America and the Great War

Chapter 23

I. The Road to War

• The Collapse of the European Peace– Imperialism, Nationalism and Militarism– Alliances

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– Archduke Franz Ferdinand: Sarajevo, Bosnia, June 28, 1914

– The Dominos fall…

Wilson’s Neutrality• 1914 “Maintain impartial thought as well as deed” =

Impossible• Social

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– • Economic

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– • Submarines

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Preparedness Versus Pacifism

• 1916 Election year

• Divided factions in the US: TR v. Bryan and LaFollette

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The War for Democracy

– Wilson in need for support of war•

– Germans become desperate•

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The War for Democracy Continued

– Two events to get the United States involved•

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– April 2, 1917 Wilson asks Congress for a declaration of war… would not receive it until April 6… dissent was strong.

II. “War Without Stint”

• Entering the War– Most immediate affect seen at sea

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– V.I. Lenin negotiates treaty with Germany– Eastern front troops would soon be available on the

Western Front

The American Expeditionary Force– Army shortcomings

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– Selective Service Act = Draft• •

– New Army referred to themselves as The American Expeditionary Force (AEF)

– Trench life = horrible

The American Expeditionary Force Again

– 1/10 soldiers gets VD– Diverse fighting force

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– The introduction of the IQ test and “morons”

The Military Struggle

– intense, brief fighting: European forces exhausted

– Eight months after US entry into the war in Spring 1918, the war was over

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III. The War and American Society• Organizing the Economy for War

– $32 Billion in expenses spent in war by USA… this was in a time when the entire federal budget seldom exceeded $1 billion before 1915 and GNP was only $35 billion in 1910

– “Liberty Bonds”• •

– New taxes brining in $10 billion – Council of National Defense organized

economy into different sectors based on function rather than geographic…(transportation, food, fuel supplies)

Organizing the Economy for War

– War Industries Board: wielded powers greater than any other government agency before it

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– appeared to be in line with Progressive ideals, but actually enhanced the private sector through a mutually beneficial alliance

– prevailing belief that a close relationship between gov’t and business should continue after the war

Labor and the War– National War Labor Board est. 1918

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– Union membership increased by more than 1.5 million between 1917 and 1919

– 1914 Ludlow Massacre (Colorado)• • • • •

Economic and Social Results of the War

– War caused a boom in the economy– Employment opportunity for women and minorities– “Great Migration” of blacks from rural South to urban centers in

the North• • •

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• Huge increases in Northern black population regardless (see p. 785)• July 2, 1917 white mob attacked a black neighborhood in St. Louis

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Economic and Social Results of the War Continued

– 1 million women worked in jobs that were previously thought of as male preserves: steel, munitions, trucking, public transportation

– After war was over, almost all of the women working in previously male industrial jobs quit or were fired, the result: the percentage of women working for wages actually declined between 1910 and 1920

IV. The Search for Social Unity

Progressive ideal: that war would lead America to unite behind a great

common cause and create a lasting sense of collective purpose

The Peace Movement– German Americans: opposed

American intervention– Irish Americans: opposed any

support of British–

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Women and The Peace Movement• Opposition

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• Support–

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Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent

• Many Americans opposed to the war prior to declaration, but make a “spontaneous decision” to support the president, the government and the “boys” overseas– – – –

• Religious revivalism connected to war effort: Billy Sunday

• Government leaders concerned about significant minorities who continued to oppose the war even after the United States entered it

Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Continued

– Committee on Public Information (CPI) • •

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• started with theory of only distributing the “facts”… but tactics grew crude– –

• began to make efforts to suppress dissent–

Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Continued Again

– Espionage Act of 1917•

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– Sabotage and Sedition Acts of 1918•

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Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Still Continued

– Biggest target was Socialist Party and IWW members•

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– Vigilante Mobs assembled to “discipline” war opponents

– American Protective League•

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Selling the War and Suppressing Dissent Concluded

– Most frequent targets of repression were • Irish: expressed hopes of a German victory prior

to 1917• Jews: expressed opposition to the anti-Semitic

policies of the Russian gov’t• German American Community: public opinion

turns bitterly hostile, even though many Germans supported American war effort after 1917– – – –

The Search For A New World Order

• The Fourteen Points– January 8, 1918 Wilson appeared before Congress

to present the principles for which he claimed the nation was fighting… became known as The Fourteen Points

– First: eight specific recommendations for adjusting postwar boundaries and for establishing new nations to replace defunct Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires… reflected his belief in the right of all peoples to self-determination

The Fourteen Points Continued

– Second: five general principles to govern international conduct in the future• • • • •

– Third: a proposal for a league of nations that would help implement these new principles and territorial adjustments and resolve future controversies

The Fourteen Points Continued Again

– Flaws•

• – Reflected belief that the world was capable of just

and efficient government as were individual nations, human race was capable of living in peace… reflection of Progressive Ideals

– Fourteen Points was also a response to Bolshevik government in Russia

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Early Obstacles– Abroad

– Leaders of Allied powers were preparing to reject Wilson’s plan even before the armistice was signed » »

– Enormous amount of bitterness towards Germans from France and Britain

– At Home–

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– Wilson believed the world would follow his lead

The Paris Peace Conference

– Wilson looked upon as a savior in Europe… greeted by the largest crowd in Paris’s history

– GB, France, Italy and US all represented at Peace conference

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The Paris Peace Conference Continued

– Many of Wilson’s plans shot down: freedom of the seas, free trade

– Reparations•

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• – Wilson Victories

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The Ratification Battle– many Americans were comfortable

with their country’s isolationism… now in a new major commitment to internationalism

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Wilson’s Ordeal

– exhausting cross country speaking tour • • • •

– Final 18 months of Presidency: paralyzed and unstable

– Senate adds amendments and reservations… Wilson orders original document to be accepted or no document at all

– League of Nations never passes the United States Congress

VI. A Society in Turmoil

Aftermath of war did not usher in an age of liberal reform that progressives

had predicted, but a period of repression and reaction

Industry and Labor

– fighting ended sooner than anyone could have anticipated… gov’t contracts to businesses cut off

– raging inflation in response to poor abandonment of wartime price controls

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Industry and Labor Continued

– 1919: over 3,600 strikes in response to employees rescinding war time benefits

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– “Where is that Democracy for which we fought?”

The Demands of African Americans

– AA veterans marched in the main streets of industrial cities with other returning troops, but then again through the streets of black neighborhoods,

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The Demands of African Americans

• Chicago, segregated beach on Lake Michigan, young black boy stoned to death by whites– – – –

• New characteristic: Blacks fighting back–

• Marcus Garvey– – – – –

The Red Scare

– white middle class fearing of instability and radicalism

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– Communist International: “Comintern” purpose to spread communist revolution around the world

– Terror in the US• •

The Red Scare Continued

– Results•

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The Red Scare Continued Again

– Palmer Raids•

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• – Sacco and Vanzetti

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The Retreat from Idealism– passage of 19th Amendment did not mark the

beginning of an era of reform, but rather the ending of one

– Social problems combine to create a general sense of disillusionment

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– WW hoped the 1920 election would be a referendum on the League of Nations… Ohio Governor James M. Cox was the Democratic Candidate / FDR was VP

– Harding has no ideals, but promises a “return to normalcy”