SLAP DOWN FACT OR FIB WORLD WAR I

#1 The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the key event in starting WWI?

FACT! He was assassinated by a man from Serbia (part of the Allied Powers) as a result Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia.

#2 The U.S. quickly joined the war to help the Allied Powers.

FIB! President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation of neutrality announcing that the U.S. would not take sides in the war. The U.S. does join the war later in the Spring of 1917.

#3 Germany was extremely successful in defeating the French through Trench Warfare.

FIB! Both Germany and France dug trenches and a terrible price was paid by each side in the number of men killed or wounded, yet neither side could defeat the other. WAR OF ATTRITION!!!

#4 Germany started a two front war in WWI, the Western and Eastern Front.

FACT! Germany started the two front war in attacking France on the Western Front and Russia on the Eastern Front. Germany hoped to quickly crush France, then turn its full force on to Russia.

#5 World War I was considered a total war.

FACT! A total war is a conflict in which participating countries devote ALL their resources to the war’s effort.