World War I The war in Europe.

World War I The war in Europe. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia Herzegovina. Bosnia Herzegovina was a territory ruled by Austria-Hungary. A Serbian nationalist group called the Black Hand attempted to make a statement that would earn Bosnia s independence by assassinating the prince of Austria.

The Russians were probably the most to blame for what happened next. The Austrians wanted to punish Serbia for funding the Black Hand, while Russia wanted to protect their little brother Serbia, which was also slavic. Germany was allied with Austria, so they said they would back them up in war.

Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia declared war on Austria, Germany declared war on Russia, and then Germany attacked France. Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy had an alliance called the Triple Alliance. Russia, Great Britain, and France had a weak alliance called the Triple Entente.

World War I The war lasted for three years before the Americans entered. President Woodrow Wilson promised to keep America out of the war. Americans did not want to fight, but the German navy was attacking and sinking unarmed American vessels taking supplies and passengers to Great Britain.

World War I Germany declared war on France on August 4, 1914, then attacked Belgium. The Germans followed the Schlieffen Plan to try to defeat France. Because Britain and France were allies, Britain declared war on Germany and mobilized the Old Contemptibles in the British Expeditionary Force or B.E.F.

World War I The nations split into two groups, the Allies, consisting of France, Britain, Italy, the U.S., and Russia, and the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. Germany had hoped to defeat France in a few weeks, and avoid a two-front war, but Russia attacked in the East, allowing the Allies to hold Germany at bay.

World War I The Battle of the Marne stopped the German advance, but the Germans then dug miles of trenches and stayed there for much of the war. The French plan, called Plan XVII, involved attacking Germany through the provinces of Alsace and Loraine.

The French were known to be extremely brave, and one of their main tactics was a swift charge against enemy lines. This was called attaque à outrance and relied on élan meaning dash or spirit. Instead of camouflage or dark clothing, they wore red pants and blue shirts at the beginning of the war.

When one French official proposed changing the uniform of the French army, the proposal was met with a great deal of criticism. One general replied LE PANTALON ROUGE, C'EST LA FRANCE!

World War I This fighting spirit was noble, but resulted a huge number of casualties due to the new machine guns. On one day, the French lost 27,000 men while attacking the Germans at the Battle of Frontiers. After this battle, Christmas of 1914 marked the death of old Europe.

World War I On Christmas day, 1914, soldiers from Britain and France left their Trenches and met the Germans in No Man s Land, singing Christmas carols together and exchanging small gifts of food and candy. The next day, the fighting resumed, and Europe never really returned to what it was before.

World War I Most of the war was defined by stalemate, in which on a few miles could be won by either side even with massive offensives and huge numbers of dead. In the meantime, many new tactics were developed, like using zeppelins for bombing, airplanes for fighting and reconnaissance, and mustard gas for destroying infantry.

A zeppelin built by the Germans for the U.S. Navy after the war. This was not used in the war itself, but shows you what they were like.

World War I Lafayette Escadrille was a branch of the French air service during WWI that was composed almost entirely of American volunteers. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, who was one of Washington s most trusted aids and companions. The planes during WWI were biplanes or triplanes, and were very poor airplanes.

World War I Lafayette Escadrille The American flyers were known for reckless bravery and were seen as old fashion knights errant.

World War I Lafayette Escadrille The corps was made up of strange individuals and were even stranger as a group. Their mascots and pets were two lion cubs.

World War I Lafayette Escadrille The Flyboys with their lions, Whiskey and Soda.

The Lusitania On 7 May 1915, a British passenger ship traveling from New York to Liverpool was struck by a German submarine torpedo. Of the 1,962 passengers, 1,191 died in the subsequent sinking Lusitania. Many of the passengers were Americans, and the U.S. government demanded that the German government apologize and pay reparations.

The Zimmermann Telegram On January 31, 1917, Germany announced it was resuming unrestricted submarine warfare. Sometime late in February, the British gave the U.S. government a decoded telegram from German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann to Mexico, attempting to convince Mexico to declare war on America.

Russian Revolution In March of 1917, Tsar Nicolas II was overthrown by a faction in Russia who hoped to revive the war. In November, the new government was replaced by Communists under Vladimir Lennon, and Russia withdrew from the war. Russia remained Communist until Christmas of 1991.

U.S. Enters the War On April 6th 1917, Wilson signed the Congressional declaration of war. It was not until 1918, however, that the Americans were in Europe with enough numbers to make any difference in the war. France stopped attacking the Germans, and instead waited for the Americans to tip the scales of the war.

World War I When the Americans entered under General Pershing, the Allies wanted to break the American divisions up, and use them to fill gaps in the front line. Pershing refused, and used his troops in bulk, in a way that would really damage the German army.

World War I In one of the last great German offensives, the German army was stopped by American soldiers and marines at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood. This is where the Marines earned the name Devil Dogs. Finally, the German army was beaten at the 47 day long battle of Meuse-Argonne, the bloodiest battle in American history. (26k)

After the War On November 9th in 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was deposed and replaced by a popularly elected government called the Weimar Republic. This new government quickly ended the war, and surrendered to the Allies, but the Allies never actually invaded Germany, but rather accepted a conditional surrender.

The countries of the war met in Versailles, France, and adopted the Treaty of Versailles, which assigned the blame for the war to Germany. The War Guilt Clause blamed Germany and demanded that they pay the Allies reparations. Europe had relative peace for about 20 years.

Chapter 17.2 Fighting the War

I. Introduction A. Most Americans supported Wilson s decision to go to war 1. Believed U.S. was doing the right thing 2. Wilson s idealism built enthusiasm for the war

II. Getting Ready for War A. U.S. needed to build a larger army 1. Some favored all volunteer army 2. Wilson said only fair and efficient way was draft a. Apply equally to all men regardless of race or wealth b. May, 1917- Congress passed draft law c. All men 21-40, amended to include men 18-45

The Draft

The Draft

The Draft

II. Getting Ready for War d. 2.8 million drafted within 18 months e. More than 1million volunteered f. One in five drafted was an immigrant B. Training included English and U.S. history C. Segregated Units 1. Blacks enlisted in large numbers 2. Segregated units commanded by white officers

II. Getting Ready for War C. Segregated Units 3. Most blacks assigned low level jobs a. Loading and unloading ships b. moving supplies c. laborers 4. U.S. loaned 100,000 black soldiers to French Army a. Many served on front lines b. Earned special distinction and honors

D. Training the Army 1. Job of training army given to General John J. Pershing a. Tough enforcer of military discipline b. Refused to send troops into battle until training complete E. Over There 1. Song by George Cohan 2. Captured spirit of adventure for many entering war

II. Getting Ready for War F. Getting soldiers to Europe was a problem 1. German submarines prowled Atlantic G. U.S. adopted convoy system 1. Warships accompanied groups of and troop transports 2. Carried new weapon depth charges a. Bombs designed to explode underwater 3. Convoy system was very effective

Allied convoy

III. New Leaders in Russia A. Russia played key role in early part of war B. As war continued, conditions in Russia worsened 1. Heavy losses on battlefield 2. Tsar overthrown in March 1917 3. New leaders could not gain hold of the country 4. November, 1917 another revolution occurred a. Communists lead by Vladimir Lenin

1917 Russian Revolution

1917 Russian Revolution

III. New Leaders in Russia 5. Lenin considered both sides evil and wanted to stabilize his new government C. March, 1918 communist signed peace treaty with Germany 1. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 2. Blow to Allies 3. Germany could now move troops to western front D. Role of U.S. would be crucial

Communist Revolution

IV. The Allies Push Ahead A. First Americans arrive in France in June, 1917 1. Brought new hope to Allies 2. 14,000 soldiers paraded through streets of Paris 3. Stopped at Lafayette s grave B. In next year U.S. had force of 1 million soldiers

American s Arrive

IV. The Allies Push Ahead C. Germans realized their submarine strategy was failing 1. Steady streams of U.S. supplies and troops pouring in to Europe 2. Germans launched massive land attack in March 1918 called Spring Offensive a. Broke through Allied lines b. Made final push for Paris c. U.S. soldiers filled holes in British and French lines d. Stopped German advance

D. Allies take the offensive 1. June, 1918 U.S. troops ordered to Marne River 2. Stopped German advance, launched own offensive 3. Won victories in battles at Belleau Wood a. 10,000 American casualties

Belleau Woods

E. The Argonne Forest 1. Final Allied offensive began in late September 1918 2. Through most difficult part of western front- Argonne Forest a. Swamps, ravines b. German minefields c. Machine gun nests d. Trenches, barbed wire, heavy artillery

E. The Argonne Forest 3. Fighting lasted for 47 days 4. 1.2 million Americans took part a. Largest battle in U.S. history 5. 120,000 U.S. casualties 6. Broke through German lines, assured victory 7. Last major battle of World War I

Argonne Forest

F. The German Retreat 1. By October, German army in full retreat a. Had suffered more than 1 million casualties 2. Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria surrendered 3. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated office G. American losses 1. 49,000 American soldiers killed in battle 2. 63,000 died from disease 3. 2,300,000 wounded

Kaiser Abdicates