1. World War I

2. World War I
World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

4. Trench Warfare
This style of warfare led to incredible casualties in World War I as troops would be massed into one section of trench and charge the enemy, who were usually waiting on the other side armed with machine guns and incredible firepower.

6. Over the Top!
The biggest problem in World War I was that the best plan the generals came up with was to mass their men into a specific section of a trench and send the men on an all out rush across “No Man’s Land” – the space between the trenches and into the full force of the increased firepower the other side was armed with.

10. This had worked in the Civil War and Napoleonic Wars, because the men were armed with muskets that were highly inaccurate and took significant time to load and fire a single shot.

11. Waiting for them across the trench…

12. World War I
There were over 30 separate battles in WWI. The amount of men killed and wounded varied for each.
Usually, the number of causalities were very high.

13. World War I
The four biggest and deadliest battles of World War I were:
The Marne
Verdun
The Somme
Yrpes

14. The Marne France lost 250,000 men England lost 12,700 men
Germany lost 250,000 men

15. Verdun France lost 360,000 men England was not involved
Germany lost 340,000 men

16. The Somme France lost 200,000 men England lost 420,000 men
Germany lost 500,000 men

17. The Three Battles of Yrpes
France lost 68,000 men
England lost 418,000 men
Germany lost 425,000 men

18. Allied Casualties

19. Central Powers Casualties

21. From the start of the war in 1914, until 1917 America stayed out of the war.
We were an Isolationist Nation and believed Europe’s problems were theirs and they had to solve them.

22. Besides, we were making too much money staying out of the war and avoiding those casualties.

23. America was shipping millions of dollars of goods to Europe
America was shipping millions of dollars of goods to Europe. We sold war materials, food, clothes, supplies anything and everything a war torn Europe needed.

24. QUESTION #1
Why would most Americans (over 60%) want to avoid U.S. involvement in World War I?
Use specific facts to back up your response.

25. WWI Naval strength
Since the late 1500s, England had maintained the world’s strongest Navy. The next slide shows comparison of Navies. The ships are listed by size, a Dreadnought was the biggest, most powerful ship in WWI, they get smaller as they go down.

26. Source: P. G. Halpern, A Naval History of World War I, (London: UCL Press, 1994), pp. 7-20.

27. With all the ships going in and out of European ports, the waters around Europe were very dangerous.
The English Navy had shut off Germany from outside trade and the Germans were beginning to feel the effects.

28. The English Navy cut off all supplies to Germany from the sea.

29. And fighting a war on two fronts with a massive mountain range to the south effectively cut off supplies to Germany from the land.
Germany was running out of food.

31. U-Boats
Germany responded to the English Naval blockade by unleashing their U-Boats on the sea to sink ships carrying supplies to England & France as well as those blocking German shipping lanes.

34. Eventually, this caused them a problem…

36. Many in America were now ready for war!

37. Then the Zimmerman Telegram arrived!

38. It said that in exchange for attacking the United States, Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to America in the Mexican-American War 69 years earlier.

39. That did it!

40. America declared war on Germany and joined the side of the Allies!

41. QUESTION #2
Explain what caused America to abandon it’s isolationist policy?
Use specific facts to back up your response.

42. With losses like these, how did Europe keep itself supplied with food, supplies and weapons for war?

44. American factories went into the business of supplying Europe with the supplies it needed to carry on the War.
Food Clothes
Supplies Weapons
Medicine Ships
Anything and everything Europe could not provide for themselves America provided.

45. At first, we did not pick sides and supplied any country that wanted to spend their money in our factories.
Total exports to European nations from U.S. factories

46. As orders for materials came in, the U. S
As orders for materials came in, the U.S. economy began to grow and grow!

47. And that meant JOBS!!!

48. Since orders were pouring in from Europe and demand for employees was up so orders could get filled salaries went up!

49. So if you could get to a factory, you could earn a good salary and improve your life for you and your family!

50. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor & Statistics: These are wages earned by workers in Chicago
1913
1920
Bricklayer earned .75¢ / hour
Painter earned .65¢ / hour
Plumber earned .75¢ / hour
Stonecutter earned .62¢ / hour
Typesetter earned .50¢ / hour
And averaged a 44 hour long work week
Bricklayer earned $1.25 / hour
Painter earned $1.25 / hour
Plumber earned $1.25 / hour
Stonecutter earned $1.25 / hour
Typesetter earned .98¢ / hour
And averaged a 44 hour long work week

51. And demand for workers was so high, that it meant improved lives for everybody.

53. African Americans desperate to leave Sharecropping behind and take advantage of the good salaries to be earned left the South in droves headed to cities looking for good jobs.
This became known as:
The Great Migration

58. Women
The lives of women changed too as opportunities created by the war began to present themselves.

59. Women
13,000 women enlisted in the U.S. Navy (mostly doing clerical work).
They were the first women in U.S. history to be admitted to full military rank and status.
The Army hired women nurses and telephone operators to work overseas

60. Women found jobs and used the salaries they made to find independence for themselves.
Women worked as clerks, translators, fingerprint experts, nurses, truck drivers, made deliveries, bookkeepers, accountants and in countless other jobs that had previously been closed to them because of their gender.

61. Women
Many Historians credit the work women did during World War I for helping finally pass Suffrage. After all, if a woman could work in a war factory building a Battleship, serving in the Army as a Nurse, or just supporting herself financially then why couldn’t she vote?

62. Economically America grew!
In 1914, the Average Annual Income for a worker was $627 / year.
By 1917, the Average Annual Income had risen to $830 / year.

63. By 1919, a worker was making $1,201 / year
By 1920, it was $1,407 / year

64. The Average Salary of an American worker had more than doubled in six years!

65. Money in the hands of customers leads to increased spending
Money in the hands of customers leads to increased spending. That leads to more hiring which leads to more jobs. More demand for jobs means higher salaries and more money in the hands of customers and the cycle continues…

67. QUESTION #3
Explain how World War I socially and economically changed the lives of any two of the following groups of Americans: workers, women or African Americans.