XIV. THE WAR TO END WARS
A. War starts in Europe
1. Early 1900s European countries struggling over empires
a. Britain & Germany building large navies
b. both sides forming complicated secret alliances
i. Allied Powers = Britain, France & Russia
ii. Central Powers =
Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria & Ottoman Empire
2. 6/28/1914 Gavrilo Princip assassinates Franz Ferdinand
a. Archduke Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary to create Croatia
b. Austria blamed Serbia and declared war
c. Russia & France allied to Serbia and mobilized support
d. Germany declared war & invaded Belgium
e. England allied to France entered war with Japan
3. Germans sweep across Belgium into France
a. French stop Germans at the Battle of the Marne 9/1914
b. both sides dug trenches & a new type of warfare
4. Technological advances changed warfare forever
a. barbed wire, machine guns, & rapid fire rifles
b. smokeless bullets & improved explosives
c. wireless radios directed artillery fire
d. airplanes spotted enemy positions
i. 1918 had machine guns, bombs & dog fights
e. both use gas before gas masks
f. first time tanks used in war
g. military leaders & strategies lag behind
i. officers still led cavalry charges
ii. use horses against machine guns
B. American attempts at Neutrality
1. Americans want to remain neutral
a. a few worked on an international plan to end the war
b. a few volunteered to form ambulance units
i. Ernest Hemingway, E.E. Cummings
c. French Air Force, the Lafayette Espadrille
d. German & Austrian support Central powers
e. Irish support enemies of England
f. Swedish-Americans support enemies of Russians
g. most Americans felt kinship & cultural ties to England
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2. U.S. imports & exports to allied forces more than central
3. Newspapers support views of readers & advertisers
a. England cut cable to continent
b. start a propaganda campaign
4. Wilson discouraged loans to warring countries
a. Insisted right to remain neutral & trade with both sides
b. British mine North Sea and seized American ships
c. prevented U.S. from trading with Italy or Netherlands
d. Wilson decides against opposing British
5. Germany responded with a submarine blockade 2/4/1915
a. most countries dislike U-boats (Unterseeboot)
b. protocol at time demanded a war ship give warning
c. 5/7/ 1915 U-boat sunk British luxury liner the Lusitania
i. ship was not armed but sank in only 18 minutes
ii. 1,200 passengers died including 128 Americans
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iii. ship carried war supplies using passengers as shield ? 5
d. Wilson objected, demanded reparations & stop attacks
e.1915 Germans sink steamer Arabic
i. two Americans die
ii. Germany signs Arabic Pledge
iii. warn passenger ships before attack
C. Americans prepare for War
1. National Security League forms to lobby bigger military
2. American Union Against Militarism fears military buildup
3. Wilson concerned over European aggression increases army
a. incorporates National Guard into national defense structure
4. Wilson uses military with Mexico
a. Mexico ousted Porfirio Diaz and entered a long civil war
i. Wilson refused to recognize president Victoriano Huerta
a. had previous president Francisco Madero killed
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ii. Wilson invades Vera Cruz to protect American interests
iii. almost backfired, Huerta gains support but can't hold on
iv. three factions vied for power
v. Wilson supports Venustian Carranza
a. send him arms
vi. Pancho Villa 3/1916 Columbus, NM
vii. Wilson sends General John Pershing to find Villa
viii. Villa evades capture, hiding in northern Mexico
ix. one of Pershing's patrols attacks a Mexican garrison
x. Mexican government upset over Americans in Mexico
xi. Wilson removes troops January 1917
5. Wilson won reelection in 1916 by keeping U.S. out of War
6. Wilson tried to make honorable peace but Germany refused
7. Zimmermann letter
a. German foreign secretary, Authur Zimmermann to Mexico
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b. Mexico joined against U.S. promised territory lost in 1848
c. intercepted telegram & released to press 3/1/1917
d. Many Americans demand war with Germany
8. Russian Revolution
a. citizens grow upset over war
b. food riots in Petrograd
c. Czar calls on army but revolt
d. Czar called in navy join army
e. new Russian government pulled Russia out of war
9. Wilson alarmed over shift in balance of power
10. 4/2/1917 Congress declares war with few objections
D. America at War
1. The Draft
a. Wilson opposed the idea of a draft at first
i. volunteer army worked in Spanish American war
ii. a few riots during the Civil War over the draft
iii. Worried about future political rivals (Teddy Roosevelt)
b. first only men from 21-31 register then 18-45
c. Local boards had control over selections
d. few protests over the draft
e. a few avoided draft by working in war related industry
f. some claimed exemptions of conscience
i. given to Quakers, Amish, Mennonites
ii. those without religious ties harder to achieve status
2. Women not allowed in service
a. some joined Red Cross or Salvation Army
3. Minorities drafted without distinction by law
a. a few local draft boards however do discriminate
i. Atlanta board drafted 97% of qualified Blacks
ii. exempted 85% of registered whites
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b. Black troops remained segregated with white officers
4. Trouble on the Front
a. America slow to mobilize but send a few regiments
b. General John J. Pershing was in change of Americans
i. refused to mix his with soldiers other allied forces
ii. Pershing allowed Black divisions to fight with French
ii. 3 African American regiments won Croix de Guerre
c. not until spring of 1918 were Americans ready to fight
5. Russians sign Brest-Litovsk Treaty
6. Germans launch new offensive
a. move 50 miles from Paris
7. Fall 1918 Allies push Germans
a. back to Belgium
8. Austrians believed war was over
a. surrendered
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9. Germans ask for armistice to regroup
i. believed war going against them
10. Wilson would only talk with democratic government
11. Germany forced Kaiser Wilhelm II to abdicate
12. three days later 11/11/1918 signed Armistice