THE END OF WWI: 1917-1918. GERMANY’S UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE Germany began using...
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Transcript of THE END OF WWI: 1917-1918. GERMANY’S UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE Germany began using...
THE E
ND OF
WW
I: 1917-
1918
GERMANY’S UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE
Germany began using “unrestricted naval warfare”
They said they would attack any ship
America would not like this because _________?
UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE
Germany began sinking ships, including ones that had American passengers on board
The most famous was the Lusitania (1915)British ship (unarmed but carrying munitions)They were warned to stay away – didn’t listen1,198 people died128 were American
UNRESTRICTED NAVAL WARFARE
U.S. and Germany signed the Sussex Pledge in 1916 to stop unrestricted naval warfare
In 1917 Germany threatened to start up again this helps turn the tide for the U.S. to enter the war
ZIMMERMANN NOTE
German foreign minister sent a telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico
The British intercepted the note – showed it to the U.S.
Suggested an alliance between Germany and Mexico
If war broke out with the U.S. Germany would support Mexico and help them regain territories in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico
AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR
• President Wilson asked Congress for war on April 2, 1917
• Congress voted in support for war against Germany on April 4, 1917
• U.S. declared war on Austria-Hungary on December 7, 1917
• America was slow in moving their troops to Europe didn’t make much of a difference until 1918
GERMANS TURN THEIR ATTENTION TO THE WEST
• With the removal of Russian from the
war (1918) Germany turned their full
attention to the west
• French army was in fully mutiny
• The Austrians with Germany support
defeated the Italians
• Central Powers were only checked with
the arrival of U.S. support
GERMANY’S LAST OFFENSIVE
• March 1918 Germany gambled everything on a last offensive This was Germany’s attempt to end WWI
• Was actually successful at first but the supply lines could not keep up with the troops and it began to disintegrate
• U.S. troops kept arriving and supporting the British – Germany’s worst scenario
• Between March – July 1918 Germany lost over 1,000,000 men
THE ARMISTICE
• November 11, 1918 the Germans agreed to an
armistice
• November 9 Kaiser William II abdicated
• Government was replaced by the majority
branch, the Social Democratic Party Germany
was now a republic (soon known as the German
Republic or the Weimar Republic)
• The German people were largely unaware of
what was happening at the end of the war and
believed they had been tricked into peace
EFFECTS OF WWI
• European population decimated “The Lost Generation”•9.4 million soldiers died•15.3 million wounded•Millions of civilians died
• German, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russian, and Turkish empires were gone
• Disappointment, resentment, economic disaster led the way for: cynicism, nihilism, dictatorship, fascism, statism, racism, and class warfare
TREATY OF VERSAILLES
• U.S. = President Woodrow Wilson
• Britain = David Lloyd George
• France = Georges Clemenceau
• Italy = Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
• The “Big Four”
• Met at Versailles
• Germany and Russia are excluded
THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES
• Main Aspects:
•Demilitarized Germany• 100,000 men• 6 battleships, no submarines•No air force
• Land was handed over, lost overseas colonies•Germany forbidden to unite with Austria• Pay reparations•Accept the “War-Guilt” Clause • League of Nations
• Five separate treaties in all