Chapter 23: World War I · flicts grew as European nations pursued dreams of ... 656 Chapter 23...

Chapter Themes■ Section 1, Science and Technology■ Section 2, Government and

Democracy■ Section 3, Geography and History■ Section 4, Economic Factors■ Section 5, Global Connections

Why It’s ImportantWorld War I changed the world. The people of the time

called the conflict the Great War, and they believed that neveragain would there be another like it. Although the UnitedStates tried to remain neutral, it was drawn into the conflict.The war had a profound effect on the nation, touching on allaspects of life. When the fighting was over, the United Statesemerged as one of the greatest powers in the world.

World War I

Chapter 23Chapter 23

On the Job for Victory During World War I, artists created colorfulposters to encourage public support for the war effort.

HISTORYAND ART

1914–1919

654

See pages 980–981 for primary source readings to accompany Chapter 23

PRIMARY SOURCESPRIMARY SOURCES

LibraryLibrary

Chapter 23 World War I 655

The people of Sarajevo crowded the streetsof their city on the morning of June 28,1914. They wanted to see Archduke Franz

Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as he drove by with his wifein an open car. The royal couple had come on astate visit to Bosnia, an Austrian province.

Suddenly shots rang out. The archduke andhis wife were hit and died soon after. The assassi-nation destroyed the delicate balance of Europeanstability. Within weeks Europe was at war.

Troubles in EuropeThe tensions that led to World War I hadroots that went back many years. The con-

flicts grew as European nations pursued dreams ofempire, built up their armies, and formed alliances.

Nationalism

Nationalism, a feeling of intense loyalty toone’s country or group, caused much of the ten-sion in Europe. In the late 1800s and the early1900s, nationalism served as both a unifying anda disruptive force. On the one hand, nationalismencouraged new nations, such as Italy and Ger-many, to unify and to establish their power in theworld. Italy had become a kingdom in the 1860s,and the German states had united in the 1870s.Their actions challenged the position of older na-tions such as Great Britain and France.

On the other hand, nationalism inspired cer-tain groups of people to break away from existing

1914 1915 1916

Franz Ferdinandis assassinated

Germany declareswar on Russia andFrance

France and Germany fight the Battle of Verdun

June 1914 August 1914Austria-Hungary declares war onSerbia

July 1914 1916

War in EuropeREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ what factors led to World War I.■ how the early fighting progressed in

Europe.■ what new weapons were used in the war.

TERMS TO LEARNnationalism alliance systemmilitarism entente

On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip went togreat lengths to secure Bosnia’s freedom fromAustria. His friend described Princip’s actions:“As the [Archduke’s] car came abreast he [Prin-cip] stepped forward from the curb, drew hisautomatic pistol from his coat and fired twoshots. The first struck the wife of the Archduke,the Archduchess Sofia, in the abdomen. . . .She died instantly. The second bullet struckthe Archduke close to the heart.

He uttered only one word,‘Sofia’—a call to his strickenwife. Then his head fell backand he collapsed. He diedalmost instantly. . . .

The next day they putchains on Princip’s feet,which he wore till his death.”

SThetoryteller

Section 1Section 1

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

656 Chapter 23 World War I

nations. Some of these ethnic groups—peoplewho share a common language and traditions—demanded independent nations of their own.

Imperial Expansion

Tension in Europe also grew out of the desireof nations to expand their empires. Imperialismled to competition for colonies in Africa, Asia, andother parts of the world. These colonies not onlybrought new markets and raw materials; theyalso added to a nation’s prestige.

Great Britain and France already possessedlarge overseas empires, but they wanted to ex-pand them even more. Germany, Italy, and Russiawanted to increase their colonial holdings as well.Because few areas were left to colonize, however,expansion by one European nation often broughtit into conflict with another imperial power.

Military Buildup

As European nations competed for colonies,they strengthened their armies and navies to protect their interests. If one nation increased itsmilitary strength, its rivals felt threatened andbuilt up their own military in response. In this at-mosphere of militarism, Germany, France, and Russia developed huge armies in the early 1900s.

Great Britain, an island nation, had theworld’s largest and strongest navy. When Ger-many began to challenge British naval supremacyin the early 1900s, a bitter rivalry developed be-tween the two nations. The rivalry led to an armsrace that threatened European stability.

Forming Alliances

Along with militarism came a strengtheningof the alliance system, or the defense agreementsamong nations. By 1914 two major alliances hadbeen established. Germany, Austria-Hungary,and Italy banded together in the Triple Alliance,while Great Britain, France, and Russia joined inthe Triple Entente. An entente is an understand-ing between nations.

The members of each alliance pledged to goto each other’s aid in times of crisis. Some alsoagreed to protect smaller countries allied to them.The alliances aimed to keep peace by creating abalance of power—a system that prevents anyone country from dominating the others. Yet thealliance system actually posed a great danger. Anattack on one nation was all that was needed totrigger a war involving many countries.

Europe was like a powder keg. One Americandiplomat noted that it would take “only a spark toset the whole thing off.” That spark was ignited inthe Balkans.

Crisis in the BalkansThe Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe was a hotbed of nationalist and

ethnic rivalries in the early 1900s. The nations ofGreece, Albania, Romania, and Bulgaria arguedover territory, while Slavic nationalists hoped to unite all the Slavic peoples in the region. Especially bitter was the dispute between Austria-Hungary, whose Slavic people desired indepen-dence, and the neighboring nation of Serbia, whichsupported the Slavs and opposed the empire.

An Assassination Leads to War

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand,heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassi-nated while on a goodwill visit to Sarajevo, thecapital of the Balkan kingdom of Bosnia. The as-sassin, Gavrilo Princip, was a member of a Ser-bian nationalist group, the Black Hand. Principand other terrorists had plotted the murder to ad-vance the cause of the unification of Slavic peoples.

LinkingPAST & PRESENTLinkingPAST & PRESENT

Nationalism

Nationalism remains a strong force in theworld today. Nationalist movements were afactor that led to the collapse of the SovietUnion in 1991. Soon after, Yugoslavia splitbecause its ethnic groups—Slovenes, Croa-tians, and Bosnians—desired independence.


The rulers of Austria-Hungary blamed theSerbian government for the assassination andmoved to crush the Serbian nationalist move-ment. After making sure its ally, Germany, sup-ported its decision, Austria-Hungary delivered aletter to Serbia listing harsh demands. When Ser-bia refused the conditions, Austria-Hungary de-clared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.

Europe’s system of alliances caused the warto spread. Russia, which had agreed to protectSerbia, prepared for war. This brought Germanyto the side of its ally, Austria-Hungary. Germanydeclared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. Know-ing France was an ally of Russia, Germany de-clared war on France on August 3.

A day later, Germany invaded Belgium aspart of a plan to sweep across eastern and north-ern France. In doing so, Germany violated a treatysigned in 1839 guaranteeing Belgium’s neutrality.The invasion of Belgium prompted Great Britainto honor its pledge to protect Belgium, and Britaindeclared war on Germany.

A World War BeginsThe “Great War” had begun. On one sidewere the Allied Powers, or the Allies—

Great Britain, France, and Russia. On the otherwere the Central Powers—Germany, Austria-

GERMANY

SERBIA

FRANCE

NETH.

LUX.

SWITZ.

GREATBRITAIN

IRELAND

NORWAY

SWEDEN

ICELAND

RUSSIA

ITALY

SPAIN

SPANISHMOROCCO

PORTUGAL

ROMANIA

BULGARIA

GREECE

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

AFRICA

ALBANIAMONTE-NEGRO

BELG.

DEN.

Moscow

London

Rome

Paris

Madrid

Vienna

Berlin

Constantinople

Sarajevo

CYPRUS

ATLANTICOCEAN

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15°E0°

NorthSea

MediterraneanSea

Black Sea

Caspian

Sea

Arctic Circle

N

S

EW

500 kilometers0Lambert Conformal Conic projection

500 miles0 250

250

Europe in World War I

Map Study

World War I initially pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire against Great Britain, France, and Russia. 1. Region What other country would

later join the Central Powers?2. Analyzing Information What incident sparked World War I?

Allies

Central Powers

Neutral nations

July 30, 1914 Russia (Serbia‘s ally)begins to mobilize armed forces

3

August 3, 1914 Germany declareswar on France (Russia‘s ally), beginsinvasion of Belgium

5

July 28, 1914 Austria-Hungarydeclares war on Serbia

2

June 28, 1914 Archduke FranzFerdinand assassinated in Sarajevo

1

August 4, 1914 Britain(pledged to protect Belgium)declares war on Germany

6

August 1, 1914 Germany(Austria-Hungary‘s ally)declares war on Russia

4

August 12, 1914 Franceand Britain declare waron Austria-Hungary

8

August 6, 1914 Austria-Hungarydeclares war on Russia

7

Militaryhelmet


Hungary, and the Ottoman(Turkish) Empire, which joinedthe war in October 1914 becauseit had fought Russia in the pastand feared new aggression.Japan, a rival of Germany in

Asia, joined the Allies in late August 1914. Italy refused to honor its alliance with Germany andAustria-Hungary. Instead, it joined the Allies in1915 after being promised territory in Austriaafter the war.

Battle of the Marne

In launching an offensive through Belgium,Germany hoped to defeat France quickly and de-stroy the French armies. This would allow Ger-many to move troops east against Russia.

The plan almost succeeded. The Belgians,however, held out heroically for nearly threeweeks against the powerful German army. Thisdelay gave the French and British time to mobi-lize their forces.

After defeating the Belgians, the Germansmarched into France and advanced to within 15miles of Paris. The British and French finally man-aged to stop the German advance at the MarneRiver just a few miles east of the city. The Battleof the Marne, fought between September 5 and

12, 1914, saved Paris from the Germans andboosted French morale. It also made it clear thatneither side was capable of winning the warquickly or easily.

Trench Warfare

After the Battle of the Marne, the fighting inwestern Europe reached a stalemate. For the nextthree years, the opposing armies faced each otheracross an elaborate network of deep trenches.Trenches along the front lines provided some pro-tection from flying bullets and artillery shells.Support trenches behind the lines served as head-quarters, first-aid stations, and storage areas.

Life in the trenches was miserable. Soldierslived in dirt and mud for months at a time, theirlives filled with terrible fear and endless boredom.Between the enemy lines lay a “no-man’s-land” ofbarbed wire and land mines. Endless days ofshelling the enemy might sometimes be inter-rupted by an attempt to “break out” of the trenchesand advance into enemy territory.

Verdun and the Somme

In 1916 both sides attempted to break thedeadlock of trench warfare by launching majoroffensives. The German offensive, the Battle ofVerdun in northeastern France, began in Febru-ary and continued on and off until December. Atfirst the Germans made small gains, but these

Holiday Truce On Christmas Day 1914, fighting stopped, and British and Germansoldiers met in no-man’s-land to chat, play soccer, and pose for photographs. Officers quickly ended these goodwill meetings, and the soldiers returned to war.

ootnotes to HistoryF

Airplanes were first used in com-bat during World War I. Mean-

while German U-boats challenged Great Britain’scontrol of the seas by firing torpedoes that sanksurface ships. What other new and deadlyweapons were introduced in World War I?

PicturingHISTORY


were lost after the French counterattacked. Ver-dun was one of the longest and bloodiest battlesof the war. When it was over, more than 750,000French and German soldiers had lost their lives.

While the Battle of Verdun raged, the Britishand French launched their own offensive innorthern France in July—the Battle of theSomme. Again the number of casualties was ex-tremely high. The Allies gained only about 7miles (11.2 km) in the offensive.

Deadly Technology

New and more deadly weapons accountedfor the terrible slaughter during these battles. Im-proved cannons and other artillery fired largershells greater distances than ever before. Better ri-fles enabled soldiers to hit targets with greater ac-curacy. A new, improved machine gun fired aburst of bullets in just a few seconds.

Poison gas, another new and devastatingweapon, was first used by the Germans over Al-lied lines in April 1915. The gas could kill or seri-ously injure anyone who breathed it. “Theyfought with terror, running blindly in the gascloud, and dropping . . . in agony,” wrote a Britishofficer of troops overcome by poison gas. The Al-lies began to use poison gas also, and gas masksbecame necessary equipment in the trenches.

The armored tank, invented by the British,proved effective for crossing battle lines to fire on

the enemy at close range. Tanks also could crushbarbed wire, providing an easier route for advancing troops. After the Germans saw the effectiveness of tanks, they produced them too.

The most dramatic new weapon—the air-plane—added a new dimension to fighting inWorld War I. Both sides used airplanes for watch-ing troop movements and bombing enemy targets. Daring pilots waged duels in the skiescalled “dogfights.” The most famous pilots in-cluded Germany’s “Red Baron,” Baron vonRichthofen, and America’s Eddie Rickenbacker,who served in the French air force. The Germansused the zeppelin, or blimp, to bomb Allied cities.

On the Seas

With their land armies deadlocked in westernEurope, both sides looked to the sea to gain an ad-vantage in the war. Great Britain blockaded allports under German control, eventually causingserious shortages. Many Germans suffered frommalnutrition and illness because of lack of foodand other supplies.

Germany had an effective naval weapon of itsown: the submarine. Known as U-boats—fromthe German word for submarine, Unterseeboot—submarines prevented supplies, including food,from reaching Great Britain. U-boat attacks onships at sea eventually affected the United Statesand changed the course of the war.

Section 1 AssessmentSection 1 Assessment

Activity

Building a Model Research the inventions thatwere developed in World War I. Using clay, papier-mâché, or other materials, build a modelof the invention you researched.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Allied

Powers, Central Powers.2. Define nationalism, militarism, alliance

system, entente.3. Discuss how militarism led Europe into

World War I.Reviewing Themes

4. Science and Technology Why were

casualties so high in World War I?Critical Thinking

5. Identifying Central Issues How did form-ing alliances increase the likelihood of warin Europe?


When Europe went to war in August1914, most Americans believed thatthe war did not concern them. Many

shared the view expressed in an editorial in theNew York Sun:

“There is nothing reasonable in such awar, and it would be folly for the coun-try to sacrifice itself to the frenzy ofdynastic policies and the clash ofancient hatreds which is urging the OldWorld to destruction.”

President Wilson agreed. He declared that theUnited States would be neutral in the war andcalled on Americans to be “neutral in fact as well asin name, impartial in thought as well as in action.”

American NeutralityDespite Wilson’s plea to remain neutral,Americans soon began to take sides. More

than one-third of the nation’s 92 million peoplewere either foreign-born or the children of immigrants. Many of these people naturally sym-pathized with their countries of origin. Some of the 8 million Americans of German or Austrian descent and the 4.5 million Irish Americans—who hated the British because they ruled Ireland—favored the Central Powers.

Even more Americans, however, includingPresident Wilson, felt sympathetic to the Allies.Ties of language, customs, and traditions linkedthe United States to Great Britain, and many

1914 1916 1918

Europe goesto war

Zimmermann telegramangers U.S.

U.S. declareswar on Germany

August 1914 March 1917Germany torpedoesthe Lusitania

May 1915 April 1917

America’s Road to WarREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ how Americans responded to the war in

Europe.■ what led to American involvement in the

war.■ how America raised an army to fight.

TERMS TO LEARNpropaganda autocracy

President Wilson struggled to remain neu-tral, even after Americans had been killed at the outbreak of World War I. Others felt differ-ently. An American businessman cabled thepresident after the Laconia was sunk by Germans: “My beloved mother and sister . . .have been foully murdered on the high seas. . . .I call upon my government to preserve its citizens’ self-respect and save others of mycountrymen from such deep grief as I now feel.I am of military age, able to fight. If my countrycan use me against thesebrutal assassins, I am at itscall. If it . . . [remains] pas-sive under outrage, I shallseek a man’s chanceunder another flag.” Re-maining neutral grewmore and more difficult.

SThetoryteller

Section 2Section 2

Magazine cover, 1914

Americans were ofBritish descent. Pres-ident Wilson toldthe British ambas-sador: “Everything I

love most in the world is at stake.” AGerman victory “would be fatal to our form ofgovernment and American ideals.”

Using Propaganda

To gain the support of Americans, both sidesin the war used propaganda—information de-signed to influence opinion. Allied propagandaemphasized the German invasion of neutral Bel-gium and included horror stories of Germanatrocities. It called the Germans “Huns” and pic-tured them as savage barbarians.

The propaganda from the Central Powerswas equally horrible, but because of British sym-pathies, the Allied propaganda was more effec-tive in influencing Americans.

America’s Early Involvement

Trade between the United States and the Al-lies helped build support for the Allied cause. Asa neutral nation, America sought to trade withboth sides, but Britain’s blockade of Germanymade this difficult.

The British navy stopped and searched Amer-ican ships headed for German ports, often seizingthe ships’ goods. The United States protested thatits ships should be able to pass without interfer-ence. The British responded with the defense thatthey were fighting for their survival. “If the Amer-ican shipper grumbles,” wrote a London paper,“our reply is that this war is not being conductedfor his pleasure or profit.” The United States gov-ernment could do nothing about the blockade.Barred from trading with Germany, it continuedtrading with Britain.

Indeed, American trade with the Alliessoared—from about $825 million in 1914 to about$3.2 billion in 1916. In addition Great Britain andFrance borrowed billions of dollars from Ameri-can banks to help pay for their war efforts. All thisbusiness caused an economic boom in the UnitedStates. It also upset the Germans, who watchedthe United States—supposedly a neutral nation—become the arsenal of the Allies.

Submarine Warfare

To stop American economic assistance toBritain, Germany announced in February 1915that it would use its U-boats to sink any vesselsthat entered or left British ports.

The United States protested the policy. Presi-dent Wilson warned that America would hold

The Lusitania leftNew York for Eng-

land on May 1, 1915. Germanyhad placed a warning notice inAmerican newspapers, but fewpeople took it seriously. How didthe United States respond toGerman U-boat attacks?

PicturingHISTORY


Germany responsible for any American lives lostin submarine attacks. Determined to cut off sup-plies to Great Britain, the Germans ignored thisthreat.

On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoedthe British passenger liner Lusitania off thecoast of Ireland. W.T. Turner, the ship’s captain, reported:

“I saw the torpedo speeding towards us.Immediately I tried to change ourcourse, but was unable to maneuverout of its way. There was a terribleimpact as the torpedo struck the star-board side of the vessel. . . . It wascold-blooded murder.”

The Lusitania sank in about 15 minutes. Morethan 1,000 people died, including 128 UnitedStates citizens. Americans were outraged, andPresident Wilson denounced the attack. Later itwas learned that the ship carried war materials.

Several months later a German U-boat torpe-doed the unarmed French passenger ship Sussex,injuring several Americans. The United States de-nounced the attack as a violation of internationallaw, and Wilson threatened to end diplomatic re-lations with Germany. Fearing that the Americansmight enter the war, Germany offered to compen-sate Americans injured on the Sussex andpromised to warn neutral ships and passengervessels before attacking. The Sussex Pledge, as itwas called, seemed to resolve the issue.

The diving rudders guide the submarine to different depths.

About 35 men squeezed into the U-boat’s tight spaces.

U-boats could travel only about 80 mi. (130 km) submerged.

Torpedo tubes were always loaded. About 12 torpedoes could be carried at a time.

Torpedo

Propeller

Crew’squarters

PeriscopeConning tower

Deck gun

SubmarineDuring World War I, German U-boats, or submarines, became the terror of the seas. What part of the craft guided the submarine up and down?

Controlroom

EngineroomRudder

TECHNOLOGY AND HISTORY


The End of NeutralityThe crisis over submarine warfare prompt-ed the United States to take steps to

strengthen its military forces. In the summer of1916, Congress passed legislation that doubledthe size of the army and provided funds to buildnew warships. President Wilson still hoped, how-ever, to stay out of the war.

Antiwar sentiment remained very strong.Some Americans criticized the nation’s militarybuildup, seeing it as a major step toward involve-ment in the war. A popular song in 1915 ex-pressed this opposition:

“I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier,I brought him up to be my pride and joy.Who dares place a musket on his shoulder,To shoot some other mother’s

darling boy?”The 1916 Election

Antiwar sentiment was strong at the 1916 Democratic national convention, where all refer-ences to the president’s efforts to keep the countryout of war brought wild applause. After Wilsonwas nominated for a second term, the phrase “HeKept Us Out of War” became the Democrats’ slo-gan. Wilson narrowly defeated the Republicanpresidential candidate, Charles Evans Hughes.The question of neutrality divided the Republi-cans, and Hughes avoided discussing the issue.

On the Brink of War

In January 1917, Germany reversed its policyon submarine warfare. It announced that itwould sink on sight all merchant vessels, armedor unarmed, sailing to Allied ports. While realiz-ing that their policy might bring the Americansinto the war, the Germans believed they coulddefeat the Allies before the United States becameheavily involved. An angry President Wilsonbroke off diplomatic relations with Germany.

A few weeks later, a secret telegram—inter-cepted by the British government—set off a newwave of anti-German feeling. In late February the

German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann,sent a telegram to Mexico with an offer to theMexican government:

“MAKE WAR TOGETHER, MAKE PEACE TOGETHER,GENEROUS FINANCIAL SUPPORT, AND AN UNDER-STANDING ON OUR PART THAT MEXICO IS TO

RECONQUER THE LOST TERRITORY IN TEXAS, NEW

MEXICO, AND ARIZONA.”Newspapers published the secret Zimmermanntelegram on March 1, and Americans reacted an-grily to the German action.

Revolution in Russia

In the weeks following publication of theZimmermann telegram, dramatic events pushedthe United States to the brink of war. First, a revo-lution took place in Russia. Following a period ofrioting and strikes, the Russian people overthrewthe monarchy. In its place they established a pro-visional democratic government.

Many Americans believed that the new Russian government, which vowed to defeat Germany, would help the Allies. With Russia’schange to a democratic form of government, Wilson could now claim that the Allies were fight-ing a war of democracy against autocracy—ruleby one person with unlimited power.

Other critical events took place at sea. OnMarch 18, German U-boats sank three Americanmerchant ships without warning and with heavyloss of life. President Wilson concluded that theUnited States could no longer remain neutral.

LinkingPAST & PRESENTLinkingPAST & PRESENT

The Draft

The United States used a military draft inboth world wars, the Korean War, the coldwar, and the Vietnam War. In 1973 Congressended the draft, but since 1981 men have stillbeen required to register for military service atage 18.


America Enters the War

On the cold, rainy evening of April 2, 1917,President Wilson stood before a special session ofCongress to ask for a declaration of war againstGermany.

“The world must be made safe fordemocracy. . . . It is a fearful thingto lead this great peaceful peo-ple into war, into the most terri-ble and disastrous of all wars. . . . But the right is more pre-cious than peace, and we shallfight for the things which wehave always carried nearest ourhearts—for democracy.”

Congress passed a declaration ofwar, and Wilson signed it on April 6.Fifty-six members of the House andSenate voted against war, including Representa-tive Jeannette Rankin of Montana—the firstwoman to serve in Congress.

Raising an ArmyThe United States had to raise an armyquickly. On May 18, Congress passed the

Selective Service Act, establishing a military

draft. Unlike the draft during the Civil War thatled to riots, this draft had the support of most ofthe American public.

Men aged 21 to 30 (later the draft age was ex-tended from 18 to 45) registered by the millions.By the end of the war, some 24 million men had

registered. Of those, about 3 million werecalled to serve; another 2 million joined

the armed forces voluntarily. In addition thousands of women

enlisted in the armed forces—thefirst time they were allowed to do so.All the women did noncombatwork, serving as radio operators,clerks, and nurses.

Many African Americans alsowanted to serve their country. More

than 300,000 joined the army andnavy—the marines would not acceptthem. African Americans faced dis-crimination and racism in the armed

forces just as they did in civilian life. Most heldlow-level jobs on military bases in the UnitedStates. Among the 140,000 African American sol-diers sent to Europe, 40,000 saw actual combat.Many served with distinction. An African Amer-ican regiment received medals for bravery fromthe French government. One of its members,Henry Johnson, was the first American to receivethe French Croix de Guerre [Cross of War] forbravery.


Activity

Making a List Imagine you enlisted in the WorldWar I army. List the four things you would missmost about civilian life.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Lusitania, Zimmermann telegram,

Selective Service Act.2. Define propaganda, autocracy.3. Explain how the war in Europe brought

about an economic boom in the UnitedStates.

Reviewing Themes4. Government and Democracy What steps

did President Wilson have to take to make

an official declaration of war?Critical Thinking

5. Drawing Conclusions Why was it difficultfor many Americans to remain neutral dur-ing the war?

Jeannette Rankin


1917 1918 1919

American troops land in France

Russia withdrawsfrom the war

Armistice endsWorld War I

June 1917 March 1918American ExpeditionaryForce begins to fight

June 1918 November 1918

Americans Join the AlliesREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ what was happening in Europe when the

United States entered the war.■ what role American troops played in the

fighting.

TERMS TO LEARNconvoy armisticefront

Drafted into the United States Army in1917, Alvin York was reluctant to serve. “I wasworried clean through,” he said. “I didn’t wantto go and kill.” York had grown up in themountains of Tennessee, where he learned toshoot while hunting wild turkeys. Applying hissharpshooting skills in World War I, York killed17 German soldiers with 17 shots. He alsotook 132 Germansprisoner and cap-tured 35 enemy machine guns. For his actions and braveryin combat, Sergeant Yorkreceived the CongressionalMedal of Honor.

SThetoryteller

Section 3Section 3

Congressional Medal of Honor

In 1917 the Allies desperately needed the help ofAmerican soldiers. Years of trench warfare hadexhausted the Allied armies, and some French

troops refused to continue fighting after a failed of-fensive in 1917. The British had started to run outof war supplies and food; their people were starv-ing. Furthermore, German submarines were tak-ing a deadly toll on Allied shipping—sinking oneof every four ships that left British ports.

Supplying the AlliesThe American entry into the war made animmediate difference. To ensure that need-

ed supplies reached Great Britain, the UnitedStates Navy took two steps. First, it helped theBritish find and destroy German submarines.Then convoys—teams—of navy destroyers es-corted groups of merchant ships across the At-lantic. The convoy system worked well. In oneyear it reduced Allied shipping losses from900,000 to 300,000 tons a month. With the convoysystem, not one American soldier bound for Eu-rope was lost to submarine attack.

Russian Withdrawal

The Allies needed more troops because of asecond revolution in Russia. In November 1917,the Bolsheviks, a group of communists, over-threw the democratic Russian government estab-lished in March 1917.

Led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks want-ed to end Russia’s participation in the war so they


could focus their energies and resources on set-ting up a new Communist state. Lenin took Rus-sia out of the war in December. In March 1918, hesigned the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany,surrendering Poland, the Ukraine, and other ter-ritory to the Germans. Russia’s withdrawal fromthe war allowed the Germans to move hundredsof thousands of troops from the Eastern Front—line of battle—to the Western Front in France.

New German Offensive

Reinforced by the transfer of troops, the Ger-mans now launched a powerful offensive againstthe Allies. Between March and June 1918, they

hammered at Allied lines, pushing them back towithin 50 miles (80 km) of Paris. After years ofstalemate along the Western Front—the areaalong the French-German border—it suddenlylooked as if Germany might win the war.

American Troops in the War

Although the first American soldiers hadreached France in June 1917, many months

passed before they were ready for battle. Whenthey finally began to fight, the Americans helpedturn the war around.

The American Expeditionary Force

General John J. Pershing led the Americantroops in Europe, the American ExpeditionaryForce (AEF). American correspondent Floyd Gib-bons described the tremendous welcome theFrench gave Pershing and his troops in Paris:

“The sooty girders of the Gare du Nord[railroad station] shook with cheerswhen the special train pulled in. . . . Aminute later, there was a terrific roarfrom beyond the walls of the station.The crowds outside had heard thecheering within. . . . Paris took Pershingby storm.”

The AEF reached full strength in Europe inthe spring of 1918. The French and British wantedto use the American soldiers to build up their owntroops, but General Pershing refused. He pre-ferred to keep the AEF a separate force.

Americans Go into Action

The American Expeditionary Force saw itsfirst serious fighting in early June 1918. It helpedturn back a German offensive at Château-Thierryon the Marne River east of Paris. The American

to HISTORYEyewitness

GERMANY

SWITZ.

LUXEMBOURG

BELGIUM

FRANCE

NETHERLANDSNorthSea

Brussels

Paris

Ypres

AmiensSomme

BelleauWood

Château-Thierry

Rheims Argonne Forest

Verdun

Meuse R.

MarneR.

Aisne R.

OiseR.

M

osel

leR.

Saar R.Seine R.

LORRAIN

EA

LSAC

E

Somme R.

Rhine

R.

N

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EW

Map Study

The arrival of fresh American troops in Europe in 1917 helped turn the Allies toward victory. 1. Location About how close to Paris was the battle of Château-Thierry? 2. Analyzing Information What country was the site of most Western Front battles?

The Western Front

50 kilometers0Lambert ConformalConic projection

50 miles0

Farthest Germanadvance, 1914

Allied offensive,1918

Armistice line,1918

Indecisive battle

Allied victory


troops then advanced to nearby Belleau Wood.For 24 hours a day for the next 3 weeks, Americanforces fought their way through the forest againsta solid wall of German machine-gun fire. In Julythe Americans and the French fought back Ger-man attacks on Allied forces along the Marne andthe Somme Rivers.

By the middle of July, the Allies had stoppedthe German offensive. The battles, General Persh-ing wrote, had “turned the tide of war.” The Alliesnow began an offensive of their own. In mid-September 550,000 “doughboys”—the nicknamegiven to American soldiers—fighting alone, de-feated the Germans at Saint Mihiel, east of Verdun. Later in the month, more than 1 millionAmerican troops joined the Allies in the Battle ofthe Argonne Forest, west of Verdun.

The Battle of the Argonne Forest raged fornearly seven weeks, with soldiers struggling overthe rugged, heavily forested ground. Rain, mud,barbed wire, and withering fire from Germanmachine guns hindered the Allies’ advance, andmany lives were lost.

American lieutenant Elden Betts wondered ifhe would survive the battle and wrote home—incase “I get mine tomorrow.” He said he hoped hisfamily would be proud of him, ending with“Now good-bye, and thank you Pop, Edie andMargie.” Four days later Betts was killed.

The Battle of the Argonne Forest ended inearly November, when the Allies finally pushedback the Germans and broke through the enemylines. The Germans now were faced with an inva-sion of their own country.

What Was It Like? Soldiers lived in thetrenches for weeks, fighting boredom and ter-ror. How do you think they passed the timebetween attacks?

AmericanMemoriesAmericanMemories

Soldier’s gas mask and pack

Shaving kit

Trench checkers

In the Trenches

Repaying a Debt The AEF marched throughParis to the grave of the Marquis deLafayette, the Frenchman who had helpedthe Patriots win the American Revolution. AnAmerican officer, Colonel Charles Stanton,heard a great cheer from the Paris crowdwhen he stated, “Lafayette, we are here!” Indeed, it was time to repay the debt.

ootnotes to HistoryF

The End of the WarWith their troops in retreat, German mili-tary leaders realized they had little chance

of winning the war. The Allied forces were nowfortified by the Americans. In addition, the Ger-mans suffered from severe shortages of food andother essential supplies.

Request for an Armistice

On October 4, 1918, the German governmentappealed to President Wilson for an armistice—an agreement to end the fighting. Wilson consent-ed under certain conditions. Germany mustaccept his plan for peace and promise not torenew hostilities. All German troops must leaveBelgium and France. Finally, Wilson would dealonly with civilian leaders, not with the military.

While German leaders considered Wilson’sdemands, political unrest erupted in Germany.On November 9, the German kaiser, or emperor,Wilhelm II, was forced to give up his throne.Germany became a republic, and its new leadersquickly agreed to Wilson’s terms for the armistice.

Peace Begins

The armistice began on November 11, 1918.Germany agreed to withdraw all land forces westof the Rhine River, withdraw its fleet to the BalticSea, and surrender huge amounts of equipment.

With the signing of the armistice, the GreatWar ended. President Wilson announced:

“Everything for which America foughthas been accomplished. It will now beour duty to assist by example, by sober,friendly counsel, and by material aid inthe establishment of just democracythroughout the world.”



Activity

Preparing a Radio Broadcast Write the text fora French radio broadcast announcing the arrivalof American soldiers in Paris in 1917.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin, Treaty

of Brest-Litovsk, Wilhelm II.2. Define convoy, front, armistice.3. List three reasons the Allies needed the

help of the American forces by 1917.Reviewing Themes

4. Geography and History What terms didGermany agree to in the armistice?

Critical Thinking5. Predicting Consequences Do you think

the Allies would have won the war if theUnited States had not intervened? Why orwhy not?

Allies Day, May 1917 byChilde Hassam The artist

captured the flags of Allied nations during aNew York City celebration in 1917. When didthe armistice go into effect?

HISTORYAND ART


INTERDISCIPLINARYINTERDISCIPLINARY

Activities

Designing a Propaganda Poster Dramaticposters did a great deal to win people’s supportfor wartime efforts. Study posters of the era andnotice their style. Then design your own posterabout one of these themes: Buy Liberty Bonds;Join the Army (or Navy); Conserve Resources(steel, textiles, fuel); Promote Patriotism; Take aFactory Job; Observe Meatless (or Wheatless)Days; Plant a Victory Garden.

Studying War Technology Partly because of newtechnology, World War I caused a horrifying num-ber of casualties. Research one of the followingtechnologies and prepare a report on its develop-ment, wartime use, and effects: poison gas, tanks,airplanes, dirigibles, machine guns, or submarines.Photocopy pictures from books and encyclopediasto illustrate your report, and present it in class.

Charting War Casualties Millions of soldiers—mostly Europeans—were killed in World War I. Usean encyclopedia or almanac to supply statistics fora double bar graph in which you compare thenumber of troops mobilized by a given country

Mathematics

Science

Artwith the number of dead and wounded. Includethese nations: Austria-Hungary, Belgium, theBritish Empire, France, Germany, Italy, Russia,Turkey, and the United States. Which countrieshad, proportionately, the greatest losses? Displayyour graph in the classroom.

Writing a Poem World War I produced a numberof soldier-poets. Read some poems by RupertBrooke or Stephen Spender. Then imagine thatyou were fighting in World War I as a soldier, ornurse, or ambulance driver. Write a poem givingyour feelings and impressions. You may want toput your poem in the form of a letter home. Shareyour poetry with the class.

Language Arts

The Great WarAlthough other major wars have been fought since 1918, World

War I is still known as “the Great War” because of the overwhelm-ing destruction and change it brought. Experience what people didand thought during that period as you complete these activities.

World War I helmet

World War I infantry boots


1917 1918 1919

Race riots occur inEast St. Louis

National WarLabor Board is set up

July 1917 April 1918Congress passesSabotage and Sedition acts

June 1918

The War at HomeREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ what steps the United States took to

organize and prepare for World War I.■ how the war affected the American people.■ how Americans treated opponents of

the war.

TERMS TO LEARNmobilization pacifistdissent espionagesocialist sabotage

“Over there, over there,Send the word, send the word over thereThat the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are

coming,The drums rum-tumming ev’rywhereSo 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 over over

there.”George M. Cohan

wrote this rousing song tohelp create enthusiasm forAmerica’s participation inWorld War I. “Over There”was performed at rallies toraise money for the war.

SThetoryteller

Section 4Section 4

After declaring war on Germany in 1917,Americans immediately focused their en-ergies on getting ready to fight a war.

Mobilization—the gathering of resources and thepreparation for war—affected almost every partof American life.

Mobilizing the NationTo ensure production of vital war materialsand to resolve labor disputes, the govern-

ment created the National War Labor Board inApril 1918. Made up of representatives of busi-ness, labor, and the public, the board pressuredbusinesses to grant some of the workers’ pressingdemands. As a result workers won an 8-hourworking day, extra pay for overtime, equal payfor women, and the right to form unions. In re-turn workers agreed not to go on strike.

Workers during the War

The American participation in the war led thenation’s industry to expand to meet the need forsupplies and weapons. At the same time, howev-er, the workforce grew smaller, creating a laborshortage. Millions of men left their jobs in indus-try to serve in the armed forces, and few Euro-pean immigrants—who might have taken thesejobs—came to the United States during the war.

The labor shortage provided new job oppor-tunities for women and minorities. Many womenjoined the workforce for the first time. Womenwere hired for jobs previously held by men.“Over There” sheet music

The prospect of finding good jobs alsobrought hundreds of thousands of African Amer-icans to Northern cities from the rural South. Inaddition thousands of Mexicans migrated to theUnited States in search of jobs.

Paying for the War

World War I cost the United States an enor-mous amount of money—about $32 billion. Two-thirds of this money was raised by selling theAmerican people war bonds, or Liberty Bonds.To persuade people to buy the bonds, the govern-ment created colorful posters advertising thebonds and organized public events featuring ac-tors and popular celebrities. George M. Cohanwrote his song “Over There” for a Liberty Bondrally. Children bought more than $1 billion worthof “thrift stamps,” which they could paste intobooks and exchange for a war bond.

The federal government also raised moneyfor the war by increasing taxes and requiring agreater number of Americans to pay incometaxes. It taxed wealthy Americans at rates as highas 70 percent of their income. The governmentalso imposed steep taxes on business profits.

Producing Supplies

The United States had to produce food notonly for its own needs but also for the Allies. Pres-ident Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover, whohad helped organize food for war refugees in Eu-rope, to head a new Food Administration. Thisagency launched a campaign to encourage Amer-ican farmers to produce more and to persuade thepublic to eat less. The agency urged people to ob-serve “Wheatless Mondays,” “Meatless Tues-days,” and “Porkless Thursdays,” and to add totheir own store of food by planting “victory gar-dens.” With slogans such as “Serve Just Enough”and “Use All Leftovers,” it reminded Americansto conserve food.

The Food Administration also imposed pricecontrols on various agricultural products to en-courage voluntary rationing—limitation of use.

Economics

As a result of such efforts, Americans consumedless food, expanded food production, and in-creased food exports.

Another government agency, the War Indus-tries Board, headed by Bernard Baruch, super-vised and coordinated the nation’s industrialproduction. The board’s responsibilities includeddistributing raw materials to industries, convert-ing factories to the production of war-relatedgoods, and setting prices for key products.

Mobilizing Support

The federal government also needed to mobi-lize public support for the war because antiwarsentiment remained strong even after the UnitedStates entered the war. President Wilson appoint-ed journalist George Creel to head the Commit-tee on Public Information. Its mission was topersuade Americans that the war represented abattle for democracy and freedom.

The Committee on Public Information distributed millions of pro-war pamphlets, post-ers, articles, and books. It provided newspaperswith government accounts of the war and


These women workers replaced males on the Great Northern Railway


advertisements. It arranged for short patriotictalks, called Four-Minute Speeches, to be present-ed before plays and movies. The committee hiredspeakers, writers, artists, and actors to build sup-port for the war. It was the greatest propagandacampaign in the history of the nation.

Americans and the WarWorld War I provided a boost for theAmerican economy. Yet the war had harm-

ful effects on American society as well. In the in-terest of national unity, the government stifledvoices of dissent, or opposition. Racial and othertensions remained, and many Americans becameintolerant of those who were “different.”

African American Migration

From 1914 to 1920, between 300,000 and500,000 African Americans left their homes in therural South to seek jobs and settle in Northerncities. Known as the Great Migration, thistremendous population movement continued thenorthward migration begun in the late 1800s.

African Americans headed north for severalreasons. Many wanted to escape the harsh eco-nomic and political conditions they faced in theSouth. They saw advertisements in their local pa-pers for jobs in the North, and they listened ea-gerly to the stories of African Americans who hadalready moved there. Some Northern factoryowners even sent recruiting agents to promotejobs and to encourage African Americans to cometo work for them.

Many African American workers who trav-eled north—”Bound for the Promised Land” asthey wrote on the sides of railroad cars—did findjobs. Their new lives were not easy. Often theylived in tiny, crowded apartments in segregatedneighborhoods, and they found that racial preju-dice continued to haunt their lives in the North.When expanding African American neighbor-hoods pushed up against white neighborhoods,racial hostility sometimes erupted in violence.

Terrible race riots took place in several North-ern cities during the war years. One of the worstoccurred in East St. Louis, Illinois. In July 1917, awhite mob attacked an African American neigh-borhood, burning houses and firing on residentsas they tried to escape. During the riot, as many as40 African Americans died and thousands losttheir homes.

Controlling Public Opinion

When the war began, a majority of Americansthought the United States should stay out of it.Even after America entered the war, opposition toit remained strong. Some German Americans andIrish Americans sympathized with the CentralPowers. Many socialists—people who believe in-dustries should be publicly owned—opposed thewar because they thought it would only help richbusiness owners and hurt working people. Also

World War I

CAUSES� Nationalistic pride� Competition for colonies� Military buildup� Tangled web of alliances� Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Chart Study

After World War I, the United States was established as a world leader and an economic giant.Analyzing Information How did WorldWar I affect the economy of the UnitedStates?

EFFECTS� Destruction in Europe� Boom in the American economy� Suppression of dissent in U.S.� Allied victory� Defeated empires lose their colonies

Causes and Effects


against the war were pacifists—people opposedto the use of violence.

Some of the strongest antiwar sentiment camefrom women’s groups. The Women’s Peace Party,founded in 1915, worked to keep the nation out ofthe war. Some women—including social workerJane Addams and women’s rights leader AlicePaul—continued to voice their opposition afterAmerica entered the war.

During the course of the war, the Committeeon Public Information began trying to silence dis-sent and portrayed people who were against thewar as unpatriotic. The Espionage Act that Con-gress passed in 1917 gave the government a newweapon to combat dissent to the war. The lawprovided stiff penalties for espionage, or spying,as well as for aiding the enemy or interfering witharmy recruiting. Congress passed even harshermeasures in 1918—the Sabotage Act and theSedition Act. These laws made it a crime to say,print, or write almost anything perceived as neg-ative about the government. Such acts would beconsidered sabotage—secret action to damagethe war effort.

The government used the laws to stifle all po-litical opposition. Thousands of people—espe-cially immigrants, socialists, pacifists, and laboractivists—were convicted under the laws.

Suspicion of disloyalty led to spying on neigh-bors, opening mail, and even outbreaks of vio-lence by vigilante groups. People becamesuspicious of German Americans and persecuted

them. A few communities prohibited such activi-ties as performing German music and teaching theGerman language in schools. As a result someGerman Americans concealed their ancestry. Theyeven gave patriotic names—such as “liberty cab-bage” and “liberty sausage”—to German-sound-ing words such as sauerkraut and frankfurter.

Some people spoke out against these lawsand the intolerance they produced. Most Ameri-cans, however, believed that, in wartime, no mea-sure can be “too drastic” toward traitors anddisloyal Americans.


Activity

Writing an Advertisement Design an advertise-ment that a Northern industry might have placedin a Southern newspaper to attract job applicants.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Herbert Hoover, Great Migration.2. Define mobilization, dissent, socialist,

pacifist, espionage, sabotage.3. Describe the role of the Committee on

Public Information.Reviewing Themes

4. Economic Factors Where did the UnitedStates government get most of the moneyto finance the war?

Critical Thinking5. Analyzing Information Do you think it

was necessary for the government to takesuch extreme measures against peoplewho opposed the war? Explain.

African American soldiers servedin segregated regiments, com-

manded for the most part by white officers.What major change affected African Ameri-cans at home during the war years?

PicturingHISTORY


1919 1920 1921

Paris Peace Conference begins; Treaty of Versailles is signed

1919 1920U.S. signs separatepeace treaty withCentral Powers

Senate rejects the League of Nations

1921

Searching for PeaceREAD TO DISCOVER . . .■ what principles Woodrow Wilson proposed

as the basis for world peace.■ what terms were included in the peace

treaty.■ why some Americans opposed the Treaty of

Versailles.

TERMS TO LEARNFourteen Points reparationsLeague of Nations

The most brutal war of history had ended.As jubilant crowds celebrated in front of Lon-don’s Buckingham Palace, British generalHenry Wilson spotted an elderly woman sob-bing. Wilson asked, “Is there anything that Ican do for you?” The distressed womanreplied, “Thank you. No. I am crying, but I amhappy, for now I know that all my three sonswho have been killed in the war have not diedin vain.” It was up to theAllied leaders and Presi-dent Woodrow Wilsonto make sure that thewoman’s words weretrue—that so many sol-diers and civilians hadnot died in vain.

SThetoryteller

Section 5Section 5

In January 1919, world leaders met in Paris,France, to try to resolve the complicated issuesarising from World War I. President Woodrow

Wilson led the American delegation to the ParisPeace Conference. When Wilson arrived in thecity, enormous crowds cheered him. Well-wishersthrew flowers in his path and unfurled bannersthat read “Long Live Wilson!” With great hope,Europeans looked to Wilson to help build a betterpostwar world. Yet enormous problems lay ahead.

After the WarIn the aftermath of the war, Europe lay inruins. Much of its landscape was devastat-

ed, its farms and towns destroyed. The humanlosses were terrible. Great Britain, France, Russia,Germany, and Austria-Hungary each lost be-tween 1 and 2 million people in the fighting. Mil-lions more were wounded. More than 50,000Americans were killed in battle, while another60,000 soldiers died from disease. Estimates forthe whole war placed the number of soldiers andcivilians killed worldwide at 10 million and thosewounded at 20 million.

Europe also faced social and political turmoil.Millions of people found themselves homelessand hungry. Civil war raged in Russia. Poles,Czechs, and other peoples struggled to form in-dependent nations out of the collapsed empires ofTurkey, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. The over-seas colonies of some European nations alsosought independence. These problems complicat-ed the search for peace and stability.

Peace song honoring Wilson


A Vision of PeaceWoodrow Wilson had a vision of a just andlasting peace. A reformer and scholar, Wil-

son had served as the president of Princeton Uni-versity and as governor of New Jersey beforebeing elected U.S. president in 1912.

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

Wilson outlined his peace plan in a proposalknown as the Fourteen Points. Several of thepoints concerned the adjustment of boundaries inEurope and the creation of new nations. Thesepoints reflected Wilson’s belief in the right of peo-ples to “national self-determination”—the rightto decide how to be governed.

Wilson also proposed a number of principlesfor conducting international relations. These in-cluded calls for free trade, freedom of the seas, anend to secret treaties or agreements, reductionsand limits on arms, and the peaceful settlement ofdisputes over colonies.

League of Nations

Wilson’s final point, the one he consideredmost important, concerned the creation of a “general association of nations.” This League ofNations would meet regularly to resolve interna-tional disputes. The League’s member nationswould help preserve peace and prevent futurewars by pledging to respect and protect eachother’s territory and political independence.

Wilson’s Fourteen Points reflected hisstrong—and perhaps unrealistic—faith in the

ability of governments to resolve their problemsfairly. At first many Europeans welcomed Wil-son’s ideas. Then problems arose when the planinterfered with the competing interests of the in-dividual nations—in determining how to divideup territory. Also, some of Wilson’s points werevague. They did not propose concrete solutions todifficult questions—such as how to achieve self-determination in regions where many differentethnic groups lived closely together.

The Peace Conference The victorious Allies dominated the talksat the Paris Peace Conference. The Allies

did not invite either Germany or Russia—nowruled by the Bolsheviks—to participate. Themajor figures in the negotiations were the BigFour—President Wilson, Prime Minister DavidLloyd George of Great Britain, Premier GeorgesClemenceau of France, and Prime Minister Vitto-rio Orlando of Italy.

*Figures are approximate. Not all countries are listed.

Central Powers

Allied Powers

Russia

France

British Empire

Italy

Romania

United States

Germany

Austria-Hungary

Turkey

Bulgaria

1,700,000

1,358,000

908,400

650,000

335,700

116,500

1,773,000

1,200,000

325,000

87,500

4,950,000

4,266,000

2,090,000

947,000

120,000

234,400

4,216,000

3,620,000

400,000

152,400

Country Killed Wounded

World War I Casualties*

Chart Study

World War I devastated many countries. 1. Which two countries suffered most of the casualties? 2. Analyzing Information Which side— the Allied or Central Powers—had more people killed?

War-torn Europe

The Allies Disagree

Wilson faced a difficult task. Although Euro-peans cheered him, their leaders showed little en-thusiasm for the Fourteen Points. The Europeanleaders were more concerned with the narrow in-terests of their own countries than with Wilson’scall for a “peace without victory.”

While Wilson opposed punishing the defeat-ed nations, the European Allies sought revenge.Clemenceau wanted to make sure that Germany,which had invaded France twice in his lifetime,could never invade his country again. He believed

that Germany should be broken up into smallercountries. Both he and Lloyd George demandedthat Germany make large reparations, or pay-ments, for the damage Germans caused in the war.

At the same time, the Allies had to decidehow to deal with the new Bolshevik governmentof Russia. Fearing the spread of communism,France, Britain, and the United States supportedanti-Bolshevik forces fighting for control of Rus-sia. All three countries sent troops to Russia.

Lenin, the Bolshevik leader, had issued astatement of goals for the end of the war. Wilson’sFourteen Points came partly as a response to the

Russian proposal. AlthoughWilson struggled to upholdthe principles of his FourteenPoints at the Paris meeting, hewas forced again and again tocompromise or give in to thedemands of the other Allies.

The Treaty of Versailles

On June 28, 1919, aftermonths of difficult negotia-tions, the Allies and Germanysigned a treaty at the Palaceof Versailles outside Paris.The harsh terms of the Treatyof Versailles shocked theGermans. In defeat, however,they had no choice but tosign.

Under the terms of thetreaty, Germany had to acceptfull responsibility for the warand to pay billions of dollarsin reparations to the Allies.Germany also had to disarmcompletely and give up all itsoverseas colonies and someterritory in Europe.

The treaty carved up theAustro-Hungarian and Rus-sian Empires to create or re-store the nations of Austria,Hungary, Czechoslovakia,


GERMANY

FRANCE

NETH.

SWITZ.

GREATBRITAINIRELAND

NORWAY

SWEDEN FINLAND

ICELAND

RUSSIA

ITALY

SPAIN

SPANISHMOROCCO

PORTUGAL

ROMANIA

POLAND

LITHUANIA

LATVIA

ESTONIA

GER.

BULGARIA

GREECE

HUNGARY

YUGOSLAVIA

AUSTRIA

TURKEY

AFRICA

ALBANIA

BELG.

LUX.

DENMARK

Moscow

London

Rome

Paris

Madrid

VersaillesVienna

Berlin

Constantinople

Sarajevo

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

ATLANTICOCEAN

60°N

50°N

40°N

15°W30°W45°E30°E

15°E0°

NorthSea

Mediterranean Sea

BlackSea

Baltic

Sea

Arctic Circle

The outcome of World War I brought great changes to Europe and the Middle East as new nations and colonies were created. 1. Region What new nations bordered on Germany? 2. Analyzing Information Which new nations lacked access to a major sea or ocean?

Map Study

Europe After World War I


500 miles0 250

250

New nations

N

SEW


Yugoslavia, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania,and Latvia. The emergence of these nations ful-filled part of Wilson’s vision of “national self-determination.” Many of the borders of the newcountries were disputed, however, and this led tofuture conflicts.

Though deeply disappointed by the rejectionof much of his Fourteen Points, Wilson did suc-ceed in having the League of Nations included inthe peace treaty. He believed that the Leaguewould be able to correct any mistakes in the restof the treaty.

Opposition at HomeWilson presented the Treaty of Versailles tothe United States Senate for ratification on

July 10, 1919. “Dare we reject it and break theheart of the world?” he asked. In spite of his elo-quent plea, a difficult struggle lay ahead.

Many Americans had doubts about the treaty.Some, German Americans in particular, thoughtthe treaty dealt too harshly with Germany. Agreatmany Americans worried about participation inthe League of Nations, which marked a perma-nent American commitment to international af-fairs. Critics charged that membership in theLeague would prevent the nation from setting itsown foreign policy.

to HISTORYEyewitness

Debate over the Treaty

In 1919 the Republicans controlled the Senate,which had to ratify the treaty. Some Republicansenators saw the ratification issue as a chance toembarrass President Wilson, a Democrat, and toweaken the Democratic Party before the upcom-ing elections of 1920. The fact that Wilson had notincluded any Republicans in the negotiating teamhe took to Paris cost him some Republican sup-port. Other senators had sincere concerns aboutthe treaty, particularly the League of Nations. Afew senators opposed signing any treaty.

The most powerful opponent of the treatywas Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, headof the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Lodge, a longtime foe of President Wilson,claimed that membership in the League wouldmean that

“American troops and American shipsmay be ordered to any part of theworld by nations other than the UnitedStates, and that is a proposition towhich I for one can never assent.”

Lodge delayed a vote on the treaty so that op-ponents could present their cases. He then pro-posed a number of reservations that would limitAmerica’s obligations under the treaty. One reser-vation, for example, stated that the League wouldhave no say about situations arising from the

Woodrow Wilson on tour

Henry CabotLodge



Activity

Comparing Maps Compare a map of Europeafter World War I to a map of Europe today. Makea list of the significant border changes that haveoccurred since that time.

Checking for Understanding1. Identify Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd

George, Georges Clemenceau, VittorioOrlando, Treaty of Versailles, Henry CabotLodge.

2. Define Fourteen Points, League of Nations,reparations.

3. Summarize the provisions of the Treaty ofVersailles.

Reviewing Themes4. Global Connections How did President

Wilson think that the League of Nations

would help maintain world peace?Critical Thinking

5. Determining Relevance Some Americansthought the Treaty of Versailles was toohard on Germany. What terms would youhave proposed for Germany?

Monroe Doctrine. Wilson refused to accept thesechanges and described Senate opponents of theLeague as “contemptible, narrow, selfish, poor little minds that never get anywhere.”

In September, Wilson went on a nationalspeaking tour to rally support for the treaty andthe League of Nations. Traveling 8,000 miles in 22days, Wilson pleaded for his vision and warnedthat the League could not be effective withoutAmerican participation. If the United States didnot join, he believed a terrible war would comeagain.

On September 25, Wilson collapsed after giv-ing a speech. The rest of his tour was canceled.Back in Washington Wilson suffered a stroke thatleft him partially paralyzed. During the presi-dent’s illness, his wife, Edith Wilson, tried toshield him from the pressures of responsibilityand took a leading role in deciding which issueswere important enough to raise with him.

The Treaty Is Rejected

In the months following Wilson’s stroke, op-position to the treaty grew. Yet Wilson remainedunwilling to compromise. In March 1920, whenthe Senate voted on the treaty with Lodge’schanges, Wilson ordered loyal Democrats to voteagainst it. He told his wife:

“Better a thousand times to go downfighting than to dip your colours to dishonourable compromise.”

Opposed by most Republicans and desertedby former supporters, the Treaty of Versailles—along with the League of Nations—was rejectedin the Senate. Wilson hoped the 1920 electionwould be a “great and solemn referendum” onthe League. He even considered running for athird term. In the end, however, Wilson did notrun. In 1921 the United States signed a separatepeace treaty with each of the Central Powers, andit never joined the League of Nations.

A Society in Turmoil

While the nation argued over the treaty, otherissues were causing turmoil in American society.Relations between African Americans and whitesturned increasingly violent, with lynchings in theSouth and race riots in the North. Economic prob-lems led to labor disputes, which contributed toanother source of turmoil—a fear of radicals.

President Wilson, concerned with the peacetreaty and then seriously ill, never gave much at-tention to these problems. However, the troublesat home made Americans less sympathetic to thetreaty and the League of Nations.

To sketch a scene, you first draw the roughshape, or outline, of the picture. Then youfill in this rough shape with details. Out-

lining written material is a similar process. Youbegin with the rough shape of the material andgradually fill in the details.

Learning the Skill

There are two kinds of outlines—formal andinformal. An informal outline is similar to takingnotes. You write only words and phrases neededto remember main ideas.

A formal outline has a standard format. In aformal outline, label main heads with Romannumbers, subheads with capital letters, and de-tails with Arabic numerals and lowercase letters.Each level should have at least two entries andshould be indented from the level above. All en-tries use the same grammatical form. If one entryis a complete sentence, all other entries at thatlevel must also be complete sentences.

When outlining written material, first readthe material to identify the main ideas. In text-books, section heads provide clues to main topics.Then identify the subheads. Place supporting de-tails under the appropriate head.

Practicing the Skill

Study the partial outline of Section 3 on thispage. Then answer the following questions.

1. Is this a formal or an informal outline?2. What are the three main topics? 3. If you wanted to add two facts about the

AEF, where would you put them in theoutline? Would you use numbers or lettersto label the facts?

Outline of Chapter 23, Section 3

I. European Allies need help.

A. Allied armies are exhausted.

1. Trench warfare depletes supplies.

2. Morale is low.

B. Civilians are in trouble.

1. People are starving.

2. Supply ships are sunk by Germans.

II. Americans enter the war.

A. United States Navy patrols seas.

1. German U-boats are destroyed.

2. Convoys protect Allied ships.

a. Losses are reduced by two-thirds.

b. No American soldiers are killed.

B. American Expeditionary Force (AEF)

lands in Europe.

1. Germans lose at Château-Thierry.

2. Germans are defeated at Belleau

Wood.

III. Allies take the offensive.

A. Battle of Argonne Forest is fought.

B. President Wilson lists conditions

for armistice.

Study and WritingStudy and Writing

Outlining

Outlining Following the guidelines above,prepare an outline for Section 2 of Chapter 23.

Applying the Skill


Glencoe’s Skillbuilder InteractiveWorkbook, Level 1provides instructionand practice in key social studiesskills.

Reviewing Key TermsOn a sheet of paper, define the following terms:nationalismmilitarismententepropagandaconvoyfrontarmisticemobilizationdissentsocialistpacifistespionagesabotageFourteen PointsLeague of Nationsreparations

Reviewing Key Facts1. Why did European nations form alliances?2. Why did the Zimmermann telegram push

the United States toward war?3. How did Russia’s withdrawal affect World

War I?4. In what ways did the war help improve

conditions for American workers?5. What was Henry Cabot Lodge’s greatest

concern about the League of Nations?

Critical ThinkingMaking Inferences

Many Americans wanted the United Statesto remain neutral during the war.

1. Why do you think many Americans fearedwar?

2. How did economic interests affect the Unit-ed States’s inability to remain neutral?

Skill Practice ActivityOutliningOn a separate sheet of paper, add supporting details tothe outline of Section 1 below.Steps Leading to World War II. Nationalism

A. As a unifying forceB. As a disruptive force

II. Imperial ExpansionIII. Military BuildupsIV. Forming Alliances

A. Triple Alliance membersB. Triple Entente members

Reviewing Themes1. Science and Technology What advantages

did airplanes provide in the war?2. Government and Democracy How did

President Wilson use Russia’s democraticrevolution to gain support for the war?

3. Geography and History How did theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk affect the war?

4. Economic Factors What caused the laborshortage in the United States during the war?

5. Global Connections What four nationsdominated the Paris Peace Conference?

Technology ActivityUsing the Internet Search theInternet to find out more detailsabout the “Great War”—WorldWar I. Use the infor-mation you find tocreate a chart titled“World War I—A Closer Look.” Focus on causesof the war, methods of warfare, and the out-come of the war for various countries. Includenumbers of casualties and costs of rebuilding.


Assessment and Activities


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Geography ActivityStudy the map below, then answer the questions thatfollow.

1. Location Which Central Powers victoriestook place in East Prussia?

2. Place When was Warsaw, Poland, defeatedby the Central Powers?

3. Movement Which line gave the CentralPowers more territory—the armistice line of1917 or the treaty line of Brest-Litovsk,1918?

Time Line ActivityCreate a time line on which you place the followingevents in chronological order.

• U.S. declares war against Germany• Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated• Battle of Verdun begins• Lusitania torpedoed• Treaty of Versailles signed

Cooperative ActivityHistory and Music With members of your group,research the life of George M. Cohan. Get copies ofthe lyrics to his songs, as well as recordings of themusic if possible. Then find excerpts such as the fol-lowing from soldiers who fought in World War I:

“As far as the eye could see was a massof black mud with shell holes filled withwater. . . . [H]ere and there a horse’scarcase [carcass] sticking out of thewater; here and there a corpse. Theonly sign of life was a rat or two swim-ming about to find food and a patch ofground. At night a yellow mist hungover the mud; the stench was almostunbearable. When gas shells came overthe mist turned to brown. It smelt likeviolets. The smell of violets was the signof danger.”

—Private H. Jeary, British forces

Use Cohan’s music as well as words and pic-tures from actual soldiers to create a multimediapresentation of “The Great War.”


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

GERMANY

RUSSIA

SWEDEN

ROMANIA

SERBIA

Treaty Line ofBrest-Litovsk

1918

ArmisticeLine 1917

Farthest CentralPowers Advance1915Farthest Allied

Advance 1915

BucharestDec. 1916

WarsawAug. 1915

MasuriaFeb. 1915

RigaSept. 1917

TannenburgAug.–Sept. 1914

BlackSea

Masurian LakesSept. 1914

EastPrussia

Poland

LembergMay–June

1915

Baltic

Sea

N

S

EW

The Eastern Front


1000 200 miles

100

Central Powers victory

HHiissttoorryy JJoouurrnnaall Reviewthe chapter for namesof committees andorganizations created by the UnitedStates government to handle war-related concerns. Make a list thatdescribes the responsibilities of eachcommittee or organization.

ActivityPortfolioPortfolio

Making candy was often a socialevent in the 1800s and early 1900s.Young people would gather and, asa group, make candy to be enjoyedfor the evening. Try to recreate ataffy pull.

The Way It WasBecause candy was a luxury that was

rarely available in the stores, taffy pullswere a popular gathering for young people. Guests would pull the golden,warm taffy into ropes and then cut thecandy and eat it. Candy making, especially taffy pulls, became a family or social event because it required constantattention and many hands to stir and pull the taffy.

The average American eats 18pounds of candyannually. More

than 2,000 different kinds ofcandy are manufactured inthe United States, and morethan half of these candiesare made with chocolate!

Not!It OrBelieve

■ 2 cups sugar■ 1 cup light corn syrup ■ 1 cup water ■ 1 1/2 teaspoons salt ■ 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened■ 2 teaspoons vanilla■ food coloring (optional)■ extra butter■ large flat pan or cookie sheet■ 2-quart saucepan■ candy thermometer■ kitchen scissors■ waxed paper■ stove

Materials11

Hands-On

Lab Activity

Hands-On

Lab ActivityHISTORYHISTORY

682 Unit 8 Reform, Expansion, and War

Taffy Pull

Early taffy pull

1 Butter the cookie sheet. In the saucepancombine the sugar, corn syrup, water, andsalt. Heat the mixture to boiling over medi-um heat. Carefully stir until the sugar is dissolved.

2 Place the candy thermometer in the pan andheat the mixture until the temperature reach-es 262°F. SAFETY NOTE: HANDLE HOT MATE-RIALS CAREFULLY. Remove the pan from theheat. Stir in the butter, vanilla, and food col-oring (if desired).

3 Pour the mixture onto the cookie sheet andlet it cool 10 to 15 minutes until the taffy iscool enough to handle.

4 Wash your hands very well and coat yourhands with butter. Divide the mixture in halfwith your hands.

Find out moreabout the making ofcandy. Research thetechniques that theSwiss, Germans, andDutch used to maketheir famous choco-

lates. Draw a diagram showing the varioussteps involved in turning cacao beans intochocolate candy bars.

What To Do22

a Step Further

GoGo

Unit 8 Reform, Expansion, and War 683

1. Why do you think it was necessary topull the taffy instead of just letting itcool on the cookie sheet?

2. Was making taffy easier or more diffi-cult than you thought it would be?Explain your answer.

3. Drawing Conclusions How long did ittake to make the taffy? How often doyou think making candy would occurtoday if it took this long to make?

Lab Report33

5 With a partner pull andtwist each half until thecandy holds its shape.Pull the taffy into longropes about 3/4 inch indiameter.

6 Butter the bladesof kitchen scissorsand cut the ropeinto 1 inch pieces.Wrap each piece ofcandy in waxedpaper.

Hardened taffy pieces

Chapter 23: World War I · flicts grew as European nations pursued dreams of ... 656 Chapter 23...

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Transcript of Chapter 23: World War I · flicts grew as European nations pursued dreams of ... 656 Chapter 23...