Causes:
Military Alliances-
Russia was displeased with Austria-Hungary's seizure of Sarajevo, and did not want Austria-Hungary to expand into the Balkan Mountains region. Russia agreed to join Serbia if Austria-Hungary attacked. Austria-Hungary had a military alliance with Germany. Germany agreed to join Austria-Hungary in its war against Serbia. Germany and France had been rivals for many years. France had an alliance with Russia, so the French prepared to join the conflict. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. Russia, Germany, and France joined the fighting within a week. Belgium hoped to remain out of the conflict, but when German soldiers marched across their nation to reach France, the Belgians called on an alliance with Great Britain to help resist the Germans.
Imperialism-
The main European powers, like Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, were colonizing much of Africa and Asia to supply their economies with raw materials for their industries. The desire for territorial expansion and resources fueled intense competition between the powers. The struggle for power sparked conflicts and eventually started WWI.
Militarism-
Increased military and naval rivalry led not only to the belief that war was coming and increase in military control of the civilian government also increased cooperation among the military staff of the countries of the same camp. For example, all the three Entente powers held secret military talks. The British and the French naval authorities agreed that the French navy should be concentrated in the Mediterranean and the British in the North Sea. Germany and Austria also had military agreements. When the First World War was fought, it was to be fought by all powers because they had made the military plan cooperatively.
Nationalism-
Nationalism makes people become proud of their country, or increases their pride, and in doing this in the years leading up to WWI. Countries built up their armies, added more weapons for more power, to show that they were better or deserved respect from the other countries. Countries raced to Africa for raw materials and thought they should take over an area. By itself nationalism helped encourage countries to break away from other countries or from the empires that it was under and form their own countries. Many countries were formed as a result of WWI and nationalism.
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand-
On June 28, 1914, a young Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Taking place against a backdrop of escalating tensions in the Balkans, the assassination set off a chain of events that would lead to the start of World War I barely one month later. This event was the "spark" that set-off World War I.
Allied Powers: Great Britain, France, United States, Russia, Serbia
Central Powers: Germany, Austria- Hungry, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria
Siknking of the Lusitania-
On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania left port in New York for Liverpool to make her 202nd trip across the Atlantic. On board were 1,959 people, 159 of whom were Americans. Approximately 14 miles off the coast of Southern Ireland at Old Head of Kinsale, neither the captain nor any of his crew realized that the German U-boat, U-20, had already spotted and targeted them. At 1:40 p.m., the U-boat launched a torpedo. The torpedo hit the starboard (right) side of the Lusitania. Almost immediately, another explosion rocked the ship. Of the 1,959 people on board, 1,198 died. The toll of civilians killed in this disaster shocked the world.
Black Tom Incident-
The Black Tom explosion was the peak act of German sabotage on American soil during the First World War. On July 29, 1916, German agents set fire to a complex of warehouses and ships in the New York harbor that held munitions, fuel, and explosives bound to aid the Allies in their fight. Through America was technically a neutral nation at the time of the attack, general policies greatly favored the Allies. The attack persuaded many that the United States should join the Allies and intervene in the war in Europe.
Kingsland Explosion-
The target selected by the German saboteurs was the Canadian Car and Foundry Company at Kingsland. The company based in Montreal signed large contracts with Russia and the United Kingdom for delivery of ammunition. On January 11, 1917, a fire started in Building 30 of the Canadian Car and Foundry Company in Kingsland Bergen County, New Jersey. In 4 hours, probably 500 000 pieces of 76 mm (3") -high explosive shells were discharged. The entire plant was destroyed. It was said to have been a spectacle more magnificent than the explosion at Black Tom. From the office buildings and tall apartments, people in New York City, watched with amazement.
Zimmerman Note-
The Zimmermann Telegram (or Zimmermann Note) was a 1917 diplomatic proposal from the German Empire to Mexico to make war against the United States. The proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence. Revelation of the contents outraged American public opinion and helped generate support for the United States declaration of war on Germany in April.
World War I Battles:
ChateauThierry- The Battle of Chateau Thierry formed the tip of the German advance towards Paris, some 50 miles south-west. Defended by U.S. Second and Third Divisions dispatched at the behest of the French by AEF Commander-in-Chief Jack Pershing, the Americans launched a counter-attack on 3-4 June with the assistance of the French Tenth Colonial Division; in a spirited action together they succeeded in pushing the Germans back across the Marne to Jaulgonne. The battle ran from 6-26 June and by its end saw U.S. forces suffer 9,777 casualties, of which 1,811 were fatal. The number of German casualties is not known, although some 1,600 troops were taken prisoner.
1) This Battle lasted three weeks.
2) For eighty years, Belleau Wood (where the Battle was) has been the source of a number of disputes and controversies.
3) Some writers, like Historian/Novelist Thomas Fleming, feel the battle should have never been fought
4) Military historians have put the tactics and methods applied at Belleau Wood under a very strong microscope.
5) There is considerable criticism laid at the feet of 4th Brigade Commander James Harbord, a Pershing favorite from the Army.\
Bellean Wood- In late May 1918, the third German offensive of the year penetrated the Western Front to within 45 miles of Paris. U.S. forces under General John J. Pershing helped halt the German advance, and on June 6 Pershing ordered a counteroffensive to drive the Germans out of Belleau Wood. U.S. Marines under General James Harbord led the attack against the four German divisions positioned in the woods and by the end of the first day suffered more than 1,000 casualties.For the next three weeks, the Marines, backed by U.S. Army artillery, launched many attacks into the forested area, but German General Erich Ludendorff was determined to deny the Americans a victory. Ludendorff continually brought up reinforcements from the rear, and the Germans attacked the U.S. forces with machine guns, artillery, and gas. Finally, on June 26, the Americans prevailed but at the cost of nearly 10,000 dead, wounded, or missing in action.
1) On the first day of Belleau Wood, the Marines suffered more casualties than over their entire previous combat history.
2) Belleau Wood was a small forested plateau about three miles northwest of Chateau-Thierry.
3) Four German divisions stabbed at the Americans running into the US Marine Brigade of the US 2nd Infantry Division.
4) It was an incredibly bloody battle as the Americans threw waves of soldiers into the attack.
5) The German offensive was checked, the German flank threatened and their offensive stalled out.
Meuse- Argonne Offensive- At 5:30 on the morning of September 26, 1918, after a six-hour-long bombardment over the previous night, more than 700 Allied tanks, followed closely by infantry troops, advance against German positions in the Argonne Forest and along the Meuse River Building. Aiming to cut off the entire German 2nd Army, Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch ordered General John J. Pershing to take overall command of the offensive. Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force was to play the main attacking role, in what would be the largest American-run offensive of World War I. After some 400,000 U.S. troops were transferred with difficulty to the region in the wake of the U.S.-run attack at St. Mihiel, launched just 10 days earlier, the Meuse-Argonne offensive began. The preliminary bombardment, using some 800 mustard gas and phosgene shells, killed 278 German soldiers and incapacitated more than 10,000. The infantry advance began the next morning, supported by a battery of tanks and some 500 aircraft from the U.S. Air Service.By the morning of the following day, the Allies had captured more than 23,000 German prisoners; by nightfall, they had taken 10,000 more and advanced up to six miles in some areas.
1) The U.S had 117,000 casualties
2) The French had 70,000 casualties
3) The Germans had 120,000 casualties
4) The U.S and French forces deployed 550,000 personnel
5) The German Forces deployed 190,000 personnel
The Treaty of Versailles:
