Chapter 11 Section1 World War I Begins World War I Causes of World War I (WWI) 1-nationalism—a devotion to the interests and culture of one’s nation -competition for ethnic dominance made countries resent each other 2-imperialism—countries were competing for raw materials and economic markets -Germany, France, and Britain were competing for colonies 3-militarism—the development of armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy -Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Britain, and the U.S. began a naval arms race 4-alliance system—two major defense alliances in Europe

-The Allies (The Triple Entente)-------------------- France, Britain, and Russia versus -The Central Powers (The Triple Alliance)------ Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy

-the spark that ignited WWI was the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie by a Serbian named Gavrilo Princip -what was supposed to be a short war between Austria-Hungary against Serbia blossomed into something that would change the world forever -Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Germany then declared war on Russia Germany then declared war on France, Germany then invaded Belgium Britain declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary …………The Great War had begun!!!

-new weapons made it impossible for either side to win a quick victory -machine gun, poison gas, airplanes, and submarines were part of the new arsenal -back in the U.S., President Woodrow Wilson tried to follow a traditional policy of neutrality -no matter what President Wilson tried, it could not keep the U.S. out of the conflict

Reasons for U.S. Intervention in WWI 1-closer ties with Allies -American’s shared a long similar history with Britain -Britain and France shared the same democratic political system 2-German actions and Allied Propaganda -American’s were shocked by Germany’s invasion of a neutral Belgium -the Zimmerman Note—a secret message from the German gov’t promising Mexico territories if they acted against the U.S. (it was printed in U.S. newspapers) 3-unrestricted submarine warfare -a British blockade kept foreign food and arms from reaching Germany -Germany’s navy consisted mainly of Unterseeboots (U-boats or submarines) -in 1915, a German U-boat sank the Lusitania, killing 1,198 of which 128 were American’s -Germany promised to end the unrestricted warfare (they promised prior warnings) -by 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare