Upload
sylvia-stevens
View
212
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The First World War
Invasion of BelgiumAugust 4, 1914
“Allow us through or be conquered”
Belgian army resisted but were defeated
The Schlieffen Plan: Avoid fighting a war with Russia and France at the same time. Plan fails when France does not fall quickly
The Great War Begins
Trench Warfare Armies fight using
system of ditches
No Man’s Land Area between trenches
where soldiers were killed
Won very little land
Sleeping where?
How to build them
More ways to build from a French hand book.
Soldiers fought from within the trenches It was usually tight quarters
Trenches were used by both the Allies and the Central Powers
An aerial photograph of the trenches First line of defense
In the trenches
Not all trenches were deep. Many nations fought together
Fighting
Sometimes an easy target
Dangers of Trench life
Trenchfoot
From having wet feet most of the time and nowhere to dry them out
Dead bodies….
Left to rot in the trenches because of the machine gun fire that kept the soldiers in the trenches
An easy food source for rats and a place to breed disease
Bring rats
Soldiers of all nations hunted the rats– sometimes rations were short and meat was added to their diet
Christmas truce
Poison Gas
A new weapon, hard to combat. Different gas mask styles were created by different countries. None were 100% effective.
Belgian Uniforms and masks Australian Gas mask
Japanese gas mask U. S. gas mask
Gas TrainingGas Training
Trench Warfare
American Neutrality Question
Few Americans wanted to send troops
Many had family ties to Europe
Stronger ties to the Allies
Shipped millions of supplies to Allies
British Blockade
British blockaded German coast to stop supplies entering
By 1917 Germany suffering famine
US angry at this threat to freedom of seas
Terror on the SeasU-Boats to sink any Allied or British shipsMay 7, 1915: British passenger ship Lusitania sunk A number of
American passengers were killed
Germans claimed carried ammunitionU.S. warned Germany to stop sinking ships
Lusitania
Path to War Woodrow Wilson ran for
reelection in 1916 with the slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War.” He wins
On January 31, 1916 German order U-Boats to sink ALL ships in British Waters
The Zimmerman Note was a letter sent by Germany to Mexico to get them into the war on Germany’s side.
Germany sinks 4 more unarmed US ships without any apology
America enters the War
March: Russian monarchy replaced with representative government
April 2nd, 1917 Wilson asks Congress to declare war
“Make the world safe for Democracy.”
Wilson addresses Congress
Mobilizing
May 1917: Selective Service Act All men to register
to be randomly selected to serve in the military
24 million registered
1917 1917 –– Selective Selective Service ActService Act1917 1917 –– Selective Selective Service ActService Act
24,000,000 men registered for the draft by the end of 1918.
4,800,000 men served in WW1 (2,000,000 saw active combat).
400,000 African-America were put in segregated units. Most were put in non-combat duties.
15,000 Native-Americans served as scouts, messengers, and snipers in non-segregated units.
Here Come the Yanks
The United Stated adopted the Convoy System
This put battleships at the front to guard merchant ships
Shipping losses were cut in half
US troops brought numbers and enthusiasm
Convoy System
The Yanks
The American Expeditionary Force was led by General John Pershing
U.S. troops nicknamed doughboys
New Weapons: Tanks
British Mark IV Tank
New Weapons: Machine Guns
Vickers Machine Gun
New Weapons: Airplane and Airships
Sopwith Camel Biplane
Zeppelin
New Weapons: Poison Gas
Hazards
•Trench life was horrid
•Poison gas caused blindness or lifelong nervous and/or lung problems
•Soldiers had emotional collapses AKA “Shell Shock”