America in World War I
James Montgomery Flagg’s
famous “I Want You for
U.S. Army” poster inspired
millions of American men
to enlist for military service
as the United States entered
World War I in 1917.
President Wilson in France on his way
to negotiate the Versailles Treaty
Essential Questions
• Why was it difficult for the U.S. to follow a policy of
neutrality during the early years of World War I?
• What developments led the U.S. to enter the war?
• How did the U.S. make the transition from a peacetime to a
wartime society?
• Why did the government find it necessary to restrict civil
liberties during wartime?
• Why did the Senate ultimately fail to ratify the
Versailles Treaty?
• What implications did the end of World War I have in regard to
the rise of totalitarian governments during the 1930s
and 1940s?
Woodrow Wilson
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Born in Virginia in 1856
President of Princeton University
New Jersey governor
Elected president in 1912
Progressive administration,
“The New Freedom”
• Reelected in 1916
War Comes to Europe:
Fundamental Causes
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are greeted
in Sarajevo shortly before both were shot
Nationalism
Militarism
Imperialism
Entangling Alliances
Diplomacy
Assassination of
Archduke Ferdinand
World War I Alliances
Triple Entente
Triple Alliance
(Allies)
(Central Powers)
• Britain
• France
• Russia
• Germany
• Austria-Hungary
• Ottoman Empire
(Turkey)
Discussion Questions
• Why did the major powers in Europe enter into such
complicated alliances? What were the consequences
of doing so?
• Which of the fundamental causes of World War I do
you think was the most important in causing the war?
U.S. Neutrality
• U.S. economic interests
tied to the Allies
• Similarities in American
and British culture
• U.S. immigrants from
eastern Europe
• Irish Americans
supported Germany
• Wilson’s philosophy favored
assisting the Allies’ cause
International Law and World War
• International Law: governs relations between
nation-states
• Developing technology and war strategies made
violations more common
• Belligerents’ violations of international law directly
affected American citizens and the U.S. government
German U-Boats
German U-Boats, such as the SM U 15 pictured
above, terrorized transport ships and passenger
liners during World War I
• Used to counterbalance
strength of British navy
• British ships attempted to
reduce threat by flying
U.S. flags
• Germans responded
with “unrestricted
submarine warfare”
• U.S. saw this as a violation
of American neutrality
RMS Lusitania
• Launched in 1906
• The largest ship in the world
at the time of its launching
• Held several speed records
for Atlantic crossing
• Sister ship to
the Mauretania
This photo of the Lusitania was taken in 1911
from the Irish coast, not far from where the
ship would be torpedoed four years later
Sinking of the Lusitania
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An artist’s illustration of the Lusitania sinking
after being struck by a German U-Boat’s torpedo
May 7th, 1915
Torpedoed off Irish coast
Ship sank in 18 minutes
Most likely carried
illegal munitions
• Nearly 1200 killed
• 128 Americans among those
killed in attack
American Reaction
• Some called for war
• Others opposed
military action
• Wilson’s response:
negotiating with Germany
Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan
(at left) is shown with President Wilson
Discussion Questions
1. What issues made it difficult for Americans to
remain neutral in the early days of the war? What
impact did Wilson’s philosophy have on American
neutrality? Why was this so?
2. What violations of international law occurred on
both sides in the early days of World War I? How did
these violations affect American citizens? How did
they affect the U.S. government?
3. What actions did Wilson take following the sinking
of the Lusitania? Explain why some felt his reaction
was too mild, while others thought it was too harsh.
The Sussex Pledge
• French passenger ship
torpedoed in English Channel
• Some Americans injured
• Wilson threatens to break
diplomatic relations
with Germany
• Germans pledge not to sink
more ships without warning
• Stalemate on Western Front
leads Germany to renege
on pledge
The damaged Sussex after it was torpedoed
U.S. Banks Support the Allies
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Economics erode American neutrality
Loans to Allies help U.S. financial policy
Morgan loans $500 million to Britain and France
By 1917, U.S. financial institutions had loaned $2.3
billion to Allied nations, but only $27 million
to Germany
• Loans help pull America into the war
1916 Presidential Election
Wilson
Hughes
• Wilson seeks second term
• Republican nominee, former NY Governor
Charles Evans Hughes
• Wilson campaigns on slogan, “He Kept Us Out of War”
• Roosevelt speaks out in favor of entering the war
• Hughes does well with Irish American and
German American voters
• Wilson wins in a close election
The Zimmermann Telegram
• Sent from German Foreign
Minister to German
ambassador to Mexico
(January 1917)
• Offered U.S. territory to
Mexico if they joined
German cause
• Intercepted by British
• British waited until February
to inform U.S.
• Helped move U.S. public
opinion toward war
U.S. Moves Closer to War
The American passenger steamer New York, sunk
by a German U-Boat in April 1917
• Germans resume
unrestricted submarine
warfare in January 1917
• Wilson breaks diplomatic
relations with Germany
• April 1917: Wilson asks
for declaration of war
against Germany
Discussion Questions
• What assurances did Wilson receive in the Sussex
Pledge? Why did Germany break the pledge in
January 1917?
• Why did American bankers feel it necessary to loan
the Allies huge sums of money? What effect did this
have on the U.S. and the war?
• What factors in 1917 helped push the United States
toward a declaration of war against Germany?
U.S. Ill-Prepared for War
• Few troops
• Aging officer corps
• Lack of weapons
and ammunition
• Inefficient War
Department
Mobilization
• Mobilization: Changing
from a peacetime to a
wartime society
• Manpower
• Economic
• Home front
• Psychological mobilization
An American machine gun factory
Selective Service Act of 1917
• Required all men ages
21 to 30 to register with
draft boards (later ages
18 through 45)
• More than 24
million registered
• 3 million drafted
• Volunteers increased army’s
size to over 4 million
Secretary of War Newton D. Baker draws the first
number in the draft lottery on July 20th, 1917
Military Training
• Drills, discipline,
combat tactics
• Psychological testing
• Commission on Training
Camp Activities (CTCA)
CTCA posters such as this one encouraged
soldiers to read rather than engage in less
“acceptable” activities
Minorities in the Army
• Native Americans served
in general army
• Blacks were segregated or
denied enlistment
• Most blacks given
menial duties
• Some black troops involved
in racial violence
This 1918 poster used an image of Lincoln looking
down on black troops fighting Germans in order to
encourage African Americans to enlist
Discussion Questions
• Define “mobilization.” In what areas did the U.S.
mobilize immediately after the declaration of war?
• How did the government conduct the draft? Who
was eligible for military service? How many
were drafted?
• What was the goal of the Commission on Training
Camp Activities?
• What kind of treatment did minority military
recruits receive?
Women in World War I
• Women replaced men in the
workforce and other homefront roles
• For the first time, women
joined the armed forces
• Others worked as civilian
nurses, ambulance drivers
• “Hello Girls”
This 1917 poster by illustrator Howard
Chandler Christy sought to encourage
women to enlist in the Marine Corps
War Industries Board
• Headed by Baruch
• Coordinated purchasing
• Sought production
efficiency
• Allocated raw materials
• Encouraged standardization
in production
Wall Street investor Bernard Baruch
was put in charge of the WIB
Fuel Administration
• Headed by Harry Garfield
• Attempted to force fuel
price increases in order to
stimulate conservation
• Encouraged voluntary
conservation of fuel
• Sought to institute
Daylight Saving Time
Harry Garfield
Food Administration
• Headed by Herbert Hoover
• Encouraged conservation of
needed food products
• Food Administration’s
“Speaker’s Bureau”
• Women’s Land Army
Food Administration posters such as
this one encouraged conservation
War Labor Board
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Created by Wilson in April 1918
Designed to settle labor disputes
“No strike” pledge
Board considered more than 1200 labor cases
Union membership increased during war years
Unskilled laborers’ wages increased dramatically
Committee on Public
Information
• Headed by George Creel
• Committee formed in
April 1917
• Handled propaganda for
the war effort
• Attempted to
“demonize” enemy
• “Four Minute Men”
Paying for the War
• Cost of war: $33.5 billion
• “Liberty Loans” paid for
two-thirds of cost
• Government also
increased taxes
• Philanthropic groups’
contributions
Discussion Questions
• What opportunities existed for women during the
war years?
• How did the War Industries Board and the Food
Administration help the war effort?
• How did the government use propaganda during the
war? What messages were they trying to get across to
the public?
• What methods did the government use to pay the
costs of World War I?
Wartime Intolerance
• War leads to anti-German
feelings in U.S.
• Prejudice against German
immigrants or suspected
German sympathizers
• Robert Prager lynching
• Removal of German culture
Even American schoolchildren got caught up
in anti-German hysteria
Squelching Dissent
• Espionage Act and
Sedition Act
• Pacifists, radicals, IWW
leaders arrested
• Eugene V. Debs
• Victor Berger
Socialist Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned
for three years after giving an anti-war
speech in Canton, Ohio
Schenck v. U.S.
• Schenck prosecuted
for distributing
anti-draft leaflets
• Convicted of violating
the Espionage Act
• Appealed decision to
the Supreme Court
• Holmes creates “clear and
present danger” doctrine
Charles Schenck was prosecuted for
distributing anti-draft leaflets
Discussion Questions
• How did prejudice against German immigrants and
German sympathizers manifest itself during the
war years?
• What steps did the government take to squelch
dissent at home? What groups or individuals
were targeted?
• What were the facts in the Supreme Court case
Schenck v. U.S.? What was the reason for
this decision?
American Expeditionary Force
• Formal name of U.S. Army
troops sent to France
• Commanded by Pershing
• Arrived in 1917, but did not
actively participate in battle
until 1918
• Remained in
“independent units”
General John J. (“Black Jack”)
Pershing commanded the AEF
The AEF sees action
U.S. troops in Seringes, France in 1918
• March 1918: German
“spring offensive”
• U.S. sees action at
Chateau-Thierry and
Belleau Wood
• Second Battle of the Marne
• Argonne Forest
• Armistice signed in
November 1918
Trench Warfare
• Forces dug in to begin
trench warfare along
475-mile front
• Machine guns
American soldiers in France wait
to attack from a trench
Life in the Trenches
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Monotony
Disease, lice, water, and mud
“No Man’s Land”
Many frontline troops served for several days before
being relieved
Notable Americans in
World War I
Alvin C. York
Harry Truman
Eddie Rickenbacker
Authors and Ambulance
Drivers
• Several American authors
served as ambulance drivers
• Included were Hemingway,
e e cummings, Dos Passos,
Hammett, and others
• Reasons for serving varied
Ernest Hemingway poses in his
ambulance driver’s uniform
Discussion Questions
• What was the formal name of U.S. troops in World
War I? What nickname did they go by? What impact
did they have when they first arrived in Europe?
• What was life like for soldiers in the trenches?
Why did the machine gun make trench warfare
so destructive?
• What experiences did several famous American
authors have during World War I? How did this
influence their later writings?
Wilson’s Peace Plan
• Announced in January 1918
• Wilson wanted to build a
better world society, not to
punish the losers
• Difficult to get Allied
leaders to agree to plan
Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” speech to Congress
The “Fourteen Points”
Wilson and French President
Raymond Poincare in Paris
A sign in Paris reading
“Long Live Wilson”
• Wilson’s plan for a “peace without victory”
• European leaders only implemented some of the
Fourteen Points in the Versailles Treaty
Preparing to Negotiate the Treaty
• Wilson sought to use treaty
to persuade Germans to
overthrow Kaiser
• Edward House negotiates
with Allies to make
Fourteen Points the basis
for the treaty
• Wilson decides to attend
treaty negotiations in person
• Decision a mistake;
Republicans win
control of Congress
Edward House
Discussion Questions
• What was Wilson’s proposal for a peace settlement
called? What was the basic philosophy behind it?
Why might Wilson’s goals have been difficult
to achieve?
• Which of the Fourteen Points do you think Allied
leaders may have had the most problems with? Why?
• What major error did Wilson make as the U.S.
prepared to negotiate the peace treaty? Why was
this a mistake?
The “Big Four” at Versailles
• Treaty negotiations held at
Palace of Versailles
• Allied leaders
attended discussions
• Varied goals and interests
made settlement difficult
The “Big Four” Allied leaders (seated): from left,
Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Georges Clemenceau of
France, David Lloyd-George of England,
and President Wilson
The Finished Treaty
• Harsh terms for
Germany
• War Guilt Clause
and reparations
• Germans lose
significant territory
• Mandate system for
German colonies
• New nations created
• League of Nations
Yugoslav delegates at
Paris Peace Conference
Hall of Mirrors
during the
peace signing
The League of Nations
• Proposed in Fourteen Points
• Part of Treaty of Versailles
• League included a
Secretariat, Assembly,
Council, and other agencies
• Existed from 1920–1946
• Replaced by UN
The opening session of the League of Nations in
Geneva, Switzerland in November 1920
U.S. Public Opinion and the Treaty
• Wilson submitted treaty to
Senate for ratification
• Most Americans supported
League of Nations
• Wilson convinced Allies to
accept conditions to calm
American fears
• Tariffs, immigration law,
Monroe Doctrine excluded
from League
A League of Nations political cartoon
Senate Concerns About Treaty
• Senate “Manifesto”
• Opposition to
Treaty led by Lodge
• Wilson refuses
to compromise
• League of Nations a major
point of contention
This cartoon satirizes Republican senators’
concerns about the League of Nations
Discussion Questions
1. What goals and agendas did each of the “Big Four”
bring to the Versailles Conference?
2. What were some of the major provisions of the
finished treaty?
3. How did U.S. public opinion fall in regards to the
Versailles Treaty? How did Wilson seek to ease
American concerns?
Republican Senate Opposition
• Nearly all Democratic
senators ready to vote
for treaty
• Republican opposition
divides into three groups:
• Irreconcilables
• Mild Reservationists
• Strong Reservationists
Senator William E. Borah
Henry Cabot Lodge
• Senator from Massachusetts
• Chair of Foreign
Relations Committee
• Wrote “Lodge Reservations”
• Wilson refused compromise
Reasons for Wilson’s
stubbornness
• Wilson consistently
refused compromise
• He may have suffered a
small stroke at Versailles
• Later changes in behavior
and judgment noted
by many
• Suffered more serious
stroke in Washington
Wilson in 1919. Some historians believe his
judgment was clouded because of suffering a stroke.
Wilson appeals to the people
• Embarks on whirlwind
speaking tour to gain support
• Grueling schedule
• Collapses in
Pueblo, Colorado
• Suffers severe stroke
in Washington
• Survives, but impaired for
remainder of term
Discussion Questions
1. Who were the “Irreconcilables” in the Senate debate
over the treaty? What opinion did they have
regarding the treaty?
2. What opinion did the “Strong Reservationists” have
regarding the treaty? What opinion did the “Mild
Reservationists” have?
3. What were the “Lodge Reservations”?
4. Why was Wilson so stubbornly opposed to any
treaty revisions? What may have contributed to
his stubbornness?
Role of Edith Wilson
• First Lady Edith Wilson played
major role during health crisis
• Hid her husband’s condition
from public, controlled what
information he could see
• No Constitutional method to
handle presidential disability
First Lady Edith Wilson steadies a document
as her husband prepares to sign it in 1920
Outcome of the Treaty Debate
• Wilson unable to continue
treaty fight
• Lodge guides reservations
through Senate
• Wilson’s failure
to compromise
• Treaty vote fails in
November 1919, then again
in March 1920
• U.S. never signs treaty or
joins League of Nations
A cartoon depicting Wilson’s losing
battle to gain public support
Return to Peacetime Society
American soldiers returning home
• Demobilization leads to
large numbers of ex-soldiers
in the workforce
• Most government war
agencies disbanded
• Government contracts
cancelled
• Inflation goes unchecked;
strikes increase
• Prices drop and
unemployment rises
Legacy of World War I
• United States asserted itself as a financial, industrial,
and international power
• Americans became more united through mobilization
and war
• United States turned more toward isolationism
after war
• Weaknesses in Versailles Treaty and failure to join
League of Nations helped create the conditions in
Europe that eventually led to World War II
Discussion Questions
1. How did Wilson appeal to the public to gain support
for the Versailles Treaty?
2. What role did First Lady Edith Wilson play in the
Wilson Administration at the end of 1919 and
through 1920? Why was she able to do this?
3. What was the outcome of the debate over
ratification in 1919 and 1920?