APUSH REVIEWWorld War I

As found in Barron’s Study Keys EZ-101American History 1877 to the PresentPublished 1992

Theme World War IKnown at the time as the Great War, World War I was the first truly “total “ war.

Americans became involved in it 3 years after it had begun. Although the war was devastating

to western Europe, the United States suffered much lower casualties. As one of the victors in

the war, the United States was launched into a position of international leadership.

Before long the nation became frustrated and disillusioned, realizing that the

world had not been made “safe for democracy” as President Wilson had promised.

Economically, however, the war sparked an industrial boom that launched the prosperous

1920s. On the negative side, the war awakened intolerance, hatred, and bigotry in its quest

for social unity on the homefront. It also assisted in the demise of progressivism.

Key 34: Prelude to American involvement

Overview: For 3 years, the United States attempted to maintain neutrality and stay out of the war, but this goal proved to be virtually impossible.

Initial events: World War I began on June 28, 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated by Serbian nationalist while visiting Sarajevo, a provincial capital in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which Slavic nationalists wanted to annex and make part of Serbia.• By August 6, 1914, Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had all declared war.• Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and other nations joined the war later in 1914.

Triple Alliance: This alliance, composed of Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary, also called the Central Powers, formed one of the two opposing camps in Western Europe on the eve of World War I

Triple Entente: This entente, consisting of France, Great Britain, and Russia, known as the Allies, was organized to create a “balance of power” in Western Europe against the nations of the Triple Alliance.

Orders in Council: Issued by Great Britain at the start of World War I, the orders established an Allied blockade around Germany, extended the list of contraband items, and declared the North Sea and English Channel “military areas.” The orders led the Germans to start a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare to eliminate the blockade. American neutrality: Although President Wilson urged America to be “impartial in thought as well as deed” and issued a proclamation of neutrality on August 4, 1914, he was an admirer of Great Britain’s traditions, culture, and political system.• He and other Americans imbued a moral quality to the Allied position, and British reports of German atrocities added to American support of the Allied cause•Because war orders from France and Britain were so economically lucrative for the the U.S., Wilson realized by 1915 that this country could no longer remain neutral. He believed America must become the arsenal of the Allies.•The American response to German violations of neutral rights became harsh and uncompromising

Key 34: Prelude to American involvement

Lusitania (1915): the Lusitiania, a British passenger liner, was sunk by a German U-boat. When Wilson learned that 128 Americans had died, he demanded that Germany respect the rights of neutral nations, which included the American right to travel on nonmilitary vessels of warring nations.

Preparedness movement: This mov’t advocated building up our national defenses and preparing for involvement in war. By the end of 1915, President Wilson had advocated a preparedness program to Congress, and rearmament was under way by the summer of 1916.

Sussex pledge (1916): An unarmed French steamer, the Sussex, was attacked by Germany and several American passengers were injured.• Because of Wilson’s protests, Germany pledged not to sink passenger vessels without warning and agreed to safeguard noncombatants.•Nevertheless, torpedo attacks began again in Jan. 1917

Council of National Defense (1916): Created by Congress, it coordinated industry and the nation’s resources for the support of national security.• The council consisted of six cabinet members and an advisory board of seven experts from labor and industry•Connected to it was a Civilian Advisory Commission which set up local defense councils in every state, county, and school district.

National Defense Act (1916): Provided for increasing the regular army to 175,000 and the National Guard to 450,000, and authorized the creation of military training at universities and colleges.

Merchant Marine Act (1916): Create the U.S. Shipping Board, which formed the Emergency Fleet Corporation to build, requisition, purchase, and operate merchant vessels.

Election of 1916: As the Democratic incumbent, Woodrow Wilson, ran on the slogan: “He kept us out of war.”• Promising to continue Progressive policies and to maintain peace, he won reelection although by a small margin.• His Republican opponent, Charles Evans Hughes, was an associate justice of the Supreme Court (1910-1916) and later became chief justice (1930-1941) during the Great Depression

Key 34: Prelude to American involvement

Zimmerman note: This dispatch as sent in January 1917, by Alfred Zimmerman, German Foreign Secretary, to the German representative in Mexico.• It urged Mexico to support Germany if the U.S. declared war on Germany• In return, Mexico would receive Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico• The coded note was intercepted by the British, decoded, and published in the US• Along with Germany’s announcement on Feb. 1, 1917, that it would sink all ships, enemy and neutral alike, the note sparked US entry into the war on April 6, 1917

Jeanette Rankin: A former suffrage organizer, in 1916 she became the first woman ever elected to Congress, where where she represented Montana• When Congress voted on US entrance into World War I, she voted no• In addition to being a peace activist, she supported protective legislation and Prohibition• In 1940 she again won election to Congress from Montana and in 1941 cast the only vote against US entry into World War II

American Expeditionary Force: Under General John J. Pershing, it arrived in Europe at the end of 1917• Assisted the Allies in halting the German advance at Chateau-Thierry, at Rheims, and later in the Argonne Forest.• Fought for 8 months until the armistice of November 11, 1918

Key 35: The war’s effect on the home frontOverview: At home, the nation’s economic resources were mobilized, with the federal gov’t becoming increasingly intrusive. The war accentuated social divisiveness as the federal gov’t trampled on civil liberties

Selective Service Act (1917): This legislation required all males between 21 and 30 to register for military service• a 488,000 member army, 470,000 for the Nat’l Guard, and the conscription of 500,000 men were authorized• Women served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps and in the auxiliary forces of the regular navy

Financing the war: The war was partly financed through the sale of so-called Liberty Bonds to the public.• Other revenue was raised by income taxes, excess profits taxes, inheritance taxes, and special taxes on liquor, tobacco, and theater tickets• The War Revenue Act (1917) established a graduated income tax, an excess profits tax, and an increase in excise taxes

Committee on Public Information (CPI) Created by Congress in April 1917, the committee had as its chairman journalist George Creel• Mobilized public support of the war by explaining, through the use of pamphlets, posters, motion pictures, news stories, advertisements in magazines, pictures, and speakers, the reasons for American participation•Through its Division of Industrial Relations, encouraged labor to support the war

War Industries Board (July 1917): Under financier Bernard Baruch, this agency organized the nation’s economy• It regulated all war industry activities, developed new industries and sources of supply, controlled prices, and distributed and sold all war materials•Manufactures who cooperated with the board’s goals were exempt from antitrust laws

Production and transportation of supplies: New agencies were set up• Headed by Secretary of the Treasury William McAdoo, the Railroad War Board facilitated the transportation of troops and war supplies by rail.•Likewise, a new Fuel Administration was created to allocate scarce supplies of coal• Under the Lever Food and Fuel Control Act, President Wilson had authority over the production, disposition, and prices of food, fuel, and other supplies needed by the army; control extended to producers, processors, and dealers in these products.

Key 35: The war’s effect on the home frontFood Administration: Probably the most effective war agency, it supervised the feeding of the nation, its armies, and the Allies• Herbert Hoover, an engineer and business executive who later became a U.S. president, was its administrator• He raised the price of wheat to increase production, along with encouraging voluntary conservation•At his suggestion, people planted “victory gardens”

Espionage Act (June 1917): A $10,000 fine and 20 years’ imprisonment was prescribed for interfering with the draft or for attempting to encourage disloyalty• Penalties were also imposed for refusing military duty, resisting laws, or advocating treason• The postmaster general could ban from the mails any material he judged treasonous or seditious

National Security League: One of several citizens’ vigilante groups established to ensure patriotism. Others included the Boys Spies of America, the American Defense Society, and the American Protective Association, the largest with 250,000 members

National War Labor Board (April 1918) American Federation of Labor President Samuel Gompers sat on this board, created by President Wilson to mediate labor disputes so that strikes could be avoided• Workers agreed not to strike, and employers pledged not to engage in lockouts•It also urged industry to implement changes that would benefit labor (e.g. an 8-hour workday and the right of unions to organize and bargain collectively)

Sedition Act (May 1918): More repressive than the Espionage Act, it established punishment for interfering with the sale of Liberty Bonds, for writing or speaking against the gov’t, the U.S. Constitution, the armed forces, or the flag and for impending recruitment officers

Overman Act (May 1918) Gave President Wilson almost dictatorial powers until months after the war’s end. These powers included the authority to reorganize executive agencies or create new ones

Key 36: Postwar Developments AbroadOverview: Even before the end of the war, Woodrow Wilson formulated his international philosophy, an idealistic vision based on principle. With the Senate’s rejection of the Versailles Treaty, however, the United States failed to give is seal of approval to Wilson’s new world order.

Fourteen Points Presented by President Wilson in an address to Congress on January 8,, 1918, as the basis for peace terms at the close of World War I• Espoused a belief in the right of all peoples to self-determination, as evinced by recommendations for boundary adjustments along with the creation of new nations.•Included also: freedom of the seas, open covenants, adjustment of colonial claims with respect for native populations, free trade, reductions in armaments, and impartial mediation of colonial claims.• Proposed a League of Nations, an association of nations that would aid in implementing the new principles and in resolving future controversies.

Paris Peace Conference: Held beginning in December 1918• Participants included David Lloyd George, prime minister of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau, president of France, Vittorio Orlando, prime minister of Italy; and Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States• the conference formulated the general terms of the treaties ending World War I

League of Nations: On January 25, 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, the Allies voted to accept the creation of the League of Nations• This assembly of nations would oversee world affairs and prevent future wars•League decisions would be implemented by a nine-member Executive Council consisting of 5 permanent members: Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States•The league was established in 1920, although the U.S. Senate rejected the treaty of which the league was a part.•Although the U.S. did not formally join the League of Nations, it did take part in many of its activities•In 1946, the United Nations replaced the League of Nations

Treaty of Versailles: Signed in June 1919, it was the peace treaty that ended World War I• In 1919 and again in 1920, the treaty failed to receive the necessary two-thirds approval of the Senate because it provided for the creation of the League of Nations. Senators Henry Cabot Lodge, Hiram Johnson, and William E. Borah were its strongest opponents•Finally on August 25, 1921, a joint resolution declaring the war to be over was adopted by Congress

Key 37: Postwar Developments At HomeOverview: The postwar years were marked by social unrest, and violence in the United States. Economic problems, labor unrest, the fear of radicalism, and racial tensions had generated a sense of disillusionment

1919 and 1920 Strikes: raging inflation, concern about job security, and poor working conditions combined to generate labor discontent.

• In 1919 there were more than 3,600 strikes1. A general strike in Seattle, Washington, nearly paralyzed the city, and U.S. Marines were sent in to keep it running2. The Nat’l Guard was called in to restore order after the Boston Police Strike• The greatest single labor action at that time, which ended in failure, was the Great Steel Strike in January 1920,

involving 350,000 steelworkers in several Midwestern states

Red Scare (1919): Along with racial violence and labor unrest, the fear of revolution emerged. The Communist victory in the Russian Revolution of q1917 set these fears in motion

• Established in 1919 in the Soviet Union, the Communist International sought to export revolution around the world• Americans began blaming revolutionaries or radical agitators for labor and racial disturbances• Hysteria mounted when a series of bombings occurred in the spring of 19191. The post office intercepted several packages addressed to leading politicians and businessmen, which were set to

explode when opened2. A few parcels did explode; in June 1919 eight bombs exploded in eight cities within minutes of one another3. One bomb exploded outside the Washington townhouse of attorney general A. Mitchell Palmer

Palmer raids and other anti-Communist measures: As attorney general Palmer set up an antiradical division in the Justice Dept and appointed J. Edgar Hoover, a young gov’t attorney, to direct what soon became the Federal Bureau of Intelligence. (FBI)

1. In Nov 1919, the first attacks, known as “Palmer raids” were made on private homes of suspected Communist sympathizers and on headquarters of labor and radical organizations

2. In December, 1919, the U.S.S. Buford left for Finland and the Soviet Union with 294 deported radicals3. On Jan. 1, 1920, 6,000 radicals were arrested as a result of the Palmer raids4. Civil liberties were violated as citizens and aliens alike were denied legal counsel and held without specific charges5. After May Day, 1920, had passed without any violence, the Red Scare soon abated6. The summer of 1920 passed without major labor strikes or renewed bombings

Key 37: Postwar Developments At HomeSacco-Vanzetti case: A legacy of the Red Scare, the case began with the arrest in May 1920 of Nicola Sacco and

Bartolomeo Vanzetti for murder in South Braintree, Massachusetts• Although the evidence against them was inadequate, as confessed anarchists they were presumed guilty• The judge in the trial was openly prejudiced• The two men were convicted, sentenced to death, and despite worldwide protests, executed in 1927• Many decades later, they were posthumously exonerated by Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis

The Great Migration: During World War I, over half a million blacks migrated from the rural South to industrial cities in search of work.

• In 1917, race riots occurred in Houston, Philadelphia, and East St. Louis• In 1919 racial tension prevailed in the North and in the South• More than 70 blacks died in lynchings in the South• In Chicago, white mobs attacked people, homes, and property in black neighborhoods. Thirty eight people died and

537 were injured as blacks fought back

Railway Transportation Act (1920): Returned the railroads to private control and enlarged the Interstate Commerce Commission to 11 members

• The act gave the commission authority to fix rates and to provide a 6 percent return, with half of all net earnings over this amount to be sued for the benefit of the weaker railroads

• A Railroad Board was created to arbitrate disputes

Water Power Act (1920): Created the Federal Power Commission consisting of the secretaries of war, the interior, and agriculture, and authorized it to license the construction and operation of dams and hydroelectric plants on rivers and streams on public lands of the United States