Do Now: Europe Plunges into war
Notes:
The Great War Begins
Armies on the March
• Russia
moves troops to its borders with Austria and Germany
• Germany
declares war on Russia,
quickly attacks France
• Great
Britain declares war on Germany
Nations Take Sides
• By mid-August 1914, two sides at war throughout Europe:
-Central Powers—Germany, Austria-Hungary (and other nations)
-Allies—Britain,
France,
Russia
(and other nations)
A Bloody Stalemate
The Conflict Grinds Along
• Western Front—heavy battle zone in northern France
• Schlieffen Plan—German plan to defeat France, then
fight Russia
• German army quickly advances to outskirts of Paris
• Forced to retreat at First Battle of the Marne
• Schlieffen Plan fails; Germany has to fight two-front war
War in the Trenches
• Conflict descends into trench warfare—armies fighting from
trenches
• Battles result in many deaths, small land gains
• Life in trenches is miserable, difficult, unsanitary
• New weapons only lead to more deaths
• Massive losses for both sides at 1916 battles of Verdun and Somme
The Battle
on the Eastern Front
Early Fighting
• Eastern Front—site of main fighting along the
German-Russian border
• Russians push into Austria and Germany, but
soon forced to retreat
Russia
Struggles
• Russia’s
war effort suffering by 1916; many casualties, few supplies
• Huge size of Russian army keeps it a formidable force
-prevents Germany
from sending more troops to the Western Front
