Post on 29-Dec-2015
World War I and Its AftermathChapter 7
Learning Targets
• Students will be able to explain the factors that caused World War I• Students will be able to explain the factors that caused the United
States to enter the war on the side of the Allies• Students will be able to describe how the American people and
society (Home Front) dealt with the war• Students will be able to describe the nature of war, new weapon
technology and its impact, and major battles/figures of the war• Students will be able to explain the impact of the war on the US and
the world including economic problems, the Red Scare, and the end of Progressivism
The US Enters World War I
• WWI Causes Alliance systems
• Triple Alliance• Franco-Russian Alliance
Arms Race• Dreadnoughts• Increase in sizes of armies
Balkan Crisis• Nationalism v. Multi-national empires• Self-determination – people of one
nation should have their own country• Serbia + Pan-Slavism
The US Enters World War I
Mobilization – pulling reserve troops from their jobs in preparation of war = $
Schlieffen Plan – German war plan to defeat France before Russia could attack Germany
Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand – murder by Serbia terror group Black Hand
Austrian Demands – demands for justice intended to start war
War Begins, August 1914
The US Enters World War I
• Triple Alliance = Central Powers (Italy switched sides and was replaced by the Ottoman Empire)• Triple Entente = Allies (Great
Britain, France, and Russia)• German Plan Fails
German attack on France had to go through neutral Belgium
Britain enters war on side of France Germany narrowly fails to take Paris War becomes locked in stalemate
The US Enters World War I
• American Neutrality Propaganda one-sided in favor of
Allies Business links mostly with Allies American population isolationist Many against Allies – German and
Irish Americans
The US Enters World War I
• Movement Towards War Britain stopped neutral ships from
sending contraband (prohibited) supplies to Germany
Germany responded through U-boat warfare
Restricted versus unrestricted submarine warfare
Sinking of Lusitania – 128 Americans killed
Sinking of Sussex – Sussex Pledge by Germany
The US Enters World War I
Zimmerman Telegram – telegram from Germany to Mexico promising US land if Mexico allies w/Germany
Germans resume unrestricted submarine warfare
US declares war April 6, 1917
The Home Front
• US unprepared for war• Progressives pushed for Conscription
(draft) – Selective Service established• All men 21-30 years required to
register• About 2 million men volunteered for
military• Almost 400,000 Blacks drafted• Blacks served in segregated units;
most units service as opposed to combat
The Home Front
• Women in the Military Served in non-combat positions Navy enlistees worked as radio
operators, clerks, etc. Army did NOT enlist women
except for Army Nursing Corps “Hello Girls” – women with French
language training sent overseas to man phone system for US military
Women served in Red Cross, YMCA, and Salvation Army in France
The Home Front
• Organizing Industry War Industries Board (WIB) –
coordinated production of war materiel
WIB organized by Bernard Baruch Food Administration run by Herbert
Hoover Encouraged people to cultivate
Victory Gardens – raise food for themselves so farm food could go to troops
Daylight Savings Time introduced to conserve energy
The Home Front
• Paying for the War Government raised taxes Borrowed money through selling
of Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds
• Mobilizing the Workforce National War Labor Board – to
prevent strikes from disrupting war effort
Women taking men’s jobs in industry – not permanent change
The Home Front
• The Great Migration Massive migration of blacks from
South into Northern states Better jobs, pay, conditions Discrimination but mostly not as
severe
• Mexican Migration Large migration of Mexicans into US
for agricultural/ranching jobs in the West
Also took factory jobs in many major cities
Barrios – Mexican neighborhoods
The Home Front
• The Public Committee on Public Information (CPI) • George Creel• Four-Minute Speeches / Four-Minute Men – patriotic speeches
to raise money and patriotism• American propaganda
Civil Liberties• Espionage – spying / sabotage• Espionage Act and Sedition Act – made it illegal to criticize the
government
The Home Front
• Climate of SuspicionGerman food names changedSchools dropped German language coursesOrchestras dropped German composers / operaGerman-born citizens attackedAlso targeted were pacifists, labor activists, and socialists
The Home Front
• Supreme CourtSchenck v. United States – ruled freedom of speech
could be curtailed if words were a “clear and present danger”
The “Fire” example set
A Bloody Conflict
• Trench Warfare Troops dug in for protection – stalemate
• Machine-guns• High-explosive artillery shells• Airplanes
New weapon technology changed warfare – tried to break stalemate• Chemical warfare (gas)• Tanks• Flamethrowers
Series of trenches stretched from Switzerland to Atlantic Ocean
No-Man’s Land – area between the opposing trenches
A Bloody Conflict
• US soldiers slow to get to Europe• Doughboys – nickname for US soldiers• US transported troops and material to
Europe with few losses to U-Boats using Convoy System – groups of merchant ships protected by warships
• Allies wanted US troops to fill holes in their lines but US refused – wanted to fight as an American army
• Black troops sent to Allies – fought very well
A Bloody Conflict
• Russian Revolution 1917 Russian Czar forced to
abdicate to Socialists Socialists continued war – caused
second revolution led by Bolsheviks (Communists)
Bolshevik leader, Lenin, became head of Russia
Russia ended war with Germany – signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Germany could now concentrate on the Western Front
A Bloody Conflict
• March 1918 – Germany launched great offensive hoping to defeat Allies before America could change the war• American troops deployed against
Germans – battled at Chateau-Thierry and Saint-Mihiel• Americans attacked Argonne Forest –
US suffered heavy casualties but took position• Hero Alvin York – won medals from
US, Britain, and France
A Bloody Conflict
• End of War Armistice (ceasefire) 11-11-11-
1918 President Wilson wanted fair
peace between both sides based on his Fourteen Points
Allies wanted to punish Germany Wilson buckled on all points
except League of Nations
A Bloody Conflict
• 1919 Treaty of Versailles Germany treated harshly by Allies Had to admit war guilt Had to pay huge reparations (money paid
for war damages) Had to give up most of its military materiel France occupied the Rhineland (area of
Germany between French border and Rhine River)
German territory taken to make new Poland and Czechoslovakia
Yugoslavia created out of lands taken from dismantled Austro-Hungarian Empire
A Bloody Conflict
• US Senate not keen on treaty• Believed treaty gave away too much
American sovereignty• Senate, led by Senator Henry Cabot
Lodge, would not ratify unless changes made
• Wilson refused – went on American tour to get support for treaty
• Strain of trip led to stroke• Senate refused to ratify treaty • US signed separate peace treaties with
the Central Powers in 1921
The War’s Impact
• Post-war economy in turmoil• Pent-up demand caused rise in prices• Inflation increased cost-of-living• Rising prices led to labor strikes –
workers wanted wages to keep up w/prices• First major strike in Seattle – turned
into general strike (all workers strike regardless of industry)• Boston Police Strike – all striking
officers fired by Governor Coolidge
The War’s Impact
• Race Riots Broke out in north as soldiers
returned looking for jobs now held by blacks
Competition for housing as well
Blacks bitter over treatment of veterans
Worst riots in Chicago – battles raged for days as whites and blacks attacked each other
38 people dead (15 white / 23 black)
The War’s Impact
• The Red Scare Russian Revolution caused fear of
radicalism in US Soviet Union sought to spread
Communism through Communist International
Radicals in unions / strikes stoked fears
Bombs set by radicals exploded across 8 US cities – one damaged house of US Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer
The War’s Impact
Palmer and J. Edgar Hoover (founder of FBI) went after radicals
Justice Department deported (expelled from the country) hundreds of suspected radicals
Agents increasingly used unconstitutional methods
Palmer seen as hero initially but soon lost his luster as many of his investigations turned up nothing
Belief that immigrants brought in radical ideas caused Congress to pass laws restricting immigration
Election of 1920
• Democratic Ticket Ohio Governor James Cox Franklin Delano Roosevelt Platform – Treaty of Versailles &
League of Nations
• Republican Ticket Senator Warren G. Harding MA Governor Calvin Coolidge Platform - Normalcy