World War 1
Unit 7: c. 1900-Present
Main Ideas:
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The MAIN causes of World War 1 were Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism
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World War 1 was a "total war," where soldiers used extreme weapons, and nations mobilized their home front and produced political propaganda to boost nationalism
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The use of extreme weapons and other wartime techniques led to massive casualties
Causes of World War 1
Militarism
European nations kept competing with each other by making larger weapons
Alliances
Europe had 2 main alliances (Triple Alliance & Triple Entente). A small rivalry between 2 nations would lead to a huge war between each nation's alliances
Imperialism
European nations competed for colonies abroad. The main rivalries were between Germany and Britain/France
Nationalism
European nations had huge popular nationalist sentiment → The people would cheer on their nation to win the war without dropping out
Themes of World War 1
World War 1 was an Extreme War with Lots of Support & Massive Casualties
Key Ideas:
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The development of new weapons & new styles of combat led to many more casualties that other wars
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The war used many new weapons such as chemical weapons (poison gas, mustard gas) and machine guns
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The war used a new style of combat called trench warfare → Soldiers would hide in dirty trenches and occasionally peek out to shoot → War took a long time and was a stalemate for so long → Massive casualties & long battles
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In each nation, governments mobilized their economies for the war effort and also created propaganda to boost nationalism and pro-war spirit
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Nations imposed mandatory production quotas and encouraged women to join the industrial workforce to produce weapons and other war supplies
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Nations made political propaganda to display their enemies as weaker in order to boost support for the war
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