Unit 4: WORLD WAR I "You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees.“ - Kaiser Wilhelm II (August 1914)

The Spark of WWI Gavrilo Pincip o Member of the Black Hand terrorist organization June 28, 1914 o Pincip fatally shoots Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Europe plunged into war within 5 weeks of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination

Conditions in Europe: Nationalism Extreme pride people feel for their country The Balkans o Struggle for power o Ottoman Empire that ruled the region was falling apart o Austria-Hungary began to annex provinces Slavs wanted to revolt, Russia promises protection

Conditions in Europe: Imperialism Nations are trying to expand Late 1800s: Britain & France already had large empires German Emperor: Kaiser Wilhelm II o Wanted to expand Germany o Created stronger military to start colonizing

Conditions in Europe: Militarism Policy of military preparedness Germany o Builds strong navy to rival Britain’s o Enlarged, bought latest weapons o Officers drew up war plans that called for attacks on several countries Britain, France, Russia also start preparing for war

Alliances Triple EntenteTriple Alliance

Germany / Austria- Hungary / Italy A military alliance that aligned together when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated

Triple Entente Fearful of Germany’s growing power, France and Russia formed a secret alliance with each other Great Britain, also worried, joined France and Russia

Outbreak of War Austria-Hungary officials learned that Serbia government had supplied assassins with bomb & weapons Blamed Serbia for the assassination o Since Russia promised to protect Serbia, they began to mobilize Germany declares war on Russia & France o Followed Schlieffen Plan crossed into neutral Belgium, which brought Belgium’s ally, Great Britain, into WWI Belgians only had 6 divisions of troops to Germany’s 750,000

New Kind of Warfare France’s Strategy: o Marched in a row, with bayonets mounted to their rifles, preparing for close combat o Wore bright red coats and heavy brass helmets Germany’s Strategy: o Had machine guns, and the well-trained gunners could set up equipment in 4 seconds o One machine gun could match French rifles o Dressed in gray uniforms that worked as camouflage on the battlefield

The First Battle of the Marne The BattleThe Aftermath French launched counterattack along Marne River east of Paris 2 million men fought on a battlefield that stretched 125 miles After 5 days and 250,000 deaths, the French had rallied and pushed the Germans back some 40 miles French paid a heavy price losing countless troops in the battle Despite the loss of life, the French gave the Russians more time to mobilize Once Russia mobilized, Germany had to fight a two-front war on the Eastern Front against Russia, and the Western Front against the French & British

War Reaches a Stalemate The First Battle of the Marne ended in a stalemate o Soldiers from both sides dug trenches to protect their territory and to have cover from enemy fire By late 1914, two massive trench systems stretched over 400 miles of Western Europe o The Western Front stretched from Switzerland to the North Sea Trench warfare, or fighting from the trenches, had been used in Africa, Asia, and America o Soldiers lived in trenches, surrounded by machine-gun fire, flying grenades, and exploding artillery shells o Opposing forces had machine-guns pointed at enemy trenches at all times o Thousands of men ran into area between trenches known as “no- man’s-land,’ were chopped down by enemy fire

New Weapons of War

Poisonous Gas Gas is battle was risky; Soldiers didn’t know how much to use, and wind changes could backfire the gas The Germans threw canisters of gas into the Allies’ trenches Many regretted using gas, but British and French forces began using it too, to keep things even

Tanks Were developed by the British to move into “no- man’s-land” These tanks had limited success because they would get stuck in the mud German’s eventually found ways to destroy the tanks with artillery fire

Airplanes Both sides used planes to map and to attack trenches from above Planes first dropped bricks and heavy objects on enemy troops - - then mounted guns and bombs on planes Skilled pilots sought air battles called “dogfights” The German Red Baron downed 80 Allied planes before he was he was shot down