World War I – The Total War Experience

Please Note

The beginning portion of this PowerPoint is reviewing information we covered before midterms. Write sparingly! You already have notes on this material!

WWI (1914-1918)-Causes Recap

Long term causes: MAIN (militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism)

Short term cause: assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Key Players

The Western Front

At the beginning of the war, the Germans came up with the Schlieffen Plan in which they would rush to France on the western front for a quick victory, then move on to the eastern front. This didn’t happen.

East

West

The Western Front

The first battle of the Marne was a loss for Germany, which foiled the Schlieffen Plan. By this time, the Russian forces in the east were already invading Germany.

Germany had no choice but to split their army and fight a war on two fronts.

Trench Warfare

By early 1915, the Allies and Central Powers had dug miles of parallel trenches along the western front.

Trench Warfare

This was known as trench warfare, soldiers remained in the trenches for long periods of time and fought from in them.

There were often many casualties and little land gains.

Please Note

New Material Starts Here

The Eastern Front

At the beginning of the war, Russia had launched an attack on both Austria and Germany.

The Eastern Front

For a while, Germany was occupied with France so Russia was able to push Austria back quite a bit. Eventually Germany returned and pushed the Russians out of Austria.

Russia Struggles

Unlike most of Europe, Russia had not yet completely industrialized. This meant Russia couldn’t produce supplies as rapidly and was always short on things such as food, clothing, and weapons.

Germans were able to effectively block Russia’s ports so the Allies had difficulty shipping goods to them.

Russia Struggles

Russia’s one advantage was their large numbers. They lost 2 million soldiers by 1915 and were able to keep going.

The Total War Hits Home

World War I was a total war, which meant it touched every aspect of life. The whole government was devoted to winning the war.

The Total War Hits Home

In a total war, the government controls the economy to benefit the war effort. Factories were converted to make supplies for the war. Every able bodied person was called upon to help the war effort.

The Total War Hits Home

People were even recruited from other countries to come help in the war effort.

Germans forced people from France and Belgium to work in their factories. The French and British recruited people from China, India and Africa to work in their factories.

Everybody Pitched In!

Rationing

Since many goods were in short supply governments turned to rationing which is when people could only buy small amounts of certain goods that were needed for the war effort.

Rationing

People were encouraged to have their own gardens so they’d take less food away from the soldiers.

Rationing

Censoring and Propaganda

Governments attempted to suppress anti – war activity to keep morale high.

Leaders also censored news about the war so people only heard the positive news.

Censoring and Propaganda

Governments also used propaganda – one sided information designed to persuade someone.

War posters portraying the enemy in a negative light became very popular.

Silent Conversation Directions

1. Get in groups of 2 -4.

2. You will be shown an image up on the TV.

3. In your groups take turns writing/circling/drawing on the matching image you have in your packet following the prompts/questions given. DON’T TALK OUT LOUD.

4. When time is up you may be asked to share your group’s conversation.

Image # 1

Label the picture using the following words:

Good/Hero

Bad/Villain

Image # 1

What is happening in this image?

Image # 3

Label the image with the following:

Strong/ Powerful

Weak“We teach you to run!”

Image # 3

What is being implied about Germany’s enemies?

“We teach you to run!”

Image # 4

Who does “the Hun” represent?

What makes “the Hun” intimidating to the audience?

What is the desired result from this image?