WWI

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WWI

• -- What were the causes of WWI?
• -- What were American interests in getting
  involved?
• -- Why do you think the American public did not
  support getting involved until so late in the
  war? Why would the US not want to take part?

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In 1914, the British Empire covered about ¼ of
the worlds land and ruled over about 1/5 of its
population.
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Human cost of WWI

• 10 million military and 7 million civilians were
  killed in the war. ( 117,000 Americans).
• 20 million died of hunger and disease related to
  war.
• Spanish Flu killed 600,000 Americans and over 50
  million worldwide in 1918 and 1919.

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War in Europe
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Woodrow Wilson

• Insists on open door ? to make the world safe
  for democracy.
• 1918 endorses womens suffrage as vital for
  winning the war. (by 1917, 16 states had given
  women the right to vote).
• Obsessive fear of disloyalty
• Espionage Act (900 people sentenced to prison
  during war)
• Sedition Act
• Selective Service Act
• Trading with the Enemy Act
• Alien Enemies Act
• Alien Act

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National War Labor BoardNWLB

• To mediate disputes, recognize fair wages and
  hours, collective bargaining.
• War Labor Policies Board
• Set standards for federal employees

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1. Lusitania and Submarine Warfare

• British passenger ship sunk by Germany 1915
  because they claimed it carried weapons. Germany
  declared unrestricted warfare on British ships.
• British denied it was carrying explosives.
• British responded with a naval blockade on
  Germany. This prevented the US from trading with
  Central Pwrs.
• Over 1000 people killed 126 Americans killed.

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Neutrality?

• William Jennings Bryan Wilson practiced a false
  neutrality by allowing US passengers on ships
  that we know might be sunk. The ships are not
  neutral.

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2. Mexico and the Zimmerman Telegram

• Germany sent a Telegram to Mexico offering lost
  territory (New Mexico, Texas, Arizona) and
  financial support if Mexico joined Germany in war
  against the US.
• Intercepted by London. ? US declared war as
  result.
• US had invaded Mexico with 11000 troops in 1916
  to chase Pancho Villa.

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US Cavalry invading Mexico in pursuit of Pancho
Villa in 1916.
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3. Trade and EconomicsMaking the World Safe for
Democracy

• US experienced economic boom because of war
  orders from Europe. (before US entry).
• US gave loans to European countries to finance
  war.
• Germany and UK blockaded each other to stop US
  imports. Germany sank all ships bound for
  Britain. Britain responded with blockade on
  Germany which ended US trade with Germany.
• US loaned 2bil to UK 27 mil to Germany.
• Lend-Lease Program US will supply arms with no
  payment until after war.

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Trade and Economics

• In 1917, the estimated cost of the war was 3.5
  billion.
• Actual cost 35 billion 116,516 US soldiers.
• The US had loaned 2 billion to Britain and
  France before entering the war, compared to
  27million to Germany.

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Tax Base

• Before the war, most of the governments revenue
  came from tariffs.
• In 1917, the War Revenue Act was passed, imposing
  an excess profits levy as high as 60.
• Fed. Revenue went from 930 million in 1916 to
  4,388 million in 1918
• The personal exemption for income tax went from
  3,000 1,000
• Tax on earnings above 500,000 went from 7 to
  77
• Thus the income tax became the most important
  source of federal revenues.

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4. Demographics

• Americans divided on entry into war. Economic
  benefits of war.
• Isolationism Idea that US should not get
  involved. Socialists, Progressives especially
  opposed the war.
• US army 1914 98,000 1917 4 million.

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Demographics

• 1/3 of Americans were 1st or 2nd generation
  Germans.
• These 8 million Germans and another 4 million
  Irish did not love England.
• National Defense Act of 1916 expanded Army from
  90,000 to 175,000
• While Wilson was still maintaining a policy of
  neutrality, a draft was instituted to expand the
  army.

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US Army

• 1917 US Army was the 7th largest in the world.
  Equipped with old weapons and only had a day and
  a half of ammunition in reserve.
• Spring, 1917 Army Natl Guard 379,000
• End of War 3.7 million
• Early summer, 1917 token American forces and the
  French Army was plagued by mutinies.
• March, 1918 300,000 Americans in France
• November, 1918 over 2 million!
• (1,400,000 of them saw action)
• 367,000 African American troops

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5. Wilson, WWI and Progressivism
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World War and the death of Progressive Party

• By 1916, Progressives became extremely committed
  to the defense of national honor, nationalism,
  and opposition to Wilson. But, imperialism and
  militarism replaced old liberal formulas of
  protest, and within a year, the party was dead.
• War was justified with progressive rhetoric and
  on progressive terms.
• Discredited progressive language morals and
  ideals
• Guaranteed that anti-war reactions would be
  anti-progressive.

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Civil Society on the eve of war
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1913 Armory Show, Chicago45,000 worth of
paintings sold!Duchamps Nude descending a
Staircase(or, explosion in a shingle factory)
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Wassily Kadinsky Improvisation 27 Garden of
Love
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Matisses work was chosen by students at
Chicago's Art Student's League as the most
appalling and blasphemous pictures in the
exhibition. The charges brought against him were
"artistic murder, pictorial arson, artistic
rapine, total degeneracy of color, criminal
misuse of line, general aesthetic abberation, and
contumacious abuse of titleTroubled by the
publics reaction to his work, Matisse said in an
interview "Oh do tell the American people that
I am a normal man that I am a devoted husband
and father, that I have three fine children, that
I go to the theatre!"
Matisse Goldfish and Sculpture
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Meanwhile, in Europe, the press had been paying
attention to the Caillaux affair. Joseph
Caillaux, former premier and current minister of
finance and radical socialist leader in France
was accused of high crimes and misdemeanors. His
wife was enraged by how the press had destroyed
his career. She decided to solve the problem by
buying a gun and killing the responsible
journalist. When news arrived of the
assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in
Serbia, it seemed only a brief distraction from
the Calliaux trial.
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How did the war affect the Economy?

• -- Unions
• -- Wages
• -- Production
• -- Taxes
• How do you think the war affected politics?

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WWI killed 10 million in battle2 million died of
hunger related to war
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Efforts to save grain led to the 19th Amendment
prohibition.
1915-1918 the real income of farmers grew 30
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20 billion were raised with Liberty Bonds
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Bernard Baruch, head of the War Industries Board
(WIB)
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Women working in a shipyard, 1918
1918, the government wanted to encourage women to
work on farms to keep food production up.
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Women in the Workforce
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Wartime policies and economic changes wound up
killing progressivism, even though progressives
were in power. Why do you think?
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