World War I

1. World War I Review

2. Basic Information • War lasted from 1914-1918 and involved all the world’s major powers • Two opposing alliances: The Allies (also known as the Triple Entente) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria). • Though the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Austria is the trigger, the causes include frustrations by imperialistic actions of Europe combined with Alliances that had been made between major powers.

3. Basic Information • Total casualties from all causes and all countries was about 37 million people. • Industrialization had brought new and deadly weapons to the war but no new tactics. • U.S. military deaths totalled 116,000 people. • Wilson wanted a seat at the negotiation to end the war, especially in order to promote his League of Nations. • The Treaty of Versailles dealt harshly with the Germans, leaving them angry and most historians believe laid the groundwork for WWII.

4. William Howard Taft • President between Roosevelt and Wilson • Roosevelt’s hand-picked successor but did not promote Progressivism as much as Roosevelt wanted • Promoted commercial/business interests in Asia and Latin America referred to as “Dollar Diplomacy”

5. Woodrow Wilson • Tried to keep the U.S. out of the war • Declared neutrality when the war broke out • Campaigned for re-election in 1916 on “He kept us out of war” motto, which was the main issue in that campaign • Showed contempt for pacifists and anyone else who opposed the war • Had a stroke September 25, 1919, in the middle of the fight to ratify the Treaty of Versailles

6. Lusitania • Sunk by a German U-Boat (submarine) • Angered U.S. because it was not a warship and its casualties included U.S. citizens • In response to its sinking the U.S. demanded that German stop unrestricted submarine warfare • Wilson’s Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, quit after Wilson’s response because he thought the demand would embroil the U.S in the war.

7. Attitudes aboutthe War • Several well-known people opposed the war, including Henry Ford, Jane Addams, Randolph Bourne and Eugene Debs. • Most intellectual and cultural leaders saw the war as a struggle to defend culture as well as a way to promote a bigger government that could later solve social problems

8. Preparation: War and Soldiers • The Preparedness Movement advocated building up stores of weapons and equipment and military training for all young men. • When the U.S. entered, the army had little combat experience and aging officers • The soldiers sent into the war were called the American Expeditionary Force and were sent to Russia after the war to help overthrow Lenin

9. German Strategies • Germans increased submarine warfare in order to win the war before Americans entered it • German submarines sunk merchant boats in addition to military ones • Germans financed spying in U.S. war factories • Germany tried to get Mexico in the war against the U.S. (Zimmerman telegram)

10. Government Organizations • 5000 new agencies were created to oversee the needs of the war • The War Industries Board helped competing industries work together for the war effort • Herbert Hoover the Food Administration, using both propaganda and volunteers to make sure the country had the food it needed • The country nationalized the railroads

11. Government Organizations • The Creel Committee on Public Information used media methods to spread the U.S. government’s official version of the war

12. Minorities during WWI • Black soldiers served in the military in segregated units • Blacks migrated to northern cities to take advantage of the new factory jobs available • German-Americans were harassed and accused of being anti-American. • Hundreds of thousands of women entered the workforce and developed career skills for the future

13. Temperance Movement • During the war the temperance movement continued at home with a new emphasis • They argued it was unpatriotic to use grain for whiskey when it was needed for food • They pointed out that the breweries in the U.S. all had German connections & names • They promoted temperance as patriotic and alcohol use as a German plot to undermine American morals and ability to fight.

14. Labor Unions • Union membership nearly doubled during the war • After the war there was a rash of strikes as the country’s economy contracted

15. Court Cases • Schenck v. U.S. upheld convictions under the Espionage Act saying free speech could be limited when it was a “clear and present danger” (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

16. Treaty of Versailles • Woodrow Wilson drew up “Fourteen Points” to use as the negotiation framework • Among the points were: Creation of the League of Nations, freedom of the seas, recognition of Allied territorial agreements made during the war, and open diplomacy • Democratic losses in the November elections before the peace conference made Wilson’s position weaker

17. Treaty of Versailles • Wilson’s Fourteen Points were not popular within Congress because Republican ideas were not included • Wilson led the delegation himself which also weakened his position • Once negotiated, the treaty had to be ratified by the nations involved, and that became a problem for Wilson

18. Treaty of Versailles • Henry Cabot Lodge, Republican Senator, supported the 14 points with some modifications, especially in regard to the League of Nations • More conservative Republicans felt that the treaty limited the U.S. sovereignty to act as it saw fit. • Wilson refused any modifications, and the U.S. never ratified the Treaty of Versailles, making a separate peace with Germany and Austria

19. America after the war • The harassment of radicals and Socialists continued • Racial strife heated up as soldiers returned to a country that looked different from before • Labor strikes became more frequent as union sought raises they had put off during the war • Americans were drained and desired “normalcy”

20. Other issues of the decade • Four new amendments: Federal income tax (16), direction election of senators (17), prohibition (18), and woman suffrage(19)