World War I: The Home Front
Libertyville HS
US Neutrality
• 1897 to 1914: Trade
overseas increased from
$700 million to $3.5 billion
• French, British war orders
• British North Sea naval
blockade, u-boats
threatened trade
• “Freedom of the Seas”, for
neutrals
Women working in ammo factory
US Neutrality
• US preparedness for war
– US business leaders
generally supported British,
French
– Camps set up to train men
for combat
• Peace Movement
– Populists, progressives,
social reformers (women)
– Government tried to broker
peace
From Neutrality to War
• German Submarine
Warfare
– “Unterseeboot”
– Lusitania (5/7/15)
• Torpedoed, sank in ten
minutes
• 1200 killed, incl. 128 US
– Arabic (8/15)
• 200 passengers aboard
– Sussex (3/16)
• cross channel ferry
• 25 US casualties
From Neutrality to War
• Election of 1916
– Wilson motto: “He kept us
out of the war”
• Zimmerman Note
• Russian Revolution
– February 1917: Czar
overthrown, but Russians
stayed in war
– Russian people increasingly
radicalized, demoralized
The War Resolution
• Resolution passed
4/2/17
• The “War to end war”
• Wilson: “the world
must be made safe for
democracy”
• Critics: hypocrite!
Americans on the Home Front
• Financing the war
– Tax increases = $9 billion
– Liberty Bonds raised $15
billion
• Managing labor, economy
– War Industries Board
• Bernard Baruch
• Eliminate waste, inefficiency
• Est. priorities for shipping, set
prices for goods
• Ex – redesign of bicycles
Sale of liberty bonds
Americans on the Home Front
• Managing labor, economy
– War Trade Board: control
over imports, exports
– National War Labor Board:
set up to adjudicate labor
disputes
– Food Administration: set
prices, what crops grown
• Citizens encouraged to save
food to send overseas
• “War gardens” created
– Fuel Administration: control
production of coal, oil
Americans on the Home Front
• Enforcing Loyalty
– Committee on Public
Information
• Official propaganda agency of US
government
• Generated propaganda vs. Germans
– National Security League
• Dec. 1914: nationalist, militaristic,
quasi-fascist org.
• Called for strong military,
conscription, interstate highways
Americans on the Home Front
• Espionage Act of 1917
– Crime to promote success of
enemies of America
– Crime to pass info w/ intent to
interfere w/ operations or
success of armed forces of US
– Over 2000 arrested, including
labor leaders (Debs), ee
Cummings (in France!)
• Sedition Act of 1918
– Crime to make disloyal
statements about US flag, gov’t
or armed forces
Debs, speaking in Canton, OH
Americans on the Home Front
• Schenck v. US (1919)
– Head of Socialist Party of US
– Sent 15k leaflets to draft eligible
males
– 6 month prison sentence
– US Supreme Court: criminal
conviction constitutional?
• Unanimous: yes!
• “Clear and present danger”: do
words used in circumstances create
c & pd of evil Congress was trying
to prevent
• “shouting fire in a theater” ex.
WWI, Changing America
• Children joined boy scouts
• Immigration dried up
• African-Americans
– The Great Migration:
African-Americans moved
north due to labor shortages
– Race Riots b/c of Migration
• East St. Louis
• Chicago
• Omaha
WWI, Changing America
• Women
– 400k women joined industrial
work force
– Wilson on suffrage: “a vitally
necessary war measure”
– 19th Amendment (1920)
• Prohibition (18th Amendment)
– Grain used to make alcohol
– Justification for prohibition =
give up alcohol to devote
scarce grain supplies for troops
America’s Entry into the War
• The American
Expeditionary Force (AEF)
– General John “Blackjack”
Pershing
– “Doughboys”
• Convoy system
– Protection vs. U-boats
• Pershing’s vision
– US troops to serve together,
as units
– US officers lead US troops
America’s Entry into the War
• Selective Service Act of
1917 – drafted 4 million
men to fight
• Women – 13000 served as
nurses in France, US Navy
• African Americans
– Ex: 369th Inf. Reg: “Harlem
Hell Fighters”
– Pershing: Afr. Am. troops to
serve as replacements for
British, French units
Turning the Tide of War
• Bolshevik Revolution
(11/17)
– Bolsheviks
– Vladimir Lenin & the
“sealed train”
– Russian Peace w/ Germany
• German attack almost
reached Paris
– Chateau Thierry – 1st combat
service
– Belleau Wood
Turning the Tide of War
• Allied counterattack
– Meuse-Argonne offensive –
attack along entire Western
Front
– Alvin York: Medal of Honor
• Attacked MG nest, killing 28
• Captured 132 Germans
• The Air War
– Billy Mitchell commanded all
US forces
– Advocate of air power, post
war
Ending the War
• The Armistice
– “The eleventh day . . .”
• The Influenza Epidemic
– Mutation of flu virus
– World wide death toll
• American cost of War
– 50,000 Americans, dead
– Trench foot
– Shell shock
US as Global Peacekeeper
• Wilson and the 14 Points
–
–
–
–
Wilson’s vision of a world peace
No secret treaties
Remove trade barriers
Reduce military forces
• League of Nations
– Organization for world nations
to ensure security, peace
– Article 10: attack on one
member = attack on all
– US Senate refused to ratify
Reaction at Home
• Henry Cabot Lodge:
“reservationists”
– Wanted to restrict Art. 10
• Wilson’s reaction
– Tour of country; stroke
– Became inflexible over treaty
• Senators: 39-55 rejection!
• Fate of treaty
– 5-20-20: Wilson vetoed treaty
w/o League of Nations
– 7-2-21: war officially ended
War Guilt and Reparations
• French, British wanted to
punish Germany
– Insisted Germans take on
complete responsibility for
the war
– Demanded Germans pay $33
billion to allies (impossible)
• Versailles Treaty signed
6/28/19