| The Gallipoli Campaign | The effort of the Allies to take the Dardanelles strait began in February 1915. By securing the Dardanelles, the Allies believed that they could take Constantinople, defeat the Turks, and establish a supply line to Russia. By May, Gallipoli had turned into another bloody stalemate. Both sides dug trenches, from which they battled for the rest of the year. In December, the Allies gave up the campaign and began to evacuate. They had suffered about 250,000 casualties. |
| Battles in Africa and Asia | In various parts of Africa and Asia, Germany’s colonial possessions came under assault. The Japanese quickly overran German outposts in China and also captured Germany’s Pacific island colonies. English and French troops attacked Germany’s four African possessions and seized control of three. |
| United States joins the fight | In January 1917, the Germans announced that their submarines would sink without warning any ship in the waters around Britain. This policy was called unrestricted submarine warfare. The Germans had tried this policy before where a German submarine sank the British passenger ship Lusitania which included 128 U.S. citizens. Germany claimed that the ship had been carrying ammunition, which turned out to be true. President Woodrow Wilson sent a strong protest to Germany. After two further attacks, the Germans finally agreed to stop attacking neutral and passenger ships.
Desperate for an advantage over the Allies, however, the Germans returned to unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917. They knew it might lead to war with the United States. Ignoring warnings by President Wilson, German U-boats sank three American ships. Also, Officials intercepted a telegram written by Germany’s foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, stating that Germany would help Mexico “reconquer” the land it had lost to the United States if Mexico would ally itself with Germany.
Also, America felt a bond with England. The two nations shared a common ancestry and language, as well as similar democratic institutions and legal systems. More important, America’s economic ties with the Allies were far stronger than those with the Central Powers. On April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. The United States entered the war on the side of the Allies. |
| unrestricted submarine warfare | the policy in which Germans announced that their submarines would sink without warning any ship in the waters around Britain. |
| Why was WWI such a great war | *It became a TOTAL WAR which meant that countries devoted all their resources to the war effort. In Britain, Germany, Austria, Russia, and France, the entire force of government was dedicated to winning the conflict.
*government took control over the ECONOMY. Governments told factories what to produce and how much.
*Numerous facilities were converted to MUNITION FACTORIES. Nearly every able-bodied civilian was put to work. Unemployment in many European countries all but disappeared.
*RATIONING: governments turned to rationing. Under this system, people could buy only small amounts of those items that were also needed for the war effort.
*Governments also suppressed ANTIWAR ACTIVITY, sometimes forcibly. In addition, they censored news about the war. Many leaders feared that honest reporting of the war would turn people against it.
*PROPAGANDA: Governments also used propaganda to keep up morale and support for the war. |
| Women and the War | Thousands of women replaced men in factories, offices, and shops. Women built tanks and munitions, plowed fields, paved streets, and ran hospitals. They also kept troops supplied with food, clothing, and weapons. |
| Russia Withdraws | In March 1917, civil unrest in Russia—due in large part to war-related shortages of food and fuel—forced Czar Nicholas to step down. In his place, a provisional government was established. The new government pledged to continue fighting the war. However, as a result, the war-weary Russian army refused to fight any longer.
Eight months after the new government took over, a revolution shook Russia. In November 1917, Communist leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin seized power and insisted on ending his country’s involvement in the war. One of his first acts was to offer Germany a truce. In March 1918, Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which ended the war between them. |
| Treaty of Brest-Litovsk | ended the war between Russia and Germany |
| World war I Ends | In March 1918, the Germans mounted one final, massive attack on the Allies in France. By late May 1918, the Germans had again reached the Marne River. Paris was less than 40 miles away. Victory seemed within reach.
By this time, however, the German military had weakened. The effort to reach the Marne had exhausted men and supplies alike. Sensing this weakness, the Allies—with the aid of nearly 140,000 fresh U.S. troops—launched a counterattack. In July 1918, the Allies and Germans clashed at the Second Battle of the Marne. With the arrival of 2 million more American troops, the Allied forces began to advance steadily toward Germany.
Soon, the Central Powers began to crumble. First the Bulgarians and then the Ottoman Turks surrendered. In October, revolution swept through Austria-Hungary. In Germany, soldiers mutinied, and the public turned on the Kaiser.
On November 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II stepped down. Germany declared itself a republic. A representative of the new German government met with French Commander and the two signed an armistice, or an agreement to stop fighting. On November 11, World War I came to an end. |
| The legacy of the War: Human Cost | It left behind a landscape of death and destruction such as was never before seen.
In the human cost: About 8.5 million soldiers died as a result of the war. Another 21 million were wounded. The war led to the death of countless civilians by way of starvation, disease, and slaughter.
One of the most lethal diseases was the flu, which struck in 1918 and killed some 20 million people. |
| Legacy of the war: Economic | The great conflict drained the treasuries of European countries. One account put the total cost of the war at $338 billion. The war also destroyed acres of farmland, as well as homes, villages, and towns. |
| Legacy of the War: Mentally and the treaty | A sense of disillusionment settled over the survivors. The insecurity and despair that many people experienced are reflected in the art and literature of the time.
The treaties to end World War I were forged after great debate and compromise. And while they sought to bring a new sense of security and peace to the world, they prompted mainly anger and resentment. |
