United States and
World War I
APUSH
Over There By George M. Cohan
 Verse
Johnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,
Take it on the run, on the run, on the run,
Hear them calling you and me,
Ev'ry son of liberty.
Hurry right away, no delay, go today,
Make your daddy glad to have had such a lad,
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
To be proud her boy's in line.
Chorus
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Over there over there
Send the word, send the word over
there
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks
are coming,
The drums rum-tumming ev'rywhere
So prepare say a pray'r
Send the word, send the word to
beware
We'll be over, we're coming over,
And we won't come back till it's over
over there!
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Verse
Johnnie get your gun, get your gun,
get your gun,
Johnnie show the Hun you're a son
of a gun,
Hoist the flag and let her fly,
Yankee Doodle do or die.
Pack your little kit, show your grit,
do your bit,
Yankees to the ranks from the
towns and the tanks,
Make your mother proud of you
And the old Red White and Blue.
Essay Question
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A.
B.
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D.
E.
Mobilization for WWI altered the lives of millions of civilians.
Describe the impact on the American society to three of the
following:
Women and the war effort (military, munitions manufacturing)
African Americans (Great Migration, push pull factors)
Critics-Curbing dissent (Civil Liberties- Espionage ActSedition Act)
Funding for the war (Income, Corporate, excise taxes, War
Bonds, Loans)
Administration of Resources -Fuel and food (Food
Administration, Wheat, sugar, meat)
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“The most colossal, murderous, mismanaged
butchery that has ever taken place on earth.”
Ernest Hemmingway
“Make the world safe for democracy.“
Woodrow Wilson
AP Outline
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The First World War
Problems of neutrality
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Submarines
Economic ties
Psychological and ethnic ties
Preparedness and pacifism
Mobilization
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Fighting the war
Financing the war
War boards
Propaganda, public opinion,
civil liberties
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Wilson's Fourteen Points
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Treaty of Versailles
Ratification fight
Postwar demobilization
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Red scare
Labor strife
World War I 1914-1919
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Secret Alliances
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(Triple Alliance/Triple Entente)
Rivalries-Empires
Militarism/ “Arms Race”
Revenge- Franco-Prussia War (1971)
Nationalist movement touches off a giant war
(Serbia- the Black Hand Gavrillo Princip)
Pre World War I Map
Interactive Map of War
Woodrow Wilson 1912-1919
Democrat (Progressive)
 PHD-Professor then President of Princeton- Political
Science
 Governor of New Jersey
 Want foreign policy to shape
morality in the World.
 Very religious
 Committed to Peace in the world.
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Moral or Missionary Diplomacy
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Wilson, “It would be the irony of fate if my
administration had to deal chiefly with foreign
affairs.”
Hoped to change relations with Latin America- didn’t
like the “Big Stick” diplomacyWanted to restore Latin American Confidence in the
US
American Economic Expansion with American
Democracy, and Christianity, to civilize the world.
Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan (Christian,
Pacifist- reflected the Moral/Missionary vision)
“Missionary” Diplomacy
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Wilson saw American influence in the world as a moral
crusadeWanted to help create a “New World Order” guided by
fair play and cooperation
Wanted to spread democracy and hope to less fortunate
lands
Pledged, “The United States would never again
seek one additional foot of territory by conquest.”
Wilson and Morality
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“Americans are meant to carry liberty and justice
and the principles of humanity wherever…
convert them to principles of America.”
“America must use it’s enormous moral and
material power to create a new order.”
American “Neutrality”
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Most Americans did not want to get involved in the
War
Wilson didn’t want war but didn’t want Brits to lose
Anglo-Americans pro-Allies (Brits)
Irish Americans (4.5 million) were Anti-British and proGerman (1916, Easter Rising, Irish will use German
Weapons to attack British in Dublin)
German Americans pro-German (8 million)
American Industrialists- were making millions on war
goods
American “Neutrality”
Wilson said, A German victory would be “destructive to American
ideals.”
Economic Ties=Tacit Neutrality
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U. S. Bankers
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Immediately after the War bogged down into stalemate, the Allies sought to
build their armies. They needed money and material to do it. They also
needed supplies in large quantities. What they couldn't produce they bought
from the United States and they bought on credit from U. S. Banks.
Trade with Germany
 1914 = $169,000,000
 1916 = $1,158,000
 1917 $27 million in credit
Trade with Allies
 1914 = $824,000,000
 1916 = $3,214,000,000
 1917 = $2.3 billion in credit
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When the War looked bad for the Allies the bankers became worried that they
might lose their money if the Allies lost the War and started to pressure the
United States government to get more involved.
Sinking of the Lusitania May 1915
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Wilson wants to maintain neutrality but also
cited the necessity to maintain “freedom of the
seas”
Causes Americans to become more hostile to
Germans
Effect of Lusitania
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Wilson protests and demands German apology,
reparations, commitment to stop attacking
passenger vessels
Germans comply for time being
Americans still trade with Allies and Germans
Wilson desires “Peace and Preparedness” begins
to prepare for war with appropriations
Election of
1916Linkhttp://www.a
nswers.com/topic
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/united-statespresidentialelection-1916
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Wilson playing
both sides
Preparedness and
Peace
Beats the
Republican
Hughes
Very close race
277-254 electoral
votes
9.1 mill- 8.5 mill
pop votes
Propaganda
Grows
Zimmerman Telegram
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January 1917
German diplomat suggests to Mexico
AllianceIf US enters the war against Germany
Mexico declares war on US and if Germany and US
win, Mexico will receive Texas, Arizona, and New
Mexico
Telegram is leaked to papers
Outrages many Americans = more support for entering
war
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
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1917 Germany is getting desperate
Wants to force British negotiated peace or
victory
Announces new policy of Unrestricted
Submarine Warfare= All ships going to Allied
countries possible targets.
Germans thought this might cause US to enter
war, but thought war would end before they
could mobilize.
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Video of Submarine
Wilson Supports War
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Wilson- Very pro-British- saw the war concerning the
survival of democracy.
US Bankers and industrialists supported entrance into
war
Wilson wanted to see a New World Order emerge
He cited the “Freedom of the seas”
The American cause was “to vindicate the principles of
peace and justice…The world must be made safe for
democracy.”
Asks Congress for a Declaration of War
Americans want to keep out of War
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Woodrow Wilson was re-elected in 1916 on the
platform that
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“He Kept Us Out of War!”
In 1917, however, Wilson sought a declaration of
war.
Citing “Freedom of the seas.”
A “War to Make the World Safe for Democracy”
Congress Vote
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April 1917
Senate 92-6
House 473-50
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US is at war against Germany
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Mobilization
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Financing the War
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Raised Income Taxes
Corporate Taxes
Loans
War Bonds
$24 Billion- cost of war
$11 Billion in war loans
War boards organize
production
War Industries Board (WIB)
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Food Administration
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Huge bureaucracy
Manages war time economy
Herbert Hoover
Managed food supply
Controlling Wheat, Meat,
Sugar
Railroad Board
Fuel Administration
Shipping Board (Merchant
Ships)
National War Labor Board
Prohibition and the war
War industries board WIB - huge bureaucracy
 Food Administration- headed by Herbert Hoover
 Wanted to limit private consumption of goods that
could be used for the war effort such as: wheat, grains,
and sugar so that it could be used for the war effort
 18th Amendment proposed- outlaw the making of
alcohol
Volstead Act- federal legislation that enforces the 18th
amendment
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Shaping Public Opinion
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In order to mobilize support for the War
Committee Public Information
The American Government’s propaganda arm
Created to produce hatred for Germans and
support for the war effort
Civil Liberties
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US has a history of limiting civil liberties,
(liberties of free speech, suspending Habeas
Corpus)
John Adams 1798- Alien Sedition Acts
Lincoln- Civil War- suspends Habeas Corpus
World War I Wilson pushes Sedition Acts (limits
freedom of speech)
Web site on suspension of civil liberties
Espionage and Sedition Acts
Three Act “Play”
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Alien Act 1798- Adams government, deport
enemy aliens
Espionage Act 1917 = allows for fines and
prison for obstruction of war effort
Sedition Act 1918 = allows up to 20 years
Civil Liberties Attacked
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A portion of the amendment to Section 3 of the Espionage Act
of June 15, 1917.
SECTION 3. Whoever, when the United States is at war,…,
. . .(hinder) the recruiting or enlistment service of the
United States, or . . .
shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal,
profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of
government of the United States, or the Constitution of the
United States,…
by word or act oppose the cause of the United States
therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than
$10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or
both....
Espionage and Sedition Acts
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The Supreme court upholds the Espionage and
Sedition acts in the Schenck vs. United States.
Critics of the War
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“War to Make the World Safe for Armaments
and Munitions Manufacturers.”
People like Emma Goldman, Eugene Debs, and
Jane Addams vigorously criticized the decision
to enter the war.
Debs will be put in prison because of his views
Conscription or Selective Service Act
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Selective Service Act: All males 18-45 were
ordered to register for the draft
More men who served in the war were
conscripted.
Draftees were un Unmarried, 13% black
24 million registered
2.8 million drafted
2 million volunteered
African Americans During the War
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Great Migration= large numbers move North
“Nothing here but money, and it is not hard to get.”
New York/Chicago
Push: poor conditions, floods, race oppression
Pull: more economic opportunity, jobs, higher pay
Migration causes -hostility among other groupsimmigrants
Segregated in military-
Blacks in the Military
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260,000 enlist or are drafted
50,000 were sent to France- most worked in
service/menial tasks
Some Combat regiments
Segregated Units
White officers
Suffer racial abuse
American Troops Fight
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Video’s on the Web
American Expeditionary Force (AEF) name of
the US forces in Europe
“Doughboys” nickname for Americans in WWI
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Black Jack Pershing- American Commanding General
American Significance in War
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1916 Russians loosing (weak, poor); sending troops
w/out weapons to the front line; 1916 Russians pull out
with treaty Brest Litovsk 1917
1916 French mutiny, 300 killed for refusing to attack
fighting
Trench warfare causing mass amounts of deaths; “No
man’s land” and Machine Guns, high explosives, and
poison gas
If Germany had taken Paris they would have won, but
American reinforcements (1 million troops) stopped
the Germans and save the Allies
American Battles
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By early 1918 American troops arrive in France
The AEF fight in a few important engagements
Chateau-Thierry
Bellau Wood
The Argonne Forrest
St. Mihiel
Trench Warfare
Women and the War
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Women enter the military services
Secretaries, nurses, telephone operators
More opportunity for civilian work
1 million women in industry munitions
Armistice
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November 11, 1918
Germans facing invasion ask for a negotiated
end of war based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points
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War is effectively over.
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The Fourteen Points and
Treaty of Versailles
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Wilson attempted to see his “Missionary” ideals in the settlement of the war.
His “New World Order”
“We entered this war because violations of right had occurred which touched
us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless they
were corrected and the world secured once for all against their recurrence.
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What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is
that the world be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it be made
safe for every peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its
own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair
dealing by the other peoples of the world as against force and selfish
aggression.
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All the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest, and for our
own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it will not be
done to us. The program of the world's peace, therefore, is our program”
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“Do unto others…”
Fourteen Points
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Idealist expression of Wilson
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To correct errors that
created the war and to
support the creation of a
new world order based
on Wilson’s missionary
principles
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Contained in Treaty
of Versailles
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Some of the Points
Self Determination =
independence for colonies
Freedom of Seas
Greater freedom of trade
No Secret Treaties
Reduction of armaments
League of Nations to solve
international problems
Harsh Treaty Punishes Central
Powers
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Austria-Hungary lose empire
Germany loses land, pays large war debt
Takes full blame for the war
Turkey loses empire
Post War Map
Ratification Battle
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Republican Senator, Henry Cabot Lodge
Didn’t like Wilson
Wanted to change/weaken the League of
Nations Covenant- (Charter)
Was concerned about American Sovereignty
Immigration
 Tariffs
 Ability use force (limited by the league)
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Wanted to Weaken the Democratic Party
Wilson Commits “Infanticide”
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Wilson would not compromise with the Lodge
and the Republicans in Senate
He goes on a speaking tour to create public
pressure on the Senate
Has a massive stroke and is incapacitated
The league of Nations/internationalism is dead
American policy and popular opinion will reflect
the concept of Isolationism- till World War II
Influenza Epidemic 1918
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World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives.
The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918
killed MORE THAN 20 MILLION PEOPLE
[an estimated 20 to 60 million people]. One fifth of
the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus.
Within months, it had killed more people than any
other illness in recorded history.
Web Site 1918 Flu
Red Scare
Red Scare
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After the Communist Revolution in Russia and
Establishment of the Communist International
(Comintern)
Americans become frightened of Communism in the
US
1918- Anarchist mail bombing campaign
Mitchell Palmer, US Attorney General, was one of the
recipients- prompts hysterical reaction roundups of
6000 alleged radicals 500 deported
J. Edgar Hoover is and assistant to Palmer, (will later
head the FBI)
Red Scare Fuels Nativism and
Xenophobia
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Two victims of the Red Scare were
Saco and Vanzetti
Two anarchists accused of murder (not related
to the bombs)
Executed in the electric chair
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(invented by Edison)