1. Nationalism, Europe, about 1900
Nationalism – belief that people should be loyal and proud
to their own nationality… race… culture …. language group,
rather than a king, empire, or multicultural government.
2.
3. Tangled alliances
After Franco-Prussian war of 1871, Germany makes alliance with
Austria-Hungry for protection against revenge from France.
Later, Italy joins this alliance. It is called “Triple Alliance”
Germany also makes a separate alliance with Russia. Germany
then builds a strong army which makes Russia nervous, so Russia
quits that alliance. Russia and France then make an alliance
against Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Italy. Germany then
builds a strong Navy which makes England nervous, so England
joins alliance with Russia, and France against “Triple Alliance”
called the “Triple Entente”. Russia also makes alliance with its
‘little slavic cousin’ Serbia, in order to prevent Austria-Hungry
from bullying little Serbia. As a result of these complicated
alliances, any minor conflict between any of these countries can
result in a large conflict involving every major European country
AND it’s colonial empire. “Powder Keg”
4. Ottoman Empire falls apart in Europe
Decline of Ottomans in Europe 1800 – 1914
Many nationalities in the Balkan peninsula gain independence
Increase of rivalries amoung new Balkan countries
9. Assassination of archduke Ferdinand, June 1914
• Serbian nationalist kills Austrian prince
• Austria makes strong demands on Serbia
• Serbia does not agree to all demands, so
Austria declares war against Serbia
10. Slavic Culture
• Cyrillic alphabet, invented by Byzantine
(Greek) Christians to teach barbaric Slavs
about 600 A.D.
13. Phase 1, of WW1 August 1914
• Austria-Hungary declares war against Serbia
• Russia orders mobilization, as a show of support for
Serbia. This is dangerous to Germany/Austria
• Russian mobilization is slow because Russia is big,
has few railroads, poor communications, not very
industrialized
• Germany feels it must do something because it will
be too late after Russia is mobilized. Germany must
defeat France quickly before Russian army is 100%
mobilized
15. German Strategy, Schlieffen Plan
• Schlieffen Plan –Germany must avoid fighting Russia
and France at the same time. Must quickly destroy
France before Russia can mobilize. Must use 99% of
its army for a fast attack against France. Then Russia
16. Schlieffen Plan Fails
• British and French soldiers stop Germans just before
Paris with the help of taxi cabs
• Russia starts to attack Germany & Austria-Hungary
• Germany starts moving troops to its eastern front &
now has a two-front war nightmare
• In France (western front), both sides dig trenches
• Modern weapons make trench warfare a stalemate
on the western front
17. Germany
Strengths
• Highly industrialized
• High tech, railroads,
factories, good efficiency
• Best military, smart
generals
• Connected borders with
allies
• Loyal people
• U-boats/submarines
• Plays defense in the west
Weaknesses
• Two front war
• Not enough farmland
• Blocked from world trade
• Not enough resources or
manpower in the end after
4 years of fighting
18.
19.
20. Austria-Hungary
Strengths
• Allies on both sides
• Medium population
• Medium industry
• Medium amount of
resources
Weaknesses
• Several fronts
• ? loyalty of minority
groups ¿
• Cut off from world
trade
21.
22. Ottoman Empire
Strengths
• Large population
• Access to world trade
• Borders with allies
Weaknesses
• Not industrialized
• Rebel minority groups
(arabs)
23.
24. England
strengths
• Highly industrialized
• High tech
• Largest colonial empire
• world trade
• Strong navy
weaknesses
• Is vulnerable to U-
boats/submarines
• Low on manpower
• Must rely on colonial
troops
• Foolish attacks
25.
26. France
Strengths
• Industrialized, not as
much as Germany
• Access to world trade
• Colonial empire
• Has the help of allies
Weaknesses
• Invaded !
• Looses 50% of its
industry to the German
invaders
• Foolish generals
• High casualties
• Many workers and
soldiers want to
surrender mutiny
27.
28. Russia
Strengths
• Very large population
• Large army
• Lots of space
Weaknesses
• Almost no industry
• Poor roads, railroads,
communications
• Separated from allies
• Rebellion and
revolution
29.
30. United States
strengths
• Large population
• Massive industry
• World trade
• Not in danger
weaknesses
• Inexperience with
modern war
• Many isolationists
42. French and British are always coming out of their trenches and
attacking across ‘no mans land’ because they want to kick the
Germans out of France
Each time a French & British attack fails, the generals plan an
even larger attack that fails
Battles such as Ypres,, Somme, Verdun
43. Battle of Verdun, 1916
• Typical example of WW1 battles on the western front
• 10 months long, German attack on strategic French city with
many forts and trenches surrounding the city
• Different divisions in French army take turns providing
defense for the city, so after 10 months, the entire French
army had fought there and gained a sense of hopelessness
• 540,000 French dead 430,000 Germans dead
• When it was over, no side gained anything, no new territory
for anybody
Bloodiest battle of the war. Total stalemate
44. Other major WW1 battles
• Somme 1916 - British attack against Germans in France.
Britain lost 57,000 soldiers on the 1st day …419,654 total.
Germany 400,000 Britain gained 1.7 km
• Ypres - 1917 British attack near the sea coast. 250,000 dead
on both sides. Soldiers drowned in mud
• Marne – 1914 and 1918 . Location where the German army
was stopped in 1914, scene of another battle where French
attacked in 1918. 350,000 French dead, 200,000 Germans
• Gallipoli – 1915 French and British attack the Ottoman
Empire and loose 200,000 soldiers
• Tannenberg - 1914 Russians attack Germans and loose
350,000 soldiers
48. Germans had well built trenches and usually play defense & are able
to kill most attackers
49.
50.
51. WW1 airplanes 1914 - 1918
• Used mostly for spying & shooting down other airplanes
• Airplanes can see when the enemy is going to launch a major
attack…… this gives defenders time to prepare
• Takes away the element of surprise & contributes to stalemate
52. WW1 Poison Gas 1914-1918
• Use over a large area to make a gap in the enemy trenches so
an army can move thru the gap
• Gas is made heavier than air …….
• So it moves down into trenches
• Armies are afraid to use it at first
• Causes skin to peel away
• Blindness, burns lungs, death
53. Machine guns & flamethrowers
• New technology such as the machine gun makes it almost impossible for an
attacking army to cross no mans land and reach the enemy trench
• The result is stalemate and suicidal attacks.
• Must have Industry to have machine guns and ammunition
• New inventions and tactics are required to cross no mans land
• Inventions include the flamethrower & poisin gas for forcing the enemy out of his
trench
• Tanks, for crossing no mans land without getting killed
54. Tanks and Motor Vehicles
• In response to stalemate, both sides combine the new
technology of the internal combustion engine with armor
• Must have a lot of steel, coal, industry, and
engineers/technicians to build tanks
• Tanks don’t appear until the end of the war, nobody really
understands how to use them. Germans will experiment
more and develop tank tactics in the 1930’s before WW2
55.
56. United States enters the war
• Most Americans were isolationists (want to stay neutral)
• America sells supplies to both sides at first, then only to the British
and French because of the British blockade of the Central Powers
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottomans)
• Germany uses unrestricted submarine warfare (sinking any ship
going to England)
• Several American ships are eventually sunk in the Atlantic
including the Lusitania, angering many Americans
57. America enters the war
Revolution in Mexico before and during WW1. 1910-1917
1 Mexican warlord who controlled a faction of rebels in northern
Mexico named Pancho Villa attacked a small border town in
New Mexico to steal guns and horses
U.S. already angry at Germany for unrestricted submarine war
Zimmerman Telegram – German govt sends message to German
ambassador in Mexico, “tell Mexicans we will send them $$$
and weapons if Germany and the U.S. ever go to war so Mexico
can invade Texas-Arizona-California”
British intercepted the message and give it to the U.S.
U.S. has had enough with Germany and declares war on the
Central Powers
58.
59.
60.
61. Russian Revolution of 1917
• Bolshevick (communist) revolution in Russia
• Russians are tired of the horrible conditions of war, soldiers
mutiny, and workers go on strike
• Germany sends Vladimir Lenin communist organizer to Russia
to start the overthrow of the Russian Czar and government
62. Russian Revolution 1917
• Communists take over the Russian government and make a deal with the Central
Powers (Germany, Austria, Ottomans)
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – Germany can keep the Russian territory it has conquered,
and Russia agrees to stop fighting in the war
Germany can now use ALL of its army to attack and destroy France before the
American army arrives in France
63. Germany Makes 1 Last Attack
Germans realized that their only possible chance of victory was to
defeat the Allies before the massive human and material resources of
the United States could be put in France.
Germany had the temporary advantage in numbers afforded by the
nearly 50 divisions freed by the Russian surrender
( Treaty of Brest-Litovsk).
MONTH - YEAR NUMBER OF U.S. SOLDIERS IN
FRANCE
November 1917 20,000
January 1918 90,000
March 1918 300,000
May 1918 900,000
July 1918 1,800,000
64. Collapse of Central Powers
Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman Empire – fighting in Armenia against Russians
• Many atrocities commited against Armenia (genocide)
• British invade Ottoman territory and help encourage a large
Arab rebellion against the Ottomans
• Ottomans collapse and are divided into several countries
65. COLLAPSE OF CENTRAL POWERS
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
• After Ottoman collapse, too much pressure on Austria-
Hungary. High prices for everything, food shortages,
different nationalities declare independence. -August 1918
66. Collapse of Central Powers
GERMANY, November 1918
• Germany will take troops out of Russia now that Russia is out of the war
• 1 last attack on France before the majority of the American army can
arrive in spring 1918.
• Attack fails, American army keeps arriving in France
• Germany exhausted, leaders know they cant match allied war production.
• Workers strike, food shortages, Kaiser abdicates, Germany surrenders
67. Aftermath of WW1
• 8.5 million soldiers dead 21 million wounded
• Europe is bankrupted no $$$
• Spanish Influenza kills 20 million worldwide
• Treaty of Versailles, hard on Germany
• Several new countries in Europe and middle east
• Russia is now communist “Soviet Union”
• America is more powerful than before
69. European powers use many troops from colonies
• Example: British still control the oceans despite the danger of
German submarines and use many troops from India,
Australia, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, etc……
70. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukGfxhJMvL4
• Russian soldier mutiny or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7B-
nlmdX0g
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=ASg0H-
XsQ5E&NR=1 Indiana jones gas and flamethrowers
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_0DkpFOKs good video 6 minutes
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cXZX7HhjUc air dogfight
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeJkpsOqQgc cool french trench war
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS1dO0JC2EE shell shock
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGkVzL9H7HM U.S. ENTRY
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmcbdt3taR4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgs1KNwpBW4 us entry ¾ 10 min
long
