Louis Pisha
AP US History
Chapter 24: War and its Sequel
The Armed Forces on Land and Sea
Selective Service
The War in the West
The War at Sea
The Home Front
Problems of Production
Economic Mobilization
Labor and Inflation
Propaganda, Public Opinion, and Civil Liberties
Politics in Wartime
Constructing the Peace
Wilson’s Program
The Armistice and the Election of 1918
Negotiating Peace
The Background of the Paris Conference
The League of Nations
The Treaty of Versailles
The Struggle over Ratification
The Senate and the Treaty
The President’s Collapse
The Final Rejection
Transition from War
Demobilization
Labor Strife
Race Hatred
The Red Scare
The Election of 1920
Normalcy
All the Advantages
The Best Minds
Nullification by Administration
The Harding Scandals
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▪ America had no clear sense of purpose—German- and Irish-Americans, pacifists,
and isolationists—and although many wanted to be at war, had little
understanding of world politics
▪ Sought utopian reasons—selfless bravery of “great crusade” yet turned fervor
into frenzy and failure to achieve paradise
▪ Unprepared for total mobilization—emotional, economic, military
The Armed Forces on Land and Sea
Selective Service
▪ Prez + military advisers pro, Speaker and chair of Military Affairs Committee
con
▪ Wilson said despite romanticism of volunteer, draft spread obligation among all
classes—passed draft bill in House at 21 yrs old
▪ Roosevelt trying to organize voluntary units but Senate passed bill and Wilson
disposed of his units
▪ Little opposition to conscription and most opposition punished—3 million were
drafted out of 24 million registered, and 2 million volunteered
▪ Wilson bypassed Wood and made Pershing head of American expeditionary
force—refused to send troops into battle until completed training, and
insisted on separate identity for Am exp force from foreign
The War in the West
▪ Fall 1917 Germans routed Italians and Russia gave up under Bolshevik Rev so
treaty-ed into losing lots of land
▪ Pershing still declined to supply even half-trained troops to keep Allies up under
coming German offensive—Wilson appointed Foch as supreme
commander and Pershing gave him his four available divisions
▪ Germans pushed French back to Marne and then Americans pushed Germans out
of Belleau Wood at Chateau Thierry
▪ Germans then struck b/w Rheims and Soissons and Yanks and French
counterattacked and pushed them back
▪ US rout of Germans at St. Mihiel and then Meuse-Argonne costly but crucial Am
victory at same time as British and French elsewhere
▪ War awful combo of fear, drudgery, and exhaustion, with sole exception of
aviators
▪ Americans defeated Germans’ gamble for victory but we came only after most of
the Europeans had died
The War at Sea
▪ British navy bottled up German fleet but had to deal w/ subs—British could not
guarantee Am lines of supply to Europe
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▪ Two factions in Royal Navy were to hunt and attack subs vs. escort convoys
across Atlantic—Sims, Am officer, used the latter and not one Am
soldier killed on way to Europe
The Home Front
Problems of Production
▪ First 9 months of war spent in learning about war production and mobilization
▪ Airplanes manufactured so slow that aviators had to use foreign, and even worse
for artillery, tanks, transports, and cargo vessels
▪ Senate Military Affairs committee investigated and asserted that military effort
impeded by inefficiency—some suggested War Cabinet set up to exercise
prez’s power which didn’t pass
▪ Wilson prepared bill (Overman sponsored) giving him authority over all
executive agencies—passed
Economic Mobilization
▪ Despite Wilson’s intentions, biz dominated policy—Wilson turned to managers
of industry and finance for efficient management he needed—earlier
regulation down the drain—corporate profits tripled
▪ Prez established food-control program under Hoover—Congress passed Lever
Act to have prez control agricultural production and some prices—
created Food Administration—led to 25% increase in farmers’ real
incomes and made possible feeding Allies
▪ General Munitions Board was incompetent so Wilson appointed War Industries
Board with authority to pass on all Allied purchasing, allocate raw
materials, production, and labor relations
▪ It also failed so prez changed it and put in Baruch who used structure of trade
associations—big biz gained eco pwr but sped conversion to war prod
▪ Lever Act also empowered prez to fix price of coal high so operators would work
questionable mines
▪ Established Fuel Administration under Garfield
▪ Emergency order to close non-vital coal-needing factories showed crisis in
railroading—Wilson appointed US Railway Admin under McAdoo
which helped
Labor and Inflation
▪ Prez created War Labor Board to help resolve labor disputes—heard cases but
lacked jurisdiction to set labor policies for country so Wilson appointed
War Labor Policies Board under Frankfurter, which standardized wages
and hours and created US Employment Service
▪ Advanced AFL goal of putting women in workforce, armed forces, and increased
its own membership
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▪ 20% increase in real income of industrial workers, less than other jobs
▪ These agencies did not lessen conflict between industry, agriculture, labor—
instead, agencies rep’d each individual side
▪ Drastic inflation and rising prices
Propaganda, Public Opinion, and Civil Liberties
▪ Wilson made CPI under Creel which worked out voluntary censorship
w/newspapers to safeguard sensitive info while well-informed—also
hired artists for propaganda campaign
▪ 2 major points: US fighting for democracy and freedom; Germans were Huns and
wanted to greedily conquer world
▪ Implied German spies everywhere and all dissent was treasonable—led to spy
scares, witch hunts, “kangaroo” (extralegal) trials
▪ Also Espionage Act of 1917 (Wilson recommended) which even gave postmaster
general to deny mail to any treason-er; Trading-With-The-Enemy Act
censored foreign-language press
▪ IWW and demands of attorney general prompted Congress to pass Sabotage Act
and Sedition Act, which allowed government prosecute any “disloyal”
expression of opinion—destroyed Wobblies and put Eugene V. Debs in
jail
▪ Had source in frenzy of people—good citizens who just objected to conduct of
war b/c Christian, socialists, or feminists thrown in jail—only 10/1500
arrests estimated to be actually for sabotage
Politics in Wartime
▪ Although Wilson wanted parties suspended for the duration, war raised
opportunities for partisan advantages
▪ Reps criticized war b/c wanted to prevent Dems getting all the credit—what hurt
more was a few S-ers consistently voting against war legislation
▪ S agrarians and W progressives wanted heavy income, inheritance, and excessprofit taxes but conservatives wanted fed borrowing and sales taxes—
what happened was in middle—soaring cost of war upset planned
balance b/w borrowing and taxes
▪ Revenue Acts of 1917 and 1918 imposed larger excise and luxury taxes, excessprofits, estate and personal income—newly rich and middle class
complained
▪ Lever Act controlled price of wheat but not cotton so W resented S’s larger
profits and blamed Democrats
▪ Dem coalition also hurt by issues of lit test for immigrants, prohibition (Lever
Act, Selective Service Act, 18th Amendment) which also offended Irish
and German Americans who were already dubious
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▪ N liberals disturbed by S resistance to women’s rights
▪ Republicans in a relatively good position for election of 1918
Constructing the Peace
Wilson’s Program
▪ Most humanitarian-peace groups advocated: substitution of international org for
alliance sys; substitution of arbitration for armaments, institution of selfgovernment among everyone, avoidance of seizures of territories or
demands for reparations
▪ Soon after war started, Wilson embraced this and gave a bunch of speeches to
this effect—reflected New Freedom and neutrality policies
▪ Believed remove authority from Kaiser, take away Germany’s colonies, establish
democratic self-government in it and colonies, world parliament of
everyone to defend the peace
▪ Underestimated role of power in world affairs, selfishness of nations
▪ Wilson fought only as “associated” belligerent to avoid entangling alliances and
ignored secret Allied treaties providing for harsh reparations from
Germany
▪ After Rus Rev, they made separate peace w/Germany (harsh terms) and made our
secret humiliating treaties public
▪ Wilson announced 14 Points (these numbers are correct as per his speech, red
ones are not in textbook):
1. Open diplomacy (end to secret agreements)
2. Free use of seas in peace and war
3. Removal of barriers to free trade
4. Reduction of armaments
5. Impartial adjustment of colonial claims
6. German evacuation of Russian territory
7. Restoration of Belgian independence
8. Alsace-Lorraine back to France
9. Readjustment of Italy’s frontiers along national lines
10. Autonomous development of all Austrian-Hungarian peoples
11. Evacuation of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro, and friendly
relations among them
12. Ottoman Empire developed autonomously
13. Independent Poland
14. “A general assembly of nations” to give political independence and
territorial status quo
▪ Conflicted with ambitions of Allies and attitudes of many Americans, especially
from more warlike ones
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The Armistice and the Election of 1918
▪ Allies driving through German lines prompted German high command to propose
to chancellor to negotiate armistice—US took middle, firm position and
most Allies satisfied because had enough of war
▪ Wilson demanded stopping subs and withdrawal of Germans from all occupied
land, which they did, then opened negotiations and suggestion of
democratic government resulted in overthrow of Kaiser
▪ Allied leaders hesitant about 14 but House threatened separate peace w/Germany
if 14 not basis for armistice—Ams did end up assenting to Germany
withdrawal beyond Rhine and give up armaments
▪ Republicans wanted peace to the hammer of guns, which frightened electionable-flag-waving-Democrats
▪ Wilson’s appeal (to support Dems) made foreign policy even more partisan—
Reps got majority in House and Senate, and then an armistice agreed
upon
Negotiating Peace
The Background of the Paris Conference
▪ Chose to head delegation himself, also named Lansing, House, Bliss, and White,
but slighted Republicans although under Wilson’s domination
▪ Also slighted public opinion (Creel press rep) by yielding to secret negotiations—
if Wilson’s press relations had been better, it could explain to the
American public the difficulties of treaty-ing
▪ Tour of Europe gave him optimism before and he thought they liked his goals;
actually, most people supported their spokespeople at conference
▪ Big Four: Makino of Japan, Orlando of Italy, George of England, and
Clemenceau of France—all bound by treaties to support each other’s
demands for land and reparations
▪ Russia unwelcome at conference, and war continuing within its borders between
Bolsheviks and anti-Bolsheviks
▪ In E Europe self-conscious ethnic groups splintering the map, and Communists
trying to put their two cents in the door—in Germany population
exasperated by food shortage, revolution and Reds, so when Hoover
distributed food supplies, tried to cut off the Left
▪ Odds extremely against Wilson
The League of Nations
▪ Wilson planned to put Germany’s colonies under control of small neutrals like
Switzerland—but British and Japanese didn’t want to give up the German
colonies they had seized, so Wilson persuaded Allies to accept
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“mandate” system which obliged holders to theoretically grant selfgovernment
▪ French wanted military alliance of victors against Germany, and Japan wanted
statement of racial equality, but Italy and Britain open to his plan—
Wilson’s draft served as basis for Covenant of the League of Nations
▪ Each treaty-signer have one vote in Body of Delegates, also Executive Council of
US, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and four states selected by Delegates—
decisions unanimous—also Bureau of Labor, mandate sys, process for
new members or amendment
▪ Point was to keep the peace—before war, signatories submit disputes to Court of
International Justice, and members punish breaches by severing eco
relations with offender—Article 10 bound nations to preserve territorial
integrity and political independence
▪ Had no teeth, and would not bind Germany or Russia until victors added them
▪ On other hand, created first international org in history, and war as everyone’s biz
▪ Opposition to league at home from German-Irish-Americans, Republican
partisanship, isolationists
▪ Lodge got 4 more than enough Republicans to say treaty unacceptable and said
League can wait till after treaty
The Treaty of Versailles
▪ Prez suggested these things at treaty b/c knew would be demanded at home:
procedures for withdrawal from League, acceptance of mandates
optional, excluded domestic issues (like ahem the Monroe Doctrine)—all
of which he got, but at a price
▪ France insisted Germany be dismembered, so made Czechoslovakia and Poland
generously (which put some Germans under Polish rule)—also France
received Alsace-Lorraine, temporary occupy Saar and Rhineland,
Germany demilitarized
▪ Special security treaty of Brit, Fr, US
▪ Also put in was Germany owing $120 million in reparations and the infamous
war guilt clause
▪ Wilson had promised N-er boundary for Italy, but when they demanded Fiume,
the powers refused, Italy took it, Wilson appealed to Italians to stop in
the name of justice, and Italy stormed out of Paris but later returned —
alienated Italian-Americans from Wilson
▪ Japan wanted assumption of German Jiaozhou leasehold and German privileges
in Shandong—Wilson accepted most of this to prevent conference from
disintegrating
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▪ Overall, the Allies didn’t do as bad as Germany was planning to—some problems
but League expected to solve them
The Struggle over Ratification
The Senate and the Treaty
▪ Most of the people were enthusiastic about treaty and League
▪ Only 14 irreconcilables for no treaty, mainly progressives opposed to entangling
foreign alliances—the other 35 Republicans made acceptance contingent
upon some mods
▪ Coalition of Dems and moderate Republicans would have been majority, enough
to settle reservations and then could have attracted 2/3 but never such a
coalition formed
▪ Dems knew had to make concessions, but waiting for instructions from Wilson
on what to give on, which didn’t come because he refused to compromise
▪ Lodge insisted on reservations—majority leader of Senate—packed the Foreign
Relations Committee with irreconcilables—believed League threat to
natl. sovereignty because believed balance of power
▪ Wilson didn’t even like the idea of reservations, let alone the reservations:
Congress sole judge of US accept mandate and whether withdraw, US
exclusive authority over immigration, tariff, Monroe Doctrine, US
exempt from any decision made by country and its colonies, and
especially the reservation saying only with Congress’ approval will us
preserve Article 10
▪ Lodge’s mods would have hurt less than outright rejection of treaty, so should
have bargained, Jabba—meanwhile, public enthusiasm for the peace on
the wane as postwar problems on the wax
The President’s Collapse
▪ Wilson decided to go on a speaking tour of the country, and larger and larger
crowds as moved S and E, but made senators even more stubborn
▪ Wilson had headaches so went home, then a stroke which affected his right brain,
left side, and made him emotionally weird
▪ Lodge presented reservations to Senate, Wilson told Dems to vote against them—
voted not to adopt either the treaty as Lodge modded it or as was
The Final Rejection
▪ Everyone stunned, and Americans petitioned for compromise and rat, also
British, French, and influential Dems
▪ Wilson would still not hear of compromise, and told Democrats that needed to
accept it without tampering or reject it—and next election would tell if
people agreed
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▪ Some Democrats tried to compromise, while Lodge and Republicans wanted to
kill it
▪ Voted against it again—and the Republican victory in the next election showed
the people agreed—Senate turned America’s back to Europe—the real
culprit was partisanship
▪ Without US, League became instrument for preserving the status quo
▪ US renunciation of pushing democratic ideals (seemed to be) at same time as
Bolshevism gaining ground
Transition from War
Demobilization
▪ Government had no plans so just lifted wartime controls, and less jobs and more
workers (soldiers) meant unemployment—also people dug out their
savings to spend, which caused inflation
▪ Government did only piecemeal and inadequate reforms—Revenue Act of 1919
continued progressive taxation and helped check inflation
▪ Question of what to be done w/RR’s: Plumb proposed plan for nationalization,
which got some support, but ended up being Transportation Act of 1920,
which turned RR’s back to private owners while benignly supervising
them
▪ Also similar Water Power Act of 1920
Labor Strife
▪ Progressive fervor spent itself—administration began to favor management,
prompted by strikes crippling industries and association of unions with
radicalism
▪ Despite Natl. Ass of Manufacturers’ anti-union propaganda, first strikes
successful
▪ Seattle: Labor Council called a general strike to support shipyard workers—
Mayor Hanson exaggerated a Red scare and used troops to crush strike
▪ Boston: police wanted higher pay, so got an AFL union contract—mayor
recognized some demands but police commissioner fired union leaders—
cops went on strike—crime brought Boston to point of anarchy—
Coolidge, governor of Mass, called out the guard to restore order
▪ Coolidge could have avoided it but got a national rep for no strikes against public
safety
▪ Coal miners walked out under Lewis because after armistice, war regulations on
coal did not hold—Wilson and Attorney General Palmer ruled wage
agreement still in effect so Lewis capitulated but miners refused to go
back to work until wage increase ordered
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▪ Foster, steel union leader, so radical public thought he was Red, yet workers on
12-hr days for subsistence wages—went on strike—propaganda, public
opinion, troops, and strikebreakers thoroughly beat union
Race Hatred
▪ 1000s of blacks moved N to reduce labor shortages during war—brought poverty
with them and lived in slums, and viewed as competition for white labor
▪ Blacks more beginning to demand their rights—NAACP under DuBois wanted
higher wages, equal protection under law, vote, and hold office
▪ S turned to terrorism and new K3 gained 100,000 members, and race riots in
Washington DC and Chicago
▪ Most blacks not hopeful of remedy or ready to campaign in own behalf—so
joined Universal Negro Improvement Society of Garvey, an Africaempiricist who used fundamental appeal to blacks of religion and roots
The Red Scare
▪ Soviets organized Third International to spread Communism which made gains
along Russia’s frontiers and fed on disintegration in E Europe
▪ In US, Socialist party broke into Socialists, Communist Labor Party, and
Communist Party of America—but altogether <½% of population
▪ Propaganda at first anti-German, then anti-immigrants who were thought to be
radical—and also all labor thought radical
▪ Media propaganda kept public edgy, especially when bombs mailed to a bunch of
eminent citizens, and attempted direct bombing of attorney general –not
communist plots, but just criminals, since commies recognized terror not
enough—but America didn’t care
▪ Attorney General Palmer conducted witch hunts against aliens and radicals—
trying to get prez nomination of 1920 but violated civil liberties—series
of raids mainly against IWW
▪ First, beat up 250 Union of Russian Workers, but only 39 found guilty
▪ Next, deported 249 non-communist-or-especially-radical aliens to Russia
▪ Finally, arrested 6,000 people from all around country and herded them into bull
pens, incommunicado
▪ People finally got tired of his false-alarm “plots” and he lost support
▪ When a bomb exploded on Wall Street, people accepted it as work of crazy
person, not a Bolshevik conspiracy
▪ Red Scare left ugly scars of civil liberties violated, innocents deported, states
enacted sedition laws, nativism which left mark in K3, reversal of
immigration policy with quota
▪ Sacco and Vanzetti arrested, tried, and convicted for murder even though little
evidence against them—believed anarchists—many defenders of justice
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tried for years to save them and demand retrial, but they were
electrocuted anyway, and justice, decency, and democracy by the
wayside
The Election of 1920
▪ Americans withdrew to pleasure, entertainment, and sensationalism, while
Republicans nominated Harding and Coolidge
▪ Harding “handsome, semieducated political hack with …an utterly empty
mind…one of the least qualified candidates ever nominated by a major
party”—platform of lower taxes, higher tariffs, restriction of
immigration, aid to farmers, and damned League
▪ Democrats passed over McAdoo and Palmer and nominated Cox with FDR, with
pro-League platform
▪ Movement back to Reps, Midwestern farmers alienated by price control, urban
Democrats suspicious of South, and Irish hostile to Wilson—Republican
landslide, and also swept House and Senate
▪ Voters had repudiated Wilson, internationalism, and progressivism—Harding
called for a return to normalcy
Normalcy
All the Advantages
▪ Harding and Congress buried the League and the Treaty—since US still
technically at war, Senate passed separate peace resolution, claiming all
the rights and advantages of Treaty with none of the responsibilities
▪ Harding equated oil company interests with national interest (ahem Bush) and
negotiated treaty with Colombia for $25 million gift for them not to close
off private rights to oil—US investments went up there
▪ Taxpayers grumbling about naval building which also led to arms race w/ Britain
and Japan—both Harding and British called conference and invited
Japan, France, Italy, China, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands
▪ Sec of St Hughes suggested capital-ship tonnage ration of 5:3:1.6 for US and GB:
Japan: Fr and It
▪ Japanese didn’t like it so got other agreement of US and Br not to fortify
Pacific—Five Power Naval Treaty and Four Power Treaty
▪ Hughes also got Nine Power Treaty pledging all to Open Door
▪ First time in history major powers agreed to disarm—yet said nothing about
smaller ships, no future mechanism for consultations, and Pacific left a
Japanese lake
▪ US ratified but added clause to 4 Power Treaty saying US no commitment to
entangling foreign alliances, and didn’t even keep navy at treaty strength
The Best Minds
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▪ Harding got Hughes (also Hoover, Wallace) to recruit the “best minds” of
business and finance for government—Mellon Sec of Treasury
▪ He considered the only biz principle relevant to government was economy: his
purpose was to cut taxes on wealthy, so cut government expenditures
▪ Results: Budget and Accounting Act which improved those things, Dawes’
budget, Harding opposed and vetoed vets’ bonus bill which had been
supported by American Legion, pressure group—overridden
▪ Mellon advocated repeal of x-s profits tax and reducing max income tax, but
Revenue Act only reduced it a bit
▪ Republicans set out to protect-ify the tariff again—spread of industry in S and
farm reps believed profit from protective rates on farm products both
reduced opposition—passed Fordney-McCumber Act which raised rates
but gave prez power to adjust rates on commission’s recommendation,
which were mostly increased
▪ War had made US creditor nation—but government raised tariff barrier-ing trade,
preventing Europeans from selling goods in US
Nullification by Administration
▪ Harding rolled back the Progressives wherever he could
▪ Turned apparatus for regulating industry over to the people it was supposed to
regulate
▪ When Harding intervened with troops to stop a strike, commission of inquiry
revealed pitiful way of life in mining towns, and recommended federal
controls, but administration ignored report
▪ Railroad Labor Board approved 12% reduction in wages, strike, injunction—took
advantage of Clayton Act, and court under Taft hostile to labor
▪ Court in Bailey vs. Drexel Furniture Company declared protective tax on child
labor products unconstitutional—also Hammer vs. Dagenhart that federal
anti-child-labor laws violated states’ police power, so protected child
labor
▪ Also, denied states regulate hours of work for women, and in Adkins vs.
Children’s Hospital, unconstitutional statute establishing minimum
wages for women—against Clayton Act which said labor not a
commodity
▪ Farmers still had high taxes and interest—agricultural tech raised prod but # of
farms on the wane—diminishing influence on Am life and economy—
jealous of conveniences in cities
▪ Discontent of farmers generated some legislative support—but leaders of farm
bloc in Congress didn’t understand basic difficulties
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▪ Did get legislation allowing Sec of Ag to set rates, exempt from antitrust laws,
rep of ag added to Federal Reserve Board, Ag Credits Act established 12
Intermediate Credit Banks for loans to farmers—strengthened farmer’s
ability to conduct biz, but didn’t help mortgage burden or small farmer
▪ Elections put anti-administration candidates to victory under Republicans in W,
locally and federally, and rest of Republicans got disenchanted, so the
administration fell apart
The Harding Scandals
▪ Harding’s mediocre qualities made him blind to the corruption of his appointees
▪ Got tawdry companionship of “Ohio gang” who met with him over poker and
whiskey—later Harding heard head of Vets Bureau had pocketed a large
portion of $250 million used to build vet hospitals—also Attorney
General Daugherty peddled power for cash but didn’t end up in prison
▪ Fall persuaded Harding to transfer control of oil at Elk Hill and Teapot Dome to
Interior Dept.—then leased them to Doheny and Sinclair—Walsh led
investigation which disclosed Fall had been bribed $400 grand,
convicted, and sent to prison
▪ Harding had a heart attack/stroke and died
▪ Even after the scandals had passed, national interest still associated with
privileged interest, which satisfied the “best minds”
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