AP/IB American History Mr. Blackmon Woodrow …teachers.dadeschools.net/dblackmon/APIBUSHistory/13...AP/IB American History Mr. Blackmon World War I Page 2 no means reconciled to economic

AP/IB American History Mr. Blackmon

Woodrow Wilson and World War I

I. This handout will concentrate on Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy. It will begin with hispolicies prior to the outbreak of the war itself, chiefly in Mexico, which, from the perspectiveof IB, is an important topic. It will then cover our entry into World War I, the War itself, andthe Treaty of Versailles.

II. The Mexican RevolutionA. The weakness of the following discussion is that it is written entirely from the US

point of view, an obvious limitation when discussing complex events in anothernation. Next year, we will look at the Mexican Revolution from its properperspective, theirs.

B. Wilson's foreign policy was well-intentioned but confused. Sometimes, he doesthings right. Sometimes he does things wrong. Sometimes he recognizes andcorrects his mistakes. At other times, he never learns.

C. Wilson denounced Taft's "Dollar Diplomacy"1. Withdrew support of a US owned Manchurian Railroad, which Taft had

supported.2. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, a pacifist, concluded 21 treaties

with other nations providing for a "cooling off" period in settling disputes.D. In other respects, Wilson continued the policy of "gunboat diplomacy."

1. He would not tolerate "unrest" in the vicinity of the Panama Canal (despitethe anger of Central Americans and Marxists, I don't blame him.)

2. The Bryan-Chamorro Treaty (1914) with Nicaragua converted the nationinto a US protectorate.a. The US maintained Adolfo Diaz in power.

3. US Marines land to preserve order in the Dominican Republic in 1916.4. Marines also land in Haiti in 1915 and establish a protectorate as well as a

lengthy stay.E. The real crucible of US Latin American policy under Wilson is Mexico.

1. The Mexican caudillo Porfirio Diaz was overthrown in 1911.a. The Porfiriato had brought a degree of modernization and

considerable foreign investment, including heavy US investment, inMexico. It was achieved at the cost of severe political repression andgrowing poverty among the mass of the people.

b. Diaz' rule is associated particularly with the large hacendados, andforeign investors.

2. The new, and legitimate president of Mexico is Francisco Madero, alandowner who had committed himself to Progressive reform.a. Madero is strongly influenced by US Progressivism, and had spent

much time in the US in exile.b. He was committed to economic reformc. He proved to be a poor administrator and politician who was too

brave for his own good. Many influential persons in Mexico were by

AP/IB American History Mr. BlackmonWorld War I Page 2

no means reconciled to economic reform.3. Madero was treacherously murdered in 1913 by the caudillo Victoriano

Huerta, who then seized power, with the backing of conservative forces.a. Huerta is characterized by Garraty as a reactionary. This is largely

true. Yet he is more complex than that. Meyer and Sherman argue(531) that he was in some ways more far sighted than Madero.Wilson was unsuited by temperament to understand the complexitiesof Mexican revolution.

b. He was assisted in his treachery by the US ambassador to MexicoCity, Henry Lane Wilson (no relation to the President) a creature ofUS investors in Mexico who feared that their mineral concessionswould be nationalized. The final negotiations leading to Huerta'streachery were conducted at the US embassy.

c. Ambassador Wilson then brought very heavy pressure to bear toachieve diplomatic recognition of Huerta.

d. Woodrow Wilson was unaware of Ambassador Wilson's scheming,but he nevertheless resisted recognizing Huerta. He sent a specialenvoy to Mexico to look into the matter for himself (which indicatesthat Wilson did not trust his own ambassador). That was good. Theman unfortunately did not speak Spanish. That was bad. Hisperspective on the Mexican Revolution (and therefore Wilson's,therefore left a lot to be desired.

e. Wilson refused recognition to Huerta: "I will not recognize agovernment of butchers."(1) This is not, however, customary diplomatic usage. Normally,

the de facto government of a nation is recognized, whether ornot one approves of them. This leaves Wilson no real way tocommunicate with the Mexican government, since he ispretending that they don't exist.

f. Wilson applies what pressure he can to force Huerta out.4. In the meantime, civil war has broken out in Mexico, with supporters of

reform including Venustiano Carranza (Madero's apparent heir, and the manwith the best claim to the legitimate presidency of Mexico), Pancho Villa,and Emilio Zapata. Huerta has his hands full. The civil war, like most civilwars, is fought with great ruthlessness and cruelty.a. Wilson's open opposition to Huerta actually serves to strengthen him,

since Mexicans of all parties could agree to hate gringos.b. Wilson becomes obsessed with getting rid of Huerta, but did not

really look at the alternatives too carefully.5. The seizure of Vera Cruz

a. An incident involving US sailors at Tampico April 1914 enragedWilson. The sailors were arrested and then released. Considering the


turmoil in Mexico, it is the sort of thing that was bound to happen.Wilson's response was foolish. Wilson allowed himself to bedistracted by diplomatic technicalities, and eventually ordered theseizure of Vera Cruz.

b. The US Marines took the city, but not without many civiliancasualties. Huerta and his forces resist.

c. Carranza and the Constitutionalists also resist. No Mexican couldapprove of such flagrant violation of Mexican sovereignty. Ifanything, the invasion strengthened Huerta with the people, the lastresult Wilson wanted or needed.

d. Continued occupation did, however, cut Huerta off from customsduties, which he needed badly.

6. The ABC Mediationa. Wilson is stuck in Vera Cruz without an easy way out. He is quick

to accept mediation by Argentina, Brazil and Chile, meeting atNiagara Falls, Ontario.

b. Huerta resigned in 1914, and Carranza forms a Constitutionalistgovernment.

7. Pancho Villaa. Unfortunately for Mexico, their Revolution was not over. In October,

1914, fundamental rifts opened between Carrancistas on the one hand[even this is a simplificaiton] and Zapatistas and Villistas on theother.(1) Carranza withdrew his government from Mexico City to Vera

Cruz just as US troops evacuated the city.b. The alliance of Pancho Villa, who was based in the north, and

Emiliano Zapata, based in the south, did not last. By early 1915, totalanarchy in Mexico prevailed, with numerous and frequent atrocitieson all sides.

c. Villa lost a crucial battle at Celaya in April 1915 to Alvaro Obregon.Wilson finally extended recognition to the Carranza government atthis juncture.

d. Villa determined to take revenge on the US for this recognition. OnJanuary 9, 1916, his men murdered 15 American miners in Mexico,then on March 9, 1916, his men invaded Columbus New Mexico,killed 18 and burned the town down.

e. Wilson blew his top (and let us face it, the provocation was veryextreme and political pressure more than intense.) and ordered Gen.John Pershing to invade northern Mexico to catch and punishPancho Villa..

f. Pershing's pursuit of Villa is ineffective (it is the same terrain that theApaches had used to harass American and Mexican alike, and Villa


had the support of the local population).g. Pershing's continued presence and deep entry into Mexican soil

caused Carranza to wonder if we would withdraw at all and what ourultimate intentions were. Such concerns were natural.

h. Armed clashes between Mexican and US cavalry occurred in June1916 on Mexican soil.

i. Wilson eventually recognized that the pursuit of Villa was fruitless,and furthermore he was becoming increasingly worried about thesituation in Europe. He needed to clear his flanks of entanglements.Wilson unilaterally orders a US withdrawal.

j. Wilson's bungling fanned the flames of anti-US sentiment in Mexico.On the other hand, his support for Carranza did in fact assistconstitutional government, and his recognition of our limitationsbrought an end to the crisis and indirectly supported Carranza as well.

III. Outbreak of World War IA. The AP exam is indifferent as to the causes of World War I (or World War II, for that

matter). They are only interested in how and why the US entered the war. Thisconstitutes, in my opinion, the most serious weakness of the AP course and the APexam--and it is a serious weakness indeed. Any discussion of the significance andconsequences of the two greatest man-made calamities in human history that does notaddress their causes is so badly flawed as to be virtually meaningless. The APattitude is parochial in the extreme. History cannot be boxed into tight littlecategories; the best historians are those with the broadest understanding of the forcesthat influence the human experience, regardless of man-made categories ofconvenience.

B. The pace and time constraints of AP do not permit me to teach the subject with anydegree of satisfaction here. I have too much material to cover before the exam, andI feel an obligation to try to get you ready for that exam. This weakness in AP is thechief reason why I agreed to teach the IB Contemporary World History course.There, I will do a proper job of it. The two courses together will provide a verystrong foundation in history for your college experiences (the short term gain) and avery good insight into the events which have shaped, and which will likely continueto shape, our world (the long term benefit).

C. The war was precipitated when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to theAustrian throne, is assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, at Sarajevoon June 28, 1914.

D. Russia ordered mobilization on July 26, 1914.E. Austria declared war on Serbia on July 28F. Germany declared war on Russia on August 1. Germany declared war on France on

August 3.G. Germany invaded neutral Belgium, whose territorial integrity Germany was pledged

to protect, on August 4


H. England, in accordance with its treaty with Belgium, and in accordance to historicEnglish interests, declared war on Germany August 4.

I. The Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey, plus Balkanallies.

J. The Allied Powers included Great Britain, France, Russia, and Italy, plus Balkanallies.

K. Wilson immediately issued a Proclamation of Neutrality.1. He feared that war would end Progressive reform. He was right; it did.2. He feared entanglement in European wars, which was the traditional US

position. a. It should be noted however, that the US had not faced a similar

European crisis since the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars(1789-1815). We were eventually dragged into that war, too. Thereare very strong parallels between US entry into the War of 1812 andWorld War I: expect an essay question on the subject!

3. Our common culture and language led most Americans to sympathize withGreat Britain.

4. Our shared democracies, contrasted with autocratic governments of Germanyand Austria-Hungary, also led to pro-Allied feeling.

5. Americans remembered French assistance in the American Revolution, whichled to pro-French feeling.

6. Wilson greatly admired the British constitution and government (his area ofprofessional expertise), which naturally led him to sympathize with GreatBritain.

7. The invasion of Belgium was a public relations disaster for Germany (as wasGerman behavior in Belgium).

8. British propaganda was enormously effective in portraying the Germans asthe villains. German propaganda by contrast was so inept as to be laughable.

9. Fundamentally, a strong case can be made that a German victory, whichwould give Germany hegemony over Europe, would be as much opposed toUS interests as it would be against British interests. I am unconvinced thatmany Americans analyzed the situation in those terms, however.

IV. Freedom of the SeasA. The US entered World War I primarily over the issue of Freedom of the Seas, which

has traditionally been a US principle.1. This is a parallel with the War of 1812

B. International law permits neutrals to trade freely with belligerents.C. Britain employed their traditional weapon: blockade, in a situation similar to 1805-

1812.1. Not only were munitions declared contraband, but also food and medicine.2. Trade with other neutrals (Holland, Sweden) was restricted.3. Neutral ships were stopped, searched, and seized. Firms doing business with


the Central Powers were blacklisted.4. The British were clearly in violation of our interpretation of international law

(they have never accepted the principle of Freedom of the Seas). In a war forsurvival, they are fully prepared to wound our sensibilities.

5. The US could have brought this British behavior to an end immediately bydeclaring a boycott.a. Great Britain could not survive the war without US trade.b. US support was essential for British victory; the British must

therefore measure their actions against our response.6. Wilson is in a dilemma. If he lets the British interpret the rules, he tacitly

sides with Britain against Germany, which is not neutrality.a. But if he boycotts the British, he denies the British their most

powerful weapon, blockade, which of course is not neutrality either.7. The British blockade brought about a collapse of trade with the Central

Powers while trade with the Allied Powers boomed.a. Munitions makers in the US liked the neutral situation. Their profits

boomed.b. The extent of trade with the Allies tended of course to tie the US to

the Allies economically.8. Loans to the Allies had the same effect:

a. $2,000,000,000 in loans to buy munitionsb. This use of US financial resources is also a violation of neutrality.

But the profits were too high not to continue them.D. U-boat Warfare

1. The Germans were precluded from raiding British commerce with surfacevessels due to British naval superiority. Their only recourse to impose acounter-blockade on Great Britain was a new technology: the U-boat orsubmarine.

2. A submarine, by its very nature, could not operate according to theinternational rules of war, which required a merchant vessel to be searched,and the crew placed n lifeboats before the vessel was sunk.

3. The Germans declared a "War Zone" around Great Britain in 1915. Theypublicly declared they would sink any vessel, without warning, found in thatzone.a. Allied vessels frequently flew the US flag as a ruse.

4. Wilson declared a policy toward Germany of "strict accountability" forviolations of neutral rights. That included the deaths of American citizens onBritish ships.a. John Garraty notes, "If he meant to hold Germans responsible for

injuries to Americans on belligerent vessels, he was changinginternational law as arbitrarily as the Germans were." (599)

b. William Jennings Bryan, Wilson's Secretary of State, opposed this


policy change: "A ship carrying contraband should not rely uponpassengers to protect her from attack. It would be like puttingwomen and children in front of an army."(1) Bryan, who was a pacifist, recognized clearly that Wilson's

policy of strict accountability meant war with Germany unlessGermany backed down.

c. Public opinion, however, supported Wilson.5. The sinking of the Lusitania, 5/1/15, was a turning point in public opinion.

a. 1200 persons died, including 128 Americans.b. Public opinion was intense and outraged. This kind of loss of civilian

life was a new experience to the US public.c. I believe that the blame placed on Germany was unjust.

(1) Germany had posted a fair warning about the War Zone.(2) In addition, German espionage had good knowledge of the

Lusitania's sailing date and probable course. Just prior todeparture, the Germans published statements in the US pressrepeating their warnings. I do not know what they could havedone beyond that. No one paid heed.

(3) The Germans knew that the Lusitania carried munitions,which was obviously contraband.

(4) British placement of munitions on a passenger liner isprecisely the circumstance envisioned by Bryan above.

(5) The British denied that there were munitions, and for all Iknow, still do. Wilson, however, after the sinking demandedthe manifests. I am still researching this incident, but to date,those manifests--the real ones--had not been revealed.

(6) The Lusitania, the largest passenger vessel in the world, wasstruck forward by a single torpedo, and sank in 12 minutes.That is much too fast for a single torpedo; in fact, a singletorpedo should not have sunk it at all. Only secondaryexplosions, such as exploding munitions in the hold, couldhave done that. The torpedo struck the area of the cargo hold.

(7) Scuba divers in recent years have ascertained that theLusitania suffered massive damage due to internal explosions.The plates buckled outwards.

(8) The course taken by Lusitania is also strange. It was notzigzagging to avoid submarines. The U-boat was known tothe British Admiralty to be in the region, but no warning wassent.

(9) There is an ugly interpretation that Winston Churchill, FirstLord of the Admiralty, dangled the Lusitania as bait, hopingthat the Germans would sink it, in order to entice the US into


the war. Churchill is one of my heroes, but there is nothingin such a plan too ruthless or devious for him. In fact, he isthe only modern British statesman I know who would becapable of such a plot. It is not proven, though.

(10) The Lusitania was a legitimate target of war.(11) Sinking it was, however, a colossal blunder. The horror felt

in the US did Germany's cause far more damage than if theship had raced full speed across the Atlantic crammed full ofmunitions for the entire war.

6. The sinking of the Arabic in August brought about areal threat of a US declaration of war. TheGermans back down, and pledged to followinternational law in submarine attacks. They alsoreduced submarine operations.

7. By 1916, the British blockade is beginning to havea serious effect, and pressure builds within Germanmilitary circles to resume unrestricted submarinewarfare.

8. In March, 1916, the cross-Channel steamer Sussex wastorpedoed, costing some American lives. Wilsonthreatens to sever diplomatic relations. Germanyagain backs down, and the Sussex pledge commits Germanyto pre-war rules, which eliminates submarines as acommerce raider.

9. Believing Wilson was leading the nation into war,Bryan resigned.

10. By the end of 1916, the blockade is causing verysevere problems in Germany--1916-17 is Germany'sTurnip Winter.

V. The Election of 1916A. TR was raging against Wilson for not fighting

1. Had TR foreseen that his favorite son would sacrifice his life, he might nothave been so eager; TR never recovered emotionally from Quentin's death.

2. Wilson had also slowed down on his reform efforts and that threatened hissupport.

B. Wilson tried to deflect pressure by reactivating his reforma. He appointed Louis D. Brandeis to the Supreme Courtb. He pushed the Farm Loan Actc. He passed the Adamson Act, which provided the 8 hour day for

railroad workers.d. He passed anti-dumping legislatione. Arthur S. Link, the greatest Wilson scholar, notes that Wilson was

now implementing "almost every important plank of the Progressive[Bull Moose] platform of 1912." (Garraty 602)


C. Wilson ran on the platform of "He kept us out of war."1. He was not being hypocritical. He desperately wanted to avoid war. Wilson

agonized over the eventual decision. Furthermore, he did not promise that hecould not be pushed into war at all.

2. Wilson won the election by a narrow margin.VI. The Road to War

A. On January 27, 1917, Wilson made a major speech in which he called for a "peacewithout victory"1. Wilson was right. He alone saw the reality of the situation, which was that,

already, no one could really win the war. He also saw that any settlementimposed by a victor would breed such hatred and resentment toward thewinners that a new war would be inevitable.

2. Wilson is already moving toward the Fourteen Points.3. Wilson was a visionary. He dreamed of replacing "balance of power" with

"community of power." This represented the apex of traditional Americanideas of the relationship of democracy and diplomacy.a. We will come back to these concepts with the Cold War. There is a

strong parallel to be drawn between the situation the US found itselfin 1919 and in 1945, except that our response was quite different.This is, and should be, an essay question. In fact, it is several essayquestions.

B. Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare on February 1, 1917. The USsevers diplomatic relations on February 3.1. The Zimmermann Telegram, offering Mexico Texas, New Mexico, and

Arizona in exchange for Mexican assistance. The British intercepted thenote, and presented the text of this incredibly stupid telegram to WilsonFebruary 24.

2. By April, German torpedoings has ended Wilson's reluctance to ask Congressfor a declaration of war. The US declares war on April 6.

3. Wilson asked for the declaration reluctantly. He thought that "the spirit ofruthless brutality [would] enter the very fiber of our national life." (Garraty604)

4. Typically (of his personality and of US attitudes toward the use of force), hegave our intervention an idealistic purpose:a. Germany was a threat to civilization itself.b. The US must create a better and brighter world.c. "The world must be made safe for democracy."

5. Such idealism was bound to be disillusioned in the brutal hurly burly of war.One result is the intense reaction against the war in the 1920s and 1930s--justthe flip side of American reforming idealism. This is an enduring Americanquality; we will see it in debates over the Cold War, in revisionist historiansover World War I, World War II, the Cold War and Viet Nam. We can see


it in the debate over the Gulf War.6. US entry dooms Germany. Without the US, Germany might have won in

1917. With the US in the war, Germany had no chance whatsoever ofwinning in 1918.

VII. The Mobilization of the Home FrontA. The US, even with the idealistic Progressive Woodrow Wilson as President, adopts

policies at variance with traditional principles. As a war-time president, Wilson, theadvocate of the New Freedom, looks more like Theodore Roosevelt and the NewNationalism of Herbert Croly.1. William McAdoo was placed in charge of all US railroads, in order to run

them as a single line most efficiently. J.P. Morgan would have been pleased.McAdoo did a very effective job.

2. The US had to raise, equip, and train a huge, conscripted army--a huge task.The Germans didn't believe we could do it, or could fight well if we did.

3. We needed to supply our Allies with food and war material while wesimultaneously mobilized the troops.

4. The Council of National Defense was created to coordinate the manufactureof munitions.

5. War Industries Board, run by Bernard Baruch, replaced the Council forNational Defense, and "ran a kindergarten for 1920s interventionism and theNew Deal, which in turn inspired the New Frontier and the Great Society."(Johnson 17)a. Baruch became the czar of US industry. He

(1) allocated scarce war materials(2) standardized production(3) fixed prices(4) suspended anti-trust legislation for the duration

b. This represents massive government regulation a la Herbert Crolyand the New Nationalism.(1) Baruch deliberately set prices to afford a large profit for

manufacturers(2) This marks the development of the large-scale military-

industrial cooperation that is so prominent in the moderneconomy.

6. Fuel Administration aimed at coordinating fuel production and distribution.

7. National War Labor Board headed aimed at preventing strikes that woulddamage war production.

8. War Labor Policies Board headed by Felix Frankfurter, set wages andhours standards. It had the affect of speeding labor organization.

9. Shipping Board aimed at increasing US ship production in order to replacelosses to U-boats and to transport our armies.

10. Food Administration, coordinated by Herbert Hoover, the prime architect


of 1920s US domestic economic policy.a. When the US declared war, Great Britain had only 6 weeks worth of

food.b. Hoover used his powers under the Lever Act to set high prices for

wheat, encouraging massive production.c. He also bought the entire US and Cuban sugar crop.d. The US increased exports dramatically to a Europe where food was

very scarce,.(1) Loss of European production due to the ravages of fighting,

the loss of manpower (the French preferred to draft peasantsrather than factory workers) and especially loss of farmanimals, ie horses.

(2) Please notice that this is a parallel with the FrenchRevolution/Napoleonic Wars.

B. Unemployment disappears1. Wartime spending stimulates a wartime boom2. The migration of African Americans to the northern cities seeking industrial

jobs accelerates dramatically.C. Financing the war

1. 2/3 of the cost was borrowed via Liberty Bonds drive, a continuation of themethods pioneered by Jay Cooke in the Civil War

2. A steeply graduated income tax was passed.3. An excess profits was passed.4. An inheritance tax was passed.5. There was a more equitable distribution than in the Civil War.

D. Propaganda and Civil Liberties1. Committee on Public Information, headed by George Creel, formed.

a. presented the war as a crusade for freedom and democracy.b. Presented the Germans as bestial, bent on world domination.

2. Espionage Act and Sedition Act both restrict civil liberties with 500 arrests,including Eugene V. Debs (Ferro 115)a. The Sedition Act made it a crime to speak against the purchase of war

bonds or "utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane,scurrilous, or abusive language" about the government. (Garraty 608)(1) It was much more restrictive than necessary.(2) The law was upheld in Schenk v. US in 1919.

(a) Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. provided the classiclimitation on freedom of speech: "The most stringentprotection of free speech would not protect a man infalsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.. . . The question in every case is whether the word areused in such circumstances and are of such a nature as


to create a clear and present danger that they willbring the substantive evils that Congress has a right toprevent." (Swisher 117)

E. Wartime Reform1. Policies taken during World War I strongly influenced the New Deal. Most

New Dealers served in government during this time.2. There was social and economic planning by public boards and commissions.3. The federal government moved into housing and labor relations.4. The women's suffrage movement succeeds.5. The prohibition amendment passes (in part since alcohol was used in the

manufacture of munitions).6. There was talk about health insurance and an active campaign against

venereal disease and prostitution.7. The draft law applied equally to whites and blacks, thereby implicitly

recognizing African Americans as possessing courage and patriotism. InEurope, citizenship and the right or obligation of bearing arms wereinseparable.

VIII. US Military Operations in World War IA. I will be brief. US intervention was decisive--make no mistake about that. The tale

is not, however, all that complex. The key factor is that the US mobilized, armed,trained, and transported a huge army with astonishing speed, and put them in Franceearly enough to play a decisive role. That speed of mobilization was fatal to theGermans.

B. US entry dooms Germany. Without the US, Germany might have won in 1917.With the US in the war, Germany had no chance whatsoever of winning in 1918.

C. US financial resources made an immediate and dramatic impact on Britain's andFrance's ability to continue to fight.

D. The US Navy played a decisive role in the anti-submarine campaign. 1. In April, 1917, 25% of all ships sailing from Britain were sunk. 2. When US Admiral Sims was shown the figures, he exclaimed "This means

we are losing the war!" His British counterpart replied "That's right--andthere is nothing we can do about it." (Stokesbury 222)

3. Sims insists on the introduction of the convoy system. This, and the additionof large numbers of swiftly constructed US destroyers, broke the back of thesubmarine campaign by September.

4. Germany had gambled that their submarines could block US troops andsupplies from reaching England and France. They lost massively.

E. The AEF (American Expeditionary Force) in France1. The commander of the AEF was Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing. He

was, as it turned out, an outstanding choice.2. Pershing engaged in a struggle with his Allied counterparts, Douglas Haig

and Ferdinand Foch, as bitter as the fighting with the Germans. Haig and


Foch wanted to parcel the US units among French and British units, under thecommand of French and British generals.a. Foch and Haig had poor expectations of the fighting qualities of

American soldiers. They wanted to leaven "weak" American unitswith veteran French or British units. Furthermore, their own armieshad been bled white and they desperately wanted an infusion of freshblood (in this case literally).

3. Pershing was adamantly opposed to that (to put it mildly). He did not thinkmuch of the quality of French or British generalship, and was unwillingly toallow them to use American boys as cannon fodder. If American troops mustfight and die, they would do so under the command of American generals.He wanted a fully independent, coherent AEF.a. Since Wilson supported Pershing, the Allies were butting up against

a stone wall. Even Haig and Foch (two of the most mule-headedsoldiers ever to draw breath) made no headway against Pershing.

b. I believe Pershing was 100% correct. French and British soldierswere very brave, but their commanders should have been shot forcriminal stupidity. One reason why the Allies had been bled whitewas the sheer stupidity, incompetence, and indifference to humansuffering demonstrated by their generals.

4. Eventually, Foch was placed in overall command of the front (a necessarydecision). But the AEF fought as a separate body, except for some crisissituations in 1918, when US soldiers at the divisional level were placed intothe line piecemeal. These were temporary situations, and Pershing removedthem and consolidated his divisions into corps as quickly as possible.

5. By July, about 33% of the front line troops facing the Germans in the Reimsoffensive were US.

6. Significant Battles.a. Chateau Thierry and Belleau Wood, which helped to stop a German

offensiveb. St. Mihiel salient, designed in part to give the US troops some

practice.c. The Meuse-Argonne, our major engagement, in September 1918.

(1) 1,200,000 American soldiers were engaged, suffering 120,000casualties

7. The failure of the German spring 1918 offensive marks the beginning of theend. August to November 1918 sees a series of Allied blows intended todrive the Germans back, and sever the rail links upon which German suppliesdepended. Behind the lines, the German Army is swiftly disintegrating. Onthe front, the more reliable units fight doggedly to preserve a more or lessorderly retreat. There is some very hard fighting ahead, particularly in theMeuse-Argonne (the American sector, where the terrain was very difficult)


and Flanders, but the Allied attacks are irresistible.8. The Germans sign an armistice agreement on November 11, 1918.

IX. The Fourteen PointsA. Wilson had a lovely vision of the kind of peace that would avoid any further war. He

understood that a vengeful peace would waste the sacrifices of so many.B. He proposed the Fourteen Points in a speech on January 8, 1918.

1. The Fourteen Points did not represent an agreement with the Allies. Theywere a unilateral pronouncement. In fact, several points were at seriousvariance with the war aims and commitments of France or Great Britain.Their leaders, David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau, could only grittheir teeth in silence: the power of the US and their need for us, gave themno alternative.

C. The Fourteen Points are:1. "Open covenants . . . openly arrived at", with no private international

understandings (secret clauses of treaties.)2. Freedom of the seas3. Removal of trade barriers.4. International arms reduction.5. "A free, open-minded and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial

claims based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining allsuch questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned musthave equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title isto be determined."

6. The evacuation of all Russian territory7. Evacuation and restoration of Belgium..8. Return of Alsace-Lorraine to France9. "A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be affected along clearly

recognizable lines of nationality." (This is the crucial idea of national self-determination")

10. "The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wishto be safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity ofautonomous development."

11. Readjustment in the Balkans, including Serbian access to the sea; newboundaries drawn according to nationality, and territorial guarantees.

12. National self-determination in the Ottoman Empire.13. "An independent Polish State should be erected which should include the

territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should beassured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political andeconomic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed byinternational covenant."

14. "A general association of nations [the League of Nations] must be formedunder specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees


of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small Statesalike." (Albrecht-Carrié 84-5)(emphasis added)

D. Weaknesses of the Fourteen Points1. National self-determination, while a beautiful ideal, was simply not possible

in polyglot Europe, unless one forcibly moved millions of people (which iswhat the Russians did after World War II)

2. Nationalistic fervor led to a refusal to accept terms of the treaty.3. The Allies made secret treaties and territorial commitments. Granting those

commitments meant weakening the concept of the Fourteen Points; refusingthem meant offending an ally, such as Italy and Japan.

4. Vengeful attitudes among the population of Great Britain, France, and Italy,induced by immense suffering (which the US had been spared) and the needto mobilize the entire nation by convincing the people that national survivaldepended upon victory. Popular attitudes made a mild peace impossible.The democracies demanded a Carthaginian Peace.

E. Wilson's advantages1. He was the head of the only state which sought no material benefits for itself.2. The US emerged as the only winner; it was incomparably the strongest

economy in the world; the only nation stronger at the conclusion of the warthan at the beginning.

3. Wilson was, at the moment, the most popular man in the world.F. Wilson's weaknesses

1. The combination of idealistic altruism coupled with immense power went tohis head, and made his stubbornness more pronounced. His judgement wasundermined.

2. Wilson was a sick man. He had long suffered from cardiac problems.Recently, his medical records were finally opened, and Arthur S. Link, whoexamined them, was shocked at just how sick Wilson was.

3. Wilson probably suffered a stroke at Versailles. A stroke can alter judgementand behaviour.

4. Wilson attempted to do everything, make every decision. He worked far toohard, slept far too little. He therefore makes errors in judgement that aretragic in consequences.

X. The Versailles Peace ConferenceA. The Versailles Treaty and the ratification fight are the subject of a DBQ. Be warned!B. Wilson made the mistake of leading the US delegation in person. He should have

stayed in Washington, where he could have educated the American public to the ideaof a League of Nations and exercised better leverage.

C. He should also have devoted himself personally to the problems of economicconversion to peacetime production.

D. His worst mistake was to refuse to include any Republicans in the delegation.1. Wilson had been careful to fight the war on a bi-partisan basis. He was, in


fact, a great war-time president.2. In 1918, the Democratic Party lost control of both houses of Congress. Plain

common sense should have told Wilson that he needed Republican votes toratify any treaty. The best way to insure Republican support would have beento involve Republican Senators in the negotiations.

3. Unfortunately, Wilson made the Peace Treaty his own issue, entirely. Toomuch of his own ego was wrapped up in it.

4. Wilson hated and despised the Republican Chairman of the Foreign RelationsCommittee, Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge. The feeling was mutual.a. Other Republicans could have been invited, however, whose views

were generally in accord with Wilson and who would have beenpersonally acceptable to Wilson and politically acceptable toRepublicans: former President William Howard Taft and formerSecretary of State Elihu Root, for instance.

5. This is his worst single mistake, and there is no excuse for it.E. The Big Four

1. Woodrow Wilson of the United States2. David Lloyd George of Great Britain3. Georges Clemenceau of France4. Orlando Vittorio of Italy

F. Three nations were conspicuously not invited:1. Germany,2. Austria-Hungary (which had ceased to exist anyway)3. Russia (after all, they are ruled now by Bolsheviks)4. A peace treaty that attempted to ignore Germany and Russia is likely

foredoomed to failure.G. Territorial Provisions

1. Northern Schleswig is granted to Denmark after a plebescite.2. Alsace-Lorraine is given back to France (Point 8). 3. Belgium is granted the districts of Eupen and Malmedy.4. France is given control over the coal-rich Saar valley for 15 years.5. The Rhineland, with 6.5 million Germans and its heavy industry, is likewise

placed under French administration for 15 years. 6. The Hultschen district is given to Czechoslovakia.7. An independent Poland with access to the sea (Point 13)

is created.a. A border drawn along purely ethnological boundaries was

impossible--the populations were too mixed. b. Poland is granted Upper Silesia , the province of Posen, parts of East

Prussia, and West Prussia, which gave it access to the sea, andseparated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. The city of Danzig,was made a free city under Polish administration.


8. The net effect of the territorial provisions was to take away 14.6% ofGermany's arable land, 74.5% of its iron ore, 68% of its zinc, and 26% of itscoal (Passant 156) These figures consider the Saar and the Rhineland asGerman.

H. Economic terms1. Germany gave up all colonies, which are acquired by the victors, technically

under League of Nations mandate.2. Almost the entire German merchant marine was confiscated.3. Large amounts of rolling stock are confiscated.

I. Reparations1. British and French claims for reparations were

utterly impossible. Both Clemenceau and LloydGeorge had promised that the Germans would pay foreverything, and were under truly enormous publicpressure. The U.S. delegation attempted to pointout that the fantastic claims were simultaneouslycoupled with provisions which stripped Germany ofimportant economic assets.

2. John Maynard Keynes left the conference and wrote The EconomicConsequences of the Peace which all-too accurately predicted thatattempting to make Germany pay the full cost of the war would lead toGermany's economic collapse, which in turn would lead to the collapse of theCentral European economy. This in turn would damage the Allies' economyand politically destabilize Germany.

3. At the time of the signing of the treaty, the Allies had not agreed on a figure.Germany was therefore required to sign a blank check.

4. In 1921, the bill was assessed at $51.42 billion, which was several times aslarge as Germany's total national income. (Fest 138, Flood 178, 184)

J. War Guilt and Other Provisions1. Article 231 stated "the Allied Governments affirm and Germany accepts the

responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage[suffered by the Allies] as a consequence of the war imposed upon them bythe aggression of Germany and its allies." (Passant 156)a. This is the single most hated, and most disputed part of the entire

treaty.K. Military Provisions

1. Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men, less than the police force ofImperial Germany.

2. The German General Staff was outlawed. 3. Germany was denied an air force. 4. The German navy is confiscated, and further construction virtually banned.5. Germany was denied possession of heavy artillery, tanks, or submarines.

L. The first reaction of the German government was to refuse


to sign. In fact, Wilson himself stated that, if he were in their shoes, he wouldrefuse to sign it.

XI. Obvious Weaknesses of the Versailles TreatyA. The principle of national self-determination was not satisfied.

1. The map of Europe included substantial minorities in all of the new nations.Particular flashpoints included:a. The Sudetenland in Czechoslovakiab. Silesia in Polandc. Danzig in Polandd. Shantung Province (taken over by the Japanese)

B. The treaty did not in fact create a new international order based on liberty anddemocracy.

C. An attempt to crush Germany and exclude Bolshevist Russia was foolish: these arethe two most powerful nations of Central and Eastern Europe, whether anyone likesthem or not.

D. The treaty avoided disarmament (except for Germany) or freedom of the seas or tariffbarriers.

E. The treaty committed the signatory nations to the defense of the borders of Europe,which included many new nations (Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland,Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria) with angry ethnic minorities. Thisprovision is probably the most important sticking point in the US Senate.

F. The economic provisions made a collapse of the German economy a virtual certainty.XII. The League of Nations

A. Wilson passionately believed that the League offered the best hope for the future. Hewas prepared, ultimately, to sacrifice other ideals on national self-determination inorder to gain acceptance of the League. He was not blind; he simply set his prioritiesin this way.

B. If only the League could be established, all else would follow: freedom of the seas,a lowering of tariff barriers, disarmament.

C. he hoped to prop up the existing social system and block the spread of communism.D. John Garraty writes that it was "a remarkably moderate peace, one full of hope for

the future." (614)1. Garraty, who is usually very sound, is out of his mind on this.2. Ferdinand Foch (no mental giant, as far as I am concerned) was more

accurate when he said in 1919, "This is not a peace, it is a twenty yeararmistice." Germany invaded Poland to begin World WarII on September 1, 1939

XIII. The Senate and the League of Nations.A. Immediately upon Wilson's return, public sentiment probably favored ratification of

the treaty.1. Wilson had inserted some provisions with the domestic American vote in

mind, such as excluding the Monroe Doctrine from League control


B. Opposition the to the Treaty1. A League of Nations involved a break with traditional US isolationism, the

most important stumbling block. We had, ever since Washington's FarewellAddress, avoided entangling alliances with Europe.

2. There was a legitimate concern over the sacrifice of US sovereignty (wouldwe be forced to go to war over the Sudetenland?)

3. The Republicans wished to win the 1920 election and wanted to hurt Wilsonpolitically.

4. Henry Cabot Lodge hated Wilson's guts.C. Opposition Leaders

1. The Irreconcilables (14)a. These men, all from the Progressive movement and mostly from the

Midwest, would not accept the treaty in any form whatever. Wilsonhas to write off their votes altogether.

b. They felt that the treaty that emerged had betrayed the FourteenPoints (to a large degree, it had).(1) What especially hurts is that these men are otherwise

ideologically aligned with Wilson. They admired andsupported Wilson's Fourteen Points but deny him votes on histreaty.

c. These men were temperamentally unsuited for compromise. Theyregarded the issue as a moral one, and would not budge.

d. They included(1) Sen. William E. Borah of Idaho(2) Sen. Bob LaFollette of Wisconsin(3) Sen. Hiram Johnson

2. The Reservationistsa. These men, a larger group than the Irreconcilables, were willing to

accept the treaty provided that key changes were made. Theyaccepted the treaty "with reservations." They were not a tight knitgroup. Had Wilson been willing to compromise further, he likelycould have won just enough votes to secure ratification.

b. They were led by the Sen. Henry Cabot Lodgec. Since Lodge was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations

Committee, the treaty had to go through his committee.d. I was brought up to think of Lodge as an isolationist (a dirty word in

a family whose parents endured World War II). That is not accurate.e. Lodge was perfectly willing for the US to play an active role in

international affairs (he is, after all, an enthusiastic imperialist). Buthe wished to play that role on his own terms, on our own terms, noton the terms of an international organization. He is as unwilling tosacrifice the best interests of the US as Clemenceau was to sacrifice


those of France.3. Lodge wrote Fourteen Reservations to the treaty

a. He particularly attacked Article X of the treaty, which committed thesignatory nations to protect the political independence and territorialintegrity of the states of Europe.

b. This was, as Wilson noted accurately, "the heart of the Covenant."4. Wilson refused the largely innocuous changes that could have won over

enough votes to ratify. Instead, having compromised in Paris to obtain histreaty, he decided to compromise no more.a. He exclaims "Never, never! I'll appeal to the country!"b. He was motivated by his hatred of Lodgec. He was also motivated by his idealismd. He was motivated by his personal rigidity (this problem is prefigured

in his term of presidency at Princeton, and in his domestic reformprograms; the great democrat Wilson ran his administration in ahighly personal and autocratic way. His conviction of his own moralsuperiority led him to regard all opposition in intensely personal aswell as eschatological terms.

e. By this time, he is significantly affected by hardening of the arteriesand the probable stroke he had suffered in Paris. He is a very sickman who cannot recognize that.

5. Wilson sets out on a gruelling tour of the country--the worst thing he couldhave done from the standpoint of his health.a. He collapsed in September and then suffered another collapse with a

major stroke.b. He was near death for 2 weeks, isolated for 6 weeks.c. He came out an invalid for the remaining 18 months of his term.d. The extent of his illness was concealed. Access was denied to all but

a handful of people, chiefly his wife, who was probably the de factoPresident of the United States.

e. The stroke definitely altered his personality and judgement, both ofwhich are fairly common among stroke patients.

f. Today, Wilson would be declared medically unfit and removed fromresponsibility.

g. It is a pathetic end to the career of a man who, for all hisshortcomings, had been one of our near great Presidents (at least; I listonly 3 among "great": Lincoln, Washington, FDR; "near-great"include by my reckoning Andrew Jackson, James Knox Polk,Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Harry S Truman)

6. With Wilson's collapse, the cause of the treaty is lost.a. Lodge organized a loose coalition to block ratificationb. On November 19, 1919, the treaty was defeated.


D. Valuation1. Wilson's insistence on the precise Paris treaty doomed it2. Lodge behaved primarily as a politician, not as a statesman.3. More fundamentally, the US was not (as a population of voting citizens) not

yet ready to assume a role of responsibility for preserving international peace.4. It is my belief that the League of Nations could not have prevented

World War II.a. Without the membership of the United States in the organization

that was Woodrow Wilson's brainchild, there was NO chance toavoid a future war. The only remaining questions were of whatmagnitude, duration, and intensity that war would be.


Works Cited

Albrecht-Carrié, René. The Meaning of the First World War. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prenctice Hall, 1965.

Ferro, Marc. The Great War: 1914-1918. New York: Routledge, 1973.

Flood, Charles Bracelin. Hitler: The Path to Power. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,

1989.

Garraty, John. The American Nation. 5th Ed. New York: Harper &Row, 1983.

Holborn, Hajo. A History ofModern Germany: 1840-1945. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,1969.

Johnson, Paul. Modern Times. Rev. Ed. New York: Harper, 1991.

Meyer, Michael, and Sherman, William L. The Course of Mexican History. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press,1993.

Passant, E.J. A Short Historyof Germany: 1815-1945. (New

York: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1959)

Stokesbury, James L. A Short History of World War I. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1981.

Swisher, Carl Brent. HistoricDecisions of the Supreme Court.

Princeton, New Jersey: VanNostrand, 1958.


Works Consulted

Blum, John M., Morgan, Edmund S., Rose, Willie Lee, Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur M., Stampp, Kenneth M., and Woodward, C. Vann. The National Experience: A History of the United States. 5th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981.

Current, Richard N., Williams, T. Harry, Freidel Frank, Brinkley,Alan. American History: A Survey. 6th Ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979.

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