6.2: World War I

World War I

1914-1918: the world at war

views of wwi

• "the great war" / "the war to end all wars"
• the war to make the world safe for democracy
• a new kind of war
• 30 nations involved
    * number of people involved → "total war"
    * home front = mobilization
    * casual slaughter of people - 11 million+
• enormous casualties
    * western front
      * battle of the somme (5 months)
      * battle of the verdun (6 months)
    * eastern front
      * battle of tannenberg (5 days)
• the war of the industrial revolution
    * new deadly technology, weapons of death
    * machine gun - krupp's "big bertha" gun - poison gas - french renault tank - british tanks - u-boats
    * allied ships sunk by u-boats: violations of US neutrality
    * german u-boats and british warships
    * german and british "blockades" of war zones
    * airplanes
    * dog fights - aces - red baron
    * zeppelin - flamethrowers - grenade launchers
• causes of the war
    * european nations → relations
      * england: stay separated from mainland
      * france: feared germany
      * germany: keep england isolated; revenge on france
      * russia: ties to balkans + serbia
      * austria-hungary: hated serbia
      * italy: "land", austria-hungary
      * serbia: wanted a port on the mediterranean sea
      * ottoman empire: ethnic groups rising up
      * (turkey): controlled bosporus strait
• cutting russia off from sea
    * europe had prepared for war - but they had their guns pointed toward each other (eg. russia v germany, germany v belgium, etc.) rather than at austria hungary
• aggressive nationalism
    * austria-hungary and turkey: ethnic groups → self-determination
    * balkans: the "powder keg" of europe
    * imperialism: economic rivalries
• empires - #1 world power
• haves v. have nots → germany
• the alliance system
    * triple entente: britain, france, russia
    * triple alliance: germany, austria-hungary, italy
• two armed camps
    * allied powers: britain, france, russia, + italy
    * central powers: germany, austria-hungary, turkey
• the major players: 1914-1917
    * allied powers: nicholas ii (russia), george v (britain), president poincare (france)
    * other: victor emmanuel ii (italy)
    * central powers: wilhelm ii (germany), enver pasha (turkey), franz joseph (austria-hungary)
• militarism + arms race
    * preparedness + mobilization
    * total defense expenditure for great powers
• the "spark"
    * archduke franz ferdinand - heir to the throne in austria-hungary
    * the assassination: sarajevo (june 28, 1914)
    * the assassin: gavrilo princip - serbian secret society "black hand"
• war strategies
    * the schlieffen plan
      * german plan for victory
      * surprise attack on france → capture paris (through belgium)
      * defeat russia (austria-hungary)
• two-front war: western front (france), eastern front (russia)
    * german atrocities in belgium
    * british propaganda → impact on us neutrality
    * us saw germany atrocities in belgium - rape, starving, etc.
• a multi-front war
    * the western front: a war of attrition
• trench warfare → "no man's land"
    * over the top
    * verdun - february 1916

1. german offensive → break stalemate on the western front
2. each side had 500,000 casualties

• the somme - july 1916

1. 60,000 british soldiers killed in one day (420,000 in entire battle)
2. over 1,300,000 killed in 5 months

• war is hell → sacrifices, facial reconstruction
• the eastern front
    * battle of tannenberg: 6-day battle → only 10,000 of 150,000 russian troops escaped (rest were killed / captured)
    * germans only lost 20,000 troops and took over 92,000 russian soldiers
    * the gallipoli disaster (1915)
    * ~ 9 months
    * british + french operation aiming to capture the ottoman empire's capital of istanbul to secure a sea route to russia (failed, heavy casualties on both sides)
• america joins the allies
    * the sinking of the lusitania
    * us neutrality ends
    * warning to germany → sussex pledge
    * support for allies (england + france)
    * wilson: program of preparedness

1. national defense act → expanded size + scope of national guard

• growing animosity towards germans (anti-german sentiment in us)
• allied propaganda
• public opinion - yellow journalism
• economic ties to the allies
• cultural ties to england + france
• american neutrality
• election of 1916 - wilson victory
• slogan: "he kept us out of war"
• january 31, 1917 → peace without victory
• us entry into wwi: main causes
• germany: unrestricted submarine warfare

1. february 1917
2. germany wanted a quick victory against the allies (before the us could send troops in)
3. stop us supplies to allies
4. english + france also pressured the us to get involved → just needed more soldiers in the trenches

• russian revolution

1. czar is overthrown - march 1917
2. promised to set up a democratic government
3. us could now fight for democracy
4. government was weak and ill-supported
5. russians just wanted out of the war
6. november 1917: bolshevik revolution
7. vladimir lenin - "father of communism"
8. lenin → bread = land = peace; signed brest—litovsk treaty and ends the war
9. reasoning that russia + germany are out of war → now germany only has to fight on one front, can concentrate efforts on west

• the zimmerman telegram

1. Germany + Mexico → southwestern states?
2. us declaration of war
3. april 2 → wilson addresses congress
4. april 6 → formal declaration of war
5. twin goals: "make the world safe for democracy", "war to end all wars" (war for peace → just peace, don't need to crush germany)
6. wilson's 14 points
7. looks at each underlying cause (review for test!!!) largest aspect was to create the league of nations
8. "the yanks are coming" (became theme song of sorts)

• mobilization efforts in the us

 1. committee on public information - george creel
 2. anti-german feelings + actions
 3. espionage + sedition acts
 4. council of national defense
 5. war industries board - bernard baruch
 6. women + the 19th amendment
 7. "work or fight"
 8. national war labor board
 9. food administration - herbert hoover

10. fuel administration - harry garfield
11. paying for the war: liberty bonds
12. mobilizing an army - selective service act

• women and the war effort - spies eg. mata hari (german spy)
• wartime propaganda, posters, radio advertisements

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