1. Causes of WWI Vocab 7-4.1 1. Militarism 2. Alliance 3. Imperialism
4. Nationalism
5. Front
6. Trench Warfare
7. Stalemate
8. Bolshevik
9. Isolationism
10. Neutral

2. The Causes of World War I Notes
Standard 7-4.1

3. Setting the Stage… Europe had no major wars for almost 100 years!
In 1914 Europe exploded!

4. 1. MAIN Causes of World War I
Militarism – Countries were building huge armies and weapons.
Alliances – Agreements among competing nations to help each other if war broke out.
Imperialism – Race for empires and opening up new markets.
Nationalism – Intense national loyalty. People wanted independence from empires and creation of their own states.

5. 2. The Alliances
Triple Entente or Allied Powers: France, Great Britain, and Russia.
Triple Alliance or Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire

6. Objective: To examine the horrors of trench warfare.6

8. Sides of WWI
Central Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Bulgaria
Ottoman Empire
Neutral Forces
Spain
Switzerland
Netherlands
Albania
Allied Powers
France
Russia
Britain
Italy & US (later)

9. 3. The Balkan Crisis
The first “spark” in the war took place in the “powder keg” of the Balkans.
Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife were shot and killed in Sarajevo, Bosnia June 1914.
The assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, and a member of the terrorist organization “The Black Hand.”

10. A Family Feud…..
Tzar Nicholas I of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and King George V of England were all cousins – descendants of Queen Victoria. They were on opposing sides in the war.

11. 4. The Battle Zone
There were 3 main fronts: The Western, the Eastern, and the Italian.
The Western Front was a battle zone between France and Germany. This is where much of the fighting took place. The French and English fought the Germans.

12. 4. The Battle Zone Continued.
C. The fighting on the Eastern Front was between the Germans and Russians.
D. The fighting on the Italian Front was Italy and France against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
E. Russia withdrew from the War in This made it easier for the Central Powers to attack the Allies.

13. 5.. Trench Warfare Both sides engaged in Trench Warfare.
Soldiers fought from 2 lines of trenches or ditches. The trenches reached from the English Channel to Switzerland.
Eventually, the 2 sides reached a stalemate which lasted until 1917.

14. Cross-section of a front-line trench
Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare – type of fighting during World War I in which both sides dug trenches protected by mines and barbed wire
Cross-section of a front-line trench  14

15. 15

16. British trench, France, July 1916 (during the Battle of the Somme)

17. French soldiers firing over their own dead
All Quiet on the Western Front – trench warfare (9:27) 17

18. An aerial photograph of the opposing trenches and no-man's land in Artois, France, July 22, German trenches are at the right and bottom, British trenches are at the top left. The vertical line to the left of centre indicates the course of a pre-war road. 18

19. Officers walking through a flooded communication trench.19

20. A photograph of a man suffering from trench foot.20

21. 6.New Weapons
New types of weapons were used in WWI. These made the war more deadly:
Machine guns
Poison gases
Gas masks
Submarines
Airplanes
Flame throwers
Long-range artillery
Tanks
B. The human cost of war reached into
the millions.
C. Battlefield deaths and civilians deaths soared to record numbers.

22. Tools of War
The cannons had to be pulled by horses to the battle site.
Camouflage was used to disguise the location.
Other new weapons included barbed wire, trenches, airplanes, grenades, submarines,
tanks, and poison gas

23. War Becomes More Modern
World War I was the first time the airplane was used in combat
Air combat and heroics by pilots created a new class of hero – the Ace
Here a British plane drops a torpedo on a German boat
Zeppelins, similar to blimps, were also used for observation and bombing

24. Soldiers digging trenches while protected against gas attacks24

25. 'Gassed'. Painting by John Singer Sargent, 1918/1919.25

26. British Vickers machine gun crew, western front, World War I.26

27. 7. The Bolshevik Revolution
A. Prior to WWI, the Russians were unhappy about their lives. Their complaints were high taxes, poor working conditions, and few political rights.
B. When Russia joined WWI, things got even worse for the Russian people.
C. In 1917, Czar Nicholas II was overthrown and his family was executed.
D. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, withdrew from the War, broke their alliance with Britain and France, and signed a peace treaty with Germany.
E. This left the British and French in dire need of more help along the Western Front.

28. 8. Where is the United States?
At first the United States tried to stay neutral but it was difficult.
We felt a loyalty to Britain and we wanted to trade with Germany
The United States’ entrance into the war would have a major impact on the eventual victory of the Allied Powers.

29. 9. The Lusitania
The Lusitania was a British passenger ship that was sunk by German U-boats.
128 Americans were killed.
The U.S. still didn’t enter the war.
Wilson’s
campaign slogan
in 1916 was “He
Kept Us Out Of
War!” 29

30. 10. The Zimmerman Telegram
In 1917, a German official sent a telegram to Mexico asking them to join with Germany.
Finally, in 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany and sent troops to Europe. 30

31. 11. The United States Joins the War
The American Expeditionary Force went to the Western Front to help Britain and France.
Finally, Germany was defeated.
An armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 officially ending the war.

32. Propaganda