ABC's of The Great War
By: Josh Pauley
ALLIES
One group that fought in WWI was the allies. The countries in the Allies were Great Britain, France, Russia, eventually Italy, and eventually the United States. The Allies have the advantage of being on both sides of the Central Powers because they forced Germany to fight a two front war. This ultimatley led to the defeat of the Central Powers.
Battles of the Marne
The Marne river is in France. The first battle of the Marne was fought in the beginning of the war and turned into a stalemate that led to the start of trench warfare. Germany eventually retreated but then, towards the end of the war, Germany tried to catch France by surprise by attacking the Marne again. This became the last stalemate and the last battle that Germany fights in WWI
Central Powers
The other group that fought in WWI was the Central Powers. The countries in the Central Powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. Germany had the largest and strongest standing but the factor that made them lose the war was their location. Being in the center and having war coming from almost every direction from the outside meant they had to spread out their army and they could not handle it.
Disease
During WWI an enourmous epidemic of influenza spread throughout the world. It spread through Russia, Europe, Asia, and the United States. 12 million people died in India and 20 million people died worldwide. 12 million in India might be because they were a colony of Britain and during the war the weren't getting the foods and medicines the needed and that goes the same for the whole world.
Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the next in line for the Austro-Hungarian throne. His actions did not contribute to the war, it was his assassination. When he was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, the "flame" was lit. Austria declared war on Serbia, Russa mobilized on Austria, Germany mobilized on France, and everything went crazy. This was what sparked WWI.
Gallipoli Campaign
The campaign was used for Britain to try and take over the Straights of the Dardanelles from the Ottoman Empire. If they could take control here and Constantinople, they could defeat the Turks, and bring supplies into Russia who, at this time, was starving to death and had no supplies.
Imperialism
Imperialism is one of the 4 M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI. Imperialism is the spreading of ones country into other countries. So basically just expanding because your country is big enough to do so. Before WWI began, all of europe believed in imperialism and that their country is the superior to the other. So they try to expand and eventually leads to war.
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Wilhelm was the ruler of Germany around 1890. He took over as an absolutist and fired Otto Von Bismark, making Wilhelm the head of Germany's military. His mistake was that he let Germany's peace treaty with Russia lapse. Russia then went to france to become allies. Then joining Britain they became the Triple Entante. If Wilhelm would not of screwed up he would have kept peace with Russia.
Lusitania
The Lusitania was a British Passenger ship that was sunk by German submarines. 128 passengers that died were from the United States. The United states later declared war and help defeat Germany and the Central Powers.
Mustard Gas
During WWI the germans invented all kinds of new warfare. One new killer they invented was mustard gas. It was a nasty gas they would toss into the trenches that was a yellowish smoke that would crawl into your lungs making it almost impossible to breath. This new technology gave Germany an early advantage in the war.
Nationalism
Nationalism is another one of the 4 M.A.I.N. Causes of WWI. A huge example of this was of the people in serbia or other areas in the balkins. Everyone wants their country and when Austria-Hungary doesn't let them it makes them have pride for their ethnicity and country and go to fight for freedom.
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of biased advertisment to sell an idea. Propaganda has a huge effect on the war. The advertisments brings people together to do total war. People grow victory gardens, use ration cards, scrap metal, buy war bonds. All based off what the government spreads throught propaganda
Revolution
The Bolschevik Revolution in 1917 was a revolution by the peasants of Russia to revolt from the corrupt government. This led to the collapse of Russia. Russia became the Soviet Union and dropped out of the war completely.
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen planned to go into France, defeat them quickly, then go to Russia and fight on a whole different front. This failed because the Germans did not expect France to fight back as hard as the did. So the war on France took longer allowing Russia to get ready to fight.
Trench Warfare
Trench warfare was an ugly new way to fight wars. It started in France along the Marne river. Trenches were dug deep for soldiers to use as protection and to fight for their lives. Trench warfare got brutal because one granade could take out an entire section of the trenh and just became a blood bath.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
Unrestricted submarine warfare was a new type of warfare used mostly by the Germans and Britain. Each country contained a zone and if another country came into their zone they would use their submarines to attack on the ships. An example of this was the sinking of the Lusitania. This led to U.S. Involvement and eventually Germany's defeat.
Versailles
Versailles was the French city where the peace treaty to end WWI was signed at. The details in the treaty hammered Germany. It made them take sole responsibilty, take on all debt, and more. This creates hatred in Germany which, in about 20 years, turns into WWII.
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow was the president of the United States during WWI. He kept the U.S. Neutral as long as possible and once he did take action he helped win the war. Woodrow Wilson is a huge contributor to the U.S. Being the superpower that it is.