1. World War 1

2. Textbook page 272: You are
THERE:
• It is 1916. One of the bloodiest battles in
history has just ended at Verdun in
France. A young American, Samuel
Benson, is there to help wounded French
soldiers. Benson is a volunteer in the
American Ambulance Service. For months
he has been transporting wounded
soldiers to medical aid stations. Now he
sits down to write himself a letter:

3. “My dear sir, self: . . . You may sometimes
think you have it pretty hard staying out here
in France away from home and loved ones . .
. laboring without pay, and often getting little
rest or sleep. But listen . . . you are at this
hour in the midst of the biggest crisis of
history. The world has never seen such a
moment . . . and [you are] living for others.”
That “moment” is World War I. It is being
fought mainly in Europe, but also in Africa
and Asia. Soon, the United States will enter
the war.

4. TEXTBOOK page 273
A Gathering Storm
What brought on this war, which would one day be
called World War I ? Fierce rivalries had developed
among European nations. Countries competed for
military power and ownership of European lands.
Strong feelings of nationalism existed. Nationalism is
a love of one’s country and the desire to have that
country free from the control of others. Tensions
grew because many lands were under the control of
other nations. European nations also competed for
new land in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. New
land meant new trading opportunities, greater wealth,
and more power.

5. Fearing attack from their rivals, several
European nations formed alliances. An
alliance is an agreement among nations to
defend one another. If one ally, or member of
an alliance, is attacked, the other members
promise to come to its aid. The two major
alliances were the Allied Powers and the
Central Powers. The Allied Powers included
Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, and
Belgium. The Central Powers included
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Turkey.

6. In 1914 Austria-Hungary, a country in
south central Europe, was in control of
land that another country, Serbia,
believed it owned. On June 28, 1914, a
Serbian nationalist assassinated
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
Austria-Hungarian throne. Austria-
Hungary declared war on Serbia.

7. Why did it start?
Comprehension Check
Page 273 –
People in Europe loved their countries. This
is called__________? Do you have those
same feelings about the U.S.? How would
you like it if someone were ruling over us?
They became very _ _ _ _ _ because other
countries were ruling over their country!

8. SERBIA WAS ANGRY AT AUSTRIA-HUNGRY BECAUSE THEY HAD LAND SERBIA
THOUGHT SHOULD BE THEIRS. WHEN SERBIA KILLED AUSTRIA-HUNGARY’S
PRINCE, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY DELCARED WAR ON SERBIA. EACH HAD ‘ALLIES’ OR
FRIENDS THAT JOINED THE FIGHT TO HELP THEM.

9. One country- Russia- worried the
fighting so close would affect it’s
trade roads so they jumped in to
help Serbia!

10. Another country-Germany was
helping their friend-Austria
Hungary. They got mad at Russia
for helping Serbia and declared war
on them! Russia declared war right
back! See a trend here?
You pick on my friend and I’ll beat you up!
No! I’ll beat you up! Ever been involved in
something like that? LOL

11. Another country-France-was
friends with Russia. So guess what
Germany did to France?
Say it with me…they declared….
WAR on them!

12. For Germany to attack France, they had to go
through Belgium. But the King of Belgium said ‘No,
you cannot march through my country you dirty
Germans!’ (paraphrased) Guess what Germany did
to Belgium?

13. They attacked Belgium. And then
Belgium’s pal-GREAT BRITAIN
jumped in to protect their pal and
declared war on GERMANY. And
don’t forget what country Great
Britain gave birth to…(hint below)

14. Americans had sympathy for the
mother country-Great Britain and
the Allies, BUT most Americans
said it wasn’t our fight and we
wanted to remain neutral. This
policy was called
***ISOLATIONISM***!
• What is the ‘root’ word of ISOLATIONISM? WHY do you think the U.S. did
not want to get involved in this war to begin with?

16. STOP!
END of Lesson –
DAY 1

17. TEXTBOOK page 274
• The fighting was fierce. Soldiers on each side dug a
system of trenches that faced each other and could
extend hundreds of miles. Barbed-wire fences protected
the front of each trench. A “no-man’s land”—the land
between trenches that neither side controlled —spread
out between the opposing armies. Soldiers ate and slept
in the trenches, which were often flooded or filled with
rats.
• Each side shot at the other’s trenches or sent poison
gases into them. Occasionally, troops on one side would
go “over the top.” They climbed out, crawled through the
barbed wire, and raced across no-man’s land to attack
the enemy. As casualties climbed month after month, it
seemed that the killing would never end.

18. Soldiers in Europe dug great trenches like
this one here to live and fight in during
World War 1

19. Soldiers ate and slept and did their business in
trenches. Many times they were in them for
months at a time. Phew wee! Stink-o!

20. Soldiers fought from down in the trenches.
They raised up to fire their guns and put
themselves at risk.

21. These German soldiers wait in the
snow to fire during WW1.

22. Going ‘over the top’ of a trench into
no man’s land was dangerous!

23. This soldier falls in no man’s land as he is exposed to poison gas
without a mask. Notice the hot masks being worn to protect the face
from gas. 3 out of 10 men that died during World War one did so
because of poison gas.

24. These soldiers wear gas masks to protect from a
new ‘war weapon’ – poison gas- as they hike
through miles of dug out trenches.

25. Notice the trees in no man’s land here.
Everything has been totally destroyed!

26. Dead body in a trench

27. Trenches from World War I at a
National Park in France today

28. STOP LESSON 2 HERE!

29. There were many, many new
technologies used in World War 1
for the first time!

31. Poison gas was usually tossed
across no man’s land in containers
such as these.

32. British soldiers in WW1 used the new
invention- the tank! It certainly helped cross
no man’s land safer!

33. The German military came up with a secret weapon of their
own-the dangerous new submarine! It would be this
weapon that would help draw the U.S. into the first World
War!

34. World War 1 would be the first war in the
history of the world in which airplanes were
used!

35. Here is a war plane getting ready to
bomb targets in WW1.