World War I

World War IOrigins of the Conflict

War started: June 28, 1914 Long-term cause: Europe’s great

power rivalries Exacerbated by the emergence of a

united Germany in the 1870s with imperialist ambitions

Rival Powers Blocks Allied Powers: Great Britain, France,

Russia Central Powers: Germany, Austria-

Hungary, Ottoman Empire Immediate Cause: murder of the

Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarjevo

Franz Ferdinand’s murder led to a chain of declarations of war

Expectation of a quick war, but by end of 1914 there was a stalemate

Causes: machine guns and rapid fire artillery

Led to trench warfare and a futile four-year effort to restore mobility to the battlefield

World War IThe Overall Picture

The Western Front Mainly Great Britain and France

fighting the Germans over a stale-mated 475 mile front

Later joined by the Americans Germans fight mainly defensively on

this front from late 1914 until 1918 Eastern Front

Germans and Austro-Hungarians fight the Russians

Russians initially on offensive, but pushed back and collapse in 1917 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918)

Southern Front Italians fighting the Austro-

Hungarians and some German, mostly in the Alps

Also fighting in Turkey and the Middle East, most notably the British disaster at Gallipoli

Theater-level map ofWorld War I

World War I Anatomy of a Trench

World War ITrench Warfare: Offensive Problems

World War ITrying to Break the Stalemate in the West

Tactics Mass Frontal Assault Mass Artillery Barrage Poison Gas Tanks Infiltration Tactics

No offensive tactic could overcome effective counter-attacks or countermeasures

Airplane WWI notable as the first major war

that saw airplanes utilized Initially utilized for reconnaissance Increasing use in combat for infantry

support, bombing, but most famously for aerial duels

Not really a significant strategic weapon until WWII

World War ISubmarine Warfare

Britain’s navy mounts an effective naval blockade of German navy

Germans forced turned to a new naval weapon: the “U-boat” or submarine

Relied on stealth & surprise Because it could not follow rules of

naval warfare, the U-boat quickly became a controversial weapon

Sinking of the Lusitania (April 1915): 1,198 died including 128 Americans

Caused great condemnation of the Germans

Led to international pressure on Germany to curb its use of U-boats

Sussex Pledge (April 1916) Despite the Sussex Pledge, greater

use of U-boats remained a tempting option for the Germans

World War I vintageGerman “Unterseeboot”

or U-boat

World War IThe Road to U.S. Entry

The United States initially tried to stay neutral, but various factors worked against this policy

Ethnic ties to combatant nations Belligerent Propaganda

Germans mount bigger effort, but undone by ruthlessness of their army and navy

Economic Ties to Allies Munitions sales and loans

U.S. Election of 1916 Woodrow Wilson’s “peace offensive” Germans started unrestricted

Submarine Warfare in early 1917 Zimmerman Telegram

Offered an alliance between Germany and Mexico

Intercepted and decoded by British, who passed it to Wilson

Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany on April 2, 1917

Arthur ZimmermanGerman Foreign Minister

Author of the“Zimmerman Telegram”

World War IImpact of U.S. Involvement

Decisive: although American entry was late, it essentially decided the war’s outcome

$500 million in emergency loans from U.S. prevented Allied collapse

U.S. entry also a major psychological boost for Allied troops—gave them a reason to fight back the last massive German offensive on the Western Front Germans had shifted troops and

resources from the Eastern Front for an offensive in March 1918

Offensive used innovative tactics and had some early success, but ran into the reality that in WWI that all offensives in the West were eventually contained and repulsed

German sued for peace in November 1918

The mass arrival of U.S. troops and growing unrest inside Germany made the war untenable

U.S. troops arrive in France(c. 1917-18)

World War IThe Flawed Peace

The Fourteen Points Woodrow Wilson’s idealist blueprint

for postwar peace Called for freedom of seas, free

trade, arms reduction, self-determination, etc.

League of Nations Wilson did not reckon with firm

desire of other Allied leaders to punish Germany

Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) Germany forced to cede Alsace-

Lorraine to France and surrender its colonies

Forced to accept total responsibility for the war and agree to pay reparations to the Allies

No air force, limited navy and army Humiliation of the treaty helped to

cause WWII

Wilson with other Allied leadersat Versailles, outside Paris

(David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando,and Georges Clemenceau)