Topic 12 - Imperialism and World War I (1853-1919)

Lesson 4 - A European War

The First World War ravaged Europe and the Middle East from 1914 to 1918. It was the first war with chemical weapons, aerial warfare, and tank battles. It was called The Great War, but its main feature was carnage. Well over half of soldiers involved became casualties. Why did the United States choose to join in Europe’s war?

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Start up

Examine this photograph of the trenches used in World War I and then preview the lesson. Write three facts you already know about the war.

Guiding Questions

What were the causes of World War I?
How was war fought in the trenches?
How did Germany’s use of submarine warfare affect American neutrality?

Vocabulary

nationalism
militarism
terrorist
Central Powers
Allied Powers
trench warfare
neutral
propaganda
U-boat
Lusitania

Academic Vocabulary

embroil
incline

How Did Tensions in Europe Lead to a Crisis?

The war in Europe was caused by tensions that had been building for years. When they erupted and war began in 1914, few Europeans were surprised.

Nationalism Creates Rivalries

One cause of this tension came from the extreme feelings of nationalism, or pride in one’s nation. In the 1870s, European nationalists demanded freedom and self-government. They believed that people with a common language and culture should throw off foreign rule and form their own countries.

While nationalism encouraged unity, it also created mistrust and bitter rivalry between nations. For example, France and Germany had gone to war in 1870. When France lost the war, it had to give Germany the iron-rich territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The French never forgot this blow to their national pride. They hoped for an opportunity to regain their lost territory.

In Eastern Europe, nationalism deepened hostility between Austria-Hungary and Russia. Russia encouraged Serbs and other minorities in Austria-Hungary to rise up against their rulers.

Imperialism and Militarism

Another cause of problems in Europe came from imperialism. Between 1870 and 1914, rivalries expanded among powerful nations such as Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia as they scrambled for colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Often, several nations competed for power in the same region. This competition sometimes led to wars in places far from Europe.

Militarism was a third source of tension. Militarism is the policy of building up strong armed forces to prepare for war. European nations expanded their armies and navies, creating new stresses. For example, when Germany built up its navy, the British responded by adding more ships to their fleet. This race for naval dominance strained relations between the two nations.

Analyze Graphs

Because of both imperialism and militarism, many European nations had large standing armies.

Draw Conclusions Were the Allies or the Central Powers better-prepared for war?

The Alliance System

To protect themselves, European powers formed rival alliances. Germany organized the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy. France responded by linking itself to Russia and Britain in the Triple Entente (ahn tahnt).

The alliance system posed a new danger. Allies agreed to support one another in case of an attack. Thus, a crisis involving one member of an alliance also affected that nation’s allies. This meant that a minor incident could spark a major war. On June 28, 1914, such an incident took place.

Analyze Timelines

Many events, not just one, contributed to the outbreak of World War I.

Use Evidence How do the events in the timeline demonstrate the ease with which many European countries could fall into war?

READING CHECK

Summarize What is militarism, and how did it contribute to World War I?

War Breaks Out

For years, nationalism had caused turmoil in the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. There, the rival nations of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia battled for territory. At the same time, Balkan nationalists called on related ethnic groups in Austria-Hungary to throw off Austrian rule.

An Assassination

In June 1914, a crisis that would have a devastating effect embroiled the region. Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. At the time, Bosnia was part of the Eastern European empire ruled by Austria-Hungary. Francis Ferdinand’s visit angered members of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group. A terrorist uses threats and violence to promote a cause. The Black Hand wanted Bosnia to break away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and join Serbia.

On June 28, the archduke and his wife, Sophie, rode through Sarajevo in an open car. Suddenly, a young terrorist named Gavrilo Princip stepped from the curb, waving a pistol. Taking aim, he fatally shot Francis Ferdinand and Sophie.

Allies Declare War

In the days that followed, Austria-Hungary accused the Serbian government of organizing the archduke’s assassination. When Austria-Hungary threatened war, Russia moved to protect Serbia. Diplomats rushed to ease tensions, but they could not stop the system of alliances from running its fateful course.

On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. The very next day, Russia ordered its forces to mobilize, or prepare for war. Austria-Hungary’s ally, Germany, called on Russia to cancel the mobilization order. When it received no reply, Germany declared war on Russia on August 1.

On August 3, Germany declared war on Russia’s ally France. The next day, when German armies sliced through neutral Belgium on their march to France, Britain declared war on Germany. Long before, Britain had promised to defend Belgium if it were attacked. Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on August 6. In this way, what began as a local crisis in Bosnia exploded into a major war.

GEOGRAPHY SKILLS

The map shows how Europe was divided between the Allies and the Central Powers during World War I.

Location Name the countries that comprised the Allies and the Central Powers at the start of the war in 1914.
Use Visual Information Which of the Allies were in a particularly dangerous location? Why?

READING CHECK

Identify Supporting Details What details support the idea that the alliance system turned a local crisis into a world war?

A Lengthy Stalemate

The war pitted the Central Powers—Germany and Austria-Hungary—against the Allied Powers, which were France, Britain (United Kingdom), and Russia, as well as Serbia. In time, other nations joined each side.

The Fighting Begins

“You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees,” the kaiser, or German emperor, promised his troops as they marched off to war. Europeans on both sides of the conflict thought the war would end soon. They were mistaken. The war dragged on for four blood-soaked years, from 1914 to 1918. At the time, the conflict was called the Great War. Later, it became known as the First World War or World War I.

By November 1914, a German advance and an Allied counterattack had produced nothing but a deadly stalemate. A stalemate is a deadlock in which neither side is strong enough to defeat the other. For three years, the two armies fought huge battles with little to show for them.

Both sides dug in, creating a maze of trenches protected by barbed wire. Some trenches were shallow ditches. Others were elaborate tunnels that served as headquarters and first-aid stations. Between the frontline trenches of each side lay a “no man’s land” of barbed wire.

Death in the Trenches

In trench warfare, soldiers spent day after day shelling the enemy trenches. An attack would begin with hours of heavy artillery fire. Then, on orders from an officer, the troops charged “over the top” of the trenches. Armed with their rifles, soldiers raced across no man’s land to attack the enemy. With luck, they might overrun a few trenches. Before long, the enemy would launch a counterattack, with similar results. In this way, the struggle went on, back and forth, over a few hundred yards of territory.

A new weapon used on both sides was poison gas—chlorine and mustard were two types. The clouds of gas floated into the trenches, burning, choking, blinding, and often killing the soldiers.

Because of the nature of trench warfare, most offensives were long and deadly. The Battle of Verdun lasted for 10 months in 1916. The Germans lost some 400,000 men trying to overrun French lines. The French lost even more lives defending their positions.

Meanwhile, in the East, the vast armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary faced off against those of Russia and Serbia. Stalemate and trench warfare brought deadly results there as well. By mid-1916, the Russians had lost more than one million soldiers. Yet, neither side could win a decisive victory.

World War I was characterized by trench warfare, a brutal form of fighting that claimed many lives.

Trenches were muddy and infested with rats, frogs, and lice.
Trenches eventually stretched almost 500 miles.
Diseases infected men living in trenches .
Between Allied and enemy trenches lay no man’s land, a deadly zone for anyone caught there.

READING CHECK

Identify Cause and Effect What were the effects of trench warfare?

The United States Tries to Avoid the Conflict

When war broke out in Europe, the United States was determined to avoid being dragged into the conflict. The government adopted an official position of neutrality. Neutral means not taking sides in a conflict.

Public opinion, however, was divided, often along ethnic lines. Most Americans were inclined to support the Allies because of long-standing ties of language, history, and culture through Britain. Also, the United States and France had been allies in the American Revolution.

On the other hand, many of the 8 million Americans of German or Austrian descent favored the Central Powers. Millions of Irish Americans also sympathized with the Central Powers. They hated the British, who had ruled Ireland for centuries.

Because some of them had fled persecution in Russia only a few years earlier, many American Jews initially favored Germany over Russia. When the United States entered the war, many Jews enlisted and fought in the American armed forces.

Analyze Images

This August 1914 anti-war meeting in New York City drew a large crowd.

Identify Main Ideas Why did some Americans in 1914 favor joining the war?

Effects on the United States

The war had several immediate effects on the United States. First, the economy boomed as American farmers and manufacturers rushed to fill orders for war goods. By 1917, trade with the Allies had greatly increased. Trade with the Central Powers also increased but by a much smaller amount. This trade imbalance meant that the United States was not strictly neutral.

Both sides waged a propaganda war in the United States. Propaganda is the deliberate spreading of ideas that help a cause or hurt an opposing cause. Each side pictured the other as savage beasts who killed innocent civilians.

U-boats Attack

Early in the war, Britain blockaded German ports, hoping to starve Germany into surrender. In response, Germany set up a blockade around Britain. To enforce the blockade, Germany used a powerful new weapon—a fleet of submarines known as U-boats. German U-boats attacked any ship that entered or left British ports. This meant that neutral ships were also attacked.

U-boat attacks on neutral shipping raised a storm of protest. Under international law, a country at war could stop and search a ship suspected of carrying war goods. However, German submarines were not equipped to conduct a search. They simply torpedoed enemy and neutral ships, often killing scores of civilians.

As a neutral nation, the United States claimed the right to trade with either side in the conflict. However, Germany warned the United States and other neutral nations to keep their ships out of the blockade zone. President Wilson responded by vowing to hold Germany responsible if its U-boats caused any loss of American life or property.

Analyze Images

This photo shows the engine room of a WWI German U-boat.

Use Visual Information Describe what you see in the photo. What does this suggest about the dangers of serving on a U-boat?

Germany Sinks the Lusitania

Germany ignored Wilson’s warning. On May 7, 1915, a German submarine torpedoed the Lusitania, a British passenger ship, off the coast of Ireland. Nearly 1,200 people died, including 128 Americans. An outraged Wilson threatened to break off diplomatic relations, or official ties, if Germany did not stop sinking passenger ships.

Germany was not ready to strengthen the Allies by drawing the United States into the war. It agreed to restrict its submarine campaign. Before attacking any ship, U-boats would surface and give warning. This agreement, called the Sussex Pledge, kept the United States out of the war a little longer.

Analyze Images

Nearly 1,200 people, including 128 American citizens, died when a German U-boat sank the Lusitania in 1915.

Infer How do you think images like this made Americans feel about Germany?

READING CHECK

Summarize What difficulties did the United States face in attempting to stay neutral during World War I?

Lesson Check

How did a terrorist start World War I?
Which nations made up the Central Powers and the Allied Powers?
Why were U-boats such a danger to ships like the Lusitania?
Draw Conclusions How did nationalism increase tensions between European countries?
Compare Points of View Describe American public opinion regarding World War I, and explain how this related to the official position of the United States.
Writing Workshop: Write an Introduction Write an introduction to your essay about U.S. expansion and intervention during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Be sure to include your thesis statement in your introduction.

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