“THE GREAT WAR”

1914 to 1918

WORLD WAR I

By early 1900’s, European nations began massive military build up, mainly to protect overseas interests.

BACKGROUND

M: MilitarismBuild up of army and military forces

A: AlliancesFormal agreement made between two or more

countries to have each other’s backs in the event of war

I: ImperialismWhen a country takes over new lands or countries

and makes them subject to their rule (i.e.. Great Britain in India, France in Africa)

N: NationalismPride in one’s country

The M.A.I.N. Reasons Behind WWI

MILITARISMMany countries had

built up the size of their armed forces and weaponry.

ExamplesAustria-Hungary:

machine guns Germany:

manufactured u-boats France: added men to

their armed forces

M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI:

ALLIANCES Triple Alliance:

Germany, Austria-Hungary,

& Italy Triple Entente:

France, Russia, Great Britain

M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI:

ImperialismGermany, France, Russia, Great Britain

Saw themselves as great nationsHuge empiresHistory of taking sides in earlier conflicts

Nationalism As seen last unit, led to the development of

new European nations: Italy, Germany

Leads to power struggles with more established nations (i.e.. Great Britain, Russia, France)

M.A.I.N. Causes…continued

Austria-Hungary

Serbia

Took Bosnia from

Turkey

Serbia becomes angry; claims

Bosnia is theirs

Archduke Franz Ferdinand & his pregnant wife visit Bosnia

Serbian terrorist group: The Black

Hand, hear of visit

Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated by Gavrilo Princip

Triple AllianceGermany Austria-HungaryItaly

FranceRussia Great Britain

Events Leading to WWI: 1914

Triple Entente

Russia

back Serbi

a

Germany sees

Russia as a threat

Germany declares war

on Russia

Germany invades Belgium on way to

defeat France/Russia

Great Britain enters

war

Central Powers: Germany,

Austria-Hungary

Allied Powers:Great Britain,

France, Russia, Serbia

8/1914WWI

begins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWF86D_UNxc

http://www.history.com/videos/wwi-firsts

Ok, take a break!

US remained neutral: President Wilson says US should stay out of affairs of other nations. US doesn’t formally enter war until 1917, although involved behind the scenes: provides Allied Powers with weapons and supplies.

Where is the US in all of this?

1915German u-boat

sinks of passenger liner Lusitania120 Americans

aboard_____

German submarines sank

US merchant ships

1917Zimmerman NoteProposed Mexico

attack US. In return, Germany promises TX, NM

and AZ _____

April 1917US enters war

Changes in Warfare

http://www.sonicbomb.com/xv1.php?vid=ww1_ht&id=548&ttitle=WW1%20-%20Hell%20in%20the%20Trenches&s=80&w=700&h=400

Changes in Warfare: War in the Trenches

Also used during

Civil War (1865)

Conditions during

WWI:

• Rats

• Lice

• Rain/flooded

causing trench

foot

• Dead bodies

• Disease spread

rapidly

Click icon to add picture

TRENCH FOOT

Many soldiers fighting in the

First World War suffered

from trench foot. This was an

infection of the feet caused

by cold, wet and insanitary

conditions. In the trenches

men stood for hours on end

in waterlogged trenches

without being able to remove

wet socks or boots. The feet

would gradually go numb

and the skin would turn red

or blue. If untreated, trench

foot could turn gangrenous

and result in amputation.

Trench foot was a particular

problem in the early stages

of the war. For example,

during the winter of 1914-15

over 20,000 men in the

British Army were treated

for trench foot.

Source: http://www.spartcus.schoolnet.co.uk

Changes in Warfare: No Man’s Land

• Ground between

two opposing

trenches (for

example, Great

Britain and

Germany)

• Seldom crossed

in daylight: shot

at, grenades,

barbed wire,

water filled shell

holes.

• Strewn with dead

bodies, abandoned

military

equipment

Changes in Warfare: No Man’s Land

Military advances

such as machine

guns, hand-

grenades,

chemical gases,

along with

traditional trench

warfare led to

the creation of

“No Man’s Land,”

a zone between

the trenches that

caused a war of

attrition (or a

stalemate.)

Changes in Warfare: War in the Trenches

• Introduction of

poison gas.

Could choke,

blind, or burn

victims.

• Gas masks

used for first

time

• Tanks

• Aircraft

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA4SEpU3WvM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qts3K3KznN4

Poetry as a Means of Expression

DULCE ET DECORUM ESTBent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned our backsAnd towards our distant rest began to trudge.Men marched asleep. Many had lost their bootsBut limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hootsOf disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;But someone still was yelling out and stumblingAnd floundering like a man in fire or lime.--Dim, through the misty panes and thick green lightAs under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could paceBehind the wagon that we flung him in,And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;If you could hear, at every jolt, the bloodCome gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cudOf vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--My friend, you would not tell with such high zestTo children ardent for some desperate glory,The old Lie: Dulce et decorum estPro patria mori.

IN FLANDERS FIELDIn Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on rowThat mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

WWI in Art: Otto Dix Self Portraits: 1912, 1914

Propaganda and WWI: Great Britain

Propaganda and WWI: United States

Music and WWI

In addition to propaganda posters, music played a role in WWI morale. American George M. Cohan was given a Congressional Gold Medal by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936. Cohan’s music was said to have raise the spirits of the American public. Some of the songs he wrote are still part of patriotic celebrations today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1rkzUIL8oc&feature=related

Improved Technology = Higher Death TollStatistics related to the First World War

Nation Total Number of servicemen engaged in the war.

Number of deaths.

Number of soldiers wounded.

Number of men taken prisoner or reported missing.

Austria 7,800,000 1,200,000 3,620,000 2,200,000

Britain (inc Empire)

8,904,467 908,371 2,090,212 191,652

France 8,410,000 1,357,800 4,266,000 537,000

Germany 11,000,000 1,773,700 4,216,058 1,152,800

Italy 5,615,000 650,000 947,000 600,000

Russia 12,000,000 1,700,000 4,950,000 2,500,000

Turkey 2,850,000 325,000 400,000 250,000

United States

4,355,000 126,000 234,300 4,500

Civil War – estimate at least 618,000, as high as 700,000

How does the total number of WWI deaths compare to the estimated number of slaves taken from Africa as a result of the Transatlantic slave trade?

Russia Revolts!