Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

1 Ch. 27 Sec. 2 World War I: A New Kind of War. 2 The Belligerents Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, & the Ottoman Empire were the Central Powers; territory.

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "1 Ch. 27 Sec. 2 World War I: A New Kind of War. 2 The Belligerents Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, & the Ottoman Empire were the Central Powers; territory."— Presentation transcript:

1 1 Ch. 27 Sec. 2 World War I: A New Kind of War

2 2 The Belligerents Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, & the Ottoman Empire were the Central Powers; territory extended from the North Sea to the Middle East Their advantages included easy communication, rapid troop movement, & Germanys mighty army G.B., France, Russia, & their partners formed the Allied Powers, or Allies The allies had more soldiers, greater industrial capacity, & Britain’s powerful navy

3 3 Innovations In Warfare Germany was the 1 st nation to use submarines, or U-boats, effectively; they also introduced poison gas; new weapons included machine guns, & long-range artillery Soldiers dug trenches, & another new weapon, the airplane, was used to observe troop movements plus planes also engaged in air battles, called dogfights; Britain introduced the tank

4 4 Most soldiers were drafted civilians, not professionals It was a “total war”; many nations’ entire resources were dedicated to the war effort Men & women at home worked in arms factories; gov’t agencies created propaganda-deliberately spread true & untrue ideas, facts, & rumors to further their cause

5 5 Early Years of the War German troops marched toward Paris while French & British troops fought fiercely, holding the line at the Marne R. Both sides dug in; trenches lined the western front, from Switzerland to the N. Sea On the eastern front, Russia attacked E. Prussia; it suffered a humiliating defeat w. heavy losses

6 6 Germany invaded Russian Poland; Russia’s army was huge but lacked guns & ammunition, so to get supplies to Russia, the Allies tried to capture Constantinople Heavy resistance from the Turks at Gallipoli brought the bloody fighting to a stalemate; after heavy losses, the allies w/drew

7 7 Naval Warfare Britain blockaded the North Sea, keeping raw materials from reaching German factories In turn, German U-boats blockaded G.B. In 1915, a U-boat sank the British passenger liner Lusitania, which was carrying passengers & war materials to England (over 1,000 people were killed, including 128 Americans)

8 8 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent Germany a strong warning  cut back U- boat attacks By late 1915 the war was a stalemate on land & sea; each side dug into trenches The conflict had become a war of attrition  a slow wearing-down process in which each side tried to outlast the other

9 9 The United States & World War I Most Americans wanted to remain neutral; they supplied food, raw materials, & ammunition to both sides However, contraband – war materials supplied by a neutral nation to a belligerent one – could by seized under international law As the British blockade of Germany tightened, Americans traded more w/ Allies

10 10 They read British propaganda exaggerating German atrocities – brutal acts against defenseless civilians In 1917 the British intercepted a secret telegram from German foreign service officer Arthur Zimmerman; it proposed that if Mexico would join Germany, Germany would help Mexico recover Arizona, New Mexico, & Texas; Americans were outraged

11 11 German U-boats resumed destroying ships carrying American passengers After the Russian Revolution, all the Allied countries were democratic & none of the Central powers were Pres. Wilson told Congress “the world must be made safe for democracy” The U.S. declared war on Germany in April 1917


Download ppt "1 Ch. 27 Sec. 2 World War I: A New Kind of War. 2 The Belligerents Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, & the Ottoman Empire were the Central Powers; territory."

Similar presentations


Ads by Google