World War I

Prelude to War• Political Unrest in Mexico, caused by a series of dictators

who were overthrown.

• Carranza becomes Mexico’s president, which was met with much animosity. Mexican forces opposed to Carranza conducted raids into the U.S.

• Led by Pancho Villa, guerrillas burned the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing 18 Americans. Wilson sent 6,000 troops under General John J. Pershing who tried unsuccessfully to caputre Villa in a nine-month pursuit that ended when Wilson’s growing concern over the war in Europe led him to recall the troops.

• In 1917, the U.S. expanded its naval power in the Caribbean by purchasing the Virgin Islands from Denmark.

Long-term Causes

Nationalism- Encouraged competitiveness between nations and encouraged various ethnic groups to attempt to create nations of their own.

Militarism- Involves the development of the armed forces and their use as a tool of diplomacy.

Imperialism- Closely linked with industrialization and involves a contest for colonies.

  Triple Entente/ Allies Triple Alliance/ Central Powers

The War Begins1914- Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the thrown of Austria-Hungary) is assassinated by a Slavic nationalist. Gavrilo Princip. This causes Austria-Hungary to declare war on Serbia, July 28, 1914.

Russia defends Serbia and begins mobilizing troops along the border of Germany and Austria- Hungary.

Russia rejects Germany’s demands to stop mobilizing. In return, Germany declares war on Russia (Aug. 1) and France (Aug. 3).

Germany called their plan of attack, the Schlieffen Plan and it was effective because it would allow Germany to quickly invade France through Belgium (friend of Great Britain). This caused Belgium and Great Britain to declare war on Germany.

Result? The Schlieffen Plan FAILED because both sides were just as powerful and ending up reaching a stalemate.

By August 4, all major powers in Europe are at war.

  Triple Entente/ Allies Triple Alliance/ Central Powers

U.S. “Neutrality”Britain imposed a blockade on the Central Powers.

Exports from the U.S. to the Central Powers decreased. While exports from the U.S. to the allies nearly quadrupled.

U.S. lent allies $2 billion

U.S. purchased $2 billion in Britain and French war.

Germans retaliated to the blockade by relying on a new weapon, the submarine. The U-boat broke long established rules of warfare by sinking unarmed ships.

1915- British passenger liner, The Lusitania, was sunk. Nearly 1,200 passengers drowned (including 128 Americans).

1916- U-Boat torpedoed the Sussex (French passenger ship), once again injuring Americans on board.

Final Warning- U.S. demands that the German government abandon submarine warfare or risk war.

U.S. “Neutrality”Germany offers to compensate Americans injured on the Sussex and promised not to sink anymore merchant ships without warning. This was known as the Sussex Pledge.

Wilson wins reelection on a peace ticket, “he kept us out the war!”

Gruesome war- Use of poisonous gas, new weaponry (tanks, machine guns) and new tactics (trench warfare). This makes Wilson want to negotiate a peace treaty between warring nations.

Germany decides to resume unrestricted warfare. They were hoping to starve Britain into submission with the permission to sink ships on site. The Germans felt that even if this violated the Sussex Pledge causing the U.S. to enter the war, we would not be able to raise an army and transport it to Europe without the allies collapsing first.

Entering the WarFebruary 3, 1917- we break off diplomatic relations with Germany.

Zimmerman Telegram- The German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmerman, wrote to the German ambassador in Mexico to arrange an alliance between Mexico and Germany (if the U.S. entered the war). To encourage Mexico’s cooperation, Germany promised that Mexico would regain Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, upon a Germany victory.

This telegram was intercepted by Britain and the U.S. published the telegram, which caused an outrage in the U.S.

In addition to the note, FOUR American merchant ships were sunk without warning between March 12- 19.

Raising an ArmySelective Service Act- (May 1917) Required all men between 21 and 30 to register for military service. The draft was eventually extended to include all men between 18 and 45.

By June, nearly 10 million men were registered

Among those registered, 370,000 were African Americans who encountered rampant discrimination and prejudice in the army.

African Americans:Had their own units which were completely segregated.

Were not allowed to serve in the Marine Corps

In the Navy were restricted to lower ranks (10,000)

Fought valiantly despite these set-backs.

Won much praise for their efforts- 369th infantry regiment (African American regiment that saw continuous fighting on the western front)

Opposition to the War

Pacifists- “Perceived all wars as evil.”

Socialists- Saw the war as an “imperialistic struggle.”

Victory on Land and SeaGermany made a last desperate effort to win the war (almost did).

The tide turned in mid-July 1918, as Marshall F. Foch, supreme commander of the Allied armies, ordered a counteroffensive along the Western Front close to the German border.

American troops- near Verdun (Northeast France)

550,000 doughboys won an overwhelming victory at St. Mihiel and continued through German lines.

Germany signs an armistice (temporary stop to fighting) on Nov. 11, 1918.

The last months of the war were darkened by an influenza epidemic that killed more people worldwide than all of the wartime battles.

Managing the Economy

Liberty Bonds- Special war bonds sold by the government to support the Allies during World War I.

Industry from commercial goods war goods.

New Agencies:War Industries Board: Headed by Bernard Baruch, oversaw the nation’s war- related production.

War Trade Board: Licensed foreign trade and punished firms suspected of dealing with the enemy.

National War Labor Board: Set up under Taft, worked to settle any labor disputes that might disrupt the war effort.

War Labor Policies Board: Set standards for wages, hours, and working conditions in the war industries.

Regulating Food and Fuel Consumption

1917, Lever Food and Fuel Control Act- Gave the President the power to manage the production and distribution of foods and fuels vital to the war effort.

Created the Fuel Administration- “Gasless days”

Daylight Savings Time (increased work day)

Food Administration- Worked to increase farm output and reduce waste.

Price Controls

System of rationing (distribution goods to consumers in a fixed amount)

Enforcing Loyalty

News and Info came under federal control.

Censorship of the press

Banned publications from the mails

1917, George Creel, a Denver journalist and former muckraker, was appointed the head of the Committee on Public Information.

Short films, pamphlets explaining war aims, posters advertising recruitment and Liberty Bonds.

Fear of espionage (spying) was widespread.

Hostility towards GermansBooks by German authors and German music disappeared, Hamburger salisbury steak, German shepards Police dogs.

Repression of Civil Liberties

U.S. would fight for liberty and democracy and warned that disloyalty would be dealt with.

Espionage Act- Made it illegal to interfere with the draft.Amended in 1918 by Sedition Act.

Sedition is any speech or action that encourages rebellion.

Sedition Act- Made it illegal to obstruct the sale of Liberty Bonds, or to discuss anything “disloyal, profane, or abusive” about the government, the Constitution or the armed forces.

As a result of the war, about 400,000 women joined the industrial work force for the first time.

Global Peacemaker

Fourteen Points- Proposals given by President Wilson on January 8, 1918 (prior to the end of the war). These points outlined the post- World War I peace treaty later negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference and were partially fulfilled in the conference’s resulting Treaty of Versailles.

Seven of the points proposed territory adjustments, and the fourteenth point was the basis for the League of Nations, which the U.S. never joined.

League of Nations- An organization in which the nations of the world would join together to ensure security and peace for all its members.

Article 10, “members of the League would regard an attack on one country as an attack on all.”

The Peace Treaty

• The Allies accepted Wilson’s plan for the League of Nations, opposition to the League from the Congress and many Americans had weakened Wilson’s position at the conference.

• France wanted harsh penalties against Germany (Wilson feared this would lead to future wars).

• Treaty of Versailles- Lost of territory for European nations.• Ottoman Empire- Lost territory• Austria-Hungary- Split up• Germany- lost territory and was stripped of its

colonies. They were also required to pay for damage it had done in Europe and to repay the Allies for the cost of the war.

Red ScareCongress passed new restrictive immigration laws in part because of the growing fear of socialism that was spreading through southern and eastern Europe.

After Russia collapsed to communism in the Russian Revolution of 1917, panic swept across the United States. In the Red Scare of 1919–1920, Americans became suspicious that they might fall victim to a communist plot to take over the country.

The two main methods that workers’ unions used to create fair labor agreements—striking and collective bargaining—came to be seen as tools of socialists and anarchists.

As a result, labor unions were frowned upon and dwindled in number and size. Several hundred Americans who affiliated with the Communist and Socialist parties were arrested, as were labor organizers and others who criticized the U.S. government.

Racial Tension

Accompanying the Red Scare was a wave of racism. Racial tensions rose as white soldiers returned from Europe and found themselves competing for jobs and housing with African Americans.

Prohibition

By January 1919, two- thirds of the states had ratified the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting “the manufacture, sale or transportation” of intoxicating beverages.

Nineteenth Amendment- Women’s suffrage.