1917. German foreign minister, Zimmerman, sent a secret Telegram to the President of Mexico proposing an alliance against the U.S. The Zimmerman Telegram.

1917

German foreign minister,

Zimmerman, sent a secret Telegram

to the President of Mexico

proposing an alliance against

the U.S.

The Zimmerman Telegram

• Germany offered to help Mexico regain New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona from the United States in return for Mexican support during the war.

• The British intercepted the secret message and deciphered it

• The British turned the telegram over to the United States

Political Cartoon:President Woodrow Wilson, in response to continued German U-boat attacks at sea

The United States declares war on Germany

Off to War

The Eastern Front

• Germany & Austria were beating the Russians

• Russians were hungry and unhappy with the monarchy (Tsar)

• Tsar Nicholas II abdicates

Russian (October) Revolution

• Led by I.V. Lenin, the Bolsheviks (radical communists) successfully overthrew the Russian Tsarist government on November 7

• Russia withdrew from the war

• The communist system (in which the economy is to be controlled by the workers) evolved into a totalitarian state dominated by a single political party

Propaganda

Total War

• Regardless of which alliance they belonged to, all combatant nations faced common domestic challenges.

• Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Russia and Italy, mobilized their entire nation to fight in this "Total War".

World War One was the first major conflict in human history which required the mobilization

of entire societies.

John Meintz, an American of German ancestry, was tarred and feathered for not supporting war bond drives. Front and rear views, showing feathers stuck on his body.

Mata Hari

• The infamous Dutch spy became an exotic dancer and courtesan

• Mata Hari was arrested by the French and executed for espionage

• Her stage name, "Mata Hari" became synonymous with spying and espionage.

1918• January 8 - Woodrow Wilson issues his

Fourteen Point plan for peace.

• March 3 – Communist Russia and the Central Powers sign the peace Treaty of Brest Litovsk

German flying ace, Baron von Richthofen (the Red Baron) is shot down.

American Aero Squadron field. Making preparations for a daylight raid on German trenches and cities. The machines are lined up and the pilots and mechanics test their planes

1918• November 9 - German Kaiser Wilhelm II

abdicates and flees Germany.

• November 11 - Germany signs the armistice. Fighting ends on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

• June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles is signed, officially ending WWI.

Peace, armistice Nov. 11, 1918

Arriving home, U.S. forces are segregated

Never forget the importance of history. To know nothing of what happened before you took your

place on earth, is to remain a child for ever and ever.