C H A P T E R 2 2 War & the American State 1914–1920

1. C H A P T E R 2 2War & the American State1914–1920 Section I: The Great War 1914-1918

2. The Great War, 1914-1918 Background • When war erupted • Most Americans saw no reason to involve themselves in the struggle among Europe’s imperialist powers • United States had a good relationship with both sides. • Many Americans believed in “U.S. exceptionalism,” • = the feeling that democratic values & institutions made their country immune from the corruption & chaos of other nations

3. War in Europe • Preparations for war began almost from the moment the Triple Entente was formed in 1907 to counter the Triple Alliance • Austria’s seizure of Bosnia & Herzegovina (1908) enraged Russia & Serbia • Serbian terrorists recruited Bosnians to agitate against Austrian rule • On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian, assassinated Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, & his wife in the town of Sarajevo

4. War in Europe • After the assassination, the complex European alliance system drew all the major powers into war within a few days • The two rival blocs faced off: • Great Britain, France, Japan, Russia, & Italy = Allied Powers • Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, & Bulgaria = Central Powers • The worldwide scope of the conflict came to be known as “the Great War,” or later, World War I.

5. War in Europe • World War I was the first war in which extensive harm was done to civilians • New military technology, much of it from the U.S., made armies more deadly than before • Trench warfare produced unprecedented numbers of casualties • Between February & December of 1916, the French suffered 550,000 casualties & the Germans 450,000

6. The Perils of Neutrality • After the war began in Europe • President Woodrow Wilson made it clear that U.S. would remain neutral • He believed that he could arbitrate & influence a European settlement • The U.S. had divided loyalties concerning the war • Many Americans felt deep cultural ties to the Allies • Irish & German immigrants had strong pro-German sentiments.

7. The Perils of Neutrality • Progressive leaders opposed American participation in the European conflict: • New pacifist groups mobilized popular opposition • The political left condemned the war as imperialistic • Some industrialists, like Henry Ford, bankrolled antiwar activities • African American leaders saw the war as a conflict of the white race only

8. Conflict on the High Seas • The British imposed a naval blockade that in effect prevented neutral nations, including the U.S., from trading with Germany & its Allies • This created a trade imbalance bringing the U.S. to closer economic ties with the Allies (despite America’s official posture of neutrality) • The German navy launched a devastating new weapon, the U-boat • Issued a warning to civilians that all ships flying the flags of Britain or its Allies were liable to be destroyed

9. The Perils of Neutrality • May 7, 1915: British ship Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland • 128 Americans were among the 1,198 people killed • September 1915: Germany announced that its submarines would no longer attack passenger ships without warning • Wilson worried that the U.S. might be drawn into the conflict • He endorsed a $1 billion buildup of the army & the navy • Congress passed the National Defense Act • Created the Council of National Defense=an agency responsible for planning industrial mobilization in the event of war

10. The Perils of Neutrality: Toward War • Public opposition to entering the war made the election of 1916 a contest between two anti-war candidates • Wilson won the election but lost his hopes of staying out of the war • Anti-German sentiment increases in the U.S….WHY? • The resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare • The Zimmermann telegram

11. The Perils of Neutrality • Throughout March 1917, German U-boats attacked & sank American ships without warning • On April 2, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war • United States formally declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917

12. “Over There”: Conscription • Many Americans assumed that their participation in the war would be limited to military & economic aid • Were surprised to find that American troops would be sent to Europe • American government conscripted almost 4 million men & women with the passage of the Selective Service Act in May 1917 • The Selective Service system • Combined central direction from Washington with local administration & civilian control • Preserved individual freedom & local autonomy

13. “Over There”: Conscription • General John J. Pershing = head of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) • New recruits had to be trained before being transported across the submarine-infested Atlantic. • The government countered the U-boats by sending armed convoys across the Atlantic • The plan worked: no American soldiers were killed on the way to Europe.

14. “Over There”: The Western Front • Pershing didn’t want to put his men under foreign commanders • Thus, until May 1918, the French & the British still bore the brunt of the fighting. • Under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • The new Bolshevik regime under Vladimir Ilych Lenin surrendered about 1/3 of Russia’s territories in return for peace with the Central Powers.

15. “Over There”: The Western Front • At the request of Allied leaders, Pershing committed about 60,000 Americans to help the French repel the Germans in the battles of Château-Thierry & Belleau Wood. • American & Allied forces brought the German offensive to a halt in mid-July; • The counteroffensive began with a campaign to push the Germans back from the Marne River.

16. “Over There”: The Western Front • The Meuse-Argonne campaign • Pushed the enemy back across the Selle River near Verdun • Broke the German defenses • Cost over 26,000 American lives. • German & Allied representatives signed an armistice on November 11, 1918, ending World War I.

17. “Over There”: The Western Front • America’s decisive contribution shifted international power: • European dominance declinedUnited States emerged as a world leader.

18. The American Fighting Force: Diversity and Racism in the Armed Forces • The United States lost 48,000 American servicemen in the fighting, & another 27,000 died from other causes • The Allies & Central Powers lost 8 million soldiers. • Ethnic diversity of the American military worried some observers • Most optimistically predicted that service in the armed forces would promote the Americanization of immigrants.

19. The American Fighting Force: Diversity and Racism in the Armed Forces • The Stanford-Binet intelligence test was used by the armed forces • Reinforced stereotypes about the supposed intellectual inferiority of blacks & immigrants • Lower scores stemmed from the cultural & environmental biases of the tests.

20. The American Fighting Force: Diversity and Racism in the Armed Forces • The Americanization of the army was imperfect at best • African Americans were in segregated units under the control of white officers & were assigned to the most menial tasks. • The French were more egalitarian, socializing with black troops & awarding hundreds of them the Croix de Guerre.

21. The American Fighting Force: Demobilization • A group of former AEF soldiers formed the first American Legion in 1919 • Purpose = to preserve the “memories & incidents” of their association in the Great War.

22. Over there, over there, Send the word, send the word over there, That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming! The drums rum-tumming everywhere. So prepare, say a prayer, Send the word, send the word to beware, We'll be over, we're comimg over, And we won't come back till it's over over there. Probably the most famous song of WW I. Cohan wrote this number after he had read in the newspaper that America had declared war on Germany. Cohan sold his rights to the song for $25,000. By the end of the war, "Over There" had sold over two million copies of sheet music and over a million records. Twenty-five years later Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented Cohan with the Congressional Medal of Honor "in belated recognition of his authorship of 'Over There' and 'You're a Grand Old Flag.'" "Over There" was interpolated in the motion pictures: The Cockeyed World (Fox, 1929), For Me and My Gal (MGM, 1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (Warner, 1942). and Tin Pan Alley (20th Century-Fox, 1943). “Over There”

23. Over There 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,Every son of liberty.Hurry right away,No delay, go today,Make your daddy gladTo have had such a lad.Tell your sweetheart not to pine,To be proud her boy's in line. (chorus sung twice) Johnnie, get your gun,Get your gun, get your gun,Johnnie show the HunWho's a son of a gun.Hoist the flag and let her fly,Yankee Doodle do or die.Pack your little kit,Show your grit, do your bit.Yankee to the ranks,From the towns and the tanks.Make your mother proud of you,And the old Red, White and Blue. (chorus sung twice)ChorusOver there, over there,Send the word, send the word over there -That the Yanks are coming,The Yanks are coming,The drums rum-tummingEv'rywhere.So prepare, say a pray'r,Send the word, send the word to beware.We'll be over, we're coming over,And we won't come back till it's overOver there. “Over There”

25. C H A P T E R 2 2War & the American State1914–1920 Section II: War on the Home Front

26. Mobilizing Industry & the Economy • Before the War • Paying for the War • Wartime Economic Regulation • The Food Administration and Volunteerism • The Legacy of Economic Mobilization

27. Mobilizing American Workers • Organized Labor • Black & Mexican American Workers • Women

28. Map 22.3 The Great Migration and Beyond (p. 650)

29. Wartime Opportunities (p. 651)

30. Wartime Reform: Woman Suffrage and Prohibition • NAWSA • NWP • Other Reform • War Risk Insurance Act (1917)

31. Promoting Nnational Unity • CPI

32. ChorusOver there, over there,Send the word, send the word over there -That the Yanks are coming,The Yanks are coming,The drums rum-tummingEv'rywhere.So prepare, say a pray'r,Send the word, send the word to beware.We'll be over, we're coming over,And we won't come back till it's overOver there.

33. America and the War Effort (p. 636)

34. Map 22.1 European Alliances in 1914 (p. 638)

35. Map 22.2 U.S Participation on the Western Front, 1918 (p. 644)

36. “Remember Your First Thrill of American Liberty” (p. 649)

37. Map 22.4 Prohibition on the Eve of the Eighteenth Amendment, 1919 (p. 654)

38. Map 22.5 Europe after World War I (p. 659)

39. C H A P T E R 2 2War & the American State1914–1920 Section III: An Unsettled Peace, 1919-1920

40. An Unsettled Peace: The Treaty of Versailles • Where in the world is Woodrow Wilson? • The Treaty of Versailles • League of Nations • Negotiating the Treaty • Fourteen Points • Article X • “the war to end all wars.”

41. An Unsettled Peace: The Treaty of Versailles • Who attended the Paris Peace Conference? • Big Four • It’s all Germany’s Fault!!!! • Reparations • Wilson’s successes

42. An Unsettled Peace: The Battle for Ratification • June 28, 1919 • The US Senate • Defeat • September 1919 • Lasting legacy of the war

43. Racial Strife, Labor Unrest, and the Red Scare • The World War has accentuated all our differences. It has not created those differences, but has revealed and emphasized them • African Americans • Race Riots • Chicago • Why so much unrest?

44. Racial Strife, Labor Unrest, and the Red Scare • 1919—A Year of Strikes • Steelworkers in Seattle • Policemen in Boston • Red Scare and the Palmer Raids • Comintern • How real was a communist threat?

45. Racial Strife, Labor Unrest, and the Red Scare • The Bombings • The Raids • The Deportations • The Presidency? • The Downfall

46. Racial Strife, Labor Unrest, and the Red Scare • Sacco-Vanzetti Case • Vanzetti’s last words. If it had not been for these thing, I might have lived out my life among scorning men. I might have die, unmarked, unknown, a failure…Never in our full life can we hope to do such work for tolerance, for justice, for man’s understanding of man, as now we do by accident.

47. To sum up…. • With few casualties & no physical destruction at home, America emerged from the war stronger than ever—a major international power with exceptional industrial productivity.