America and the Great
War
Chapter 23
I. The Road to War
► The
Collapse of the European Peace
 Imperialism, Nationalism and Militarism
 Alliances
► Central
Powers = Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Italy
► Allied Powers = Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia
 Archduke Franz Ferdinand: Sarajevo, Bosnia, June 28,
1914
 The Dominos fall…
Wilson’s Neutrality
1914 “Maintain impartial thought as well as deed” =
Impossible
Social
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German and Irish Americans had hatred for British
General admiration for England’s tradition and
culture (Wilson)
Lurid reports of German atrocities in Belgium
Economic
United states could weather an embargo from the Central
Powers, but not the Allies
War orders from Britain and France stimulated US
economy
1915 US had gone from Neutral to arsenal for the
Allies
Submarines
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viewed as barbaric
British passenger liner Lusitania sunk without warning,
128 Americans dead (ship was carrying passengers
and munitions)
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huge American war fervor
Wilson demands Central Powers recognize US neutral
rights and allow passenger and trade ships
Germany in a tough spot
Preparedness Versus Pacifism
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1916 Election year
Divided factions in the US: TR v. Bryan and
LaFollette
Wilson originally against military buildup, but as
tensions grew with Germany he changed his
mind.
“He kept us out of the war” a campaign slogan
never used by the candidate himself
Wins close election
The War for Democracy

Wilson in need for support of war
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new world order, a league of nations
Germans become desperate
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launch a series of major assaults on the
enemy’s lines in France
unrestricted submarine warfare… against all
ships… to cut Britain off from vital supplies
Idea being that Allied forces would collapse before
the US could intervene
The War for Democracy Continued
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Two events to get the United States involved
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Zimmermann telegram
Russian Revolution: US does not have to ally
itself with a despotic regime
April 2, 1917 Wilson asks Congress for a
declaration of war… would not receive it until
April 6… dissent was strong.
II. “War Without Stint”
Entering the War
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Most immediate affect seen at sea
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1917 only one out of every four British ships were returning
American Destroyers aided the British navy in its assault on
the U-boats
Anti-submarine mines
Sinking of Allied Ships: April 1917: 900,000 tons / December
1917: 350,000 tons / October 1918: 112,000
V.I. Lenin negotiates treaty with Germany
Eastern front troops would soon be available on the
Western Front
The American Expeditionary Force
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Army shortcomings
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Selective Service Act = Draft
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only 120,000 soldiers in US army in 1917
little battle experience
3 million men brought into the army
additional 2 million volunteer
New Army referred to themselves as The American
Expeditionary Force (AEF)
Trench life = horrible
The American Expeditionary Force Again
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1/10 soldiers gets VD
Diverse fighting force
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Women allowed to enlist, not allowed in
combat, but played vital role in hospitals and
offices
250,000 black soldiers enlisted or drafted
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segregated units
most reduced to menial tasks
tensions on the home front
The introduction of the IQ test and “morons”
The Military Struggle
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intense, brief fighting: European forces
exhausted
Eight months after US entry into the war in
Spring 1918, the war was over
John J. Pershing (remember Poncho Villa?)
See map on page 782 for key attacks and
battles
Armistice (cease fire) November 11, 1918
III. The War and American Society
Organizing the Economy for War
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$32 Billion in expenses spent in war by
USA… this was in a time when the
entire federal budget seldom exceeded
$1 billion before 1915 and GNP was
only $35 billion in 1910
“Liberty Bonds”
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patriotic appeals / propaganda
produced $23 billion
New taxes brining in $10 billion
Council of National Defense organized
economy into different sectors based
on function rather than
geographic…(transportation, food, fuel
supplies)
Organizing the Economy for War
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War Industries Board: wielded powers greater
than any other government agency before it
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Bernard Baruch
Decided which factories would convert to war production
Decided where supplies would go
appeared to be in line with Progressive ideals, but
actually enhanced the private sector through a
mutually beneficial alliance
prevailing belief that a close relationship between
gov’t and business should continue after the war
Labor and the War
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National War Labor Board est. 1918
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eight-hour day
maintenance of minimal living standards
equal pay for women doing equal work
recognition of unions to bargain collectively
workers cannot strike
businesses cannot engage in lockouts
Union membership increased by more than 1.5
million between 1917 and 1919
1914 Ludlow Massacre (Colorado)
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miners walk out of mines owned by John D. Rockefeller
joined by wives and daughters, they go on strike
continue strike after being fired
State Militia called in to “protect” the mines
39 people dead, 11 children
Economic and Social Results of the
War
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War caused a boom in the economy
Employment opportunity for women and minorities
“Great Migration” of blacks from rural South to urban
centers in the North
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ads in newspapers
word of mouth
Backlash from established Northern blacks
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revivalist religion
feared racism from whites
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burned houses
shot blacks as they fled
40 African Americans dead
Huge increases in Northern black population regardless (see p.
785)
July 2, 1917 white mob attacked a black neighborhood in St. Louis
Economic and Social Results of the
War Continued
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1 million women worked in jobs that
were previously thought of as male
preserves: steel, munitions, trucking,
public transportation
After war was over, almost all of the
women working in previously male
industrial jobs quit or were fired, the
result: the percentage of women working for
wages actually declined between 1910 and
1920
IV. The Search for Social
Unity
Progressive ideal: that war would
lead America to unite behind a
great common cause and create a
lasting sense of collective purpose
The Peace Movement
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German Americans: opposed
American intervention
Irish Americans: opposed any
support of British
Religious Pacifists: Quakers,
Mennonites and others
Socialist Party / Industrial
Workers of the World (Wobblies):
saw war as a meaningless battle
among capitalist nations for
commercial supremacy
Women and The Peace Movement
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Opposition
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Woman’s Peace Party: Carrie Chapman Catt
Jane Addams refused to support the war,
criticized as a result
“mother half of humanity”
Support
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National American Woman Suffrage
Association: supported the war
Catt abandon’s peace cause and calls upon
the woman’s right to vote as a “war measure”
Selling the War and Suppressing
Dissent
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Many Americans opposed to the war prior to
declaration, but make a “spontaneous decision” to
support the president, the government and the
“boys” overseas
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floods of voluntary enlistments
women joined local Red Crosses
children buy war bonds in their schools
churches include prayers for the President and
troops
Religious revivalism connected to war effort:
Billy Sunday
Government leaders concerned about significant
minorities who continued to oppose the war even
after the United States entered it
Selling the War and Suppressing
Dissent Continued
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Committee on Public Information (CPI)
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Distributed 75 million pieces propaganda
directed by George Creel who believed in the importance
of unity
vile threats if reporters did not practice “self censorship”
started with theory of only distributing the
“facts”… but tactics grew crude
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The Kaiser: Beast of Berlin
The Prussian Cur
began to make efforts to suppress dissent
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ran a full page ad encourage Americans to contact the justice
department if they encountered anyone opposed to the war
Selling the War and Suppressing
Dissent Continued Again
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Espionage Act of 1917
created stiff penalties for spying, sabotage or
obstruction of the war effort
► allowed the post to be censored
► all Socialist print would not be mailed
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Sabotage and Sedition Acts of 1918
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made illegal any public expression of opposition to
the war
widely interpreted
Selling the War and Suppressing
Dissent Still Continued
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Biggest target was Socialist Party and IWW
members
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Eugene V. Debs: sentence to ten years prison in
1918
Bill Haywood fled to the Soviet Union
1,500 people were arrested in 1918 for the crime
of criticizing the government
Vigilante Mobs assembled to “discipline” war
opponents
American Protective League
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250,000 agents who pried into the activities of
their neighbors: opening mail, tapping telephones
received gov’t funds for their work
Selling the War and Suppressing
Dissent Concluded
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Most frequent targets of repression were
Irish: expressed hopes of a German victory prior
to 1917
► Jews: expressed opposition to the anti-Semitic
policies of the Russian gov’t
► German American Community: public opinion
turns bitterly hostile, even though many Germans
supported American war effort after 1917
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sauerkraut renamed “liberty cabbage”
hamburger renamed “liberty sausage”
German language removed from school curriculum
“something fundamentally wrong with the Teutonic soul”
The Search For A New World Order
The Fourteen Points
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January 8, 1918 Wilson appeared before Congress to
present the principles for which he claimed the nation
was fighting… became known as The Fourteen Points
First: eight specific recommendations for adjusting
postwar boundaries and for establishing new nations
to replace defunct Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman
Empires… reflected his belief in the right of all peoples
to self-determination
The Fourteen Points Continued
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Second: five general principles to govern
international conduct in the future
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freedom of the seas
open covenants instead of secret treaties
reductions in armaments
free trade
impartial mediation of colonial claims
Third: a proposal for a league of nations
that would help implement these new
principles and territorial adjustments and
resolve future controversies
The Fourteen Points Continued Again
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Flaws
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provided no formula for deciding how to implement
“national self-determination”
did not address political rivalries
Reflected belief that the world was capable of
just and efficient government as were
individual nations, human race was capable of
living in peace… reflection of Progressive
Ideals
Fourteen Points was also a response to
Bolshevik government in Russia
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effort to keep Russia in the War
response to V.I. Lenin’s statement weeks before
Wanted the world to look to the US, not Russia for
guidance
Early Obstacles
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Abroad
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At Home
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Leaders of Allied powers were preparing to reject
Wilson’s plan even before the armistice was signed
► Wilson’s moral superiority
► US did not become their “ally” but rather was an
“associate”
Enormous amount of bitterness towards Germans from
France and Britain
Republicans capture majorities in both Houses in 1918
Domestic economic troubles
Republicans were supporting the 14 points until Wilson
made it a ballot issue
Wilson did not appoint any Republicans to the
negotiating team hat would represent the United States
in Paris
Wilson believed the world would follow his lead
The Paris Peace Conference
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Wilson looked upon as a savior in Europe…
greeted by the largest crowd in Paris’s history
GB, France, Italy and US all represented
at Peace conference (The Big Four)
Russia and Germany not represented
(fear of Russia)
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Wilson adamant about being the lone
representative at the conference despite
warnings
Wilson’s idealism v. national aggrandizement
The Paris Peace Conference Continued
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Many of Wilson’s plans shot down: freedom of the seas, free
trade
Reparations
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Wilson opposed demanding compensation from the defeated
Central Powers
Other Allied leaders were adamant… slowly Wilson gave way
$56 billion / crippled German economy could only pay $9 billion
Idea: never again should the Germans be allowed to become
powerful enough to threaten the peace of Europe
Wilson Victories
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territories under “trusteeship”
designed Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia… ethnically diverse
Allies voted to accept the “covenant” of the League of Nations
The Ratification Battle
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many Americans were comfortable
with their country’s isolationism… now
in a new major commitment to
internationalism
Treaty of Versailles “Dare we reject it
and break the heart of the world?”
Wilson = refusal to change,
stubborn, perhaps from a stroke?
Politics: Republicans want to
make Wilson look bad… Henry
Cabot Lodge attempts delay
Senate refuses to budge, Wilson
takes the issue to the public
Wilson’s Ordeal
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exhausting cross country speaking tour
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8,000 miles a day by train, speaking four times a day
collapses in Pueblo, Colorado
suffers major stroke in Washington
six weeks bed-ridden
Final 18 months of Presidency: paralyzed and
unstable
Senate adds amendments and reservations…
Wilson orders original document to be accepted
or no document at all
League of Nations never passes the United
States Congress
VI. A Society in Turmoil
Aftermath of war did not usher in
an age of liberal reform that
progressives had predicted, but a
period of repression and reaction
Industry and Labor
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fighting ended sooner than anyone could have
anticipated… gov’t contracts to businesses cut
off
raging inflation in response to poor
abandonment of wartime price controls
1921: GNP declines nearly 10%
soldier returning increase # of available
workforce, decrease wages
Industry and Labor Continued
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1919: over 3,600 strikes in response to employees
rescinding war time benefits
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January: Seattle, Washington - General Strike Achieved, US
Marines intervene
September: Boston, Mass - Police force on strike, violence
and looting breaks out… entire police force fired
September: greatest strike in US history 350,000
steelworkers walk of job in demand of an 8 hour day
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violence from employers, hired armed guards
AFL timidly retreats
Strike collapses in January, death blow to labor
“Where is that Democracy for which we fought?”
The Demands of African Americans
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AA veterans marched in the main streets of industrial
cities with other returning troops, but then again
through the streets of black neighborhoods,
AA community looked to them as heroes: sign that a
new age had come
Little impact on white attitudes / increased black
determination to fight for their rights
1919 South: lynching increase - 70 blacks, some of
them war veterans, died at the hands of white mobs
Race riots in St. Louis
The Demands of African Americans
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Chicago, segregated beach on Lake Michigan, young black
boy stoned to death by whites
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black crowds gathered in white neighborhoods to retaliate
white crowds roamed into black neighborhoods to retaliate
Chicago at war for a week
In the end 38 people dead, 537 injured, 1,000 left homeless
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NAACP encouraged blacks to defend themselves
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encouraged AA to take pride in their own culture
United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
Started black businesses
Began encouraging supporters to leave America and return to
Africa
Garvey indicted in 1923 on charges of business fraud
New characteristic: Blacks fighting back
Marcus Garvey
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The Red Scare
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white middle class fearing of instability and
radicalism
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racial violence
feminists
Russian Revolution
Communist International: “Comintern” purpose
to spread communist revolution around the
world
Terror in the US
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bombings in spring of 1919
mail bombs
The Red Scare Continued
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Results
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inspired middleclass Americans to fight back against
radicalism
reinforced old-stock Protestant idea of “100%
Americanism”
reinforce fear: race riots = “the work of armed revolutionaries
running rampant through our cities”
Steel strike = “Bolshevik idea”
Peacetime sedition laws
Spontaneous acts of violence
Restriction of press
Removal of subversive books
Against the war = criminal
The Red Scare Continued Again
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Palmer Raids
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Michael Palmer = Attorney General (J. Edgar
Hoover was his assistant)
Raids on alleged radical centers: 6,000 people
arrested / 500 non US citizens deported
Intention was to uncover huge caches of
weapons, what they found was three pistols and
no dynamite
Sacco and Vanzetti
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1920 two Italian immigrants charged with the
murder of paymaster in Braintree, Massachusetts
questionable evidence
confessed anarchists, thus widespread
presumption of guilt
trial featured “extraordinary injudiciousness” and
an openly bigoted judge, Webster Thayer
August 23, 1927 amid widespread protests
around the world, the two men were sentenced to
die in the electric chair
The Retreat from Idealism
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passage of 19th Amendment did not mark the
beginning of an era of reform, but rather the
ending of one
Social problems combine to create a general
sense of disillusionment
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economic problems
feminist demands
labor unrest
racial tensions
intensity of anti-radicalism
WW hoped the 1920 election would be a
referendum on the League of Nations… Ohio
Governor James M. Cox was the Democratic
Candidate / FDR was VP
Harding has no ideals, but promises a “return to
normalcy”