WORLD WAR I

UNIT 6: WWI
1914-1915

• Government propaganda led to public involvement and

acceptance of war
–Propaganda: Ideas that are spread to influence public
opinion for or against a cause
• Public also believed the war would be over in a few
weeks
–War seen as heroic, glorious
1914-1915 WESTERN FRONT

• Germany hoped for quick end to war with the Schlieffen

Plan
– Didn’t expect resistance in Belgium
• War turned to stalemate because of trench warfare
(fighting from ditches protected by barbed wire)
– No movement for ~4 years
THE EASTERN FRONT

• Trench warfare less common on the Eastern Front; more mobile

– Loss of life still massive
• Italy joins the war with the Allies, not Central
• Austria-Hungary began losing to Russia before Germany
stepped in to assist
– 2.5 million Russian casualties
• Central Powers remove Serbia from war; begin focusing on
Western Front
THE EASTERN FRONT
• The Russian Revolution occurs, putting Vladimir Lenin in power
– Signs peace treaty with Germany; exits war
• U.S. joins war in 1917
– German U-Boats sunk American ships
– Zimmerman Telegram: a German message to Mexico requesting an alliance
• Intercepted by British and passed along to U.S.

• With Eastern Front secured, Germany launches large offensive in the

west
– Successful at first; stopped at Second Battle of the Marne
• Beginning of the end
WWI TECHNOLOGY

• Poison gas
• Artillery
• Machine guns
• Tanks
• Submarines
• Airplanes
 COST OF WWI
No-man’s-land: Barren strip of
unoccupied land between opposing
trenches
War of attrition: war based on wearing
down the other side with constant
attacks and heavy losses
Total war: A war that involved the
complete mobilization of resources and
people, affecting the lives of all citizens
in the warring countries
END OF THE WAR

• November 9, 1918 – Kaiser Wilhelm II resigns

• November 11, 1918 – France and Germany sign an
armistice (agreement to cease fighting)
– Known as Armistice Day
PEACE SETTLEMENTS

• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proposes “Fourteen

Points” to ensure lasting peace
– Reducing military forces
– Self-determination
– Creation of the League of Nations: an international
peacekeeping organization
• Britain and France wanted punishment for Germany
TREATY OF VERSAILLES
• Signed June 28, 1919
• Treaty of Versailles
– Blamed Germany for war
– Forced to pay reparations (payments made to the victor to
cover the cost of the war); $33b
– Reduced German army to 100,000 men; cut down navy;
eliminated air force
– Rhineland demilitarized
• New nations created from treaty
 *Generation that came of
age during WW1
The Lost Generation *Characterized by a sense
of disillusion with the
world; cynicism

*Took charge
SOCIAL Increased status for
of the
EFFECTS women
country
while men
away at war

*500 million
1918 Influenza Pandemic infected
*50 million died