World War I 19141918 U.S. Involvement 19171918

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World War I1914-1918U.S. Involvement 1917-1918
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• European war about European issues.
• Europes Problems
• 1. Money
• a. maldistribution of wealth
• b. Classin poor countries, and handful
  were rich
• c. Karl Marxs Communist Manifestopoor
  should massacre the rich and take ownership.
• 2. Imperialismcompetition for colonies.
• 3. Economic RivalryGreat Britain and Germany,
  which was and emerging power.
• Social Darwinismbelieved among educated people.
  
• Competition becomes war.

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• Western values such as Christianity called into
  question by science and Darwin. Shakes
  foundation of Europe.
• 6. Nationalism
• a. each nationality must reach its
  potential, decide its own destiny.
• b. extreme patriotism
• c. blends with Social Darwinismlets
  fight.
• 7. Alliance System
• a. Central Powers or Triple Alliance
  Germany, Austria-Hungary,Italy.
• b. Allied Power or Triple Entente France
  Great Britain, Russia.

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• Immediate cause of the war is the assassination
  of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by
  Serb nationalists in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.
• Had Austria-Hungary acted against the Serbs
  immediately, war probably would have been
  avoided.
• Sunday, July 19Hungarys Prime Minister agrees
  to note sent to Serbia.
• Saturday, July 25Russia decided to mobilize,
  Serbia rejects terms of the note.
• War declared by August 12.

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• Early Moments of the War
• 1. Countries line up according to the alliance
  system
• 2. Italy auctions off its army to Allies
• 3. Turkey later joins Central Powers
• Germans attack firstgo through neutral Belgium
  to attack France.
• Use U-boat to attack Allied ships.
• 5. Why it became a disaster
• a. Both sides evenly matchedhuge armies
  with millions of men
• b. Combination of industrialization and
  killingsophisticated weapons.
• Total Warentire country becomes
  involved in the fighting of the war.

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• United States
• 1. Wilson declared neutrality
• Relied on idealist foreign policyabove the
  fighting,
• a. U.S. called to advance democracy and
  moral progress.
• b. Did not prepare the U.S. in case we
  had to fight.
• 3. Preparedness
• a. lead by Roosevelt and Lodge to
  strengthen the military.
• b. Two points
• - no hyphenated Americanism. Pander
  to Germans.
• -Belgium invaded because they didnt
  have a standing army
• c. Wilson tried to hold middle ground but
  eventually enlarged the military.

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• 4. 1916 Election
• a. Wilson vs. Charles Evans Hughes
• b. Ran on his progressive record and
  peace, wanted to avoid war to get German-American
  votes.
• c. Wilson barely won 277-254 electoral
  votes
• 5. Main reasons for U.S. involvement
• a. German unrestricted submarine warfare
  and the sinking of the Lusitania128 Americans
  were killed.
• Germans ran a full-page ad in the New York
  Times two weeks before.
• b. Hostility towards Germany
• -Germans invaded neutral Belgium

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• -Zimmerman note Germans will help
  Mexico re-take Texas if they harass the U.S.
• -Supposed attempts to sabotage American
  industry
• First two are the immediate causes
• c. American Idealismworld would be a
  better place in Central Powers were defeated.
• d. American securityGermany would replace
  Britain if they won.
• e. Economic interests.
• 6. Wilson decided to go to war on April 6, 1917.
  Justification was that this would be the war to
  end all wars.

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• 7. Did not start fighting until 1918 because we
  had to raise an army.
• 8. War mobilization
• a. complete economic mobilizationheavy
  government regulation.
• b. Lever Food and Fuel Actconserve food.
  Food will win the war.
• Herbert Hoover
• c. War Industries Boardguided production of
  food and materials for the Allies.
• d. Women, blacks, other minorities joined
  the workforce.

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• e. Civil Liberty Issues
• -Espionage Actpenalized anyone who
  handed out
• information about national defense.
• -Sedition Actprosecuted those who
  spoke against the government. 1500 prosecutions,
  1000 convictions. Eugene Debbs.
• 9. Significance of U.S. Entry
• a. turned the tide2 million men
• b. Broke isolationist policy
• c. emerged as a superpower
• Fighting of the War
• 1. Worldwide involvement, first time in history.
• 2. New weapons submarine, machine gun, tanks,
  large artillery guns, gas, airplanes, barbed
  wire, balloons.

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• 3. Naval warfare
• 4. Three fronts
• a. Eastern FrontGermany vs. Russia
• b. Southern FrontBalkans
• c. Western FrontFrance
• 5. Miracle of the Marne
• a. Germans advanced thru Belgium and
  stalled near the Marne River.
• b. Settled into trench warfare
  sophisticated weapons prevented gains
  and caused casualties.

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• 6. East
• a. Russians moved quickly
• Fulfill their obligations to France.
  Got pounded
• b. Only 1/3 of Russias army could be
  equipped with rifles.
• Poor communications.
• c. Battle of Tannenberg
• d. GallipoliFeb. 1915 to the summer
• -British, lead by Winston Churchill,
  tried to bust a path thru Dardanelles to supply
  the Russians.
• -200,000 casualties

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• Verdun and Somme
• 1. Verdun
• a. German General Erich von Falkenhayan
• Break Frances will
• b. Also thought he could bleed the French
  white.
• c. Backfired French rallied
• d. 700,000 casualties split evenly
• 2. Somme
• a. designed to get the British involved
• b. British attacked German defenses
• c. more casualties than Verdun

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• Battle of JutlandMay 31 to June 1
• 1. largest naval battle of the war
• 2. Germans and the British fought to a draw
• Russians inexplicably renew their attack, lead by
  Tsar Nicholas II, who put his personal prestige
  on the line. Crushed
• 2 million were killed in 1916.
• Russian Revolution1917
• 1. Nicholas II replaced by a Provisional
  Government
• 2. Provisional Government launched another
  attack in July with 15 million men, of which ½
  were casualties or prisoners.

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• 3. In November the Provisional Government was
  overthrown by the Bolsheviks who were communists.
• 4. Bolsheviks
• a. lead by Vladimir Lenin
• b. skilled propagandists
• -Bolshevik means men of the
  majority.
• -peace, land, bread
• December 22, 1917, the Russians surrendered to
  Germany at Brest-Litovsk.
• Russians lost Poland, Ukraine, and Baltic
• Republics. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• 6. Had the U.S. fought in 1917, the war would
  have ended and the Bolsheviks would not have come
  to power.

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• Last Months of the War
• 1. March 1918 German offensive
• break the French and British before the U.S.
  showed up, but failed.
• 2. Launched another one in May, made it 12
  miles, then stopped to drink champagne.
• By this time the U.S. engaged in the
  Meusse-Argonne Offensive, and helped push the
  Germans back.
• 4. Germans asked for an armistice based on
  Wilsons Fourteen Points in September.
• DID NOT SURRENDER.
• 5. War ended on November 11, 1918.
• 6. German army was not in worse shape than the
  other armies.

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• Paris Peace Conference
• 1. World War I was accidental
• 2. Generated Treaty of Versailles
• a. one of the least successful in history
• b. Germany excludedthought they signed an
  armistice
• c. process was a disaster
• 3. Fourteen Points
• a. First five
• -open diplomacyno secrets
• -freedom of seas
• -removal of trade barriers
• -reduction of armaments

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• b. Most of the rest called on Central Powers
  to evacuate occupied territories and respect
  self-determination.
• c. 13 Independent Poland with sea access.
• d. 14 League of Nations
• e. League of Nations was a sticking point
  because some thought it impractical.
• 4. Leaders
• a. Georges Clemenceau from France France
  should have the most say since it bore the brunt
  of the war.
• Punish the Germans, undo the work of
  Bismarck.

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• Woodrow Wilson
• -U.S. should have the largest say because
  it tipped the scales and the Fourteen Points.
• -Let bygones be bygones
• -promoted the League of Nationsweak spot.
• -monopoly on morality chose by God for
  this.
• -inexperienced in foreign affairs and
  diplomacy
• c. David Lloyd George
• -show off and a playboy
• -whatever works for Britain
• -treaty reflects his workseries of
  compromises

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• 5. Leaders didnt get along Clemenceau and
  Wilson clashed.
• Wilsons moralism was a turn off.
• U.S. Politics and the Treaty of Versailles
• 1. Wilson and Democrats lost control of Congress
  in 1918 mid-term elections.
• 2. Wilsons opposition
• a. Republicans angered that they werent
  included in negotiations
• b. Irreconcilableswould not ratify the
  treaty under any
• circumstances. League of Nations
  threatened U.S.
• sovereignty.

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• c. Reservationistsaccept the treaty with
  several conditions.
• Based on Henry Cabot Lodges 14
  Reservations.
• d. Wilson too inflexible to compromise.
• Lodge and Europeans would have
  accepted some of the treaty.
• e. Made the mistake of going over the head
  of the Senate and toured the country in 1919.
• 3. Wilsons Strokes
• a. suffered a stroke on October 19, 1919.
  Paralyzed his left side.
• b. two previous strokes covered up.
• c. Edith Wilson ran the government until
  the end of his term.

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• 4. Treaty rejected in November 1919.
• 5. Final conditions of the treaty
• a. Germany blamed for the war, forced to
  pay reparations, and give up territory.
• b. Much of Wilsons work was removed
• Clung to the League of Nations and was an
  amateur negotiator.
• Effects of World War I
• 1. Social
• a. 10 million killed, 20 million wounded.
• b. Hatred, especially among the Germans
• 2. Economic
• a. Cost 350 billion
• b. Europe ruined economically
• c. economic hardship, especially during
  Great Depression

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• 3. Political
• a. U.S. emerged as a world power
• b. several new countries
• c. Bolsheviks in Russia
• d. Many nations turn to dictators out of
  desperationGerman and Italy.

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