Transcript World War I Firsts

World War I
Firsts
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i
World War
I
Firsts
The Great War
It was 1914, a time of peace, still nations
feared one another.
The Great Nations of Europe created
alliances under the belief that if they
created an alliance powerful enough no one
would attack them.
Causes of WW I
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•Militarism
•Alliances
•Imperialism
•Nationalism
•Significant individuals
Militarism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6_r6eB_nQY
• By 1914 all the major
powers were linked by
a system of alliances.
• The alliances made it
more likely that a war
would start.
• Once started, the
alliances made it more
likely a war would
spread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAeMeuus
pmk
They had an agreement with the Ottoman Empire and later a
secret agreement with: France
And various agreements with: Japan, Spain, United States
• All the great powers were competing for
colonies / territory.
• The British feared Germany in Africa.
• The Austrians feared Serbia / Russia in the
Balkans.
• This was an age when all nations wanted
to assert their power and independence.
• In Europe Slavs, aided by Serbia and
Russia, wanted to be free of Austrian rule.
Serbia’s national flag
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year9links/wwi/tri
ggerevent.pdf
If war broke out, Austria-Hungary and Germany
assumed France would also attack as she was both an
ally of Russia and keen for revenge for her defeat in the
Franco-Prussian war.
If this happened, Germany would
face a war on two fronts.
Germany wanted to avoid this at all
costs.
•Germany would attack France first to avoid a battle
on two fronts.
•They would enter France via Belgium a neutral nation.
Knock France instantly out of
contention, before Russia had time to
mobilize its gigantic human reserves.
Germany could then turn her full
resources to meeting the Russian threat.
• The British came to the
Belgians defense and declared
war on Germany.
One of the two most significant new or improved
weapons of the Great War, the Rapid-fire
machinegun. Machine guns mowed down waves
of soldiers in the no-mans land between trenches.
•The second of the two most significant new or improved
weapons of the Great War, long range Artillery.
•The shrapnel or flying debris from Artillery shells killed
or wounded more soldiers than machineguns. It could
do it from up to 10 miles away.
The world's largest and most powerful Artillery piece.
Produced by the German firm of Krupp the Big Bertha
was a 42cm howitzer, model L/14 designed in the
aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 on
behalf of the German Army.
WWI German Egg Grenade
•World War I became infamous for trench warfare,
where troops were confined to trenches because of
tight defenses.
•This was especially true of the Western Front.
•More than 9 million died on the battlefield, and
nearly that many more on the home fronts because of
food shortages, genocide and ground combat.
Trench Warfare
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Trench foot was one of the most widespread and debilitating that affected
men from both sides of the lines, it is linked with WWI hence the name "Trench foot".
During the WWI men were exposed to Cold but not freezing conditions often up to their
ankles in water that was permanently in the bottom of the trenches. The feet would swell,
appear red and blood blistered, the pain would be severe, until the sensory nerves had
been damaged and would then be numb in severe cases they became gangrenous and
resulted in amputation!
Weapons of War: Poison Gas
Considered uncivilized prior to World War One, the development and use of poison gas
was necessitated by the requirement of wartime armies to find new ways of overcoming
the stalemate of unexpected trench warfare.
First Use by the French
Although it is popularly believed that the German army was the first to use gas it was in
fact initially deployed by the French. In the first month of the war,
August 1914, they fired tear-gas grenades (xylyl bromide) against the Germans.
Nevertheless, the German army was the first to give serious study to the development of
chemical weapons and the first to use it on a large scale.
Casualties From Gas - The Numbers
Country
Total Casualties
Austria-Hungary
British Empire
France
Germany
Italy
Russia
USA
Others
100,000
188,706
190,000
200,000
60,000
419,340
72,807
10,000
The flamethrower, which brought terror to French and
British soldiers when used by the German army in the
early phases of the First World War in 1914 and 1915,
later adopted by the French and British.
By the close of the war, flamethrower use had been
extended to use on Tanks, a policy carried forward to
World War II. Flame-throwing equipment, somewhat
refined, continues to be used today
US Enter War
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In January of 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram
from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the
German Minister to Mexico, offering United States territory to
Mexico in return for joining the German cause. Reported to U.S.
Feb 1917
Armistice Day
The term "armistice" means a cessation of hostilities
as a prelude to peace negotiations.
The most significant armistice was signed at 5 a.m.
on the morning of 11 November 1918, and came into
effect six hours later at 11 a.m. (hence the eleventh
hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month).
The Germans were keen to conclude a
peace based upon Wilson's famous
Fourteen Points.
WILSON'S WORLD ORDER
Wilson's Objective
Woodrow Wilson wanted to create a new world order.
Countries should liberalize their economies and
participate in the progress that would surely come with
global capitalism. His blueprint, the Fourteen Points,
based this new world order on the following principles:
1.Global capitalism was essential.
2. The League of Nations would prevent war
3. Disarmament
4. Freedom of the seas.
5. Free trade.
6. International gold standard.
7. National self-determination.
Treaty of Versailles
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Coming Home From WWI
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