1. THE GREAT WAR
“World War I”
1914 - 1918
A Local Conflict Goes Global

2. “MANIA”
 Underlying causes of WWI:
Militarism
Alliances
Nationalism
Imperialism
Anarchy (international)

3. In 1914, European armed forces stood
like this:
 Germany: 2,200,000 soldiers, 97 warships
 Austria-Hungary: 810,000 soldiers, 28
warships.
 Italy: 750,000 soldiers, 36 warships
 France: 1,125,000 soldiers, 62 warships
 Russia: 1,200,000 soldiers, 30 warships
 Great Britain: 711,000 soldiers, 185
warships

4. Alliances
 Defense Agreements Among Nations
 Triple Alliance - (1882) Germany,
Italy, Austria-Hungary - attempt
to isolate France
 Triple Entente - (1907) France,
Russia, Great Britian
• Entente: Friendly understanding
between nations

5. Immediate Causes of WWI
 Assassination of
Archduke Francis
Ferdinand
• Austria-Hungarian
• June 28, 1914
• Sarajevo
• Killed by Gavrilo
Princip - member of
Serbian nationalist
group called the
“Black Hand”

7. Why assassinated?
 Ferdinand planned to give Slavs of
Bosnia-Herzegovina a voice in the
gov’t equal to that of Austria-
Hungarians
 This threatened the movement for a
separate Slavic state

8. What happens next?
 A-H hold Serbians responsible
 A-H seeks assurance (backup) from
Germany in event of war
• Germany issues “Blank Check” to A-
H
• Kaiser Wilhelm II gives full support
to any actions A-H might take
against Serbia

9. Tension!!!
 A-H issues ultimatum to Serbia
• set of final conditions that must be accepted to
avoid severe consequences
 Demands that Serbia allow A-H officials
into country to suppress all rebellious
movements & conduct investigation
 Gives Serbia 48 hours to agree or face war
 Serbia does not agree to all parts A-H
declares war on Serbia! (July 28, 1914)

10. Other Countries Get Involved
 Russia (friend of the Serbs) mobilizes
troops along borders of Germany &
A-H
 Germany warns Russia to stop - they
don’t!
 Germany issues ultimatum to France
– 18 hours to decide if it would
support Russia – France implies it
would support Russia

11. Allies with
Russia

12. Declarations of War
 Germany declares war on Russia
• Aug 1, 1914
 Germany declares war on France
• Aug 3, 1914
 Great Britain still hoped to remain
neutral and not go to war, but…

13. Germany Invades Belgium!
 Germany demands passage across
Belgium to fight France
• (*Part of Schlieffen Plan (Chicos este
nombre es importante)
 British protest demand made by
Germany upon neutral nation of
Belgium
• 1839 Treaty signed by G.B., Russia,
France & Germany guaranteed
Belgium’s neutrality

14.  Germany invades Belgium anyway
 G.B. demands they withdraw
 Germany responds calling treaty
“a scrap of paper”
 G.B. declares war on Germany
• Aug 4, 1914

15. The Schlieffen Plan
 Germany’s invasion of Belgium was
part of this plan
 Germany had enemies to East &
West & did not want to fight a war
on both fronts at the same time
 Believed Russia would be slow to
mobilize and that they could fight &
defeat France (W. Front) first in 6
weeks & then fight Russia on Eastern
Front

17. Allies vs. Central Powers
 Allies
• Great Britain
• Russia
• Italy
• France
• United States – April 6, 1917
 Central Powers
• Germany
• Austria-Hungary
• Turkey
• Bulgaria

18. Expectations
 Both sides thought the war would be a
quick ordeal…
 Kaiser told his soldiers, “you’ll be home
before the leaves have fallen from the
trees.”
 They underestimated the role
industrialization would play in this war –
development of weapons
 Russia, because of its size was considered
a “steamroller” – how untrue!

19. Types of Warfare
 War in trenches
• poisonous gases
• Machine guns
• Tanks
• No Man’s Land
 War at Sea
• Submarines
 War in the Air
• Airplanes
• Zeppelins
World War I was the catalyst for more major
military technological innovations than any
other war in history!

20. Warfare of the Great
War

22. U-Boat
 Unterseeboot – German term
 Attacked merchant convoys bringing
supplies to Allied forces from US and
Canada
 Sank three American merchant ships
in 1917 – prompting US to enter war

25.  U-boat garage

26. Convoy of merchant
ships and battleships

27. War of the Air

28. Planes
 Used to deliver bombs
 Spy work
 Later became fighter aircraft armed with
machine guns, bombs and some times
cannons
 Dogfights
• Fights between two planes in the sky

29. Zeppelin

32. War on Land
 Trenches
• Good ones were
built in a zig-zag
pattern
• Underground cities
 Western front
• 6,000 miles of
trenches

43. Machine Guns
 4-6 men to work them
 Had to be on a flat surface
 Fire-power of 100 guns

44. No Man’s Land
 Area of land between opposing
trenches
 Many men died within first days of
war because of the allure of it
(peering over the edge – sniper
bullet)

47. Tanks
 “Little Willie”
 Daimler engine (Chrysler),
caterpillar track, crew of 3
 Maximum speed was 3mph
 COULD NOT cross trenches
 End of War – modernized tank
• Fits 10 men
• Revolving turret (gun)
• 4mph

51. Mustard Gas
 Mustard gas was the most deadly weapon
used
 Fired into the trenches in shells
 Colorless and takes 12 hours to take effect
 Effects include: blistering skin, vomiting, sore
eyes, internal and external bleeding
 Very painful – victims had to be tied to bed!
 Death can take up to 5 weeks
 Remain in soil for several more weeks

54. Trench Problems

56. Lice
 Would breed in the seams of filthy clothing
(warm areas) and cause uncontrollable
itching
 Lice caused Trench Fever
• painful disease that began suddenly with
severe pain followed by high fever
• Recovery - away from the trenches - took up
to twelve weeks.
 Lice were not actually identified as the
culprit of Trench Fever until 1918

57. Rats
 Millions of them infected trenches
 Black and brown rats
 Gorge themselves on human
remains
• disfigured dead bodies by eating
their eyes and liver
• could grow to the size of a cat
 A single rat couple could produce
up to 900 offspring in a year –
ultimately spreading infection and

66. Why did it take so long for
America to get involved in the
war?
• America was isolationist
• “Why should I get involved in someone
else’s problems”
66

67. Which side should the US pick?
Central Powers: Allies:
•11 million German-Americans •Close cultural ties
•Irish-Americans hated Great •Shared transatlantic cables
Britain (so censored stories)
•Big business loaned much $
to allies
US Exports to both sides:
Nat ions 1914 1915 1916
Britain $594,271,863 $911,794,954 $1,526,685,102
France $159,818,924 $364,397,170 $628,851,988 67
Germany $344,794,276 $28,863,354 $288,899

68. What did it take to get the US
1. Blockades involved?
•Britain blockaded
(stopped) all German
ships going to America
•Germany announced a
submarine war around
Britain
Y-53 German Submarine 1916 68

69. What did it take to get the US
1. Blockades involved?
•In May, 1915 Germany told Americans to
stay off of British ships
•They could/would sink them
69

70. What did it take to get the US
1. Blockades involved?
•Lusitania torpedoed,
sinking with 1200
passengers and crew
(including 128 Americans)
•Was eventually found to
be carrying 4200 cases of
ammunition
German Propaganda Justifying Lusitania 70
sinking

71. What did it take to get the US
1. Blockades involved?
•The US sharply criticized
Germany for their action
•Germany agreed not to
sink passenger ships
without warning in the
future
71
Note in Bottle After Lusitania Disaster