Lesson 2: World War I (Nationalism and World War I)
💥 The Onset of War: Why Did the War Begin?
In the early 1900s, Europe was like a storm ready to break. There were 4 big causes of World War I:
⚔️ 1. Militarism
Countries like Germany, Britain, and France built strong armies and navies. They wanted to be the best.
🤝 2. Alliances
Countries made secret promises to help each other if war started. For example, Germany and Austria-Hungary were allies. So were France, Russia, and Britain.
🌍 3. Imperialism
European countries wanted colonies in Africa and Asia. They fought to take land and power from each other.
❤️🔥 4. Nationalism
Many people wanted independence for their group. Countries wanted to show they were the strongest and best.
🔫 The Spark: A Shot in Sarajevo
In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the future king of Austria-Hungary, visited Sarajevo, a city in Bosnia.
A young man named Gavrilo Princip, only 19 years old, wanted Bosnia to be part of Serbia. So, he shot the Archduke and his wife.
🧠 Wild Story: Gavrilo failed the first time. But later that day, the Archduke's car turned down the wrong street—and stopped right in front of Gavrilo!
This one event caused a world war. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Then alliances pulled in Germany, Russia, France, Britain—and more.
🌍 The Great War Escalates
People thought the war would be over in a few weeks. But it lasted over 4 years.
🪖 Trench Warfare
Soldiers dug deep trenches across Europe. These were long ditches with mud, rats, and danger.
💬 One soldier wrote, “The mud came up to our knees. The smell never left.”
Life in the trenches was cold, wet, and full of fear. Many soldiers never left the trench alive.
🚢 Naval Battles & Blockades
Britain used its navy to block supplies from reaching Germany. Germany used U-boats (submarines) to sink ships.
🧠 In 1915, a German U-boat sank the British ship Lusitania, killing 1,200 people—including Americans. This made the U.S. very angry.
The Gallipoli Campaign
In 1915, Britain and France tried to attack the Ottoman Empire from the sea.
They landed at Gallipoli, but the Turkish army fought back hard. Soldiers from Australia and New Zealand (ANZACs) joined the fight.
🧠 One ANZAC soldier wrote, “We landed on the wrong beach, but we stayed and fought anyway.”
The campaign failed. Over 100,000 soldiers died.
😢 Armenian Genocide
During the war, the Ottoman Empire saw Armenian Christians as a threat. In 1915, they began killing and deporting Armenians.
About 1.5 million Armenians died. Many historians call this a genocide.
💬 A survivor said, “We walked for weeks. We had no food. We watched our families disappear.”
🌎 Fighting Around the World
World War I wasn’t just in Europe.
Japan fought Germany in Asia
Britain used soldiers from India and Africa
Battles happened in the Middle East too
This is why it's called a world war.
🏆 The Allies’ Victory
The United States Joins the War
In 1917, America joined the Allies. Why?
Germany kept sinking ships
The U.S. found a secret German message trying to get Mexico to fight America (called the Zimmermann Telegram)
American soldiers, called “doughboys,” brought fresh energy to tired armies in Europe.
⚙️ Wartime Innovations
World War I brought new, deadly weapons:
Machine guns
Tanks
Airplanes
Poison gas
🧠 One British tank was called “Little Willie.” It was slow but scared the enemy!
🕊️ The War Ends
In 1918, Germany was tired and weak. People at home were hungry and angry. Soldiers couldn’t keep fighting.
On November 11, 1918, Germany signed a ceasefire. The war was over. 🎉
Millions of people were dead. Cities were destroyed. The world would never be the same.