Ch 24 World War 1 Lesson 3: Americans Join The Allies

What were signs that the Allied armies were exhausted?

-after 1 failed offensive, some French troops refused to continue fighting -British were running low on war supplies and food -German submarines were taking a deadly toll on Allied shipping (they sank 1 out of every 4 ships that left British ports)

How did American entry into the war have an immediate impact?

1.US Navy helped British destroy and protect against German submarines (so supplies could get to Britain) 2.Allies used convoys, teams of navy ships sailing side by side with merchant ships, across the Atlantic Ocean (If a Uboat wanted to attack a merchant ship, it had to face the risk of coming under attack by armed ships escorting it) Convoy system worked well. 3. they helped offset the loss of Russia from Allied cause

Did the Germans plan to attack the Western Front work?

At first it seemed to work, for weeks they hammered at Allied lines. They pushed Allies back to within 40 miles of Paris, it looked like they might win the war

In late 1918, Ottoman Empire was on the brink of collapse:

Austria-Hungary broke apart apart as protests in major cities helped bring down the centuries old empire -ex. Oct 1918, Poland, Hungary & Czechoslovakia declared independence -by early Nov, governments of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire surrendered to Allied Powers

Which group overthrew the Rusdian government?

Bolsheviks

Examples of Individual acts of heroism by Allies:

Eddie Rickenbacker, captain in the 94th Aero Squadron and fought 134 air battles and shot down 26 enemy aircraft -received medal of honor

How did the French & British and General Pershing want to use the AEF?

French and British wanted to use the AEF to build up their own troops General Pershing disagreed and kept them a separate force

General John J. Pershing

General of the American Expeditionary Force, the American army in Europe

Corporal Alvin York

He led an attack on a German machine-gun nest in which he lost half of his men. York continued the attack on his own killing 25 machine gunners with only his rifle and pistol and captured 132 German soldiers. -received medal of honor

When did the American soldiers see their 1st serious fighting?

June 1918 when they helped turn back German forces at Chateau-Thierry on Marne River, east of Paris -AEF then advanced to Belleau Wood where doughboys battled around the clock for 3 weeks through the forest against a solid wall of German machine gun fire

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)

Lenin signed this with Germany -Russia lost a large amount of territory in treaty to Germans -Russian withdrawal allowed the Germans to move thousands of troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front

What happened in March 1917 with Russia's czar?

Nicholas II had given up his throne as czar(ruler) in Russia's first revolution. -the government that replaced the czar supported the war. It was not able to solve Russia's many serious problems such as food shortage.

When did Armistice begin?

November 11, 1918 (11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month) Germany agreed to withdraw all land forces west of the Rhine River, to withdraw its fleet to the Baltic Sea and to surrender huge amounts of equipment -the war was over

Vladimir Lenin

Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution -The Bolsheviks wanted to out of war so they could focus on setting up a new Communist state

When did General Pershing have the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) ready for battle?

Spring 1918

Eastern Front

a stretch of battlefield along the German and Russian border -line of battle separating Russia from Central Powers

In March 1918, where did German forces launch a massive attack?

along the Western Front

On October 4, 1918 what did German government ask President Wilson for?

an armistice (an agreement to end the fighting?

What happened at Saint-Mihiel?

by mid September, a half million American soldiers defeated the Germans here

What did General Pershing's arrival in France do for them?

cheered up the war-weary nation, crowds cheered for them

What was President Wilson's response to Germany's asking for an armistice?

he consented but under certain conditions: -Germany had to accept his plan for peace & promise not to renew fighting -all German troops had to leave Belgium & France -Wilsob said he would deal only with nonmilitary government leaders

As revolution spread in Germany, what did the German Kaiser (emperor) do?

he decided to step down On Nov 9th, Germany became a republic -the leaders of Germany's new government agreed to President Wilson's armistice

What did General Pershing say about the war and how AEF affected the war?

he said the battles "turned the tide of war"

Battle of the Argonne Forest

more than 1 million American troops joined the Allies here -the biggest battle in American history -it raged for almost 7 weeks -soldiers struggled over the rugged, heavily forested ground -rain, mud, barbed wire and German machine gun fire hindered the Allies advance -many soldiers died -Allies won the battle and pushed Germans back to their own country

Doughboys

nickname for American troops in Europe, their buttons on their uniforms looked like boiled dough dumplings, a popular food

What happened in November 1917 in Russia?

riots broke out over the new Russian government's handling of the war and the scarcity of food and fuel

American and French forces fought back German attacks along:

the Marne and the Somme Rivers. By mid July they stopped the great German offensive that had come close to ending the war.

Western Front

the line separating the warring armies near the French-German border

What did German leaders realize about their hope's of winning the war?

their hopes of winning were gone -American troops and supplies had strengthened the Allied war effort -Germans on homefront were suffering greatly from severe shortages of food and other supplies

What did German leaders hope to do by launching a massive attack along the Western Front?

they hoped to break the Allied lines and wanted to capture the city of Amiens before proceeding to Paris

While German leaders considered Wilson's demands, what happened?

unrest erupted in their country on Nov. 3rd, sailors revolted in Kiel (the main base of the German fleet) -within days, groups of workers & soldiers seized control of other German towns

By 1917, what exhausted Allied armies?

years of trench warfare