World War I
Zack Davis
World History 1°
5/12/3
Entry Into War
• On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, both of Austria-
Hungary, were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, one Gavrilo Princip.
• Austria-Hungary made harsh demands of Serbia.
• Serbia gave in to most of the demands.
• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
• Russia mobilized troops near its borders with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
• Germany declared war on Russia, then France, and ally of Russia, two days
later.
• Germany asks permission of Belgium to invade France through Belgium
• Belgium declines, Germany declares war on Belgium
• Great Britain, an ally of Belgium, declares war on Germany.
• Nearly all of Europe was now engaged in war. Nations outside of Europe
would soon enter the conflict.
• The first of the World Wars had now begun.
Diplomacy
• Austria-Hungary made harsh demands of Serbia, it was practicing a form of
diplomacy, trying to resolve issues without war. This was a very harsh
example of diplomacy, of course.
• Serbia offered to have the demands it did not accept settled by an international
conference. This act of diplomacy failed.
Europe Before the War
From The First World War.
http://www.pro.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/maps/europe1914.htm
Public Opinion
• The United States had a foreign policy of “isolationism” before the war.
Isolationism was the belief that a country should stay out of the affairs of other
countries.
• The sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania on May 7, 1915 greatly
swayed public opinion in the United States in favor of joining the war for the
Allies. 128 Americans were killed. Germany said the ship was carrying
ammunition.(It was.) Germany agreed to stop sinking neutral and passenger
ships. They returned to the this policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in
1917, however.
• In Feb. 1917, the Zimmerman note was made public. It was a telegram from
Germany to Mexico promising Mexico United States territory if Mexico
would join the Central powers. Public opinion shifted in favor of the war, and
the U.S. entered the war on the side of the Allies on April 2, 1917.
Weapons
• Many new weapons were introduced during World War I.
• New weapons killed more people faster. This lead to stalemates, especially
along the Western Front.
• New weapons for warfare included poison gas, tanks, and better machine guns.
• Germans used U-boats, or submarines, for naval warfare.
• Airplanes were used in warfare for the first time during World War I.
Strategy — Political
• Before World War I, European nations allied with each other. If one nation
went to war, the others in the alliance would help them.
• Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. When the
war actually started, Italy switched sides.
• France, the United Kingdom, and Russia formed the Triple Entente. Other
nations would later join the war on this side, which would also be called the
Allies.
• Countries would try to draw other nations into the war on their side. The
Zimmerman Note mentioned earlier is a key example of this.
Strategy — Economic
• Economic supply lines were very important in the war.
• Countries set up blockades to prevent supply shipments to other countries.
• Germany was able to successfully shut off Allied supply lines to Russia,
greatly weakening Russia’s war effort.
• One of the reasons Germany went back to a policy of unrestricted submarine
warfare in 1917 was that the German leaders thought they could starve Britain
into defeat before the United States entered the war.
Strategy — Physical
• Schlieffen Plan — Germany’s plan for war
• The Schlieffen Plan was for Germany to quickly defeat France in the west, and
then to attack Russia in the East. Russia’s troops would take a long time to
mobilize because the country’s railroad system was poor.
• The Central Powers lay between Russia and the rest of the Allies, and
therefore were able to cut off Allied supply lines.
• However, the Allies surrounded the Central Powers, forcing Austria-Hungary
and Germany to fight two-front wars.
Propaganda
• Governments used propaganda to drum up support for the war.
• News about the war was censored if it might turn public opinion against the
war.
• Governments issued colorful propaganda posters to get people to support the
war.
American Propaganda Posters
From FIRST CALL: American Posters of World War One from the collection of Roger N.
Mohovich.
French Propaganda Posters
From Firstworldwar.com
Battles
• The First Battle of the Marne took place on September 5, 1914.
• The Allies attacked German forces northeast of Paris.
• Germany was driven back almost 60 miles after 4 days of intense fighting.
• The Schlieffen plan called for a quick victory in France. This was no longer
possible.
• Battle of Tannenberg — On August 1914, Germany attacked Russia at
Tannenberg. The Russian army there was decimated.
Russian mass grave
From Photos of The Great War.
Ruins of a church at Montfaucon
From Photos of The Great War.
Europe After the War
From The First World War.
http://www.pro.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/maps/europe1919.htm
Prisoners of War/Casualties
20,000,000 soldiers were killed in World War I. An
additional 20,000,000 were wounded and there were
20,000,000 refugees. The war cost an estimated
388,000,000,000 dollars.
Grim Statistics:
The reality of war
WWI Battlefield Deaths (in millions)
1.8
1.6
Germany
1.4
Russia
1.2 France
1 Austri a-Hungary
0.8 Briti sh Empi re
Italy
0.6
Ottoman Empi re
0.4 United States
0.2
0
Total troops mobilized (in millions)
45 Allies - Total
40
Central Powers - Total
35
France
30
Russia
25
British Empire
20
15 Austria-Hungary
10 Italy
5 United States
0 Bulgaria
Troops M obilized
Bibliography
Beck, Roger B., et al: Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction. McDougal Littell,
1999. pp. 363-385
Duffy, Michael. Firstworldwar.com. 2000-03. 11-14 May 2003.
.