Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Wars Beginnings
WWI was a total war or a conflict where the countries involved in the war each use all of their efforts and resources to power the war effort. Czar Nicholas II led Russia. King George V led Great Britain. Woodrow Wilson led the United States. Kaiser Wilhelm II led Germany. Raymond Poincar led France. Peter I was the leader of Serbia. Franz Josef led AustriaHungary. Mehmed V led the Ottoman empire.
Fighting
fighting took place on two separate fronts. the western front was where Germany was up against France. on the eastern front the Central powers faced Serbia and Russia. During the war resources were needed to fund the war effort so people rationed or limited the amount of resources they would use. during a conflict an agreement can be made to stop fighting in order to begin peace negotiations. This is called an armistice.
the
Battle of Verdun
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. The area around Verdun contained twenty major forts and forty smaller ones that had historically protected the eastern border of France and had been modernized in the early years of the Twentieth Century.
Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare was a form of field fortification, consisting of parallel rows of trenches. During World War 1 trenches had begun to appear by late 1914. On the western front, trenches ran from the Belgium border to the Swiss Border, and they soon became home to millions of soldiers.
Russia Leaves!
Over the first two and a half years of the war, Russia had experienced heavy defeats against Germany but at the same time had significant successes against Austria-Hungary. In any case, however, the war had become hugely unpopular at home. The Russian death toll was enormous, Russia was continuously losing territory, and the war had sparked food shortages throughout the country. Although there was a certain level of popular sympathy for Serbia, most Russians felt that the country had little to gain in the war and much to lose.
Wilsons 14 Points
1. No more secret agreements. 2. Free navigation of all seas. 3. Free trade. 4. Reduce weapon numbers. 5.Less Colonialism. 6. The German Army is to be removed from Russia. Russia should be left to develop her own political set-up. 7. Belgium should be independent like before the war. 8. France should be fully liberated and allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine 9. All Italians are to be allowed to live in Italy. Italy's borders are to "along clearly recognizable lines of nationality." 10. Self-determination should be allowed for all those living in Austria-Hungary. 11. Self-determination and guarantees of independence should be allowed for the Balkan states. 12. The Turkish people should be governed by the Turkish government. Non-Turks in the old Turkish Empire should govern themselves. 13. An independent Poland should be created which should have access to the sea. 14. A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial independence of all states.
The Big 4
David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, George Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson from left to right.
The Conference was dominated by the big four: U.S. Britain, France, & Italy. Italy would not play much of a role in the final adoption of the Treaty of Versailles. The conference was marked by 6 months of arbitration and the unconditional blaming of the war on Germany. They had to pay massive amounts of war debts in reparation. The allies dictated how world politics would proceed.
While the U.S. felt that true peace could only be reached by equals and that we shouldnt rub Germanys face in the loss, both France and Great Britain supported making Germany solely responsible for fiscal reparations for the war.