World War I - Introduction

What do you already know?

MAIN Causes of WWI

•Militarism – growth of militaries

•Alliances

• Imperialism

•Nationalism – pride in your country

Militarism

• The build up of armies, navies and weaponry

• Imperialist nations had sparked an arms race to defend their holdings and possibly gain or regain territory.

Alliances• a formal agreement or treaty 

between two or more nations to cooperate for specific purposes.

• Created to protect national security and provide aide in the event of an attack.

Imperialism

• Dividing up areas of the world among the more powerful countries

• European powers competed with each other for raw materials and colonies

Nationalism

• Loyalty to one’s country/excessive patriotism

• Own nation’s interests are viewed as superior to those of other nations.

Nationalism

• Nations who wanted back land that had natives living there (France and Russia)

• Areas that wanted to gain national independence from countries that had engulfed their culture (Czechs and Poles)

This map shows Africa in 1914 and shows how much land the major nations had taken over.

BRITAIN FRANCE GERMANY ITALY BELGIUM

Imperialism

Nationalism

Ethnic Map of Europe in 1914

Europe is a Powder Keg!

• One spark would start a war!

• The assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand.

Assassination of Archduke

• Archduke Francis Ferdinand - heir to the Austria-Hungary throne

The Black Hand

• Serbian terrorist organization

• Sent a small group of teenage operatives to assassinate the Archduke!

June 28th, 1914

Sarajevo – June 28th 1914

The Wrong Turn!

Assassination of Archduke

• Traveling w/ wife Sophie in Sarajevo

• Sarajevo – capital of Bosnia (providence in AH)

• Both were shot by a 19 yr old Bosnian Nationalist

Gavrilo Princip

AlliancesTriple Entente Allies

Allies

Nikola Pasic

Serbia

Allies

Czar Nicholas II

Russia

AlliesGeorges

Clemenceau

France

Allies

King George V

England

Allies

Vittorio Orlando

Italy

Allies

King Albert I

Belgium

Allies

Woodrow Wilson

United States

AlliancesTriple Alliance Central Powers

Central Powers

Emperor Franz Josef

Austria-Hungary

Central Powers

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Germany

Central Powers

Sultan Mehmed V

Ottoman Empire

Central Powers

Tsar Ferdinand

Bulgaria

The start of WWI…legos

World War I

• Everyone thought war would end in a week

• Instead had a stalemate – neither side could gain an advantage

Reason for the Stalemate

• New Weapon Technology

• Trench Warfare

Weapons and Tactics of World War I

• Bolt-Action Rifle• Machine Gun• Artillery• Poisonous Gas• Zeppelin• Tanks• Planes• U-Boats

Bolt-Action Rifle

• Bolt-action rifles could fire up to 15 rounds per minute.

Machine Gun

• A machine gun could fire up to 400 rounds per minute.

• A machine gun had the fire power of approx. 100 rifles.

Artillery

• Artillery refers to large-caliber, mounted field guns.

Artillery Shells• Artillery could fire

shells distances of up to approx. 12,000 yards.

• Artillery shells could weigh up to 900 lbs.

• It could take up to 12 men to handle an artillery gun and load the shells.

Poisonous Gases• Cause choking,

blistering, vomiting, internal & external bleeding, blinding, a burning of lung tissue, & death.

• Gases lobbed into enemy trenches

Poisonous Gases

• Gases were often colorless & odorless, Could take up to 12 hours to take effect.

• Gas masks were eventually created

Zeppelins

• Zeppelins or blimps were airships filled with hydrogen to keep them afloat.

Zeppelins

Tanks• Armored vehicles that

traveled on tracks

• Used to cross over tough terrain, But unable to cross trenches.

• Protected advancing troops across “no-man’s” land.

Tanks

Planes• One- or two-seat

propeller planes equipped with a machine gun.

• Pilots engaged in “dogfights” in the air

Red Baron

• Manfred von Richthofen – German pilot with 80 victories

Red Baron ???

U-Boats• Underwater ships that capable of

launching torpedoes, or guided underwater bombs.

Flamethrower

• Gas canister strapped to back of soldier

• Sprayed burning fuel on it victims

Trench Warfare

• Trenches were elongated pits dug 6-8 ft. into the earth, and stretching out over hundreds of miles.

• Trenches were only wide enough to allow two men to pass side-by-side.

Trench Warfare - Diagram

• Barbed-wire was lined up in front of a trench to protect the men from attack.

The entrance to a “dugout”

Trench Warfare – Dugout

Trench Warfare

• Three interlocking trench lines would be used: a front line for attack and defense, a middle line of defense, and a rear line of reserves.

• The distance between opposing trenches was called “no-man’s land”. This distance could be as short as 30 meters, or as wide as 1 mile.

Trench Warfare

• On command, soldiers from a trench would charge across “no-man’s” land and attempt to overrun the opponents trench.

A periscope would have been used to see the enemy, without putting a soldier in the direct line of fire.

Retrieving a dead soldier from “no-man’s land”

Trench Warfare

• Weapons on the front included:–Soldier’s would commonly use

rifles, bayonets, spades, clubs, shotguns, helmets, and grenades

–Armies would use larger items such as machine guns, mortars, artillery, gas, barbed-wire, aircraft, and mines

Christmas Truce

• 1914 German & British Troops

• 1915 German & French Troops

• Met in “No Man’s Land”

• Had a party & played soccer

Christmas Truce

Memorial in

Belgium