Chapter 23 War and Society, 1914-1920 © 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved. Europe’s Descent into War • • • • • First World War (1914-1918) Archduke Franz Ferdinand Triple Alliance Triple Entente All sides expect quick victory, all are disappointed • Bloody trench warfare stalemate on Western front (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved American Neutrality • Wilson—neither threatened vital American interest • Edward M. House and Robert Lansing – Wilson’s pro-British advisors • William Jennings Bryan – Against pro-British tilt • Germany had no advocates in government • British blockade of Germany – Violates American neutrality, Wilson protests (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Submarine Warfare • Unterseeboot (U-boat) • Lusitania (May 1915) – 1198 killed, 128 Americans – Germans had warned the passenger was a target • Bryan resigns when Wilson refuses to criticize both British blockade and U-boats • Sussex pledge (1916) • 1916 preparedness measures (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved The Peace Movement • • • • Women’s Peace Party Carrie Chapman Catt Jane Addams Midwestern Progressives – Robert LaFollete, George Norris • American Union Against Militarism • German and Irish Americans (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Wilson’s Vision: “Peace without Victory” • “He kept us out of war” campaign slogan • League of Nations • Wilson’s crucial elements of lasting peace: – – – – Freedom of the seas Disarmament Democratic self-government Security against aggression (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved German Escalation • Russia’s imminent collapse • Germany concentrates on Britain and France – Renew U-boat war • "Zimmerman telegram“ • American declaration of war: “make the world safe for democracy” (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved American Intervention • Russian revolution (1917) – Vladimir Lenin and Bolshevik Party • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) – Publication of secret Allied treaties • German 1918 offensive • American Expeditionary Force (AEF) – John J. Pershing • Allied 1918 offensive • Armistice 11-11-1918 (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Mobilizing for “Total” War • Compared to Europe, the U.S. was spared most of the war’s ravages • War’s effect on American society – Biggest campaign for U.S. since Civil War – Wilson asked for total commitment from U.S. citizens • Conscription • In army, agriculture, transportation, industry (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Organizing Industry • Food Administration – Herbert Hoover • U.S. Railroad Administration – William G. McAdoo • U.S. economy did well in war overall • War Industries Board – Bernard Baruch (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Organizing Civilian Labor • Labor shortage • “Great Migration” • Labor movement – Union membership – Industrial democracy • National War Labor Board (NWLB) – Taft and Gompers (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Occupations with Largest Increase in Women, 1910-1920 (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Total Membership of American Trade Unions, 1900-1920 (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Organizing Military Labor • Selective Service Act (1917) • African-Americans segregated and barred from combat • IQ tests “prove” superiority of white AngloSaxons – Also prove half of all men are mental age 13 or less • Alvin York • 369th regiment (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Paying the Bills • Raise income tax rates – Wealthiest hit hard, 67% top income tax rate – Corporations pay “excess profits tax” • "Liberty Bonds" (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved The First World War and the Federal Budget (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Arousing Patriotic Ardor • Committee on Public Information (CPI) – George Creel • Expand democracy at home – Labor and industrial democracy – Women’s suffrage (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Wartime Repression • CRI anti-German propaganda • Liberty cabbage and liberty sandwiches – (Sour kraut and hamburgers) • • • • • • Immigration Restriction Act (1917) German Americans: object of hatred Eighteenth Amendment: Prohibition, 1919 Espionage, Sabotage and Sedition Acts IWW American Protective League (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved The Failure of the International Peace • Germany’s surrender, 1918 • Wilson goes to Versailles Conference • All combatants publicly accept Wilson’s Fourteen Points basis for negotiation – – – – Free trade and freedom of the seas Dispute resolution through mediation Self-determination for nations League of Nations (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles • Allies not committed to 14 Points – God gave us 10 commandments & we broke them, Wilson gave us 14 points. We shall see” • Georges Clemenceau, France – Vittorio Orlando, Italy walks out • Treaty of Versailles (1919) – No free trade – Partial self-determination – Germany “war guilt” clause • lost land and paid reparations (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved The League of Nations • Wilson felt creation of League as most important point • Would redeem failings of Versailles Conference • Article X – Endowed the League with power to punish aggressor nations via economic isolation and military retaliation (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Wilson versus Lodge: The Fight over Ratification • • • • • • • Republicans win Senate majority in 1918 “Irreconcilables" Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts Constitutional question of Article X Desire of some to humiliate Wilson Pueblo, Colorado Treaty defeated (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved The Treaty’s Final Defeat • Wilson would not accept alterations of the Treaty • Lodge version of the Treaty was put to vote again – and was defeated • United States never ratified the Treaty of Versailles – Legacy of Treaty’s defeat (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved The Postwar Period: A Society in Convulsion • Continued struggles between workers and employers • Soldiers trying to reclaim livelihood vs. women, blacks, Hispanics who had been recruited to fill in • Returning black veterans • Federal government moved to decentralize power that had occurred during the War (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Labor-Capital Conflict • Boston Police strike (1919) – Calvin Coolidge • Steel strike (1919) (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Radicals and the Red Scare • Radicalism sentiment on the rise in postWWI labor movement • “Red Scare” • Russian Revolution splits U.S. Socialists • "Palmer raids“ • Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Racial Conflict and the Rise of Black Nationalism • “New Negro” • Frustrated ad disappointed AfricanAmericans veterans • Race riots • Universal Negro Improvement Association – Marcus Garvey (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Conclusion • Effects of war on the U.S. social fabric – Industrial workers, immigrants and radicals – Fear, intolerance, and repression resulted in extreme class, ethnic, and racial tensions • Collapse of the Progressive Movement • Wilson’s dashed dreams for a new and democratic world order (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved