Four Causes of WWI (in Europe)

1. Militarism and Arms Race.

Countries were building up weapons and armies.

2. AlliancesWhen one country went to war, everyone got dragged in.

4. NationalismAs Ottoman empire crumbled, people in Balkans fought wars to form new nations.s

3. ImperialismAFRICA: European countries competing for colonies.

In 1914, the British Empire covered about ¼ of the world’s land and ruled

over about 1/5 of it’s population.

US policy of neutrality. In what ways was the US not particularly neutral

before entering the war?•Wilson announced the US would be neutralTo be a force for “good”-- US loaned money to Allies (not so neutral).-- Wilson paranoid about Americans taking sides.-- US joins war in 1917.

1. Lusitania and Submarine Warfare

•Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

•German policy to sink UK-bound ships without warning.

After Lusitania, Germany ended Unrestricted Submarine warfare until 1917.

•Lusitania 1915

•British ship with 1200 passengers (200 Americans) sailing in German territory.•Civilian ship (secretly carried weapons).•Part of reason US joins war.

Zimmerman Telegram

1917: Sent by Germany to Mexico, intercepted by UK.

Tried to get Mexico to join war against US.

UK did not share information immediately: Waited until they thought US would be more likely to join the war.

10,000 US Cavalry invading Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa in 1916.

US Infantry withdrawing from Mexico in Jan. 1917

Trade and Economics“Making the World Safe for Democracy”

•Europe’s economies all weakened by war; US economy grew (US loaned money to European ctries)•US produced much war materiel; US ended war with factories/industrial capacity.•At beginning, UK financed Allies; replaced by US when they ran out of money.•UK blockade against Germany – cut Germany off from supplies; caused mass starvation in Germany toward end of war.

Allies spent $147bil

Axis spent $67bil

Trade and Economics

•In 1917, the estimated cost of the war was $3.5 billion.

–Actual cost: $35 billion & 116,516 US soldiers.

•The US had loaned $2 billion to Britain and France before entering the war, compared to $27million to Germany.

Tax Base•Before the war, most of the government’s revenue came from tariffs.•In 1917, the War Revenue Act was passed, imposing an “excess profits levy” as high as 60%.

–Fed. Revenue went from $930 million in 1916 to $4,388 million in 1918

•The personal exemption for income tax went from 3,000 – 1,000•Tax on earnings above $500,000 went from 7% to 77%

–Thus the income tax became the most important source of federal revenues.

4. Demographics• Immigrants made up 1/3 of US pop. 1st or

2nd generation Americans• Prior to WWI, German Americans mostly

spoke German, but because of discrimination, many lost language/traditions

• Draft: By 1917 men 21-31 had to register for draft.• Men 18-45 could voluntarily register• 24mil registered• <350,000 dodged the draft.• 118,000 men died• 2.8 million drafted

Demographics

•1/3 of Americans were 1st or 2nd generation Germans.

–These 8 million Germans and another 4 million Irish did not love England.

•National Defense Act of 1916 expanded Army from 90,000 to 175,000

–While Wilson was still maintaining a policy of neutrality, a draft was instituted to expand the army.

African Americans in WWI

US Army•1917: US Army was the 7th largest in the world. Equipped with old weapons and only had a day and a half of ammunition in reserve.

– Spring, 1917: Army + Nat’l Guard =379,000– End of War: 3.7 million

•Early summer, 1917: token American forces and the French Army was plagued by mutinies.•March, 1918: 300,000 Americans in France•November, 1918: over 2 million!

• (1,400,000 of them saw action)• 367,000 African American troops

WWI and Women

•-Middle/upper-class women take place of men (at work)•Women worked in munitions factories, as well as many other jobs traditionally male (tram drivers, police, postal work).•1918 – strikes for equal pay.•Women contributed to war through volunteering (Red Cross, etc) raised status of women. No longer confined to domestic tasks.

Free Speech in times of war

• Many people/Muckrakers arrested for using free speech• One, Margaret Sanger arrested for giving speech about

birth control• Some people deported for speaking against war or

draft.• Many laws passed, such as Espionage Act

Woodrow Wilson•Insists on “open door” to make the world safe for democracy.•1918 – endorses women’s suffrage as vital for winning the war. (by 1917, 16 states had given women the right to vote).•Obsessive fear of disloyalty:

–Espionage Act (900 people sentenced to prison during war)

–Sedition Act–Selective Service Act–Trading with the Enemy Act–Alien Enemies Act–Alien Act

WWI Ends the Progressive Era

• -WWI: Many people did not want the US to join – worried it would weaken Prog. Mvmt.

• Gov’t controlled resources, labor… during war, which took energy away from social issues.

• Military reform: Progressives improved milit. Wages, benefits…

• Russian Revolution made people afraid of communism. anti-union, anti-progressive attitudes.

World War and the death of Progressive Party

•By 1916, Progressives became extremely committed to the defense of national honor, nationalism, and opposition to Wilson. But, imperialism and militarism replaced old liberal formulas of protest, and within a year, the party was dead.•War was justified with progressive rhetoric and on progressive terms.

–Discredited progressive language – morals and ideals–Guaranteed that anti-war reactions would be anti-

progressive.

US Reaction to theRussian Revolution of 1917

•US joins war partly because of Revolution in Russia.•After revolution, a civil war ensued. US sent supplies to Czarists (white army) to try to bring Czar back and to bring Russia back into the war.•US invades Russia (US troops trying to reverse Revolution, prevent expansion of communism)

• US troops remained in Russia until 1922

Human cost of WWI

•10 million military and 7 million civilians were killed in the war. (~ 117,000 Americans).•20 million died of hunger and disease related to war.

–Spanish Flu killed 600,000 Americans in 1918 and 1919.

National War Labor BoardNWLB

•To mediate disputes, recognize fair wages and hours, collective bargaining.

•War Labor Policies Board–Set standards for federal employees

Neutrality?

•William Jennings Bryan: Wilson practiced a false neutrality by allowing US passengers on ships that we know might be sunk. The ships are not neutral.

5. Wilson, WWI and Progressivism

Civil Society on the eve of war

1913 Armory Show, Chicago$45,000 worth of paintings sold!

Duchamp’s Nude descending a Staircase

(or, explosion in a shingle factory)

Wassily Kadinsky – Improvisation #27 – Garden of Love

Matisse’s work was chosen by students at Chicago's Art Student's League as the most appalling and blasphemous pictures in the exhibition. The charges brought against him were "artistic murder, pictorial arson, artistic rapine, total degeneracy of color, criminal misuse of line, general aesthetic abberation, and contumacious abuse of title“

Troubled by the public’s reaction to his work, Matisse said in an interview: "Oh do tell the American people that I am a normal man; that I am a devoted husband and father, that I have three fine children, that I go to the theatre!"

Meanwhile, in Europe, the press had been paying attention to the Caillaux affair. Joseph Caillaux, former premier and current minister of finance and radical socialist leader in France was accused of high crimes and misdemeanors. His wife was enraged by how the press had destroyed his career. She decided to solve the problem by buying a gun and killing the responsible journalist. When news arrived of the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serbia, it seemed only a brief distraction from the Calliaux trial.

How did the war affect the Economy?

•-- Unions•-- Wages•-- Production•-- Taxes

How do you think the war affected politics?

African Americans in the War

• Military service combined with social protest challenged the position African Americans.

• Many African Americans opposed involvement.• France had a better record on race, so many

African Americans sided w/ France• Most did not see combat – US did not want to

give them combat experience.• 330,000 African Americans sent to France.

WWI killed 10 million in battle2 million died of hunger related to war

Efforts to save grain led to the 19th Amendment– prohibition.

1915-1918: the real income of farmers grew 30%

$20 billion were raised with Liberty Bonds

Bernard Baruch, head of the War Industries Board (WIB)

Women working in a shipyard, 1918

1918, the government wanted to encourage women to work on farms to keep food production up.

Women in the Workforce

Wartime policies and economic changes wound up killing progressivism, even though progressives were in power. Why do you think?

Red Scare

•Russian Revolution causes fear of communism in America.•US passes laws to crack down against socialists.

Peace Conferenceat

Versailles•One reason Wilson wanted to join the war, was to participate in the peace conference.

–14 Points: US goals in peace• Free Trade in Europe• Self Determination (Countries can choose their own form

of Gov’t, but not for colonies)• League of Nations

– Republicans feared that it would force the US into another foreign war.

– US never joined.