Battles of WWI
Do Now
• Take out web activity from Friday• If you could have watched any of the
battles that you learned about, which would you select and why?
War on the Home Front:Government Action
• Total war governments taking stronger control of citizen’s lives– Changes nations’ industries & economies– Factories produced military equipment – Citizens conserved food & other goods
War on the Home Front:Government Control
• Tried to controlled public opinion– Censored newspaper reports about fighting
to keep from discouraging public
• Created propaganda - information to influence opinions– Encouraged volunteers– Posters, pamphlets, articles about enemy’s
brutal actions
Thinking Question
• In what ways did the war affect the home from?– The government took over factories– Civilians conserved food and materials– Propaganda was produced
Battles on the Western Front
• While people on the home front supported their troops, the war in Western Europe was going badly for the Allied Powers
Battles on the Western Front:The Italian Front
• Italy joined Allied Powers, May 1915• Sent forces against Austria-Hungary at
border with Italy• Series of back-and-forth battles• Little progress
Battles on the Western Front:The Battle of Verdun
• Germans planned assault on French fortress, Verdun– Believed French would defend fortress at all
costs– Meant to kill, injure as many French soldiers
as possible
• 400,000 French casualties in 10 months of fighting, almost as many for Germany
Battles on the Western Front:The Battle of the Somme
• British launched attach in Somme River area to pull German troops away from Verdun– Main assault during 1916, but no major
breakthrough
• Both sides lost great numbers of troops– British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties on
the first day of fighting
Battles on the Western Front:The Third Battle of Ypres
• Failed French offensive caused rebellion among French soldiers, spring 1917– British began offensive near Ypre, Belgium,
site of German attacks
• Third Battle of Ypres a disaster for British
Thinking Question
• What was the result of the battles of the Western Front?
War Around the World
• Early fighting took place in Europe• Conflict quickly became a true world
war as fighting spread around the globe• Over 30 nations officially took sides in
the war
War Around the World:Gallipoli Campaign
• Ottoman Empire joined Central Powers, late 1914– Controlled sea passage, Dardanelles– Used by Allies to ship supplies to Russia
• Spring 1915 Allies land on Gallipoli Peninsula and attempt to destroy forts on Dardanelles– Gave up after months of fighting, 200,000
deaths
• Later in war Arabs overthrow Ottoman rule
War Around the World:Armenian Massacre
• Same time as Gallipoli Campaign • Ottoman leaders claimed Armenians
aided Russians– Began forcibly removing Armenians– Ottoman leaders accused of genocide,
destruction of racial, political, or cultural groups
War Around the World
• War also fought in Asia and Africa• Japan declared war on German
– Part of military agreement with Great Britain
– Japanese captured German colonies in China
– British, French attacked German colonies in Africa
• Allied colonies scattered around world made contributions to war
Venn Diagram: WWI Battles
• Explain how the war on the Western Front was different than the war elsewhere in the world?
West OtherBoth
Venn Diagram
•German forces typically
attacked first•Front lines did
not move•Trench warfare
and new technology
•Russian forces attacked first•Front lines moved east
•Massive casualties