This document provides an overview of World War I and the key events that led to the US entry into the war in 1917. It discusses the rise of nationalism, imperialism, and militarism in Europe in the early 20th century. Tensions escalated after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, leading Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia and the formation of allied powers on both sides. The US initially remained neutral but was drawn into the war in 1917 after Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman Telegram. American forces played a key role in helping the allies achieve victory by late 1918.

1. World War I
1914-1918
USA entry- 1917

2. Nationalism in Europe

3. Deep attachments to one’s
own nation helped unify the
people and helped create
competition
Nationalism

4. Nations seeking economic
growth and expansion
Establish and expand global
empires
Imperialism

5. Build-up of military forces
among nations
Strong military competition
Militarism

6. Hardening of alliance systems
Triple Alliance—
Triple Entente—
Russia was traditionally
Serbia’s protector
Alliances

7. Building Global Empires and Military Alliances

8. Triple Alliance
Germany
Italy
Austria-Hungary
Triple Entente
Great Britain
Russia
France

9. Austria-Hungary Declares war on Serbia

10. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to
Austro-Hungarian throne, and wife,
Killed June 28, 1914 in
Sarajevo by Serbian Black Hand
member, Gavrilo Princip
Assassination

11. Summer of 1914
Franz Ferdinand assassinated June 28
Austria issued ultimatum to Serbia;
Serbia partially agreed July 25
Austria declared war on Serbia July 28

12. Germany pledged to support Austria
Russia mobilized to help Serbia July 30
Germany declared war on Russia Aug 1
France allied with Russia

13. Germany declared war on France Aug 3
Germany invaded Belgium Aug 3
Britain declared war on Germany Aug 4
World War I Begins………..

14. Central Powers
Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire

15. Allied
Powers
Great Britain, France,
Russia, Serbia, Belgium,
US, Japan,
Montenegro,
Italy

16. The Battles Begin
 Schlieffen Plan—Germany’s war plan
 drawn up in 1905
 called for invasion of neutral Belgium
 assumed slow Russian mobilization
 allow for quick defeat of French

17. Problems with Schlieffen Plan
 Invaded heavily fortified area of Belgium
 Great Britain involved after invasion
 Encountered strong resistance
 Russian army mobilized quickly
 Split Germany forces in East

18. Downfall of Schlieffen Plan
 France attacked Germans in Alsace-
Lorraine
 Caused delay in German advance
 Battle of Marne caused German retreat
 Signaled abandonment of Schlieffen Plan
 Realized war would not end quickly
America now starts to come into the picture…

19. Germany’s
unrestricted
submarine
warfare
(Sinking of the
Lusitania)
Zimmerman
Telegram
Sinking of 4
US merchant
ships
US declares
war on
Germany
April 6, 1917
US entry into World War I

20. America_Joins_the_Ranks 4:17

23. Modern War
 Submarine warfare
 Use to get around blockades and attack enemy shipping
 Rapid fire machine guns
 Led to trench warfare
 “Trench warfare”
 Thousands of miles of ditches for protection
 6,250 miles of Trenches
 In-between was “no man’s land”
 Lines never moved resulting in “Stalemate”
 Tanks
 Designed to break through barbed wire
 Airplanes
 Primary function—to observe enemy activities
 Poison gas
 Introduced by Germans to help break stalemates

27. Realities_of_War_the_Trenches_Weapons_and_Death 3:34

29. John
"Black Jack"
Pershing
Named Commander of
American Expeditionary Force
(AEF) during WWI by Woodrow
Wilson
 Insisted that U.S. soldiers fight as a
unit and not be spread throughout
French forces
 Led forces at Battle of Argonne Forest

31. The Home Front
Selective Service – 2.8 million
drafted
War Industries Board/CREEL
Committee– coordinate production
of war materials
Daylight savings time
Bonds – Liberty and Victory
 WWI Propaganda posters! Click here 

33. Scheck vs. United States

34. Espionage Act of 1918

35.  Committee on Public Information – selling the war to the public

38. Women’s Roles
Women
 Fill jobs in factories
 Military service
• Allowed to enlist in Navy
• Fill temporary jobs in Army
• Army nurses were only military
women allowed to go overseas

39. African Americans
Served in segregated
units in military
 “Harlem Hell-Fighters”
• 369th Infantry Unit
“Great Migration”
Movement from
South to North to
fill factory jobs

40. 1917 Russia pulls out of the War
• Closing Eastern front allowing the
German’s to focus on Western Front
• American troops arrive in 1917

41. Battle of Argonne Forest
 1918
 Allies launch Meuse-
Argonne Offensive
• Final assault
• General Pershing
assembled over
600,000 American
troops with 40,000 tons
of supplies and 4,000
artillery pieces at hand.
• The Americans had
heavy losses but
opened a hole into the
German lines.
 Kaiser Wilhelm II
abdicates
 Germany surrenders

42. 1918_America_Arrives_Just_in_Time 2:00

43. War ends 11th Hour of 11th
Day of 11th Month 1918
Now what we know as “Veterans Day”

44. Treaty of Versailles
 “Big Four” : United States, Great Britain,
France, Italy
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
 Plan for peace after war
 League of Nations (UN)
•General association of nations
 Help preserve peace
 Help prevent future wars

45. Treaty of Versailles….cont’d
Congress never signed Treaty of
Versailles
 US never member of League of Nations
• Henry Cabot Lodge was chief opponent of Wilson
• Senate saw the League as a “conflict of interest” that could pull us
into another war- saw it as an “Alliance”
 Germany’s punishment
 Accept blame for causing war
 Reduce military
 Pay war reparations $$$$

46. Effects of WWI on US
 Developments in War
 War-torn economies of
Europe
 Bolshevik Russian
Revolution
 Industrial demand of
wartime
 Sacrifices of wartime;
disappointment with
Versailles Peace
Treaty
 Effects on US
 Boom in US economy;
emergence of US as
world industrial leader
 “Red Scare” in
postwar US; suspicion
of immigrants
 Internal migration in
US, especially African
Americans to Northern
cities (Great Migration)
 Failure to join League
of Nations

47. Peace_Diplomacy_and_Reparation 6:50