WORLD WAR I“The War to End War”

1917 - 1918

Nationalism

AlliancesImperialism

Militarism

LONG-TERM CAUSES

OF THE WORLD WAR I

Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy

President Wilson opposed imperialism; believed democracy was necessary to keep the nation prosperous.

He said he wanted a world free from revolution and war.

But.......

Woodrow Wilson

• 1911 - Revolution broke out in Mexico.

• Wilson refused to recognize the new government.

• 1914 - Wilson sent U.S. Marines to seize the Mexican port of Veracruz and overthrow Huerta, the new leader.

• Anti-American riots broke out in Mexico.

• Pancho Villa led a guerrilla attack into New Mexico, and a number of Americans were killed.

Pancho Villa

• Wilson sent General John J. Pershing and his troops into Mexico to capture Villa; they were unsuccessful.

• Wilson’s Mexican policy damaged U.S. foreign relations. Gen. John J. “Black

Jack” Pershing

The Outbreak of World War I

• By 1871 German states were united.

• The new Germany changed European politics; France and Germany were enemies.

• Germany formed the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Italy.

• In the early 1900s, as a result of imperialism, Great Britain began an arms race with Germany.

• Britain entered into an alliance with France and Russia.

• The three countries became known as the Triple Entente.

Britain Russia

France

• Nationalism, intense pride for one’s homeland, was BIG in Europe in the late 1800s.

• The right to self-determination (idea that people should have their own country and government) was a basic idea of nationalism.

• Led to Balkans crisis; different national groups in the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires began to seek independence.

• June 1914 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to Austro-Hungarian throne) was killed by a Bosnian revolutionary.

• This act set off a chain of events that led to World War I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie -- just minutes before they were assassinated.

• The Allies – France, Russia, Great Britain, and later Italy – fought for the Triple Entente.

• Germany and Austria-Hungary joined the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria to form the Central Powers.

• Germany and France became locked in a stalemate along hundreds of miles of trenches.

• The stalemate lasted three years.

Trench Warfare

Trench Foot

Rats

in the

Trenches

American Neutrality

• Wilson declared the United States to be neutral.

• Americans, however, began showing support for one side or the other. Many immigrants supported their homelands.

• Most Americans favored the Allied cause.

• Many American banks gave loans to the Allies.

• As a result, American prosperity was tied to the war.

• The money would be paid back only if the Allies won.

• American businesses had close ties to the Allied countries.

Propaganda was an important tool in building up the

American public’s support of the Allied

Powers.

British propaganda aimed at the USA.

Caption:

"It should be America's duty

to help us subdue the mad dog of

Europe."

Moving Toward War

While most Americans supported the Allies, they did not want to enter the war.

• The British navy blockaded Germany to keep it from getting supplies.

• To get around the blockade, Germany deployed submarines known as U-boats.

• Germany threatened to sink any ship that entered the waters around Britain.

• Attacking civilians ships without warning violated international law; U.S. was outraged!

• The Lusitania, British passenger liner, was hit by the Germans, killing almost 1,200 passengers – including 128 Americans.

• U.S. warned Germany to stop U-boat strikes!

• Germany did not want the U.S. to join the war and strengthen the Allies, so it agreed to stop.

• Sussex Pledge - promise made by Germany to stop sinking merchant ships; kept the United States out of the war for a bit longer.

German Imperial Army flag

• German official, Arthur Zimmermann, cabled the German ambassador in Mexico; offered Mexico an alliance with Germany and territory Mexico had previously lost to the U.S.

• Zimmermann telegram was intercepted by British intelligence and leaked to US newspapers.

• Americans were furious!!!

Arthur Zimmermann

• February 1917 - Germany went back to using unrestricted submarine warfare; soon after, sank six American merchant ships.

• On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war against Germany.

President Woodrow Wilson

asking Congress for a Declaration of War

Building Up the Military

• More U.S. soldiers needed!

• Many progressives thought conscription (forced military service) violated democratic principles.

• A new system of conscription, called selective service, resulted in about 2.8 million Americans being drafted.

• The navy enlisted some 11,000 women; jobs included clerks, radio operators, electricians, pharmacists, photographers, chemists, and torpedo assemblers.

• The army, choosing not to enlist women, hired them as temporary employees to fill clerical positions.

Organizing Industry

• President Wilson and Congress wanted to establish a cooperative relationship between big business and government to ensure efficient use of resources during the war.

• The Food Administration, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, was responsible for increasing food production while reducing consumption.

• Hoover asked people to plant victory gardens to raise their own vegetables in order to leave more food for the troops.

• The Fuel Administration encouraged people to conserve coal and oil.

• Daylight savings time was introduced to conserve energy.

• To raise money to pay for the war, the government began selling Liberty Bonds and Victory Bonds.

• By buying bonds, Americans were loaning the government money that would be repaid with interest in a specified number of years.

Mobilizing the Workforce

• To prevent strikes, the government established the National War Labor Board (NWLB) in 1918.

• In exchange for wage increases, an 8-hour workday, and the right to organize unions and bargain collectively, labor leaders agreed not to strike during the war.

Ensuring Public Support

• Espionage, or spying to acquire secret government information, was addressed in the Espionage Act of 1917.

• It set up consequences for people who aided the enemy.

• The Sedition Act of 1918 made it illegal to criticize the president or the government.

• Suspicions of disloyalty led to mistreatment of German Americans. Anti-German feelings sometimes led to violence. • Radical labor activists, socialists, pacifists, and

anyone appearing disloyal also came under attack.

• In the case of Schenck v. United States (1919), the Supreme Court ruling limited an individual’s freedom of speech if the words spoken constituted a “clear and present danger.”

Combat in World War I

• By 1917 World War I had claimed millions of European lives.

• Americans believed their troops could bring the war to a quick end.

• Soldiers dug trenches as protection from modern weapons.

• “No man’s land” was the space between the opposing trenches.

• To break through enemy lines, new technologies were created.

• Poison gas, first used by the Germans; caused vomiting, blindness, and suffocation.

• Tanks did not work well.

• Airplanes dropped small bombs on the enemy and engaged in air battles ("dogfights").

The Americans and Victory

• “Doughboys” - nickname for American soldiers.

• Entry of American soldiers boosted the morale of Allied forces.

• Convoys - merchant ships and troop transports were gathered into groups and brought across the Atlantic by warships.

• Result: reduced shipping losses; ensured that American troops would get to Europe safely.

• Although Russians supported the war effort, their government was not equipped to handle the major problems of the nation.

• In 1917 Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party, overthrew the czar’s government and replaced it with Communism.

Lenin

• Lenin pulled Russia out of the war.

• Signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany.

• This closed the Eastern Front for Germany.

Territories surrendered by Soviet Russia due to Brest-

Litovsk Treaty

• September 1918 - General Pershing put together the most massive attack in American history; devastated German troops.

• On November 11, 1918, Germany finally signed an armistice, or cease-fire, that ended the war.

A Flawed Peace

• January 1919 - Allied nations met to resolve issues caused by WWI.

• Wilson’s plan - called the Fourteen Points.

• Tried to eliminate general causes of the war:

1. Free trade (Imperialism)

2. Disarmament (Militarism)

3. Open diplomacy (Secret Alliances)

4. Self-determination (Nationalism)

XXXX

• Fourteenth point, known as the League of Nations, called for member nations to help preserve peace and prevent future wars.

THE FOURTEEN POINTS Woodrow Wilson – 1/18/1918

1. Open alliances 6-13. Specific provisions for:

2. Freedom of the seas Russia, Belgium, France

3. Open trade Italy, Austria-Hungary

4. Disarmament Balkan Nations, Turkey

5. Self-determination

for nations

14. League of Nations

“The Big Four” Lloyd George (Great

Britain); Orlando (Italy); Clemenceau (France); Wilson

(US)

Peace Conference at Versailles

• The other Allied governments felt that Wilson’s plan was too lenient toward Germany.

• Treaty of Versailles - weakened Wilson’s proposal. Stripped Germany of its armed forces and made it pay reparations (war damages) to Allies.

• Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations were opposed by many U.S. lawmakers.

• The Senate refused to ratify the treaty.

• Instead, the United States negotiated separate peace treaties with each of the Central Powers.

M/C 3-3a

An Economy In Turmoil

• Rapid inflation resulted when government agencies removed their controls from the American economy. Inflation increased the cost of living.

• Workers needed higher wages to keep up with the cost of living, but companies wanted to lower wages due to an increase in operating costs.

• The number of members in unions increased greatly during the war.

• Unions were better organized than before.

• Business leaders wanted to break the power of unions.

• Result: Lots of strikes!

• Led to fear among U.S. public.

• General strikes – strikes that involve all workers living in a certain location; worried Americans because they were commonly used in Europe by Communists and other radicals.

• The Seattle general strike involved more than 60,000 people and brought the city to a halt for five days.

• 1919 - 75 percent of the police force of Boston went on strike.

• Governor of Massachusetts, Calvin Coolidge, called in the National Guard to stop looting.

• When police tried to return to work, Coolidge fired them; a new police force was hired to replace the striking policemen.

Racial Unrest

• 1919 - race riots in many Northern cities.

• Cause: return of thousands of American soldiers who needed to find jobs.

• African Americans, who had moved north to work, were now competing for the same jobs as the returning soldiers.

• The worst violence occurred in Chicago where whites and African Americans entered each others’ neighborhoods and attacked one another.

• The violence lasted almost two weeks.

Fear of Communism

• After World War I, Americans associated communism with disloyalty and unpatriotic behavior.

• The numerous strikes in the U.S. in 1919 made Americans fear that Communists, or “reds,” might take control.

• This led to a nationwide panic known as the Red Scare.

• Numerous mail bombs

• One bomb damaged home of U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.

• Most people felt it was Communists trying to destroy the American way of life.

US Attorney General

A. Mitchell Palmer

Chapter Assessment 1

Reviewing Key TermsDefine Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left.

__ 1. German submarine, term means Unterseeboot (undersea boat)

__ 2. payment by the losing country in a war to the winner for the damages caused by the war

__ 3. goods whose importation, exportation, or possession is illegal

__ 4. the spreading of ideas about an institution or individual for the purpose of influencing opinion

__ 5. requiring people enter military service

A. guerrilla

B. propaganda

C. contraband

D. U-boat

E. conscription

F. victory garden

G. espionage

H. armistice

I. reparations

J. deport

I

C

D

B

E

Chapter Assessment 2

Reviewing Key Terms (cont.)

Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left.

__ 6. gardens planted by American citizens during war to raise vegetables for home use, leaving more for the troops

__ 7. to expel individuals from the country

__ 8. spying, especially to gain government secrets

__ 9. a temporary agreement to end fighting

__ 10. armed band that carries out surprise attacks and sabotage rather than open warfare

J

G

F

H

A

A. guerrilla

B. propaganda

C. contraband

D. U-boat

E. conscription

F. victory garden

G. espionage

H. armistice

I. reparations

J. deport