1. World War I Begins

2. Objective 8.01
Examine the reasons why the United States remained neutral at the beginning of World War I, but later became involved.

3. Differing Viewpoints “Family Feud” “The War to End All Wars”
“Fall of the Eagles”
“The War to ‘Make the World Safe for Democracy’”

4. 1. The Alliance System
Triple Entente:
Triple Alliance:

5. Two Armed Camps!
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:

6. Victor Emmanuel II [It]
The Major Players:
Allied Powers:
Central Powers:
Nicholas II [Rus]
Wilhelm II [Ger]
George V [Br]
Victor Emmanuel II [It]
Enver Pasha [Turkey]
Pres. Poincare [Fr]
Franz Josef [A-H]

7. Alliance System Alliance – a formal agreement or union between nations
2 major alliances in Europe:
Triple Entente (Allies): France, Britain, and Russia
Triple Alliance (Central Powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.

8. Causes of World War I Nationalism Imperialism Militarism
Alliance System

9. Nationalism
A devotion to the interests and culture of one’s nation.

10. Imperialism
When stronger nations extend their economic, political, or military control over weaker territories.

11. Militarism
The development of armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy.

13. Archduke Franz Ferdinand & His Family

14. War Begins
June, 1914 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Austria) visits Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Serbian Nationalist stepped from crowd and shot Ferdinand and his wife.

15. Gavrilo Princip
Assassin was a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist organization.

16. The Assassination: Sarajevo

17. The Assassin:
Gavrilo Princip

18. Alliance System draws most of Europe into war
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
Germany had a treaty w/ Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia (defender of Slavic peoples in Europe)
Germany also declares war on France, Russia’s ally.
Germany invades Belgium, and Britain declares war on German and Austria Hungary

19. Who’s To Blame?

20. Alliances Triple Entente (Allies) Triple Alliance (Central Powers)
France
Britain
Russia
(Italy)
Triple Alliance (Central Powers)
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria

21. Germany follows Schlieffen Plan
Invade Belgium through to Paris
Hold against Russia until Paris falls, then concentrate on Russian front.

22. The Schlieffen Plan

23. Trench Warfare
Allies retreat to Marne River in France and begin a 3 year long Trench War

24. Trenches Trenches were long rows of ditches facing each other
Between trenches lay a “no-man’s land” – a barren expanse of mud pockmarked with shell craters and filled with barbed wire
Soldiers fought for months and years over miles and even yards of terrain.

25. American Neutrality
Americans see no need to jump into a war that is being fought 3,000 miles away.*
Some Americans favored the Allies, and some the Central Powers – depending on their heritage.
Washington’s Farewell Address

26. American loyalties tied to trade
Economic ties to the Allies were much greater than those with the Central Powers (graph p. 583).

27. Britain Blockades Germany
Britain blockaded the German coast to cut off its supply of weapons and food.

28. German U-Boat Response
German U-Boats (submarines) sink any British or Allied ship found in the waters around Britain.

29. Lusitania May, 1915 British liner Lusitania sunk by a U-boat
128 Americans among the 1,198 deaths.
American public opinion turns against Germany.

30. Response
U.S. protests, but Germany promises not to sink any more passenger ships. Promise does not hold true.

31. 1916 Election
Wilson defeats Charles Evan Hughes (Supreme Court) in 1916 in a very close race.
Wilson: “He Kept Us Out of War”

32. U.S. Enters the War
Wilson calls for peace, but German kaiser announces unrestricted submarine warfare.
Zimmerman note

33. Zimmerman Note
Telegram from German foreign minister to ambassador in Mexico intercepted.
Speaks of a German-Mexican alliance and promised that if war broke out Germany would help Mexico regain “lost territory in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona”

34. Russia
Russia’s oppressive monarchy is replaced with a representative gov’t. Now war becomes democracies vs. brutal monarchies.

35. Selective Service Act
Introduced registration and classification for military service of all American men between ages million registered and 3 million drafted

36. Contraband
Led to the Germans using the fact that the US was shipping war goods to the Allies as an excuse for using unrestricted submarine warfare (U-boats).

37. Mobilization
The massive build-up and movement of men and war resources to fight in WWI – especially when referring to US involvement because it was overseas for us

38. Isolationists
Americans who did not favor involvement in foreign affairs. Strong after World War I (20s and 30s)

39. Idealism
Idea from Wilson that US involvement in WWI was needed to “make the world safe for democracy”

40. Jeanette Rankin
A pacifist and suffragist who introduced the 19th Amendment and opposed US involvement in WWI.

41. “Make the world safe for democracy”
Wilson’s justification quote for the US entrance into WWI – April 6, Established hope among African-American soldiers for equal treatment upon return.