
Nationalism
› Extreme pride in one’s country
› Desire to extend boundaries

Alliances
› Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
› Triple Entente: France, Great Britain, Russia

Internal Dissent
› Many countries were on the verge of revolution

Militarism
› Massive build-up of militaries


Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, heir to the
Austrian-Hungarian
throne was
assassinated when he
visited Sarajevo
Austria-Hungary
declared war on
Serbia
› They were backed by
Germany

Russia then mobilized
to support Serbia
Following Russian
mobilization, Russia
declared war on
Germany
 Germany’s Schlieffen
Plan called for a twofront war with France
and Russia

› Western & Eastern Front
Soon, Germany
declared war on France
 Great Britain came to
the aide of her allies and
declared war on
Germany

Dug in 1914
Hundreds of miles of
trenches stretched
across Europe
Protected by barbed
wire entanglements
Airplanes first appeared on the
battlefront by the end of 1915
 Planes were first used to spot the
enemy’s position
 Later they were used to attack ground
targets like communication lines
 First pilots fired at each other with handheld pistols



United States tried to
remain neutral
The US entered the
war because of…
› Unrestricted
submarine warfare
› The sinking of the
Lusitania
› The Zimmerman
Telegram
› The Blockade
November 3, 1918, sailors in the Northern
Germany mutinied
 Within a few days, German civilians took
over public offices
 On November 11, 1918, the new German
government declared armistice, or an
end to the fighting




Fourteen Points
Woodrow Wilson’s plan for peace
The president believed in “Peace without victory”
› Winners would not punish the losers

Points to Know
No secret treaties among nations
Freedom of the seas
Tariffs should be lowered or abolished (free trade)
Arms should be reduced
Colonial policies should consider the interests of colonial
peoples
› Creation of the League of Nations (similar to today’s
United Nations)
›
›
›
›
›

The world loved Wilson’s plan but it was rejected by the
US Senate
› Many thought the League of Nations threatened our
sovereignty
› US returned to isolationism after the war



Met in early 1919 to try
to determine a peace
settlement
Most of the nations
hoped to make
Germany pay for the
war
The Big Three(France,
Germany, USA) also
agreed to adopt
Wilson’s plan for
peace
Peace treaty to end
WWI
 Germany could not
have an army
 Germany had to pay
reparations, or war
damages to the Allies
 Germany had to sign
the War Guilt Clause

› Took responsibility for
starting the war

Increased Government Powers
› Rationed food
› Established wage controls
› Established price controls

Manipulation of Public Opinion
› Propaganda

Women
› Took on the jobs that men had previously
done at home
› Factory workers, truck drivers

Map of Western Europe was redrawn
› New nations emerged
Freedom of the press and speech had
been limited during the war
 Economies had difficulty recovering from
the stress of the war
 Revolutions broke out throughout the
world

Russia’s failure in the war and worker
unrest led to the Russian Revolution in
1917
 The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, overthrew
the provisional government

› Led to civil war
› The Bolsheviks took control of the country
and renamed themselves the Communists
› Russia was now a centralized state
dominated by a single power