What were the causes of
World War I?
•Militarism…Weapons
•Alliances…Secret
•Imperialism…Economic
•Nationalism…Pride
Queen Victoria was sometimes called the
Grandmamma of Europe...
– During World War One there were no less than seven
of the Queen's direct descendants, and two more of
her Coburg relations, on European thrones.
– Before WWI, can anyone blame this family of kings,
or their subjects, for assuming that a war between
these crowned cousins was all but impossible?
• For the rulers of the world's three greatest nations - King George V
of Great Britain and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and the German
Kaiser - were not simply cousins, they were first cousins.
• If their grandmother Queen Victoria had still been alive, said the
Kaiser, she would never have allowed them to go to war with each
other.
World War
Green = Allied countries
Yellow = Central Powers
Europe was a “powder keg” waiting
for a spark to ignite
• Assassination of
the Archduke
Ferdinand - heir to
the AustroHungarian throne and his wife
• A chain of events
follows leading
Europe to war
Ethnic Maps
What were the chain of events that led to
the Great War
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Austria receives a “blank check” from Germany
Austria sends an ultimatum to Serbia
Serbia accepts all except the last one
Austria declares war against Serbia - July 28, 1914
Russia begins to mobilize on Germany’s border
Germany declares war on Russia and then France
Germany requests permission of Belgium to march
through to attack France - denied
• Germany invades Belgium and then France
• Britain declares war against Germany to defend
Belgian neutrality
New Alliances
Allies
Great Britain
France
Russia
Italy
Serbia
Japan
Belgium
Central Powers
Germany
Austria – Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Bulgaria
How did the standards of warfare
change?
•
•
•
•
Distinction between soldier and civilian erased
Fields were burned and wells poisoned
British naval blockade starved the German people
Germany submarines struck at any ship believed to carry
armaments
What was the American response?
• War would threaten U.S. business
interests
• Many saw no reason to become involved
• Wilson: America should remain above the
conflict and he would serve as
peacemaker
• Neutrality Proclamation: U.S. was not
committed to either side and should
remain neutral
America should be
“neutral in fact as
well as in nameimpartial in thought
as well as in
action.” – Woodrow
Wilson
How did Americans feel about
the war?
• Some Americans felt personally involved 1/3 were first or second generation
immigrants
• Irish and Germans were hostile to Great
Britain
• Most favored Allies - Saw Kaiser as an
autocrat or saw opportunity to gain
markets - liked Allies - common English
ties - French our friends ...
What does neutrality mean?
1) To be as neutral as possible in a neutral
sense – not care about the outcome of
the war
2) Be as fair as possible to both sides
without influencing either side to win
During war belligerents and neutrals can
trade – but everything a neutral does
affects the outcome of the war.
What were America’s economic
ties with the Allies?
• As a neutral power we could trade with
belligerents
• Trade with Germany ended because of British
blockade practices
– Munitions: 1914 - $6,000,000 explosives sold to the
Allies – by 1916 – 80X that amount
– Exports to Allies:
1914 - $824 million and in
1916 - $3.2 billion
– Loans to Allies $2.5 billion and to CP $27 million by
1917
• Neutral in name only
What was the tone of American
neutrality?
• Propaganda….
• Violation of neutral rights…
• Financial and Economic…
British propaganda
• Emphasized common ties: heritage,
language, literature, legal systems,
democratic institutions
• Cut communications with the
continent
• Exaggerated stories of German
atrocities in Belgium
First Battle of the Marne
• French and British armies moved into
northern France and stopped the German
advance near the Marne River
• Germany lost its opportunity for a quick
victory
• The western front led to a stalemate - 600
miles of trenches
• Costly - in one battle British suffered
60,000 casualties in a single day of
combat
Stalemate
• Earlier wars were fought with a cavalry
• Modern weapons made the cavalry useless
• New weapons - guns, grenades, artillery shells,
poison gas, mustard gas led to trench warfare
Attrition
• the act or process of weakening and
gradually defeating an enemy through
constant attacks and continued pressure
over a long period of time
How did Germany violate American
neutral rights?
• February, 1915 – Germany announced
waters around Great Britain as a war zone
• Warned neutral powers identification at
sea a problem
• Wilson informed Germany that will be held
in strict accountability
• American response: “an indefensible
violation of neutral rights”
Lusitania
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•
•
•
British liner – departed from New York
Sunk off the coast of Ireland
128 Americans died
Wilson condemned the act as barbaric and
insisted on sending a warning to Germany
• Wm. Jennings Bryan resigned as Sec. of State
The Sussex
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•
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•
•
Unarmed French ship
Sunk by Germany – March, 1916
4 Americans injured
Wilson protested
Sussex pledge: Germany agreed to
warn all ships before sinking puts the
decision of when the U.S. goes to war
in Germany’s hands
What was Germany’s defense for
submarine warfare?
• England had taken liberties with
international law
• England was attempting the starvation
of Germany
• England proclaimed the North Sea a
military zone
• Germany must stop the flow of
munitions from the U.S.
Who advocated U.S. preparedness?
• National Security League
• business leaders urged that the United
States be more prepared - many had ties
to Great Britain and would have liked the
U.S. to aid G.B. if necessary.
• National Defense Act – 1916 – doubled
sized of army to 220,000
• Congress increased spending for navy
Who opposed the war?
• American Union against Militarism
• Jane Addams, Lillian Wald – progressive reformers,
socialists, pacifists
• Suffrage movement: “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier.”
• Anti-war feeling in the South and Midwest
• Wilson’s campaign slogan in 1916 – “He Kept Us Out of
War”
Why did the U.S. enter the war?
• Germany – fearful of loss unless she cut British supply lines
– announced resumption of unlimited submarine warfare
• Wilson broke diplomatic relations – Feb, 3, 1917
• Zimmerman note…
• Russian Revolution…
• Wilson ordered Am. merchant
ships armed in March
• Germany sank 7 Am.
merchant ships
The Russian Revolution and
America’s Response
• Czar’s repressive and corrupt government
falls
– Germans smuggle Lenin into Russia
• Provisional government under
Kerensky stays in war
• Soldiers hate the war
• Lenin promises “peace, land,
& bread”
– Signs treaty with Germany
• Bolsheviks call for a worldwide
revolution against capitalism
U.S. Declared War on Germany
• April 2, 1917 – Wilson addressed
Congress
• Submarine warfare – “warfare against
mankind”
• “The world must be made safe for
democracy”
• Senate – 82 to 6
• House – 373 to 50
• Declaration of war – April 6, 1917
What were the 14 Points?
•
•
•
•
1)
2)
Speech given by Wilson in Jan 1918
Wilson’s blue print for peace
Rooted in progressive liberalism
Moral vision – road to lasting peace
Postwar boundaries – self –determination
General principles governing international
conduct….
3) League of Nations
General principles
1) Freedom of the seas
2) Open covenants – no secret treaties
3) Free trade
4) Reduced armaments
5) Mediation of competing colonial claims
6 - 13) Border changes based on Self-determination
14) League of Nations
• Implement the principles
• Resolve disputes
• Article X of the League Covenant
– Collective security
– “The members of the League undertake to respect and
preserve as against external aggression the territorial
integrity and existing political independence of all
Members.”
How were the hearts and minds of
the American people mobilized?
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•
•
•
Committee on Public Information
George Creel
Goal: promote the war
100 million pieces of literature explaining the
causes and meaning of the war
• Posters, slides, newspaper advertising, films
• 75,000 “Four Minute Men” – four minute
speeches
Themes…
• America is a unified moral
community
• War is an idealistic crusade for
peace and freedom
• Image of a despicable enemy
How did the U.S. raise an army?
• 1917 – only 200,000 men in the service
• Selective Service Act
– 24 million register
– 2.8 million are drafted
– 2 million volunteer
– Democratic procedures controlled by local draft boards
• New IQ test shows illiteracy at 25%
• Most had not attended high school and 20% foreign born
– “The military tent will rank next to the public schools among
the great agents of democratization,” Teddy Roosevelt.
What is a consequence of
propaganda?
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•
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•
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Anti-German hysteria
German music and literature banned
German language not taught
Harassment of German Americans
Name changes: Sauerkraut – liberty
cabbage, German measles – liberty
measles, Dachshund – liberty puppy,
hamburger – liberty sandwich, frankfurter –
hot dog
How did the Espionage Act control
dissent?
• Key tool for suppression of anti-war
sentiment
• Outlawed: aiding the enemy, obstructing
recruitment, causing insubordination in the
armed forces
• Penalties…
• Exclude treasonous material from the
mails
• Bureau of Investigation….
How did the Sedition Act control
dissent?
• Outlawed any “disloyal, profane, scurrilous
or abusive language intended to cause
contempt, scorn, contumely, or disrepute”
to the government, Constitution, or flag
• More than 2,000 cases
• Controlled socialists, pacifists, radical
labor
Eugene Debs
• Gave speech
defending anti-war
protesters
• Sentenced to 10
years
• Ran for Pres. From
jail
• Served 32 months
• Pardoned by
Harding in 1921
Were these acts constitutional?
• Schenck v. U.S. 1919
• Congress could restrict free speech if the
words “are used in such circumstances
and are of such nature as to create a clear
and present danger. “ Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes
• Upheld Schenck’s conviction for
obstructing the draft
How did the U.S. government
encourage vigilante activity?
• American Protective League
–250,000 operatives
–600 towns – spied on people
–Held “slacker” raids
How did the National War Labor
Board prevent labor discord?
• Wm. Howard Taft and Frank Walsh
• 1917 – wages had not kept up with
inflation – thousands of strikes
• Worked to prevent work interruption
• Interventions..
– Higher wages
– Shorter hours
– Overtime
– 8 hr day
Samuel Gompers and
“business unionism”
• President of the AFL
• Skilled, white males
• Collective
bargaining…
• Concrete gains –
bread and butter
issues
• Served on the
National War Labor
Board
Industrial Workers of the World
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•
•
Radical union
Organized unskilled labor – all inclusive
Denounced capitalism
Opposed US entry into war as a “capitalist
war”
• Became a target of business and gov’t
• Espionage Act
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300 arrested
Files confiscated
End of radical labor movement
Beginning of repression
How did war change conditions at
home?
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Overcrowding
Rapid workforce turnover
High inflation
Labor shortage
Allowed increased Mexican immigration
Increased intolerance
How did the Great Migration increase
racial tensions?
• 300,000 to 500,000 African
Americans moved to northern cities
• Labor shortages in the North
• Better economic opportunity
• “Less” racial violence
Race Riots
• East St. Louis – 1917
– Whites attacked blacks
– 200 blacks killed
– Black labor had been recruited to keep
union demands down
• Chicago – 1919
– White gangs hunted African Americans
– 2 weeks
– 23 African Americans killed – 15 whites
What were African American expectations?
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Supported war effort
Hoped cooperation would improve their situation
Experienced equality in France
Frustrated at home
Intolerance increased
Leads to Black disillusionment
– Heightened sense of race consciousness and activism
– NAACP – national conference on lynching – sought
federal legislation against
How did the war affect women?
• Women in Industry Service – Mary Van Kleeck
• Formulated standard for treatment of females
– 8 hr. day
– Equal pay for equal work
– Rest periods and meal breaks
– Restrooms
– No night work
– Minimum wage
Reality of women’s work?
• Accepted goals – not enforced
• Received roughly ½ the pay as men for the
same work
• Lost jobs at the end of the war
• Accelerated women’s work in traditional fields
• Led Congress to est. Woman’s Bureau in the
Dept. of Labor
What new opportunities did the war
offer women?
• Women moved into jobs previously held
by men…
• Continued traditional jobs ….
• Red cross volunteers
• Bolstered support for women’s suffrage
amendment
• 19th Amendment - 1920
Women’s Suffrage…
• Battle for the vote prior to WWI…
• National American Women’s Suffrage
Association – Carrie Chapman Catt…
• Alice Paul – National Women’s Party…
• “The fight for democracy must begin at
home.”
• 1917 Wilson – suffrage amendment “vital
to the winning of the war.”
Prohibition…
• Moral reform…
• Reaction to the
war…
• 18th Amendment –
illegal to buy, sell,
manufacture, or
transport alcoholic
beverages – Jan.
1919
How did the power of the
government expand?
• Convert economy…
• Business and government
collaborated
• Congress gave Wilson direct control
over much of the economy
–Fix prices
–Regulate war related industries
What was the function of the War
Industries Board?
• Increase
production….
• Reduce waste….
• Set production
quotas….
• Allocate raw
materials…..
• Bernard Baruch
What was the function of the Fuel
Administration?
• Monitored coal supplies
• Rationed gasoline and heating oil
–Gasless Sundays
–Lightless nights
–Daylight savings time
What was the function of the
Food Administration?
• Herbert Hoover
– Imposed price controls
– Raised prices on grain to
increase production
– No rationing of food
• Persuasion
• High prices
• Voluntary controls
– “Hooverizing” – food conservation
– “meatless Tuesdays”
– “Food will win the war”
“Hooverizing”
How did the government finance
the war?
• US spent $33 billion
• 1/3 taxes
– Progressive income tax
– War profits tax
– Excise tax
• Liberty Bonds – $23 billion
• Reserve banks expanded $ supply
• Debt $1 billion  $20 billion
Financing the War
WW I Liberty Bond
Liberty Bonds
• There were four issues of Liberty Bonds:
– Apr 24, 1917 Emergency Loan Act authorizes issue of $5 billion
in bonds at 3.5 percent.
– Oct 1, 1917 Second Liberty Loan offers $3 billion in bonds at 4
percent.
– Apr 5, 1918 Third Liberty Loan offers $3 billion in bonds at 4.5
percent.
– Sep 28, 1918 Fourth Liberty Loan offers $6 billion in bonds at
4.25 percent.
• Interest on up to $30,000 in the bonds was tax exempt.
Four Minute Men
Douglas Fairbanks,
movie star, speaking
to a large crowd in
front of the SubTreasury building,
New York City, to
aid the third Liberty
Loan, in April 1918
Support for Liberty Bonds
• Sec. of the Treasury
William McAdoo
• Liberty Bond Booths
were set up by the
Boy/Girl Scouts
What was the initial intent of U.S.
involvement?
• At first didn’t want to be equal partners
• Congress authorized $3 billion in loans
and supplies
• Allies needed Am. Troops to boost morale
• Gen. Pershing went with 14,500 men –
realized we needed more
How did the U.S. raise an army?
• 1917 – only 200,000 men in the service
• Selective Service Act – May, 1917
– Required men 18 to 45 to register
– 24 million registered
– 2 million  Europe ( most had not
attended high school and 20% foreign
born)
• Wide acceptance – believed this was
the “war to end all wars”
What was the role of American
troops in Europe?
• Doughboys
• General John J. Pershing
– Did not want to integrate
with European forces
– Thought Europeans were
too accustomed to
defensive action
– Wanted to save his
troops for offensive
action
How did the US transport troops to
Europe safely?
• Convoy system – heavy guard of
destroyers escorted merchant ships
• 230 mile barrier of mines in the North Sea
– kept U-boats out of the Atlantic
• Only 637 Americans lost to U-boat attacks
during transport to Europe
• Losses went from 900,000 tons/month to
200,000
How did the Russian Revolution
affect the war?
• 1917 – Lenin took control of the Russian
government
• Promised to make peace with Germany
• Civil war broke out
• March 3, 1918 signed treaty with Germany
• Allowed Germany to concentrate on
Western Front
• June 3, German forces within 56 miles of
Paris
How did American troops help win
the war?
• Am. Stopped the German advance at
Cantigny
• Fought at Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood,
and Second Battle of the Marne
• September offensive at Saint – Mihiel and
Meusse-Argonne area
What caused the collapse of
Germany?
• Nov. 3, 1918 Austria Hungary surrendered
• Critical food shortages and prospect of U.S.
reinforcements for the Allies
• 14 Points…
• Nov. 9, socialist leaders in Berlin established
the German Republic
• Kaiser abdicated
• November 11, 1918 – cease – fire - armistice
What was the cost of the war?
• Europe
– 22 million – more than ½ civilians
– 20 million wounded
– 10 million refugees
• U.S.
– 52,000 died in battle
– 62,000 died of disease
– 200,000 wounded
Influenza
• Worldwide pandemic killing 20 million
• Sept 1918 sweeps military bases and eastern
cities
• 350,000 Americans die in 10 months
• Congress appropriates $ to suppress the spread
• Aid from Red Cross and local volunteers
What were the 14 Points?
•
•
•
Wilson’s blue print for peace
Rooted in progressive liberalism
Moral vision – road to lasting peace
General principles
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Freedom of the seas
Open covenants – no secret treaties
Free trade
Reduced armaments
Mediation of competing colonial
claims
The Fourteen Points
• Three main elements:
1. Right of all peoples to “national selfdetermination”
2. General principles governing international
conduct
3. A League of Nations which would implement
these principles and resolve future conflicts
Article X
• The most controversial both at home and
abroad
• “members undertake to respect and preserve
as against external aggression and territorial
integrity and existing political independence of
all Members”
• U.S. critics
1. Surrender of national sovereignty
2. Power to declare war held by Congress
Who attended/controlled the peace
conference?
• David Lloyd George –
Great Britain
• Woodrow Wilson –
U.S.
• Georges Clemenceau
– France
• Vittorio Orlando –
Italy
• Russia and Central
Powers were not
invited
The Hall of Mirrors
What were Allied Motives?
–Clemenceau wanted to make
sure Germany never invaded
France again
–David Lloyd George wanted
revenge
–Orlando wanted land from
Austria
How were the 14 Points received in Paris?
• Germany had surrendered on the basis of the 14
Points
• At first accepted – then ignored
– Self-determination limited…
– Mandate system of protectorates gave Britain and
France control of old German and Turkish colonies
– Japan controlled former German colonies
- War guilt and reparations …
– Won commitment to the League of Nations
- Only 4 of 23 points and principles honored
What were some of the main provisions
of the Treaty?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Est. 9 new nations
Barred Germany from maintaining an army
Returned Alsace Lorraine to France
Demilitarized the Rhineland
France gained control of the mineral rights of the
Saar Valley for 15 years
6) Germany had to pay $33 billion
What were Wilson’s mistakes in this
process?
• 1st President to travel to Europe during his
presidency – can’t control public opinion
• Campaigned for a Democratic victory in 1918 –
When he doesn’t get it, it appears that he lacks
support
• Failed to take any prominent Republicans with him
to the peace conference
• Underestimated the Europeans
– “make Germany pay”
Who was Wilson’s opposition at
home?
• Irreconcilables – 16
Senators who
opposed the treaty in
any form
• Reservationists – Led
by Senator Henry
Cabot Lodge – had
reservations about
the treaty…
How did Wilson respond to his
opposition?
• Took the Treaty and the League to the
American people
• 8,000 mile speaking tour
MidwestPacificEast
• 36 speeches in 23 days
• Sept. 25 – collapsed in Pueblo, Colo
• Suffered stroke – partially paralyzed
Did we sign the Treaty of
Versailles?
• Nov. Lodge brought treaty with
reservations to a vote
• Wilson told Dems to vote against
• 39 for and 55 against
• Congress considered Wilson’s treaty – 38
for and 53 against
• March 19, 1920 – Lodge treaty – 49 for
and 35 against – 7 short of necessary 2/3
Election of 1920
• Wilson wanted a
“solemn referendum”
on the League
• Democrats – James
Cox
• Republicans –
Senator Warren
Harding – called for a
retreat from idealism
• “return to normalcy”