CHAPTER 29: THE GREAT WAR P.II

SECTION TWO: WAR CONSUMES EUROPE

I. The Alliance System Collapses AH’s declaration of war against Serbia set off a chain reaction in the alliance system nearly all of Europe was drawn into war

A. A Chain Reaction Russia sent troops to Austrian border and German border as a precaution Germany saw this as a threat and declared war against Russia on August 1, days later Germany declared war on France, Russia’s ally

B. The Schlieffen Plan Germany’s plan for war, Schlieffen Plan - attack France first on western front, gain quick victory then attack Russia (avoid fighting 2 front war) attack France first b/c Germany believed Russia would have hard time mobilizing troops b/c of Russia’s poor railroad system

SCHLIEFFEN PLAN

Speed important to this plan but France had already loaded their border w/ troops Germany wanted to go through Belgium, but Belgium was neutral and refused Germans entry Germany invaded Belgium, caused Great Britain to enter war on August 4, This Great War had truly begun

C. European Nations Take Sides in the Great War Germany & Austria became known as Central Powers based on their position in Europe- Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire eventually join GB, France, Russia known as Allied Powers- Japan and Italy later joined the Allies Italy argued not obligated to stand by old allies b/c German attack of Belgium was unprovoked All believed that war would be short- only a few foresaw trouble that lay ahead Triple Alliance= Central Powers (Germany, AH, Bulgaria, OE) Triple Entente= Allied Powers (GB, France, Russia, Japan, Italy)

Europe at War- 1914

II. A Bloody Stalemate Along the Western Front A. The Conflict Grinds to a Halt Germans’ Schlieffen Plan worked well at first, soon at the edge of Paris French learned of Germans’ movements Allies were able to attack Germans in the valley of the Marne River

Allied reinforcements driven in by taxicabs from Paris, Germans retreated first Battle of the Marne turned out to be most important event of the Great War Schlieffen Plan in ruins= Germany left in a stalemate on its Western Front (battle line b/w Germany and France) Germany realized they were going to have to fight a long war on both fronts- sent troops to face the Russians

A TWO FRONT WAR

B. New Kind of War- Trenches & Mechanized Warfare By 1915 armies on Western Front dug miles of trenches to protect from enemy fire became known as Trench Warfare - fighting from trenches in which armies traded huge losses of life to gain pitifully small amounts of land area b/w opposing trenches known as “no man’s land”

TRENCH WARFARE

When attack was ordered armies streamed over top of their trenches into no man’s land where they met murderous rounds of machine gun fire and artillery shells Life in trenches horrific- constant artillery shelling, damp conditions caused huge loss of life

New tools of war such as machine guns, poison gas, and tanks introduced This mechanized warfare resulted in the death of huge numbers of soldiers WWI a War of firsts- video

III. The Battle on the Eastern Front A. Central Powers Gain the Advantage as Western Front claimed 1000s of lives, both sides sending millions more soldiers to fight on Eastern Front- German/Russian border Germany counterattacked Russia’s invasion of Austria/Germany Germany able to force Russians back and regained control of East Prussia Russia suffered more than 30,000 dead

B. Russia’s War Effort Weakens By Russia’s war effort near collapse b/c not yet industrialized enough to handle this modern form of war Russian armies constantly short of food, guns, ammunition, clothing Allies unable to send supplies to Russians only asset Russia had left was her numbers- but those were dwindling as well; Russia lost nearly 2 million troops in 1915 alone

MAP ASSIGNMENT Use p. 846 in your book to complete your map: Label all Allied Powers, color them GREEN Label all Central Powers, color them RED Label all Neutral countries, color them YELLOW

MAP ANSWERS