World War I Chapter 13

World War IChapter 13

Europe plunges into war…

The Triple Entente• Great Britain• France • Russia

The Triple Alliance• Germany• Austria-Hungary• Italy

Austria had declared war on Serbia!

• Russia begins moving troops to the Austrian border.

• This is because they are allies with Serbia.

Russia also moves troops to the German border!• This is because

Germany is allies with Austria!

Germany declares war on Russia!• Russia looks to France for help!

Germany declares war on France!• Everyone else picks a side.

Two sides:

The Central PowersThe Allies

The Central Powers• Germany • Austria-Hungary

• Later Ottomans and Bulgarians.

The Allies• France• Great Britain• Russia

• Later:• Italy (anything weird

about this?)• Japan

1914• Millions of soldiers happily march

off to war.• They have no idea….

The Western Front

A bloody stalemate.

The Western Front• Northern France

• The battlefield was a dead-lock.

The Schlieffen Plan

General Alfred Graf von Schlieffen.

The Schlieffen Plan• This was a strategy

for a war on two fronts.

• Attack France and defeat her quickly.

• Then move on to Russia.

The Schlieffen Plan• Speed is vital.

• Germany felt Russia lagged and would take longer to get supplies to front lines.

September 1914• The Germans get

to the outskirts of Paris!

The Battle of the Marne

The Marne• The Allies regroup

and attack the Germans!

• Every available soldier was sent to the fight.

600 taxicabs even helped get soldiers to the front!

The Germans retreat!• After 4 days of heavy fighting.

The significance of the Battle of the Marne.• This left the

Schlieffen Plan in ruins!

• The Russians then invaded the East.

War in the trenches.

1915

World War I trenches.

Trench warfare.

• Protection from fire.• Yet, huge loss of life for pitiful gains.

Life in the trenches.• Misery.• Mud.• Rats.• Sleep – virtually

non-existent.• Dirty water and

food.

No Man’s Land

No Man’s Land• The space

between opposing trenches.

• Men sent “over the top” to attack.

No man’s land.• Shell holes.• Machine guns.• Artillery.• Gas.• Tanks.

“Shells of all calibers kept raining on our sector. The trenches disappeared, filled with earth…the air was unbreathable. Our blinded, wounded, crawling, and shouting soldiers kept falling on top of us and dies splashing us with blood. It was living hell.”

The Western Front

• 500 miles long.• “A terrain of

death.”

The New Weapons of War.

Poison Gas• Introduced by

Germans.• Used by BOTH

sides.

• Blindness, blistering and burning, choking and death.

Machine Gun• Fires many

rounds/bullets automatically.

• Wipes out waves of attackers.

Tank• Armored combat

vehicle.• Drives on tracks.• Introduced by

British.• Could travel on

any terrain.

Submarine• 1914 – Germany.• A warship that

travels under the water.

• Used torpedoes.

Airplane• Very maneuverable.

Weight is in the center.

• Timing device let machine gun fire through propeller.

• Faster and faster as war goes on.

The Eastern Front

The Eastern Front• The German and Russian border.

The Eastern Front• Russians and

Serbs fighting Germans and Austro-Hungarians.

• More mobile than Western Front.

Russia invaded Germany.• Germany

counterattacked

• Crushed Russian army and sent them into full retreat.

• 30,000 Russians lost.

Russia struggles…• 1916.• Near collapse.• Not industrialized.

Short on:• Food• Guns • Ammo• Clothes• Boots blankets.

Germany’s submarines also prevented supplies from getting to Russia!

The Russians had one major asset.

Their population.Staggering

battlefield losses, but a huge population could replenish ranks.

World War

• Fighting would spread beyond the two fronts.• Africa• Southwest Asia.• Southeast Asia.