Essential Questions:

1

• Essential Questions
• What was the role of the US in World War I?
• Which foreign policy would have been most
  appropriate for the U.S. from 1914 to 1917 given
  the outbreak of war in Europe? TRs Big
  Stick Diplomacy, Tafts Dollar Diplomacy, or
  Wilsons Moral Diplomacy

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American Neutrality

• When war was declared in Europe in June 1914,
  Wilson proclaimed American neutrality due to
• Tradition of non-involvement
• Progressives women organized against war
• America as a land of immigrants should not take
  sides in Europe
• The majority of the U.S. supported the Allies but
  wanted to avoid war

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Threats to American Neutrality
Germany blamed the war on Russian expansion
French revenge
England appealed to cultural ties propaganda of
German atrocities

• U.S. neutrality was threatened from the very
  beginning
• England Germany appealed to the U.S. to enter
  on their side
• U.S. trade with England France provided a
  strong bond
• The most serious threat proved to be Germanys
  violation of the right to freedom of the seas

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Freedom of the Seas

• England began a blockade around Germany to cut
  off war supplies
• Wilson protested that the blockade infringed on
  Americas right to trade as a neutral nation
• But the flood of Allied war orders helped fuel
  the U.S. economy
• Loans trade drew the U.S. closer to the Allies
  while trade with Germany all but ended

By 1916, the U.S. was a neutral nation in name
only
The U.S. gave 2.5 billion in loans to the
Allies, but only 27 million to the Central Powers
Trade with the Allies caused U.S. trade to jump
from 2 billion to 6 billion from 1913 to 1916
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The U-Boat Threat

• Germanys response to the British blockade was
  unrestricted submarine warfare in 1915
• Americans died during u-boat attacks on the
  Lusitania, Arabic, Sussex from 1915 to 1916
• In the Sussex Pledge, Germany agreed to limit
  attacks if the U.S. helped end Englands blockade

Despite the Sussex Pledge, Congress passed the
National Defense Act in 1916 that increased the
size of the U.S. army navy
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Germany used U-boats to create a naval blockade
of England
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Election of 1916

• In the 1916 election, Wilson balanced contrasting
  stances
• He appealed to progressives anti-war voters
  with the slogan He kept us out of war
• But argued for preparedness by building up the
  military in case the U.S. joins the war
• Wilson won by affirming 2 goals freedom of the
  seas neutrality

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America Joins the Allies
German leaders knew this might entice the USA to
enter the warbut did it anyway

• In December 1916, Germany led a massive European
  offensive resumed unrestricted submarine
  warfare to win the war
• In 1917, Wilson hoped for a peace without
  victory but key events made neutrality
  impossible
• German subs sunk 5 U.S. ships
• The interception of Zimmerman Telegram fueled
  U.S. anger

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Rationale behind the Zimmerman Note The U.S.
Mexico almost went to war in June 1916 over
events related to the Mexican Revolution (Huerta,
Carranza, Pancho Villa)
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April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress for a
declaration of war to make the world safe for
democracy
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Over There American Military
Participation in WW I
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WW I Alliances Battlefronts, 1914-1917
When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, the
Allies were on the brink of defeat
Mutinies were common in the French army the
British lost at Flanders, Belgium
U-boats effectively limited Allied supplies
The Russian armistice in 1917 allowed Germany to
move its full army to the western front
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Mobilization
The army navy increased in size but military
leaders had not prepared a plan for war (To plan
for war is to violate the terms of neutrality)

• Wilson named John Pershing to head the American
  Expeditionary Force (AEF), but despite Wilsons
  preparedness campaign, the U.S. was not prepared
  for full scale war
• Many wanted a volunteer army, but Wilson pressed
  Congress to pass a Selective Service Act (24
  million registered 2.8 million were drafted to
  fight in Europe)

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The 1st U.S. troops arrived via convoy in
June 1917 but did not see action until early 1918
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The U.S. on the Western Front, 1918
American soldiers saw their 1st action in May
1918 at Chateau Thierry outside Paris helped
resist a last-ditch German offensive
The Allied counter-attack led by the U.S.
France pushed into Germany
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War in the Trenches

• The arrival of fresh American soldiers war
  supplies raised Allied morale at a crucial time
• By October 1918, the German govt knew the war
  was over
• Turkey, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria were all out
  of the war
• Nov 11, 1918 Germany signed an armistice with the
  Allies

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Conclusions
9 million soldiers 5 million civilians died
U.S. had only 320,000 casualties (6.8)
American soldiers were only engaged in battle for
8 months

• The Great War was a total war but the U.S.
  effort paled in comparison to other Allied
  forces
• The U.S. reluctantly entered WW I after 3 years
  of neutrality played a supportive (not a
  central) military role in the war
• But, WW I had a huge impact on the American
  economic, political, cultural homefront

Artillery, poison gas, grenades, machine guns led
to trench warfare war of attrition
Allies faced 52 casualties the Central Powers
had 57
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Wilsons Fourteen Points

• Wilson believed WW I presented an opportunity for
  the USA to lead the world towards peace
• Wilson saw moral diplomacy as the antidote to
  imperialism military aggression
• Wilsons plan for peace was the Fourteen Points
  based on progressive liberalism improved
  international relations

A faith in government to solve international
problems
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The Treaty of Versailles
Hungary
Austria
Yugoslavia

• Wilsons Fourteen Points contained 3 main themes
  
• Creating new nations out of weakened empires
  based on national self-determination
• New international rules freedom of the seas, no
  more secret treaties, reduced militarism
• Proposed a League of Nations to solve future
  problems

Poland
Czechoslovakia
Turkey
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Wilsons Fourteen Points
Wilson made a mistake by not including any key
Republicans in his Paris delegation

• Wilson traveled to the Paris Peace Conference in
  1919 to help create the Treaty of Versailles
• He hoped his Fourteen Points would become the
  framework for the peace treaty
• But he realized the need to compromise other
  issues if he wanted a League of Nations

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Major Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
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The Treaty of Paris, 1919

• The treaty was a compromise
• Poland, Czech, Yugoslavia were formed but
  Germanys colonies were split up by the victors
• Germany had to accept the war guilt clause
  pay 33 billion
• The treaty did not mention free trade or freedom
  of seas
• Despite calls for open covenants, the treaty was
  drafted in secret

Wilson originally hoped for a peace without
victory
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Europe before the war
Europe after the war
New countries!
Divided empires!
New countries!
New countries!
New countries!
New countries!
Divided empires!
New countries!
Russia turns Communist (USSR)
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A Peace of Paris
Article 10The Members of the League undertake
to respect preserve as against
external aggression the territorial integrity and
existing political independence of all Members of
the League. In case
of any such aggression or in case of any threat
or danger of such aggression the Council shall
advise upon the means by which this obligation
shall be fulfilled.

• But, the Big Four agreed to Wilsons League of
  Nations
• Created a General Assembly of 27 nations
  Executive Council
• A Court of International Justice
• Arbitration economic sanctions would be used to
  settle conflicts against nations that resort to
  war
• Article X asked nations to protect each others
  independence

Executive Council consisted of the Big Four,
Japan, 4 other elected nations
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(No Transcript)
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• On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was
  signed by Germany officially ended WW I

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A Peace at Paris

• All the major European powers signed the treaty
  joined the League ? but not the U.S.
• Polls showed U.S. support for the treaty, but the
  Senate wanted to amend the Leagues covenant to
  keep the U.S. from begin forced to fight foreign
  wars
• Wilson refused to compromise weaken the League
  of Nations

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Rejection in the Senate

• 2/3 of the Senate was needed for the U.S. to
  approve the treaty
• The mild reservationists wanted changes to
  slightly weaken the League
• The strong reservationists led by Henry Cabot
  Lodge wanted major changes to Article X
• The irreconcilables refused to allow the U.S.
  to join the League

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Rejection in the Senate

• Senate Majority Leader Lodge led the attack on
  the treaty League
• Instead of compromising, Wilson tried to pressure
  the Senate with a cross-country speaking tour
• The tour was popular but ineffective in
  pressuring Lodge
• During the tour, Wilson had a stroke remained
  bed-ridden

Like he did at the Paris Peace Conference
For the rest of his presidency, Edith Wilson
served as de facto president
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Rejection in the Senate

• Wilsons failure to compromise led the
  irreconcilables strong reservations to
  defeat the treaty
• The United States never signed the Treaty of
  Versailles nor joined the League of Nations
• In 1920, the Republican Warren Harding won in a
  landslide signaling a return to normalcy

Compromise? Let Lodge compromise Better a
thousand times to go down fighting than to dip
your colors to a dishonorable compromise.
Woodrow Wilson
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The League of Nations (Such as it is)

• The League of Nations was formed in early 1920s
• But almost nothing like the organization that
  Wilson had dreamed up and fought for
• No USA, no Soviet Union, no Germany
• Result Very little teeth, very little authority
  to do anything

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ConclusionsPost-War Disillusionment
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Postwar Disillusionment
The war killed something precious and perhaps
irretrievable in the hearts of thinking men and
women.

• The impact of the Great War
• The U.S. played a key role the international
  peace process
• Led to unprecedented economic prosperity govt
  involvement but killed Progressivism
• To the next generation, the war seemed futile
  wasteful
• Americans welcomed President Hardings return to
  normalcy

A promise not of heroics but healing not
nostrums but normalcy not revolutions but
restoration.
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One Perspective from 1941

• In 1919 we had a golden opportunity, an
  opportunity unprecedented in all history, to
  assume the leadership of the worlda golden
  opportunity handed to us on the proverbial silver
  platter. We did not understand that opportunity.
  Wilson mishandled it. We rejected it. The
  opportunity perished. We bungled it in the 1920s
  and in the confusions of the 1930s we killed it.
  
• Henry Luce, The American Century