Lesson 6

1
World war IThe Great War

• Lesson 6

2
Background

• More aggressive foreign policy in the early 20th
  century.
• Progressive Diplomacy
• Commercial expansion was backed by a growing
  military presence in the Western hemisphere.
• Theodore Roosevelt (Lasting impression on U.S.
  foreign policy)
• Superiority of the United States.
• Strong military.
• Speak softly and carry a big stick

3
Background

• William Howard Taft
• Business investment the more effective
  weapon.
• Assumed political influence would follow trade
  and investment.
• During his presidency, investment in Central
  America (etc) grew.

4
Background

• Woodrow Wilson
• Emphasized foreign investment and industrial
  exports.
• Believed America could achieve supremacy in
  commerce if barriers to free trade were removed.
• A moral crusade.
• Complexities of real world interfere with
  moral crusade rooted in American
  exceptionalism.
• Believed militarism (big stick) was outdated.
• Peaceful commerce and political stability.

5
Start of War

• European powers avoided war since 1871.
• European powers continued to ally themselves.
• Two major alliances
• The Triple Entente (The Allies)
• Britain, France, and Russia (Japan, Romania).
• The Triple Alliance (Central Powers)
• Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
• The events that would bring war occurred in the
  midst of a European arms race.

6
Start of War

• June 28, 1914
• Sarajevo
• Serbian terrorist kills Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• Ferdinand was the heir to the Austria-Hungary
  throne.
• Austria, with Germanys backing, declared war on
  Serbia.

7
Start of War

• Russia and France mobilized in support of Serbia.
• August 1, 1914 Germany declares war on Russia.
• Germany declares war on France.

8
Start of War

• Belgium denies Germany the right to cross into
  France.
• Germany invaded Belgium.
• Belgians resisted.
• French/British troops block Germans.
• By August 4 Europe at War.

9
Start of War

• Germany and Austria-Hungary along with Bulgaria
  and the Ottoman Empire form the Central Powers.
• Italy joins The Allies.

10
American Neutrality

• Wilsons response
• August 4, 1914 United States not committed to
  either side and was to be accorded all neutral
  rights (trade with both sides).
• Hoped
• America could remain outside the conflict.
• He could play peacemaker role.
• Unrealistic.
• Economic ties with the Allies.
• U.S. ceased trade with Germany after Britain
  imposed a trade blockade on all shipping to
  Germany.

11
Preparedness and Peace

• February 1915
• Germany declared British waters to be a war zone.
• All enemy ships subject to U-boat attack.
• May 7, 1915
• German U-boat sinks British Liner Lusitania off
  Ireland coast.
• 128 Americans killed in attack.
• Wilson denounced attack.
• Military supplies were on Lusitania.
• U-boat attacks continued as did Wilsons warnings.

12
Preparedness and Peace

• March 1916
• Sinking of the Sussex.
• Injured several Americans.
• Wilson warned Germany that America would end
  diplomatic relations if attacks continued.
• Sussex Pledge Germany promised to stop sinking
  merchant ships without warning.
• Wilson accepted pledge.
• President Wilson readied for war.

German U-boat torpedoes an English steamer
13
Preparedness and Peace

• June 1916
• Congress passed the National Defense Act.
• More than doubled the size of the army.
• Integrated the state National Guard under federal
  control.
• August 1916
• Congress passed bill increasing military spending
  (for battleships, cruisers, and destroyers).

14
Preparedness and Peace

• February 1, 1917
• Germany declared unlimited submarine warfare
  against all neutral and enemy ships.
• Hoped to defeat the British and French before
  America arrived.
• President Wilson
• Ended diplomatic relations with Germany.
• Called on Congress to approve the arming of U.S.
  merchant ships.
• German U-boat attacks took toll on Atlantic
  shipping.

15
Preparedness and Peace

• March 1, 1917
• Wilson released decoded message from German
  foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann.
• Message to the German minister in Mexico.
• Mexico should ally with Germany and attack the
  U.S.
• Message outraged Americans.
• Increased support for Wilsons proposal to arm
  merchant ships.
• Wilson authorized the arming.

16
Safe for Democracy

• Between February 3 and March 21, German u-boats
  sink six American ships.
• April 2, 1917
• Wilson asks Congress to declare war on Germany.
• Germanys war against mankind.
• the world must be safe for democracy
• The U.S. would fight for, the rights and
  liberties of small nations.
• Wanted a league of nations to bring peace and
  safety to all nations and make the world at last
  free.

17
Declaration of War

• The U.S. Senate adopted the war resolution 82-6.
• The House adopted the war resolution 373-50.
• April 6
• President Wilson signed the declaration of war.

18
American Mobilization

• Groups that opposed Wilsons policy
• German Americans.
• Irish Americans.
• Members of the growing Socialist Party.
• 1917 The Committee on Public Information
• Mobilize people in favor of war effort.
• George Creel (former muckraker)
• Wartime Patriotism
• Creel Committee.
• Four-Minute Men (volunteers who gave four minute
  speeches for the war).
• Sparked extreme measures against those considered
  slackers or pro-German.

19
American Mobilization

• Americanization drives pushed rapid assimilation
  among immigrants.
• German language, books, and music banned.
• Mobs hounded people with German names.
• Sometimes attacked.
• Sometimes lynched.
• German Americans, pacifists, socialists, etc,
  became targets for government repression and
  vigilante action.

20
American Mobilization

• 1917 Congress Passed
• Espionage Act
• Mandated harsh penalties for anyone found guilty
  of interfering with the draft or encouraging
  disloyalty to the United States.
• 1918 Congress Passed
• Sedition Act
• Extended the Espionage Act by extending the
  penalty to anyone deemed to have abused the
  government in writing.
• Violators faced fines and prison terms.
• Court challenges failed
• Supreme Court ruled freedom of speech is not
  absolute.

21
American Mobilization

• President Wilson won over many Americans by
  defining the War as a great moral crusade to
• Defend democracy.
• Spread liberal principles.
• Redeem European decadence and militarism.

22
American Mobilization

• The U.S. and British Navies began striking at the
  German fleet.
• Convoy technique.
• Cut shipping losses in half by late 1917.
• Spring 1918 U-boat danger gone.

23
American Mobilization

• April 1917
• U.S. Army/National Guard 372,000 men.
• May 1917
• Selective Service Act
• Established compulsory military service for men
  ages 21-30.
• Exempted those opposed to war on religious
  grounds (conscientious objectors).
• Women exempted.

24
American Mobilization

• 13,000 women joined the Navy and Marines.
• Clerical jobs.
• Held full naval and marine rank status.
• The Army refused to admit women.
• 18,000 women served in the Army Corps of Nurses.
• No rank, pay, or benefits.
• The Red Cross.
• The largest number of serving women.
• Staffed hospitals and rest homes.

25
American Mobilization

• African-Americans in WWI
• 400,000 African Americans served.
• 200,000 served overseas.
• 30,000 served on front lines.
• Treated as second class citizens.
• Served under white commanders.
• Served in segregated units in the Army.
• Limited to food service the Navy.
• Excluded from the Marines.
• Assigned to menial tasks behind the lines

26
American Mobilization

• The French
• Awarded several all-black units.
• Presented awards to several individual soldiers.
• The Americans
• Refused to allow African-American soldiers to
  march in the grand victory parade.
• Though the British and the French allowed all
  races.
• 1918
• Popular Tune, OVER THERE.

27
American Mobilization

• The American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
• Commanded by General John J. Perishing.
• Arrived in France June 1917.
• President Wilson tried to keep American and
  Allied forces apart.
• Distrust of Allies.
• America to have a prominent role.
• Influence peace process.

28
American Mobilization

• When American troops began to arrive in France,
  it seemed as if the Central Powers were winning
• French offensives in April 1917 failed.
• British offensives over the summer were
  difficult.
• Russia withdrew in late 1917.
• German commanders shifted troops from east to
  west.
• Massive German offensive planned for Spring 1918.

29
American Mobilization

• Picardy
• 64 divisions of German troops.
• Smashed into French/British lines.
• AEF hurry to support Allies.
• Late May
• Germans 50 miles from Paris.
• French rushed troops to line.
• AEF suffered heavy losses.
• Allied counter offensive.
• American forces poured into France.

30
American Mobilization

• Americans joined the Allies in the Meuse River
  Argonne Forest.
• Last major assault of war.
• October 1918
• German military leaders urged government to seek
  armistice.

31
American Mobilization

• End of fighting
• 1100 A.M.
• November 11, 1918
• By then,
• 2 million American soldiers in France.
• 32 nations declared war on one or more Central
  Powers.
• 9 million uniformed dead.
• 1.4 million French lost.
• 908,408 British lost.
• 115,000 Americans lost.

32
Allied Victory

• January 8, 1918
• President Wilson spoke to Congress.
• Elaborated on war objectives.
• Fourteen Points
• 1-5 Context for lasting peace.
• 6 Russia to be welcomed into the society of
  free nations.
• 7-13 Specific situations.
• 14 League of Nations.
• Allies showed no enthusiasm for Wilsons points.

33
Uneasy Peace

• January 18, 1919
• Peace conference opened outside of Paris.
• Terms to be imposed on Germany.
• Wilson forced to compromise most of his Fourteen
  Points.
• Treaty of Versailles
• Imposed harsh terms on Germany.
• Created several territorial mandates.
• The League of Nations
• World organization that worked to promote peace
  and international cooperation.
• America never joined.

34
Election of 1920

• Democrats
• Woodrow Wilson sick.
• Does not seek re-election.
• Dies in 1924.
• Nominated James Cox (Ohio).
• Republicans
• Nominated Warren G. Harding (Ohio).
• Won largest landslide in history (to date).
• Held both Houses of Congress.