Transcript Slide 1

The War to End War
1917-1918
Wilson and Neutrality
• January 1917: Germany announces
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unrestricted submarine warfare
This proclamation voided the earlier agreement
between Wilson and Germany
Germany hoped that the US would remain
neutral and stop supplying Britain before
entering war
Wilson broke diplomatic relations with Germany
War by Act of Germany
• Wilson asked congress for authority to arm US
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merchant ships
Senators filibuster
Zimmerman Telegram: Germany asks Mexico to
invade US, promising AZ, NM and TX
German submarines sank 4 US merchant ships
in early March 1917
Revolution in Russia
April 1917, Declaration of war
Wilson Idealism Enthroned
• Many still not convinced that war was
necessary
• Decision not unanimous in Congress
• “America could be isolationists or
crusaders, but nothing in between”
• Twin goals of war:
– “War to End War”
– “To make the world safe for democracy”
Wilson’s 14 Points
• Wilson became known as the moral leader of
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allied cause
14 points given in January 1918: hoped to keep
Russia in war (didn’t work)
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1. Proposal to abolish secret treaties
2. Freedom of the seas
3. Removal of economic barriers among nations
4. Reduction of armament burdens
5. Adjustment of colonial claims in the interest of the
colonizers and native people
– 6. League of Nations- collective security
Committee of Public Information
• Headed by George Creel, journalist
• 75,000 propaganda speakers
• Posters
• Leaflets and pamphlets
• Movies
• Relied on aroused passion and voluntary
compliance
Loyalty
• Everything blamed on Germans
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– Sauerkraut= liberty cabbage
– Hamburger= liberty steak
Espionage Act (1917)
Sedition Act (1918)
Targeted anti-war activists
Eugene Debs arrested in 1918
Schenck v. US- Supreme Court ruled that 1st
amendment could be revoked when it posed a
danger to the nation
Wartime Workforce
• “work or fight”: unemployed males would be
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drafted
National Labor Board: chaired by William Taft,
pushed for high wages and 8 hour work days,
but not the right to unionize
American Federation of Labor supported war
efforts, did not threaten to strike
Industrial Workers of the World did protest
during war, and were beaten and arrested
Wartime workforce
• Coal mining, manufacturing and
transportation saw wage increases after
war
• Steel Strike of 1919:
– Industry leaders refused to recognize union
– brought in African American workers
– bloody protests left many dead
– Strike collapsed, setback to unions
African Americans in the Workplace
• Many southern AA moved north during
war looking for jobs
• Sometimes met with racist violence
• 1917 riot in in Missouri left 49 dead
• Violence in Chicago (1919)
Women during War
• Some suffragist were pacifists, demonstrated
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against war
Many women supported war
Wilson supported suffrage
19th amendment (1920)
Women went to work in many war industries
Many women gave up jobs once men came
home
Wartime Economy
• Herbert Hoover selected to lead Food
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Administration (had led relief effort of Belgium)
Hoover used propaganda to encourage
voluntarily saving food for exports
Victory gardens, sheep on White House lawn
War helped prohibition: 18th amendment (1919)
Farm production increased as did food exports
Wartime Economy
• Americans encouraged to conserve fuel
• Treasury Dept. raised $21 billion in bonds
• Many were pressured into bonds to prove
their patriotism
• Federal gov. took control of railroads
• Seized enemy merchant ships
Army
• Conscription
• No exemptions, except in crucial industries
• Army grew from 100,000 pre-war soldiers
to over 4 million
• Women allowed in military for 1st time
• AA served in segregated battalions
Fighting in Europe
• Russia withdraws troops in 1918
• Germany now could concentrate on fighting in
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western Europe
US troops begin to arrive in France a year after
war declared
US soldiers also fight in Belgium, Italy, Russia
US invaded Russia to protect munitions
Expedition into Siberia to rescue Czech troops
Fighting
• Germany pressing west toward Paris
• Americans key in second Battle of the Marne
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(July 1918)
General John Pershing led 1.2 million US soldiers
in the Meuse-Argonne campaign featured heavy
fighting with high casualties near the Argonne
Forest
Alvin York (from an antiwar family) killed 20
Germans and captured 132 single-handedly
Final Days
• German allies were deserting them
• British blockade creating food shortages
• Propaganda leaflets were spreading across
the German front
Peace
• Germany turned to Wilson and his 14
points
• Wilson required that the Kaiser be
removed before peace could be obtained
• Kaiser fled to the Netherlands
• 11,11,11
• Main US contributions had been food,
supplies, money and oil
Wilson a Hero Abroad
• Wilson a hero throughout Europe for
ending war
• Wilson sat at the head of the mightiest
nation on earth
Peace at Home
• Republicans gain a majority in Congress in
1918
• No president had ever traveled to Europe,
but Wilson went after war
• Refused to bring any Republican Senators
Idealism vs. Imperialism
• Crowds welcomed Wilson, but leaders
worried
• Paris Conference featured “Big 4” (US, GB,
Italy and France)
• Europe worried about communist spillover
from Russia
• Territories of conquered would be
overseen by League of Nations
The Treaty of Versailles
• Republican opposition at home empowered
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European leaders against Wilson
France demanded part of Germany
(administered by League for 15 years)
GB and US agree to aid France in future
Italy demanded part of Yugoslavia
Japan demanded German islands in Pacific
Japan also demanded part of China, which was
to be returned at a later date
The Treaty Leads to Trouble
• Germany forced to accept treaty void of
14 points
• Wilson had to compromise
• Isolationists in US despised Treaty
• Some felt that it wasn’t harsh enough on
Germany
• Others felt it went to far
American Deadlock
• Republicans sought to change treaty
• Wilson undertook a nationwide tour to gain
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support for the treaty
Wilson had a long history of illness, and in Sep.
1919 he collapsed in Colorado
A stroke partially paralyzed Wilson back in DC
Wilson did not meet with his cabinet for 7
months
American Deadlock
• Congress upset over the requirement that
US would come to the aid of other
attacked nations
• Amended “republican" treaty rejected,
twice
• Treaty never approved by Congress
Election of 1920
• Republicans nominate Warren Harding
• Harding makes mixed statements about
Treaty
• Newly enfranchised women help Harding
carry the victory
• Without US support the treaty was
doomed to fail in Europe
• US goes back to isolationism