World War I

1. World War I Nationalism, Imperialism, and World War I

2. Fighting the War • Military leaders on both sides thought the war would be over quickly. • To avoid a two-front war, German war plans called for Germany to march through the lowlands of neutral Belgium and to take Paris quickly before Russia could enter the war.

3. Fighting the War • The Germans advanced, but were stopped before reaching Paris. • US President Woodrow Wilson called upon Americans to take no sides and to remain neutral.

4. Fighting the War • New and improved weapons were used in fighting the war, including the machine gun, poison gas, submarines, and airplanes. • These weapons made it easier to defend a position than to attack.

6. Fighting the War • Soldiers dug deep trenches that soon stretched hundreds of miles along eastern France. • In Trench Warfare, both sides dug ditches to create fortified positions. • These trenches were separated by fields of barbed wire and mines known as “no man’s land.”

7. Fighting the War • Anyone who stepped out of the trenches faced immediate death by machine gun fire. • Since neither side could advance, fighting lines became stationary.

9. Fighting the War • Sometimes soldiers would face attacks of poison gas. • Casualty rates were high. • Tanks were introduced but were too primitive to be effective. • The first airplanes were used to see what was going on across enemy lines.

10. Fighting the War • German submarines, called U-boats, were used to attack large ships. • Britain placed a blockade around Germany and Austria-Hungary in an attempt to starve them into submission. • Russia became isolated from the west. • Each side tried to mobilize all its resources turning the war into “total war.”

11. The US Helps Win the War • Serbia, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Greece, and Portugal joined the Allied Powers. • Although the US was officially neutral, Americans were sympathetic to France and Britain. • When American ships sent supplies to the Allies, they were attacked by German submarines. • A German U-boat sunk the British ocean liner the Lusitania, killing 1,198 passengers. • The US entered the war.

13. The US Helps Win the War • The same year, 1917, the US entered the war, Russia dropped out. • President Wilson announced America’s war aims in the Fourteen Points. • He wanted to redraw the map of Europe so that each nationality had its own state. • He demanded the creation of an independent Poland. • Demanded freedom of the seas, an end to secret diplomacy, and the creation of the League of Nations. • America’s entry into the war broke the deadlock in Europe. • In November 1918, Germany surrendered.

14. Assignment • Go to the App Store and download Mematic. • Create a World War I poster. • Your poster should send an important message related to the war effort. • Email it to me when you are done.