The First World War

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The First World War

• Do you think America should enter the war?

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The First World War

• Is it right for America to intervene in foreign
  conflicts?
• When American lives are threatened, how should
  the government respond?
• Should America go to war to make the world safe
  for democracy?

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World War I Begins

• Main Idea
• As World War I intensified, the U.S. was forced
  to abandon its neutrality
• Why it Matters Now
• The U.S. remains involved in European and world
  affairs.

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Causes of World War I

• Many Americans wanted to stay out of war, but
  several factors made American neutrality
  difficult to maintain.

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An Assassination Leads to War

• The powder keg of Europe-Balkan Peninsula
• Key Issues
• Russia wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea
• Germany wanted a rail link to the Ottoman Empire
• Austria-Hungary accused Serbia of subverting its
  rule over Bosnia.

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An Assassination Leads to War

• June 1914-Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
  Austrian throne is assassinated
• Gavrilo Princip- member of the Black Hand
  promoted Serbian nationalism.
• The alliance system pulled one nation after
  another into conflict.
• August 3, 1914- The Great War began.

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The Fighting Starts

• August 3, 1914- Germany invaded Belgium
  (Schlieffen Plan)
• Plan called for a holding action against Russia,
  combined w/a quick drive through Belgium to
  Paris.
• Once France had fallen, German armies would
  defeat Russia.

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Fighting Starts

• Allies couldnt save Belgium and retreated to the
  Marne River in France.
• Trench Warfare 3 Main kinds of trenches
• Front line
• Support
• Reserve
• No mans land- space between the barbed wire.
• Horrific Battles
• Battle of Somme(July 1, 1916)- 60,000 British
  casualties on the 1st day alone. 1.2 million in
  the end.

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European Alliances and Battlefronts, 1914-1917
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Americans Question Neutrality

• 1914- Americans saw no reason to join a struggle
  3,000 miles away.
• Divided Loyalty
• Many Americans were from somewhere in Europe
• Some Americans felt closer to Great Britain
  because of ancestry.
• Germany- the bully of Europe

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Economic Ties with Allies

• American trade with Britain France doubled.
• Allies flooded American manufacturers with orders
  for war supplies.
• Trade with Germany dropped
• By how much did total U.S. exports to Europe rise
  or fall between 1914 1917?
• What trends does the graph show before the start
  of the war, and during the war?

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The War Hits Home

• Although the majority of Americans favored
  victory for the Allies rather than the Central
  Powers, they did not want to join the Allies
  fight.
• Two reasons America joined the fighting
• Ensure payments of debts
• Prevent the Germans from threatening U.S. shipping

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The United States Declares War

• After the election, Wilson tried to mediate
  between the warring alliances.
• Peace without Victory
• German Provocation
• Jan. 31, 1917- Germany ordered to sink all ships
  in British waters
• Zimmerman Telegram- letter from German foreign
  minister to the German Ambassador to Mexico.
• America Acts
• April 2, 1917- Congress passes the resolution a
  few day later to enter the war.
• Make the world Safe for Democracy

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World War I BeginsReview

• What were the main reasons for U.S. involvement
  in the war?
• Economic ties were stronger with Allies than they
  were with the Central Powers. Germanys U-boat
  attacks and the Zimmerman Telegram.
• Where did Germany begin its war offensive, and
  what happened there?
• Germany invaded Belgium, creating a refugee
  crisis.

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American Power Tips the Balance

• Main Idea
• The U.S. mobilized a large army and navy to help
  the Allies achieve victory.
• Why it Matters Today
• During WWI, the U.S. military evolved into the
  powerful fighting force that it remains today.

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One Americans Story

• Eddie Rickenbacker- famous pilot of WWI, was a
  well known racecar driver before the war.

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America Mobilizes

• The U.S. wasnt prepared for war. Only 200,000
  men where in service when war was declared.

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Selective Service Act-1917

• No person liable to military service shall
  hereafter be permitted or allowed to furnish a
  substitute for such service nor shall any
  substitute be received, enlisted, or enrolled in
  the military service of the United States and no
  such person shall be permitted to escape such
  service or to be discharged therefrom prior to
  the expiration of his term of service by the
  payment of money or any other valuable thing
  whatsoever as consideration his release from
  military service or liability there to.

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America Turns the Tide

• U-boat attacks on merchant ships were a serious
  threat to the Allies.
• American Vice Admiral William S. Sims- convinced
  the British to try the convoy system.
• A heavy guard of destroyers would escort merchant
  ships across the Atlantic.
• U.S. helped lay a 230 mile barrier of mines
  across the North Sea from Scotland to Norway.

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America Turns the Tide

• Fighting in Europe
• Allies were demoralized
• Americans brought freshness and enthusiasm

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Fighting Over There

• American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
• Gen. John J. Pershing
• Doughboys- American infantry men

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The War Introduces New Hazards

• The new weapons and tactics of WW I led to
  horrific injuries and hazards.

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Meuse-Argonne Offensive

• The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also called the
  Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a part of the
  final Allied offensive of World War I (and known
  as the Grand Offensive) that stretched along the
  entire western front.
• On September 26, the Americans - the first to
  move - began their strike towards Sedan in the
  south.
• U.S. smashes the German will to continue a
  hopeless fight. The main US effort of the
  offensive took place in the Verdun Sector,
  immediately north and northwest of the town of
  Verdun, between September 26 - November 11, 1918.
  
• The big September/October Allied breakthroughs
  (north, centre and south) across the length of
  the Hindenburg Line - including the Battle of the
  Argonne Forest - are now lumped together as part
  of what is generally remembered as the huge
  Hundred Days Offensive by the Allies.

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American Troops Go on the Offensive

• Russian pulls out in 1917, Germany shifted their
  armies to the western front.
• Americans arrived just in time as the German army
  was just 50 miles from Paris.

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Total Cost of WWI

• Casualties and losses Military dead5,525,000Mil
  itary wounded 12,831,500Military missing
  4,121,0001...further details.Military
  dead4,386,000Military wounded
  8,388,000Military missing 3,629,000

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Total Losses by Country

• Britain   750,000 soldiers killed 1,500,000
  woundedFrance 1,400,000 soldiers killed
  2,500,000 woundedBelgium 50,000 soldiers
  killedItaly 600,000 soldiers killedRussia
  1,700,000 soldiers killedAmerica 116,000
  soldiers killed
• Germany 2,000,000 soldiers killedAustria-Hungar
  y 1,200,000 soldiers killedOttoman Empire
  325,000 soldiers killedBulgaria 100,000
  soldiers killed

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American Power Tips the BalanceReview

• How did the U.S. mobilize a strong military
  during WWI?
• The Selective Service Act allowed the government
  to randomly select up to 3 million men for
  military service.
• What new weapons made fighting in WWI deadlier
  than fighting previous wars?
• Machine guns, poison gas, airplanes, tanks.

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The War at Home

• Main Idea
• WWI spurred social, political, and economic
  change in the U.S.
• Why it Matters Now
• Such changes increased government powers and
  expanded economic opportunities

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Congress Give Power to Wilson

• The entire economy had to be refocused on the war
  effort.
• Congress gave President Wilson direct control
  over much of the economy, including the power to
  fix prices and to regulate war related
  industries.

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Congress Gives Power to Wilson

• The main regulatory body was the War Industries
  Board.
• It was established in 1917 and reorganized in
  1918 under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch.
• WIB encouraged companies to use mass-production
  techniques to increase efficiency.
• Production in the U.S. increased by 20.
• People saved to contribute to the war.
• Gasless Sundays,Lightless Nights
• Daylight saving time

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War Economy

• Wages increased during the war.
• Union membership climbed during the war.
• National Labor Board-1918
• Work or Fight
• Food Administration
• Conserve food
• Gospel of the clean plate
• Victory Gardens

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Selling the War

• Two major task government faced when they
  extended the economy
• Raising Money
• Convincing public support for the war.

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Attacks on Civil Liberties Increase

• Wilson had fears of hysteria.

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The War Encourages Social Change

• African American lives were transformed.

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The Influenza Pandemic of 1918

• The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more
  people than the Great War, known today as World
  War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40
  million people.
• 675,000 Americans died of influenza during the
  pandemic
• It has been cited as the most devastating
  epidemic in recorded world history. More people
  died of influenza in a single year than in
  four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from
  1347 to 1351.
• Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the
  influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster.

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The War at HomeReview

• What methods did the U.S. government use to sell
  the war to the nation?
• They advertised and sold war bonds the CPI used
  propaganda.
• What events during the war undermined civil
  liberties?
• Propaganda led to hatred and violations of civil
  liberties. The Espionage and Sedition Acts also
  violated civil liberties.

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Wilson Fights for Peace

• Main Idea
• European leaders opposed most of Wilsons peace
  plan, and the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the
  peace treaty.
• Why it Matters Today
• Many of the nationalist issues left unresolved
  after WWI continue to trouble the world today.

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Wilson Presents His Plan

• Wilson travels to Europe (Versailles) to work out
  details of lasting peace.
• Wilson is treated like a hero in Europe.

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Fourteen Points

• January 18, 1918 Wilson delivers his plan for
  peace to Congress.
• Point were divided into three groups
• 1st five dealt with the prevention of another
  war.
• Next 8 dealt with boundary changes.
• 14th point called for the creation of an
  international organization. League of Nations.

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Rejection of Wilsons Plan
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Europe after The Treaty Versailles, 1919
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Debating the Treaty of Versailles

• On June 28, 1919, the Big Four and leaders of
  defeated nations gathered at the Palace of
  Versailles to sign the peace treaty.

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Wilson Refuses to Compromise

• Despite his health, Wilson set out in September
  1919 on an 8,000 mile tour. 34 speeches in 3
  weeks.
• October 2- Wilson has a stroke
• Senate votes on the treaty.
• Wilson refuses to compromise
• U.S. signed a separate treaty with Germany in
  1921, after Wilson was no longer president.

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The Legacy of the War

• Warren G. Harding called for a return to
  normalcy
• Destruction in Europe damaged social and
  political system.
• The war to end all wars

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Wilson Fights for PeaceReview

• What were the major effects of the Treaty of
  Versailles?
• It created international problems that would
  eventually lead to WWII. It humiliated Germany,
  provoked Russia to reclaim territory, and ignored
  claims of colonized people.
• How did Wilsons support for the League of
  Nations stand in the way of Senate support for
  the Treaty of Versailles?
• Many senators objected to the provision calling
  for the League, yet Wilson was unwilling to
  compromise on it.