p. 372-380 World War I Begins

Objectives Identify the long-term causes and the immediate circumstances that led to World War I Describe the first two years of the war Summarize U.S. public opinion about the war Explain why the United States entered the war

Causes of World War I Nationalism Leads to competition/rivalries Intense pride in one’s nation A devotion to the interests and culture of one’s nation

Causes of World War I Imperialism Empire building Economic/political control Industrialization leads to want/need for competition of raw goods

Causes of World War I The development of an army as a diplomatic tool Militarism The development of an army as a diplomatic tool Alliance System France Britain Russia Triple Entente Germany Austria-Hungary Italy Ottoman Empire Central Powers

An Assassination Leads to War Archduke Franz Ferdinand July 28 – Austria-Hungary declares on Serbia Heir to the Austrian throne Visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia Black Hand Gavrilo Princip Aug 1 – Germany declares on Russia* Aug 3 – Germany declares on France Britain declares on Germany

The Fighting Starts Trenches Warfare Schlieffen Plan No man’s land Quick defeat of France Invade through Belgium After the French fall, take care of the Russians Sept 1914 French halt the German advance By 1915 both sides had dug in Trenches Warfare Fighting from a systems of fortified diches rather than open battlefield Frontline Support Reserve No man’s land Barren expanse of mud pockmarked with shell craters and filled with barbed wire

The Fighting Starts No man’s land Trenches Warfare Fighting from a systems of fortified diches rather than open battlefield Frontline Support Reserve No man’s land Barren expanse of mud pockmarked with shell craters and filled with barbed wire

Americans Question Neutrality Divided Loyalties Pacifist View War was evil United States should set an example of peace for the world Immigrants still had ties to their homelands Germans Irish British 3,000 miles away Did not threaten American lives or property Socialist View A capitalist and imperialist struggle to control markets and colonies that the proletariat would fight and die in

Americans Question Neutrality Divided Loyalties (cont.) “The Bully of Europe” British propaganda Economic interests Stronger with the Triple Entente Shipped millions of dollars of war supplies to the allies By 1915 U.S. experiences labor shortages

The War Hits Home The British Blockade German U-Boat Response To prevent weapons and other military supplies from getting through Including food Neutral ports American ships did not challenge the blockades Germans start to go hungry Counter blockade by U-Boats Any allied ship found in waters around England would be sunk Lusitania May 7, 1915 1,198 killed 128 Americans

The War Hits Home German U-Boat Response (cont.) Wilson rules out military action Aug 1915 Arabic sunk 2 Americans killed Germany agreed not to sink anymore passenger ships Sussex 80 passengers killed or injured

The United States Declares War German Provocation Would sink any ships in British waters on sight Unrestricted submarine warfare Telegram from the German minister in Mexico Promised Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in a proposed alliance Zimmerman Note Four American ships sunk 36 Americans killed Revolution in Russia Democracy vs brutal monarchies

What caused WWI. What alliances divided Europe What caused WWI? What alliances divided Europe? What diplomatic crises sparked the war? What was Germany’s Schlieffen Plan? What characteristics describe trench warfare during WWI? What motivated those who opposed the war? What factors increased American sympathy for the allies? What did the Zimmerman note reveal about German plans?