1. The Treaty of Versailles
Ending the Great War
The Treaty of Versailles

2. All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Maria Remarque = All Quiet on the Western Front  Greatest Novel about World War 1.
German Soldier during World War 1 = wounded 5 times  narrates his experience from eager recruit to disillusioned veteran.
Movie Trailer…

3. Winning the War
(1917) European societies = cracking under strain of war  casualties on the fronts + shortages at home decreased morale.
Stalemate dragged on = one country departs from war + one enters  the stalemate ends.

4. Waging Total War
Total War the channeling of a nation’s entire resources into the war effort.
Nations realized = mechanized war required  total war.
To achieve total war = Governments began to take a stronger role in directing  economic + cultural lives of their people.

5. Economies Committed to War Production:
All warring nations except Britain = imposed universal military conscription  early in war.
Conscription “The Draft” which required all young men to be ready for military or other service.
Germany set up a system of forced civilian labor as well.
Britain instituted conscription in 1916 too.
Governments raised taxes + borrowed huge amounts of money = pay costs of war  rationed food+ other products (boots + Gasoline + etc)

6. Economic Warfare:
Start of war = Britain’s navy formed blockade in North Sea  keep ships from carrying supplies in + out of Germany.
International law = allowed wartime blockades to confiscate contraband.
Contraband = military supplies and raw materials needed to make military supplies, but not items such as food and clothing.
Despite International Law = British Blockade  stopped both types of goods from reaching Germany.
As WW1 Progressed = Germany + Austria-Hungary  harder and harder to feed people + turnip winter of 1916 (potatoes crop failed)
Retaliation = Germany used own blockade  U-Boats sinking all ships carrying goods to Britain.

7. (May 1915) German submarine = torpedoed British Liner Lusitania off coast of Ireland  1,200 passengers killed including 128 Americans.
Germany = Justified attack  argued the Lusitania was carrying weapons.
American President Woodrow Wilson = threatened to cut off diplomatic relations with Germany  Germany agreed to surface + give warning to neutral passengers to escape before attacking.

8. Women Join the War Effort:
Women = critical role in war  took over jobs of millions of men that left to fight.
Women = kept economies going  manufactured weapons + supplies.
Women’s Land Army = grew nation’s food.
Nurses = shared same dangers of field as the men whose wounds they tended.
Women Nurses = worked near front lines + around the clock  War work gave women new sense of pride + confidence.
After men returned + women lost their jobs  women in many countries challenged idea that they could handle demanding + dangerous jobs = + Helped them win the right to vote.

9. Morale Collapses
Despite Propaganda = by  Morale of troops + civilians plunged.
Germany was sending 15 years old recruits to the front + Britain on brink of Bankruptcy.

10. Revolution in Russia
(March 1917) Bread riots in St. Petersburg = erupted into a revolution  brought down Russian Monarchy
Allies welcomed the overthrowing of the Tsar = hoping for a democratic government  instead V.I. Lenin came to Power with promise of pulling Russian troops out of war.
Lenin = Signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany  treaty ended Russian participation in World War 1.
Russian Withdrawal = immediate impact  Germany can concentrate forces on Western Front + optimistic they would have a breakthrough.

11. The United States Declares War
(1917) Many factors contribute = United States Declares War on Germany  alters balance of forces.
Why Join the Allies:
Many Americans supported Allies = cultural ties  cultural history + language with Britain + Sympathized with France as another democracy.
(1917) Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare desperate to break stalemate.

12. (Early 1917) British intercepted message = German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann to Ambassador in Mexico
Message  authorizing proposal that Germany would help Mexico reconquer New Mexico + Arizona + Texas = in exchange for Mexican support against the United States in WW1.
When released to American Public = sharp increase in anti-German feelings in United States.

13. Declaring War:
(April 1917) Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany = “We have no selfish ends to serve”  Purpose to make the world safe for democracy.
Later described as “the war to end war”
(1918) 2 Million American soldiers joined Allied troops fighting on the Western Front = Arrival gave much needed Morale boost + Financial Aid.

14. The Fourteen Points
Wilson = Failed to maintain American Neutrality  hoped to be a peacemaker.
Fourteen Points a list of Wilson’s terms for resolving the Great War and future wars.
Called for freedom of the seas + free trade + large scale reductions of arms + end to secret treaties.
For Eastern Europe = Wilson Favored Self Determination.
For Eastern Europe = Wilson Favored Self Determination.
Self Determination the right of people to choose their own form of government.
Wilson urged the creation of a “General Association of Nations” = to keep peace in future.

15. Movie Ending https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciq9ts02ci4
(Early 1918) Final Showdown on Western Front = Germans badly wanted to achieve a major victory before eager American Troops arrived.
Germans launched huge offensive from March to July = pushed Allies back 40 miles  As Americans arrived German forces were exhausted + Allies launched a counterattack.
Slowly German forces were backed up across France + Belgium = September Generals told Kaiser the war could not be won  William II stepped down + fled to Netherlands in exile.
Austria-Hungary reeling toward collapse.

16. Ending the Great War
New German Government = sought Armistice with allies  November 11, 1918 the Great War came to an End.
Armistice: agreement to end fighting.
What Most People Don’t Remember About WWI