Unit: World War I
Big Idea: World War I and its aftermath intensified debates about the nation’s role in the world and
how best to achieve national security and pursue American interests.
Unit Description:
This unit concentrates on examining America’s rise to world power by examining the history
of America during World War I. It opens with a definition of Woodrow Wilson’s concept of a
moral foreign policy through what he called liberal internationalism. Promising to bring the
Progressive agenda to the world, Wilson fell short, and the war forced Americans to once
again debate the true extent of liberty.
Key Concept(s):
 After initial neutrality in World War I, the nation entered the conflict, departing from
the US foreign policy tradition of noninvolvement in European affairs in response to
Woodrow Wilson’s call for the defense of humanitarian and democratic principles.
 How did the arguments between imperialists and anti-imperialists differ?
 World War I created a repressive atmosphere for civil liberties, resulting in official
restrictions on freedom of speech.
 Although most African Americans remained in the South despite legalized segregation
and racial violence, some began a “Great Migration” out of the South to pursue new
economic opportunities offered by World War I.
 Although the American Expeditionary Force played a relatively limited role in the war,
Wilson was heavily involved in postwar negotiations, resulting in the treaty of
Versailles and the League of Nations, both of which generated substantial debate
within the US.
Key Terms by Historical Theme:
(WOR): Allied Power, Central Power, neutrality, submarine warfare, Lusitania, Sussex
Pledge, propaganda, ethnic support, preparedness, Jeannette Rankin, Zimmermann telegram,
Russian Revolution, Bolsheviks withdraw, American Expeditionary Force, John J Pershing,
Western Front, November 11, 1918, “peace without victory”, Fourteen Points, Big Four, Treaty
of Versailles, self-determination, League of Nations, Article X
(POL): war industry boards, Food Administration, Railroad Administration, National War
Labor Board, taxes and bonds, Selective Service Act, service of African Americans, Committee
on Public Information, George Creel, anti-German hysteria, Espionage Act (1917), Sedition
Act (1918), Eugene Debs, Schenck v United States, election of 1918, Henry Cabot Lodge,
Wilson’s stroke, rejection of treaty
(PEO & WXT): wartime jobs for women, attitudes toward suffrage, migration of African
Americans and Latinos