THE UNITED STATES AND WWI

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THE UNITED STATES AND WWI

• Americans at first thought the war did not
  involve them
• President Woodrow Wilson was most intent on
  asserting the international rights of neutrals,
  including the right to free access to trade
• He thought he could do this even though he
  favored the Allies

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THE UNITED STATES AND WWI

• Nature of modern warfare and of the global
  economy undermined his policies
• US had to have a market for its goods, including
  arms
• Sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine
• Zimmerman Telegram, January, 1917offered Mexico
  the right to reconquer lost territories in
  Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas if the US entered
  the war and Mexico fought against it

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THE UNITED STATES AND WWI
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THE UNITED STATES AND WWI

• Wilson thought he could remake the world
  according to his principles, teach Europe to live
  by Progressive principles as embodied in the
  Fourteen Points
• Centrality of the League of Nations to his
  planinternational resolution of disputes and
  enforcement of its principles (national authority
  subordinated to international authority)

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THE UNITED STATES AND WWI

• Fight over the Treaty of Versailles and the
  League of Nations
• Congress not willing to cede national or
  Congressional authority over the right to declare
  war
• Leadership of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
• Opposition from the left the treaty was too
  punitive against Germany, planted the seeds of
  future wars (Womens International League for
  Peace and Freedom)

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THE UNITED STATES AND WORLD WAR I--WEBSITES

• http//www.history.arizona.edu/tah/wwi_resources19
  14-1918.htm
• http//www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/ww1/index
  .cfm (lesson plans)
• http//www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module16/ind
  ex.html (lesson plans)
• http//www.authentichistory.com/ww1.html (primary
  sources from popular culture)