Name: ________________________________________________________
World War I
Long-Term Causes of WWI
Causes of WWI
• There are four “MAIN” causes of WWI:
○ M ilitarism
____________________________
○ A lliances
____________________________
○ I mperialism
____________________________
○ N ationalism
____________________________
Militarism
• Militarism
____________________________ refers to the development of armed forces and their use in
diplomacy
○ Glorifying military power
○ Keeping a large standing army prepared for war
○ Germany
1890: ____________________________has the strongest army in Europe (competes
with Britain for naval supremacy)
Alliance System
• Two alliances existed in Europe prior to WWI:
○ Triple Alliance-
____________________________ ____________________________- Germany, Italy,
Austria-Hungary
Triple Entente-
○ ____________________________ ____________________________- England, France,
Russia
• After WWI began…
○ Central Powers
Triple Alliance developed into the ____________________________
____________________________ (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire)
○ Allies
Triple Entente developed into the ____________________________ (England, France,
Russia, US, Italy, Serbia, +more)
Name: ________________________________________________________
Long-Term Causes of WWI (cont.
• Imperialism
____________________________
○ Germany industrialized
○ Competition between Germany, France, and Britain for colonies
• Nationalism
____________________________
○ Competition and hostility between nations
○ Fear of Germany’s growing power in Europe
○ Balkans
Ethnic groups wanting independence (in ____________________________)
○ Russia
____________________________ sees itself as a protector of all
Slavic
____________________________people
Short-Term Cause of WWI
The Assassination
Franz Ferdinand
• Archduke ____________________________ ____________________________was the heir to
the throne of Austria-Hungary
• Gavrilo Princip,
He and his wife were killed by 19-year-old, ____________________________
____________________________, a Serbian nationalist on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo
○ Black Hand
Princip was tied to a radical group called the ______________________________
____________________
The July Crisis of 1914
• Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
• Russia (ally of Serbia) declared war on AH
• Germany (ally of AH) declared war on Russia and France
• Britain (ally of F&R) declared war on Germany
Europe at War
Germany Attacks
• Schlieffen Plan
Germany’s military strategy was called the ____________________________
____________________________
○ German troops would move west to quickly defeat France, then go east to attack Russia
○ two front
Goal was to fight a one-front war, not _________-___________________ war.
○ Was a big failure
Name: ________________________________________________________
Naval Warfare
• blockade
British ____________________________ kept supplies from getting to Germany
• U
Germany responded by bombing British ships without warning using their new ______-
boat
______________________ (____________________________
(unrestricted submarine
____________________________ warfare)
____________________________)
• Lusitania
Sinking of British ship RMS ____________________________ sparked American outrage
New Technology
• Machine guns
• Chemical
____________________________ weapons (poison gas)
• Airplanes
• Tanks
• Flame throwers
Trench Warfare
• Trench warfare
____________________________ ____________________________ is a type of combat where
opposing troops fight from fortified ditches facing each other
• No-man’s____________________________is
________-____________________ land the unoccupied region
between the opposing armies
• Lots of deaths with little gain
Europe at War (cont.)
Western Front
• Germans/AH vs. France/Britain (eventually US)
• Verdun
Battle of ____________________________: largest battle of WWI
○ 10 months, 1 million deaths
○ Germans wanted France to “bleed to death” (take lives, not land)
• Somme
Battle of the ____________________________
○ 1.5 million deaths
○ Allies gained 5 miles
Name: ________________________________________________________
Eastern Front
• Germany/AH vs. Russia/Serbia
• Less trench warfare
• Russia
○ Pros
_______________: lots of people
○ Cons
_______________: not industrialized=less supplies
• Tannenberg
Battle of ____________________________
○ 50k Russian deaths, 92k Russians taken prisoner
○ Big loss for Russia
US in WWI
American Isolation
• Woodrow Wilson
US President ____________________________ ____________________________ did NOT
want to get involved in the war
• Allies
The public wants to help the ____________________________
○ Stories of German atrocities
○ Economic ties with Britain and France
• US helps by selling/lending weapons
American Entrance
• January 1917: Wilson’s “peace without victory” speech
• Germany replied… sub attacks would continue and they would sink US ships
• Zimmermann note __________________
_____________________________________
○ Mexico
Secret message sent from Germany to ____________________________ proposing a
military alliance; if US joined war, Germany would help Mexico attack US
○ Intercepted and decoded by GB, shared with US
• Germany
US declared war on ____________________________ April 6, 1917
Name: ________________________________________________________
US in WWI (cont.)
America at War
• US military was not ready for war
• Selective Service
Passed the ____________________________ Act
____________________________ ___________
(started the draft)
○ 3 million men drafted, 75% saw combat
segregated
• African Americans fought in ____________________________ units
• Total war
_______________________ ____________- all resources were devoted to the war
○ Gov. took over factories
○ Everyone worked (even women)
○ Rationing
____________________________ (limiting/saving) food/supplies
America at War
• Propaganda
____________________________ - information or material spread to advance a cause or to
damage an opponent’s cause
US Impact on the War
• Allies were exhausted after 2.5 years
• Americans brought new enthusiasm that led to key victories over the Germans
• 48k Americans died in combat, 62k died from disease
• Growing backlash against Germans at home
End of the War
Peace in Europe
• Paris Peace____________________________
January 1919: ____________________________ Conference
___________________________________________
○ Meeting of victorious leaders to discuss peace
○ “____________
Big Four
____________”
▪ David Lloyd George (GB)
▪ Vittorio Orlando (Italy)
▪ Georges Clemenceau (France)
▪ Woodrow Wilson (US)
Name: ________________________________________________________
Wilson’s Peace Plan
• Fourteen Points
Called the ____________________________ ____________________________
○ #1 Open treaties (no secrets)
○ #2 Safe seas (no u.s.w.)
○ #3 Free trade
○ #4 Arms reduction
○ #5 Consider colonial people
○ #6-13 Boundary changes and self-determination for ethnic groups
○ League of Nations
#14 Create the ____________________________ ________
____________________________ (international peacekeeping body)
Peace Negotiations
• Treaty of Versailles (1919)
○ Limited Germany to 100k man army
reparations
○ Made Germany pay $33 billion in ____________________________
○ War-guilt clause
_____________-_____________________ ____________________________put all
Germany
blame on ____________________________
○ Stripped Germany of all colonies
○ Broke up Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empires
○ Problems: Germany couldn’t pay, ignored Russia (left war early)
• rejects
US ____________________________ the treaty over the League of Nations (Congress didn’t
want to share power)
