US History Standards: SSUSH15 The student will analyze the origins and impact of U.S. involvement in World War I. a. Describe the movement from U.S. neutrality to engagement in World War I, with reference to unrestricted submarine warfare.

 Throughout 1915 and 1916 and into 1917, the US tried to remain neutral in the war, but German U- boat attacks soon made it nearly impossible  U-boats were submarines who patrolled the Atlantic Ocean seeking to prevent food and supplies from reaching Great Britain

 May 7, 1915 – a German U-boat sunk the Lusitania, a British passenger boat, in the Irish Sea  They suspected that the boat carried Allied weapons and supplies, but it did not and all the passengers were killed  Wilson demanded that the Germans stop their submarine warfare and make payments to the victims families  In March 1916, the Germans sunk a French passenger steamship  Wilson began to make preparations for war and began to make huge loans to the Allies

 Just after Wilson’s reelection, the US broke off diplomatic relations with Germany  While Americans were making a last-ditch effort for peace, the British intercepted a German telegram  In the telegram, Germany’s foreign secretary Arthur Zimmerman offered land in the American Southwest to Mexico if they would declare war against the Americans  No one took this seriously, but another step towards war was taken

 To prepare for war, Congress passed the Selective Service Act in May 1917 which allowed the draft of young men into military service  The soldiers were then trained and sent to Europe by way of convoy, several unmarked and unarmed ships that traveled together  Americans joined British and French soldiers in trenches and began to fight

 A new type of warfare took place during World War I, that of trench warfare  Because each side could not moved, they dug trenches directly into the mud and defended it  Trenches were muddy and full of rats  The point in the middle of the two trenches was known as “no man’s land” – it was filled with craters and barbed wire

 New machines led to a high casualty rate in World War I  Machine guns, hand grenades, artillery shells, and poison gases killed thousands  To fight, the soldiers had to “go over the top” of the trench into no man’s land where they were ripped apart by machines guns, blown up by artillery shells or hand grenades, or poisoned with gas

 By November 1917, the Russians were dealing with the Russian Revolution at home and had left the war  American forces helped the French save Paris and drive the Germans away from the Marne River  As the Germans continued to fight, commanders began to suggest to the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm, to surrender  Wilhelm refused and the Americans continued to defeat the Germans with new inventions such as the tank and the aircraft  One by one, the Central Powers began to surrender  An armistice, or a cease-fire, went into effect on November 11, 1918 at 11 a.m.  Many soldiers were killed by an outbreak of influenza in the final months of the war

 American losses were minimal in the war compared to those of the Europeans – an estimated 8 million soldiers and sailors were killed  Many were left sick and wounded, including thousands of amputees and those permanently affected by poison gas

Before and After Verdun

Caring for the wounded in the mud. Caution on the next one…