World War I

Failure of the Schlieffen Plan Failure of French to advance on left flank Belgian resistance Russian advances on the Eastern front British support for French

The Western Front German advance stopped at the Marne Trench warfare Stalemate War of attrition

The Western Front (cont.) Examples: –Battle of Verdun –Battle of the Somme Millions dead, with little territorial gain

The Eastern Front Russia made initial gains Germans countered at Tannenberg & Masurian Lakes Russians pushed back; but Germans main focus was in the West

Alliances The Central Powers –Austria-Hungary –Germany –Turkey –Bulgaria The Allies –Serbia –Russia –France –Britain –Japan –Italy

The Middle East The Allies tried to take control of the Dardanelles & Bosporus The British failed to capture Gallipoli

The Role of Technology Advanced weapons greatly increased casualties & horrors of war Strategies often did not account for new technologies –Machine Guns –Artillery –Poison gas –U-boats –Airplanes –Barbed wire –Tanks

Appeals to Nationalism Both sides tried to incite nationalist uprisings within territories of their enemies –E.g. Irish, Flemings, Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians Most successful in inciting Arabs against the Turks

The War at Sea British imposed a blockade and seized neutral ships Germans countered with unrestricted submarine warfare May 1915, Lusitania sunk; Germany stopped unrestricted sub warfare due to US objections April Battle of Jutland; only naval battle of the war; Germans failed to break the blockade

Russia’s Exit Russia was losing 1917 Russian Revolution 1918 Treaty of Brest- Litovsk; Russia out of the war

US Entry British blockade caused hardship for Germany Resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare The Zimmerman Telegram April 1917 US declares war

The Home Front “Total War” Extensive use of propaganda Governments took greater control of economies – rationing –Cooperation with private sector and with labor unions Lower classes benefited Women’s roles changed

The End of the War March Germany launched the “Spring Offensive” but was unsuccessful US troops had begun arriving By Sept.1918, Gen. Ludendorff realized that defeat was inevitable; gave power to the Reichstag led by the Social Democrats Oct Rebellions in Austria-Hungary Oct-Nov desertions & mutinies in German military; “Workers & Soldiers Councils” take over many local governments Nov. 9, Kaiser William II abdicated Nov. 11, Armistice signed