World War I Chapter 9, Lesson 2

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Why did so many countries join the war? Hypothesis: Answer: Why did America join the war?

Vocabulary Nationalism Militarism Alliance Trench Warfare

Causes of the War Nationalism made Germany, Russia and France fight for power and land Other European nations focused on imperialism, starting colonies in other parts of the world To protect their land and empires, many countries built bigger militaries (armies and navies); militarism

The War Begins To help fight other countries and defend their own land, alliances were made The two most powerful alliances were: 1. Allied Powers (Allies) 2. Central Powers

Who was fighting whom? In 1914, Austria-Hungary (A Central Power) declared war on Serbia First, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary was a Central Power, Serbia was and Allied Power

But… Serbia and Russia were allies… Now you have Serbia AND Russia vs. Austria-Hungary

Then… Germany invaded Belgium and France Germany was a Central Power Belgium and France were part of the Allied Power Germany was a Central Power and invaded Belgium and France

However… Russia was allied with France These events led up to the Great War (or better known as World War I or WWI) France allied with Russia

The Powers that be… Central Powers VS. Austria-Hungary Germany Allied Powers Serbia Russia France Belgium

The Battlefield Nationalism had many men sign up for war, but they didn’t know how bad the war was going to be Trench warfare was first introduced, helping soldiers crouch down in trenches and fire weapons from there

As a result… Millions of soldiers were killed in four years of battle This was the first war that soldiers lived on the battlefield (in the trenches). Weather, rats and mud made life very difficult for the soldiers

America enters WWI 1915: Lusitania was sank by German Submarines. The Lusitania was a British passenger ship with Americans on board. Germany agreed to not sink any more passenger ships

America enters WWI 1917: Germany broke the promise of not attacking any more passenger ships and started attacking U.S. ships. April 1917: Because of the breaking of the pact, America declared war on the Central Powers. President Woodrow Wilson originally wanted to stay OUT of the war…but had to enter it.

New Weapons Machine guns Hand grenades Submarines Airplanes that dropped bombs Poison gas Tanks that could go across trenches

Why this matters… HEROES OF THE WAR Eddie Rickenbacker- WWI Airline pilot Manfred Von Richtofen- Flew the Red Baron This was the largest war ever fought up until this time. Millions of lives were lost and one of the most destructive wars ever.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Why did so many countries join the war? Hypothesis: Answer: Why did America join the war?