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1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate
Trench warfare brought the war on the Western Front to a stalemate while Germany and Austria-Hungary defeated Russia on the Eastern Front.
Figure 3
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The ugly side of Nationalism….Government propaganda had stirred national hatred. Most people believed their nation’s cause was just and that the war would be over quickly.
1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.)
Germany
France
Great Britain
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• Western Front – As Germany marched toward Paris, they were
halted by French troops at the First Battle of the Marne.
– Both sides dug trenches, making advancement from either side difficult. The result was a stalemate.
1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.)
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• Western Front
– For four years, both sides remained virtually in the same positions due to the trench warfare.
1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.)
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• The Eastern Front
– The Russians were defeated in both the Battle at Tannenberg and the Battle of Masurian Lake in eastern Germany.
1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.)
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• The Eastern Front
– Austria-Hungary was defeated by the Russians in Galicia and pushed out of Serbia.
– Germany came to Austria’s aid and pushed the Russians back into their own territory.
1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.)
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– Italy abandoned the Triple Alliance and attacked Austria. Italy joined France, Great Britain, and Russia and were now called the Allied Powers, or Allies.
1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.)
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– Russian casualties equaled 2.5 million, almost knocking them out of the war.
– Bulgaria joined Germany and Austria-Hungary. They attacked and eliminated Serbia from the war.
1914 to 1915: Illusions and Stalemate (cont.)
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The Great Slaughter
New weapons and trench warfare made World War I far more devastating than any previous wars.
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• Trenches were elaborate systems of defense protected by barbed wire. Troops lived in holes in the ground separated by a strip of land known as no-man’s-land.
• Attacks consisted of heavy artillery wearing down the enemy’s barbed wire.Then soldiers would attempt to advance on the enemy’s trenches.
The Great Slaughter (cont.)
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• The attacks were rarely successful because the advancing troops were often fired upon by enemy machine guns, ultimately killing millions of men.
• Trench warfare was a tactic that turned World War I into a war of attrition.
• By 1915, airplanes were added to the battlefront for the first time.
The Great Slaughter (cont.)
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• Planes were first used to spot enemy positions but eventually began to attack ground targets especially enemy communications.
• In the beginning, pilots shot at each other with pistols but were later equipped with machine guns.
The Great Slaughter (cont.)
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• The Germans used their giant airships, known as zeppelins, to bomb cities but these were easily shot down by antiaircraft guns.
The Great Slaughter (cont.)
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Other Slaughtering devices (cont.)
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A World War
With the war at a stalemate, both the Allied Powers and the Central Powers looked for new allies to gain an advantage.
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• The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers that consisted of Bulgaria, Germany, and Austria-Hungary.
• The Allied Powers—France, Great Britain, Russia, and Italy—declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
A World War (cont.)
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• The Allies unsuccessfully attempted an attack at Gallipoli.
A World War (cont.)
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• The war soon became a world conflict when a British officer, Lawrence of Arabia, encouraged Arab princes in the Middle East to revolt against their Ottoman overlords.
• The Ottoman Empire was destroyed in the Middle East by British forces who led a coalition of Indian, Australian, and New Zealand forces.
A World War (cont.)
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• At first the U.S. tried to remain neutral during the war.
A World War (cont.)
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• Great Britain and Germany implemented a series of naval blockades against one another.
• On May 7, 1915, Germans sank the British ship Lusitania. About 1100 civilians including over 100 Americans died. Germany ended unrestricted submarine warfare to avoid conflict with the U.S.
A World War (cont.)
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• In 1917, Admiral Holtzendorf convinced the German emperor to resume unrestricted submarine warfare.
• The United States retaliated by entering the war and joining the Allied Powers.
A World War (cont.)
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The Impact of Total War
World War I became a total war, with governments taking control of their economies and rationing civilian goods.
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• World War I eventually became a total war when the countries involved called for complete mobilization of their resources and people.
• The war affected the lives of all citizens in the nations involved.
The Impact of Total War (cont.)
– Countries drafted tens of millions of men.
– Governments rationed food supplies and materials.
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– Imports and exports were regulated.
– Transportation systems and industries were temporarily taken under government control.
– In order to mobilize all the resources of their nations for the war effort, European nations set up planned economies.
The Impact of Total War (cont.)
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• President Woodrow Wilson declared that the men and women at home helping with the war effort were no less part of the army than the soldiers at war.
The Impact of Total War (cont.)
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• As public support for the war began to waiver, governments expanded their powers to stop internal dissent.
– Authoritarian regimes relied on force to quiet opposition.
– The British Parliament allowed the government to arrest protesters as traitors.
– Newspapers were censored.
The Impact of Total War (cont.)
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• Women took on new roles during the war by filling the jobs traditionally done by men.
The Impact of Total War (cont.)
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• After the war, many jobs were taken from the women as the men returned to the workforce.
• The role women played during the war had a positive impact on the women’s movement and in many areas, women gained the right to vote after the war.
The Impact of Total War (cont.)
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The Reality of MODERN WARFARE
• Trench warfare brought the Western Front to a stalemate until new allies entered the war.
• Trench warfare and new technology caused a devastating loss of life.
• Governments took control of economies and rationed civilian goods, affecting all citizens.
THE END