WWI Facts• Alliances

– TRIPLE ENTENTE: • Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary

– TRIPLE ALLIANCE:• Britain, France, Russia, (USA)

• War lasted from: 1914 – 1918• People thought war would last no longer than

6 weeks• 10 million deaths:

– 116,000 US soldiers– 2,000,000 German soldiers– 1,500,000 French soldiers– 1,000,000 English soldiers– over 5,000,000 civilians

Causes of WWI• Arms Race

– Competition between enemies to build up their armies and navies; creation of new battleships

• Nationalism– People in some European countries developed sense

that their nation was better than others and should control other countries

• Imperialism– Definition: a country’s desire to own, control, and

develop groups of people in other parts of the world besides their own country, usually for power and profit

– Germany wanted to strengthen itself by having more colonies around the world like England and France had

• Propaganda War– England and Germany (enemies) tried to persuade

Americans to support their own side

Why did the USA support the

Alliance so quickly?• America shared English language with Britain• France had helped USA during the Revolutionary

War• Many USA businesses had ties with England &

France• British propaganda painted Germany as attacking

innocent women & children in the war • German U-boat (submarine) sunk the Lusitania

cruise ship, killing 100 Americans, USA begins to support England

• Germany continues to destroy British and French ships, & declares any US ship heading to England will be attacked; 2 US ships destroyed

• Zimmermann telegram: Germany tries to send telegram to Mexico offering southwest part of USA to them if they’ll attack USA (if USA joins the war); US officials intercept it

America Prepares for War

• Draft Act: – law states any man ages 21-31 can be called to

military duty– draft wasn’t needed, military went from

200,000 men to 9 million in one day (June 5, 1917) due to volunteers

• Factories– begin working day & night producing war

supplies– new guns, battleships, submarines, tanks,

airplanes, gas masks, uniforms created to help Allies and Americans in war

Fighting in the War•America saves Paris

–Allies were outnumbered by Entente troops/supplies

–30,000 American soldiers came and helped keep Paris in Allies hands

•Argonne Forest

–700 “Yanks” (American soldiers) were surrounded by German troops in the forest

–US soldiers became known as the “Lost Battalion”

–US Major sent messages for help by carrier pigeon

–American cannons accidentally attacked the trapped US soldiers instead of German troops

–After 5 days of fighting the Lost Battalion was saved, only 194 men survived•2 million new American troops ready to

fight

–Germany realized it couldn’t keep up with the US troops

–Triple Entente troops surrendered in 1918

Wilson tries to end the war fairly…

• Armistice: agreement between enemies to stop fighting until a treaty is reached

• President Wilson wanted “peace without victory,” meaning Germany wouldn’t be punished for the war (let things get resolved peacefully)

• (What other US President didn’t want to punish the enemy for war after it ended?)

• Wilson’s plan for peace was called The 14 Points– it was so fair that even Germany liked it– League of Nations was suggested

• goal was to unite countries around the world and prevent another world war through peaceful talks

Germany Punished…

• Other Allied powers wanted to punish Germany, making it weak so that it couldn’t cause another world war again– Some German land & all of its colonies

taken away to keep Germany small– Germany lost all profitable companies,

had to pay major war debts• Germany refused to sign the treaty at first

– “We would have continued to fight if we knew we were going to be punished so severely”

– Germany gave up its weapons & ships, & signed the Treaty of Versailles

• President Wilson feared that Germany would resent the world for this treaty, leading to another world war

Germany, 1914

Germany, 1918

The League of Nations is developed…• Goal:

– an association of countries who work to resolve future international conflicts together to prevent future world wars

• USA refuses to join, even though President Wilson created it and started it up– USA fears:

• members of the League would have to help other members if a war did ever develop; USA didn’t want to get involved in world wars ever again

• USA concerned that the League would have more power than the US Constitution in America