1. WORLD WAR I
Chapter 23
1914-1918
“THE WAR TO END ALL WARS”

2. World War I in Strategic
Overview
The year opened with the Central Powers and the Allies at approximately equal
strength. The manpower drain in France was serious. Britain was on the verge of
instituting compulsory military service to fill its expanding armies. Unrest in
Ireland was approaching rebellion. Russia, with more than sufficient manpower,
hoped for time to reorganize and supply it. Germany now sought a decision on
the western front because, as Falkenhayn told the emperor, France would be
―bled white‖ in attempting to prevent a German victory. In an Allied conference
at Chantilly, France in December 1915, French Catalan general Joseph Joffre
succeeded in obtaining agreement from Britain, Russia, Italy, and Romania that
coordinated offensives would be launched on the western, eastern, and Italian
fronts, probably about June, when Russia would be ready.
The Allied situation at the beginning of 1918 was grim. The major Allied
offensives of 1917 had failed. Russia had collapsed, and Italy was on the verge of
collapse. The German U-boat campaign still threatened the maritime supply route
from the United States. Many months would pass before American soldiers could
bolster depleted Allied manpower. Both Britain and France were on the defensive.
The Central Powers had not been successful. They were being strangled by the

3. World War I in Strategic
Overview (cont‘d)
Allied naval blockade which was starving German and Austrian millions of civilians.
Austria was at the end of its resources; Turkey and Bulgaria were wobbling; the
burden of the war fell more and more heavily on Germany. Hindenburg and
Ludendorff had established a virtual military dictatorship in Germany and
exercised almost as much authority over the subservient governments of Austria,
Bulgaria, and Turkey. The war was virtually a stalemate until the U. S. entered
the war militarily.

4. Statistics








World War One included:
3 Continents
31 Countries
65 Million Soldiers
37 Million Casualties
91,198 Deaths by Gas
6,395 Allied and Neutral Ships Lost
$186.3 Billion Financial Losses

5. Causes of WWI
Some Causes May Include:
 Industrial Revolution
 Militarism



Nationalism


Serbia
Imperialism
Fierce competition- colonies, markets, resources
Secret Alliances split the continent
 Triple Alliance (Central Powers)
 Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey
 Triple Entente (The Allies)
 Serbia, Russia, France, Great Britain, US, ...


Glorified war
Prepare for war

6. Armenian Genocide
The first significant genocide of the 20th century was directed against the
Armenian residents of Asia Minor by the Turkish government. It is the same old
feud of Muslims slaughtering Christians or vice versa. This deliberate slaughter
began on 24 Apr 1915, under the cover of World War I. 24 Apr is still
commemorated by Armenians around the world as Martyr‘s Day. The numbers
killed are uncertain. The lowest estimate is 800,000 and the highest more than 2
million. The Turkish government has consistently denied that this event ever
occurred, but what happened has been carefully documented by outsiders.

7. Immediate Cause
Assassination of Archduke
Francis Ferdinand
by Gavrilo Princip, June 28th,
1914.

8. Countries Involved
The Allies (Formerly known as
the Triple Entente)
•Serbia
•Russia
•France
•Belgium
•Great Britain
•Liberia
•Japan
•Montenegro
•Italy
•San Marino
•Portugal
•Romania
•Greece
•China
•U.S.
•Cuba
•Nicaragua
•Brazil
•Siam
•Costa Rica
•Guatemala
•Haiti
•Honduras
Central Powers (Formerly
known as the Triple Alliance)
•Austria-Hungary
•Germany
•Ottoman Empire
•Bulgaria
Countries that only cut off
trade
•Bolivia
•Ecuador
•Peru
•Uruguay
That
Should
Add Up To
31
Countries

10. Goals
Triple Entente



Hold back the
Germans
Prolong the War
(until better
technology)
Have a Naval
Blockade in place
Triple Alliance




Concentrate on the
Western Front
Conquer France
Avoid Two-Front War
Use Unrestricted
Submarine Warfare
(naval subs could
attack non-naval
vessels)

11. Inevitability of war


28 Jun 1914 Archduke
Francis Ferdinand of
Austria assassinated
5 Jul 1914 Germany
issues Austria-Hungary a
“blank check”


pledging military
assistance if AustriaHungary goes to war
against Russia
23 Jul 1914 Austria issues
Serbia an ultimatum

12. Escalation
After the Archduke was killed, a series of events was
set in motion, to change the world.
1. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
2. Russia mobilized to aid Serbia.
3. Germany aids Austria-Hungary, declares war on Russia.
4. France mobilizes to aid Russia.
5. Germany declares war on France.
6. Germany invades Belgium.
7. UK declares war on Germany.
8. OE mobilizes to aid Germany and Austria-Hungary.
9. Italy joins France, UK, and Russia.
10. Bulgaria joins Ottoman Empire, Germany, and AustriaHungary.
11. US joins Italy, France, UK, and Russia

13. The inevitability of war




28 Jul 1914 AustriaHungary declares war on
Serbia
29 Jul 1914 Russia orders
full mobilization of its
troops
1 Aug 1914 Germany
declares war on Russia
2 Aug 1914 Germany
demands Belgium declare
access to German troops

14. ―Belgium is a country, not a road‖


King Albert I of Belgium
denied permission
2 Aug 1914 Germany
declared war on France



Why???
The Schlieffen Plan!
4 Aug 1914 Great Britain
declared war on
Germany for violating
Belgian neutrality

15. Reasons for World War I Frayer
Model
Reasons for it to occur
Goals
Leaders and Alliances
World War I
Statistics

16. Reasons for World War I Quiz
1.
What was the European situation for World War I
prior to the entry of the U.S. in 1918?
3.
Give one statistic and one cause for World War I.
The Armenian Genocide had what estimates for
casualties?
4.
What was the immediate cause of WWI?
2.
5.
Give one goal each for the Triple Entente and
Triple Alliance.

17. War Declared
Austria- Hungary now decided to use the assassination as an excuse to settle its
quarrel with Serbia. It was backed by Germany. On 23 Jul 1914, Austria
presented a warlike ultimatum to Serbia, allowing only 48 hours for an answer.
Serbia suggested that some of Austria‘s demands be referred to the other
European powers. Austria refused. On 28 Jul, it declared war on Serbia.
All the nations in Europe had been expecting war. For many years, rival groups
of nations had been making treaties and alliances. Europe had been divided into
two camps. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were members of the Triple
Alliance, or Central Powers. Russia, France, and England formed the rival Triple
Entente Powers. Later, they were called the Allies. The Balkan States sided with
Serbia and the Allies. Serbia‘s enemies were on the side of the Central Powers.
These alliances were brought in to action 28 Jul 1914 by Austria‘s declaration of
war. Within a week, all of Europe was at war.

18. 1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

Many Europeans were
excited about war



―Defend yourself
against the
aggressors‖
Domestic differences
were put aside
War would be over in
a few weeks

Ignored the length and
brutality of the
American Civil War
(prototype to World
War I)

19. 1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate


Belief that modern
industrial war could
not be conducted for
more than a few
months
―Home by Christmas‖

20. 1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

―Fatal attraction of
war‖




Exhilarating release
from every day life
A glorious adventure
War would rid the
nations of selfishness
Spark a national rebirth based on heroism

21. Fighting Fronts




The Western Front
was between France
and Germany
The Italian Front was
between AustriaHungary and Italy
The Eastern Front was
between Russia and
Germany
Germany wanted to
avoid fighting on more
than one front.

22. The Schlieffen Plan‘s
Destructive Nature

23. The Schlieffen Plan



Invade western front
first
After defeating France
concentrate on the
Eastern front
Avoid fighting a 2
front war

24. The Schlieffen Plan‘s
Destructive Nature


Germany made vast
encircling movement
through Belgium to
enter Paris
Underestimated
speed of the British
mobilization

Quickly sent troops to
France

25. The Schlieffen Plan‘s
Destructive Nature

6-10 Sep 1914



Battle of Marne
Stopped the Germans
but French troops
were exhausted
Both sides dug
trenches for shelter
STALEMATE

26. The German Invasion of Belgium
Germany’s violation of neutrality which involved the passing of troops
through Belgium on their way to France, became for the Allies a symbol
of barbarity and militarism run amok and a reminder of the need to wipe
autocracy from the face of the earth. Germany’s violation of Belgian
neutrality was certainly an outrage, but obviously not the greatest
atrocity in the history of mankind. The Germans had made the same
request of the Belgians that they had of Luxembourg, which they
accepted without difficulty: they wanted safe passage for German
troops, and agreed to compensate Belgians for any damage or any
victuals consumed along the way.
Allied governments won an important public relations victory in America
with propaganda alleging widespread atrocities committed by German
soldiers against Belgian civilians. Children with their hands cut off,
babies tossed from bayonet to bayonet, nuns raped, corpses made into
margarine—these were just some of the gruesome tales coming out of
war-torn Europe. Americans on the scene, however, could not verify
these stories. American reporters who had followed the German army
insisted that they had seen nothing at all that would lend credence to
the lurid tales making their way to the United States. Clarence Darrow,
the lawyer who would become known for his work in the Scopes trial of

27. The German Invasion of Belgium
(cont‘d)
1925, offered to pay $1,000 (roughly $20,000 in 2011 dollars) to
anyone who could show him a Belgian boy whose hands had been cut
off by a German soldier. No one took him up on it. (After the war, it
was well established that the Belgian atrocities were largely fabricated,
but the lies did their damage.
Although Americans still favored staying out of the war, many had
absorbed the message of Allied propaganda that Germany was evil
incarnate and needed to be crushed for the sake of civilization.

28. Wilson‘s Propaganda for the
War Effort

29. Starving Civilians Is Against the Law
The British were involved in a real atrocity of their own: a deliberate attempt to
starve the Germans with a naval blockade. The British hunger blockade of
Germany violated the generally accepted norms of international law codified in
several key international agreements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The British established a distant blockade which is illegal. This type of blockade as
opposed to a close blockade declares large areas of sea off-limits, and the British
mined the North Sea making it perilous even for neutral ships. Where the British
had the right to a close blockade of search and seizure, they replaced it with the
illegal of distant blockade of explode and sink.
Food intended for civilian use was not considered contraband by any country
except Britain. But the relatively mild international response to Britain‘s conduct,
the British government concluded that ―the neutral powers seem to satisfy
themselves with theoretical protest.‖ It was in that spirit that the Germans
expected their submarine policy to be accepted as well—but in the case of
President Wilson at least, they were in for a surprise.
Wilson refused to draw any connections between the German warning of
submarine warfare and the British hunger blockade of Germany. His sympathies
were always with the British. So pro-British was the American administration that
on one occasion, American ambassador to Great Britain Walter Hines Page read an

30. Starving Civilians Is Against the Law
(cont‘d)
American dispatch to British officials and then sat down to help them devise a reply
to his own government! German misdeeds on the high seas, on the other hand,
received immediate condemnation from Washington.
The British steamship Falaba incident was the British government‘s fault even
though the British spun the propaganda in their favor. The reality was that the
Falaba was carrying 13 tons of ammunition and was given three warnings before it
was sunk. According to British propaganda, there was no warning shot and then
110 people were killed which included an American.
Wilson‘s double standard lay in the fact that he allowed U.S. citizens to travel on
armed belligerent ships as peaceful vessels. The persistent refusal of Wilson to
see the relation between British irregularities and the German submarine warfare is
probably the crux of the American involvement. According to Churchill, ―It is most
important to attract neutral shipping to our shores in the hope especially of
embroiling the U.S. with Germany. . . . If some of it gets into trouble, better still.‖

31. Lusitania
Although it did not bring the U.S. immediately into the war, the sinking of
the Lusitania in May 1915 was among the most dramatic events from the
American point of view prior to U.S. entry. This British cruise liner was
perhaps the most famous ship in the world. The German government had
published warnings in major newspapers not to book passage on the
Lusitania. The morning it was to set sail, Count Johann von Bernstorff
had issued an alert that British vessels were “liable to destruction,” and
cautioned that travelers sailing in the war zone “on ships of Great Britain
and her allies do so at their own risk.”
Passengers by and large ignored the warning. It was inconceivable to
them that a ship with the speed of the Lusitania was in any danger, and
those who inquired about potential risks were told not to worry and that
the ship would be escorted by a British naval convoy through the war
zone.
The passengers thought there would be ample time for the evacuation of
the ship if hit by a torpedo since the Titanic stayed afloat for some two
and a half hours.
But the torpedo that hit the Lusitania did an
unexpected amount of damage, and it remains something of a mystery to
this day but was probably attributed to the 5,000 cases of munitions on
board for the British.
Some 1,195 of the ship’s 1,959 passengers perished, including 124 of the

32. Lusitania (cont‘d)
German attack on the Lusitania, but at the same time the Cunard Line
and the British government were highly reckless of selling people passage
through a declared war zone.
American newspapers chose to avoid war over this incident as did Wilson
himself. However, he wished to draft a stern note to Berlin, warning the
Germans of serious consequences should this kind of submarine warfare
continue. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan feared the potential
consequences of so stern a message. Bryan was practically alone in the
Wilson administration in attempting to balance the scales of the two
sides. Bryan reminded Wilson of the ammunition on board and an
agreement accepted by Germany but rejected by Britain that would end
the submarine warfare in exchange for the elimination of the starvation
blockade. He addressed Wilson’s double standard head on: “Why be
shocked by the drowning of a few people, if there is to be no objection to
starving a nation?” Wilson sent the note anyway. Convinced that he was
part of an administration that was bent on war, Bryan resigned.

33. The Early Phases of WWI Graphic
Organizer Fighting Fronts
Illusions
The Beginning
Plan
Propaganda

34. The Early Phases of WWI Quiz
1.
What was the beginning point of WWI?
2.
Give two illusions of WWI?
3.
Give one of the fighting fronts?
4.
What was the Germans plan to avoid a two front war?
5.
Give one of the Allies examples of propaganda.

35. New Weapons
Blimps
Hand Grenades
Machine guns
Airplanes
Long Range Artillery Chemical
WarfareMustard
and
Chlorine
Submarines
Gas
Flame Throwers
New weapons crippled the “frozen front”
Tanks
Steel
Ships

36. The changes of war

Airplanes





Dog fights in the air
Bombing inaccurate
Romanticized the
battlefields
Paris and London
bombed
Pilots fired pistols and
threw hand grenades

37. Unterseeboot
At the beginning of World War I, Germany challenged British seapower with a
large ocean-going submarine fleet. For greater endurance at sea, the Germans
used diesel engines for surface cruising and equipped their U-boats (short for
Unterseeboot, under sea boat) with at least one medium-caliber deck gun. Later
U-boats were also equipped to lay underwater minefields.
Allied vessels had no reliable way of detecting submarines underwater, and by
1918 U-boats had sunk more than 11 million tons of shipping. Had Germany been
able to employ submarines in greater numbers, Great Britain might easily have
lost the war.

38. The Trench System





Front line
Communication
trench
Support trenches
No Man‘s Land
Barbed wire

39. The Trenches





Trenches dug from
English Channel to
Switzerland
6,250 miles
6 to 8 feet deep
Immobilized both
sides for 4 years
More ways to build
from a French hand
book.

40. The Trenches
How to build them
Sleeping where?

41. Dangers of Trench life

42. From having wet feet
most of the time and
nowhere to dry them
out
Trenchfoot

43. Dead bodies….
Left to rot in the trenches
because of the machine
gun fire that kept the
soldiers in the trenches
An easy food source for
rats and a place to
breed disease

44. Bring rats

45. Soldiers of all nations
hunted the rats–
sometimes rations were
short and meat was added
to their diet

46. Life in the Trenches

Elaborate systems of
defense




barbed wire
Concrete machine gun
nests
Mortar batteries
Troops lived in holes
underground

47. Life in the Trenches

Boredom


Soldiers read to pass the
time
Sarah Bernhardt came out
to the front to read poetry
to the soldiers

48. ―Death is everywhere‖



―We all had on us the
stench of dead bodies.‖
Death numbed the
soldier‘s minds.
Shell shock
Psychological devastation

49. Life in the Trenches

Trench warfare
baffled military
leaders



Attempt a breakthrough
Then return to a war of
movement
Millions of young men
sacrificed attempting the
breakthrough

50. Poison
Gas

A new weapon, hard to combat. Different
gas mask styles were created by different
countries. None were 100% effective.

51. ―Death is everywhere‖

Mustard gas




Carried by the wind
Burned out soldier‘s lungs
Deadly in the trenches
where it would
sit at the bottom
After WWI, chemical
warfare was outlawed in
the Geneva Conventions

52. Trench Warfare New
Terminology



Offensive attacks
into No Man‘s Land
Shell fire created a
new health
condition—‖Shell
shocked‖; ―combat
fatigue- WWII,
Korea, Vietnam;
PTSD- OEF, OIF,
GWOT
―Going over the top‖

53. Pick One of the Suggested
Tasks



Draw a picture of a trench see p. 336-7 of
textbook from what you remember of the
PowerPoint slides.
Write a description how trench warfare
worked.
Draw a picture of a soldier and what he
would have had to take into battle.

54. Technology and Trench Warfare
Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Name two new weapons developed for WWI.
What were the some of the premises of the trench system
developed?
Give two of the horrors of trench warfare.
What warfare was considered too horrific to continue by the
Geneva Conventions?
Give one of the new terms coined in WWI?

55. Battles and America‘s Entry
Numerous battles
Christmas Truce
First and Second Battles of the Marne
Battle of Verdun
The Eastern Front
America‘s Entry
-
-

56. British and German troops meeting in No man's land during the unofficial truce (British troops from the
Northumberland Hussars, 7th Division, Bridoux-Rouge Banc Sector)
Christmas truce
Christmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial
ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around
Christmas 1914, during World War I.

57. First and Second Battles of the
Marne
Second
Strength
(1918)
Strength
1,071,000
1,485,000
44 French divisions
8 American divisions
4 British divisions
2 Italian divisions
52 German divisions
Casualties & Losses
132,717 dead or
wounded
Casualties & Losses
139,000 dead or
wounded
French soldiers waiting for assault behind a ditch
First
(1914)
Strength
Strength
1,071,000
1,485,000
39 French and 6 British
divisions
27 German divisions
Casualties & Losses
263,000- 81,700 died
Casualties & Losses
220,000
"German soldiers advancing past a captured
French position, between Loivre and Brimont,
Marne department, 1918"

58. Battle of Verdun


10 months
700,000 men killed

59. The Eastern Front

Russian army moved into
Eastern Germany on
August 30, 1914




Defeated
The Austrians kicked out
of Serbia
Italians attacked Austria
in 1915
G. came to Austrian aid
and pushed Russians
back 300 miles into own
territory

60. The Eastern Front

Much more mobile
more than the West


But loss of life still
very high
1915: 2.5 million
Russians killed,
captured, or wounded

61. The Eastern Front

Germany and Austria
Hungary joined by
Bulgaria in Sept. 1915

Attacked and
eliminated Serbia from
war

62. America Interested in War?
No American was interested in war in 1914. No American interest was at stake,
and American security was not threatened in the slightest. As the war evolved
into a quagmire, Americans were glad that their young men were not
participating. The injuries were unspeakable that would move the front only a
few yards, and the term ―basket case‖ was coined in this war referring to a
quadruple amputee.
President Wilson, for his part, urged Americans to be neutral in thought, word,
and deed. Yet the president was at heart pro-British. Wilson himself once
remarked privately, ―England is fighting our fight and you may well understand
that I shall not, in the present state of the world‘s affairs, place obstacles in her
way. . . . I will not take any action to embarrass England when she is fighting for
her life and the life of the world.‖

63. Wilson and World War I
In the summer of 1914, all of Europe was plunged into war. Wilson called upon
the United States to be neutral ―even in spirit,‖ but few Americans were able to
remain impartial. For two years, the president made every effort to avoid war.
Even after the unarmed British liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine
with a loss of almost 1,200 lives including 124 Americans, he argued: ―There is
such a thing as a man being too proud to fight.‖
In 1916, he was reelected. He defeated the Republican candidate Charles Evans
Hughes by an electoral vote of 277 to 254. The campaign slogan ―He kept us out
of war‖ probably won him more popular votes than any other factor. After the
election, Wilson tried to end the war by active mediation. The Germans, however,
resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. On 2 Apr 1917, the president asked
Congress for a declaration of war. Before a joint session of the two houses, he
read the solemn words, ―The present German submarine warfare against
commerce is a warfare against mankind, It is a war against all nations . . . . We
are accepting this challenge . . . . The world must be made safe for democracy.‖
On 6 Apr 1917, Congress declared war.

64. Wilson and World War I (cont‘d)
President Wilson helped contribute to the confusion of what a republic was when
he identified World War I as the effort of the allied forces to ―make the world safe
for democracy.‖ President Wilson had surrounded himself with many of the early
recruits to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS) movement, and these may
have encouraged the adoption of this slogan just as they later changed the name
of their ISS organization to the League of Industrial Democracy because of the
violence of the Russian Revolution of 1917. In spite of these efforts to clarify the
difference, the United States began to be consistently identified in both the press
and the school books as a ―democracy.‖

65. Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr.
Counts ―Internationalism‖ a Mistake
After World War I, Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr., father of the famous
―Lone Eagle‖ who was the first man to fly the Atlantic, asked the people of the
United States to reconsider the policy Washington was pursuing in its foreign
affairs. He was particularly concerned about how Americans were pushed into
World War I. In 1923, he wrote:
Take for example our entry into the World War [in 1917]. We did not think. We
elected a president for a second term because he said he ―kept us out of war‖ in his
first term. We proved by a large vote that we did not want to go to war, but no
sooner was the president re-elected than the propaganda started to put us to war.
Then we became hysterical, as people always have done in war, and we believed
everything bad against our enemy and believed only good of our allies and
ourselves. As a matter of fact, all the leaders were bad, vicious. They lost their
reason and the people followed.
We cannot properly blame the people of any of the European nations, unless we
blame ourselves. None of them were free from danger of the others. . . . We,
however, were not in danger, statements by profiteers and militarists to the
contrary notwithstanding . . . . The greatest good we could do the world at that
time was to stay out, and that would have been infinitely better for ourselves, for

66. Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr.
Counts ―Internationalism‖ a Mistake
(cont‘d)
we could have helped the world had we conserved our resources. There never was
a nation that did a more unstatesmanlike thing than we did to enter the war. We
came out without establishing a single principle for which we entered.
The one compelling duty of America is to put its own house in shape, and to stand
upon an economic system that will make its natural resources available to the
intelligence, industry, and use of the people. When we do that the way to world
redemption from the folly of present chaos will stand out in our country so clearly,
honestly, and usefully that we shall be copied wherever peoples do their own
thinking.

67. Why Did Wilson Favor War?
In February 1917, Wilson had greeted Jane Addams and a group of peace activists
at the White House. His guests caught a glimpse of his rationale for war. The
president explained that ―as head of a nation participating in the war, the president
of the United States would have a seat at the peace table, but. . . . If he remained
the representative of a neutral country, he could at best only ‗call through a crack in
the door.‘ ‖
Wilson believed that American could bring impartiality to the peace table, but if the
Europeans were left to themselves, they would develop a vindictive peace. (As you
remember, the Congress of Vienna brought almost a century of peace to the
European continent and this was done without any American help.)
In his speech calling for a war declaration, Wilson argued that the U.S. would fight
for great moral principles and that democratic regimes were less warlike than
autocratic ones. Wilson also spoke of submarine warfare as ―a war against all
mankind.‖ According to historian Thomas Fleming, this claim is not substantiated by
America‘s experience in later wars: ―There is no moral onus for using it in the only
way that gives submariners a decent chance for survival against their surface
enemies—torpedoing enemy ships without warning. This surprise-attack approach
was the policy adopted by the U.S. Navy during World War II. No one, including
America‘s Japanese or German enemies, called the practice a war against mankind.

68. Why Did Wilson Favor
War?(cont‘d)
Wilson also promised in his war address to Congress that Americans‘ treatment of
ethnic Germans who lived among them would prove to the world that the U.S. had
no quarrel with the German people, only the German government. It did not work
out that way. German-Americans were harassed and demonized. Symphony
orchestras refused to perform works by Beethoven, Mozart, and other Germanspeaking composers; in many states, it became illegal to teach German in schools
(and in two states, it was illegal to speak German in public); German-language
books were burned; ―disloyal ―professors were dismissed; beer fell out of popularity;
and sauerkraut was renamed ―liberty cabbage.‖ Same thing happened not long ago
to France. Freedom fries is a political euphemism for French fries and Freedom
toast for French toast used by some people in the United States as a result of antiFrench sentiment during the controversy over the U.S. decision to launch the 2003
invasion of Iraq. France expressed strong opposition in the United Nations to such
an invasion.

69. War is Declared and
Opportunities Abound for All


The war finally becomes an impossible impasse due to acts committed
by Germany. The events were Germany‘s use of restricted submarine
warfare, the publication of the Zimmermann telegram revealing a
German plot to help Mexico retake the American Southwest, and the
improvement of Germany‘s position on the eastern front as a result of
the Russian Revolution.
The U.S. mobilized the industrial base for war


The United States strengthened its armed forces through the Defense Act of 1916,
which increased the regular army, and the Selective Service Act of 1917, which
instituted a draft.
Federal agencies that regulated the industry were the War Industries Board, which
regulated the economy to guarantee sufficient military supplies; the Food
Administration, which operated the nation‘s supplies; the Railroad Administration,
which operated the nation‘s railroads; the United States Shipping Board, which
supervised shipbuilding; and the National War Board, which settled labor disputes.

70. War is Declared and
Opportunities Abound for All
(cont‘d)

Favorable circumstances appear for women and blacks in ―Home Front‖
industry.


The war provided women with the opportunity to work in war factories and to
perform many jobs previously held only by men. More than 10,000 women entered
the armed services in non-combat roles.
The war accelerated the migration of blacks from the South to the North and West,
where many found jobs in war factories. Some 370,000 blacks served in the armed
forces during the war.

71. Black Tom- The First Terrorist
Attack on America
The Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916, in Jersey City, New Jersey, was an act
of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the
materiel from being used by the Allies in World War I.
As soon as war broke out in Europe, the United States began manufacturing
munitions and sharing the weapons with allied British, French, and Russian forces in
Europe. German agents in the United States reported the stockpiling and shipping of
weapons, and the German government took action. Because they could only openly
attack United States property in limited ways such as the sinking of merchant ships
carrying contraband munitions without provoking America to wage war, the German
government sent undercover agents to sabotage munitions operations. Numerous
fires were set at military supply manufacturing sites. Shipping lines and railroads
were also sometimes targets. Over 50 acts of sabotage were carried out on
American targets from 1914 to 1918. Of those 50, nearly 30 occurred in the New
York area alone. Not only did several factories and warehouses operate in the New
York area, but ports in and around New York were the major staging point for
shipping supplies to the western front in Europe.

72. Black Tom- The First Terrorist
Attack on America (cont‘d)
After midnight, a series of small fires were discovered on the pier. Some guards fled,
fearing an explosion. Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the
Jersey City Fire Department.
At 2:08 a.m., the first and largest of the explosions took place. Fragments from the
explosion traveled long distances, some lodging in the Statue of Liberty and some in
the clock tower of The Jersey Journal building in Journal Square, over a mile away,
stopping the clock at 2:12 a.m. The explosion was the equivalent of an earthquake
measuring between 5.0 and 5.5 on the Richter scale and was felt as far away as
Philadelphia. Windows broke as far as 25 miles (40 km) away, including thousands in
lower Manhattan. Some window panes in Times Square were completely shattered.
The outer wall of Jersey City's City Hall was cracked and the Brooklyn Bridge was
shaken. People as far away as Maryland were awakened by what they thought was an
earthquake.
Two of the watchmen who had lit smudge pots to keep away mosquitoes on their
watch were immediately arrested. It soon became clear that the fires of the smudge
pots had not caused the fire and that the blast had not been an accident. It was
traced to a Slovak immigrant named Michael Kristoff, who had served in the U.S.
Army, but admitted to carrying suitcases for the Germans before America entered
World War I.

73. Black Tom- The First Terrorist
Attack on America (cont‘d)
According to him, two of the guards were German agents. It is likely that the
bombing involved some of the techniques developed by a group of German agents
surrounding German ambassador Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, probably
using the pencil bombs developed by Captain Franz von Rintelen. Although
suspicion at the time fell solely on German saboteurs like Kurt Jahnke and his
assistant Lothar Witzke, still judged as "likely" responsible by some, later
investigations in the aftermath of the Annie Larsen affair unearthed links between
the Ghadar conspiracy and the Black Tom explosion Franz von Papen is known to
have also been involved in both.
Bottom Line:
The whole incident was covered up by President Wilson because the outrage by the
American public would have run counter to his presidential campaign slogan, ―He
kept us out of the war‖ and he wanted to be re-elected. He denied the incident and
blamed it on capitalists who did not do the right thing in safety and security.

74. America Faces War on a Grand
Scale

World War starts in Europe



America‘s early position on the war



World War I was touched off by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo.
The rise of the German Empire and its desire for territorial security led to the alliance
of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire in one camp. A competing
alliance was formed by Great Britain, France, and Russia, each of which feared that
Germany and its allies might attempt aggression against them.
The United states followed a policy of neutrality
Most Americans favored the Allied side, because of their many cultural ties to Great
Britain and their gratitude to France. British control of the seas made America
dependent on trade with the Allies.
The Lusitania incident


It rallied American public support behind the Allies with Wilson‘s propaganda.
Germany issued the Arabic and Sussex pledges to keep America from the Allies.

75. America Faces War on a Grand
Scale (cont‘d)

Wilson prepares America for war


Wilson prepared the nation for war by doubling the size of the army, strengthening
the National Guard, and undertaking a building program that aimed to make
America‘s navy the world‘s largest by 1920.
Wilson was re-elected in 1916 by deception and used the slogan, ―He kept us out of
war.‖ Less than one year later, America was at war.

76. The Home Front



Women took war
factory jobs
Received lower wages
than males
Food shortages made
running a household
difficult

77. The Home Front

Censorship
Not told about high
death toll
 Romanticized the
battlefields
―soldiers have died a
beautiful death, in
noble battle, we shall
rediscover
poetry…epic and
chivalrous‖


78. The Home Front

Slogan
Censorship
―Newspapers described
troops as itching to go
over the top.‖
―Government reported to
the press that life in the
trenches promoted good
health and clear air‖
A WWI companion book and movie
along with the book and movie—In
Flanders Field

79. The Home Front
―On Leave‖
Troops would stay
together so they
could sympathize
with each other


80. The Home Front

Impossible to
hide death



Women in
mourning
Badly wounded
soldiers returned
home
Opposition began
to emerge

81. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Lenin had to deal with the war. Calls for a negotiated peace failed. Lenin then
bargained directly with the Germans. Faced with a crippling loss of territory or the
collapse of his government, he chose the former. Trotsky headed the Soviet
delegation that signed a peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk, in what is now Belarus, on 3
Mar 1918. Under its terms, Russia lost Ukraine, its Polish and Baltic provinces, and
Finland. The treaty was effectively annulled by Germany‘s defeat in November
1918, and the Soviet Union eventually regained all of the territory except Finland
and Poland.
At the time that the Congress of Soviets met to approve the treaty, the Bolsheviks
changed their name to the Russian Communist party. The treaty had no negative
effects for Lenin. Opponents from different Russian factions were united by their
opposition to it. Patriotic indignation at the betrayal of Russia to Germany quickly
surfaced, even in the army. This division between the Communists and their
opponents led to a civil war that lasted until late 1920. Trotsky was appointed
commissar for war.

82. The war ends



1917 – Russia
surrenders under
the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk(a
separate peace)
U.S. joins the war
on the Allied side
Nov. 11, 1918
Armistice

83. Death Toll of War
Allied Powers
Central Powers
42 million served
23 million served
22 million casualties
52% attrition rate
15 million casualties
65% attrition rate

84. Psychological impact


―Never such innocence again‖ (similar to
9/11)
Bitterness towards aristocratic officers
whose lives were never in danger

85. Social Impact





Men lost limbs and were mutilated
Birthrate fell markedly
Invalids unable to work
Ethnic hostility
Influenza epidemic

86. Battles, America‘s Entry, and
Armistice Graphic Organizer
WWI Battles
America’s Entry
Slogans
Examples
The Home Front
Slogans
Examples

87. Battles, America‘s Entry, and
Armistice Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Give one pro and one con argument for U.S.
entry into WWI.
Give a WWI Wilsonian slogan.
Give a WWI Home Front book, movie, or
slogan.
Give two reasons that America entered
WWI.
Give two examples of the Home Front.

88. Poetry and Literature of World
War I
Extra Credit is available

89. Dulce Et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through
sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.-Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

90. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could
pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,-My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori. *
* It is sweet and proper to die for your country
Wilfred Owen, died 1918

91. Louse Hunting
Nudes -- stark and glistening,
Yelling in lurid glee. Grinning faces
And raging limbs
Whirl over the floor one fire.
For a shirt verminously busy
Yon soldier tore from his throat, with oaths
Godhead might shrink at, but not the lice.
And soon the shirt was aflare
Over the candle he'd lit while we lay.
Then we all sprang up and stript
To hunt the verminous brood.
Soon like a demons' pantomine
The place was raging.

92. What a louse
looks like if it
were large
enough to
see.

93. See the silhouettes agape,
See the glibbering shadows
Mixed with the battled arms on
the wall.
See gargantuan hooked fingers
Pluck in supreme flesh
To smutch supreme littleness.
See the merry limbs in hot
Highland fling
Because some wizard vermin
Charmed from the quiet this revel
When our ears were half lulled
By the dark music
Blown from Sleep's trumpet
Isaac Rosenberg

94. IN FLANDERS FIELDS
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae, died 1918

96. Write a poem as if you were
a soldier or a medic during
World War I, living and
working in the trenches. It
must be at least 12 lines and
actually be decent.
More resources on page 783-4 of the text. Possible extra
credit test score

97. End Results
Millions Killed

98. End Results

99. End Results

100. The Treaty of Versailles
June 1919

101. Woodrow Wilson USA
David Lloyd-George Great Britain
The Big Four
Georges Clemenceau France
Vittorio Orlando Italy

102. The Big Four at Versailles in 1919

103. What did France want from the
treaty?
Security
Revenge
Reparations
Clemenceau : The
Tiger
Clemenceau wanted to make sure
that Germany could not invade
France in the future. He was
determined that Germany should be
made to pay for the damage that had
been caused in northern France by
the invading German armies.

104. What did Britain Want?
In public Lloyd-George said he
wanted to punish the Germans. The
British public was very anti-German
at the end of the war.
In private he realised that Britain
needed Germany to recover
because she was an important
trading partner.
David Lloyd-George
He was also worried about the
“disease from the east”,
communism. The Russian
government had been overthrown
by a communist revolution in 1917.
Lloyd-George believed that the
spread of communism had to be
stopped. A strong Germany would
be a barrier against it.

105. What did America Want?
Woodrow Wilson wanted the treaty to be
based on his Fourteen Points
He believed Germany should be punished
but not severely. He wanted a just
settlement that would not leave Germany
feeling resentful
Wilson wanted to set up an international
organization called The League of
Nations which would settle disputes
Woodrow Wilson
The American public did not support him.
They were fed up with involvement in
European affairs. The USA became more
isolationist.

106. The Peace Conference: The Disaster
Wilson Pretended Not to Notice
Wilson was highly concerned with his lofty principles of ―peace without victory‖, and
the absence of revenge and self-aggrandizement.
But in the closed door
negotiations among the Big Four (Britain, France, Italy, and the United States),
Wilson saw only revenge and self-aggrandizement.
So wedded was Wilson to the idea of a League of Nations that the British and
French delegations knew that all they had to do to persuade Wilson to abandon
any of the other Fourteen Points was to threaten not to join his beloved League.
For his part, Wilson persuaded himself that as long as he got his League, that
institution could modify any objectionable aspects of the peace treaty. Ultimately,
for Wilson, it was the League that mattered.
A sacred cow for Wilson was the ideal of self determination, however, in breaking
up the Austro-Hungarian Empire more ethnicities were created for more nations.
When Czechoslovakia was created, it contained 3 million Germans in the region
known as the Sudetenland.
Adolf Hitler would use the principle of selfdetermination to then demand annexation of Czechoslovakia to regain these
Germans. Portions of German-speaking Europe were parceled out not only to
Czechoslovakia but also to Poland, Italy, and France; Germany even lost the port
city of Danzig which was 95% German. Austria was essentially reduced to its

107. The Peace Conference: The Disaster
Wilson Pretended Not to Notice (cont‘d)
German speaking core. And despite the overwhelming popular support that existed
for a union of Germany with this smaller Austria, Wilson expressly forbade any such
union in the treaty.
The treaty enraged Germans because they insisted upon surrendering on the
Fourteen Points which called for a general disarmament. The Treaty of Versailles
called for only Germany to disarm and had the following restrictions: no air force,
tanks, submarines (naturally) and restricted the army to 100,000. Germany would
bear the whole burden of the reparations for the war and sole responsibility for the
war. Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau repudiated this sole responsibility
because of the mass starvation of the German nation because of the British
blockade that lasted four months past the armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day
of the 11th month, 1918.

108. The League of Nations
The first international organization set up to maintain world peace was the League
of Nations. It was founded in 1920 as part of the settlement that ended World
War I. Weakened from the start by the refusal of the United States to join, the
organization proved ineffective in defusing the hostilities that led to World War II
in 1939. After World War II, the League of Nations was replaced by the United
Nations to institute the attempt of a new world government.
The League of Nations was first suggested in the Fourteen Points presented on 8
Jan 1918, by Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, as a basis for
armistice negotiations. After the peace negotiations opened, the work was
continued by a commission headed by Wilson. A working plan, called The
Covenant of the League of Nations, became Section I of the Treaty of Versailles.
The League came officially into existence with the ratification of this treaty on 10
Jan 1920. The first Assembly met in Geneve, Switz., 15 Nov 1920, with 41 nations
represented. More than 20 nations joined later, but there were numerous
withdrawals.

109. The U.S. Rejects World Leadership

President Wilson‘s plans were severely weakened in Congress.



Weakened support was evident in the election of a Republican Senate and House in
1918 and in the discontent expressed by many Republicans on being excluded from
the peace-treaty negotiations.
France, Great Britain, and Italy were intent on imposing harsh terms on the Central
Powers and were contemptuous of Wilson‘s Fourteen Points.
The Versailles Treaty called for:





The creation of six new countries in central Europe
The separation of Austria and Hungary
Germany had to surrender its colonies, pay reparations, and pledge to remain disarmed
The treaty also called for a League of Nations
The organization of the League of Nations and its fate

The League of Nations was to be composed of:





An Administrative Secretariat
An Assembly of all member nations
A Council consisting of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and four nonpermanent members chosen by the assembly
Congressional opponents of the League objected to the League Covenant, which they
felt would restrict America‘s independent power to declare war and threaten the
Monroe Doctrine.
The Versailles Treaty was defeated in the Senate in two versions.

110. What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
To do with Germany’s armed forces :
The German army was to be reduced to 100,000 men. It was
not allowed to have tanks.
Germany was not allowed an airforce
The area known as the Rhineland was to be de-militarized
The Allies were to occupy the west bank of the Rhein for
fifteen years
The German navy was to have no submarines or large battleships

111. 100,000
The Military
Clauses
Demilitarized

113. Territorial Losses
Germany lost ALL of her overseas
colonies
Alsace-Lorraine was given to
France

114. Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium
North-Schleswig was given to
Denmark

115. Posen was given to Poland so that she
would have access to the Baltic Sea.
This area became known as the Polish
Corridor. It meant that East Prussia
was cut off from the rest of Germany.

116. The Rhineland was to be demilitarized

117. The Saar coalfields were given to
France for fifteen years
The port of Danzig was made a Free City
under the control of the League of Nations

119. The War Guilt Clause
"The Allied and Associated Governments
affirm, and Germany accepts, the
responsibility of Germany and her Allies for
causing all the loss and damage to which the
Allied and Associate Governments and their
nationals have been subjected as a
consequence of a war imposed upon them
by the aggression of Germany and her
Allies."
Article 231
GERMANY ACCEPTED
RESPONSIBILITY FOR
STARTING THE WAR

120. REPARATIONS
Germany agreed to pay for the damage
caused by her armies during the war. The
sum she had to pay was later fixed at
£6,600 million

121. Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria

122. How did Germans React to the Treaty?
Germans thought the Treaty was a “diktat” : a dictated peace.
They had not been invited to the peace conference at Versailles
and when the Treaty was presented to them they were
threatened with war if they did not sign it.
The Treaty was NOT based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points as the
Germans had been promised it would.
Most Germans believed that the War Guilt Clause was
unjustified. The French and British had done just as much to
start the war
The loss of territory and population angered most Germans who
believed that the losses were too severe.
Many Germans believed the German economy would be crippled
by having to pay reparations.

123. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th June 1919. It
officially ended the 1st World War. Many historians believe
that it was a major cause of the 2nd World War.
Most Germans were horrified by the harshness of the
Treaty. There was anger amongst all groups in Germany,
no matter what their political beliefs. Some German
newspapers called for revenge for the humiliation of
Versailles.
However anger was also directed against the government
in Germany. Already there was a myth growing in the
country that the German army had been “stabbed in the
back” by politicians…the so called “November Criminals”.
Now these same politicians had signed the “Diktat”, the
dictated peace. The new democracy in Germany was now
closely linked with the humiliation of Versailles.