Journal
– How has technology effected warfare?
– Can you name anything we use today on a
regular basis that was originally designed for
war?
13. • MAIN Causes of the Great War (Review)
–Militarism
–Alliances
–Imperialism
–Nationalism
Header image courtesy of: www.usgennet.org/.../ preservation/dav1/pg185.htm
–What was the one thing that “triggered” it all….
14. • This picture epitomizes 3 of the major
characteristics of war during this time.
What do you think they are?
Trenches
Gas
Masks
Machine
Guns
Images Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/) and
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ FWWnieuport.htm and www.avault.com/featured/hidden/uboat.asp
and www.msu.edu/user/ storto/afvwwi.htm
15. Technology of killing
There were new weapons not being used efficiently
because they weren’t completely understood
Airplanes - of little importance in battle
– Fun Facts about planes in the war…
Machine guns - very effective
– Mow troops down, considered a ‘weapon of mass
destruction’
Mustard Gas
– Quickly became ineffective because of gas masks
– Wind could blow gas back on aggressor
16. Planes
• The early years of war saw canvas-and-wood aircraft
used primarily to function as mobile observation
vehicles.
This was an improvement over the vulnerable Zeppelin and the
immobile observation balloon.
• Enemy pilots at first exchanged waves and later
progressed to throwing bricks and other objects
– (grenades and sometimes rope, which they hoped would tangle
their enemy's propeller), which eventually progressed to guns.
• Once the guns were mounted to their planes, the era of
air combat began.
Image - www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ FWWnieuport.htm
17. Chemical Warfare
• Chemical warfare was a major distinguishing
factor of the war.
• Only a small portion of casualties were caused
by gas
– Caused blindness and death by choking
– achieved harassment and psychological effects.
• Effective countermeasures to gas were found in
gas masks
– Its effectiveness was diminished.
– Wind could blow gases back at aggressor
18. Machine Guns
• combination of machine guns and barbed
wire responsible for greatest # of deaths
• Guns now lighter and more mobile
– Maxim gun from earlier wars had wheels
• BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle)
– Gas operated
– 16 to 19 lbs.
– Semi or fully automatic
19. Tanks
• Armored combat vehicle used mostly for
crossing rough terrain and over barbed
wire.
• Introduced by the British in 1916
• Armored cars used before tanks
The name tank came when the British
shipped them in crates marked "tanks“
trying to cover up what they really were
Image - www.msu.edu/user/ storto/afvwwi.htm
20. Submarines / U-Boats
• German (unterseeboot)
• Primary targets were merchant convoys
bringing supplies from the United States
and Canada to Europe
– Lusitania
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare –
means you don’t have to give warning
before destroying
Image -- http://www.gwpda.org/naval/ub1-type.gif
21. • Trench warfare
arose when
there was a
revolution in
firepower
without similar
advances in
mobility and
communications
Image Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/)
• Trenches –
23. Communication
• Communication: In 1914 both radios and
telephones were the main ways of
communication. These were very vital for
the troops in trenches. However, that did
not mean that messengers, dogs and
pigeons were out of business.
25. Tomorrow…
• Early
highlights of
the war
• United States’
involvement
• Recruiting
• Propaganda
Image courtesy of Bishop Museum archive photos of World War I
26. Neutral Countries: Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland
Triple Entente
Britain
France
Russia
Triple Alliance
Italy
Germany
Austria
VS.
Allied Powers
Britain
France
Russia
Italy
Japan
Central Powers
Italy
Germany
Austria
Bulgaria
Ottoman Empire
Italy
Germany
Austria
27. The U.S. Gets Involved
The Sinking of the Lusitania
Image courtesy of moana.patentes.com/ gl/biografias/galeria-5.htm
28. • Woodrow Wilson,
President of the
United States.
– Wanted to remain
neutral
– But was secretly
looking for an
excuse to join
war…
– he found one…
Image Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/)
29. America Joins the Fight
• Germany seeks to control Atlantic Ocean
to stop supplies to Britain
• Uses unrestricted submarine warfare
- ships near Britain sunk without warning
• War Goes Global – see page 852
30. Was the sinking of the
Lusitania justified?
• U.S. claimed the Lusitania carried an
innocent cargo
• Lusitania was in fact heavily armed;*
– 1,248 cases shells
– 4,927 boxes of cartridges (1,000 round/box)
– 2,000 cases of small-arms ammunition
*Information from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States
31.
32. Image Courtesy of Temple History Department (www.Temple.edu/history/)
33. Bibliography
• http://www.garrettcollege.edu/faculty/bluers -
• Temple History Department
(http://www.temple.edu/history/01wandsout.html)
• A People’s History of the United States – Howard Zinn, author
• McDougal Littell – World History, Patterns of Interaction, text book
• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
• http://www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/927.html
• http://www.wikipedia.org/