Chapter 23

The First World War

The War Begins

The complex causes of war Nationalism: Exaggerated Patriotism

Many people who spoke the same language, wanted their own country to live in and govern.

Poles, Slavic speaking people, the French Imperialism

Powerful countries were fighting over colonies in Africa and the Middle East- France, Germany, GB

Russia claimed rule over Slavic people in Eastern Europe vs. Austria-Hungary

Causes of War

Militarism: Arms Race Each major country in Europe stockpiled

weapons and build major forces to be stronger than their enemies.

Navies grew stronger around the world to protect trade routes, which were becoming extremely important in world affairs.

Battleships became the centerpiece of many naval fleets

Why Such a Big War?

Alliances Many of these imperialistic fears led to treaties

being signed which allowed a chain-reaction to take place.

There were 2 major alliances by 1914 The Triple Entente, later known as the Allies

France, Great Britain, and Russia The Triple Alliance

Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Italy Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Turkey were

known as the Central Powers

An Assignation- Excuse for War

June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the nephew and heir to the

Austrian Emperor, and his wife Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo.

Gavrilo Princip, of the Black Hand secret society, shot and killed the couple while they drove through town

The Black Hand was a Serbian nationalist group that wanted to unite all Serbs under one government.

Austria-Hungry saw this as a chance to prevent a nationalist uprising and declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914

Countries Get Each Others Backs

Russia, who signed a treaty with Serbia, organized its troops on the 30th to help.

On August 1st, Germany who was allied with Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia

August 3rd, Germany declares war on France August 4th, Great Britain declares war on

Germany

US tries to remain nuetral

Americans favor neutrality Many immigrants favored their home country during

the war Some saw the war b/n Britain and Germany as a battle

of imperialistic countries Some felt ties with England and others felt the US

“owed one” to France for helping in 1778 Most Americans agreed that since no US lives or

property were at stake, it was best to stay out of the mess.

“Our whole duty for the present, at any rate, is summed up in the motto ‘America First: Let us think of America before we think of Europe.’” – Woodrow Wilson

Germany Invades Belgium

Belgium was another neutral country, but it was in Germany’s gateway to France. Germany invaded Belgium on 8/03/1914. US appalled!

The Schleiffen Plan Designed in 1905 by German General Count Alfred

von Schleiffen Use a holding action on the Eastern front against

Russia, because they are slow, and use a quick drive through Belgium and onto Paris. After France was done, combine forces and attack Russia.

The Allies stop Germany

The Germans get stopped at the Marne River by French and British Troops By 1915, two lines of trenches were built along

northern and eastern France This began Trench Warfare in WWI Many casualties (hundreds of thousands)

resulted from this type of warfare.

Both Sides Design New Weapons!

The Germans “Big Bertha” Cannon that could launch shells 9 miles away

Poison Gas was used on both sides Chlorine, which would suffocate Mustard Gas, which burned the skin and

blinded The British introduced the Tank It was not affective against the new Flame

Throwers

The British Blockade

The British formed a blockade around the German coast to prevent contraband from entering the country.

They extended the blockade to neutral countries as well

Forced all neutral ships to GB ports to be searched, instead of searching at sea

All of these acts were illegal, Germany would take matters into their own hands

Germany unleashes U-boats

To counter the British blockade, German Kaiser Wilhelm announced a counter blockade. Wilhelm warned that all ships sailing around

the British Isles would be sunk No warning would be given and no help to

survivors because U-Boats did not have the room

Results in famine in Germany- no fertilizer Neutral countries were now more outraged

over this act, than the British naval tactics

The Lusitania Sunk and the Sussex Pledge May 7, 1915, the British liner Lusitania was sunk off the

Irish coast 128 Americans lost their lives The Germans sank it because it was carrying

ammunition to Britain Three months later, a U-Boat sank the Arabic.

Germany promised not to attack passenger ships w/o warning

March 1916, Germany broke the promise and attacked the Sussex America threatened to cut off relations with Germany Germany agreed to stop this in the Sussex Pledge If the US could not persuade the British to lift the

“Hunger Blockade”, they would go back to unrestricted submarine warfare

Wilson Wins Re-election

It was a very close election

Wilson won under the motto “He Kept Us Out of War”

Many people were happy with staying out of the war

Teddy antagonizes Hughes supporters- compares Wilson to Pontius Pilate

Last Efforts At Peace

Wilson tried to bring all nations together to end this war peacefully Wilson wanted all nations to join a League of

Peace where they would democratically maintain freedom of the seas and reduce armaments.

Germany was winning the war through sub warfare and said it would now sink any ship around Britain, Italy, and France

Wilson now realized that the US would have to go to war

Zimmermann note

The German foreign secretary sent a note to the German ambassador in Mexico, but it was intercepted by British agents. The note suggested an alliance b/n Mexico and

Germany. Germany would help Mexico regain its lost lands of

Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona German U-Boats sunk 4 American merchant ships Financially, the US had more to gain helping the

Allies.

The Nation Goes to War

Congress officially declared war on April 6, 1917

America’s entry into the war, assured an Allied victory in 1918

Getting ready for war was a different story The US had outdated guns and planes They also lacked the man power to wage war The Selective Service Act took care of that

This helped raise the number of troops that were sent to Europe from 200K to 2 Million

First time black officers were trained to lead.

Providing The Troops With Goods

Productivity Increases The War Industries Board

Led by Bernard Baruch The board encouraged the use of mass

production techniques Price controls were used at wholesale level Gasless Sundays The Emergency Fleet Corporation built ships,

mostly too late to help

Providing The Troops With Goods

Labor Wages in certain areas went up Inflation was very high Strikes in 1917 occurred to protest high cost of living Those who would not work would lose draft exemption

“Work or Fight” Women filled the work place

Paid less than man was Almost all of them were fired once the men came

back

Providing The Troops With Goods

Food Food Administration headed by H. Hoover Encourage American to eat corn so wheat

could be sent overseas “Victory Gardens” Hoover set high prices on farm goods

Farmers responded by producing more food, making an extra 30%

Americans Buy War Bonds

The bulk of the war was paid for by war bonds The average adult American lent $400

Anything with German relations were targets in America People with German names were fired Hamburgers became “liberty steak”,

sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage”

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Under these two laws, a person could be fined up to $10,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the draft, obstructing the sale of government bonds, or saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war effort. Socialists and labor leaders were targets of

these laws Debs sentenced to ten years for opposition. Big Bill Haywood thirty years for striking.

The Allies Defeat Germany

In the navy American ships tightened the blockade around

Germany and played a major role in laying mines from Scotland to Norway to keep U-boats out of Atlantic.

The convoy system Travel the Atlantic in large groups with battleships

circling to ensure safe passage of goods This helped cut shipping loses in half

Doughboys

General John J. Pershing (Black Jack) was in charge of the American forces in Europe By 1918, Pershing convinced the Allied forces

that the American forces should fight on their own under the leadership of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch

American forces led the charge in France They lost 48K in battle and 56K to disease

Revolution in Russia

November 1917 Vladimir Lenin leads the Bolsheviks to

overthrow the Czar (king) of Russia. Lenin withdrew Russia from the war and

signed a peace treaty with Germany on March 3, 1918. It was the treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The End

Allied forces were pushing closer to Germany On November 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm

abdicated the throne and hides in the Netherlands.

On 11/11/1918, the guns fell silent, and the Great War was over- 11th day, 11th month, 11th hour.

Wilson’s 14 Points

These were the 14 Points that Wilson believed would prevent further war and create peace among the nations

The first 5 were for preventing war No secret treaties Freedom of the seas The removal of tariffs and economic barriers b/n

countries Arms reduction Colonial policies that would take into account the

interests of the colonial people as well as the imperialistic powers in control

Wilson’s 14 Points

The next 8 points dealt with boundary changes These were based on the concepts of self-

determination “along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality.”

The 14th point called for a League of Nations

Versailles

Wilson had hoped to work a treaty that was fair to all, but it would not happen France wanted revenge The British wanted to “Make Germany Pay” Italy want Austrian land

The defeated countries were not there. They worked out the treaty themselves and

Wilson got the League of Nations by giving in on his other 13 points

The Treaty of Versailles

9 new countries would be formed out of the new treaty.

Some were carved out of the Turkish territory and given to France and Britain as mandates – a temporary colony to be governed until they are ready for self rule- Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine

Germany also had to pay reparations. $56 million

Weaknesses of The Treaty

Three areas of problems Germany

One part of the treaty contained a guilt clause which made Germany accept full blame for the war

3 million Germans were split from Austria and Germany and placed as a part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland

Russia Russia fought for the allies, lost 2 million people, but lost

more land than Germany Southeast Asia

No provisions for SE Asia were put in. Many people living in the French owned areas wanted

independence Ho Chi Minh- Vietnam

The Senate says “No”

After months of debate, Congress failed to approve the treaty and did not enter the League of Nations that was the idea of the President

Reasons Many thought it was too harsh on Germany Some felt America should be isolationists It did not recognize the Monroe Doctrine