The War to The War to End WarEnd War

1917 - 1918

War by Act of Germany

Jan 22, 1917 – futile attempt to mediate between the embattles belligerents– “peace without victory”

Jan 31, 1917 – Germany announced unlimited submarine warfare– sink all ships, including America’s, in the war zone

Wilson Responds Wilson broke diplomatic relations

– War only if Germans took overt acts against American lives or property

Wilson asked Congress for the authority to arm merchant ships– Filibuster to block measure – Reminder of the strength

of American isolationism

Zimmermann Note March 1, 1917 – note was intercepted &

published– German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann secretly

proposed a German-Mexican Alliance– Promised recovery of Texas, New Mexico, & Arizona – Infuriated Americans, especially westerners

Zimmermann Telegram

Zimmermann Telegram

Wilson Moves Toward War March 1917 - German U-boats sank 4 unarmed

American merchant vessels Russian Revolution had overthrown the tsar

– America could now fight for democracy

April 2, 1917 – Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany

Wilsonian Idealism Enthroned

6 senators & 50 representatives voted against war– Jeannette Rankin – first congresswoman (Montana)

Wilson goals for war:– “a war to end war”– Crusade “to make the world

safe for democracy”

Wilson’s Fourteen Points Jan 8, 1918 – Wilson delivered his 14 points to

Congress 1st Five Points:

1. Abolish secret treaties 2. Freedom of the seas3. Removal of all economic barriers4. Reduction of armament burdens5. Adjustment of colonial claims in the interest of both

native peoples & the colonizers 14th Point – League of Nations

International organization that would provide collective security

Creel Manipulates Minds Committee on Public Information

– headed by George Creel – Purpose: sell America on the war &

sell the world on Wilsonian war aims– Employed 150,000 workers

• Sent 75,000 “four-minute men” delivered countless speeches

Varies forms:– Posters, leaflets, pamphlets,

propaganda booklets, movies, & songs

Propaganda

Enforcing Loyalty & Stifling Dissent

German-Americans numbered over 8 million– Dependable loyalty to the US

Hatred of Germans & things Germanic swept the nation – Too bad for you Sauerkraut! I prefer liberty cabbage!

Controlling Public Opinion – 1917 Espionage Act – stiff penalties for spying– 1918 Sabotage Act & Sedition Act – made it a crime

to say, print, or write almost anything perceived as negative about the government

1,900 prosecutions under the laws– Mostly antiwar Socialists & members of the radical

union Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

Eugene V. Debs sentenced to 10 years under the Espionage Act in 1918 (Socialists)– Later pardoned by President Harding in 1921– William (Big Bill) Haywood (head of IWW) & 99

associations were also convicted

Debs in Prison (Read Aloud)

following quote from President Wilson regarding Eugene V. Deb’s release from prison.

“I will never consent to the pardon of this man. While the flower of American youth was pouring out its blood…this man, Debs, stood behind the lines, sniping, attacking, and denouncing them. Before the war he had the perfect right to exercise his freedom of speech and to express his own opinion, but once the Congress of the United States declared war, silence on his part would have been the proper course to pursue… This man was a traitor to his country and he will never be pardoned during my administration.”

Factories Go to War Wilson had done little to prepare for the

possibility of war– 1915 – Council of National Defense – study problems

of economic mobilization – Shipbuilding programs– Modest beefing-up of the army – 100,000 regulars

1918 – War Industries Board– Bernard Baruch – “Labor will win the war”

The War & Workers 1918 – War Department’s “work or fight” rule

– Threatened any unemployed male with being immediately drafted

National War Labor Board – chaired by Taft– Head off labor disputes that might hamper the war

effort • Helped workers receive higher wages & 8 hour days• Did not guarantee the right to organize into unions

Samuel Gompers & AF of L – supported the war IWW (Wobblies) & other radical labor

organizations– Engineered damaging industrial sabotage

Strikes & The Strikebreakers 6000 strikes broke out during the war years 1919 – Steelworkers Strike

– More than a quarter of a million workers walked off– Wanted right to organize & bargain collectively – did

not get that right – Company refused to negotiate

• Hired 30,000 African American strikebreakers

– More than a dozen workers dead– Crippling setback for the union movement

Great Migration African Americans moved North for war-

industry employment Racial tensions resulted:

– July 1917 – East St. Louis, MI• 9 whites & 40 blacks dead

– July 1919 - Chicago Race Riot• Reign of terror lasted 2 weeks / 15 whites & 23 blacks dead

Women & the War Thousands of female workers

worked in factories & fields– took jobs vacated by men who went to war

President Wilson – convinced to endorse woman suffrage as a “vitally necessary war measure”– 19th Amendment – women receive the right to vote 1920

Women’s Bureau emerged after the war– Protect women in the workplace

Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921 – Provided federally financed instruction in maternal &

infant health care

Women’s Suffrage

Forging a War Economy

Food Administration – Headed by Hebert C. Hoover – already considered a

hero because of the charitable drive to Belgium – Preferred voluntary compliance – Rejected ration cards– Propaganda campaign

• Wheatless Wednesdays

• Meatless Tuesdays

• Victory Gardens

1919 – 18th Amendment – prohibited alcohol – Many brewers were German & used foodstuffs

Voluntary Approach

Fuel Administration – save fuel– Heatless Mondays– Lightless Nights – Gasless Sundays

Treasury Department – Promoted sale of Liberty Loans– Victory loan campaign - 1919– Taxes were eventually raised

Forceful Approach 1917 – Gov’t took over the nation’s railroads Gov’t seized merchant vessels in American

harbors– Started campaign to build more ships// a few ships

vessels were launched – Faith

Making Plowboys into Doughboys

Early American involvement– Used navy to uphold freedom of the seas– Shipped war materials to the Allies & supplied them

with loans

April & May 1917 – Allies confessed the need for American troops– More troops or the whole western

front would collapse

The Draft Wilson disliked draft but eventually supported

conscription – Draft bill was criticized by Congress – Passed 6 weeks after US had declared war

Required registration of all males 18 – 45– No one could purchase an exemption or hire a

substitute – Worked effectively – Army grew to 4 million

Women & African Americans– Women admitted to navy & marines– African Americans – segregated units usually under

white officers

Fighting in France Bolsheviks withdrew Russia from

war early in 1918– Released Germans from the eastern front in

Russia & moved them to western front in France

Spring of 1918 before the US reached France to fight– Mainly used as replacements with the British &

French

Small detachments were also sent to Belgium, Italy, & Russia

Spring of 1918 Allied nations united under French

Marshal Foch in order to fight the Germans May 1918 – Germans came within 40 miles of

Paris US troops sent to Château-Thierry; right into the

German advance– 1st significant engagement of

American troops in European war

July 1918 – Second Battle of the Marne– Beginning of the German withdrawal

War Continues Americans were demanding a separate army

– General (Black Jack) Pershing was assigned a front

Last mighty Allied assault– Sept 26 – Nov 11, 1918 - Pershing’s army undertook

the Meuse-Argonne offensive • Goal was to cut the German railroad lines

• Lasted 47 days & included 1.2 million American troops

– Germans were ready to surrender

Fourteen Points Disarm Germany October 1918 – Wilson demanded that the Kaiser

be overthrown before an armistice could be reached – Kaiser was forced to flee to Holland

Germany surrendered Nov. 11, 1918 US’s main contributions:

– Foodstuffs, munitions, credits, oil, & manpower

Woodrow Wilson Very popular Personally appealed for a Democratic victory in

the congressional elections of 1918– Republicans won a majority to Congress

Decided to go to Paris for the peace conference– Infuriated Republicans

Peace Treaty - snubbed the Senate & neglected to include a single Republican– Should have included Henry Cabot Lodge – chairman

of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Idealists Battles the Imperialists The Big Four:

– Woodrow Wilson – US– Vittorio Orlando – Italy– David Lloyd George – Britain– Georges Clemenceau – France

Wilson’s goal- League of Nations– Victors would not take conquered territory outright – Receive territory as trustees of the League of Nations

• Syria – France /// Iraq – Britain

Feb. 1919 – League was included in peace treaty

Hammering Out the Treaty

League of Nations was not popular in US– William Borah & Hiram Johnson

Republican senators refused to approve the League in its imperfect form

France– Demand: the Rhineland & the Saar Valley– Compromise: Saar Bain would remain under the

League for 15 years & then a popular vote & Britain and US would aid in defense from German invasion

Italy– Demand: Fiume but Wilson insisted

that the seaport go to Yugoslavia – Turned against Wilson

Japan– Demand: China’s Shantung peninsula & German

islands in the Pacific– Compromise: Japan kept Shantung & pledged to

return it to China at a later date

Treaty of Versailles June 1919 – Germans were forced to sign

– Take full responsibility for the war– Disarmament– Pay 33 billion in reparations– Give up colonial holdings

Wilson was forced to compromise in order to save the League of Nations– Liberation of millions of minority peoples

Wilson was no longer popular in Europe US did not support any part of “entangling

alliances”

Wilson’s Tour Majority of Americans did support the treaty July 1919 – Lodge wanted to “Americanize,”

“Republicanize,” or “senatorialize” it – Republicans wanted to take credit

Summer 1919 - Wilson began speechmaking tour– Appeal directly to the people for their support – Midwest received Wilson lukewarmly – Rocky Mountain region & Pacific Coast – welcomed

Wilson– Borah & Johnson spoke out against Wilson

Wilson’s Collapse Breaking Point:

– September 25, 1919 – Wilson pleaded for the League of Nations in Colorado

– Collapsed & later had a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body

– Did not meet with his cabinet for 7½ months

Wilson Rejects the Lodge Reservations

Senator Lodge proposed 14 formal reservations to the 14th Points– Rejected by Wilson with the strong support of the

Democrats – Republicans disliked it because it morally bound the

US to aid members – Article X

Wilson sent word to all Democrats to vote no Nov 19, 1919 – treaty was rejected

Defeat Through Deadlock Majority of Congress could not agree March 1920 – Treaty was brought up

for a vote again– Wilson sent word to the Democrats to vote down the

treaty with the Lodge reservations– March 19, 1920 – treaty was rejected again

Who defeated the treaty?– Lodge-Wilson personal feud, traditionalism,

isolationism, disillusionment, & partisanship– -Ultimately it was Wilson who defeated the treaty due to

his inability to compromise!~

Election of 1920 Wilson proposed to settle the treaty in the election

– Appealed to the people for a “solemn referendum”

Republicans – Platform appealed to the Pro-League & Anti-Leaguers – Warren G. Harding – presidential candidate

• Selected by Senate bosses meeting in the “smoke-filled” Room 404 of the Hotel Blackstone

– Calvin Coolidge – vice presidential candidate

Democrats– James M. Cox

& Franklin Roosevelt

Election Results

Harding wins – First Presidential election for franchised female voters– Death sentence for the League

Eugene V. Debs – received the largest vote ever for the Socialist Party– While he was in prison