Freedom Project
World War I Workshop
University of Delaware
February 24-25, 2012
Assassination of Franz
Ferdinand (June 28, 1914)
Young Serbian – Gavrio Prinzip - assassinates the heir
to the Austro-Hungarian throne.
Austria invades Serbia
(July 29, 1914)
Allies choose sides & a small conflict spreads.
Germany Invades Neutral
Belgium (August 4, 1914)
British reactions
US reactions
Wilson declares neutrality
(August 19, 1914)
“The United States must remain neutral in fact as well as in name…”
Britain Blockades Germany
(January 31, 1915)
British mine the North Sea and authorize the use of neutral flags
on British merchant ships.
Germany Establishes War Zone Around
Britain (February 4, 1915)
Try to stop Americans from trading with Allies (Britain, France etc.).
“Thrasher Incident”
(March 1, 1915)
German sub torpedoes British
passenger ship. First passenger ship
sunk during WWI. Leon Thrasher, a
passenger on the Falaba, became
the 1st US citizen killed.
Lusitania Sunk
(May 7, 1915)
German sub torpedoes British passenger ship Lusitania killing 128 Americans
Great Migration Begins
(1915-1950)
Artist Jacob Lawrence illustrates the movement of millions of African-Americans
from south to Northern cities. Labor shortages opened factory jobs in the North.
Sussex Pledge
(May 14, 1916)
After U-boats torpedo the ferry boat “Sussex,” Germany promises to not
sink passenger ships. Merchant ships would not be sunk unless
contraband found and provisions made for safety of passengers and crew.
Germany Suspends Submarine
Assaults (August 31, 1916)
Election of 1916
(November 7, 1916)
Wilson wins re-election: “He Kept Us Out of War”
Electoral Results
Red - Democratic (Wilson)
Blue = Republican (Charles Hughes)
Jeanette Rankin Elected to
Congress (November 7, 1916)
Rankin becomes the 1st woman elected to Congress. Voted against
American entrance into WWI and WWII.
Germany Resumes Unrestricted
Submarine Warfare (Jan 31, 1917)
Germany breaks its Sussex Pledge not to attack passenger or merchant
ships. Germans hoped to win the war with one last offensive.
US Breaks Off Relations with
Germany (February 3, 1917)
“…the Government of the United States can have no choice
but to sever diplomatic relations with the German
Empire altogether.”
Zimmermann telegram released
(March 1, 1917)
German diplomat secretly offers Mexico guns, money, and its “lost territory
in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona” if Mexico attacks the United States when
Germany goes to war with the United States.
1st Russian “February”
Revolution Begins (February 22, 1917)
Leads to the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II’s
autocratic government. A second “October”
revolution leads to communist take-over of Russia.
Russian Revolution Begins
(March 8, 1917)
Vladimir Lenin
led the successful “Bolshevik” or communist revolution.
Propaganda Used to Rally
Support for the Allies
US military enters Mexico in pursuit of Pancho
Villa (March 1916)
Villa’s forces attacked US citizens and soil after the US lends
support to his rival in the struggle for control of Mexican
government.
Wilson asks Congress to declare
war on Germany (April 2, 1917)
“The world must be made safe for democracy.”
A World War
Committee on Public
Information Created (April 13, 1917)
George Creel hired
to influence public
opinion about the
war.
Army Intelligence Testing
Begins (May 1917)
Robert Yerkes leads committee that develops Army’s Alpha and
Beta Tests which were administered to 1.7 million US Army
recruits during WWI. IQ testing becomes popular and factors
into 1920 debates on immigration quotas and school
placements.
Selective Service Act
(May 18, 1917)
2.8 million Americans between ages of 18-45 drafted.
First US Troops Arrive in France
(June 26, 1917)
“Lafayette, we are here!”
French children watch the arrival of US “doughboys.”
War Revenue Act
(October 13, 1917)
Lowest Tax Rate
6%
Highest Tax Rate
77%
Graduated income tax funds 1/3rd of US war costs.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
(March 3, 1918)
Leon Trotsky
Russians sign separate peace with
Germany & withdraw from the war.
Influenza Pandemic Begins
(March 11, 1918)
Albert Mitchell was the first reported case at Fort Riley,
Kansas. Lasted 16 months.
Total dead worldwide = 25 million; US = 600,000.
Daylight Savings Time
Introduced (March 31, 1918)
Designed to conserve
energy and increase
productivity. Repealed
after 7 months in 1919.
Armistice Signed
(Nov 11, 1918)
WWI ends
18th Amendment Ratified
(January 16, 1919)
Prohibited the manufacture, sale, or consumption of alcoholic
beverages. Era of Prohibition begins.
Schenck v US
(March 13, 1919)
“The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such
circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present
danger…When a nation is at war many things that might be said in
time of peace…will not be endured…” Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Treaty of Versailles Signed
(June 28, 1919)
The “Big 4” met in Paris to negotiate terms of a peace agreement.
Lloyd George of Britain, Orlando of Italy,
Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson of the U.S.
Wilson Submits Treaty of Versailles
to US Senate (July 10, 1919)
The
debate
erupts
President Wilson
“Dare we reject it and break the
heart of the world?”
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
“The United States is the world's best hope, but
if you fetter her in the interests and quarrels of
other nations, if you tangle her in the intrigues
of Europe, you will destroy her powerful good,
and endanger her very existence.”
Wilson Cancels Speaking Tour
(September 25, 1919)
Route of Wilson’s 8,000 mile speaking tour on
which he tried to rally support for the Treaty of
Versailles. President collapses in Pueblo, Colorado.
Wilson Suffers a Stroke
(October 2, 1919)
“Petticoat presidency”
begins?
Red Scare
(January 1, 1920)
A. Mitchell Palmer
US Attorney General leads raids on alleged radical centers and
arrests more than 6,000 suspected communists and radicals.
Final Defeat of Treaty of Versailles in Senate
(March 19, 1920)
US eventually signed a separate peace agreements with Germany,
Austria, Hungary after Warren Harding takes office.
19th Amendment Ratified
(August 26, 1920)
Women receive the right to vote.
Europe’s New Boundaries
1914
1922
Before WWI
After WWI