The document provides background information on World War 1, including:
- It began in 1914 and ended in 1918, resulting in over 10 million military deaths.
- Nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the alliance system contributed to the outbreak of war.
- The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off the war by drawing countries into the conflict through their alliances.
- Advances in rifle technology, machine guns, artillery, rail guns, and chemical weapons increased lethality compared to previous wars.
- Major battles like the Battle of Verdun involved massive casualties over long periods of fighting.
2. Read the excerpt and examine the picture on P. 742
and answer these questions:
1. Should you always support a friend, no matter
what he or she does?
2. What might be the risks of refusing to help an ally?
3. What might be the consequences of a war involving
all of Europe?
3. • Started on July 28, 1914
• Ended on November 11, 1918
• Almost 10,000,000 dead.
*** Russia the most = 1.7 million
• Another 20,000,000 wounded…..
•and another 8 million are missing. And
that’s just the military casualties – it
doesn’t include civilians.
• Map of Europe greatly
4.
5.
6. Extreme nationalism – pride in
country
Imperialism ---
Militarism – glorifying military power
and building up military
Alliance system - <KEY REASON>
PROBLEM?
One event could drag all
countries involved into a conflict.
7.
8.
9.
10. Describe the formation of the Triple Alliance by Bismarck.
Otto von Bismarck freely used war to unify Germany.
After 1871 Bismarck declared Germany to be a “satisfied power.”
Saw France as their greatest threat.
In 1879, Bismarck formed the Dual Alliance between Germany and
Austria-Hungary. 3 years later, Italy joined the two countries,
forming the Triple Alliance.
What actions did Wilhelm make to destroy the peace that Bismarck had
created?
1. Lapse of the Treaty between Russia – Russia formed a defensive
military alliance with France in 1892.
2. Competition with British navy.
3. Alarmed, Great Britain began to enlarge its own fleet.
4. Triple Entente – Britain, France, and Russia.
The stage is set for the major conflict. What would set off this amazing
blaze?…..
11. Massive amounts of different ethnic groups with
nationalistic ambitions.
Balkan groups struggle to make their own nations. What
new nations were formed?
Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia.
Describe the conflict between Austria and Serbia/Russia:
1. Serbian nationalism
2. 1908 Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – these
were two Balkan areas with large slavic populations. Serbian
leaders had sought to rule these provinces were outraged.
A Shot Rings Throughout Europe -
12. The main objective of
the Black Hand was the
creation, by means of
violence, of a Greater
Serbia.
Its stated aim was: "To
realize the national ideal,
the unification of all
Serbs. This organization
prefers terrorist action to
cultural activities; it will
therefore remain secret."
13. The one event that started the Great War
happened in the Balkans.
The Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Austria) was
assassinated while visiting Bosnia.
The Black Hand was responsible….
21. Franz’s last words were,
“Sophie dear, don't die! Stay alive
for our children!”
22. • Austria moves to punish Serbia, Russia comes to the aid of
Serbia, and then all those alliances engage as everybody
declares war on everyone else in a tragic domino effect.
23. • Traditional warfare
• Traditional tactics utilized mass infantry formations, where you
just have a lot of foot soldiers lined up or charging together.
• Those classic images of the rows of soldiers lining up and firing at
each other is an example.
• They did this because they used muskets, most of which have
smoothbore barrels and all were relatively slow-firing.
24. Steps for Loading a
Muzzleloader
1. Measure powder charge.
2. Pour measured powder
down barrel.
3. Place patch and ball on
muzzle.
4. Tap ball into barrel with
starter.
5. Take out ramrod.
6. Ram ball down barrel.
7. Be sure ball is
completely seated.
8. Clear vent hole with pick
if necessary.
9. On flintlock
muzzleloader, pour powder
into pan and close frizzen.
10. On percussion lock
muzzleloader, place cap on
nipple.
25. • The introduction of rifled barrels changes this. Rifled barrels
have spirals grooves going down the barrel that put a spin on
the bullet as it exits. This spin stabilizes the bullet in the air
and makes it much more accurate.
26. • Think of the rifling as being like putting a spin on a football.
• The spin makes it fly straight because it stabilizes the ball. Without the
spin, there’s no telling what will happen.
Musket accuracy Rifle accuracy
27. • Bolt action meant that a bolt at the breech could be operated, which ejected the spent
casing and, unless it was single shot, load another cartridge in the process.
• This allowed for much more rapid firing.
32. • WWI also saw the introduction of machine guns.
• These were automatic weapons capable of firing
400-600 rounds per minute of belt-fed ammunition.
Compare that with maybe 12-15 rounds a minute for
the bolt action rifleman.
• The machine guns were big and heavy, though.
They typically weighed anywhere from 70-120
pounds. This meant you tended to have gun
emplacements with a crew operating them.
• The big problem with them is keeping them cool.
Such a high rate of fire produced a lot of heat that
could overheat the barrel. The early varieties used
water cooling systems.
33.
34. There was a water jacket around the barrel connected to a pump to dissipate heart.
They’d still only last about two minutes without fresh cool water. Crews would
sometimes use their own urine if water wasn’t available. This is a British Vickers.
41. French 274mm gun. WWI gun used by the Germans in WWII and captured by the
Americans.
42. • The big one was the Germans’ Paris gun, so called because they used to shell
Paris… from 75 miles away.
43. • It was capable of firing
a 210 lb shell 81 miles
(that was after it could
reach an altitude of 25
miles).
• The shell would take
nearly three minutes to
hit its target and the
rotation of the earth
had to be taken into
account when
calculating its aiming
trajectory.
44. • Most artillery pieces were, of course, much smaller and some were mobile.
They were used to great effect during the war. It’s estimated that nearly 32
million shells were fired in the Battle of Verdun alone.
45. • It was during WWI that the term “shell
shock” was coined. Most modern memoirs
describe that the most unnerving
maddening thing in battle is artillery
detonations.
46. • And finally, chemical weapons get experimented
with.
• Tear gas gets used first and then it escalates to
chlorine gas, which produces a greenish cloud
that very quickly destroys lung tissue as the
soldier dies choking, vomiting, and in general
agony.
• It was deadly if inhaled, but easy to
counteract by either getting to higher
ground or just covering the mouth with a
damp rag. And it was easy to see coming.
47. • Next used is phosgene, a chlorine hybrid gas. It wasn’t as
obvious as normal chlorine and didn’t cause the initial
choking, meaning more gas would be inhaled and it was
therefore deadlier. It was also more difficult to protect
against than chlorine.
• It could take 24 hours for symptom onset, though.
48. • The big one was mustard gas, which is a mustard
color and smells mustardy (when mixed with other
stuff), but it isn’t related to ordinary mustard. It
causes blistering of the skin and the interior of the
lungs as well as blindness.
• It could penetrate clothing.
49. • Mustard gas produces blistering on any
skin it touches within 4-24 hours of
exposure. It strips away the mucous
membranes causing a great choking pain.
• Eyes become red and swollen and may go
blind.
• It was actually fatal in only about 1% of
cases, but it was completely
incapacitating. Defense against it was
hard too since it could saturate clothing,
the ground, and be absorbed through the
skin.
• Recovery could take one or two months.
50. • Gases were typically “administered” either through opening up gas cylinders or
through artillery shells.
63. the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements
of World War I. February 1916 – December 1916
Two million men were engaged.
The intention of the Germans had been a battle of
attrition in which they hoped to bleed the French
army white.
In the end, they sustained almost as many
casualties as the French; an estimated 328,000 to the
French 348,000.
76. First war to be fought on 3 continents.
First industrialized conflict.
First use of chlorine & mustard gas.
First use of the flame thrower.
First tank battle.
First use of mass airplanes.
First use of x-ray in the military.
First use of a blood bank.
First use of guide dogs by blinded soldiers.
First four-star general, General John J. Pershing
First use of trillion in estimating war costs.
First commissioning of war art for propaganda.
First use of the IQ Test given to Doughboys of 1917.
First U.S. president to visit a European country while in office was Woodrow
Wilson on 12/04/18.
77.
Over the Top, Trench Coat, Ace, Buddy, Pushing
up the Daisies, Red Tape, Zoom, Sniper, Washout,
Cootie,
Tune Up, Zero Hour, Busted, Ticked Off,
Put a Sock in it, Hit the Deck, Washout, Rookie,
Coffin nail, Fed Up, Rise & Shine, Pipe down, Mess
up, Get knocked off, Hike, Gadget,
Kick the Bucket, Rank & File, Chow Down, Cushy,
Scrounge, Humdinger, Basket Case
