War & the American State 1914–1920

War & the American State1914–1920

• War starts– Most Americans didn’t want to

involve themselves– US had a good relationship with

both sides.

The Great War Starts

War in Europe • June 28, 1914, Gavrilo

Princip, a Bosnian, assassinated Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, & his wife in the town of Sarajevo

War in Europe

• The two rival blocs faced off: • Great Britain, France, Japan,

Russia, & Italy = Allied Powers • Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey,

& Bulgaria = Central Powers • Conflict = “the Great War,” or

later, World War I.

War in Europe • New military technology, much of it from

the U.S., made armies more deadly than before – Long range, high-velocity rifles– Could hit target at 1000 yards (Civil War

rifles only 300yds)– Machine gun– Poison gas…first used by Germans at Ypres

• Trench warfare = large casualties– Between February & December of

1916, the French suffered 550,000 casualties & the Germans 450,000

The Perils of Neutrality • After the war began in Europe

– Wilson said U.S. = neutral • believed that he could arbitrate &

influence a European settlement • U.S. had divided loyalties

– Many Americans felt deep cultural ties to the Allies

– Irish & German immigrants had strong pro-German sentiments.

The Perils of Neutrality

• Progressive leaders opposed US participation: – New pacifist groups mobilized

popular opposition – Political left said war was

imperialistic – Some industrialists, like Henry

Ford, bankrolled antiwar activities • African American leaders saw

the war as a conflict of the white race only

Conflict on the High Seas• British imposed a naval blockade:

– So? prevented neutral nations, including the U.S., from trading with Germany & its Allies

– And? created a trade imbalance bringing the U.S. to closer economic ties with the Allies

• Trade imbalance– Trade w/ GB and FR grew from $824 million

in 1914 to $3.2 billion in 1916– By 1917, American banks had lent the Allies

$2.5 billion– Germany trade and loans totaled only $29

million and $27 million respectively• Therefore our trade interests were bringing us

to the Allied side

The Perils of Neutrality• German navy launched the U-boat

– Issued warning to civilians: all ships flying the flags of Britain or its Allies were liable to be destroyed

• May 7, 1915: British ship Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland – 128 Americans were among the

1,198 people killed • September 1915: Germany announced

that its submarines would no longer attack passenger ships without warning

The Perils of Neutrality: Toward War

• Wilson worried that the U.S. might be drawn into the conflict – $1 billion buildup of the army & the

navy • Congress passed the National Defense

Act – Created the Council of National

Defense=an agency responsible for planning industrial mobilization in the event of war

• Election of 1916:– Wilson won the election but lost his

hopes of staying out of the war

The Perils of Neutrality• Anti-German sentiment increases in the

U.S….WHY? – Resumption of unrestricted submarine

warfare • Zimmerman telegram

– 1917 - Germany sent to Mexico to convince Mexico to go to war with the U.S.

– was intercepted & caused the U.S. to mobilize against Germany

• Throughout March 1917, German U-boats attacked & sank American ships without warning

• April 2, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war – United States formally declared war on

Germany on April 6, 1917

“Over There”: Conscription

• Americans assumed that their participation in the war would be limited to military & economic aid – surprised to find that US troops would

be sent to Europe • American government conscripted almost

4 million men & women with the passage of the Selective Service Act in May 1917

• all men between the ages of 20-45 had to register for possible military service. Used in case draft became necessary.

• Passage symbolized the increasing impact of the state on ordinary citizens

“Over There”: Conscription

• General John J. Pershing = head of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) – New recruits had to be trained

• The government countered the U-boats by sending armed convoys across the Atlantic– The plan worked: no American

soldiers were killed on the way to Europe.

“Over There”: The Western Front

• Pershing didn’t want to put his men under foreign commanders – UntilMay 1918, the French &

the British still bore the brunt of the fighting.

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – The new Bolshevik regime

under Vladimir Ilych Lenin surrendered about 1/3 of Russia’s territories in return for peace with the Central Powers.

“Over There”: The Western Front

• When Germany didn’t have to worry about Russia anymore, fighting with the allies intensified.

• American & Allied forces brought the German offensive to a halt in mid-July

• German & Allied representatives signed an armistice on November 11, 1918, ending World War I.

“Over There”: The Western Front• US contribution shifted

international power: – European dominance

declined– US emerged as a world

leader.

The American Fighting Force: Diversity and Racism in the Armed

Forces• US lost 48,000 American servicemen in the fighting, & another 27,000 died from other causes – Influenza epidemic swept the world in 1918-

1919.– The Allies & Central Powers lost 8

million soldiers.• Diversity

– Approximately 12,000 or 25% of the adult male Native American population served in the military

– About 1/5 of the Am soldiers were born in another country

The American Fighting Force: Diversity and Racism in the Armed

Forces• African Americans were in segregated units under the control of white officers – assigned menial tasks. – Over 400k black men served in the

military = 13% of the armed forces– 92% were draftees (a far greater rate

than that of whites)

“Over There”Over there, over there,Send the word, send the word

over there,That the Yanks are coming,

the Yanks are coming!The drums rum-tumming

everywhere.So prepare, say a prayer,Send the word, send the word

to beware,We'll be over, we're comimg

over,And we won't come back till

it's over over there.

Probably the most famous song of WW I. Cohan wrote this number after he had read in the newspaper that America had declared war on Germany. Cohan sold his rights to the song for $25,000. By the end of the war, "Over There" had sold over two million copies of sheet music and over a million records. Twenty-five years later Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented Cohan with the Congressional Medal of Honor "in belated recognition of his authorship of 'Over There' and 'You're a Grand Old Flag.'" "Over There" was interpolated in the motion pictures: The Cockeyed World (Fox, 1929), For Me and My Gal (MGM, 1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (Warner, 1942). and Tin Pan Alley (20th Century-Fox, 1943).

“Over There” • Over There

• Johnnie, get your gun,Get your gun, get your gun,

Take it on the run,On the run, on the run.

Hear them calling, you and me,Every son of liberty.Hurry right away,

No delay, go today,Make your daddy glad

To have had such a lad.Tell your sweetheart not to pine,

To be proud her boy's in line. (chorus sung twice)

• Johnnie, get your gun,Get your gun, get your gun,

Johnnie show the HunWho's a son of a gun.

Hoist the flag and let her fly,Yankee Doodle do or die.

Pack your little kit,Show your grit, do your bit.

Yankee to the ranks,From the towns and the tanks.

Make your mother proud of you,And the old Red, White and Blue.

(chorus sung twice)

ChorusOver there, over there,

Send the word, send the word over there -

That the Yanks are coming,The Yanks are coming,

The drums rum-tummingEv'rywhere.

So prepare, say a pray'r,Send the word, send the word to

beware.We'll be over, we're coming over,

And we won't come back till it's overOver there.

Mobilizing Industry & the Economy

• Government paid for the war by: (costs would eventually reach 33 billion)• Using the Federal Reserve System (est. in 1913) to

expand the money supply• Selling heavily advertised bonds (widened

support for war effort, too)• Enacting the War Revenue Bills of 1917 & 1918

• Transformed the tax into foremost method of federal fund raising

• Collecting excess-profits taxes from corporations. • = tax on corporate profits and the wealthiest

individuals during WWI • By 1918: US corporations were paying over

$2.5 billion in excess profit taxes per year = more than ½ of all federal taxes


• Wartime Economic Regulation• Progressives had hoped that the war emergency

would increase fed. Regulation of business…but• Suspended antitrust laws to encourage

cooperation and promote efficiency• War Industries Board (WIB) …est. July 1917

• Coordinated wartime production• Most powerful agency of the war, it had to

satisfy the allied needs for goods and direct American industries in what to produce

• WIB epitomized an unparalleled expansion of the federal government’s powers.

• Despite higher taxes, corporate profits soared:


• The Food Administration: (1917)• Led by Stanford-trained engineer, Herbert

Hoover• Used the slogan “Food will win the war”

• Encouraged farmers to expand production• Encouraged housewives to conserve food

• Women volunteers went door to door to gain housewives’ cooperation:

• “wheatless” Mondays, “meatless” Tuesdays and “porkless” Thursdays and Saturdays

• At no time was it necessary for the government to contemplate domestic food rationing.

Results of This New Organization of the

Economy?1. Unemployment virtually

disappeared.2. Expansion of “big

government.”3. Excessive govt. regulations in

eco.4. Some gross mismanagement

overlapping jurisdictions.5. Close cooperation between

public and private sectors.

6. Unprecedented opportunities for disadvantaged groups.

Organized Labor• gov’t need to ensure a reliable workforce• The demands of the draft and the abrupt decline in European

immigration created a decline in the workforce• urgent need for war production• All of the above reasons boosted labors’ bargaining power• NWLB formed in April 1918 (National War Labor Board):

• Helped to improve labor’s position further• Worked to establish an 8 hour work day for war workers• Time and a half for overtime• = pay for women workers

• Workers were not allowed to disrupt war production through strikes/or other disturbances

• NWLB gave workers the right to organize unions and required employers to deal w/ shop committees

• Labor’s status improved:• From 1916-1919 AFL membership grew by 1 million

• Few of their gains lasted, however

Black & Mexican American Workers

• African Americans were recruited by northern factories (coming from the “Great Migration” from the South).• Over 400,000 workers moved from the South to

cities like Chicago, St. Louis, NY and Detroit• Encountered discrimination in the North…jobs,

housing & education• Most were able to improve their lives by moving

North• Mexican Americans left farm labor for industrial

jobs in rapidly growing southwestern cities.• At least 100,000 Mexicans entered the US b/w 1917-

1920….settled in segregated neighborhoods (barrios)• Faced similar discrimination as Afr. Am.

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

Women

• About 1 million women joined the labor force for the first time, & many of the 8 million already working switched from low-paying fields to higher-paying industrial work.

Wartime Opportunities (p. 651)

Wartime Reform: Woman Suffrage and Prohibition

• Women’s patriotic service could advance the cause of woman suffrage. • Carrie Chapman Catt = president of NAWSA

• Members of the National Woman’s Party (NWP).. Alice Paul (more militant)– Arrested & jailed for picketing the White House

(7 months in jail…hunger strike)– Became martyrs & drew attention to the issue

of woman suffrage. • January 1918, Wilson withdrew his opposition to a

federal woman suffrage amendment • August 26, 1920: woman suffrage achieved with

the XIX Amendment. • Went through House fast…but 18 months in the

Senate

Wartime Reform: Woman Suffrage and Prohibition

• Campaign against sexually transmitted diseases • Forced the shut-down of red-light districts• W/ cooperation of YMCA & YWCA gov’t undertook

sex education program…warning of dangers and the value of “social purity”

• Prohibition:• Reformers equated drinking with the sins of the city

• Prostitution• Crime• Immigration• Machine politics

• met resistance in the cities--alcoholic beverages played an important role in the social life of certain ethnic cultures.

• Many states already had Prohibition laws

Promoting National Unity: CPI (Committee on Public Information)

• Promoted public support for the war • promoted the development of a national

ideology.• Many Americans found themselves targets of

suspicion• Encouraged ethnic groups to give up their Old

World customs in the spirit of “One Hundred Percent Americanism”

• Insistence on conformity & an intolerance of dissent.

• the Espionage Act of 1917 & the Sedition Act of 1918.– The acts (defined treason & sedition loosely):– Led to the conviction of 1000+

• Schenck v. United States– Said that an individual’s freedom of speech could be

curbed when there was a “clear and present danger”

Map 22.1 European Alliances in 1914 (p. 638)

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

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

Where in the world is Woodrow Wilson?

• Wilson only spent 10 days in the US b/w December 1918 and June 1919

• preoccupied with the peace process (14 Points)• Wilson called for:

• Open diplomacy• Freedom of navigation upon the seas• Arms reduction, the removal of trade barriers• An international commitment to national self-

determination • There were domestic issues that needed his attention

• Racial, ethnic & class tensions racked the nation.

An Unsettled Peace: The Treaty of Versailles

• Wilson proposes “peace without victory”– League of Nations– reflected the power of large countries..– Negotiating the Treaty

• Fourteen Points– open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, free

trade, territorial integrity, arms reduction, national self-determination, and the League of Nations

– Article X of the League of Nations covenant = would curb aggressive nations with collective military action

• “the war to end all wars.”


• Who attended the Paris Peace Conference?

• 27 countries• No Russia (were distrustful of

Bolsheviks) or Germany– Big Four: influential countries after

WWI - U.S., Britain, France and Italy, • Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges

Clemenceau, Vittorio Orlando• It’s all Germany’s Fault!!!! (Reparations)

• Germany was ordered to pay fines to the Allies to repay the costs of the war.

• Opposed by the U.S.• quickly lead to a severe depression

in Germany.

• Wilson’s successes:• National self-

determination takes hold:• Austria• Hungary• Poland• Yugoslavia• Czechoslovakia• Finland• Estonia• Lithuania• Latvia

• Some countries were able to uphold the principle of self-determination & isolate Soviet Russia from the rest of Europe.

• Wilson won only limited concessions regarding the colonial empires• Topics such as

freedom of the seas & free trade never came up because of Allied resistance.


An Unsettled Peace: The Battle for Ratification

• June 28, 1919• Peace treaty signed in Versailles • When Wilson presented the

treaty to the U.S. Senate, it did not receive the necessary 2/3s vote for ratification.

• The US Senate• Progressive senators felt that the

treaty was too conservative• “Irreconcilables” disapproved of

U.S. participation in European affairs,

• Republicans wanted to amend Article X.

An Unsettled Peace: The Battle for Ratification

• Defeat• September 1919:

• Wilson went on a speaking tour to defend the treaty

• Tour was cut short because he suffered a severe stroke.

• Wilson refused to compromise • treaty was never ratified (2 votes)

• Lasting legacy of the war• Wartime issues were only partially

resolved• Some unresolved problems played

a major role in the coming of World War II

• Some, like the competing ethnic nationalism in the Balkans, remain unsolved today.

Racial Strife, Labor Unrest, and the Red Scare

• African Americans• determined to stand up for

their rights after WWI• Those who had migrated to

the North & war veterans had high expectations that fueled white racism;

• Lynching nearly doubled in the South (48 in 1917 to 78 in 1919)

• Race riots broke out in the North. (by 1919, 120 deaths from racial violence)

• Chicago• 5 days of riots left 23

blacks and 15 whites dead

Racial Strife, Labor Unrest, and the Red Scare• 1919—A Year of Strikes

• Workers of all races had hopes for a better life• BUT: after the war employers resumed

attacks on union activity, • Rapidly rising inflation threatened to wipe

out wage increases.• Due to workers’ determination & employers’

resistance: • 1:5 workers went on strike in 1919• Strikes were held by steelworkers, shipyard

workers in Seattle, & policemen in Boston. – Policemen in Boston

• Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts fired the entire Boston police force

– That strike failed– Coolidge’s reward = Republican vice presidential

nomination in 1920.


• The Bombings• The Raids• The Deportations• The Presidency?• The Downfall


• Sacco-Vanzetti Case– Vanzetti’s last words.

If it had not been for these thing, I might have lived out my life among scorning men. I might have die, unmarked, unknown, a failure…Never in our full life can we hope to do such work for tolerance, for justice, for man’s understanding of man, as now we do by accident.

To sum up….

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

War & the American State 1914–1920

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Transcript of War & the American State 1914–1920