Imperialism

Nationalism

Alliances

Militarism

Causes of WW I

Beginning of World War I• In the Balkan, there was a war

over territory. • Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia

to their empire. • There was much resentment of

this. • Archduke Francis Ferdinand went

to visit Sarajevo, Bosnia. • As he traveled to a meeting, June

28, 1914, he and his wife were shot to death by Gavrilo Princip (19 year old member of the Blackhand - anti-Austria-Hungary hate group in Serbia).

• On July 28, 1914, A-H declares war on Serbia (then the alliance system reacts).

• Nicholas II of Russia mobilizes troops

• Wilhelm II of Germany declares war on Russia and France

• Germany followed the Schlieffen Plan which offered a two front war with Russia and France.

• Germany marches through Belgium to attack France and Britain declared war on Germany.

War Years

• Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary Empire, and Ottoman Empire

• Allied Powers – Britain, France, and Russia (20 other countries later joined)

• European countries thought the war would be over by Christmas but no power could dominate the other. This led to trench warfare. Longest battle of the war is the Battle of Verdun (lasted 11 months in 1916). In 1916, 2 million soldiers were killed in Europe.

New Weapons• Machine guns• Poison gas

(Germans) • Tanks (Britain) • aircraft• Submarine

(Germans)

Russian Revolution• Russia had to back out of the war

due to a revolution. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918) gave Germany 25% of Russian land and population to get Russia out of the war.

• The revolution saw the communist or Bolsheviks fight against the non-communist groups for control of Russia.

• Vladimir Lenin in 1922 makes Russia the USSR (United Soviet Socialist Republic) with a communist govt.

• Czar Nicholas II and his entire family were shot to death.

• Gregory Rasputin (Mad Monk) is supposedly responsible for Nicholas II downfall because of his wife’s association with Rasputin.

World War• The Great War was

fought throughout the world.

• First modern war – new weapons and strategies still used today

• Women worked in factories, millions of men were drafted, and factories and farmers produced goods for the war.

U.S. Enters the War

• President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed U.S. would remain neutral.

• May 1915, Germans torpedoed an American tanker.

• The next week a British passenger liner (Lusitania) was sunk killing 1000 people (128 Americans)

• Author Zimmermann wrote a letter to Mexico asking them to attack the U.S. in return for aid to gain territory lost to U.S. (known as the Zimmermann Note).

• The British intercepted the note and told the U.S.

• Congress declared war on Germany on April 2, 1917.

1. Name the 4 causes of WW I.

2. What is the direct cause of WW I.

3. Who is the group blamed for this?

4. Who is the leader of Germany in WW I?

5. Define Schiefflen Plan.

6. Name the 2 sides during the war.

7. What slowed down both sides during the war?

8. What is the response of the US during the war?

9. Name the 5 new weapons of WW I.

10. Who are the Romanov’s?

11. Who is Rasputin?

12. Russia becomes _________ after WW I.

13. How did women contribute to the war efforts?

14. What is the Lusitania?

15. How did the United States get involved in the war?

• General John Pershing led US forces in WW I

• Selective Service Act Draft of young men to fight

• AEF – American Expeditionary Force – US armed forces

• “doughboys” – US soldiers

• “Harlem Hell Fighters” African American regiment who served in WW I (loaned services to France)

• War Industry Board agency to help produce war goods

• Committee on Public Information used propaganda to encourage support for war effort

• Espionage and Sedition Acts – made acts illegal to make statements critical of the govt. or military

• Eugene Debs – Socialist leader sentenced to 10 years in prison due to Espionage Act

German Revolution

• In Germany, cities were getting scarce on food. • Riots began to break out. • The political leaders called the troops back

home because they felt the war was lost. • On Nov. 11, 1918 at 11:00 a.m., an armistice

(agreement to stop fighting) was signed. • German soldiers returned home. • Many felt they were “stabbed in the back” by

their own officials. • The Republic of Germany was founded to bring

about change.

Treaty of Versailles

• In Jan. 1919, 27 allied countries met at the Palace of Versailles to make a final peace settlement of the Great War. Among the key leaders were the following:– U.S. – Woodrow Wilson – 14

point plan (wanted peace)– Britain – David Lloyd George

– wanted payment for the war– France – Georges

Clemenceau – wanted payment and revenge

– Italy – Vittorio Orlando – wanted land

• 14 Points established the League of Nations which helped to eliminate war from happening again.

• It also stated that countries should not have secret diplomacy or alliances.

• There was conflict of interest that almost disrupts the meeting.

• The Treaty of Versailles was very long and had the following details:

• Germany lost land gained from WW I• Germany lost military in the Rhineland• Germany required to take on the “war guilt

clause”• Germany had to pay for the entire war• Germany had to give up her entire naval fleet• Germany had to limit the size of her army

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

• The Treaty of Versailles also established some independent countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Austria, Hungary, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Finland.

• Germany was furious about the severity of the Versailles Treaty and it would create tensions that would lead to WW II.