Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”
• Sought to promote democracy, maintain peace,
and secure American economic interests abroad
w/ the use of arbitration and negotiation
Promoted by his sec. of state
The Road to War
•
Chapter 24, Section 1
• Failed and Wilson turned to armed intervention
– Wm. Jennings Bryan
– To protect the Panama Canal
• Opened in 1914
• Turned the Caribbean into an “American Lake”
– In Haiti in 1914-1915
• After Haitian president was mutilated by his people
– In the Virgin Islands
• Purchased from Denmark in 1917
Porfirio Díaz
• Mexican dictator since the
1870s
• Had been friendly to the U.S.
• Allowed foreign companies to
•
•
take ownership of the
countries resources
Overthrown in 1911
Replaced by Francisco Madero
Victoriano Huerta
U.S. Intervention in Mexico
• Seized power in 1913 and
•
murdered Madero
Not recognized by Wilson
– 1st time the U.S. had not recognized
a leader
– De facto vs. de jure legitimacy
• De facto legitimacy
– Gov’t recognized by the simple fact
that it is in actual control of the
state
• De jure legitimacy
– Gov’t recognized to the rightful and
legal ruler of a state
• Opposed by Venustiano Carranza
• Wilson initially adopted a policy of “watchful
waiting” toward Mexico.
– Hoping the situation would resolve itself
• Sailors from the U.S.S. Dolphin arrested in
Tampico, Mexico, in April 1914.
– Promptly released by Mexican authorities
– Not given an official apology
• Wilson ordered the navy to capture Vera Cruz.
– Mexican port
– Before supplies for Huerta arrived from Germany
• Huerta abdicated and replaced by Carranza.
1
Francisco “Pancho” Villa
• Had been allied w/ Carranza
in fight against Huerta
– Provided weapons by the U.S.
to oppose Carranza
• Began the rebellion after
Carranza became new ruler
• Began a series of antiAmerican raids
– Seized a train and murdered
16 Americans in northern
Mexcio
– Crossed into New Mexico and
burned Columbus, killing 19
more Americans
John J. Pershing
Rise of Germany
• Nicknamed “Black Jack”
– For his service as an officer in the
10th Cavalry
• Black regiment
• Ordered by Wilson to pursue
Villa into Mexico to capture him
“dead or alive”
– W/ permission from Carranza
• Stayed longer and had to pursue
Villa deeper into Mexico than
initially planned
– Upsetting Carranza
• Ordered the U.S. to w/draw
• Initially refused, until situation in
Europe worsened
• Never captured Villa
– Assassinated in 1923
• Not united until 1871
– Had been comprised of principalities
• Small kingdoms ruled by someone of lesser nobility
• Over 300 at times
• Prussia
–
–
–
–
Became most powerful German state
Led movement for unification
Wilhelm I (Wm. I)
Otto von Bismarck
• Chancellor (prime minister)
• United after the Franco-Prussia War (1871)
– Convinced the Germans there was strength in unity
– Wilhelm I became German Kaiser
• German emperor
– Disrupted the balance of power in Europe
2
Causes of WWI
• Nationalism
– Intense feeling of loyalty in country
– Esp. strong in the Balkan Peninsula
• S.E. Europe
• Controlled by the Ottoman or Austro-Hungarian empires
• Sought independence and self-determination
• Nicknamed “the powder keg of Europe”
– B/c of the political instability in the region
– Pan-German movement
• Sought to unite all German-speaking people
– Pan-Slavic movement
• Sought to unite all Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe
• Led by the Russians
Causes of WWI
• Imperialism
– Policy of building an empire
– Caused competition for
overseas colonies
• Intensified by unification of
Germany
– B/c of Wilhelm II
 Young, arrogant, and
brash
 Sought to build a German
Empire
 Fired Bismarck
– Had to seize colonies from
other nations
• Filtered back into Europe
Causes of WWI
Causes of WWI
• Militarism
• Alliance system
– Policy of maintaining strong military org.
– Led to an arms race
• Competition among states to build up military
• Used for a deterrent
– Something to keep other nations from attacking
– Undermined by the intense nationalism
– Universal manhood conscription
• Required military service for all men of certain ages
• Helped created large standing armies
• Implemented by all European nations, except Britain
– Agreement to protect one another in case of war
– Also created a deterrent
• For fear of going to war w/ several nations
– Kept Europe out of major wars in the late 1800s
– Major alliances
• Triple Entente
– Great Britain, France, Russia
– Became the Allied Powers
 Joined by 20 other nations
• Triple Alliance
– Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy
– Became the Central Powers
 Minus Italy
 Plus the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
• Arch-duke of Austria
– Heir to the Austrian throne
– Ironically, not very well liked
• Occurred on June 28,
1914, in Sarajevo
– After driver took wrong turn
and put him in front of the
assassin
– Along w/ his wife, Sophie
• By Gavrilo Princip
– Member of the Black Hand
• A.k.a., “Union of Death”
• Nationalist Serbian group that
sought independence
3
Domino Effect to War
• Austria issued an ultimatum to Serbia.
– Threatening to annex the region
– Rejected by Serbia
• Austria declared war and mobilized against Serbia.
– At Germany’s urgings
• Russia declared war on Austria and Germany.
– To protect their fellow Slavs
– To stop the expansion of Austria into the Balkan
• Germany declared war on France on Aug. 3, 1914.
– Knowing they have an alliance w/ Russia
– Wanting to defeat France first before tackling Russia
Schlieffen Plan
• Germany’s pre-war plan for a
two-front war
– Proposed by Count Alfred von
Schlieffen
• Chief of the German General
Staff
• Called for Germany to invade
France 1st
– Thru Belgium
• To avoid the heavily defended
and mountainous FrancoGerman border
– Estimated to take 6 wks.
• Then called for Germany to
invade Russia
Domino Effect Continues
German Advances
• Germany invaded Belgium
• Invasion of Belgium
on Aug. 3, 1914.
– After Belgium rejected the
German request to pass
thru their nation
• “Belgium is a nation, not a
road!”
– Violating Belgium neutrality
• Britain declared war on
Germany on Aug. 4th.
– Committed to defending
neutral Belgium
– Belgium is unable to stop Germany.
– Belgium did slow the Germans long enough for the
Allies to fully mobilize.
• Battle of the Marne
– Halted the German advance into France
– Ended Germany’s hopes of conquering France in 6 wks.
– Resulted in stalemate on the W. Front
• Battle of Tannenberg
– Stopped the Russian invasion of Prussia
– Resulted in stalemate on the E. Front
4
American Neutrality
• Taking neither side in a conflict
• Goal of the Wilson Administration
in WWI
• Both the British and the Germans
launched a massive public
relations campaign in the U.S.
– Germany spent over $100 million on
propaganda.
• Wilson and his administration
favored the Allies.
– Germany was receiving bad press.
• Mainly for launching an invasion
against a neutral
– U.S. believed the Allies would win
w/o the U.S.
War at Sea
• Wilson insisted on freedom of the seas for neutrals.
• British naval blockade
– Tried to cut off supplies from reaching the Central Powers and starve them
into submission
– Led to the mining of the N. Sea
– Caused American ships and those of other neutral nations to be stopped
from trading materials w/ Germany and other neutral nations
• German submarine warfare
– U-boats
• German submarines
• From Unterseeboote
– Used b/c the German surface fleet could not compete w/ the British fleet
– Cruiser Rules
• Required a ship to give warning before an attack
– To allow the crew time to escape
• Created difficulty for submarines
– Too slow and vulnerable to ramming to risk surfacing to give warnings
– “Unrestricted Submarine Warfare”
• Designated a war zone around Britain
• Announced any ship w/in the zone would be fired upon w/o warning
Sinking of the Lusitania
• British passenger ship torpedoed by a
•
German U-boat on May 7, 1915, off the
coast of Ireland
Resulted in the deaths of 1,198
passengers
– Including 128 Americans
– Mostly women and children
• Had been warned by the German
Embassy
– Placed ads in the major newspapers warning
passengers and perspective passengers of
the dangers
• Led Wilson to demand an immediate
end to “unrestricted submarine warfare”
– Ignored by the Germans
– Prompting Bryan to resign b/c he felt Wilson
was not maintaining neutrality
5
Lusitania and a British Conspiracy?
• Only one torpedo was fired by the U-20.
– Shouldn’t have sunk the Lusitania w/ its five water-tight
compartments
• Any one of the five could have kept the ship afloat
– Doesn’t explain the two explosions heard by passengers
– Could the ship have been carrying war munitions?
• The British admitted there were 4,000 rifles and 4,200 cases of
small arms munitions aboard.
• Would rifles and/or small arms munitions cause an explosion?
• Lusitania was not following the zig-zag pattern ships
were ordered to follow in the war zone.
– To make it more difficult for a ship’s course to be tracked
• Lusitania was traveling at a reduced speed.
– Not full speed as recommended by the British Admiralty
– Allowed the U-20 to catch and track the ship
• When the British gov’t published its foreign affairs
papers of the ear, all papers concerning the Lusitania
were not published.
Sussex
Election of 1916
• French passenger ship sunk in the Channel in
• Democrats
•
•
March 1916 by a German U-boat
Prompted Wilson to threaten to break off
diplomatic relations w/ Germany if didn’t stop its
“unrestricted submarine warfare”
Sussex Pledge
– Issued by Germany after the sinking of the Sussex
– Suspended “unrestricted submarine warfare”
– Promised to . . .
• End the sinking of passenger ships
• Stop and search merchant vessels for contraband and make
arrangements for the crews to abandon ship before sinking
– Re-nominated Wilson
– Ran on the slogan “He kept us out of
war!”
• Republicans
– Nominated Charles Evans Hughes
• TR
– Re-nominated by the Progressive “Bull
Moose” Party
– W/drew from the race to make sure the
Republicans didn’t split the vote and reelect Wilson
• “that infernal skunk in the White House”
• Wilson won a very close election.
– But went to bed on election night
believing he had lost!
6
“Unrestricted Submarine Warfare”
• Resumed by the Germans
in Jan. 1917
– Applied to all ships w/in the
war zone w/ Britain
– B/c they believed they
could win the war before
the U.S. would enter
• Caused Wilson to break
off all diplomatic ties w/
Germany
Zimmermann Telegraph
• Written by German Foreign Minister
Arthur Zimmermann
• Instructed the German ambassador
in Mexico to urge Mexico to join
the Central Powers should the U.S.
enter the war
– Would have limited the # of men and
supplies the U.S. could send to Europe
– Promised Mexico the return of
territories seized by the U.S. in the
Mexican-American War
– Encouraged Mexico to also try and
persuade the Japanese to enter into an
alliance against the U.S.
• Intercepted and deciphered by the
British (“Room 40”) and published
in American newspapers on March
1, 1917
Russian Revolution
• Toppled Tsar Nicholas II and
•
established a democratic
provisional gov’t in March
1917
Allowed the U.S. to join an
alliance that now featured all
democracies
7
Declaration of War
• Wilson finally asked for a declaration of war on April 2, 1917.
– Wilson’s goals:
• “a war to end all wars”
• “to make the world safe for
democracy”
• Congress formally declared war on
April 6, 1917.
– 56 congressmen voted against the
declaration
• Included Jeannette Rankin of Montana
– 1st woman elected to Congress
– Staunch pacifist
– Would be the only person to vote
against WWII in 1941
8