World War I The Great War 5 th Grade Social Studies

Standard: SS5H4 The student will describe U.S. involvement in World War I and post-World War I America. a. Explain how German attacks on U.S. shipping during the war in Europe ( ) ultimately led the U.S. to join the fight against Germany; include the sinking of the Lusitania and concerns over safety of U.S. ships, U.S. contributions to the war, and the impact of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Europe Goes to War In the 19 th and 20 th centuries Britain, France, and other European nations were taking over territory in Asia and Africa. When one country takes over another it is called imperialism. During the early 20 th century, many European countries formed alliances. In an alliance countries agree to help each other if one or the other of them is attacked.

Battles of the Great War

Europe Goes to War In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. Austria-Hungary had an alliance with Germany and declared war on Serbia. Serbia had an alliance with Russia. World War I began.

WWI Map

Europe Goes to War Central Powers Austria-Hungary Germany Bulgaria Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) Allied Powers Great Britain Russia France Italy Japan Serbia Belgium By the war’s end, 28 nations supported the Allied powers, although many did not fight.

U.S. Policy Changes Under President Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. was isolationist which means it believed that countries should not get involved in each other’s problems. During the first 2 years of the war, the U.S. remained neutral, but when a German submarine sank a passenger ship called the Lusitania in 1915, 1200 innocent people died including 128 Americans.

U.S. Policy Changes The Germans knew that the Lusitania was being used by the U.S. to sneak military supplies to Great Britain and its allies. To most people, Germany’s actions looked like an evil attack against civilians. Public opinion began to change and more people in the U.S. began to favor the war.

U.S. Policy Changes President Wilson still wanted to avoid war. Then a German telegram was intercepted and printed in newspapers. The telegram was secretly sent by Germany’s foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman to Mexico City. It asked Mexico to attack the US if the US ever went to war with Germany and promised to help Mexico win back land it had lost to the US during the 1800’s.

U.S. Policy Changes Mexico didn’t agree to the deal but when people heard of the Zimmerman Telegram more people began to support the war. On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany, joining the Allied powers.

A New Kind of War New technologies : submarines, airplanes, mustard gas, armored tanks, and trench warfare Trench warfare : each side dug trenches for the soldiers to stay in. Sometimes they were as long as 400 miles. The area between the trenches was called no man’s land.

World War I Most of the fighting in WWI was on two fronts. The Western Front was in Belgium and France. The Eastern Front was in Central and Eastern Europe. The first US soldiers reached Europe in Although many Europeans were already dead and much was destroyed, the presence of the Americans made it clear to Germany that it they would never win.

The End of the War On November 11, 1918, both sides signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting). The Treaty of Versailles, signed May 7, 1919, formally ended the war. This treaty forced Germans to take blame for the war, made them pay for the war, and greatly decreased the size of its military. This made Germans bitter and the US fear it would lead the US into future wars.

End of the War The treaty was drafted by President Woodrow Wilson and other Allied leaders. Wilson’s idea was to create the League of Nations, an organization to try to prevent war. Even though it was Wilson’s idea, the United States never joined.

Thinking It Through 1.Whose idea was the League of Nations? a. Theodore Roosevelt b. Franklin D. Roosevelt c. Woodrow Wilson d. Herbert Hoover

Thinking It Through 2. What type of warfare was used in World War I? a. bench b. trench c. French d. wrench

Thinking It Through 3. Which of the following countries was aligned with the Allies? a. Ottoman Empire b. Russia c. Germany d. Bulgaria

Thinking It Through 4. Which of the following is a reason that the United States entered World War I? a. The US was angry that an archduke had been assassinated. b. Mexico and Germany attacked the United States. c. President Wilson hated Germany and wanted to punish it. d. German submarines were attacking US ships.

Journal Writing: Imagine you’re a soldier on the battlefield during WWI. Write home to your family describing why the war started, living conditions, type of warfare such as mustard gas, submarines, tanks, air planes…