WORLD WAR I

Chapter 231914-1918“THE WAR TO END ALL WARS”

World War I in Strategic Overview

The year opened with the Central Powers and the Allies at approximately equal strength. The manpower drain in France was serious. Britain was on the verge of instituting compulsory military service to fill its expanding armies. Unrest in Ireland was approaching rebellion. Russia, with more than sufficient manpower, hoped for time to reorganize and supply it. Germany now sought a decision on the western front because, as Falkenhayn told the emperor, France would be “bled white” in attempting to prevent a German victory. In an Allied conference at Chantilly, France in December 1915, French Catalan general Joseph Joffre succeeded in obtaining agreement from Britain, Russia, Italy, and Romania that coordinated offensives would be launched on the western, eastern, and Italian fronts, probably about June, when Russia would be ready.The Allied situation at the beginning of 1918 was grim. The major Allied offensives of 1917 had failed. Russia had collapsed, and Italy was on the verge of collapse. The German U-boat campaign still threatened the maritime supply route from the United States. Many months would pass before American soldiers could bolster depleted Allied manpower. Both Britain and France were on the defensive.The Central Powers had not been successful. They were being strangled by the

World War I in Strategic Overview (cont’d)

Allied naval blockade which was starving German and Austrian millions of civilians. Austria was at the end of its resources; Turkey and Bulgaria were wobbling; the burden of the war fell more and more heavily on Germany. Hindenburg and Ludendorff had established a virtual military dictatorship in Germany and exercised almost as much authority over the subservient governments of Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The war was virtually a stalemate until the U. S. entered the war militarily.

Statistics

World War One included: 3 Continents 31 Countries 65 Million Soldiers 37 Million Casualties 91,198 Deaths by Gas 6,395 Allied and Neutral Ships Lost $186.3 Billion Financial Losses

Causes of WWI

Some Causes May Include: Industrial Revolution Militarism

Glorified war Prepare for war

Nationalism Serbia

Imperialism Fierce competition- colonies, markets, resources

Secret Alliances split the continent Triple Alliance (Central Powers)

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey Triple Entente (The Allies)

Serbia, Russia, France, Great Britain, US, ...

Armenian GenocideThe first significant genocide of the 20th century was directed against the Armenian residents of Asia Minor by the Turkish government. It is the same old feud of Muslims slaughtering Christians or vice versa. This deliberate slaughter began on 24 Apr 1915, under the cover of World War I. 24 Apr is still commemorated by Armenians around the world as Martyr’s Day. The numbers killed are uncertain. The lowest estimate is 800,000 and the highest more than 2 million. The Turkish government has consistently denied that this event ever occurred, but what happened has been carefully documented by outsiders.

Immediate Cause

Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand

by Gavrilo Princip, June 28th, 1914.

Countries InvolvedThe Allies (Formerly known as

the Triple Entente)

• Austria-Hungary• Germany• Ottoman Empire • BulgariaCountries that only cut off trade

• Bolivia• Ecuador• Peru• Uruguay

• Serbia• Russia• France• Belgium• Great Britain• Liberia• Japan• Montenegro• Italy • San Marino• Portugal • Romania

• Greece• China• U.S.• Cuba• Nicaragua• Brazil• Siam• Costa Rica• Guatemal

a• Haiti• Honduras

That Should Add Up To 31 Countries

Central Powers (Formerly known as the Triple Alliance)

Goals

Hold back the Germans

Prolong the War (until better technology)

Have a Naval Blockade in place

Concentrate on the Western Front

Conquer France Avoid Two-Front

War Use Unrestricted

Submarine Warfare (naval subs could attack non-naval vessels)

Triple Entente Triple Alliance

Inevitability of war

28 Jun 1914 Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria assassinated

5 Jul 1914 Germany issues Austria-Hungary a “blank check” pledging military

assistance if Austria-Hungary goes to war against Russia

23 Jul 1914 Austria issues Serbia an ultimatum

EscalationAfter the Archduke was killed, a series of

events was set in motion, to change the world.1. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.2. Russia mobilized to aid Serbia.3. Germany aids Austria-Hungary, declares war on Russia.4. France mobilizes to aid Russia.5. Germany declares war on France.6. Germany invades Belgium.7. UK declares war on Germany.8. OE mobilizes to aid Germany and Austria-Hungary.9. Italy joins France, UK, and Russia.10. Bulgaria joins Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Austria-Hungary.11. US joins Italy, France, UK, and Russia

The inevitability of war 28 Jul 1914 Austria-

Hungary declares war on Serbia

29 Jul 1914 Russia orders full mobilization of its troops

1 Aug 1914 Germany declares war on Russia

2 Aug 1914 Germany demands Belgium declare access to German troops

“Belgium is a country, not a road”

King Albert I of Belgium denied permission

2 Aug 1914 Germany declared war on France Why??? The Schlieffen Plan!

4 Aug 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany for violating Belgian neutrality

Reasons for World War I Frayer Model

World War I

Reasons for it to occur Leaders and Alliances

Goals Statistics

Reasons for World War I Quiz

1. What was the European situation for World War I prior to the entry of the U.S. in 1918?

2. Give one statistic and one cause for World War I.3. The Armenian Genocide had what estimates for

casualties?

4. What was the immediate cause of WWI?

5. Give one goal each for the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance.

War DeclaredAustria- Hungary now decided to use the assassination as an excuse to settle its quarrel with Serbia. It was backed by Germany. On 23 Jul 1914, Austria presented a warlike ultimatum to Serbia, allowing only 48 hours for an answer. Serbia suggested that some of Austria’s demands be referred to the other European powers. Austria refused. On 28 Jul, it declared war on Serbia.All the nations in Europe had been expecting war. For many years, rival groups of nations had been making treaties and alliances. Europe had been divided into two camps. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were members of the Triple Alliance, or Central Powers. Russia, France, and England formed the rival Triple Entente Powers. Later, they were called the Allies. The Balkan States sided with Serbia and the Allies. Serbia’s enemies were on the side of the Central Powers. These alliances were brought in to action 28 Jul 1914 by Austria’s declaration of war. Within a week, all of Europe was at war.

1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

Many Europeans were excited about war “Defend yourself

against the aggressors”

Domestic differences were put aside

War would be over in a few weeks Ignored the length and

brutality of the American Civil War(prototype to World War I)

1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

Belief that modern industrial war could not be conducted for more than a few months

“Home by Christmas”

1914 – 1915 Illusions and Stalemate

“Fatal attraction of war” Exhilarating release

from every day life A glorious

adventure War would rid the

nations of selfishness

Spark a national re-birth based on heroism

Fighting Fronts The Western

Front was between France and Germany

The Italian Front was between Austria-Hungary and Italy

The Eastern Front was between Russia and Germany

Germany wanted to avoid fighting on more than one front.

The Schlieffen Plan’s Destructive Nature

The Schlieffen Plan

Invade western front first

After defeating France concentrate on the Eastern front

Avoid fighting a 2 front war

The Schlieffen Plan’s Destructive Nature

Germany made vast encircling movement through Belgium to enter Paris

Underestimated speed of the British mobilization Quickly sent troops

to France

The Schlieffen Plan’s Destructive Nature

6-10 Sep 1914 Battle of Marne Stopped the

Germans but French troops were exhausted

Both sides dug trenches for shelter

STALEMATE

The German Invasion of BelgiumGermany’s violation of neutrality which involved the passing of troops

through Belgium on their way to France, became for the Allies a symbol of barbarity and militarism run amok and a reminder of the need to wipe autocracy from the face of the earth. Germany’s violation of Belgian neutrality was certainly an outrage, but obviously not the greatest atrocity in the history of mankind. The Germans had made the same request of the Belgians that they had of Luxembourg, which they accepted without difficulty: they wanted safe passage for German troops, and agreed to compensate Belgians for any damage or any victuals consumed along the way.Allied governments won an important public relations victory in America with propaganda alleging widespread atrocities committed by German soldiers against Belgian civilians. Children with their hands cut off, babies tossed from bayonet to bayonet, nuns raped, corpses made into margarine—these were just some of the gruesome tales coming out of war-torn Europe. Americans on the scene, however, could not verify these stories. American reporters who had followed the German army insisted that they had seen nothing at all that would lend credence to the lurid tales making their way to the United States. Clarence Darrow, the lawyer who would become known for his work in the Scopes trial of

1925, offered to pay $1,000 (roughly $20,000 in 2011 dollars) to anyone who could show him a Belgian boy whose hands had been cut off by a German soldier. No one took him up on it. (After the war, it was well established that the Belgian atrocities were largely fabricated, but the lies did their damage.Although Americans still favored staying out of the war, many had absorbed the message of Allied propaganda that Germany was evil incarnate and needed to be crushed for the sake of civilization.

The German Invasion of Belgium (cont’d)

Wilson’s Propaganda for the War Effort

Starving Civilians Is Against the Law

The British were involved in a real atrocity of their own: a deliberate attempt to starve the Germans with a naval blockade. The British hunger blockade of Germany violated the generally accepted norms of international law codified in several key international agreements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.The British established a distant blockade which is illegal. This type of blockade as opposed to a close blockade declares large areas of sea off-limits, and the British mined the North Sea making it perilous even for neutral ships. Where the British had the right to a close blockade of search and seizure, they replaced it with the illegal of distant blockade of explode and sink.Food intended for civilian use was not considered contraband by any country except Britain. But the relatively mild international response to Britain’s conduct, the British government concluded that “the neutral powers seem to satisfy themselves with theoretical protest.” It was in that spirit that the Germans expected their submarine policy to be accepted as well—but in the case of President Wilson at least, they were in for a surprise.Wilson refused to draw any connections between the German warning of submarine warfare and the British hunger blockade of Germany. His sympathies were always with the British. So pro-British was the American administration that on one occasion, American ambassador to Great Britain Walter Hines Page read an

Starving Civilians Is Against the Law (cont’d)

American dispatch to British officials and then sat down to help them devise a reply to his own government! German misdeeds on the high seas, on the other hand, received immediate condemnation from Washington.The British steamship Falaba incident was the British government’s fault even though the British spun the propaganda in their favor. The reality was that the Falaba was carrying 13 tons of ammunition and was given three warnings before it was sunk. According to British propaganda, there was no warning shot and then 110 people were killed which included an American.Wilson’s double standard lay in the fact that he allowed U.S. citizens to travel on armed belligerent ships as peaceful vessels. The persistent refusal of Wilson to see the relation between British irregularities and the German submarine warfare is probably the crux of the American involvement. According to Churchill, “It is most important to attract neutral shipping to our shores in the hope especially of embroiling the U.S. with Germany. . . . If some of it gets into trouble, better still.”

LusitaniaAlthough it did not bring the U.S. immediately into the war, the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915 was among the most dramatic events from the American point of view prior to U.S. entry. This British cruise liner was perhaps the most famous ship in the world. The German government had published warnings in major newspapers not to book passage on the Lusitania. The morning it was to set sail, Count Johann von Bernstorff had issued an alert that British vessels were “liable to destruction,” and cautioned that travelers sailing in the war zone “on ships of Great Britain and her allies do so at their own risk.”Passengers by and large ignored the warning. It was inconceivable to them that a ship with the speed of the Lusitania was in any danger, and those who inquired about potential risks were told not to worry and that the ship would be escorted by a British naval convoy through the war zone. The passengers thought there would be ample time for the evacuation of the ship if hit by a torpedo since the Titanic stayed afloat for some two and a half hours. But the torpedo that hit the Lusitania did an unexpected amount of damage, and it remains something of a mystery to this day but was probably attributed to the 5,000 cases of munitions on board for the British.Some 1,195 of the ship’s 1,959 passengers perished, including 124 of the 159 Americans on board. There is little sense in whitewashing the

Lusitania (cont’d)German attack on the Lusitania, but at the same time the Cunard Line and the British government were highly reckless of selling people passage through a declared war zone.American newspapers chose to avoid war over this incident as did Wilson himself. However, he wished to draft a stern note to Berlin, warning the Germans of serious consequences should this kind of submarine warfare continue. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan feared the potential consequences of so stern a message. Bryan was practically alone in the Wilson administration in attempting to balance the scales of the two sides. Bryan reminded Wilson of the ammunition on board and an agreement accepted by Germany but rejected by Britain that would end the submarine warfare in exchange for the elimination of the starvation blockade. He addressed Wilson’s double standard head on: “Why be shocked by the drowning of a few people, if there is to be no objection to starving a nation?” Wilson sent the note anyway. Convinced that he was part of an administration that was bent on war, Bryan resigned.

The Early Phases of WWI Graphic Organizer

Propaganda

Illusions Fighting Fronts

Plan

The Beginning

The Early Phases of WWI Quiz

1. What was the beginning point of WWI?

2. Give two illusions of WWI?

3. Give one of the fighting fronts?

4. What was the Germans plan to avoid a two front war?

5. Give one of the Allies examples of propaganda.

New Weapons

Submarines

SteelShips

Chemical Warfare- Mustard and Chlorine Gas

Tanks

Blimps

Long Range Artillery

Airplanes

Hand Grenades

Flame ThrowersNew weapons crippled the “frozen front”

Machine guns

The changes of war

Airplanes Dog fights in the air Bombing inaccurate Romanticized the

battlefields Paris and London

bombed Pilots fired pistols

and threw hand grenades

Unterseeboot

At the beginning of World War I, Germany challenged British seapower with a large ocean-going submarine fleet. For greater endurance at sea, the Germans used diesel engines for surface cruising and equipped their U-boats (short for Unterseeboot, under sea boat) with at least one medium-caliber deck gun. Later U-boats were also equipped to lay underwater minefields.Allied vessels had no reliable way of detecting submarines underwater, and by 1918 U-boats had sunk more than 11 million tons of shipping. Had Germany been able to employ submarines in greater numbers, Great Britain might easily have lost the war.

The Trench System Front line Communication

trench Support

trenches No Man’s Land Barbed wire

The Trenches

Trenches dug from English Channel to Switzerland

6,250 miles 6 to 8 feet deep Immobilized both

sides for 4 years More ways to build

from a French hand book.

The Trenches

How to build them

Sleeping where?

Dangers of Trench life

Trenchfoot

From having wet feet most of the time and nowhere to dry them out

Dead bodies….

Left to rot in the trenches because of the machine gun fire that kept the soldiers in the trenches

An easy food source for rats and a place to breed disease

Bring rats

Soldiers of all nations hunted the rats– sometimes rations were short and meat was added to their diet

Life in the Trenches

Elaborate systems of defense barbed wire Concrete machine gun

nests Mortar batteries Troops lived in holes

underground

Life in the Trenches Boredom

Soldiers read to pass the time

Sarah Bernhardt came out to the front to read poetry to the soldiers

“Death is everywhere” “We all had on us the

stench of dead bodies.” Death numbed the soldier’s minds.

Shell shock Psychological

devastation

Life in the Trenches

Trench warfare baffled military leaders Attempt a breakthrough Then return to a war of

movement Millions of young men

sacrificed attempting the breakthrough

Poison Gas

A new weapon, hard to combat. Different gas mask styles were created by different countries. None were 100% effective.

“Death is everywhere”

Mustard gas Carried by the wind Burned out soldier’s

lungs Deadly in the trenches

where it would sit at the bottom

After WWI, chemical warfare was outlawed in the Geneva Conventions

Trench Warfare New Terminology

Offensive attacks into No Man’s Land

Shell fire created a new health condition—”Shell shocked”; “combat fatigue- WWII, Korea, Vietnam; PTSD- OEF, OIF, GWOT

“Going over the top”

Pick One of the Suggested Tasks

Draw a picture of a trench see p. 336-7 of textbook from what you remember of the PowerPoint slides.

Write a description how trench warfare worked.

Draw a picture of a soldier and what he would have had to take into battle.

Technology and Trench Warfare Quiz

1. Name two new weapons developed for WWI.

2. What were the some of the premises of the trench system developed?

3. Give two of the horrors of trench warfare.

4. What warfare was considered too horrific to continue by the Geneva Conventions?

5. Give one of the new terms coined in WWI?

Battles and America’s Entry

- Numerous battles- Christmas Truce

- First and Second Battles of the Marne- Battle of Verdun

- The Eastern Front- America’s Entry

Christmas truceChristmas truce was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas 1914, during World War I.

British and German troops meeting in No man's land during the unofficial truce (British troops from the Northumberland Hussars, 7th Division, Bridoux-Rouge Banc Sector)

First and Second Battles of the Marne

French soldiers waiting for assault behind a ditch

First

(1914)

Strength Strength

1,071,000 1,485,000

39 French and 6 British divisions

27 German divisions

Casualties & Losses Casualties & Losses

263,000- 81,700 died 220,000

"German soldiers advancing past a captured French position, between Loivre and Brimont, Marne department, 1918"

Second

(1918)

Strength Strength

1,071,000 1,485,000

44 French divisions8 American divisions4 British divisions2 Italian divisions

52 German divisions

Casualties & Losses Casualties & Losses

132,717 dead or wounded

139,000 dead or wounded

Battle of Verdun 10 months 700,000 men

killed

The Eastern Front Russian army moved

into Eastern Germany on August 30, 1914 Defeated

The Austrians kicked out of Serbia

Italians attacked Austria in 1915

G. came to Austrian aid and pushed Russians back 300 miles into own territory

The Eastern Front

Much more mobile more than the West But loss of life still

very high 1915: 2.5 million

Russians killed, captured, or wounded

The Eastern Front

Germany and Austria Hungary joined by Bulgaria in Sept. 1915 Attacked and

eliminated Serbia from war

America Interested in War?No American was interested in war in 1914. No American interest was at stake, and American security was not threatened in the slightest. As the war evolved into a quagmire, Americans were glad that their young men were not participating. The injuries were unspeakable that would move the front only a few yards, and the term “basket case” was coined in this war referring to a quadruple amputee.President Wilson, for his part, urged Americans to be neutral in thought, word, and deed. Yet the president was at heart pro-British. Wilson himself once remarked privately, “England is fighting our fight and you may well understand that I shall not, in the present state of the world’s affairs, place obstacles in her way. . . . I will not take any action to embarrass England when she is fighting for her life and the life of the world.”

Wilson and World War I

In the summer of 1914, all of Europe was plunged into war. Wilson called upon the United States to be neutral “even in spirit,” but few Americans were able to remain impartial. For two years, the president made every effort to avoid war. Even after the unarmed British liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine with a loss of almost 1,200 lives including 124 Americans, he argued: “There is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight.”In 1916, he was reelected. He defeated the Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes by an electoral vote of 277 to 254. The campaign slogan “He kept us out of war” probably won him more popular votes than any other factor. After the election, Wilson tried to end the war by active mediation. The Germans, however, resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. On 2 Apr 1917, the president asked Congress for a declaration of war. Before a joint session of the two houses, he read the solemn words, “The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind, It is a war against all nations . . . . We are accepting this challenge . . . . The world must be made safe for democracy.” On 6 Apr 1917, Congress declared war.

Wilson and World War I (cont’d)

President Wilson helped contribute to the confusion of what a republic was when he identified World War I as the effort of the allied forces to “make the world safe for democracy.” President Wilson had surrounded himself with many of the early recruits to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS) movement, and these may have encouraged the adoption of this slogan just as they later changed the name of their ISS organization to the League of Industrial Democracy because of the violence of the Russian Revolution of 1917. In spite of these efforts to clarify the difference, the United States began to be consistently identified in both the press and the school books as a “democracy.”

Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. Counts

“Internationalism” a MistakeAfter World War I, Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr., father of the famous “Lone Eagle” who was the first man to fly the Atlantic, asked the people of the United States to reconsider the policy Washington was pursuing in its foreign affairs. He was particularly concerned about how Americans were pushed into World War I. In 1923, he wrote:Take for example our entry into the World War [in 1917]. We did not think. We elected a president for a second term because he said he “kept us out of war” in his first term. We proved by a large vote that we did not want to go to war, but no sooner was the president re-elected than the propaganda started to put us to war. Then we became hysterical, as people always have done in war, and we believed everything bad against our enemy and believed only good of our allies and ourselves. As a matter of fact, all the leaders were bad, vicious. They lost their reason and the people followed.We cannot properly blame the people of any of the European nations, unless we blame ourselves. None of them were free from danger of the others. . . . We, however, were not in danger, statements by profiteers and militarists to the contrary notwithstanding . . . . The greatest good we could do the world at that time was to stay out, and that would have been infinitely better for ourselves, for

Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. Counts

“Internationalism” a Mistake (cont’d)we could have helped the world had we conserved our resources. There

never was a nation that did a more unstatesmanlike thing than we did to enter the war. We came out without establishing a single principle for which we entered.The one compelling duty of America is to put its own house in shape, and to stand upon an economic system that will make its natural resources available to the intelligence, industry, and use of the people. When we do that the way to world redemption from the folly of present chaos will stand out in our country so clearly, honestly, and usefully that we shall be copied wherever peoples do their own thinking.

Why Did Wilson Favor War? In February 1917, Wilson had greeted Jane Addams and a group of peace activists at the White House. His guests caught a glimpse of his rationale for war. The president explained that “as head of a nation participating in the war, the president of the United States would have a seat at the peace table, but. . . . If he remained the representative of a neutral country, he could at best only ‘call through a crack in the door.’ ”Wilson believed that American could bring impartiality to the peace table, but if the Europeans were left to themselves, they would develop a vindictive peace. (As you remember, the Congress of Vienna brought almost a century of peace to the European continent and this was done without any American help.) In his speech calling for a war declaration, Wilson argued that the U.S. would fight for great moral principles and that democratic regimes were less warlike than autocratic ones. Wilson also spoke of submarine warfare as “a war against all mankind.” According to historian Thomas Fleming, this claim is not substantiated by America’s experience in later wars: “There is no moral onus for using it in the only way that gives submariners a decent chance for survival against their surface enemies—torpedoing enemy ships without warning. This surprise-attack approach was the policy adopted by the U.S. Navy during World War II. No one, including America’s Japanese or German enemies, called the practice a war against mankind.

Why Did Wilson Favor War?(cont’d)

Wilson also promised in his war address to Congress that Americans’ treatment of ethnic Germans who lived among them would prove to the world that the U.S. had no quarrel with the German people, only the German government. It did not work out that way. German-Americans were harassed and demonized. Symphony orchestras refused to perform works by Beethoven, Mozart, and other German-speaking composers; in many states, it became illegal to teach German in schools (and in two states, it was illegal to speak German in public); German-language books were burned; “disloyal “professors were dismissed; beer fell out of popularity; and sauerkraut was renamed “liberty cabbage.” Same thing happened not long ago to France. Freedom fries is a political euphemism for French fries and Freedom toast for French toast used by some people in the United States as a result of anti-French sentiment during the controversy over the U.S. decision to launch the 2003 invasion of Iraq. France expressed strong opposition in the United Nations to such an invasion.

War is Declared and Opportunities Abound for All

The war finally becomes an impossible impasse due to acts committed by Germany. The events were Germany’s use of restricted submarine warfare, the publication of the Zimmermann telegram revealing a German plot to help Mexico retake the American Southwest, and the improvement of Germany’s position on the eastern front as a result of the Russian Revolution.

The U.S. mobilized the industrial base for war The United States strengthened its armed forces through the Defense Act of

1916, which increased the regular army, and the Selective Service Act of 1917, which instituted a draft.

Federal agencies that regulated the industry were the War Industries Board, which regulated the economy to guarantee sufficient military supplies; the Food Administration, which operated the nation’s supplies; the Railroad Administration, which operated the nation’s railroads; the United States Shipping Board, which supervised shipbuilding; and the National War Board, which settled labor disputes.

War is Declared and Opportunities Abound for All

(cont’d) Favorable circumstances appear for women and blacks in

“Home Front” industry. The war provided women with the opportunity to work in war factories and

to perform many jobs previously held only by men. More than 10,000 women entered the armed services in non-combat roles.

The war accelerated the migration of blacks from the South to the North and West, where many found jobs in war factories. Some 370,000 blacks served in the armed forces during the war.

Black Tom- The First Terrorist Attack on America

The Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916, in Jersey City, New Jersey, was an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materiel from being used by the Allies in World War I.As soon as war broke out in Europe, the United States began manufacturing munitions and sharing the weapons with allied British, French, and Russian forces in Europe. German agents in the United States reported the stockpiling and shipping of weapons, and the German government took action. Because they could only openly attack United States property in limited ways such as the sinking of merchant ships carrying contraband munitions without provoking America to wage war, the German government sent undercover agents to sabotage munitions operations. Numerous fires were set at military supply manufacturing sites. Shipping lines and railroads were also sometimes targets. Over 50 acts of sabotage were carried out on American targets from 1914 to 1918. Of those 50, nearly 30 occurred in the New York area alone. Not only did several factories and warehouses operate in the New York area, but ports in and around New York were the major staging point for shipping supplies to the western front in Europe.

Black Tom- The First Terrorist Attack on America (cont’d)

After midnight, a series of small fires were discovered on the pier. Some guards fled, fearing an explosion. Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department.At 2:08 a.m., the first and largest of the explosions took place. Fragments from the explosion traveled long distances, some lodging in the Statue of Liberty and some in the clock tower of The Jersey Journal building in Journal Square, over a mile away, stopping the clock at 2:12 a.m. The explosion was the equivalent of an earthquake measuring between 5.0 and 5.5 on the Richter scale and was felt as far away as Philadelphia. Windows broke as far as 25 miles (40 km) away, including thousands in lower Manhattan. Some window panes in Times Square were completely shattered. The outer wall of Jersey City's City Hall was cracked and the Brooklyn Bridge was shaken. People as far away as Maryland were awakened by what they thought was an earthquake.Two of the watchmen who had lit smudge pots to keep away mosquitoes on their watch were immediately arrested. It soon became clear that the fires of the smudge pots had not caused the fire and that the blast had not been an accident. It was traced to a Slovak immigrant named Michael Kristoff, who had served in the U.S. Army, but admitted to carrying suitcases for the Germans before America entered World War I.

Black Tom- The First Terrorist Attack on America (cont’d)

According to him, two of the guards were German agents. It is likely that the bombing involved some of the techniques developed by a group of German agents surrounding German ambassador Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, probably using the pencil bombs developed by Captain Franz von Rintelen. Although suspicion at the time fell solely on German saboteurs like Kurt Jahnke and his assistant Lothar Witzke, still judged as "likely" responsible by some, later investigations in the aftermath of the Annie Larsen affair unearthed links between the Ghadar conspiracy and the Black Tom explosion Franz von Papen is known to have also been involved in both.Bottom Line:The whole incident was covered up by President Wilson because the outrage by the American public would have run counter to his presidential campaign slogan, “He kept us out of the war” and he wanted to be re-elected. He denied the incident and blamed it on capitalists who did not do the right thing in safety and security.

America Faces War on a Grand Scale

World War starts in Europe World War I was touched off by the assassination of Archduke Francis

Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo. The rise of the German Empire and its desire for territorial security led to

the alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire in one camp. A competing alliance was formed by Great Britain, France, and Russia, each of which feared that Germany and its allies might attempt aggression against them.

America’s early position on the war The United states followed a policy of neutrality Most Americans favored the Allied side, because of their many cultural ties

to Great Britain and their gratitude to France. British control of the seas made America dependent on trade with the Allies.

The Lusitania incident It rallied American public support behind the Allies with Wilson’s

propaganda. Germany issued the Arabic and Sussex pledges to keep America from the

Allies.

America Faces War on a Grand Scale (cont’d)

Wilson prepares America for war Wilson prepared the nation for war by doubling the size of the army,

strengthening the National Guard, and undertaking a building program that aimed to make America’s navy the world’s largest by 1920.

Wilson was re-elected in 1916 by deception and used the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” Less than one year later, America was at war.

The Home Front

Women took war factory jobs

Received lower wages than males

Food shortages made running a household difficult

The Home Front

Censorship Not told about

high death toll Romanticized the

battlefields“soldiers have died

a beautiful death, in noble battle, we shall rediscover poetry…epic and chivalrous”

The Home Front

Censorship “Newspapers described

troops as itching to go over the top.”

“Government reported to the press that life in the trenches promoted good health and clear air”

Slogan

A WWI companion book and movie along with the book and movie—In Flanders Field

The Home Front

“On Leave”Troops would

stay together so they could sympathize with each other

The Home Front

Impossible to hide death Women in

mourning Badly wounded

soldiers returned home

Opposition began to emerge

Treaty of Brest-LitovskLenin had to deal with the war. Calls for a negotiated peace failed. Lenin then bargained directly with the Germans. Faced with a crippling loss of territory or the collapse of his government, he chose the former. Trotsky headed the Soviet delegation that signed a peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk, in what is now Belarus, on 3 Mar 1918. Under its terms, Russia lost Ukraine, its Polish and Baltic provinces, and Finland. The treaty was effectively annulled by Germany’s defeat in November 1918, and the Soviet Union eventually regained all of the territory except Finland and Poland.At the time that the Congress of Soviets met to approve the treaty, the Bolsheviks changed their name to the Russian Communist party. The treaty had no negative effects for Lenin. Opponents from different Russian factions were united by their opposition to it. Patriotic indignation at the betrayal of Russia to Germany quickly surfaced, even in the army. This division between the Communists and their opponents led to a civil war that lasted until late 1920. Trotsky was appointed commissar for war.

The war ends

1917 – Russia surrenders under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk(a separate peace)

U.S. joins the war on the Allied side

Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice

Death Toll of War

Allied Powers Central Powers

42 million served 23 million served

22 million casualties52% attrition rate

15 million casualties65% attrition rate

Psychological impact

“Never such innocence again” (similar to 9/11)

Bitterness towards aristocratic officers whose lives were never in danger

Social Impact

Men lost limbs and were mutilated Birthrate fell markedly Invalids unable to work Ethnic hostility Influenza epidemic

WWI Battles

The Home FrontAmerica’s Entry

ExamplesExamples

Battles, America’s Entry, and Armistice Graphic

Organizer

Slogans Slogans

Battles, America’s Entry, and Armistice Quiz

1. Give one pro and one con argument for U.S. entry into WWI.

2. Give a WWI Wilsonian slogan.

3. Give a WWI Home Front book, movie, or slogan.

4. Give two reasons that America entered WWI.

5. Give two examples of the Home Front.

Poetry and Literature of World War I

Extra Credit is available

Dulce Et Decorum EstBent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,Till on the haunting flares we turned our backsAnd towards our distant rest began to trudge.Men marched asleep. Many had lost their bootsBut limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hootsOf disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;But someone still was yelling out and stumblingAnd floundering like a man in fire or lime.--Dim, through the misty panes and thick green lightAs under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

* It is sweet and proper to die for your country Wilfred Owen, died 1918

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could paceBehind the wagon that we flung him in,And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;If you could hear, at every jolt, the bloodCome gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cudOf vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--My friend, you would not tell with such high zestTo children ardent for some desperate glory,The old Lie: Dulce et decorum estPro patria mori. *

Louse Hunting

Nudes -- stark and glistening,Yelling in lurid glee. Grinning facesAnd raging limbsWhirl over the floor one fire.For a shirt verminously busyYon soldier tore from his throat, with oathsGodhead might shrink at, but not the lice.And soon the shirt was aflareOver the candle he'd lit while we lay.Then we all sprang up and striptTo hunt the verminous brood.Soon like a demons' pantomineThe place was raging.

What a louse looks like if it were large enough to see.

See the silhouettes agape,See the glibbering shadowsMixed with the battled arms on the wall.See gargantuan hooked fingersPluck in supreme fleshTo smutch supreme littleness.See the merry limbs in hot Highland flingBecause some wizard verminCharmed from the quiet this revelWhen our ears were half lulledBy the dark musicBlown from Sleep's trumpet

Isaac Rosenberg

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

John McCrae, died 1918

In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on rowThat mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

More resources on page 783-4 of the text. Possible extra credit test score

Write a poem as if you were a soldier or a medic during World War I, living and working in the trenches. It must be at least 12 lines and actually be decent.

End ResultsMillions Killed

End Results

End Results

The Treaty of Versailles

June 1919

The Big Four

Woodrow Wilson USA

David Lloyd-George Great Britain

Georges Clemenceau France Vittorio Orlando Italy

The Big Four at Versailles in 1919

What did France want from the treaty?

Security

Revenge

Reparations

Clemenceau : The Tiger

Clemenceau wanted to make sure that Germany could not invade France in the future. He was determined that Germany should be made to pay for the damage that had been caused in northern France by the invading German armies.

David Lloyd-George

In public Lloyd-George said he wanted to punish the Germans. The British public was very anti-German at the end of the war.

In private he realised that Britain needed Germany to recover because she was an important trading partner.

He was also worried about the “disease from the east”, communism. The Russian government had been overthrown by a communist revolution in 1917. Lloyd-George believed that the spread of communism had to be stopped. A strong Germany would be a barrier against it.

What did Britain Want?

Woodrow Wilson

What did America Want?

Woodrow Wilson wanted the treaty to be based on his Fourteen Points

He believed Germany should be punished but not severely. He wanted a just settlement that would not leave Germany feeling resentful

Wilson wanted to set up an international organization called The League of Nations which would settle disputes

The American public did not support him. They were fed up with involvement in European affairs. The USA became more isolationist.

The Peace Conference: The Disaster Wilson Pretended Not to

NoticeWilson was highly concerned with his lofty principles of “peace without victory”, and the absence of revenge and self-aggrandizement. But in the closed door negotiations among the Big Four (Britain, France, Italy, and the United States), Wilson saw only revenge and self-aggrandizement.So wedded was Wilson to the idea of a League of Nations that the British and French delegations knew that all they had to do to persuade Wilson to abandon any of the other Fourteen Points was to threaten not to join his beloved League. For his part, Wilson persuaded himself that as long as he got his League, that institution could modify any objectionable aspects of the peace treaty. Ultimately, for Wilson, it was the League that mattered.A sacred cow for Wilson was the ideal of self determination, however, in breaking up the Austro-Hungarian Empire more ethnicities were created for more nations. When Czechoslovakia was created, it contained 3 million Germans in the region known as the Sudetenland. Adolf Hitler would use the principle of self-determination to then demand annexation of Czechoslovakia to regain these Germans. Portions of German-speaking Europe were parceled out not only to Czechoslovakia but also to Poland, Italy, and France; Germany even lost the port city of Danzig which was 95% German. Austria was essentially reduced to its

The Peace Conference: The Disaster Wilson Pretended Not to

Notice (cont’d)German speaking core. And despite the overwhelming popular support that existed for a union of Germany with this smaller Austria, Wilson expressly forbade any such union in the treaty.The treaty enraged Germans because they insisted upon surrendering on the Fourteen Points which called for a general disarmament. The Treaty of Versailles called for only Germany to disarm and had the following restrictions: no air force, tanks, submarines (naturally) and restricted the army to 100,000. Germany would bear the whole burden of the reparations for the war and sole responsibility for the war. Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau repudiated this sole responsibility because of the mass starvation of the German nation because of the British blockade that lasted four months past the armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918.

The League of NationsThe first international organization set up to maintain world peace was the League of Nations. It was founded in 1920 as part of the settlement that ended World War I. Weakened from the start by the refusal of the United States to join, the organization proved ineffective in defusing the hostilities that led to World War II in 1939. After World War II, the League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations to institute the attempt of a new world government.The League of Nations was first suggested in the Fourteen Points presented on 8 Jan 1918, by Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, as a basis for armistice negotiations. After the peace negotiations opened, the work was continued by a commission headed by Wilson. A working plan, called The Covenant of the League of Nations, became Section I of the Treaty of Versailles. The League came officially into existence with the ratification of this treaty on 10 Jan 1920. The first Assembly met in Geneve, Switz., 15 Nov 1920, with 41 nations represented. More than 20 nations joined later, but there were numerous withdrawals.

The U.S. Rejects World Leadership

President Wilson’s plans were severely weakened in Congress. Weakened support was evident in the election of a Republican Senate and

House in 1918 and in the discontent expressed by many Republicans on being excluded from the peace-treaty negotiations.

France, Great Britain, and Italy were intent on imposing harsh terms on the Central Powers and were contemptuous of Wilson’s Fourteen Points.

The Versailles Treaty called for: The creation of six new countries in central Europe The separation of Austria and Hungary Germany had to surrender its colonies, pay reparations, and pledge to remain

disarmed The treaty also called for a League of Nations

The organization of the League of Nations and its fate The League of Nations was to be composed of:

An Administrative Secretariat An Assembly of all member nations A Council consisting of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and

four non-permanent members chosen by the assembly Congressional opponents of the League objected to the League Covenant,

which they felt would restrict America’s independent power to declare war and threaten the Monroe Doctrine.

The Versailles Treaty was defeated in the Senate in two versions.

What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

To do with Germany’s armed forces :

The German army was to be reduced to 100,000 men. It was not allowed to have tanks.

Germany was not allowed an airforce

The area known as the Rhineland was to be de-militarized

The Allies were to occupy the west bank of the Rhein for fifteen years

The German navy was to have no submarines or large battle-ships

100,000

De-militarized

The Military Clauses

Territorial Losses

Germany lost ALL of her overseas colonies

Alsace-Lorraine was given to France

Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium

North-Schleswig was given to Denmark

Posen was given to Poland so that she would have access to the Baltic Sea. This area became known as the Polish Corridor. It meant that East Prussia was cut off from the rest of Germany.

The Rhineland was to be de-militarized

The Saar coalfields were given to France for fifteen years

The port of Danzig was made a Free City under the control of the League of Nations

"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of Germany and her Allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associate Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of a war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her Allies."

Article 231

The War Guilt Clause

GERMANY ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY FOR STARTING THE WAR

REPARATIONS

Germany agreed to pay for the damage caused by her armies during the war. The sum she had to pay was later fixed at £6,600 million

Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria

How did Germans React to the Treaty?

Germans thought the Treaty was a “diktat” : a dictated peace. They had not been invited to the peace conference at Versailles and when the Treaty was presented to them they were threatened with war if they did not sign it.

The Treaty was NOT based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points as the Germans had been promised it would.

Most Germans believed that the War Guilt Clause was unjustified. The French and British had done just as much to start the war

The loss of territory and population angered most Germans who believed that the losses were too severe.

Many Germans believed the German economy would be crippled by having to pay reparations.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th June 1919. It officially ended the 1st World War. Many historians believe

that it was a major cause of the 2nd World War.Most Germans were horrified by the harshness of the

Treaty. There was anger amongst all groups in Germany, no matter what their political beliefs. Some German newspapers called for revenge for the humiliation of

Versailles.However anger was also directed against the government

in Germany. Already there was a myth growing in the country that the German army had been “stabbed in the

back” by politicians…the so called “November Criminals”. Now these same politicians had signed the “Diktat”, the dictated peace. The new democracy in Germany was now

closely linked with the humiliation of Versailles.