DAILY LECTURE AND DISCUSSION NOTES 20-3

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World War I Begins

Did you know?

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt was a wealthy American and the father of William Henry Vanderbilt III, who became governor of Rhode Island. He died on board the Lusitania, after giving his life jacket to another passenger.

I. The Causes of World War I (pages 781–783)

A. European nations had expanded so much that further expansion brought them into conflict with each other.

B. Nations strengthened their armies as they competed for colonies. This led to militarism, or a fascination with war and the military.

C. Germany, France, and Russia filled their armies with soldiers by using conscription, which requires citizens to serve in the military for a certain period of time.

D. Britain had the world’s most powerful navy. Germany built its own navy in response, and a rivalry grew between Britain and Germany.

E. Nations made alliances with each other as military forces grew. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance.

Britain, France, and Russia formed the Triple Entente. An entente is an understanding among nations.

F. In the early 1900s, groups in the Balkans, an area in southeastern Europe, demanded independence from the Ottoman and Austro- Hungarian empires.

G. The South Slavs were nationalists, and included several groups, such as the Serbs, who created a state called Serbia. The Serbs believed their mission was to unite the South Slavs.

H. The Russians backed the Serbs. To keep the South Slavs in their empire from joining the Serbs, Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia, which angered the Serbs.

I. The Russians and the Serbs prepared to fight Austria-Hungary, and Germany sided with Austria-Hungary.

J. The Balkan League declared war on the Ottoman empire in 1912. The Treaty of Bucharest ended the fighting.

Discussion Question

What happened to the Balkan League? (The Balkan League fell apart after the countries in the league began fighting with each other. Greeks and Serbs demanded land from Bulgaria, so Bulgaria attacked Greece and Serbia.)

II. The War Begins (pages 784–786)

A. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was shot dead in Bosnia in June 1914. The assassin, Gavrilo Princip, was a member of the Black Hand, a secret nationalist group that wanted the Bosnian Serbs to be ruled by Serbia, not Austria-Hungary.

B. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Serbia’s ally, Russia, began mobilization, or assembling and moving troops for war.

C. Germany showed support for Austria-Hungary by declaring war on Russia. France entered the war and sided with Russia. Germany invaded Belgium, and Britain, Belgium’s ally, declared war on Germany.

D. France, Russia, and Britain, and later Italy, were known as the Allies. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman empire were known as the Central Powers.

E. The Western Front was a battle zone between France and Germany, where much of the fighting took place.

F. Troops conducted trench warfare, a type of fighting in which troops dug themselves into the ground in trenches surrounded with barbed wire.

G. New types of weapons were used in World War I, including machine guns, poison gases, submarines, and airplanes.

H. The war effort involved everyone. Supplies were diverted to soldiers, which meant that resources were not as available to civilians. Rationing limited the amount and type of supplies available to civilians.

I. Governments also used propaganda, or biased information, to shape what people think.

Discussion Question

How was World War I different from previous wars? (Both sides had new, more powerful weapons. Citizens’ lives were directly affected by the war. The governments made use of propaganda to control public opinion.)

III. America Enters the War (pages 786–788)

A. Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. president at the beginning of World War I, declared the United States impartial.

B. Many of Wilson’s advisors backed Britain. U.S. loans, food aid, and supplies were sent to the Allies.

C. The British imposed a blockade on Germany, using warships to stop goods from leaving or entering German ports. To fight back,

Germans began using U-boats, or submarines, to sink any ship sailing around Britain.

D. The British passenger liner Lusitania was sunk by German U-boats, killing 128 Americans.

E. In 1917, a cable from a German official was intercepted by Britain. The cable proposed that if war were to break out with America, Mexico would join with Germany to fight against the United States. In return, Germany would give Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to Mexico. The British gave the cable to American newspapers, and angered Americans demanded war with Germany.

F. Germany sank six American merchant ships between February 3 and March 21 of 1917.

G. On April 6, 1917, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany.

Discussion Question

How did the German U-boats contribute to America entering the war? (The U-boats sank the Lusitania, which killed 128 Americans. The Americans were outraged, and the Germans promised to give warning before sinking boats. After interception of the Zimmermann cable, the Germans began sinking ships without warning and sank six American merchant ships.)