Family Feud: 3 Cousins of WWI - all grandsons of Queen Victoria of Great Britain King George V of Great Britain Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany Tsar Nicholas II of Russia Tsar Nicholas (left) and King George V (right) Odd Man Out: Kaiser Wilhelm CAUSES Arms buildup throughout Europe Personal vendettas: Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm against his cousins Britain's King George V and Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Competition for Imperialism Germany vying for power Entangling Alliances Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary Assassination of Franz Ferdinand Control over Serbia Nicholas and George's friendship, too, was no match for the shoals of politics. When Nicholas abdicated in 1917, the provisional Russian government asked the British to give the tsar and his family political asylum. The British government initially said yes, but George – who had told Nicholas a few years before, "Remember, you can always count on me as your friend" – was convinced that if his now deeply unpopular cousin came to England, his own position would be threatened. It was the first time his friendship with Nicholas had been genuinely tested; he responded by lobbying energetically for the invitation to be withdrawn, and it was. Whether the imperial family could actually have been spirited out of Russia is unknown, but George's reaction was a negation of all the decades of protestations of family closeness. Nicholas and his family were murdered at Ekaterinburg 18 months later. 6 Alliances - 1917 Germany Austria-Hungary Turkey Bulgaria Russia France Great Britain United States Central Powers: Allies: Italy MOTIVES Germany: Believed that war with Russia was inevitable Argued it would be better to fight Russia while its army was still poorly armed and untrained, rather than to wait until it could pose a greater threat. England Germany built up a naval fleet, with the specific goal of matching Britain on the high seas. England saw this as a threat to the balance of power in Europe. MOTIVES, con’t France: Had lost the territories of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany Believed that if Germany were distracted by a war with Russia, France could regain these territories. Russia: Motives are less clear-cut Russian military leaders had strong nationalistic leanings & encouraged Tsar Nicholas II to join the war A time of great instability in Russia A military victory would likely help the tsar politically General Info Started on July 28, 1914 US entered war in April, 1917 Ended on November 11, 1918 Almost 8,000,000 dead. Almost 22,000,000 wounded 3 million US men drafted 2 million volunteered Cost US $32 million 1 million U.S. women entered work force Map of Europe greatly changed. Europe on the Eve of World War I, 1914 The Black Hand The main objective of the Black Hand was the creation of a Greater Serbia, by means of violence. spark tha ...

1. Family Feud: 3 Cousins of WWI
- all grandsons of
Queen Victoria of Great Britain
King George V of Great Britain
Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
Tsar Nicholas (left)
and
King George V (right)
Odd Man Out: Kaiser Wilhelm

2. CAUSES
Arms buildup throughout Europe
Personal vendettas:
Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm against his cousins Britain's King
George V and Russia’s Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
Competition for Imperialism
Germany vying for power
Entangling Alliances
Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia
Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
Control over Serbia
Nicholas and George's friendship, too, was no match for the
shoals of politics. When Nicholas abdicated in 1917, the
provisional Russian government asked the British to give the
tsar and his family political asylum. The British government
initially said yes, but George – who had told Nicholas a few
years before, "Remember, you can always count on me as your
friend" – was convinced that if his now deeply unpopular cousin
came to England, his own position would be threatened. It was
the first time his friendship with Nicholas had been genuinely
tested; he responded by lobbying energetically for the invi tation
to be withdrawn, and it was. Whether the imperial family could
actually have been spirited out of Russia is unknown, but
George's reaction was a negation of all the decades of
protestations of family closeness. Nicholas and his family were
murdered at Ekaterinburg 18 months later.
6

3. Alliances - 1917
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Turkey
Bulgaria
Russia
France
Great Britain
United States
Central Powers:
Allies:
Italy
MOTIVES
Germany:
Believed that war with Russia was inevitable
Argued it would be better to fight Russia while its army was
still poorly armed and untrained, rather than to wait until it
could pose a greater threat.
England
Germany built up a naval fleet, with the specific goal of
matching Britain on the high seas.
England saw this as a threat to the balance of power in Europe.

4. MOTIVES, con’t
France:
Had lost the territories of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany
Believed that if Germany were distracted by a war with Russia,
France could regain these territories.
Russia:
Motives are less clear-cut
Russian military leaders had strong nationalistic leanings &
encouraged Tsar Nicholas II to join the war
A time of great instability in Russia
A military victory would likely help the tsar politically
General Info
Started on July 28, 1914
US entered war in April, 1917
Ended on November 11, 1918
Almost 8,000,000 dead.
Almost 22,000,000 wounded
3 million US men drafted
2 million volunteered
Cost US $32 million
1 million U.S. women entered work force
Map of Europe greatly changed.
Europe on the Eve of World War I, 1914

5. The Black Hand
The main objective of the Black Hand was the creation of a
Greater Serbia, by means of violence.
spark that lit
the fuse
Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Austria) was assassinated while
visiting Serbia.
The Black Hand was responsible.

6. THE ASSASSIN & THE ARCHDUKE
GAVRILO PRINCIP
Seventeen-year old GavriloPrincip, a member of the Serbian
terrorist organization known as "Mlada Bosna" (Young
Bosnians), stepped forward and fired two quick shots. The first
struck Sophie in the abdomen while the second hit Ferdinand in
the neck.
18
Plan was to eliminate France as an ally of Russia.
Trench warfare
The German Army Chief of Staff Alfred von Schlieffen was
given instructions to devise a plan that would be able to counter
a combined attack from France, Britain and Russia.
In December 1905, he circulated what later became known as
The Schlieffen Plan, the key to his plan was that if war took
place France had to be defeated quickly so that Russia and
Britain would be unwilling to continue.
The plan assumed:
Russia would take 6 weeks to mobilise its army
Belgium would offer little or no resistance
France could be defeated in 6 weeks
France would attempt to re-take Alsace and Lorraine; territories
they lost to Germany during the Franco-Prussian war.

7. Britain would remain neutral
What happened though was:
the advance was held up by the Belgians
the Russians mobilized in just 10 days, not six weeks, so that
more troops had to be diverted from the attack on France to
defend the eastern border
Britain entered the war on France's side due to an agreement
with Belgium to defend her against German attack
the British Expeditionary Force reached France and Belgium far
quicker than expected
the Germans failed to take Paris when they had the chance;
instead they decided to attack the French army east of the
capital at the Battle of the Marne (5th - 11th September 1914).
The result
After a short 'race to the coast', in which both sides tried to
outflank each other, the German troops dug in to defensive
positions, thus creating a chain of trenches from Switzerland to
the North Sea and a military stalemate that was to last for
nearly four years.
19
World War I was a defensive war. Troops who went "over the
top" of the trenches soon found that an infantry advance against
entrenched machine guns was not very successful. Casualties in
offensives were outrageously high and usually the result was

8. very little gain. A stalemate soon settled in along the western
front which lasted most of the war.
21
Third Degree Trench Foot
2 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks after exposure
In trench foot, the sequence of events leading to the injury
followed a fairly constant pattern. The combat infantry soldier
is forced into immobility in a wet foxhole for a prolonged
period of time. During this period, he first notices tingling or
complains of a stinging sensation in his feet, which may become
quite intense. After a period of exposure, the feet become numb
and finally anesthetic, "like blocks of ice." When the attack is
ordered, or he is relieved, walking causes severe burning pain;
and on the removal of his shoes, the feet become swollen and
warm. Three factors were always present in the carefully
examined cases. First, wet cold; second, a prolonged exposure
in a relatively immobile position; and third, physical activity
following the exposure. Of these factors, wet cold is
undoubtedly the most important. Peak casualties always
followed periods of wet cold weather.
23

9. “Little Willie" British prototype of the first tank
A Colonel in the British army developed the idea when he
noticed that the only vehicles that could navigate the rough
terrain were caterpillar tractors with moving treads. He realized
that if such a vehicle were covered with armor, it might be just
the very thing to get into and over the other side's trenches.
He passed the idea along to the government and Winston
Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, got it. He was
intrigued by the idea and started a project to develop the idea.
It was so top secret that the workers were told that they were
working on water carriers - naturally, they began to call them
"tanks," short for water tanks, and the name stuck.
The tanks weren't used in battle until the end of 1916, but then
the first batch was tried. Unfortunately most of them broke
down before they got very far, but a few did get past the enemy
trenches. The army saw the potential and got production
underway. A year later, in November of 1917, they were for the
first time used effectively to break through the enemy lines.
24
However, we traded food, weapons, oil, steel, and other goods
far more with the Allied Powers than with the Central Powers.
American Neutrality
Officially, the U.S. was a neutral country.

10. What did it take to get the US involved?
1. Blockades
Britain blockaded all German ships going to America.
Germany announced submarine war around Britain.
Y-53 German Submarine 1916
What did it take to get the US involved?
28
May, 1915 - Germany told Americans to stay off of British
ships.
They could/would sink them.
What did it take to get the US involved?
1915 - Lusitania torpedoed, sinking with 1200 passengers and
crew (including 128 Americans)
Eventually found to be carrying 4200 cases of ammunition

11. What did it take to get the US involved?
The US sharply criticized Germany for their action
Germany agreed to no longer sink passenger ships without
warning
Note in Bottle After Lusitania Disaster
SUSSEX PLEDGE - 1916
Germany would stop U-Boat warfare
Germany had the right to start U-Boat warfare again if US
didn’t force Britain to adhere to same policies.
Passenger ships would not be targeted
Merchant ships would not be sunk until the presence of boats
had been established & provisions for the safety of passengers
and crew
If Germany resumed unrestricted attacks, the US would have to
go to war.
What did it take to get the US involved?
2. Resumed Unlimited Submarine Warfare
1917 Germany resumed “unlimited submarine warfare” in the
war zone
What did it take to get the US involved?
3. Zimmerman Note - 1917
January,1917 - British cryptographers deciphered a telegram

12. from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the
German Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt
Offering US territory to Mexico in return for joining the
German cause.
March 1, 1917 - text of the Zimmermann telegram appeared on
the front pages of American newspapers
The American public opinion shifted in favor of entering the
war.
The U.S. declared war on the Central Powers in 1917.
What did it take to get the US involved?
The Zimmerman Note PLUS the sinking of 4 unarmed American
ships, by German U-Boats, led to a declaration of war by the
US.
Convincing the American People
Posters!!
How do you think this poster helped to convince the American
people that the war was a good idea?

13. Albert Billy, Mitchell Bobb, Victor Brown, Ben Caterby, James
Edwards, Tobias Frazer, Ben Hampton, Solomon Louis, Pete
Maytubby, Jeff Nelson, Joseph Oklahombi, Robert Taylor,
Calvin Wilson, and Walter Veach
6 of the 14 Choctaw Code talkers.
Convincing the American People
Idealism: Fourteen Points
14 Points:
1) no secret treaties
2) freedom of navigation of seas – Britain didn’t like this
3) lowering of tariffs
4) reduction of armaments
5) adjustment of colonial claims based on Natives’ desires
6-13) Established boundaries of Europe with input from Natives
Eastern Europe
14) League of Nations- world’s states have equal representation
regardless of size or strength
President Woodrow Wilson
How did the War Affect the US?
Women
Women filled factory jobs
May have led to the passage of the 19th Amendment after the
war
Black soldiers still served in Segregated Units
African Americans
“Great Migration” - thousands of African Americans moved

14. North to work in factories
How did the War Affect the US?
Enforcing Loyalty
Hatred of all things German
Ex. “Liberty Cabbage” instead of sauerkraut
Stoning of Dachshunds
Espionage Act 1917 & Sedition Act of 1918 punished those
against the war
Approximate Comparative Losses in WWI
SHELL SHOCK
Job of George Creel during the war
Sell America the war.
“Whip” up support for Wilson’s ideas
Help US raise money to fight
Stress Anti-Germanism
Sell American Culture
LEGACY OF WWI
Germany became a tumultuous place
teetering on the brink of violent revolutions

15. It was vulnerable to a take over from extremist elements like the
Nazi Party.
A few decades proved that the Allies had gone overboard with
the punishments they inflicted on Germany
Creating conditions that launched Europe into the center of an
even more horrible war.
Casualties of War
TOTAL 2,017,147 576,502
Racial Tensions
Migration of African-Americans to the North led to competition
between whites and blacks for jobs
1917 – 38 lynched
1918 – 58 lynched
1919 – “The Bloody Red Summer”
70+ lynched
Major race riots occurred in NYC, Chicago, Elaine, AR,
Washington, D.C., & Omaha, NE
Tulsa Race Riot
May 31 – June 1, 1921

16. the official death toll was claimed to be 26 Blacks and 13
whites killed, the death toll from the riot was estimated to be
over 3900 people. Of the 3900 people killed, 300 were Whites,
the rest African American
47
The American Red Cross estimated that 300+ people were killed
– many of whom were buried in unmarked, mass graves.
It also listed 8,624 persons in need of assistance.
1,000+ homes destroyed.
10,000 people left homeless and living in tents.
6,000+ of Greenwood’s black residents were arrested and
detained– many of whom died while in custody.