-Stronger economic ties with the Allies- during war trade increased with the Allies.
The War Hits Home
-By 1917, America had mobilized for war against the Central Powers for two reasons:
1. To ensure Allied repayment of debts to the US.
2. To prevent the Germans from threatening US shipping.
The British Blockade- GB blockaded the German coast.
-By 1917, famine in Germany was a problem. 750,000 people starved.
German U-Boat Response- May 1915, a German U-boat sank the *Lusitania off the southern coast of Ireland.
-1198 people were killed. 128 were from the US.
-Germany defended themselves by saying there was ammunition on the ship.
-This outraged Americans.
-3 months later, Germany sunk the Sussex- a French ship. 80 passengers were killed including Americans.
The 1916 Election
-Wilson- (Democrat) Campaign slogan "He kept us out of war."
-Hughes- (Republican)
-It was a close race, but Wilson would win.
The US Declares War
German Provocation- Germany had announced that it would sink all ships in British waters. This meant that the US would have to go to war.
*Zimmermann Note- a telegram from the German Foreign Minister to the German ambassador in Mexico that was intercepted by British agents.
-It proposed an alliance between Mexico and Germany, and promised that if the US entered the war, Germany would support Mexico in recovering lost territory.
-4 unarmed US merchant ships were sunk.
-March 1917- Russian Czar Nicholas II stepped down and a democracy was put in place.
-Now the US was ready for war. Wilson wanted to make the world, "Safe for democracy."
-April 1917- Congress passed a resolution for war.
Section 2: American Power Tips the Balance
-The US mobilized a large army and navy to help the Allies achieve victory.
America Mobilizes
-The US was not yet prepared for war.
-The US Army had to build up.
Raising an Army
*Selective Service Act- May 1917- required men to register with the government in order to be randomly selected for military service.
Mass Production- in addition to the vast army that had to be created and trained the US had to find a way to transport men, food, and equipment over thousands of miles of ocean. This led to a great demand of US warships.
America Turns the Tide
*Convoy System- a heavy guard of destroyers’ escorted merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups.
-The US laid 230 miles of mines. Shipping losses would soon be cut in half.
Fighting in Europe- after 2 1/2 years of fighting, the allied forces were exhausted, and demoralized.
-Americans fought in war
*American Expeditionary Force (AEF)- led by General John J. Pershing, who fought with the Allies during World War I.
Fighting “Over There”
New Weapons- changed the nature of warfare.
-NEW: Tanks, airplanes, machine guns, observation balloons, and poisonous gas.
“Big Bertha”: German cannon that could throw a 1,800-pound shell over 75 miles.
-mechanized warfare: warfare that relies on machines powered by gasoline and diesel engines (tank and airplane)
The War Introduces New Hazards
-Problems: filth, lice, rats, and polluted water.
-Soldiers were faced with poison gas, lack sleep and many suffered shell shock.
-Trench foot would cause feet to rot and lead to many other infections.
American Troops Go on the Offensive
-Russia pulled out of the war in 1917.
-Germans could now take their troops in the East and put them in the west, in France.
-The US arrived in time to push Germany back.
*PVT Alvin York- a famous war hero, who was first a *Conscientious Objector- meaning a person who opposes warfare on moral grounds.
-With only a rifle and a revolver he killed 25 Germans and captured 132 prisoners.
The Collapse of Germany
-3 Nov. 1918- Austria-Hungary surrendered.
-11 Nov. 1918- Germany agreed to a cease-fire and signed an *Armistice- or truce to end the war.
Final Toll- the bloodiest war up to that time.
-22 million killed. Half of them were civilians.
-20 million wounded and 10 million refugees. The cost of the war was $338 billion.
-The US lost 48,000 in battle, and another 62,000 died of disease.
-More than 200,000 Americans were wounded.
Section 3: The War at Home
-World War I spurred social, political, and economic change in the US.
Congress Gives Power to Wilson
-Shift from producing consumer goods to producing war supplies.
-Congress gave Wilson direct control over much of the economy.
*War Industries Board (WIB)- 1917, under the leadership of *Bernard M. Baruch.
-It encouraged companies to use mass production techniques to increase efficiency.
-The WIB was not the only federal agency to regulate the economy during the war.
-I.E.- In March 1918, the Fuel Administration introduced another conservation measure: daylight savings time, which had first been proposed by Benjamin Franklin in the 1770s as a way to take advantage of the longer days of summer.
War Economy- wages in most industries increased during the war. Increase in food and housing costs.
-6,000 strikes broke out during four months.
-Wilson established the *National War Labor Board in 1918- to deal with the disputes between management and labor.
Food Administration- to help preserve and conserve food, "Victory Gardens" planted in homeowners’ yards.
Selling the War
War Financing- raise taxes, issued “liberty loans” and “victory loans.”
Committee on Public Information
-Nation's first propaganda agency, the *Committee on Public Information (CPI)- it was a kind of biased communications designed to influence people's thoughts and actions.
*George Creel- was the head of the CPI and former muckraker.
-Paintings, posters, cartoons, and sculptures used to promote the war.
-75,000 "Four-Minute Men" who would also promote the war.
Attacks on Civil Liberties Increase
Anti-Immigration Hysteria- against Americans who had emigrated from other nations, especially from Germany and Austria-Hungary.
-Many Americans with German names lost their jobs.
-Orchestras refused to play the music of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.
-Towns with German names quickly changed them.
-Schools stop teaching German and removed books written by German's.
-Germans suffered violent attacks.
-The German measles were changed to the “liberty measles.”
*Espionage and Sedition Acts- 1917 and 1918- under these acts a person could be fined up to $10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war effort. (Violated the spirit of the 1st Amendment)
The War Encourages Social Change
African-Americans and the War- Du Bois believed blacks should support the war effort.
The Great Migration- a large-scale movement of hundreds of thousands of Southern blacks to cities in the north, which began just before the war.
-The drop in European immigration increased job opportunities for African-Americans.
Women in the War- women moved into jobs that had been held exclusively by men. This helped increase public support for women's suffrage. (1920- 19th amendment ratified)
The Flu Epidemic- occurred in the fall of 1918, it was a US crisis that affected about 1/4 of the US population. The effect of it on the economy was devastating.
-Cities ran short of coffins as corpses piled up.
-It spread around the world- possibly by troops.
-500,000 Americans died- believed to have killed 30 million throughout the world.
Section 4: Wilson Fights for Peace
-European leaders opposed most of Wilson's peace plan, and the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the peace treaty.
Wilson Presents His Plan
*Fourteen Points- January 1918- he delivered his plan before Congress for world peace.
-I.E.- called for no secret treaties, freedom of the seas, lowering tariffs, and to reduce arms.
-Bases provisions on the principle of self-determination.
-Also called for the creation of an international organization to address diplomatic crisis called the *League of Nations. (The US would never sign)
-Wilson conceded on most of his 14 points in return for the establishment of the league.
The Allies Reject Wilson's Plan
*George Clemenceau- French Premier
*David Lloyd George- British Prime Minister
*Vittorio Orlando- Italian Prime Minister
-Known as the “Big Four”
Debating the Treaty of Versailles (France)
Provisions of the Treaty- established 9 new nations- including Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia and shifted boundaries of other nations.
-It forbid Germany from maintaining an army, made them return the region of Alsace Lorraine to France and pay *Reparations- or war damages, amounting to $33 billion to the Allies. (There was no way Germany could ever pay this debt.)
The Treaty’s Weaknesses
-This humiliated Germany.
*War Guilt Clause- forcing Germany to admit soul responsibility for starting the war.
*Henry Cabot Lodge- and other conservative senators did not care for the league because it called for joint economic and military action against aggression.
-In 1921, the US signed a separate treaty with Germany.
-Appalled by the scale of destruction, Americans began to call World War I. "The war to end all wars," which in the hope that humanity would never again be willing to fight such a war.
-Two decades after the end of the Great War, Adolf Hitler's desire for vengeance would plunge the world into an even greater war, in which the US would play a leading role.
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