CHAPTER 23
Woodrow Wilson and the Great War
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Wilson’s “Moral” Diplomacy. Wilson set the moral tone for his foreign policy by denouncing
dollar diplomacy. In some matters, idealism provided an adequate basis for foreign policy.
Where vital interests were concerned, however, the primacy of America’s interests outweighed
Wilson’s idealism. The importance of the Panama Canal made Wilson unwilling to tolerate
unrest in the Caribbean. Wilson’s most fervent missionary diplomacy manifested itself in
Mexico, where his personal abhorrence of the Mexican dictator, Victoriano Huerta, led to
American military intervention in Mexico’s internal affairs.
Europe Explodes in War. When World War I broke out in Europe, most Americans believed
that the conflict did not concern them. Wilson promptly issued a proclamation of neutrality. The
war’s affront to progressive ideals, combined with the traditional American fear of entanglement
in European affairs, provided ample justification for neutrality. Though most Americans wanted
to stay out of the war, nearly all were partial to one side or the other. People of German,
Austrian, and Irish descent sympathized with the Central Powers; the majority, however,
influenced by the ties of Anglo-American culture and successful Allied propaganda, sided with
the Allies.
Freedom of the Seas. Anticipating the economic benefits of trading with all belligerents, the
United States found Britain’s control of the Atlantic frustrating. Britain declared nearly all
commodities to be contraband of war. Although British tactics frequently exasperated Wilson,
they did not result in the loss of innocent lives. Therefore, Wilson never seriously considered an
embargo. Given British naval superiority and the economic importance of America, any action
by the United States inevitably had a negative impact on one side or the other. Ultimately,
increased trade with the Allies and profits from loans to France and England tied America more
closely to the Allies. In addition, Germany’s use of submarine warfare brought new questions to
issues of naval warfare and neutral rights. Extremely vulnerable on the surface and too small to
carry survivors, U-boats could not play by the old rules of war. The result was often a heavy loss
of life. The sinking of the Lusitania (May, 1915), with the loss of 128 American lives, brought
an outcry from the American public. After dragging out the controversy for nearly a year,
Germany apologized and agreed to pay an indemnity. The sinking of the Sussex in 1916
produced another strong American protest, which led the Germans to promise, in the Sussex
pledge, to stop sinking merchant ships without warning.
The Election of 1916. Facing a unified Republican Party in 1916, Wilson sought to gain support
from progressives. He nominated Lewis D. Brandeis to the Supreme Court, signed the Farm
Loan Act, approved the Keating-Owens Child Labor Act and a workmen’s compensation
package for federal employees, and modified his stance on the tariff. In doing so, Wilson put into
effect much of the Progressive Party platform of 1912. Wilson’s maintenance of American
neutrality and his progressive domestic policies won for him a narrow victory over Republican
challenger Charles Evans Hughes.
The Road to War. In an effort to mediate the European conflict, Wilson sent his advisor, Colonel
Edward M. House, to negotiate with the belligerents. After the failure of the House mission,
America moved ever closer to intervention. Europe refused to respond to Wilson’s plea in
January, 1917 for peace without victory. After that, a series of events led the United States closer
to war. Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in February. The Zimmermann
telegram was released in March, after which Wilson authorized the arming of American
merchantmen. On April 2, 1917, Wilson requested that Congress declare war on Germany. On
April 6, the Senate voted 82 to 6 and the House 373 to 50 in favor of war.
Mobilizing the Economy. Although America’s entry into the war assured an Allied victory, the
conversion of America’s economy to a wartime footing proceeded slowly, and the war ended
before much of the process was complete. Conscription did not begin to mobilize the nation’s
military manpower until September, 1917. After several false starts, Wilson created the War
Industries Board (WIB) to direct industrial mobilization. America was more successful in
mobilizing food supplies under the leadership of Herbert Hoover, a mining engineer and former
head of the Belgian Relief Commission, who was appointed to supervise agricultural production.
Wartime government planning and regulation began a new era in cooperation between
government and business.
Workers in Wartime. The demands of a wartime economy, coupled with a shortage of labor,
improved the lot of American labor. Immigration was reduced to a trickle, wages rose, and
unemployment disappeared. Manpower shortages created new employment opportunities for
blacks, women, and other disadvantaged groups. Blacks left the South for jobs in northern
factories. While the government did act to forestall strikes, its actions also opened the way for
the unionization of many previously unorganized industries.
Paying for the War. The war cost the federal government about $33.5 billion, not counting
pensions and other postwar expenses. Government borrowing financed over two-thirds of the
war’s cost. In addition to direct loans, the sale of Liberty and Victory bonds raised millions. A
steeply graduated income tax, increased inheritance taxes, and an excess-profits tax helped the
federal government raise over $10.5 billion in tax monies.
Propaganda and Civil Liberties. To rally public support, Wilson named George Creel to head
the newly created Committee on Public Information (CPI). The CPI churned out propaganda
portraying the war as a crusade for freedom and democracy. In the midst of wartime hysteria,
little distinction was made between constitutionally guaranteed rights of dissent and illegal acts
of sedition or treason. While Wilson sometimes spoke in defense of free speech, his actions
contradicted those words. He signed the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918,
which went far beyond what was necessary to protect the national interest.
Wartime Reforms. America’s wartime experience was part and product of the Progressive Era.
The exigencies of war opened the way for government involvement in many social and economic
areas. A new generation of professionally educated, reform-minded individuals found
employment in the federal bureaucracy, and it appeared that the war was creating a sense of
common purpose that might stimulate the public to cooperate to achieve selfless goals. Women’s
suffrage, economic opportunities for blacks, gains in workmen’s compensation, and prohibition
were but a few of the reforms of the war era.
Women and Blacks in Wartime. Women found employment in new fields during the war, but
for the majority, these gains were short-lived. Traditional views of a “woman’s role,” the desire
to rehire veterans, and the opposition of many unions prevented women from consolidating their
employment gains. More than a half million southern blacks moved north to the booming cities
between 1914 and 1919. Migrating blacks met with hostility and, on occasion, violence;
however, many realized an improvement in their social and political status. Blacks who joined
the armed forces served in segregated units. The majority of black servicemen were assigned to
support and labor units, but many did fight and die for their country. Altogether about 200,000
blacks served in Europe. Many blacks, including W. E. B. Du Bois, hoped that their patriotism
would bring political equality when the war was over.
Americans: To the Trenches and Over the Top. More than 2 million Americans served in
Europe. Although the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), under the command of General
Pershing, reached France on July 4, 1917, American forces did not see action until the battles of
Château-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and Soissons in 1918. America’s largest engagement, the drive
west through the Argonne Forest, involved over 1.2 million men and proved instrumental in
ending the war. In November, 1918, an armistice ended the Great War. American casualties
totaled 112,432 dead and 230,074 wounded.
Preparing for Peace. Although hostilities ended in November, the shape of postwar Europe had
yet to be decided. The Central Powers, Germany in particular, anticipated a settlement based on
Wilson’s Fourteen Points. The victors, especially England and France, found many provisions of
the Fourteen Points unacceptable. Wilson journeyed to Paris and attempted to personally guide
the course of the peace conference. With Wilson out of the country and preoccupied with the
peace conference, the domestic political situation deteriorated. There was growing discontent
over his farm and tax policies; despite its gains during the war, labor was restive. Moreover,
Wilson had exacerbated his political difficulties by making a partisan appeal for the election of a
Democratic Congress in 1918. Republicans won majorities in both houses, and Wilson faced a
hostile Congress. The President compounded his problems by failing to appoint any leading
Republicans or any members of the Senate to the peace commission, thus making it less likely
that the Senate would ratify the treaty.
The Paris Peace Conference and the Versailles Treaty. The “Big Four,” David Lloyd George of
England, Wilson of the United States, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Vittorio Orlando of
Italy, dominated the Paris Peace Conference. Far more concerned over security, war guilt, and
reparations than Wilson’s goals of justice and international harmony, the European victors all but
ignored his goals of open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, and national self-determination.
Wilson expected that the League of Nations would make up for deficiencies in the Versailles
Treaty.
The Senate Rejects the League of Nations. To pacify American opponents, Wilson persuaded
the Great Powers to exclude “domestic questions,” such as tariff and immigration policies and
the Monroe Doctrine from the purview of the League; but this did not ensure its acceptance with
Americans. Senate Republicans split into three anti-League camps. The “irreconcilables”
rejected League membership on any terms. The “mild reservationists” backed membership,
subject to minor revisions of the League’s charter. The majority Republican opposition, the
“strong reservationists” led by Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, would accept the League
only if American sovereignty were fully protected. Wilson refused to yield any ground and
undertook a nationwide speaking tour to rally support for the treaty. At Pueblo, Colorado,
Wilson collapsed and had to return to Washington. Wilson rejected all compromise, and the
Senate rejected the Treaty.
The Red Scare. After the war, inflation spiraled; by 1920, the cost of living stood at twice the
level of 1913. During 1919, one out of five employees engaged in strike actions. Labor unrest,
fear of Bolshevism, failure to distinguish between unions and communism, economic flux, and
the xenophobic tenor of wartime propaganda fostered near hysteria in postwar America and led
to the phenomenon known as the Red Scare. In January, 1920, Attorney General A. Mitchell
Palmer organized a series of raids against radicals. Of the more than 6,000 “radical” foreigners
seized, only 556 proved liable to deportation. When the massive uprising that Palmer predicted
for May Day, 1920 failed to materialize, the Red Scare swiftly subsided.
The Election of 1920. The Democrats nominated James A. Cox of Ohio, who favored
membership in the League. The Republican nominee, Warren G. Harding, also of Ohio,
equivocated on the issue, despite his Senate record as a strong reservationist. Harding’s smashing
victory over Cox signaled more than America’s rejection of the League. The voters’ response to
Harding’s call for a return to “normalcy” suggested that Americans sought an end to the period
of agitation and reform that had begun with Theodore Roosevelt.