Goals of this Unit…• To be able to explain why America entered World War I.• To understand how Wilson turned Americas participation

into a fervent ideological crusade for democracy that successfully stirred the public to a great voluntary war effort, but at some cost to traditional civil liberties.

• To know that after Americas limited but important contribution to the Allied victory, a triumphant Wilson attempted to construct a peace based on his idealistic Fourteen Points.

• To comprehend that because of European and senatorial opposition, and partly his own political errors, doomed American ratification of the Versailles Treaty and participation in the League of Nations.

War Breaks Out in Europe

Central Powers: • Germany• Austria-Hungary• Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

Allied Powers: • Russia• France• Britain

– AKA “Triple Entente”

• 1914 – Austrian prince Franz Ferdinand assassinated by Serbian nationalist

• Complex alliances pulls all of Europe into war one by one

• Wilson declares U.S. officially neural

Picking Sides• About 20% of Americans supported the

Central Powers– Due to ethnic heritage of immigrants

• The majority of America supported the Allies– Due to cultural, political, economic ties– Sympathetic to Allies– Kaiser Wilhelm II views as militant tyrant– Central Power operative caught with plans to

sabotage American industry

USA Profits off Neutrality • American businesses trade with both sides during

war– More with Allies, secretly and less with Central Powers

• Germany hurt by it’s inferior navy– Can’t compete with British navy or block trade with Allies

• Germany’s solution:– Rely on U-boats (submarines)– Announces “unrestricted submarine warfare” on Allies

and anyone assisting Allies• Wilson warns Germany will be held “strictly

accountable” for American damages

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare• May 1915 – British ship Lusitania sunk by U-boat

attack– 1,200 civilians killed, including 128 Americans– German warnings prior to attack ignored– Americans demand revenge, call for war

• Others civilian ships also attacked:– Aug 1915: Arabic – British ship – 2 Americans killed– March 1916: Sussex – French ship – 50 killed

• Wilson pressures Germany to end warfare policy• May 1916 – Germans issue “Sussex Pledge”

– Promises to give warning to the ship they are to attack – problem?

– Contradicts the purpose of a submarine

Election of 1916• Republicans nominate Charles Evans Hughes

– Former Gov. of NY, progressive– “Flip-flopper” – problem with this?

• Undesirable trait during time of reform & war

• Democrats seek reelection with Wilson– Campaign slogan: “He kept us out of the war”– Americans hardly neutral now, but ravages of war

emphasized as fear tactic• Wilson uses neutrality platform to win close election

– ironic?– Wilson enters U.S. into war 5 months later

America’s Fading Neutrality• Jan 22, 1917 – Wilson gives speech calling for “peace

without victory”– Stressing neutrality, calling for end of war

• Germany announces redaction of the Sussex Pledge – unrestricted submarine warfare resumes– World shocked, Americans outraged

• March 1917 – Zimmerman Note• German telegram to Mexico intercepted• Note encouraged Mexico to wage war on U.S

• 4 more American merchant ships sunk by German subs

• Lenin’s Bolshevik Revolution in Russia– Czar overthrown, Russia backs out of war

America Declares War• Major causes of declaration:

– Unrestricted submarine warfare– Zimmerman Note– Russian Revolution

• Wilson asks Congress to declare war– Problem: Many congressman & Americans were anti-

war• Wilson’s idealist slogan for war:

– “The world must be made safe for democracy”• Purpose of war was to free Europeans from militant tyrants• NOT for riches or conquest

– Americans eagerly join cause, war effort • April 6, 1917 – America officially joins the Allied

Powers

America Declares War• Major causes of declaration:

– Unrestricted submarine warfare– Zimmerman Note– Russian Revolution

• Wilson asks Congress to declare war– Problem: Many congressman & Americans were anti-

war• Wilson’s idealist slogan for war:

– “The world must be made safe for democracy”• Purpose of war was to free Europeans from militant tyrants• NOT for riches or conquest

– Americans eagerly join cause, war effort • April 6, 1917 – America officially joins the Allied

Powers

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

• Idealistic goals for peace after war:• Abolishing secret treaties• Freedom of the seas• Removal of economic barriers between nations• Reduction of armaments• Fixing colonial claims to benefit both colonizers

and natives– “Self-determination”: oppressed nationalistic

groups should have own governments– League of Nations: Committee to peacefully

settle future international disputes

Propaganda

• George Creel headed the Committee on Public Information– Goal was to keep Americans enthusiastic about

war• Methods:

– Posters, pamphlets, films, songs– “Four minute men” speeches– Advertise “war bonds”

• Effective in hiding the realities of the brutal war

Enforcing Loyalty• Anti-German sentiments grow:

– German-Americans labeled spies, saboteurs– Suffer alienation, violence

• Congress passes anti-foreign laws– Espionage Act of 1917

• Prosecutes “spies” – 2,000 convicted– Eugene V. Debs sentenced to 10 years

– Sedition Act of 1918• Prosecutes anyone engaging in “seditious” activity

– Very broad definition – why?• Harder to interpret → easier to prosecute any supposed anti-

government activity• Laws safe from 1st Amendment

Preparing for War• Wilson gets unprepared nation ready for war

– Forms Council of National Defense– Increases ship building– Increases size of army

• Biggest task: kick starting war industry– Appoints Bernard Baruch to lead “War Industries

Board”• Coordinates industry to help war effort• Efforts only somewhat successful:

– Board’s power a bit weak, businesses enjoy autonomy

Wartime Labor• Government’s “work or fight” policy provides for large

war effort• National War Labor Board created to settle and

worker disputes and strikes– Ensures no loss of production

• Wartime inflation stops wage increases– Strikes rampant and violent– African-Americans migrate North as “scabs”

• Creates violent ethnic conflict in cities (Chicago Race Riots, 1919)

• American Federation of Labor (AF of L)– Led by Samuel Gompers– Loyal to war effort – provided factories with laborers

• Rewarded with desired workers rights

Women on the Home Front• National American Woman Suffrage Association

– Encourage women to join war effort– Many fill men’s jobs during the war – effects?

• Gaining a larger role in society• Women gain power and influence

• Wilson endorses women’s suffrage• By 1920 – 19th Amendment passed

– Women granted the right to vote• Women’s Bureau emerges after war to protect

women’s new rights and place in workforce– Fails: most women leave jobs and return home after

war• Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act (1921)

Wartime Economy• What’s needed in a wartime economy?

– Rationing, moderation, conservation to assure adequate supplies for the military and allies

• Herbert Hoover chosen head to Food Administration – very successful

– Oversees the production & allocation of foodstuffs– Uses propaganda, not laws

• Grains not to be used for alcohol – what movement does this help?– Prohibition movement gaining strength

• Fuel Administration encourages rationing, too• Treasury Dept. sells war bonds

– Raised money for 2/3 of America’s war effort

Dependence on America • America pictures secondary role in war effort –

problem?• By 1917…

– European Allies out of men, money, supplies– Russia pulls out of war after Bolshevik revolution –

significance?• Germany can fully concentrate troops on Western Front

• Germans planning big counterattack in Spring of 1918

• America becomes more involved than planned• Selective Service Act• Draft increases army size, men quickly trained

– Blacks serve in segregated units– Women take support roles in military

Americans Arrive in Europe • Allies desperate for American reinforcements

– French barely hanging on at Western Front• Small number of troops sent over immediately• American soldiers arrive by masses in Spring

of 1918– American Expeditionary Forces (AEF)– Led by Gen. John J. Perishing– Goals of Americans:

• Stop German invasion of Paris• Providing supplies to Allies• Boost the little morale left of Allied Forces

American Action

• Battle of Chateau-Thierry– Stops invading German army 40 miles from Paris

• Second Battle of the Marne– Allies victorious, begins German withdrawal

• Battle at Belleau Wood– U.S. Marines fiercely fight off Germans, gain

prestige• Meuse-Argonne Offensive

– Largest battle in American history to that point, Allies victorious

• Germany on brink of surrender

War Ends

• Germans becoming increasingly anti-war – Kaiser Wilhelm II flees to Holland– Fear of infinite American manpower, supplies– Idealistic “Fourteen Points” appealing to

Germany• Armistice agreed upon – when?

– 11:00 AM, 11/11/1918– Known as “Armistice Day”, later “Veteran’s Day”

Peace Talks• Wilson gains worldwide popularity for:

– Ending war– Idealistic promises of postwar Europe

• Wilson travels to Europe with delegates for peace talks– Does not invite any Republicans– Henry Cabot Lodge excluded

• Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee – effects?• Alienates party, strengthens party

• The “Big Four” meet to lead Paris Peace Conference in 1919– Woodrow Wilson (USA)– David Lloyd George (Britain)– George Clemenceau (France)– Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

Treaty Trouble • Conflicting ambitions plagues peace conference

– Britain and France want Germany punished– Italy wants compensation– America wants lasting peace

• League of Nations proposed• Wilson compromises to get League created

– Wilson reluctantly agrees to punish Germany• War Guilt Clause

– Formally blames war on Germany– Humiliated Germans felt wrongly accused– Germany charged with cost of war ($33 billion)

Treaty Trouble • Wilson needed 2/3 of Senate to approve treaty

– America’s opposition to treaty growing during talks– Wanted isolationism

• Europe uses American disapproval as bargaining chip

• New demands:• France wants bordering German regions

– Wilson compromises his “self-determination” policy• Japan wants German islands in Pacific, Chinese

peninsula– Wilson compromises his “self-determination” policy

• Italy wants strategic port in newly formed Yugoslavia– Negotiations sour, Italy turns on Wilson

Treaty of Versailles• Germany forced to sign – felt betrayed

– Wilson’s Fourteen Points largely excluded from treaty

• Treaty creates economic chaos, lasting animosity in Germany

Wilson: The Fallen Hero • Wilson forced to compromise during treaty talks

– Failure to bargain would have resulted in no treaty• Wilson seen as “fallen hero”

– Deemed a “sell out” by liberals, “soft” by imperialists• Wilson needs public support, Senate approval to accept

treaty • Returns to heavy American opposition:

– Isolationists against “entangling alliances”– “Hun-haters” felt treaty was too soft– Liberals felt treaty was too harsh– European-Americans felt treaty was too harsh on their respective

home countries • Senator Lodge sees opportunity for revenge on Wilson

– Rallies Senators against Treaty, stalls process

Wilson’s Tour for Support• Treaty losing support in the Senate

– Republican majority• Wilson goes on nation-wide tour to sway public• Rough trip for Wilson:• Midwest largely populated by German-Americans

– Treaty promoting not received well• Opposing Senators follow tour to give rivaling

speeches after Wilson leaves town– William Borah and Hiram Johnson

• Western states supportive of Wilson– Collapses due to exhaustion in Colorado– Suffers a stroke, bedridden & inactive for months

Treaty Defeated• Lodge amends many parts of Treaty• Lodge’s goals:

– Retain America’s right to rule themselves• Membership in League of Nations would give up some autonomy

– Avoid promise of military aid if League nation is attacked• Senate votes on newly amended Treaty:

– Lodge now pro-treaty, Wilson anti-treaty– Wilson rallies Dem Senators and forces them to vote

against Lodge and the new Treaty• Senate votes against Treaty twice• Treaty of Versailles never accepted by U.S.

– U.S. does not join League of Nations

Election of 1920 • Wilson, still pushing for original Treaty, calls for “solemn referendum”

– A vote by the people on the Treaty – demands fail• Republicans reorganized and strong – why?

– Excluded by Wilson at peace conference– Unified by anti-treaty sentiment– Offered platform appealing to pro-treaty Reps too– Teddy Roosevelt dies in 1919

• Republicans nominate Warren G. Harding– Likable Senator from Ohio– Vowed for a “return to normalcy”– Calvin Coolidge as VP

• Democrats nominate James M. Cox– Pro-treaty Ohio Governor– Franklin Delano Roosevelt as VP

• Harding wins by a landslide (60% to 34%)• Eugene V. Debs (Socialist Party) gets 4% of vote

– Caused fear of socialism/communism growing in U.S.

Effects of W.W.I.

• “The War to End All Wars” – ironic?– Helps lead to WWII two decades later

• America had opportunity to become world leader…– Instead, recoils into isolationism– Trouble soon redevelops in Europe– America not there to prevent it…

• League of Nations fail to enforce lasting peace– Instead creates legacy of animosity and growing

tension