WWI: Part IIA New Kind of Warfare and the

War’s Outcome

America Turns the Tide

What America brings to the war

Enthusiasm

Numbers

The idea of the Convoy System Heavy guard of destroyers

that escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean in groups

Prevented German U-boat attacks

A New Kind of Warfare

Trench Warfare

Trench warfare = fighting from trenches (ditches in the ground) It was an old strategy that had been used

in Africa, Asia, and previously in America (during the Civil War) However, its use during WWI was different

because it was of a much greater scale

Its use would create a stalemate (deadlock) between the Allies and Central Powers because neither one was able to make significant advances

Trench Warfare: The Scene

The Trench: where soldiers lived, surrounded by machine gun fire, flying grenades, and exploding artillery shells

“No Man’s Land” : The area between opposing trenches. 1,000s were shot down here

Trench Warfare: The Scene Opposing forces had machine guns and other weapons pointed at enemy trenches at all times, firing whenever a helmet or rifle appeared over the top

Trench Warfare: The Scene

Life in the trenches was miserable. The soldiers stood in deep mud as rats ran across their feet.

Enemy planes dropped bombs, artillery shells exploded nearby, and clouds of poisonous gas floated nearby

One solider: “No one know what was going to happen next”

A New Kind of War Fare

New Weapons of War

Airplanes

• Both sides used planes to map and to attack trenches from above.

• Planes first dropped brinks and heavy objects on enemy troops.

• Soon they mounted guns and bombs on planes.

• Skilled pilots sought in air battles called dogfights.

• The German Red Baron downed 80 Allied planes, until he was shot down.

New Warfare leads to New Hazards

Hazards

Men were surrounded by filth, lice, rats and polluted waterLack of sleep Inhaling of poisonous gas“Shell Shock”

Emotional collapse from which many never recovered

Term coined during WWITrench foot

Caused by standing in wet, cold trenches for long periods of time

Outcome of the War An allied victory shortly after America joined the war

There was momentary victory after the war ended

However, there were many war tragedies: More than 8.5 million people had been killed

European nations had lost almost an entire generation of young men

The war left some 7 million men permanently disabled

Most of Europe lay in ruins and in back economic shape

Outcomes of the War The Fourteen Points

A plan for peace outlined / created by Woodrow Wilson As WWI drew to a close, the scale of destruction and

massive loss of life was shocking Wilson’s Fourteen Points was his way of trying to

ensure a “just and lasting peace” Some of what the plan called for:

Open diplomacy (negotiations) Freedom of the seas The removal of trade barriers Reduction of military arms Self-determination

The right of the people to decide their own political status

The League of Nations: an organization of nations that would work together to settle disputes and prevent future wars

Outcomes of the War

Paris Peace Conference

The Paris Peace Conference began on January 12, 1919, with leaders representing 32 nations in attendance

President Wilson led the group of American negotiators

The leaders of the Allies dominated the negotiations Germany and the other Central Power nations,

however, were not invited to participate

Outcomes of the War The Treaty of Versailles

The treaty that officially ended WWI

It was created at the Paris Peace Conference, specifically at Versailles (a town in France), hence its name

Outcomes of the War The Treaty of Versailles:

Some of its terms called for: Germany to pay the Allies reparations

Reparations = payments for damages and expenses caused by the war

This amount far exceeded what the German government could actually afford to pay

The League of Nations

Self-determination

The surrender of Central Power colonies to the Allies