The Great War – Progressivism Dies in the Trenches of Europe
I. Foreign Policy Under the Progressive Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt had a saying that went “speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far”.
This characterized foreign policy under his administration, in which Roosevelt used the threat of
military intervention to spread U.S. influence and power around the world. Roosevelt brokered
a peace between Russia and Japan after the latter two declared war over Manchuria and Korea.
Roosevelt was the first American and the first U.S. president to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his
intervention in the Russo-Japanese War. During the Roosevelt Administration, the Roosevelt
Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine was also issued. This document stated that the U.S. would
intervene in other American states if they could not adequately supervise their countries,
especially economically. The Roosevelt Corollary was a response to Latin American and South
American countries defaulting on their debts to European countries. Europe responded by
sending naval ships to the Western Hemisphere, an action that the U.S. protested as violating
the Monroe Doctrine.
Roosevelt’s biggest foreign policy triumph however, was the building of the Panama Canal. The
French had tried to build a canal across Panama, but disease and poor management had made
the effort a disaster. The U.S. offered a deal to Columbia, since Panama was a province of
Columbia, to lease land across Panama and to build a canal. The Columbians refused to ratify
the treaty, because the amount offered by the U.S. ($10 million up front and $250k/year) was
not enough. Roosevelt walked softly but carried a big stick. He engineered a revolt in Panama
and used the U.S. Navy to block the Columbian Army from putting down the revolt. Within
weeks, Panama was an independent nation and the United States had a treaty with Panama to
build a canal. Work started in 1904 and the canal was finished in 1914. It is one of the most
important shipping lanes in the world. Control of the Canal was turned over to Panama in 1999.
During the Taft Administration, military threat was replaced by economic influence. Called
“Dollar Diplomacy”, Taft used American wealth to replace European loans with American loans
in neighboring American countries. The U.S. also aided our neighbors to the south with loans in
order to improve infrastructure and their economies. With the Panama Canal under
construction, it made sense to ensure that the Latin American countries had stable
governments.
Woodrow Wilson’s foreign policy was based on morality, hence “Moral Diplomacy”. His
inexperience in the international sphere almost led to a war with Mexico however. When the
Mexican government fell to a coup d’etat led by Gen. Victoriano Huerta, Wilson’s administration
went so far as to occupy the port city of Veracruz for six months in order to stop German arms
shipments to Huerta’s army. Huerta stepped down as president of Mexico in July of 1914, but by
then another foreign policy crisis was occupying Wilson’s attention. On 28 June, 1914, Archduke
Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
II. Background of the Great War
1. Unification of the German States
- creation of the German Empire results in a highly militarized German state and an arms
race between the countries of Europe
2. Diversification of the Austrian Hungarian Empire
- Austria-Hungary is determined to hold on to its empire in the face of various national
independence movements among its provinces
- it also wants to tighten control over its Balkan provinces and if the opportunity
presents itself, to absorb Serbia
3. The Balkans
- Serbia has plans to unite the Balkans into a Slavic Empire, controlled from Belgrade
- Bosnia, which is a province in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, has a large ethnic Serb
population and is actively trying to break free from the empire
- the Slavic populations of the Balkans look to Russia for a common identity and
assistance in their quest for independence
4. The Ottomans
- by 1912, the Ottoman Empire has lost all of its European territory, and allies itself with
Germany to retain some influence in Europe (and also as a measure of protection from
Russia to the north)
5. Russia
- the loss of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 results in a loss ininternational prestige
and influence
- Russian leaders hope that intense nationalism and war will quell social unrest among
its population
6. France
- France lost the coal rich Alsace-Lorraine to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War in
1871
- it is also uneasy about a highly armed Germany on its borders
Even though the major European powers all had motivation to go to war (even Britain, who was
worried about Germany’s growing power on the seas), the prevailing view was the spirit of
Progressivism would prevent the occurrence of any major conflict.
III. The Early Days
1. Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated on 28 June, 1914
- he was the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne
- best guess is that a Serbian nationalist group, the Black Hand, was responsible
2. Austria-Hungary sends Serbia the July Ultimatum
- it demanded that Serbia institute various measures, including the establishment of
Austrian-Hungarian police forces and law courts in Serbia to find and punish insurgents
- Germany has already informed Austria-Hungary that it will honor their alliance
3. Serbia responded by denying the July Ultimatum
- it has received reassurances from Russia that it will protect Serbia from AustrianHungarian aggression
4. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia on 28 July, 1914
- this prompts each of the major European countries to begin military mobilization
5. Russian mobilization prompts Germany to declare war on 1 August
6. France declares war on Germany 3 August
- it is honor bound by its treaties with Russia
- also alarmed by the Germans mobilizing for war
7. Germany immediately puts the Schlieffen Plan into effect
- war plan in case of hostilities with France
- called for an immediate invasion of Belgium in order to reach Paris within six weeks
and take France out of the war
- Paris must be taken within six weeks because the German high command thought this
was how long complete Russian mobilization would take
- in reality, the Russians mobilized much more quickly than the Germans expected and
the invasion of France was halted by fierce Belgian resistance to the German armies
8. Britain enters the war on 4 August
- when Germany invades Belgian on 4 August, Great Britain immediately declares war on
Germany
Soon all the European powers are involved in this war. Imperialism ensures that this is a world
war, as the colonies of the industrialized nations take part. Rampant nationalism (jingoism)
justifies the war aims of the various combatant governments. Industrialism produces military
technology that is deadlier than any used in previous wars.
This is also a family war. Queen Victoria of Great Britain married her children into most of the
ruling houses of Europe. Her descendents included her grandsons, George V of England and
Wilhelm II of Germany, and the royal families of Russia, Denmark, and Norway.
IV. War in the Trenches
The Great War, as it was known, quickly became a stalemate. Industrialism produced weapons,
modern weapons, that killed on a mass scale. Rapid fire machine guns, hand grenades, artillery
shells, tanks, land mines, all meant that the massed infantry battles of the previous century
were obsolete. In addition, the Great War saw the use of aircraft (the Red Baron), submarines,
motor vehicles and chemical weapons. The last was particularly gruesome and gas masks were
invented in response to the different gas weapons produced by both sides.
Military tactics really didn’t keep up with military inventions, so the first years of the Great War
was in essence a defensive war. The two sides retreated to trenches and tried to figure out ways
to offensively attack the other’s position. Trench warfare was brutal to the common soldier.
Living in a trench in the heat or cold, with fleas and lice, rats, with nasty field rations, trying to
cross an open field of barbed wire and land mines, with the enemy firing upon you…that was the
life of an infantry soldier in the Great War. Many were scarred psychologically. If you weren’t
killed outright, you were maimed, or sickened for life by gas.
On the seas, the Germans employed their underseeboot…the submarine. German U-boats
attacked the enemy supply lines, while both sides employed their new battleships to great
effect. The Great War saw the first aircraft carriers launch airplanes in a raid against German
zeppelin hangars.
As the war dragged on for four years, it was clear that the Central Powers (Germany, AustriaHungary, the Ottomans) could not win. After the United States entered the war in 1917, the tide
turned in favor of the Allies (Great Britain, France, Russia, who left the war in October 1917, and
the United States). Germany asked for an armistice in November 1917, effectively ending
combat. The war was over.