A Global Conflict War Affects the World
Gallipoli Campaign Allies try to attack a region in the Ottoman Empire known as the Dardanelles It’s a narrow sea strait toward the Ottoman capital, Constantinople Allied Goal: take the capital, defeat the Turks, Est. supply line for Russia Turns into a stalemate, with trenches dug for both sides Allies give up this campaign with 250,000 casualties
Battles in Africa and Asia German Colonies come under attack Japanese overran German outposts in China and its Pacific island colonies English and French troops attack Germany’s 4 African possessions – gain 3 British and French recruit troops / laborers from India, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, & Indochina African colonials fought each other on African soil Indian soldiers fought alongside the British in Europe
America Joins the Fight 1917 war shifts to the high seas Germans: submarine warfare- Atlantic Ocean Unrestricted Submarine Warfare: Germans announce they would sink any submarine without warning in the waters around BRITAIN Lusitania: attack left 1,198 people dead (128 Americans) Germany claimed it had ammunition: TRUE American public: OUTRAGED After 2 more attacks Germany agreed to stop attacking neutral / passenger ships
Zimmerman Note The Zimmermann Telegram was a coded message sent from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to Germany's ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckhardt, in January 1917. The British managed to intercept this coded message and were able to decipher it. Within this secret message, Zimmermann revealed Germany's plan to restart unrestricted submarine warfare as well as offered Mexico territory help from the United States if Mexico were to declare war on the United States. When the British shared the contents of the Zimmermann Telegram with the United States, the American public was outraged. Instead of World War I being contained to Europe, which seemed far away, the American public now felt the war was being brought to their own land. The Zimmermann Telegram helped change public opinion in the United States away from isolationism and toward joining World War I with the Allies.
Total War Total War: Countries devoted all their resources to the war effort Includes: Britain, Germany, Austria, Russia, France Wartime government controls the economy Governments told factories what to produce / how much Unemployment all but disappeared Goods in short supply: rationing: could only buy small amounts of items needed for the war Propaganda: one-sided information designed to persuade, keep up morale and support the war
Russia Withdraws March 1917 civil unrest begins in Russia due to war-related shortages in food and fuel Czar Nicholas must step down Provisional Government established 1917 5.5 million Russian soldiers were wounded, killed or taken prisoner. 8 months later new government goes into effect November 1917 with Communist leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin gains power Lenin offers Germany a truce: March 1918 Treaty signed: Brest-Litovsk ending the war with Germany and Russia
Central Powers Collapse Russia withdrawal from the war allows Germany to send all forces to the Western Front Germany reaches Marne River in May 1918 – 40 miles to Paris Germany’s military is weakened: supplies limited and exhausted men Allies gain 140,000 American Troops at the Second Battle of the Marne and allies advance toward Germany First Bulgarians and then Ottoman Turks surrender October 1918 revolution goes through Austria-Hungary German soldiers mutinied and German public goes against the Kaiser November 9, 1918: Kaiser Wilhelm II steps down Germany declares itself a republic
World War I Statistics (Stats are for all countries involved) Total number of men mobilized to fight in World War I 65 million Percentage of men mobilized in World War I who died 57 % Total number of causalities in World War I 37 million Number of missing POW’s from WWI 7.7 million Number of wounded soldiers in WWI 19.7 million Number of years of fighting that took place during WWI 4 years Number of allied countries military causalities in WWI 5.7 million Number of allied country civilian casualties from WWI 3.67 million Number of allied countries wounded in WWI 12.8 million Number of WWI Military casualities 9,720,450 Number of Civilian casualties in WWI 8,865,650 Total War Cost altogther of WWI $186.3 billion Armistice An agreement to stop the fighting is signed on November 11th, and World War I ends.
Legacy of the War New kind of war New Technologies Lots of death and destruction along the landscape Death of civilians from starvation, disease and slaughter Economic Impact $338 Billion cost of the war Disillusionment settled over survivors Trench Warfare