1. Section 4 discusses the various battlefronts of World War 1, including support for the war initially in European nations, Germany's Schlieffen Plan to quickly defeat France, and key battles like Verdun and the Somme on the Western Front.
2. The Eastern Front saw more mobile warfare between Germany/Austria-Hungary against Russia, resulting in enormous casualties for Russia in 1915.
3. Colonial fronts in Africa involved clashes between European colonial powers like Britain, France, and Germany competing for territory and trade routes.
4. The war had impacts on the home front as governments took control of economies and propaganda to mobilize populations while new roles for women helped transform views of women's place
2. Support for War
1. There was a “fatal
attraction for war”
a. Exhilarating release
from everyday life
b. A glorious adventure
c. War would rid the
nations of selfishness
d. Spark a national re-
birth based on heroism
3. Support for War
2. Feeling was war
would be over in a
few weeks
a. Ignored the length and
brutality of the American
Civil War (prototype to
World War I)
b. Belief that modern
industrial war could not
be conducted for more
than a few months
c. They would be “Home by
Christmas”
4. Soldiers Mobilized
14
12
10
Millions
8
6
4
2
0
France Germany Russia Britain
5. The Schlieffen Plan - Germany
1. Plan: Avoid
fighting a two
front war
2. Invade Western
Front first
3. After defeating
France
concentrate on
the Eastern Front
6. “Belgium is a country, not a
road”
1. August 2, 1914 Germany
declared war on France
– Why???
– The Schlieffen Plan!
2. King Albert I of Belgium
denied permission
3. August 4,1914, Great
Britain declared war on
Germany for violating
Belgian’s neutrality
11. Battle of Verdun
1. Germans planned
offensive assault on
French fortress, Verdun
2. Believed French would
defend fortress at all
costs
3. Battle of Verdun meant
to kill, injure as many
French soldiers as
possible
4. Result: 700,000
casualties in 10 months
of fighting
12. The Battle of the Somme
July 1916
1. British (General Haig)
launched attack in Somme
River area to pull German
troops away from Verdun
2. Main assault during
1916, but no major
breakthrough
3. Both sides lost a great
number of troops
British suffered nearly
60,000 casualties on the
1st day of fighting
15. The Eastern Front
1. Eastern Front was much
more mobile than the
Western Front
2. Germany & Austria-Hungary
were joined by Bulgaria in
Sept. 1915
3. Success: Central Powers
attacked & eliminated
Serbia from war
4. Loss of life very high
1915: 2.5 million Russians
killed, captured, or
wounded
17. Ottoman Empire Enters WWI
Ottomans entered the war in
1915 on the side of the
Central Powers
1. Wanted to acquire Russian
territory
2. Turks slaughtered millions
of Armenians to get their
land
3. Britain wanted to protect
trade routes to India
Arabs promised their own
country if they would join
with Britain against the
Ottomans
19. The Colonial Front
1. Africa is the forgotten front of World War I
2. World War I started in Africa in 1914
3. Largest war of its times on African soil
4. French trading post in West Central Africa found
itself at odds with a formerly peaceful German
post
For no other reason than their parent countries were
at war
5. The Allied failed in their attempt to defeat Central
Powers on the Colonial Front
6. Conflict on the Colonial Front ended in 1918
24. War on the Home Fronts
Government Actions Government Control
1. Winning new type of war 1. Sought to control public
required use of all society’s opinion
resources 2. Censored newspaper reports
about fighting to keep from
2. Total war - governments
discouraging public
took stronger control of
citizens’ lives 3. Created
propaganda, information to
a. New controls changed influence opinions &
nations’ industries & encourage volunteers
economies
Posters, pamphlets, article
b. Factories produced s about enemy’s brutal
military actions
equipment, citizens
conserved food & other
7 min 2.5 min
25. War on the Home Front
Women during WWI
1. Millions of men were at battle
2. Work on home front was done by women
a. Some worked in factories producing war
supplies
b. Others served as nurses to the wounded
3. The contributions of women to the war effort:
a. Transformed public views of women
b. Helped women win right to vote
7.5 min
26. The War at Sea
1. The U-Boat threat to If a boat was
Britain meant that vital bombed at
supplies were not sea, troops &
arriving, leaving people supplies would
in Britain losing faith in not arrive for
the war and illness those fighting and
increased also the people in
2. A British Blockade Britain would be
meant German starved for
supplies were not supplies.
arriving as well.
3. People still at home, as
well as those
fighting, were suffering
because of the war at 3.75 min
27. 10 min
Russian Revolution 10 min
1. Russian people were unhappy with
the success of the war
Germany/Austria beating
Russians
2. Changes in Russian gov’t
a. Lenin transported to power
b. Mensheviks (moderates)
victorious
3. Bolshevik counter revolution began
4. Russia withdrew from war
Germany ready to have a single
front war
28. War around the World
1. WWI was also fought in Asia & Africa
2. Japan declared war on Germany
a. Part of military agreement with Great Britain
b. Japanese captured German colonies in China
3. British & French attacked German colonies in
Africa
4. Allied Colonies scattered around world made
contributions to war
a. Some colonists worked as laborers to keep armies
supplied
b. Others fought in battles in hopes of winning
independence - Hopes were in vain
5. Over 30 nations officially took sides in WWI
