Week of December 12th - December 16th - Blogs

Monday -

Start presentations

WWI - 1914-1918
US got involved in 1917
US started in battles in 1918

Jackson, Aaron, Wyatt

Who fought
- Allied powers
  - England
  - France
  - Russia
  - United States
  - Italy
  - Serbia
  - Belgium
- Central Powers
  - Germany
  - Austria Hungary
  - Ottoman Empire
  - Bulgaria
Long Term Causes
- Nationalism
  - Competition and rivalries began and developed between European Nations - creating hatred for each other
- Militarism
  - Wars caused huge arms race for military technology between each country
- Imperialism
  - Competition for colonies
  - Rivalry and distrust among European nations
- Alliance system - agreements between nations to provide aid and protect one another
  - Designed to keep peace in Europe but instead led to distrust and war
  - Made major allies and later built countries against each other
- MAIN
  - M - militarism
  - A - alliance system
  - I - imperialism
  - N - nationalism
Short term causes
- June 28th, 1914
- Archduke Franz Ferdinand Assassination
- All took place in Sarajevo
- Gavrilo Princip (17-years-old) shot Ferdinand

Tuesday -

Domino Effect
- Austria blamed Seriba for Ferdinand's death and declared war on Serbia
- Germany pledged their support for Austria - Hungary
- Russia pledged their support for Serbia
- Germany declares war on Russia
- France pledges their support for Russia
- Germany declares war on France
- Germany invades Belgium on the way to France
- Great Britain supports Belgium and declares war on Germany
Reasons for US entering war
- Zimmerman Note - A telegram sent from Germany to Mexico that proposed an alliance between them
- Sinking of Lusitania - Germany warned that they would sink any boat coming
  - A German U-boat sunk the RMS Lusitania
- Rape of Belgium
- Trade with England increased/Germany decreased
Goals for the Major Countries
- US
  - make the world safer for democracy
  - the war was kind of saw as democracies (France and Britain) vs. monarchies (Germany and Austria-Hungary)
- Germany
  - weaken France
  - build empire in Europe
- Britain
  - weaken Germany to protect their allies
  - get colonies from Germany and Turkey
Battle Strategies
- Von Schlieffen Plan
  - Germany's Plan
  - Germany to attack France through Belgium
- Gallipoli
  - Strategy for ships to be able to pass through the Dardanelles

Wednesday -

My group presented... notes on our own powerpoint

Thursday -

WWI Warfare and Weapons

Trench Warfare
- Rat infested
  - Mainly brown and black rats
  - They could have up to 900 babies
  - Disease and infection
- Lice and worse
  - Lice caused trench fever
  - Trench foot - fungal infection caused by cold and wet conditions
- Trenches were also death traps for many soldiers - all it took was one grenade and many soldiers lost their lives
- 10 feet deep and 15 feet wide at the top
- supplied the soldiers with protection and safety from most enemy bullets and artillery
- No man's land between the trenches
  - Barbed wire
  - Mines
  - Make enemy slower
Tank Warfare
- Beginning of the tank
  - Sketches made by Leonardo de Vinci
  - Battle of Flers
  - Unreliable
  - Lieutenant - Colonel Ernest Sinton (US - one of the first to test the tank)
  - Germans, British, etc. already had fighting vehicles
- Ability of the Tank
  - Max speed of 4 mph on flat land
  - Turn sharply at top seped
  - Climb a 5-feet parapet (low protective wall along top of trench or concealment for troops)
  - Cross and 8 feet gap
  - Working radius of 20 miles
  - 10 men with 2 machine guns on board and 1 light artillery gun
- Tanks and the Western Front
  - 400+ mile stretch of land
  - Trenches and lack of movement
  - Tanks had caterpillar tracks
  - US had 84 tanks
  - UK had 1,391 tanks
  - France had 4,000 tanks
Aerial Warfare
- Anthony Fokker
  - Dutch
  - Machine gun fire through propeller
- Germans
  - Advantage over Allies
- 70 different types of planes
- Hot air balloons
- Allies and Central Powers
  - Fired artillery rounds
- Importance of Aerial Warfare
  - Eastern Front - used on smaller scale
  - Most nations in the war developed Air Force
  - Too dependent on weather
  - Aircraft - useful for spying
Naval Warfare
- Central Power
  - Sinking
    - Germany
    - Austria-Hungary
    - Ottoman Empire
    - Bulgaria
- Allies
  - Blockage, blockade
    - Britain
    - Russia
    - France
    - Italy
    - US
- Naval Tactics
  - German U Boats
    - During WWI, Germany built 360 U-Boat submarines
    - Sank nearly half of the british and french boats
    - 11 million tons
    - Used torpedos
  - Cruisers
    - Carried the big guns
    - Protected by armour
    - Big slow
    - Very costly
      - Compared to a tank
  - Merchant/Battleships
    - Cheaper form of weapon
    - Were used for long distance travel
    - Had defensive mechanism
    - High value trade
Weapons
- Rifles
  - British Army - Lee Enfield .303
  - Germany Infantry - Gewehr 98
- Barbed Wire
  - Western front
  - Slowed attackers
  - Made advacing over no man's land nightmarish
- Machine guns
- Artillery
  - Caused majority of casualities
  - Field guns
    - Could fire 2 rounds of 290 lb. shells a minute
- Poisonous Gas
  - Germans - chlorine gas
  - British - chlorine gas, phosgene and mustard (worst) gas
  - 1 million gas casualties on all sides

Friday -

Wilson's 14 points

Open diplomacy - Everyone knows whats going on/ No secrets or alliances - covenents of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view
Freedom of the Seas - No territories, peace in the water, stay neutral when in the water
Removal of Economic Barriers - Freedom for Trade - Take away terrives
Reduction of Armaments - Reduce Military Force - Have enough for armour for you but not too much to take over countries
Land - End of Coloneal Claim - End imperialism - we don't want them to take over more colonies and smaller countries
Russia is allowed to determine their own government - All Germans must leave Russian Soil
German troops leave Belgium - will be independent
France will regain all of its' territory. France's invaded portions will be restored.
Borders of Italy will be established such that all Italians will be within the country of Italy. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.
Austria-Hungary will be allowed to stay an independent country (did not hold). They wanted them to be safeguarded and assured. Freedom for the people living there.
Central Powers will be evacuated from Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania, leaving them as independent countries - occupied territories restored. Serbia should have secure access to the sea.
The Turkish people of the Ottoman Empire will have their own country. Other nationalities under the Ottoman rule will also have security. They are left in peace and to have their own government.
Poland should be independent - open sea port.
League of Nations is called for - protects all countries independence and asks for independent infinite peace

Treaty of Versailles

Signed June 28, 1919
15 parts and 440 articles
Gave Germany boundaries and liabilities
France wanted punishment on Germany
Britain and US didn't want another war
France and Belgium enforced it until 1924
Germany wasn't given a say
Germany had to pay a lot of money to France and Belgium for war damages (billions and billions)

The Paris Peace Conference

Versailles Palace
Hall of mirrors - officially signed
The Big Four
- US
- Great Britain
- France
- Italy (odd man out - wanted more land than given)
Land was taken away from Germany
- Hitler (WWII) invaded all land taken away from Germany
Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men; the army was not allowed tanks
Germany was not allowed an air force
Germany was allowed only 6 capital naval ships and no submarines
Germany had to admit that they were the cause of WWI (War guilt cause)

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