Presentation day!
The Great War (1914-1918) "The War to end all Wars"
Countries involved: United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, USA
-Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire (Turkey), and Bulgaria
-Allied Powers: Russia, France, United Kingdom, Japan, and US
-Wilson (U.S.), David George (Great Britain), and George Cemenceau (France) were part of the "Big Four"
Causes of War: Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism, Assassination
Militarism- Building up military in prep. for war
Alliances- Countries teamed up to get stronger
Imperialism- Building up an empire
Nationalism- Strong pride in country
Assassination- Archduke and wife were assassinated, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
-Franz Ferdinand: Wealthy, prince of Austria-Hungary, married in secrecy, Gavrilo Princip assassinated him and his wife.
Austrian government sent 10 demands to Serbia, they only accepted 8
Serbians lost over 250,000 men and were pushed back by the Austrians
Causes of US joining the War:
Wilson:
-wanted to stay neutral
-Germany angered the US by sinking our ships
-Wilson (and congress) declared war
Sinking of the Lusitania, 1914:
-first time Germans used submarines for war
-sonar wasn't invented until later in the war
-Lusitania was used for transporting people and goods
-Germans sunk any ship they thought was British, sunk Lusitania because they thought it was transporting war supplies
-Angered Americans, Germany thought it as a success
WWI:
Trench warfare:
-Front line
-Supply
-"No man's land" (land between front lines)
Weapons:
-rifles were the main guns, about 15 shots a minute
-machine guns, run by 3-6 people, firepower of about 100 rifles
-zeppelin-airship used in bombing raids, less used later on because they could be shot down easily
-tanks-first tank called "Little Willie", requires a 3-man team and could travel at 3 mph, had trouble crossing trenches
-planes-first used for recon and spying, later armed with machine guns, bombs, and sometimes cannons
-submarines-U-boats by the Germans, used torpedoes to sink ships
-flamethrowers used first by Germans
-grenades also used first by Germans (had approximately 70,000 grenades at the start of the war)
-gas-mostly used to demoralize (can't see the threat), injure, and kill, Hitler was gassed once during the war, types of gas: Tear gas (induces tears), Mustard gas (skin irritant, could stay in soil for many days), Phosgene (skin irritant), and Chlorine; used artillery and mortars to deploy it; declared illegal to use gas attacks after WWI.
Home-front:
-What the U.S. did at home to help with the war
-Rations were made because of U-boats
-Woman, worked in factories and did manly jobs
-Propaganda, made to influence women to work and men to enlist
-African Americans also worked in factories and got jobs
-Civilians are targeted for the first time in war by German bombing runs
-DORA act: made it so no one can discus naval or military matters, did it to ensure the country wouldn't have food and fuel shortages
-Sedition act: imprisoned anyone who talked badly about the U.S. government (took away 1st amendment), repealed in 1920
-War industries board: Headed by Bernard Baruch, regulated U.S. industry (changed industries to military-type factories, automobiles for tanks, shops for weapons/ammo)
-Food administration: Headed by Herbert Hoover, limited food, didn't allow people to hoard food, encouraged victory gardens, food will win the war!
-Victory garden, gardens to produce food/money for the soldiers and the citizens
-Committee on public information: goal was to influence U.S. public opinion to support WWI, used ads and propaganda to do so, 'Americanized' German names (hamburger to liberty steak, Sauerkraut to liberty cabbage)
-National war labor board: settled disputes between workers and employees, discouraged strikes (work or fight, don't go on strike!), headed by William H. Taft
Preparedness Movement:
-Campaign led by Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt
-raised up a strong army
-1915, US argued that we needed a strong army and navy
Propaganda (posters, ads, music, etc.):
-Goals: get people to dislike another country, get people to do what your country wants, sway one's opinion
-Reasons: military (people to join), war bonds (money for the war), Red Cross, promote patriotism
-Uses simplicity, appeals to emotions, has pictures
-'Over There'- most famous song in WWI
-Central Powers had too many words and lied (little countries put up a fight)
Battles:
-100 days offensive, multiple offences the US did that ultimately caused Germany to surrender
October Revolution:
-Russians had to leave WWI because of a revolution
-Causes of revolution: Industrial production was down, pheasants uprising against landowners
-Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918), Russia lost the Baltic States to Germany
-Bolshevik (led by Vladimir Lenin) victory, led to Russian civil war
-Created Soviet Union (communistic)
Armistice:
-German revolution, called the Sailors' Revolt (October 29-30, 1918), new republic by November 9
-Armistice of Compiegne (November 11, 1918) took effect at 11 am, 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, signed on Marshal Ferdinand Foch's train car, required Germany to retreat back to its boarders, complete demilitarization.
-Armistice Day, changed name to Veteran's Day, made to remember all American soldiers (alive, wounded, dead)
Treaty of Versailles:
-treaty that ended WWI
-Paris Peace Conference (1919), met to discuss what was to happen to the central powers after the war, about 30 countries involved
-all versions of the treaty pins a lot of blame and punishment on Germany
-Top four: Italy, US (never signed), France, Great Britain
-Territorial- much land was taken from Germany (Poland, Denmark, Belgium, France), overseas colonies taken by League of Nations
-Military- German army=less than 100,000, no tanks, no air-force, no submarines, only 6 capital naval ships, west of Rhineland was a DMZ (demilitarized) zone
-Financial- Germany had to pay $33 billion, lost industrial territory vital to their economy
-"War Guilt Clause"- Germany was put to blame for the war/had to admit they started the war
-Harding- "A Return to Normalcy", stay out of foreign affairs
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