Cause and Outcome

Causes of WWI

U.S gets involved

Treaty of Versailes

Treaty of Versailes

New Nations:

Russia- Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, & Poland.

Austria-Hungary: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia.

Ottoman Empire: Divided up to be controlled by the allies.

2. Germany’s punishment

Germany must accept full responsibility.

Took away their colonies, coal field, and the areas of Alsace and Lorraine.

Greatly reduced Germany’s armed forces.

Forced to pay $33 billion to allies .

They were only able to pay 4.5 billion.

3. Created the League of Nations.

An organization of Nations established at the end of WWI to maintain world stability.

U.S. in WWI (cont.)•We cut off the German rail lines which supply their troops

We attack through the Argonne Forest. It takes us 47 days & 1.2 million soldiers but we cut off their supply

•By October, 1918 German lines are crumbling.

•In November the Allies have captured the high ground & Germany surrenders.

•The 11th hour, the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 the war ends!!!

U.S. in WWI

• General Pershing led the U.S. troops•By 1917 Germany controlled Belgium, Italy, and N. France.•1918 Russia has a revolution & they drop out of the war

Now Germany can concentrate on the western front.

Cont.

Why the US gets involved

During the war, a ship called Lusitania-a passenger ship that was secretly carrying ammunitions- was sunk by a German submarine. This caused 1,198 to die. 128 of those people were American.

After the incident, President Wilson demanded that the Germans apologize and pay for the damage that was caused.

After this, the Sussex pledge was enforced. The Sussex pledge was that Germany had to promise to warn before sinking any merchant ships before getting passengers safely off-board.

By 1917, Germany was defeating Russia on the eastern front, and wanted restrictions for attacks on the western front. They used unrestricted submarine warfare at this moment, sinking all ships that were headed to the allied nations.

Zimmerman was a German official who sent a letter to mexico asking them to attack the U.S. He promised that in return Germany would aid them to retrieve some of the land that was taken from them.

Trench Warfare Trenches were dug in the fighting fields to cut down on the losses of soldiers for both side of the war.

The conditions of these trenches were horrendous. The small areas were very unsanitary and also disease filled.

During the night-time, supplies were brought in and soldiers were sent out. In dawn/dusk, artillery was thrown from the opposing soldiers over the top of the trenches.

Among the problems were: rats, smell of body rot, staying dry, maggots, lice, and many diseases.

Countries declarations of war

Wanting to end conflict with Serbia, Austria-Hungary made a pact of which was called the July Ultimatum. This deal consisted of ten demands from Serbia. These demands were virtually impossible to complete, which Austria-Hungary was well aware of. When the demands failed to be concluded, the leader of Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.

Nationalism/ImperialismNationalism

Pan-German: Wanted to unite all German speaking people.

Pan-Slovic: Wanted to unite all Slovic speaking people.

Example: Bosnia- 95% speak Slovic language, yet controlled by German speaking Austria.

Imperialism: European nations competing for colonies.

“Bigger is better”

Areas of conflict: Africa, Bosnia, Alsace, Lorraine

Militarism/Alliances Militarism: Building up the military.

Military was built up for 2 reasons

1: To protect the colonies

2: Peer pressure

-They used a mandatory draft to accomplish this.

-Russia had the largest army; Germany the best trained; Britain the largest navy.

Alliances: Forming partnerships with other nations.

Central powers- Germany, Austria, Ottoman Empire

Allies- Britain, France, Russia, United States.

Alliances and Central PowersAllies: Great Britain, France, Russia, United States.

Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire.

The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

•In June, 1914,Francis Ferdinand, Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia, is assassinated. This one event leads to an Austria-Hungary declaration of war on Serbia. This causes a declaration of war of between Austria-Hungary’s allies on the allies of Serbia.