Chapter 30 The War to End War

1. Chapter 30The War to End War 1917-1918

2. Breaking the Pledge • On January 31, 1917 Germany announced its decision to wage unrestricted submarine warfare on all ships, including American ships, in the war zone.

3. War by Act of Germany • German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann secretly proposed a German-Mexican alliance with the Zimmermannnote.  • News of the Zimmermann note leaked out to the public, infuriating Americans. 

4. On April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked for a declaration of war from Congress after 4 more unarmed merchant ships had been sunk.

5. 3 Mains Causes of War:  • Zimmermann Note, • Germany declares unrestricted submarine warfare, • Bolshevik Revolution.

6. Wilsonian Idealism Enthroned • President Wilson persuaded the public for war by declaring his twin goals of "a war to end war" and a crusade "to make the world safe for democracy."  He argued that America only fought to shape an international order in which democracy could flourish without fear of dictators and militarists. • Wilson was able to get war to appeal to the American public.

7. Wilson's Fourteen Potent Points • Wilson delivered his Fourteen Points Address to Congress on January 8, 1918.  • The message, though intensely idealistic in tone and primarily a peace program, had certain very practical uses as an instrument for propaganda. “The world must be made safe for democracy.”

8. It was intended to reach the people and the liberal leaders of the Central Powers as a seductive appeal for peace, in which purpose it was successful.   • It was hoped that the points would provide a framework for peace discussions.

9. The message immediately gave Wilson the position of moral leadership of the Allies and furnished him with a tremendous diplomatic weapon as long as the war persisted.

10. The first 5 points andtheir effects were:  1.     A proposal to abolish secret treaties pleased liberals of all countries. 2.     Freedom of the seas appealed to the Germans, as well as to Americans who distrusted British sea power. 3.     A removal of economic barriers among nations was comforting to Germany, which feared postwar vengeance. 4.     Reduction of armament burdens was gratifying to taxpayers. 5.     An adjustment of colonial claims in the interests of both native people and the colonizers was reassuring to the anti-imperialists.

11. Point Fourteen • The largest achievement, Point Fourteen, foreshadowed the League of Nations - an international organization that Wilson dreamed would provide a system of collective security.

12. Creel Manipulates Minds • The Committee on Public Information was created to rally public support of war.  • It was headed by George Creel.  • His job was to sell America on the war and sell the world on Wilsonian war aims.

14. An American Crusade • The Creel organization employed thousands of workers around the world to spread war propaganda.  • The entire nation was as a result swept into war fever.

15. Johnnie, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun, Take it on the run, on the run, on the run, Hear them calling you and me, ev'ry son of liberty Hurry right away, no delay, go today Make your Daddy glad to have had such a lad, Tell your sweetheart not to pine, to be proud her boy's in line George M. Cohan’s “Over There”

16. Enforcing Loyalty and Stifling Dissent • There were over 8 million German-Americans; rumors began to spread of spying and sabotage.  • As a result, a few German-Americans were tarred, feathered, and beaten.  A hysterical hatred of Germans and things related to Germany swept the nation.

18. The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 •  Reflected fears about Germans and antiwar Americans.  • Socialist Eugene V. Debs and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) leader William D. Haywood were convicted under the Espionage Act. • At this time, nearly any criticism of the government could be censored and punished. 

19. “A Clear and Present Danger” • The Supreme Court upheld these laws in Schenck v. United States (1919); it argued that freedom of speech could be revoked when such speech posed a danger to the nation.

20. The Nation's Factories Go to War • President Wilson created a Civilian Council of National Defense to study problems of economic mobilization; increased the size of the army; and created a shipbuilding program. • No one knew how much steel or explosive powder the country was capable of producing. 

21. Fears of big government restricted efforts to coordinate the economy from Washington.  • States' rights Democrats and businesspeople hated federal economic controls.

22. Laissez-Faire as usual • In 1918, Wilson appointed Bernard Baruch to head the WarIndustriesBoard in order to impose some order on the economic confusion. • The Board never really had much control and was disbanded after the end of the war.

23. Workers in Wartime • Workers were discouraged from striking by the War Department's decree in 1918 that threatened any unemployed male with drafting. • The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) were victims of some of the worst working conditions in the country. 

24. Labor disputes led to 6000 strikes - many were violent. • The IWW sought to expand into the east and there violent strikes often led to arrests and deportation.

25. Labor leader Samuel Gompers and the AFL backed the war effort.

26. At the end of the war, the AF of L's (American Federation of Labor) membership had more than doubled. 

27. While wages doubled during the war, prices also doubled. • Wartime inflation threatened to eliminate wage gains and thousands of strikes resulted.

28. The Steel Strike • In 1919, the greatest strike in American history hit the steelindustry.  • More than 250,000 steelworkers walked off their jobs in an attempt to force their employers to recognize their right to organize and bargain collectively. 

29. The steel companies resisted and refused to negotiate with union representatives. 

30. The companies brought in 30,000 African-Americans to keep the mills running.  • After several deadly confrontations, the strike collapsed, marking a grave setback that crippled the union movement for over 10 years.

31. Thousands of blacks were drawn to the North in wartime by the allure of war-industry employment. 

32. The blacks served as meatpackers and strikebreakers.  • Deadly disputes between whites and blacks consequently erupted.

33. Suffering Until Suffrage • The National Woman's party, led by Alice Paul, protested the war.

34. The larger part of the suffrage movement, represented by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, supported Wilson's war.

35. Women were encouraged to work in factories and farms.

36. War mobilization gave momentum to the suffrage movement.  • Impressed by women's war work, President Wilson supported women suffrage. 

37. In 1920, The 19th Amendment was passed, giving all American women the right to vote.

38. Congress passed the Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921, providing federally financed instruction in maternal and infant health care. • In the postwar decade, feminists continued to campaign for laws to protect women in the workplace and prohibit child labor.

39. Forging a War Economy • Herbert C. Hoover led the Food Administration.  • Hoover rejected issuing ration cards and, to save food for export, he proclaimed Wheatless Wednesdays and meatless Tuesdays, all on a voluntary basis.

40. Propaganda encouraged rationing and “victory gardens.”

41. Congress restricted the use of foodstuffs for manufacturing alcoholic beverages, helping to accelerate the wave of prohibition that was sweeping the country. 

42. In 1919, the 18th Amendment was passed, prohibiting all alcoholic drinks.

43. The money-saving tactics of Hoover and other agencies such as the Fuel Administration and Treasury Department yielded about $21 billion towards the war fund. 

44. The Treasury Department issued Liberty Bonds - raising the majority of the money needed for war.

45. America’s Fighting Force • Most Americans did not believe a major force would be needed -the Navy would be enough.

46. Making Plowboys into Doughboys • Although President Wilson opposed a draft, he eventually realized that a draft was necessary to quickly raise the large army that was to be sent to France.  • Through much tribulation, Congress passed the draft act in 1917. 

47. It required the registration of all males between the ages of 18 and 45, and did not allow for a man to purchase his exemption from the draft.

48. For the first time, women were allowed in the armed forces.

49. Fighting in France-Belatedly • In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution in communist Russia toppled the tsar regime.  • Russia pulled out of the "capitalist" war, freeing up thousands of Germans on the Russian front to fight the western front in France.  • Russia pulling out allowed the U.S. to fight solidly for Democracy in the war.

50. The Dough Boys • A year after Congress declared war, the first American troops reached France.  • They were used as replacements in the Allied armies and were generally deployed in quiet sectors with the British and French.