The effects of the war in America

I. U.S.’s entry into the war led to a labor shortage in the US

This caused:– women to enter the workforce– about 150,000 Mexicans to enter the country– African Americans to move north in search

for new opportunities

II. The Great Migration

1. The movement of African Americans from the South to northern cities between 1915 and 1930

2. They were moving north to escape discrimination and difficult living and working conditions.

3. African Americans encouraged one another to “Get out of the South”

1. African-Americans who moved north usually had a higher standard of living than in the south.

2. July 2, 1917- East St. Louis Illinois- White rioters rampaged the streets of this African-American neighborhood where 39 A-A’s were killed in the violence

3. Why should African-Americans fight in war when they do not receive the freedoms they are fighting for?

III. Racial violence

IV. American Attitudes

1. Many Americans believed that the U.S. should have stayed out of the war (political, religious, and/or personal reasons).

2. Wilson created a committee on Public Information in 1917 to encourage the American people to support the war

3. Patriotic Organizationsa. Many American groups popped up that

discriminated against anything German (i.e.: books, language, music, sauerkraut, dachshunds, hamburgers)

b. Some groups promoted Americanization- this was to prepare foreign-born residents for full American citizenship- education

was the main goal.

V. U.S. opposition to War

1. The Quakers and the Mennonites were particularly opposed to the war because of the pacifism in religion- the refusal to use violence to settle disputes.

2. Some Americans considered anyone against the war effort to be traitors; they often encountered violence and abuse.

3.The Socialist Party in America opposed the war because they felt it was a struggle to control foreign markets.

VI. Silencing the opposition

1. Congress passed The Espionage Act and The Sedition Act- These outlawed acts of treason and made it a crime to “criticize the government”

2. Many Americans believed this went against 1st amendment rights3. Schenck vs. the United States- 1919 Supreme

Court Case that stated that in times of war some things presented “a clear and present danger” to the country

The End of World War I

I. The Great War finally ends

1. Late summer of 1918, the Allied powers had a major offensive on the Western Front

2. The Germans began to riot in the fall of 1918. The Chancellor asked for an armistice in October, and Kaiser Wilhelm stepped down from the throne Nov 9-

(Central Powers = defeat!)3. Bulgaria first to fall, followed by

the Ottoman Empire4. Revolution in Austria-Hungary-

split into separate nations5. Germany- Kaiser William II

abdicated; new German Republic- signed armistice

II. The Peace Treaty

1. 11:00 a.m. on Nov 11, 1918: the warring parties signed a cease-fire

(armistice)2. The nations met in Paris, France, at

the Palace of Versailles, for a peace conference in January of 1919.

III. Peace in Europe

A. The Big Four1. David Lloyd George (Britain)2. George Clemenceau (France)3. Woodrow Wilson (U.S)4. Vittorio Orlando (Italy)- left during

peace talks didn’t receive territorial claims)

B. Allied nations (except Russia) met in Paris (Jan. 1919)C. Believed each Central Power should have a separate peace treaty

IV. Versailles Treaty with Germany

The official signing: June 28, 19191. Required Germany to accept all blame (guilty of starting the

war)2. Germany must pay $33 billion

(cost of war $400 bil.)

3. Germany lost territory- returned Alsace-Lorraine to France, lost all colonies

4. Overall, the Treaty of Versailles dismantled the great empires of pre-WWI days.

5. Disarmed Germany

V. Wilson’s 14 Points:

the U.S. Peace Plan, which expressed the aims of the Allies and called for world peace

1. No secret treaties2. Freedom of the seas for all nations3. Removal of all economic barriers.4. Reduction of all national armaments (military supply)

A. The 14 Points’

General Plans:

5. Fair adjustments of all colonial claims

#’s 6-13 - points dealt w/ specific countries

14. Establishment of “a general association of nations” (League of Nations)

B. The 14th Point- League of Nations

1. It became part of the Versailles Treatya. Two main aims of the League:

1. promote international cooperation2. peacefully settle disputes and reduce armaments.

b. The League was to include all independent, sovereign nations

C. The U.S. did not join the League of Nations…

1. Wilson refused to compromise; treaty failed to pass the senate- the US did not

join 2. Many republican Senators were concerned that the League would drag the U.S. into world affairs 3. Overall, the US wanted to return to a policy of

isolationism

How might WWI have affected future international affairs?

The treaty of Versailles left Germany bitter and may have led to the future conflicts we

know are just around the bend!!!

The 6 Effects of WWI • US Entry into the war in 1917• Widespread death and

destruction in Europe• Treaty of Versailles• League of Nations• Break-up of German and

Austro-Hungarian Empires• Creation of several new nations

End of World War I and Woodrow Wilson’s Presidency

1918 - 1921

• When we last discussed Wilson, the Fourteen Points Plan was issued, the Versailles Peace treaty was in the process of ratification and Wilson headed back to the United States …

President Wilson's Voyage from France to the U.S., June-July 1919

Ratification of the Versailles TreatyI. Republican Controlled CongressRepublican Controlled Congress

a. Congress was angry at Wilson for traveling to Europe to help with the peace treaty

b. Wilson did not include Republicans in his peace delegation

c. Henry Cabot Henry Cabot Lodge (R)–Lodge (R)– selected as the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

d. Wilson and Cabot did not like each other!

Henry Cabot Lodge 1850-1924

American Defeat of the League of Nations

II. Irreconcilables

a. Group of Republican Group of Republican Senators (39) announced they Senators (39) announced they would not approve the League of would not approve the League of Nations in the existing form Nations in the existing form (major critics of Article X)

b. Irreconcilables wanted Wilson to compromise

c. Wilson returned to Europe to finalize the treaty- found problems waiting in Europe

d. July, 1919 – Lodge realized there was no hope of defeating the treaty – but wanted to “Americanize” the treaty

e. In 1919, while Woodrow Wilson and Congress battled over the Versailles Treaty the strong U.S. war economy came to a sudden stop…

f. Post WWI U.S. Economy

i. demobilization – transition from wartime to peacetime production levels

ii. 4.5 million soldiers returned to the U.S. forcing women and African-Americans out of work

iii. brief economic boom- Americans spent what they saved during the war

iv. recession of 1920-1921 – by 1921 5 million workers were unemployed

v. farm crisis – European war markets did not exist causing prices to fall dramatically

g. Wilson began a presidential tour in September of 1919 to gain support for the ratification of the treaty and the League of Nations

h. September 25, 1919 – Wilson gave a final speech pleading for the League of Nations, collapsed that evening

i. Wilson suffered a stroke which Wilson suffered a stroke which paralyzed one side of his bodyparalyzed one side of his body

j. Wilson did not meet with his cabinet for 7 ½ months

k. Lodge Reservationists came up with a plan to attach to the

treaty which would reserve the constitutional war declaring power to Congress

Why did the Treaty of Versailles Fail in the United States?

1.Lodge-Wilson feud

2.Traditionalism

3.Isolationism

4.Disillusionment

5.Partisanship between the Republicans and Democrat

6.Wilson