9.1.3 Fighting the War _ TEACH_

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

9.1.3: World War 1: Fighting the War

9. The Time of World Wars

people in this lesson

Wilson

president

USA

Nicholas II

emperor (Czar)

Russia

Lenin

revolutionary

Russia

German soldiers opening chlorine gas cannisters to poison the enemy

Thousands of soldiers were blinded by the gas

WWI ZEPPELINS: NOT TOO DEADLY, BUT SCARY AS HELL

WW1 saw the first aerial "dogfights"

The German Manfred von Richthoven , nicknamed the Red Baron, was the most successful fighter pilot during World War I. It is said he won more than 80 air battles before he was shot down .

German U-boats terrorized Allied ships 

The first tanks were seen in 1916

Flamethrowers were used to flush enemy soldiers out of their trenches

most feared by soldiers 

bombing and dogfights

break through the enemy trenches

blokkade enemy supplies

bombing, reconnaissance, create panic

drive the enemy out of their trenches

America (USA) enters the war (April 1917).

Causes:

1. American ships were sunk by German U-boats
2. American banks feared loss of loans to the Allies if the centrals would win
3. Wilson feared loss of democracy in Europe if Germany would win.

Direct cause:

• the Zimmermann Telegram.

1917: a decisive year

• Two significant events changed the course of the war. 
• German U-Boats kept attacking unarmed passenger and merchant ships.  
• The Zimmerman Telegram

President Woodrow Wilson asking Congress to declare war on Germany on April 2, 1917

British propaganda poster in response to the sinking of The Lusitania. Dated 1915.

The Zimmermann telegram: the direct cause for the USA to declare war on the Central Powers.

The encoded letter

The decoded letter

The letter published

CAUSES

DIRECT CAUSE

Why did the USA join WW1?

Zimmermann Telegram

US loans to the Allies

unrestricted submarine warfare

make the world safe for democracy

Russia is leaving the war

Causes:

1. staggering number of casualties among poorly armed Russian soldiers.
2. discontent in Russian cities: hunger, poverty, war.
3. discontent about the Czar's rule and bad military leadership.

• All this led to the Russian Revolution in Feb 1917. (= February Revolution)
• Result: the czar abdicated but the new (temporary civilian) government continued the war.

Direct cause:

• Lenin, leader of the communists, seizes power in Russia during the October Revolution.

• He signs an armistice (dec 1917) and negotiates a Peace Treaty with Germany. (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)

At the Peace Conference in Brest-Litovsk (arrival of the Russian delegation)

Consequences / effects:

1. Russia lost a lot of territory (and resources) to Germany.
2. Russia's former allies (Britain and France) saw Lenin as a traitor of the alliance.
3. Germany could send its soldiers in Russia to the western front (no more two-front war!) 

• It is spring 1918. Germany hopes to win the war before the Americans arrive.

When Lenin became the leader of Russia,

1. Russia switched sides and joined the Central Powers
2. Russia kept fighting but lost the war after the battle of Brest-Litovsk
3. Russia surrendered to Germany
4. Germany surrendered to Russia to end the two-front war

The road to Armistice, 11/11/1918, 11 a.m.

1918

1. April. The German offensive fails. Germany is exhausted.
2. Aug.: 1 million American troops join the Allies in France.
3. Oct.: unrest and local communist revolutions in Germany. Even the navy soldiers refuse to fight any longer.
4. Nov 9: without army support Wilhelm II abdicates (and flees to the Netherlands). Germany becomes a Republic. With the kaiser gone, the Allies now agree to an armistice.
5. Nov 11: armistice is signed in Compiègne. All armies stop fighting.

congratulations

congratulations