The First World War

Adapted from McIntyre at http://worldhistory.pppst.com

U.S. government WWI posters

 The First World War:
What?
•War involving nearly all the nations of the world

When?
•1914-1918

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 The First World War:
Why? Long term causes:
1. Militarism
2. Alliance system
3. Imperialism
4. Nationalism
(Memory tip: Think MAIN.)

Short term cause:

Assassination of
Franz Ferdinand of
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his Wife
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg one hour before their
the Austro-
3 deaths, June 28, 1914. The assassination was the Hungarian Empire
spark that ignited the war.
 The First World War:
Who?

Central Powers: Allies:

•Germany •Russia
•Austria-Hungary •France
•Ottoman Empire •Great Britain
•Bulgaria •Italy
•Japan
•United States (1917)

Kaiser Wilhelm II, Mehmed V, Franz Joseph: The three

emperors of the Central Powers in World War I
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 The First World War:
Where?

5 Map of Europe during WWI: Originally, Italy joined the Triple Alliance but after the war broke out, it
switched sides and went to fight with the Triple Entente. Turkey later joined the Triple Alliance.
 Why did it take so long for America to get
involved in the war?
• America was isolationist.
• “Why should I get involved in someone else’s
problems?”

• The Monroe Doctrine (1823)

sought to isolate “the
American continents” from
European influences and
problems.

In this cartoon, “The Great Wall” (1914), the

Monroe Doctrine is shown as a protective shield for
the United States.
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 Thinking Slide:

• Is isolationism really an option for

a country as powerful as the
United States?
• What are the disadvantages of
isolationism?
• What are the advantages?

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 Which side should the U.S. pick?
Central Powers: Allies:

• 11 million German- • Close cultural ties to

Americans other allies
• Irish-Americans • American, England,
hated Great Britain and France’s
economies were
increasingly
interdependent.

US Exports to both sides:

Nations 1914 1915 1916
Britain $594,271,863 $911,794,954 $1,526,685,102
France $159,818,924 $364,397,170 $628,851,988
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Germany $344,794,276 $28,863,354 $288,899
 What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
1. Blockades • Britain blockaded
(stopped) all
German ships
HMS Renown seen from another British warship (circa 1917) going to America.

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 What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
1. Blockades
• May, 1915: Germany told Americans to stay off
British ships, and they could and would sink them.
• Germany torpedoed the Lusitania, sinking it with
1200 passengers and crew (including 128
Americans).
• It was eventually found to be carrying 4200
cases of ammunition.

The New York Times reports

10 on the Lusitania’s sinking.
 What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
1. Blockades

• The US sharply
criticized Germany for
its action.

• Germany agreed not

to sink passenger
ships without
warning in the
future.
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Note in bottle after Lusitania disaster
 What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
2. Unlimited Submarine Warfare

• In 1917, Germany
announced “unlimited
submarine warfare” in
the war zone.
• Otherwise, Germany’s
blockade would not be
successful.

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A British ship torpedoed by a German U-boat
 What did it take to get the U.S. involved?
3. Zimmerman Note
• The U.S. intercepted a note from Germany to
Mexico.

• It promised to give
Texas, New Mexico,
and Arizona back to
Mexico in return for an
alliance and attacking
the United States.

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The decoded Zimmerman Telegram
 What did it take to get the U.S. involved?

• The Zimmerman
Note and the sinking
of four
unarmed American
ships led to a
declaration of war.

New York Journal (4/7/1917)

announcing the declaration of war the
14 previous day
 How was the war looking for the allies?
Not Good...
• Russia left the war after its communist revolution in
1917.
• Russia’s withdrawal allowed Germany to fight a one-
front war with all its troops concentrated on France
(remember this point when you study WWII!).

Calling for a Communist

revolution, anti-Tsarist
protesters gather outside the
Winter Palace in Petrograd,
15 Russia, February 1917.
 Convincing the American People
Posters

• How do you think these

posters helped to convince
the American people that the
war was a good
idea?

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 Convincing the American People
Idealism: 2 Goals For War
1. Wilson had to convince American that this would be
the “War to End All Wars.”
2. He had to convince American that beating the Germans
and its allies would make the world safe for
democracy. On Christmas Eve 1914, German and
English soldiers stopped fighting to
celebrate Christmas. It started when
German troops decorated their
trenches and began singing Christmas
Carols, particularly “Stille Nacth.”
British troops opposite them began
singing English Christmas Carols.
The singing soon turned to shouts of
Christmas cheer across the lines,
eventually causing the troops to cross
the No Man’s Land between the
trenches. The two sides began to
exchange small gifts between each
other.
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 Convincing the American People
Idealism: Fourteen Points
President Wilson’s
Fourteen Points was his
vision for the future after
the war, including freedom
of the seas and a League of
Nations to work for world
peace.

President Woodrow Wilson

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 What did the U.S. do to help?
Supplies:

• The U.S.
provided the
food, money,
and fresh troops
needed to win
the war.

American troops march through London.

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 How did the war affect the U.S.?
Women
•Women filled factory jobs
•Women’s war effort
helped bring about
passage of the 19th
Amendment after the war
giving women the right to
vote.
African Americans
•Black soldiers still served in segregated units.

•In the “Great Migration” thousands of African

Americans moved to the North to work in factories.
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 How did the war affect the U.S.?
Enforcing Loyalty
• Hatred of all things German spread across the U.S.
For example “sauerkraut” was renamed “Liberty
Cabbage.”
• The Espionage Act 1917 and the Sedition Act of
1918 punished those against the war, many of whom
were labor leaders.

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 What ended the war?
The Treaty of Versailles
• After the Central Powers were exhausted by the war, especially
after the US began fighting, it sought an armistice (the end of
fighting).
• The Treaty of Versailles (ver-sigh)
was signed between the Allied powers
and Germany.
• It took land away from Germany.
• It dismantled Germany’s military.
• It forced Germany to make reparations
(payments) to the countries it harmed
in the war.
• This treaty so destroyed the German economy and the morale of
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the German people, that within 20 years, they would start another
world war.
 Extend your learning:
Movies
• All Quiet on the Western Front
• A Farewell to Arms
• Gallipoli
• Paths of Glory
• Wings

Literature
• All Quiet on the Western Front
• A Farewell to Arms
• Johnny Got His Gun
• Under Fire
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