World War One was a brutal and deadly war that introduced the beginning of the modern war tactics. No one thought this First World War to blow up the way it did- most expected the war to end quickly, however, this clearly was an unrealistic expectation. Men and boys were eager to volunteer for war when it first began, unaware of the horrors that went along with the trench life and scarring moments on the battle field. Between the battles, travels, diseases, unsanitary living, and expansion on weapons, many soldiers died at war. Soldiers in WWI will forever be remembered and looked up to for their brave patriotic hearts; and for dying for their country. I find it amazing how the soldiers did not give up, no matter the harsh, unfair conditions that they had to face. Without such strong and dedicated men, the world would not be what it is today.…
Grief and outrage after incidents such as the sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans, sympathy for England and France with their similar governments, and feelings of national pride as Americans stepped out to fight the German “Hun” all led to a sense of patriotism and nationalistic pride which produced more support for the war among Americans. African Americans felt patriotic as well as they went off to fight, but had a hope that America would open and treat them as equals which was a battle that lay ahead of their community. The arguments for war were much stronger and persuasive. America could be the tipping factor which led to victory for the Allies which is what did happen. The war was a stalemate in many areas and fresh help was needed. Attempts to provoke Americans through the sinking of boats and the Zimmerman telegram proved outrageous enough to stir deep nationalistic feelings and motivation to fight. In the end, America’s involvement brought a swifter end to the conflict which stopped the loss of life and destruction. The Treaty of Versailles crafted by Wilson, Clemenceau, George, and Vittorio placed such hardships on Germany through loss of territory, the war guilt clause, reparations to be paid, and military reductions that bitterness was palpable for not only the German government, but German citizens as well. Unfortunately, the seeds of discord were…
The First World War, also known as ‘The Great War’ due to its immense number of casualties and also large amount of countries involved, took place in 1914-1918. The spark that started the whole war occurred when Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro Hungarian throne, was assassinated on the 28th of June, 1914. The First World War was pernicious in many ways; however there are three main reasons the Great War was so deadly: the new types of weapons, lack of successful leadership and the terrible living conditions.…
The sinking of the Lusitania occurred because of a series of events that led to its plummeting. The Lusitania was a British vessel that at that time was on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Liverpool (Unknown, OL). There were 1,924 people aboard and 159 of them were Americans (Unknown, OL). Ever since World War I had begun, people had been warned that ocean travel had become a dangerous task. The German authorities had advised Americans to avoid “belligerent ships.” (Unger, 572). German submarines could constantly be found out in the waters, looking for rival ships they could sink.…
On May 7th, 1915, the German submarine, sunk the passenger ship ‘Lusitania”, which killed 1198 passengers, including 128 Americans, this incident provoked the government and the public. Wilson asked the congress to prepare the military, in case of a war while keeping the neutrality. Wilson ended up winning the 1916 presidential election for a second term. On January 1917, British cryptographers deciphered a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German Minister to Mexico, Von Eckhardt which offered United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause. This Zimmerman telegram, provoked both the public and the government, neutrality shifted against Germany and within a month America declared war on Germany and entered World…
The level of violence and loss experienced during the First World War was unlike anything that the world had seen before. The number of nations involved far surpassed any war that preceeded it. Only a handful of countries around the world were able to remain neutral, thereby protecting their populations from the massive losses that destroyed Europe. Technological advances in weaponary, new battle tactics, and the largest european armies ever raised were put on a global stage. Perhaps more than any other war, WWI changed warfare forever. With losses currently estimated to be about 37,466,904 worldwide, the sheer lose of life was staggering.[1] After the war however, a different form of loss occured.…
The horrors of World War I had many effects on the expendable soldiers and left them feeling traumatized, alienated, desensitized, and physically damaged.…
In 1914 the nations of Europe went into war against each other. In the nations of Europe the government was flourishing, patriotism was blooming, class struggles were stilled, and young men died in battle. The United States was a different story. In the United States socialism was growing and class fighting was getting worse. Even though the European countries were in a war, the United States seemed to suffer the worst of it disregarding the casualties. For example in the summer of 1916, a bomb exploded in the middle of a Preparedness Day parade killing nine people. The two radicals who were responsible for the bomb were Tom Mooney and Warren Wilson. Both of whom spent twenty years in prison.…
In May 17, 1915 a German submarine, or U-boat, sank the British passenger liner Lusitania without warning, killing 1198 people on board, including 128 American citizens. Germans asserted, correctly, that the ship carried war materials for the allies. Americans were outraged. Germany temporarily halted submarine warfare to avoid bringing the United States into World War I.…
). Due to all this, 13 million people were killed, of which 2 million were Germans, 1.75 million Russians, 1.5 million Frenchmen, 1 million British and 0.5 million Italians. But death was just one of the worst consequences of the First World War. Just military failures on the fronts, along with other problems directly affected internal politics in a great way. This horrible catastrophe also left most of the countries in huge debts, especially Germany, Austria, Hungary, Russia, and many others. This led to poverty and chaos, and the people were suffering. That is why they started to revolt, but the political system was so exhausted after the war that it didn 't do anything to solve this.…
To stop American aid to Britain, Germany announced in February 1915 that it would use its U-boats to sink any vessels that entered or left British ports. President Wilson warned that America would hold Germany responsible for any American lives lost in submarine attacks. Determined to cut off supplies to Great Britain, the Germans ignored this threat. On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British passenger liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. W.T. Turner, the captain, reported: “I saw the torpedo speeding towards us. Immediately I tried to change our course, but was unable to maneuver out of its way. There was a terrible impact as the torpedo struck the starboard side of the vessel. . . . It was cold- blooded murder.” The Lusitania sank in about 15 minutes. More than 1,000 people died, including 128 United States citizens. Americans were outraged.…
In the tense times just before the dawn of World War I, no man could possibly have conceived just how terrible the war looming on the horizon of Europe would be. Before the nineteenth century, war consisted of large battalions of men, marching in formation, firing volleys of shots at one another. Battles were most of the time decided simply by who could fire off the most rounds. In these battles, thousands of casualties were common, and tens of thousands of casualties were considered devastating. However, during WWI, mankind witnessed the loss of over 15 million lives. Along with those lost, another 20 million are wounded; an entire generation of humanity was dead. There was also a polar shift in the nature of warfare. World War I did not see the formal battles of the former century. No, World War I was a war of attrition. It was a war fought in deadlock. Trenches divided the landscape from the beaches of northern France, all the way to the Swiss Alps. Conditions were absolutely terrible in these trenches, troops were starving from lack of supplies, sick from lack of clean water, and their feet were rotting off from standing in filth for days on end.…
Lusitania American boat that was sunk by the German U-boats; made America consider entering WWI…
The malevolent utilization of unrestricted submarine warfare by the German navy was unequivocally a breach of the rules of war. In early 1915, Germany controversially declared the waters surrounding Britain a war zone and threatened to sink all merchant ships approaching Britain even those from neutral countries. It was irrational to believe neutral countries would halt trade with Britain as that would result in huge economic losses. Several merchant ships including the British ship Lusitania were mercilessly and unjustly shot down by German U-Boat submarines. The Lusitania was principally a passenger ship and 1,201 innocent people onboard including 128 Americans were murdered by the submarine attack. Furious at the sinking of neutral merchant ships, the United States pressured German politicians into ceasing their submarine attacks in September 1915 through the Sussex Pledge. Although the German government knew returning to its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare would anger the United States into joining the war, it chose to unleash its submarines anyways. The United States had declared warnings that it would enter the war if anymore merchant ships were sunk and it had to stick to its gun in order to avoid being seen as weak by other countries. Furthermore, Britain had its own blockade and cut off seaborne supply routes to Germany as well, but Britain still allowed limited imports to Germany. Additionally, the British fleet blockading Germany never opened fire on a neutral merchant ship and instead, seized them without violence. As Wilson stated in his address to congress, “property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind.” The United States needed to enter the war in order to stop the German U-Boats from committing more atrocities against innocent people.…
The first World War, The Great War, or what many like to call it, was an avoidable war that cost millions of military and civilian lives. The blood of both sides, mixed in the dirt and mud that soaked the uniforms of the sick troops, taking cover in trenches, praying to God that they aren't the ones to be bombed by the next mortar incoming; this barely scratches the surface when describing “The Great War”. World war 1 had many opportunities to end, however even if it didn't, it a least gave everyone in the world an insight on how terrible war is, and how its changed from the past.…