World War I, Part 3: The Bloody Conflict Goal 6 and 8

Essential Idea The turning point of World War I was the arrival of American troops on the Western Front.

General John Pershing Leader of American Troops: John “Blackjack” Pershing Troops: American Expeditionary Force Nickname: Doughboys

American Expeditionary Force Why the nickname? Compared to European troops who had been fighting for three years, A.E.F. troops were “fat” Accomplishments: American troops helped the Allies win World War I PershingPershing

The Schlieffen Plan The German Plan: The Schlieffen Plan The Plan’s Strategy: Attack France by sending troops through Belgium Why it caused a bigger problem: Belgium was neutral and under Britain’s protection

Germany vs. France and Britain Britain Reaction: Britain declared war on Germany Joining Forces: Britain and France joined to fight Germany Fighting Germany: Germany was so strong that it appeared that both Britain and France could not stop Germany from taking Paris (capital of France)

Russia Invades Germany The “Surprise”: Russian decided to invade Germany on the Eastern Front Germany Reaction: had to pull troops from France (Western Front) to fight Russia

Trench Warfare The Result: A weakened German army was stuck in a stalemate against France and Britain (trench warfare began)

Trench Warfare 1. Artillery guns – huge guns that could shoot large explosive shells for miles Big Bertha – the most famous artillery gun (German, shot a 2 ton shell for 8 miles)

Trenches 2. Trenches – networks of trenches were dug to protect troops against artillery shells 3. Machine guns – guns that could fire thousands of rounds a minute, used to defend the trenches from enemy troop charges

No-Man ’ s-Land 4. Barbed Wire – used to keep enemies from attacking trenches (used with machine guns) 5. No Man’s Land – the area between the trenches, full of craters from artillery shells

Going “ Over the Top ” 6. Hand to Hand Combat – if troops survived going “over the top” (charging across no man’s land), soldiers engaged in bloody fighting with grenades, pistols, knives, rocks, bare hands, etc. Thousands of troops would die and neither side would advance Life in the Trenches

Going over the top

The “ Arms Race ” of Trench Warfare Artillery guns Effect: Forced soldiers into trenches to avoid artillery shells Machine guns Effect: Used to defend the trenches from enemy ground attacks

Mustard Gas Poison gas Effect: sprayed into enemy trenches to break enemy lines; soldiers started to wear gas masks

Tanks Effect: used to attack trenches, were bullet resistant, could overrun barbed wire, but sometimes got stuck in No Man’s Land

Airplanes Effect: use to scout trenches and drop bombs on enemies

Dogfights Effect: Airplanes would fight battles known as “dogfights” The average life expectancy of a WWI pilot was TWO WEEKS

A Two-Front War Where? Eastern Front Who is fighting? Germany and Russia

The Bolsheviks What happens in Russia: The Russian Revolution took place in 1917 The Bolshevik Party, known as the “reds” overthrew the Russian government

Vladimir Lenin Led by Vladimir Lenin, the reds established a communist government, the Soviet Union The Result: Russia left World War I Germany sent troops back to the Western Front just as Americans began to arrive

American Convoys German Actions: Tried to use U-boats to keep American troop ships away American Actions: Used convoys, where were large groups of ships that provided safety from U-boats (how?) American troops landed safely to the Western Front

Germany Pushing for France Germany’s Plan: The Hindenburg Plan What it was: one final assault on the Allies to take France before American troops arrived What stopped it: One million American troops arrived

America Joins the Allies in France The Battle: Second Battle of the Marne Details: Took place in the town of Chateau- Thierry, a town on the Marne River, in July 1918

Second Battle of the Marne Germany attacked the Allies French and American troops held their ground and fought off the German attack

Battle of the Argonne Forest The Battle: Battle of the Argonne Forest Details: The Allies mounted a massive counterattack in September 1918 General Pershing assembled 600,000 troops, 40,000 tons of supplies, and 4,000 pieces of artillery

Battle of Argonne Forest By November, German were retreating all along the Western Front

Armistice November 11, 1918: Germany signed an armistice (a truce) to surrender How American helped the Allies win: Provided much needed troops, energy, and supplies against a depleted German army