Unit 6

Unit 6: World War 1

Topic 1: Europe Marches Towards War

Essential Question: How did political tensions and alliances lead Europe toward World War I? 

Setting the Stage

  • Early 1900s, Europe seemed peaceful

    • Rivalries over economics and politics

  • Industrialization fueled competition

  • Territorial disputes escalated tensions

    • France & Germany: Fought over disputed territory

    • Austria-Hungary & Russia: Vied for control in the Balkans

Part 1: Causes of World War I

MAIN:

Militarism

Alliance system

Imperialism

Nationalism

  • Militarism: the policy of glorifying military power 

  • Patriotism: Citizens celebrated military strength 

  • Competed to build stronger armies

    • War more likely from minor incidents

  • Heightened readiness for war


  • Alliance system

  • Alliance: a union or association formed for mutual benefit

  • Rise of secret alliances

    • An attack on a smaller nation could escalate into a larger conflict

  • Pre-WW1:

    • Triple Alliance: Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary

    • Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia


  • Imperialism: control over foreign territories, often for economic, political, or strategic reasons

  • Competition for colonies

    • Deepened trust

  • War mentality: leaders viewed war as inevitable


  • Nationalism: Identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests

    • Fostered national unity and pride

  • Inspired war as a noble cause

  • Weakened empires like the Ottomans as ethnic groups pursued independence


Part 2: Europe on the Verge

Crisis in the Balkans

  • “Powder Keg” Of Europe: The Balkans were called this due to their instability

  • Mix of ethnic groups

    • Frequent nationalist uprisings, driven by desire for independence

  • Serbia sought to unite Slavic peoples in the Balkan Peninsula

    • Russia backed Serbia

  • Austria-Hungary feared a Slavic state

  • Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina

    • Outraged Serbian leaders, deepening unrest and instability in the region

Part 3: The Spark

The Short Heard Round Europe

  • June 28, 1914, Archduke Fran Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was killed in Sarajevo, Bosnia

  • The assassin: Gavrilo Princip, a 19 year old Serbian nationalist

    • Member of the Black Hand, a Serbian group seeking to remove Austro-Hungarian rule from Bosnia

Europe Reacts

  • Austria Blamed Serbia: issued strict demands

    • Serbia accepted most demands, but Austria declared war anyway

  • Russia, Serbia’s ally, declared war on Austria

    • Set off a chain reaction of alliances and tensions, triggering the start of WWI


Topic 2: Weapons and Warfare

Essential Question: How did new weapons and trench warfare shape the course and outcome of WWI?

Setting the Stage

  • War breaks out: a chain reaction within alliances

  • Russia mobilizes: Germany moved to attack France

  • Britain declared war on Germany, pulling most of Europe into war

“The Great War”

  • Central powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire

  • Allied powers: Britain, France, and Russia

    • Late additions: Japan, Italy, and the US

  • In 1914, soldiers believed the war would be quick and victorious

  • Failed to adapt to the destructive power of modern weapons

    • Mismatch between new technology and old tactics led to millions of deaths

Part 1: Weapons of WWI

New Weapons

  • Machine guns: automatic firepower

  • Tanks: armored combat vehicles

  • Flamethrowers: shot flames at enemies

  • Poison gas

    • Effects: included blindness, severe blisters, and death by choking

  • Airplanes: initially used for scouting 

    • Began to drop bombs 

    • Fire machine guns through propellers

  • Artillery: fired explosive shells

    • Enabled long range attacks

  • Submarines (U-boats): primarily used by Germany

    • Attacked ships with torpedoes

Part 2: Warfare of WWI

Trench Warfare

  • Opposing armies dug miles of parallel trenches

  • Soldiers endured mud, rats, and trench foot

  • Fought each other directly from the trenches

    • Risked heavy enemy shelling

  • No Man’s Land: the deadly area between trenches

    • Charged across but were often cut down by machine gun fire

  • New weapons caused massive casualties, prolonging the war

    • Trench warfare created a brutal stalemate


Topic 3: A Global Conflict

Essential Question: How did World War I become a global conflict, involving nations and colonies beyond Europe? 

Part 1: Germany’s War

Schileffen Plan

  • Germany aimed to defeat France in the West, then turning to Russia in the East

  • German forces pushed through France

    • French defense: halted Germany’s advance

  • The invasion of neutral Belgium brought Britain into the war

    • “Rape of Belgium”: Atrocities committed by German forces portrayed Germany as brutal and uncivilized

  • Schlieffen Plan Fails: led to a prolonged war on two fronts

Colonies Get Involved

  • Allied forces attacked German colonies in Africa and Asia

    • Japan captured German outposts in Asia

  • Soldiers and laborers from colonies supported the war effort

Part 2: The US Enters the War

Germany’s Mistakes

  • Shift to Naval Warfare: Germany declared it would sink ships without warning near Britain

  • RMS Lusitania: May 7, 1915 a British ship travelling from New York with US passengers was sunk by a German U-boat, killing 128 Americans

    • Angered US public

    • Germany agreed to stop targeting passenger vessels

  • Zimmerman Telegram: January, 1917 a secret telegram from Germany to Mexico

    • Urged Mexico to ally with Germany in exchange for help reclaiming lost territories from Mexican-American War

  • Outraged Americans

    • US Declaration of War: On April 2, 1917


Part 3: WWI Becomes Total War

Total War

  • Total war: All resources of a country are devoted to the war effort

  • Governments took over economies

    • Civilian factories were turned into munitions centers

  • All able-bodied citizens worked

    • Unified focus of winning the war 

  • Rationing: government limited the ability of food and goods

  • Anti-war protests and efforts were restricted 

    • News was censored that could lower morale

  • Propaganda posters, speeches, and films used to influence public opinion

Women’s Efforts

  • Women took over jobs traditionally held by men 

  • Built tanks, munitions, plowed fields, and managed hospitals

    • Supplied soldiers 

  • Left the workforce after the war

    • Bolstered arguments for women’s right to vote


Topic 4: The Armenian Genocide
Essential Question: How did war, nationalism, and prejudice lead to the Armenian Genocide?

Part 1: Before the Genocide

Setting The Stage

  • Ottoman Empire included Turks, Arabs, Greeks, and Armenians

    • Internal and external conflicts

  • Armenians, an ancient Christian people

    • As a Christian minority, Armenians faced systematic discrimination

Persecution

  • Armenians paid extra taxes and had limited rights

    • Banned from owning weapons

  • Talaat Pasha labeled Armenians as disloyal, spreading fear of rebellion

    • Ottoman leaders adopted a plan to eliminate the Armenian population

Part 2: Carrying Out Genocide

The Beginning

  • Began with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and leaders

  • Accused of collaborating with Russian enemies

  • Ottoman government ordered mass deportations and killings

The Process

  • Over 1.5 million Armenians were killed

  • Deportations to Syrian Desert: forced on long, brutal marches without food, water, or shelter

    • Massacres and starvation

  • Concentration camps

International Response

  • Genocide was reported by German and American officials

  • No major intervention by other countries

    • Pattern of inaction for future genocides

    • The war delayed action against perpetrators


Part 3: Seeking Justice

Double Standard

  • Seven men were tried for the genocide but escaped execution

    • In 1921, survivor Soghomon Tehlirian killed Talaat Pasha

  • Trial highlighted the lack of laws addressing genocide

Future Prevention

  • 1933 Law Proposal: rejected due to Europe’s instability

    • Genocide: The systematic destruction of a group and its culture

Aftermath

  • Population devastated

    • Survivors dispersed

  • 30+ countries recognize the genocide, but Turkey denies it


Topic 5: The Russian Revolution

Essential Question: How did the Russian Revolution change the course of World War I and Russian society?

Part 1: Before the Revolution

Setting the Stage

*Czar is an aristocratic leader/ruler, like a king

  • Czar Alexander III maintained absolute power

    • Censorship, executed dissidents, and monitored students

    • Pogroms - violent attacks on Jewish communities

  • 1894: Czar Nicholas II continued his father’s oppressive policies

Discontent Grows

  • Industrialization led to poor conditions, low wages, and child labor

    • Unions were banned

  • Bolsheviks: Revolutionary Marxists aiming for a dictatorship of the proletariat - worker-led rule

  • Vladimir Lenin, the Father of the Revolution, supported Marx’s ideas of communism

    • Lenin fled to Switzerland to avoid arrest

Bloody Sunday

  • On January 22, 1905, 200,000 workers gathered at the Czar’s Palace

    • Demands: better conditions and freedom

    • Soldiers fired, killing hundreds and wounding over 1,000

  • Outrage forced Czar to approve the Duma

    • Nicholas dissolved it after 10 weeks

World War I

  • WWI weakens Russia: ill-prepared military exposes czarist weaknesses

  • Nicholas at the War Front: leaving his wife, Czarina Alexandra, to manage the government

    • Alexandra relied on the mystic Rasputin, who influenced government decisions

  • Food shortages, military failures, and poor leadership fueled public anger


Part 2: The Revolution Begins

February Revolution

  • March 1917, women textile workers led strikes and riots

    • Demands: end to food shortages, the autocracy, and WWI

  • Soldiers joined the protesters

  • Czar Nicholas II abdicated his throne

    • One year later, the Czar and his family were executed

End of Autocracy

  • Duma formed a weak temporary government

    • WWI, food shortages, and poor living conditions fueled unrest

  • Rise of Soviets: Socialist councils of workers, peasants, and soldiers emerged 

Return of Lenin

  • 1917, Lenin returned from Switzerland

  • Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon controlled key cities

    • Lenin’s promise of “Peace, Land, and Bread”

October Revolution

  • November 1917, the Bolshevik Red Army overthrew the Provisional Government

  • Lenin redistributed land to peasants and gave factory control to workers

    • Labor camps (gulags) imprisoned aristocrats, wealthy merchants, and political enemies

    • Secret police enforced control through terror

Part 3: Russian Civil War

Russia Exits the War

  • March 1918, Germany and Russia signed a treaty

    • Russia lost vast territory

    • Ceded Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states

  • Treaty’s terms angered many Russians

    • Resentment grew toward the Bolsheviks 

Civil War (1917-1922)

  • Red Army: The Bolsheviks, led by Leon Trotsky

  • White Army: opponents, including czarists, conservatives, and socialists

    • White Army’s internal divisions weakened their efforts

  • 14 million died

    • Red Army triumphed, solidifying Bolshevik control

    • 1922: Russia is renamed (USSR) aka. The Soviet Union

Topic 6: Winning the War

Essential Question: How did governments, soldiers, and civilians struggle to hold their societies together during the final years of WWI?

Part 1: The Death Blow

The Spanish Flu

  • A deadly new influenza strain spread in 1918

    • Pandemic killed millions

  • Weakened armies

  • The flu sped up the push toward ending the conflict

Part 2: End of the War

Allies with the War

  • US entry gave the Allies the advantage to defeat Germany

  • Germany’s final Western Front offensive failed

  • 11/11/1918, France and Germany signed an armistice, ending WWI

Human Impact

  • The war caused 15-22 million deaths

  • Spanish flu pandemic

  • Killed 50-100 million

  • Economic devastation: The war drained Europe

Collapse of the Ottomans

  • 1916: Arabs rebelled against Ottoman rule

    • Sykes-Picot Agreement: Secret British-French plan to divide Ottoman Middle East post war

  • Treaty of Sevres: signed in 1920, the treaty ended the empire, creating modern Turkey

Part 3: The Peace Process

Paris Peace Conference

  • Began on January 18, 1919, at the Palace of Versailles, France

    • 32 nations gathered

    • Germany was not invited

  • Meeting was led by US, France, Britain, and Italy

  • Focusing on Europe’s future and punishment for Germany

Wilson’s Plan

  • Fourteen Points: President Woodrow Wilson’s proposal for a lasting peace after WWI

    • Points 1-4: Prevent future wars

    • Point 5: Fair colonial policies

    • Points 6-13: self-determination

    • Point 14: League of nations - proposed a global organization to maintain peace

  • Britain and France prioritized weakening Germany

Changes in Europe

  • Major territorial losses for the Central Powers

    • New countries: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Lithuania

  • British Mandates: Britain controlled Palestine and Iraq

  • French Mandates: France controlled Syria and Lebanon

Part 4: The Treaty

Treaty of Versailles

  • Germany was forced to accept sole responsibility

  • Germany was required to pay for war damages ($500 billion)

  • Germany lost significant territories

  • Treaty drastically reduced the size and capabilities of the German military

Failures of the Treaty

  • US Senate rejected the Treaty, fearing the League of Nations

  • Left Germany bitter and vengeful

  • Mandate system angered nations seeking independence

    • Sowed seeds for future conflict