Unit 4:
Imperialism
and Progressivism
Chapter 14
World War I and Its
Aftermath
WWI
An Overview
•1914-1918
•32 Nations
•30 Million Dead
•$350 Billion Cost
•First “Total War”
I. The United States Enters WWI
A. Woodrow Wilson’s Diplomacy:
MORAL DIPLOMACY
1. Democracy
a. Promotes stability & prosperity
b. Historically, democracies tend
to not engage in war with e/o
2. US to lead by MORAL example
B. Mexican Revolution 1911
1. Diaz the Dictator – supported US, but…..
a. land/wealth in hands of few
b. majority are poor and landless
c. This situation leads to REVOLUTION!
2. Madero
a. supported democracy – but failed to implement
b. overthrown and murdered by Huerta
3. Gen. Huerta
a. brutal leader – opposed by US
b. US armed/supported his opponents
Diaz
Huerta
4. Tampico Incident: US sailors arrested
briefly in Mex. US demands apology,
Mex. Refuses – opportunity to overthrow
Huerta! – send US Marines – seize port
of Vera Cruz
- Mexicans outraged!
5. Carranza became Mexico’s President
6. Pancho Villa
a. leader of Mex. Guerilla grp
b. raided Columbus, NM to draw US
intervention against Carranza
c. US sent 6000 US troops under
Pershing to chase him – didn’t get him
Pancho Villa
7. Wilson’s “Moral Imperialism”
a. Effect on US/Latin American relations:
damaged! Seen as no improvement
over TR’s “Big Stick”
b. Wilson sent US Marines to
Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic.
Why? To preserve order & set up gov’t
that he hoped would be more stable &
democratic
C. Outbreak of WWI –
Causes of WWI
1. Entangling Alliances: an effort to
maintain balance of power – formed
mutual defense agreements where
countries agree to aid their allies
militarily in a crisis
a. Triple Alliance: Germany, AustriaHungary, Italy
b. Triple Entente: France, Britain,
Russia
Entangling Alliances
This cartoon - 'A Chain of Friendship' - appeared in the American newspaper the Brooklyn
Eagle in July 1914. The caption read: “If Austria attacks Serbia, Russia will fall upon
Austria, Germany upon Russia, and France and England upon Germany.”
Entangling Alliances
2. Militarism: glorify the military. Use of force
to settle int’l problems
a. Naval Race: Germany vs. Britain
- Germans begin to build navy –
seen as threat to Brit. dominance
- tensions btwn Brits/Germs grow
- leads to race to build warships
b. Conscription System: military draft
producing huge standing armies
(except GB)
c. Stockpiling new weapons and
ammunition
3. Nationalism: Culture and interests of
homeland above other countries.
a. Other nations viewed as competitors
b. Willing to go to war to expand nation
c. Self-determination: belief that nations
should have their own country and gov’t
- Pan-German movement: unite
German speaking nations
- Pan-Slavic movement: unite Slavic
speaking nations
4. Imperialism: actions used by one nation to
exercise political or economic control over a
smaller or weaker nation
a. competition to develop vast empires caused
tension and conflict
b. Europeans competed for
- territory
- raw materials
- new markets
- land close to home
c. Imperialist actions
- Bosnia annexed by Austria-Hungary
- France goal to reclaim Alcace-Lorraine
Causes of WWI
D. The Spark that ignites WWI June 14, 1914
The assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand
- heir to? Austria-Hungary throne
- by whom? Gabriel Principe (Bosnian
Serb, a member of Black Hand – a
group of Bosnians who wanted
freedom from Serbia)
Gavrilo Princip
– the assassin
The Archduke Franz
Ferdinand and his
family
E. The Guns of August
1. July 28,1914 – Austria-H declares war on Serbia
Russia begins mobilizing
2. Aug. 1,1914 – Germany declares war on Russia
France begins mobilizing
3. Aug. 3,1914 – Germany declares war on France
4. Aug 4,1914 – Germany invades Belgium - Britain
declares war on Germany
(rape of Belgium)
5. Aug 6, 1914 – Austria-H declares war on Russia
6. Aug 12, 1914 – France and Britain declare war on
Austria-H Whew!...
F. The War
1. Who’s fightin’ who?
a. Central Powers = Austria-Hungary +
Germany + Ottoman Empire + Bulgaria
b. Allies = France + Russia + Britain +
Italy + others
2. The plans
a. Germany’s Plan (Schlieffen Plan) : knock out
France 1st – then take on the Russians
* problem: have to go through neutral Belgium
to get to France - international outrage
b. Russia invades Germany. Germany fighting a
2 front war.
c. German advance west stopped with Battle of
the Marne.
d. Germans successful in east – Russia suffers
The Schlieffen Plan
Major Fronts of WWI
“Rape of
Belgium”
G. America declares official neutrality – yes but…
1. Population divided
- German immigrants (8 m) tended to support
Central powers
- Irish immigrants also supported Central
powers. Why? Irish resented centuries of
British Rule
- most Americans, however, support Allies.
Why?
1) British heritage
2) English language
3) British political ideals
4) historic links w/ France (Am.
Revolution)
The Public Opinion Factor
2. Govt, Military very Pro-British
3. Biz favored Allies
a. already strong ties with Allied countries
b. banks invest in Allied victory – made loans to
Allies (up to $2B in 1917).
- so…if Allies won, $ would be paid back)
c. in some pro-German regions in US - lent
$27M to Central Powers, but loans had to
go through Sec. of Treasury – and he was proBritish
The Economic Factor
4. Role of Propaganda: information designed to
influence opinion
a. used by both Allies & Central Powers
b. American propaganda urged Americans to:
- buy war bonds
- support Allies
c. Brits = most skilled propaganda
- painted Germans as aggressors in war,
as vicious and bloodthirsty
- cut transatlantic telegraph cable from
Europe to US
- limited news to mainly British reports
Terms to Know
Huns – Germans
Yanks – Americans
Thrift Stamps – stamps bought for 25 cents each,
when a card of 8 was filled, the card could be
traded in for $5.00 in 1923 (but it only cost $4.00)
Liberty Bonds – sold to raise money for the war
effort (like a loan to the government)
Munitions – weapons and ammunition
British Propaganda
German Propaganda
American Propaganda
America’s
Most
Famous
WWI
Poster
H. Moving toward war –
1. British Naval Blockade of Germany
a. To keep it from obtaining supplies
b. Mined North sea
c. Expanded definition of contraband
2. Germans hope to starve Brits and France into
surrendering – get around blockade with….
a. U-boats – plan to sink w/o warning any ship in
water around Britain – (what about the int’l
treaty that stated that military vessels must
reveal their intentions to merchant ships and
make provisions for safety of the targeted
ship’s crew and passengers before sinking it?
- Germans claim that many merchant ships
were actually warships in disguise.
Were they right?
The German U-Boat
b. The Lusitania May 7, 1915
- kills 1200 passengers, 128 of them Americans
- US complains, but does NOT declare war
- insists that German gov’t safeguard lives of
noncombatants in war zones
- Germany publishes warning
• Sunk May 7, 1915
• Response:
“It is a deed for which a Hun would
blush, a Turk be ashamed, and a
Barbary pirate apologize… The
laws of nature and the law of
God have been alike trampled
upon. The torpedo which sank
the Lusitania also sank Germany
in the opinion of mankind
c. Sussex Pledge – Germans promise to sink no
more merchant ships w/o warning
- scenario behind the pledge: U-boat sinks
French passenger ship Sussex, injuring
several Americans. Wilson threatens war if
Germany does not abandon its policy
of unrestricted submarine warfare!
•1916 – Wilson reelected as “peace”
candidate.
I. US declares War – why? (2 major causes of US
entry into WWI)
1. Zimmerman Telegram Jan. 1917
a. Brit gov’t intercepts message from German
ambassador Zimmerman to the Mexican gov’t
b. Telegram asks Mexico to attack the US if war
broke out between the US and Germany
c. in exchange, Mexico would regain its “lost
territory” in TX, AZ, NM after the war.
d. Americans outraged!
The Zimmermann Telegram
2. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare Feb
1917
a. Feb-March 1917 – Germany sinks 6
US merchant ships w/o warning
b. April 1917 – Wilson asks Congress for
Declaration of War
3. April 6, 1917 US declaration of War
against Germany
Senate vote: 82 to 6
II. The Home Front
A. Building up the Military
1. Selective Service (conscription)
a. Progressives against conscription
b. Selective Service - ~ 2.8 M drafted
1) men 21-30 register for draft
2) LOTTERY randomly determined
order men called
3) Local draft boards run systems –
civilian
2. Volunteers for War
a. 2 M volunteered - why? Patriotism +
“push the Hun back from trench to trench”
What do you think
each of these
represents?
a. The Gorilla
(King Kong)
b. The woman
c. The club
d. The buildings in
the far
background
3. Black Americans at War
a. 400,000 drafted – 42,000 in combat
b. discrimination and prejudice and segregation
c. fought with distinction
World War I
Congressional
Medal of Honor
Recipient:
Corporal Freddie
Stowers, U.S.
Army
Some of the Colored men of the 369th (15th NY) who won the Croix de
Guerre for gallantry in action
4. Women in the Military
a. WWI: 1st time women served in armed forced
(non-combat)
b. Navy enlisted women for clerical needs.
c. Army didn’t enlist. Only women overseas =
nurses
B. Organizing Industry
1. Scientific Mgmt Approach – Congress
created special boards to EFFICIENTLY
manage biz and govt
a. War Industries Board : Goal?
organize industry to increase efficiency,
maximize production
- Led by Bernard Baruch
Did you know?........
When America entered World
War I in 1917, chairman of the
War Industries board Bernard
Baruch asked women to take off
their corsets to conserve steel.
Some 28,000 tons was diverted,
enough to build an entire
battleship.
b. Food – Food Administration: Goal? To
increase food production while reducing
civilian consumption
- run by Herbert Hoover. “Food will win war
– don’t waste it”
1) “hooverize” – “serve just enough”
“wheatless Mondays” etc
2) Victory Gardens – raise own vegetables
to leave more for the troops
c. Fuel Administration: Goal? To increase
production of coal & oil, maintain conservation
of fuel
- led by Harry Garfield
- Daylight Savings Time + shortened
workweek for factories not making war
materials
d. Paying for the War
1) increased income taxes
2) taxes on corporate profits
3) extra tax on profits of arms factories
4) ****** Most successful **** - LIBERTY
BOND sales - raised $20B
What do you
think the
bloody hand
and knife
represent (in
other words,
what was the
menace of
the seas)?
C. Mobilizing the Workforce
1. National War Labor Board – maintained
cooperation between industry mgmt and labor
unions; acted as mediators to prevent and
quickly settle disputes
- thus, labor leaders agreed not to disrupt
war production
2. Women support Industry
- More opportunities – not permanent
Kids do their part
3. Great Migration Begins
a. immigration from Europe cut off & white
workers drafted
b. blacks moved from the RURAL SOUTH to
settle in NORTHERN CITIES why?
- higher pay, lots of work
c. changed racial makeup of Chicago, NY,
Cleveland, Detroit & other northern cities
The Great Migration
4. Mexican Americans Head North
a. Mexican Nationals migrated to TX, AZ, CA,
NM to provide farm labor for farm and
ranches of the SW.
b. MX-Ams move to cities for wartime factory
jobs
D. Ensuring Public Support
1. Selling the War
a. Committee on Public Info – led by journalist
George Creel. – “sell” the war to the public:”
- sway public opinion in favor of war
b. four-minute speeches” – urged audiences to
support war – buy bonds, report draft dodgers,
etc
Johnnie, get your gun,
Get your gun, get your gun,
Take it on the run,
On the run, on the run.
Hear them calling, you and me,
Every son of liberty.
Hurry right away,
No delay, go today,
Make your daddy glad
To have had such a lad.
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
To be proud her boy's in line.
(chorus sung twice)
Johnnie, get your gun,
Get your gun, get your gun,
Johnnie show the Hun
Who's a son of a gun.
Hoist the flag and let her fly,
Yankee Doodle do or die.
Pack your little kit,
Show your grit, do your bit.
Yankee to the ranks,
From the towns and the tanks.
Make your mother proud of you,
And the old Red, White and Blue.
(chorus sung twice)
•Chorus
Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word
over there That the Yanks are coming,
The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum-tumming
Ev'rywhere.
So prepare, say a pray'r,
Send the word, send the word to
beware.
We'll be over, we're coming over,
And we won't come back till it's
over
Over there.
2. Civil Liberties Curtailed
a. Fight antiwar activities or enemies at home
b. Espionage Act of 1917 – penalties & prison
terms for giving aid to enemy. Also for
disloyalty, giving false reports, interfering
with war effort
c. Sedition Act of 1918 – illegal to make public
expression of opposition to war – prosecute
anyone who criticized President or gov’t
3. Climate of Suspicion
a. fear of spies and emphasis on patriotism led
to: mistreatment and persecution of German
Americans
b. German language dropped from school
curricula, stopped playing German composers
c. mobs attacked labor activists, socialists, &
pacifists
d. newspapers urged Americans to monitor
activities of fellow citizens
e. organizations to spy on neighbors and
coworkers
4. Supreme Court Limits Free Speech
a. Schenck v. US (1919) – individuals’ freedom of
speech limited when words constitute a
“CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER”
- especially to the war effort
- upheld convictions under the Espionage
Act
III. A Bloody Conflict
A. Combat in WWI
1. Trench Warfare
a. Network of trenches stretching from
English Channel to Swiss border
b. Why? Old Strategies, New Technology:
Rapid Firing Machine Gun.
c. “no man’s land = land between opposing
forces trenches
d. The Process?
1) artillery barrages
2) bayonet charge
3) grenades in to enemy trenches
e. The Results?
1) artillery rarely destroyed enemy defense
2) charging troops stopped by machine
gun/rifle fire
3) high casualties on both sides
4) stalemate
2. More new technology
a. German: poison gas; gas masks
b. British: Tanks – slow, unreliable
c. Airplanes: 1st used to observe enemy
activities. Then, small bombs dropped, then
machine guns, = dogfights
Weapons of Mass
Destruction
WWI Military Aircraft
WWI Flying Ace
German WWI flying ace
Manfred von Richthofen (1882 - 1918)
The “Red Baron” downed 80 Australian,
British, French and Canadian planes
before being shot down himself
B. The Americans and Victory
Americans = “doughboys”
1.Winning War at Sea
a. No American troop ships sunk on their way
to Europe. Why?
b. Convoys: US merchant/troop ships travel
in groups, escorted by warships
2. Russia leaves the War
a. Russia war weary, short on food & fuel
b. Czar Nicholas II abdicates March 1917
c. Bolsheviks (group of Communists) led by
Vladimir Lenin - took over Russian gov’t in
Nov. 1917
“Peace, Land, Bread”
d. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 3, 1918 –
Russia pulls out of war – gives to
Germany: Ukraine, Polish Baltic Territory.
Germany removes army from other
Russian land – can now concentrate on the
West.
3. German Offensive Falters
a. Germans push within 40 mi. of Paris
March 1918
b. Americans launch major attack in late May
1918
c. American/French troops block Germans
advance to Paris
4. Battle of Argonne Forest
a. Americans led by Gen. Pershing attack
German forces Sept 1918
b. Heavy casualties on American sides, but
Americans open hole in German lines.
General Pershing
U.S. Action in WWI
5. The War Ends
a. Revolution in Austria-Hungary
b. Ottoman Turks surrendered
c. Germans rebel forcing emperor Kaiser
Wilhelm to step down
d. Cease-fire: 11th hour of 11th day of 11th
month, armistice ends war
Armistice Day - France
Childe Hassam,
Allies Day,
May 1917
(1917)
Effects of WWI
• The abdication of the Czar and a
Communist revolution in Russia
• The fall of the Kaiser's regime in
Germany
• The collapse of Austria-Hungary
• The end of the Ottoman (Turkish)
Empire.
C. Flawed Peace
1. The Big Four – the victors
a. **Germans not invited to negotiations
b. Who were the Big Four?
1) US: Pres. Wilson
2) Great Britain: PM David Lloyd George
3) France: Premier Georges Clemenceau
4) Italy: PM Vittorio Orlando
George, Orlando, Clemenceau, Wilson
2. Wilson’s Fourteen Points
a. 1st 5 pts: eliminate causes of war thru free
trade, disarmament, freedom of the seas,
impartial adjustment to colonial claims, open
diplomacy
- not secret agreements
b. Next 8 pts: Right of Self-Determination
- Also, Central Powers must evacuate
France, Belgium, Russia
c. Fourtheenth Point: *** The most important to
Wilson**- the creation of the League of Nations
- to preserve peace & prevent future wars
by pledging to respect and protect e/o
territory and political independence
14 Points
Open Diplomacy - There should be no secret treaties between powers
Freedom of Navigation - Seas should be free in both peace and war
Free Trade - The barriers to trade between countries such as custom duties should be
removed
Multilateral Disarmament - All countries should reduce their armed forces to the lowest
possible levels
Colonies - People in European colonies should have a say in their future
Russia - Russia should be allowed to operate whatever government it wanted and that
government should be accepted, supported and welcomed.
Belgium - Belgium should be evacuated and restored to the situation before the war.
France - should have Alsace-Lorraine and any lands taken away during the war restored.
Italy - The Italian border should be readjusted according to nationality
National Self -Determination - The national groups in Europe should, wherever possible, be
given their independence.
Romania, Montenegro and Serbia - Should be evacuated and Serbia should have an outlet
to the sea
Turkey - The people of Turkey should have a say in their future
Poland - Poland should become an independent state with an outlet to the sea.
League of Nations - An assembly of all nations should be formed to protect world peace in
the future
3. Treaty of Versailles - signed by Germany
6/28/1919
a. Germany stripped of armed forces
b. Germany had to pay reparations ($33B)
c. Germany had to acknowledge guilt for WWI
d. Germany gives up colonies
4. Results of the Treaty of Versailles
a. Dissolution of 4 Empires: Russian, Ottoman,
German, Austria-Hungary
b. New countries created: Yugoslavia, Poland,
Czechoslovakia
5. US Senate rejects Treaty of Versailles
a. Senators (irreconcilables) felt League of
Nations was an “entangling alliance”
- feared the League might supercede the
power of Congress to declare war & might
force US to fight in foreign conflicts
b. Senators (reservationists) supported League,
but wanted amendment that would preserve
US freedom to act independently
- Wilson wanted to ratify treaty w/o changes
c. Senate never ratified treaty – after Wilson out
of office, made separate treaties w/ each
Central Power nation
d. League of Nations formed – but w/o US
Message?
Message?
IV. The Wars Impact
A. An Economy in Turmoil
1. War Over
a. govt removes controls from US
economy
b. people now race to buy goods that had
been rationed
c. biz raised prices that they had been
forced to keep low during war
2. The Result? Inflation
3. Inflation leads to strikes
a. workers want higher wages to keep up w/
inflation
b. biz wants to hold down wages as inflation
driving their operating costs up
c. By end of 1919, more than 3,600 strikes
d. Boston Police Strike - MA Gov, Calvin
Coolidge - proclaims no right to strike at
expense of public safety. He gains
widespread public support
e. Steel Strike - set back for union cause steel
industry
B. Racial Unrest
1. US soldiers return from Europe
a. look for work, but now competing w/ black
Americans who moved to northern cities
during war
b. leads to race riots – Chicago 1919
A white gang looking for blacks during the Chicago race riots of 1919.
Many houses in the predominantly white stockyards district were set ablaze
during the 1919 race riots. The five days of violence were sparked when a
black teenager crossed an invisible boundary between the waters of the
29th Street beach, known to be reserved for whites, and the 25th Street
beach, known to be reserved for blacks. (Tribune archive photo)
C. The Red Scare
1. 1919 strikes + Bolshevik Rev. = growth of antiCommunism
- fear that Communists were conspiring to start a
revolution in US too.
2. Immigrants blamed for importing radical
socialist, communist ideas to US
3. USSR formed Communist Int'l to coordinate
activities of Communist parties in other
countries
4. Red Scare begins
a. strikes lead to fear that Communists trying to
seize power
b. April 1919: USPS intercepts bomb-laden
parcels.
c. June 1919: 8 bombs in 8 cities. Nationwide
conspiracy?
- must be work of communists trying to
destroy US way of life
5. The Palmer Raids
a. General Intelligence Division (later FBI) led
by J. Edger Hoover. - special div. w/in
Justice Dept to deal w/ issue
b. Atty Gen. A. Mitchell Palmer organized raids
hdqtrs of radical orgs.
- raids focus on foreign residents &
immigrants
- detain thousands, deport appx 500
- civil liberties denied ( no search warrant,
jailed indefinitely)
c. Raids fail to turn up any real evidence of
conspiracy
d. Red Scare leads to limits on immigration
Palmer Raids
By early 1920, more than five thousand people were
arrested in what became known as the "Palmer
Raids." Goldman's Mother Earth office was among
the first to be ransacked in 1917
Immigration Restrictions
D. End of Progressivism
1. Call for return of simple days before
Progressive Reform & WWI - "normalcy"
2. Warren G. Harding (R) elected in 1920
- US tired of crusades to reform society &
the world