Transcript World War I - Johnston County Schools

World War I
Four Long-Term Causes of
WWI
• Militarism: the policy of building up
armed forces in an attempt to
intimidate other countries
• Alliances: agreements between
nations to help each other in the
event of war
Four Long-Term Causes of
WWI
• Imperialism: the desire of a country
to spread its influence around the
globe
• Nationalism: a devotion to the
interests and culture of one’s nation
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Assassinated
by Serbian
nationalist
• Caused a chain
reaction among
alliances
• These events
start the war
Europe Chooses Sides
Central Powers
Triple Entente
(Triple
France
Alliance)
Great Britain
Russia
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Italy (Never fought
with them)
Schlieffen Plan
• Germany’s war plan
• Germany would attack France
through Belgium
• After defeating France, Germany
would loop around and attack
Russia
• Plan did not work
A New Kind of War
New technology made fighting more
difficult
• Machine Gun
• Hand Grenades
• Mustard Gas
A New Kind of War
• “No man’s land”: was the
unoccupied region between enemy
lines
• Trench warfare: system of trenches
in which troops attack to open up
the battlefield
• New technology combined with old
ways of fighting caused stalemate
Reasons for U.S. Involvement
• Submarine Warfare (sinking the
Lusitania)
• Economic ties to Britain
• Zimmerman Telegram
The Lusitania
• British passenger liner that was
sunk by a German u-boat in 1915
• Killed 120 Americans
• Spurred anti-German sentiment in
U.S.
Economic Ties to Britain
• U.S. loaned large amounts of
money to Britain
• If Britain lost, U.S. would lose it’s
money
The Zimmerman Note
• Message sent in 1917 from
German foreign minister Arthur
Zimmerman to Mexico
• Offered to give lands from U.S. lost
in Mexican war if Mexico would
align themselves with Germany
Convoy System
• The protection of merchant ship
from u-boat attacks
• Ships travel in large groups
escorted by warships
Selective Service Act
• A law enacted in 1917 that required
men to register for military service
• Still in action today
General John J. Pershing
• Leader of the
American
Expeditionary
Force
• Soldiers were
known as
“Doughboys”
The War Ends
• Allied forces push Germany out of
France
• On November 11, 1918, Germany
asks for an armistice, or an
agreement to end armed conflict