Enduring Understandings
- Imperial rivalries, militarism, extreme nationalism, and a system of competing alliances contributed to the outbreak of World War I.
- Trench warfare and modern military technology led to a long stalemate and high casualty rates.
- U.S. entry into the war led to an Allied victory.
- Woodrow Wilson tried to build a lasting peace based on his Fourteen Points, but the Treaty of Versailles punished Germany harshly.
- In Russia, wartime hardships sparked the March Revolution, forcing the tsar to abdicate.
- Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power in the November Revolution and began to build a communist state in Russia.
Watch the My Story Video
to see World War I through the eyes of an English soldier and poet.