Major Events

A War of Movement? Original ideas about the

“Great War” Schlieffen Plan First Battle of the Marne

“Race to the sea” Trench warfare ->

stalemate -> war of attrition

Battle of Verdun (1916) “Bleed France white” Symbol of French

resistence Battle of the Somme

(1916) Allied offensive, record

1/3 lost in first day Relieve Verdun

Life in the Trenches

Daily death and boredom No man’s land

Unsanitary Conditions Rats and other pests Trench fever and foot Overpowering smell

Trench cycle Unofficial truces http://www.youtube.co

m/watch?v=SXtsiqrhqsU

Eastern Front

Battle of Tannenberg (Aug – Sept 1914) Troops unprepared German’s outmaneuver and defeat Russians

Russian Weaknesses Supplying troops Less modern

Russian Strengths Population

Russian Civil War & Revolution in 1917 Nicholas II abdicates, then murdered Bolsheviks take power – pull Russia out of the

war

Gallipoli Campaign

Stalemate on Western Front

Allies attempted to capture Istanbul (Turkish capital) and gain sea route to Russia

Participation of Australian and New Zealand Forces

Victory for Ottoman Empire and rise of Mustafa Kemal

250,000 casualties for the Allies

Armenian Massacre Ottoman officials

claimed Armenians would side with Russians

At least 500,000 perished between 1914-1918

Present controversy Armin Wegner Audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=4Wj6esqjWws&feature=related

Asia and Africa

Great Britain eager to collect new colonies in Africa – German East African Colonies Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda

Asian Theater largely bloodless conquest of German colonial possessions by the Japanese and Chinese

End of WWI marked end of short-lived overseas German Empire