World War I

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World War I

• The Great War

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Brainstorming

• What were the causes of World War I?
• What were the causes of American entry into World
  War I?

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Causes of World War I

• Assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand
• Imperialism
• Militarism
• Nationalism
• Alliances

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Modern Warfare

• Machine guns
• Hand grenades
• Poison gases
• Burned fields, killed livestock, poisoned wells
• German subs torpedoed any ship the believed to
  carry weapons

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The American Response

• One-third of the population were first or second
  generation immigrants
• Support for home countries split the people
• August 4, 1914- Wilson officially declares U.S.
  neutral

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American Movements

• Preparedness Movement
• Be prepared to support Great Britain
• Peace Movement
• Former populists, progressives, and social
  reformers
• Many members of Congress

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• When President Wilson reluctantly asked Congress
  to enter World War I against the Central Powers,
  he said that the United States should enter the
  war because neutrality is no longer feasible or
  desirable where the peace of the world is
  involved and the world must be safe for
  democracy. Do you think its more virtuous to go
  to war for these reasons than it is to go to war
  to expand an empire or take revenge on an enemy?
  Explain your answer.

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The United States Declares War

• German submarine warfare
• Passenger and merchant ships stood no chance
• Viewed by Americans as uncivilized
• 1915- Lusitania sank by U-Boat
• British passenger liner
• 1,200 passengers, 128 Americans

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American Patience

• Wilson demanded Germany to stop submarine warfare
• Pay victims families
• Sussex Pledge
• German government promised that U-boats would
  warn ships
• Wilson embraced preparedness
• Authorized banks to make huge loan to Allies
• American neutrality weakens

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Moving Toward War

• February 1, 1917-Germany violates Sussex Pledge
• February 3- U.S. breaks off relations
• Wilson arms American ships

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Financing the War

• Liberty bonds
• Every scout to save a soldier
• Food will win the war
• Lever Food and Fuel Control Act
• Herbert Hoover
• Daylight Savings Time

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Enforcing Loyalty

• Government controlled news and information
• Censorship of the press
• Committee on Public Information

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American Pride

• Fear of espionage
• Restrictions on immigration
• 100 Percent Americanism.
• Germans banned from many public events
• German measles became liberty measles
• Liberty sandwich

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Limiting Civil Liberties

• Espionage Act (1917)
• Illegal to interfere with the draft
• Amended by Sedition Act (1918)
• disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive
• Disloyalty would be dealt with a firm hand of
  stern repression.

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Political Radicals

• Eugene Debs
• Wanted to overthrow capitalism
• Became a rallying point for antiwar sentiment
• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
• Miners, migrant farmers

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The Zimmerman Telegram

• We shall endeavor to keep the United States
  neutral. In the event of this not succeeding, we
  make Mexico a proposed allianceMake war
  together, make peace togetherand Mexico is to
  re-conquer the lost territory in Texas, New
  Mexico, and Arizona.

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Zimmerman Telegram

• Intercepted German telegram
• Germanys foreign secretary made a secret offer
  to Mexico
• Not taken seriously by Wilson nor Mexico
• Public relations victory for Great Britain

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Revolution in Russia

• Czar Nicholas II forced to give up power
• Replaced with a republican government
• removed the last block to a full American
  commitment to the Allies

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Ready for War

• March 1917-Germany sinks 3 U.S. ships
• April 6, 1917- President Wilson declares war

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Preparing for War

• Selective Service Act
• Authorized a draft
• Widely accepted program
• 25,000 women served
• Nurses, drivers, clerks, private agencies
• Convoy
• Group of unarmed ships surrounded by destroyers,
  torpedo boats and naval ships

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Schenck v. U.S.

• 1919 Supreme Court decision
• Justified jailing Communists?
• Mailed letters to men who were drafted
• Breaking Espionage Act
• Claimed free speech
• Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Justified silencing free speech
• clear and present danger
• Shouting fire in a crowded area

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Oliver Wendell Holmes

• "The most stringent protection of free speech
  would not protect a person in falsely shouting
  fire in a theater and causing a panic. . . . The
  question in every case is whether the words used
  are used in such circumstances and are of such a
  nature as to create a clear and present danger
  that will bring about the substantive evils that
  Congress has a right to prevent." (Justice Oliver
  Wendell Holmes)

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Individual Assignment

• 1) Do you think Schenck would be convicted if
  this occurred during the Vietnam or Gulf War?
• 2) Do you think Holmes' analogy of "crying
  "fire!" in a crowded theater" is a valid one for
  this case? Why, or why not?
• 3) The Espionage Act did not outlaw speech
  specifically, but only acts. Should this matter?
  Or should there be specific laws which proscribe
  certain types of speech?

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Lets Have Some Fun

• Now that you have the background and all of the
  facts of the case, now you be the judge. Put
  yourself in the shoes of Supreme Court Justice
  Oliver Wendell Holmes. How would you view this
  case? What would you decide? Give specific
  examples and reasoning as to why you decided this
  way.

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Soldiers in Europe

• American and Allied forces fought separate
• 300,000 African-American troops kept segregated
  from white troops
• Harlem Hell Fighters
• African-American infantry eager to fight
• Loaned to French army and fought in war

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Rise of the Bolsheviks

• Vladimir Lenin
• Promised to make peace with Germany
• Allowed Germans to focus on British and French
  troops
• By June 3, Germany was about 50 miles from Paris

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Americans Save Paris

• We dig no trenches to fall back on.The marines
  will hold where they stand.
• Battle of Chateau-Thierry
• U.S. lost over half their troops
• Began to turn the war

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Allies Gain Momentum

• Use of the tank helped break German lines
• Battle of Amiens, August 8th- Allied army stops
  German advance
• Alvin York
• Killed 25 machine gunners and captured 132
  Germans
• Congressional Medal of Honor

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Germans Beg for Peace

• Americans insisted on total surrender
• November 11, 1918
• Armistice (cease-fire)

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The Peacemaker

• Wilsons Fourteen Points
• Ending entangled alliances
• Keeping the peace
• Austria-Hungarys self determination
• Not many agreed with Wilson

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Paris Peace Conference

• January 1919
• Wilson headed U.S. delegation
• No Republicans or senators named to the group
• Did not want to gain from the wars losers
• Agency for international stability
• Allies wanted the spoils of war

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League of Nations

• Ensure security and peace for all its members
• An attack on one was an attack on all
• Rejected by the senate

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Wilson Forced to Compromise

• Allies accepted League of Nations
• American opposition
• Austria-Hungarys self-determination
• Demand for harsher penalties
• French wanted to cripple Germany

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Treaty of Versailles

• Germans refused it at first
• Threatened with French invasion
• Many Americans did not approve
• Wilson tours the nation
• Treaty failed to win approval
• A bed ridden Wilson could not do much to protest

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Reservationists

• Henry Cabot Lodge (Senator)
• Foreign Relations Committee
• Impose restrictions
• Monroe Doctrine would remain

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The Treaty of Versailles

• American Neutrality and Isolation
• Presidents Power to negotiate treaties
• Checks and Balances

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The Peace Treaty

• Germany billed 33 billion
• Germans would not forget
• Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
• League of Nations adopted (but with no U.S., it
  has no power)
• Major Cause of World War II

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Death Toll

• 50,000 American soldiers
• 8 million European soldiers and sailors
• 5,000 soldiers per day
• Germany, Austria, Russia and France all totaled
  more than a million
• 900,000 British troops died