Chapter 24: The Nation at War, 1900-1920 #2

Toward War• Colonel Edward M.

House – was sent on a fact-finding mission– “it is jingoism [extreme

nationalism] run stark mad… There is too much hatred, too many jealousies.”

• large armies dominated the European continent

• web of alliances entangled nations

• a local conflict could produce a wider war

• June 28, 1914 – a Bosnian assassin with ties to Serbia murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austro-Hungarian) throne– Austria-Hungary blamed and attacked Serbia

• Russia came to the aid of their friend

– Germany – backed Austria-Hungary– Britain and France were allied with Russia

• Wilson – immediately proclaimed neutrality

Central Powers

• Germany• Turkey (Ottoman

Turks)• Austria-Hungary

Allied Powers

• England• France• Russia• Serbia

• The Neutrality Policy– in general, Americans accepted neutrality– they saw no need to enter the conflict– war – they thought – violated the very

spirit of progressive reform

• progressives – fought to keep the US out of war– formed the American Union Against

Militarism– Jane Addams and Lillian Wald – organized

the League to Limit Armament– Jane Addams and Carrie Chapman Catt –

formed the Women’s Peace Party

• many thought that in a nation of immigrants, a policy of neutrality would be wise from a domestic point of view as well as from the viewpoint of foreign policy

• both sides sought to sway American opinion– fierce propaganda

campaigns flourished• German Literary

Defense Committee – German

propaganda tended to stress strength and will

– Allied propaganda called on historical ties and took advantage of German atrocities, both real and alleged

• ties of heritage and the course of the war, not propaganda, decided the American position

• Americans of all persuasions preferred simply to remain at peace

• Freedom of the Seas– under

international law, neutral countries were permitted to trade in non-military goods with all belligerent countries

– Great Britain – controlled the seas• intended to cut off

shipments of war materials to the Central Powers

• Britain – blockaded German ports and limited the goods Americans could sell to Germany– Americans had to

carry cargoes to neutral ports, where after examination, they could be carried to Germany

• Britain – used economic sanctions by forbidding the shipment of all foodstuffs and most raw materials to Germany– British ships often

stopped American ships and confiscated cargoes

• Wilson – protested against such infringements on neutral rights

• Britain – pursued a careful strategy to disrupt German-American trade without disrupting Anglo-American relations– also promised to

reimburse American businesses after the war ended

• other than the German U-boats, there were no restrictions on trade with the Allies

• a flood of Allied war orders fueled the American economy– bought huge amounts of arms, grain, cotton, and

clothing• Allies also turned to American bankers for loans to

finance these purchases

• war produced the greatest economic boom in the nation’s history

• The U-Boat Threat– Unterseeboot – submarine, strained the

guidelines of international law• traditional law required a submarine to

surface, warn the target to stop, send a boarding party to check papers and cargo, allow time for passengers and crew to board lifeboats, and then sink the vessel

• in the submarine campaign – Germans promised not to sink American ships – an agreement that lasted until 1917– thereafter the issue became the right of

Americans to sail on the ships of belligerent nations

• William Jennings Bryan – urged Wilson to forbid Americans to travel in the war zones

• after U-boats sank the Lusitania and the Arabic, Wilson demanded that the Germans protect passenger vessels and pay for American losses

• Robert Lansing – a member of the State Department, favored the Allies and believed that democracy was threatened in a world dominated by Germany– he urged strong stands against German

violations of American neutrality

• February 1916 – Germany declared unrestricted submarine warfare against all armed ships– Lansing told Germany it

would be held strictly accountable for American losses

• in March 1916, a U-boat torpedoed the unarmed French channel steamer the Sussex without warning– April 18 – Wilson sent an

ultimatum to Germany, unless the Germans immediately called off attacks on cargo and passenger ships, the US would sever relations

• the German Kaiser yielded– Sussex pledge – issued May 4, 1916 – he

agreed to Wilson’s demands and promised to shoot on sight only ships of the enemy’s navy• attached the condition that the US compel the

Allies to end their blockade and comply with international law

– Wilson accepted the pledge, but turned down the condition

• Sussex pledge – marked the beginning of a short period of friendly relations between Germany and the US– applied not only to passenger liners, but to

all merchant ships, belligerent or not• Wilson – had taken such a strong

position that if Germany renewed submarine warfare on merchant ships, war was likely

• “He Kept Us Out of War”– “preparedness” issue – put antiwar groups

against those who wanted to prepare for it• American Rights Committee, the National Security

League, and other groups – urged stepped-up military measures in case of war

• persuaded the War Department to hold a training camp in Plattsburg, New York

– regular army officers trained 1,200 civilian volunteers in modern warfare

– following summer, 16,000 volunteers participated

• Teddy Roosevelt – led the preparedness campaign

• Wilson’s position was attacked from both sides– preparedness advocates charged cowardice– pacifists denounced any attempt at military

readiness

• mid-1915 – Wilson asked the War Department to increase military planning– quietly notified

congressional leaders of a switch in policy

– approved large increases in the army and navy – which upset many peace-minded progressives

– toured the country to promote preparedness in 1916

• 1916 – Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes – a moderate justice of the Supreme Court

• Democrats – nominated Wilson with the campaign slogan “He kept us out of war.”– on election night,

Hughes had swept most of the east, Wilson went to bed at 10 P.M. thinking he had lost

• Wilson – won, he held states in the Democratic South, carried key states in the Midwest and West, and took large portions of the labor and progressive vote– women – who were then allowed to vote

in presidential elections in 12 states – also voted heavily for Wilson

Election of 1916Electoral Votes

Popular Vote

Wilson (Democratic)

277 9,127,695

Hughes (Republican)

254 8,533,507

Minor Parties 819,022

• The Final Months of Peace– just before election day, Great Britain

further limited neutral trade and there were reports that Germany had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare

– Wilson – redoubled his efforts for peace• hoped to start negotiations to end the

bloodshed and create a peaceful postwar world

• sent messages to both sides asking them to state their war aims– pledged the “whole

force” of the US to end the war

• Allies refused – promised to privately negotiate if the German terms were reasonable

• Germans – replied evasively and revealed their real objectives– wanted territory in

eastern Europe, Africa, Belgium, and France

• Wilson – called for “peace without victory”– he urged respect for

all nations, freedom of the seas, arms limitations, and a League of Nations to keep the peace

• Germans – had decided a few weeks before to unleash the submarines and gamble on a quick end to the war– U-boats were in the

Atlantic west of Ireland, preparing to attack

• January 31st – German ambassador in Washington informed Lansing that the next day, U-boats would sink on sight all ships – passenger or merchant, neutral or belligerent, armed or unarmed – in the waters around England and France– Wilson – broke off

relations with Germany, although he still hoped for peace

• February 25th – British government privately gave Wilson a telegram intercepted from Arthur Zimmerman (the German foreign minister), to the German ambassador in Mexico– proposed an

alliance with Mexico in case of war with the US, offering financial support and recovery of Mexico’s “lost territory” in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona

• Wilson – asked Congress for permission to arm merchant ships – the House passed

Wilson’s measure, it was blocked in the Senate

• March 9, 1917 – Wilson ordered merchant ships armed on his own authority– he announced the

arming and the navy instructed all vessels to fire on submarines

• between March 12 and March 21 – U-boats sank five American ships, and Wilson decided to wait no longer

• called Congress into special session– April 2, 1917 –

asked for a declaration of war

• April 6 – the declaration of war passed– country was

still divided over the entry into war