Foreign Policy
--“watchful waiting”
Foreign Policy Events
Japanese in CA (1913)
Haiti (1914-15) rebellion in Haiti forced Wilson to intervene.
Dominican Republic (1916) Marines were sent to quell riots & stayed for 8 years
Jones Act of 1916 granted the Philippines territorial status & promised independence
Virgin Islands (1917)--Wilson purchased these islands from Denmark to rid the area of that foreign power
Mexico—civil war; US economic interests; Veracruz Incident (1914); Villa (1916); Zimmerman Telegram
The Great War Begins
Causes: Nationalism
Humiliations
Imperialism
Militarism (arms race)
Entangling Alliances
June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated
The Two Sides In WWI
Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria
Allied Powers – France, Russia, Britain, Italy, Belgium, Japan, & the U.S.
Major Events/Battles:
--1914 Marne (81,000 dead on British side)
--1914 Ypres (70,000 French/35,000 Germans)
--1916 Verdun (362,000 Fr/336,000 Germans)
--1916 Somme (1st day Br. had 57,000 casualties w/ 19,000 dead; entire battle cost over ½ million)
--1915 Gallipoli (Britain 220,000 causalities/Ottomans 251,000)
--1917 US enters after following policy of neutrality; merchant ships sunk; Lusitania in 1915; Zimmerman
telegram
US initially neutral
Submarine Warfare:
Lusitania, May 1915 –1,198 people dead, including 128 U.S. citizens
Arabic, August 1915 –2 Americans killed; Germany agrees to stop sinking unarmed passenger ships w/o warning
Wilson Wins Reelection In 1916
Roosevelt refused to run because he didn’t want to split the Republican party again
Bull Moose Party died away
Nominated Supreme Court justice Charles Evans Hughes (was former governor of New York)
Platform: Condemned the tariff & assaults on trusts
Didn’t like Wilson’s wishy-washiness in dealing w/ Mexico & Germany
Democratic Party Nomination: Wilson was easily nominated
Warned that by electing Hughes, the nation would be in the war (like Roosevelt & the Rough Riders)
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare begins January 1917
Zimmerman Note February 1917
Declaration of War April 1917 – The U.S. entered the war on the side of the Allies
Wilsonian Idealism--“to make the world safe for democracy” –
Isolationists--America had a tradition of being isolationist
60 Senators & 50 representatives voted against the war resolution
Wilson’s 14 Points
The First 5 Points
14th Point--League of Nations
Committee On Public Information headed by journalist George Creel
American Protective League—
Espionage Act of 1917 & Sedition Act of 1918
Schenck v. U.S. (1919)--“clear & present danger”
Economic mobilization: shipbuilding; increase in army size; disorganized
6,000 strikes occurred during the war
African American Migration into the north for jobs sparking race riots
Women: National American Woman Suffrage Association supported Wilson’s war
National Woman’s Party led by Alice Paul & demonstrated w/ marches & hunger strikes
Wilson endorsed women’s suffrage--1920 – the 19th Amendment
Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor was created to protect women in the workplace
Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921 provided federally financed instruction in maternal & infant health care
Food Administration-- Farm production increased by ¼ & food exports to the Allies tripled
Fuel Administration--saved fuel w/ heatless Mondays; lightless nights; & gasless Sundays
Treasury Department—Liberty & Victory Loan drives ($21 billion, or 2/3 the cost of the war )
18th Amendment, prohibiting all alcoholic drinks
The Conscription Law--registration of all males between the ages of 18-45;
Women were admitted to the armed forces (11,000 to the navy & 269 to the marines)
African Americans served the armed forces, but in segregated units usually led by white officers.
Germans wanted to defeat France in 6 mos before US could arrive; Russia dropped out of the war
Germany Surrenders November 11, 1918
Treaty of Versailles
Article 231 – “War Guilt Clause”
Reparations –Germany had to pay $33 billion dollars
Wilson toured the country & suffered a stroke
Election of 1920
Results of the WWI:
--new technology—tanks, planes, poison gas, machine guns, trench warfare, barbed wire, German U-Boats (sunk
+5000 ships), aircraft carriers, airplanes, railway guns (Big Berthas), armored cars
Casualties:
15 million dead; over 20 million wounded (7 m permanently disabled)
(Germany lost 15% male pop; Fr. 10%, A-H 12%)
US lost 116,000 dead & 205,000 wounded
1918 Influenza killed many (50-100 million worldwide)
Armenian Massacre/Genocide:
--app. 1 million Armenians massacred during the reign of the Young Turks b/t 1915-17 in the last
days of the Ottomans
--1894 between 80-300,000 Armenians massacred in the Hamidian Uprisings
--Around 1910 the Young Turks had split into two factions—one liberal, one radical.
--radical faction gained control & blamed the Armenians after disastrous
defeats by the Russians in WWI
--passed laws confiscating property & arrests were made.
--prisoners released from prison & escorted Arm. to concentration camps