Waste Reclamation Service

Background

World War I, also known as the Great War, was a major conflict centered in Europe that began in the summer of 1914 following the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, heir to that nation's throne, by a Serbian anarchist. A complex series of treaties and alliances caused hostilities to quickly escalate after Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia; with Germany quickly invading Belgium, France, and Luxembourg; and Russia attacking Germany. Lead players in the war consisted of the United Kingdom and its dominions and crown colonies, France, Russia (until 1917), Italy (after 1915), the United States (after 1917), and others, who collectively comprised the Allies; versus Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria (after 1915), who were collectively referred to as the Central Powers.

Although the Germans had early success and moved quickly into France in 1914, their advance soon settled into a battle of attrition focused upon trench warfare on the western front. The collapse of Russia's government, and the Russian Revolution of 1917, led to that nation's withdrawal from the war and permitted the Central Powers to focus their energies on the western front. World War I caused extremely high levels of casualties, claiming nearly 10 million lives, over 20 million injuries, and left nearly eight million missing. The war was also extremely costly in terms of materials, with shortages developing that were caused in part by difficulties transporting raw materials from overseas and also due to the sheer demand caused by the sustained conflict.

The United States was a relatively late entrant into the conflict, having pursued a policy of nonintervention from the war's beginning until April 1917, when Congress formally declared war on [Page 982]Germany and Austria-Hungary. Although he had managed to keep the United States out of the war after the German U-boat sinking of the British liner RMS Lusitania, which caused 128 American deaths, President Woodrow Wilson was under increasing pressure from a variety of sources to enter the conflict on the side of the Allies. Wilson was also interested in gaining a seat at the negotiations that would end the war so that he could advance support for the League of Nations, of which he was an ardent supporter.

After the Germans resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917, the United States’ entry into the war was probably inevitable, but an incident known as the Zimmerman Telegram assured that the United States would oppose Germany and its allies. The Zimmerman Telegram was a communication from the German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman, which asked German agents to suggest to the Mexican government that should Mexico declare war on the United States, Germany would return a portion of the American Southwest to Mexico at the war's conclusion. After the telegram was intercepted by the British, decoded, and made public, the response was intense. Congress followed Wilson's call for a declaration of war, voting to enter the conflict on April 6, 1917.

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