Turning The Tides Of War

Name: TURNING THE TIDES OF WAR Chapter 15 Section 3 A GLOBAL CONFLICT By 1916, the war had spread to involve many nations and was being fought on several continents. Nations such as Japan, Australia and India entered the war fighting alongside the Allied Powers. The Ottoman Turks and Bulgaria later joined with Germany and the Central Powers. As more nations entered the fight, those involved looked to new strategies to help them turn the tides of the war, Still one nation, the United States, had yet to enter the war, The U.S. President at the time was Woodrow Wilson. Sensing Americans would not favor what they perceived at the time to be a "European war", Willson refused to enter into the conflict. This would change when German submarines would begin practicing unrestricted submarine warfare - a campaign that saw them sink thousands of cargo and supply ships carrying contraband and heading for Allied ports. Germany's policies were about to sink American neutrality. GERMANY "SINKS" AMERICAN NEUTRALITY The Seattle Star LUSITANIA IS SUNK BY GERMAN SUBMARINE; 1,400 FOLK ABOARD Throughout the course of the war, Germany had practiced unrestricted submarine warfare in which they vowed to sink any ship headed into an Allied port, These actions brought the United States dangerously close to entering the war when German u-boats sank a ship called the Lusitania. A British passenger liner, the Lusitania was carrying over 100 American passengers when it sank into the icy waters of the Atlantic, Americans were furious. The act was enough to prompt President Woodrow Wilson to issue a stern warning that if these policies continued, the United States would enter the war. Initially Germany obliged, but later in 1917, they reinstated their unrestricted submarine warfare, Whille Germany knew their actions would prompt American involvement, they had hoped to sink so many ships that supplies headed to the battlefront would be scarce. It was a gamble and one that Germany would ultimately lose. Date: 3/6/25 Hour b THE ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM Although Germany's submarines sank thousands of Allied ships, the final straw of U.S. neutrallity came when they intercepted a telegram written by Germany's foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman. The tellegram was addressed to leaders in Mexico and it detailed plans for Germany to support a Mexican revolution against the United States to regain territory in the southwestern United States that they had lost during the Spanish-American war. The Zimmerman Telegram proved to be the finall straw. On Aprill 2, 1917 America entered the war on the side of the Allies. THE ALLIES WIN THE WAR In March of 1917, Russia had pulled out of the war and this move allowed Germany to focus the full force of its army on the Western Front in France. In March of 1918, the Germans mounted one final, massive push to try to break the statement in the trenches, At the Battle of the Marne River the Germans crushed everything in their path. The effort to reach the Marne, however, had disastrous effects on the German army. They were exhausted and dangerously low on supplies. Sensing a declining Germany, the Allies -with 140,000 fresh U.S. troops and artillery - launched a devastating counterattack, Leading the Allied counterattack at the Second Battle of the Marne were some 350 Allied tanks that smashed the German lines. Some 2 million more U.S. troops arrived shortly afterward to finally break the stalemate and turn the war in favor of the Allies, Soon the Central Powers began to crumble. In Germany soldiers mutinied on the battlefield. At home, German citizens turned on the German Kaiser Wilhelm and he was forced to step down. Within weeks Germany declared itself a republic and signed an armistice ending the war. Finally, the Allies had won the war. Although the shooting stopped, the terms of the peace would prove to be very difficult, The various nations involved were at odds regarding what post-World War 1 politics would look like. The Allied nations worried about how to prevent Germany, or any nation for that matter, from ever turning a war machine loose on the world again. While they were attempting to make the post-World War 1 world safer, they were simply making a second World War inevitable. Name: Leonardo Carrizales Date: 3/6/25 Hour: 4/5 TURNING THE TIDES OF WAR Chapter 15 Section 3 Directions: Answer each question as you read about how the Allies managed to turn back the Central Powers and win World War 1. 1. How did Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare change President Woodrow Wilson's stance on World War 1? Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare led Wilson to abandon neutrality and join the war in 1917. 2. What happened to the Lusitania? Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915, killing 1,200, including 128 Americans. 3. What was President Woodrow Wilson's response to the sinking of the Lusitania? Wilson protested Germany's actions but remained neutral until attacks continued. 4. Why was Germany practicing unrestricted submarine warfare? Germany used unrestricted submarine warfare to cut off Britain's supplies. 5. What was the Zimmerman Telegram and how did it eventually pull the United States into World War 1?7 Zimmerman Telegram was a German proposal to Mexico for war against the U.S., pushing the U.S. into WWI. 6. How did the first Battle of the Marne River impact the German army? First Battle of the Marne stopped German advance, leading to trench warfare. 7. What happened during the Second Battle of the Marne? Second Battle of the Marne was a major Allied victory, weakening Germany. 8. What happened in Germany after the Second Battle of the Marne? After the battle, Germany faced economic collapse and revolution. 9. What issue did the Allied nations face once the fighting of World War 1 had stopped? After WWI, Allied nations struggled with rebuilding and peace agreements.