World War I began in 1914 after tensions between European powers led to a series of diplomatic crises and military alliances. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia, drawing in other countries through their alliance systems. Over four years of fighting resulted in stalemate as armies engaged in trench warfare with new military technologies. The US entry into the war in 1917 helped the Allies defeat Germany and its allies. The resulting 1919 Treaty of Versailles imposed punitive terms on Germany, sowing resentment and contributing to the causes of World War II.

1. WORLD WAR I

2. Marching Toward War
Rising Tensions in Europe
The Rise of Nationalism
What is nationalism?
• By 1907 Europe was split into
two rival sides
• Germany, Austria, and Italy (The
Triple Alliance)
• France, Britain, and Russia (The
Triple Entente)
• Both sides formed alliances to
protect the other if one was
attacked
• Each nation-state saw war as a
chance to expand the state and
achieve their political ambitions

3. Marching Toward War
• Imperialism and Militarism
• European countries
establishing colonies
(imperialism) around the
world led to an intense
competition
• Between 1890 and 1914
European armies doubled in
size as countries sought to
build the largest, most
technologically advanced
militaries (militarism)

4. Marching Toward War
• Crisis in the Balkans
• A Restless Region
• As the Ottoman Empire declined, states in the Balkans wanted to free themselves
from Ottoman rule; but Austria-Hungary and Russia both wanted to control the states
in this region
• Serbia, supported by Russia, was determined to create a Slavic state in the Balkans
but Austria was determined to prevent that from happening; many saw Serbia as a
catalyst for war
• Assassination of Francis Ferdinand
• June 28, 1914 Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophia were
assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a member of a Serbian terrorist organization

5. Marching Toward War
• Austria saw this incident as an opportunity to take out
Serbia
• Austria asked Germany for support
• With German support, Austria issued an ultimatum to
Serbia on July 23 which was designed so Serbia would
reject it, giving Austria-Hungary the excuse to declare war
• “July Ultimatum” was rejected and Austria declared war
on Serbia on July 28; this launched World War I

6. World War Military Alliances

7. Marching Toward War
• Declarations of War
• Russia, supporting Serbia, launched full mobilization of its army to
Germany and Austria on July 29th
• On August 1st, 1914 Germany declared war on Russia
• On August 2nd, Germany demanded that Belgium (neutral country) allow
German troops to pass thru Belgian territory to attack France
• August 3rd Germany declared war on France
• On August 4th Britain declared war on Germany “officially” over the
violation of Belgian neutrality; this officially launched all the great powers
of Europe into war- one which was met with enthusiasm at first

8. Europe Plunges Into War
Great War Begins
• Nearly all of Europe took sides
• Germany and Austria-Hungary
(later joined by the Ottoman
Empire and Bulgaria) became
known as the Central Powers
• Great Britain, France, and Russia
became known as the Allied
Powers (or the Allies); Italy and
Japan later joined as well

9. Europe Plunges Into War
Bloody Stalemate
• General Alfred von Schlieffen developed the Schlieffen Plan which would prepare
Germany for a 2 front war against both France and Russia
• More troops would be sent to France because Russia lacked railroads to send supplies and troops
to the front
• Plan depended on quick French surrender, after the surrender troops would be sent east to Russia
• September 1914 Schliffen Plan was in ruins after the Battle of the Marne outside
of Paris
• Allies defeated the Germans and they knew quick victory in France was not possible and Germany
would have to fight a two front war
• A stalemate soon developed where neither side could win a convincing victory
• Both sides dug into trenches for the next 4 years

10. Europe Plunges Into War
Trench Warfare
• Armies on both sides dug miles of
trenches and attacked each other
across a “no man’s land” (area
between the opposing sides trenches)
for minimal military gain
• Life in the trenches was full of mud,
poor food, sickness and misery

11. Europe Plunges Into War
Trench Warfare
• Trenches stretched 500 miles from the
North Sea to the Swiss Border
• New weapons(tanks, machine guns,
poison gas, submarines, airplanes) killed
greater numbers of soldiers but did not
bring a swift end to warfare
• 1916 slaughter reached its peak
• Battle of Verdun 300,000 causalities on both
sides
• Somme River 500,000 causalities over 4
months
• Gains for each side in these battles?
Germans advanced 4 miles, British
advanced 5 miles

12. Europe Plunges Into War
The Battle on the Eastern Front
• Stretched from Germany to the Russian
border
• Russians and Serbs battled Germans
and Austro-Hungarians
• More mobile war than in the west
• Russian Struggles
• Russia was less industrialized than the rest of
Europe
• Army constantly short of supplies and weapons
• Harder for Russians to receive supplies because
of their access to the ocean
• Russian armies main asset was men
• Russians used their advantage in manpower to
keep the Germans occupied in the east so they
could not fully attack Western Europe

13. A Global Conflict
War moved beyond Europe
• As the war dragged on the European powers
looked for new fronts and other allies around
the world to help to the balance in their favor
• Europeans attacked the Ottoman Empire at
the Dardanelles
• Wanted to open a supply line to Russia
• February 1915 Battle of Gallipoli turned
into a bloody stalemate after a huge loss of
life
• In Asia and Africa Germany’s colonial
possessions were attacked
• Japanese attacked German Pacific colonies
• English and French attacked Germany’s
colonies in Africa
• British and French colonial subjects were enlisted
to fight for their colonial masters

14. A Global Conflict
• America Joins the War
• 1915 Germans use new technology, the submarine, to control the
seas
• Germans begin to sink boats without warning around Britain,
policy called unrestricted submarine warfare
• May 1915 the Germans sink the Lusitania, a British passenger
ship that had Americans on board
• Americans were outraged and the Germans shortly agreed to
stop sinking neutral ships

15. A Global Conflict
• Germany did not keep their word about
submarine warfare and returned to this
tactic in 1917
• They knew that it could lead to U.S.
entering war on the side of the allies
• Germany hoped that the naval blockade of
Great Britain would starve the Allies into
defeat before the U.S. entered the war
• February 1917 the U.S. intercepts the
Zimmerman note that promises German
help to Mexico regain lost territory to the
U.S. if Mexico helps Germany
• This was the last straw and the Americans
entered the war on the side of the Allies
• April 2, 1917 U.S. declares war on
Germany

16. A Global Conflict
War Affects the Home Front
• War affected soldiers and civilians
• War became a total war, countries devoted
all of their resources to winning the conflict
• Government took control of the economy
Told factories what to produce, production all for
war effort
Goods in short supply were rationed
Governments suppressed anti-war activity
and used propaganda (one sided information)
to keep up morale and support the war effort
• Many women went to work in factories
• Changed the view of what people thought
women were capable of

18. A Global Conflict
American troops gave Allies military advantage
March 1917 Russia withdraws from the war, no
longer had the leadership or resources to continue
fighting
Germany could focus all of their forces on the
Western Front
By May 1918 German forces had reached the Marne
River
July 1918 Allies using fresh American troops
defeated the Germans in the Second Battle of the
Marne
German offensives became less effective, troops
became exhausted
Fall 1918 Armies of the Central powers began to
collapse and surrender
Fall 1918 German troops mutinied, deserted,
refused to fight
Germans signed an armistice with the allies Nov. 11,
1918

19. A Global Conflict
Legacy of the War
A. Entire generation of young European
men were wiped out
• 8.5 million died, 21 million were wounded
B. Idea of war on a global scale
C. New technologies led to more
destruction and death
D. Economic Impact
• Drained countries of wealth, to fight was
and rebuild
• Destroyed farmland , villages and towns
E. Led to feelings of insecurity and
despair that was reflected in the art
and literature of the time
F. The peace treaty promoted anger
and resentment
• We are Making a New World
• Paul Nash (1918)

20. A Flawed Peace
• January 1919 Allied powers met to discuss what would happen now
that the war was over
• Big Four countries dictated most of the decisions (U.S., France, Great
Britain, Italy)
• Russia, Germany and the other Central Powers were not represented
• U.S. president Woodrow Wilson came with a plan called the Fourteen
Points, Wilson’s plan to bring peace to Europe
• Main goal was to provide countries with the idea of self determination,
or the right to choose their own government
• European nations wanted to punish Germany and did not want to go
along with Wilson’s ideas

21. A Flawed Peace
• June 1919 Treaty of Versailles was
signed between Germany and the Allied
powers
o Treaty established a League of
Nations to negotiate peace among
nations and to prevent future wars
o Punished Germany
o Germany and other Central powers lost
huge amounts of territory in Europe,
Africa and the Pacific
• New countries were formed out of the
Central Powers
• Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia
• In the Middle East former Ottoman Territory
came under the control of Great Britain and
France
• Russia also suffered loss of land

22. A Flawed Peace
• Placed the responsibility of
starting the war on Germany
and made them have to pay
reparations (pay for damages
caused by the war) to the Allies
• Treaty created bitterness and
hard feelings in Germany and
other European nations
• Treaty was a factor in starting
World War II
• U.S. came out of the war as a
world power