 

Unit Six
 
Section One
 
Section Two
By Fall of 1914, Europe was divided into two rival camps. One, the
Triple Entente, included Great Britain, France and Russia. The
other, the Triple Alliance, included Germany, Austria-Hungary and
Italy. Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia set off a
chain reaction within the alliance system. As a result, nearly all of
the nations of Europe were drawn into the war.

SCHLIEFFEN PLAN: Germany’s military plan calling for the German

army to first head west and defeat France, then return to the east
to defeat Russia
 To put the plan into action, Germany invaded neutral Belgium
CENTRAL POWERS: Germany and Austria-Hungary
ALLIES: Great Britain, France and Russia (and Italy and Japan)
 Western Front
 Schlieffen Plan succeeded
at first and Germany
almost took Paris
 Overtime the Schlieffen
Plan failed and battlefields
in northern France became
deadlocked
 Quick German victory in
the west was no longer
possible
Eastern Front
 Russian forces invaded
Germany while the focus
was on France
 Forced Germany to fight a
war on two fronts
 Russia was not as capable
as the other Allies, but kept
German troops occupied
 By 1915, armies along the western front had dug
miles of trenches to protect themselves from
enemy fire
TRENCH WARFARE: type of war where soldiers fought
each other from the trenches
 Life in the trenches was miserable
NO MAN’S LAND: space between the opposing
trenches
 Western front became terrain of death
 
Section Three
By early 1915, it was apparent to all the warring nations
that swift victory had eluded them. As war on both
European fronts promised to be a grim, drawn-out affair,
all the Great Powers looked for new allies to tip the
balance. They also sought new war fronts on which to
achieve victory.
 Countries looked for way to end the stalemate
GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN: Allied strategy to attack a part of
the Ottoman Empire known as the Dardanelles as
gateway to Russia
 Within a year the Gallipoli campaign had failed
 In 1917, focus shifted to the seas
UNRESTRICTED SUBMARINE WARFARE: policy from the Germans
to sink without warning any ship in the waters around Britain
 Two years prior, Germans had sunk the Lusitania – killing 128
US citizens
 In February 1917, British intercepted the Zimmerman telegram
ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM: offer from Germany to Mexico stating
that if Mexico helped Germany, Germany would help them take
over the US
 Americans called for war against Germany
 On April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked Congress to declare
war
TOTAL WAR: countries devoted all of their resources
to the war effort
 In each country, wartime government took control
of the economy
RATIONING: people were only allowed to buy small
amounts of items that were also needed for the war
effort
 Governments suppressed anti-war activity
PROPAGANDA: one-sided information designed to
persuade the public
With the United States finally in the war, the balance was about to
tip in the Allies’ favor. Before that happened, however, events in
Russia gave Germany a victory on the eastern Front.
 Civil unrest in Russia caused them to withdraw from the war by
1918
 Germany was able to send all troops to western front
 In July 1918, Allies and Germany clashed at the Second Battle
of the Marne
 Allied tanks led the attack, smashing through the German lines
 In November 1918, German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II was
forced to step down
 On November 11, the war officially came to an end
 
Section Four
 Conference to establish peace began on January 18,
1919
 Known as the Paris Peace Conference
 Meetings major decisions made by the Big Four
BIG FOUR: Woodrow Wilson (from the US), Georges
Clemenceau (from France), David Lloyd George (from
Great Britain) and Vittorio Orlando (from Italy)
 Russia, Germany, and German allies did not attend
 Wilson drew up proposals called the Fourteen Points
as an outline for peace but no one agreed to them
 Differences of opinion led to heated debates between
leaders
 Eventually agreement was made
TREATY OF VERSAILLES: compromise between Germany and
allied powers signed on June 28, 1919
 Treaty created the League of Nations whose goal was to
keep peace
 Treaty also punished Germany – lost substantial territory and
had severe military restrictions
 Also included the “War Guilt Clause” placing sole
responsibility for the war on Germany
 Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies
 In the end, treaty did little to build lasting peace
 United States ultimately rejected it and refused
to join League of Nations
 Left bitterness and hatred in hearts of German
people
 Japan and Italy were also upset because they
gained little
 WWI was a new kind of war – fought on a global scale with
new technologies
 Both sides paid a tremendous price in human life (approx. 8.5
million soldiers died, another 21 million were wounded)
 Devastating economic impact on Europe
 Left a deep mark on Western society

The Great War shook European society to its foundations. While

the war would continue to haunt future generations, its more
immediate impact was to help ignite one of the most significant
events of the 20th century – the Russian Revolution, which we
will learn about in Unit 7.