Lecture # 5
The First World War: Overview and American Entry, Role, and Foreign and
Domestic Impact
BIGGEST PICTURE:
The First World War, also known as The Great War, was fought between July 1914 and
November 1918. Until the Second World War, it was the bloodiest and most significant war in
human history. This cataclysmic event destroyed at least 10 million lives, national resources, 4
dynastic empires, as well as created a dozen new nations with democratic constitutions and the
League of Nations to be a peace-keeping world organization.
THE BIG IDEA:
From 1914 to 1918, the Great Power of the world used, mobilized, and unleashed the
unprecedented military assaults upon each other. The Battle of Verdun lasted 9 months. Only
the Second World War surpassed the death and destruction---none of which would have
occurred without the WWI’s fighting and peace treaty. American involvement turned the tide of
the war in favor of the Allies. Although the US Senate rejected the Peace Treaty (with POTUS
Wilson’s Fourteen Points and the League of Nations), the American nation and people were
forever changed.
OVERVIEW:
This war could have been prevented. It featured previously unknown levels of cruelty, death,
destruction, and change. This war caused another, even greater war.
THEMES AND CONCEPTS:
1) Constitutional Principles: How did reactions to the Russian Revolution and WWI result
in the restriction of some people’s civil rights in the US?
2) Change: How did WWI change the role of the US in the world?
KEY TERMS:
Henry Cabot Lodge, Woodrow Wilson, Central Powers, Allies, U-boats, Zimmerman Telegram,
Russian Revolution, Selective Service Act, Fourteen Points, self-determination, Treaty of
Versailles, League of Nations, Reparation
KEY SCOTUS CASES:
Schenck v. US (1919) doctrine: “clear and present danger”/”fire in a crowded theater”; Debs v.
US (1919)
*FOREIGN POLICY TRENDS:
1776-1823: Protecting national independence;
1824-1897: Fulfilling Manifest Destiny;
1898-1918: Emerging, Reluctant global involvement;
1919-1940: Limited international involvement;
1941-to Now: Accepting world leadership.
I. EUROPEAN OUTBREATK OF WWI AND US INTERVENTION
A. Main Causes (M.A.N.I.A.)
1. Militarism (glorification of war, arms race, industrialization/strict
mobilization plans)
2. Alliance System (Triple Entente—GB, FR, RUS vs. Triple Alliance—A-H, GER,
(IT—withdrew to join Allies)
3. Nationalism (competitive, intense pride among nations)
4. Imperialism/Colonialism (competition for markets and materials and prestige)
5. Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the A-H throne)
(and pregnant wife) in July of 1914
B. Sub Factors:
1. Austria-Hungary’s humiliating ultimatum of military occupation or war:
Serbia’s refuses and calls on big brother, Russia, for support.
2. Strict Mobilization Plans Enacted and Declarations of War Issued:
SerbiaAustria-HungaryRussiaGermanyFranceGermany
attacks France through neutral Belgium (a British Ally) Britain and
ItalyBulgariaOttoman EmpireGreeceRomania
C. Causes of American Intervention:
1. Cultural Links with Allies (although millions tied to Germany and A-H)
2. More Economic Ties to Allies
3. Allied Propaganda (only information sent across Atlantic was censored by
Britain)
4. Feb. 1917 German (Unrestricted) Submarine Warfare (sinking of merchant
and passenger ships; Lusitania sunk in 1915, had ammunition and Americans)
4. March 1917 Zimmerman Telegram (German foreign secretary, Arthur
Zimmerman, to his minister in Mexico, which offered support if Mexico attacked
US)
5. In our “March,” the February Russian Revolution starts and at first democratic
leaders emerged, so joining the Allies was more ideologically sensible.
6. Wilson’s crusading pledge to make the world “safe for democracy” and “war to
end all wars.” Congress declares war on on CP in April 1917.
II. NATURE AND CONDUCT OF WWI: A PATH OF CHANGE
ALLIES
France (republic)
British Empire
Russian Empire
Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Romania
Kingdome of Greece
United States of America (republic)
CENTRAL POWERS
German Empire
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Ottoman Empire (Turkey and Middle East)
Kingdom of Bulgaria
A. Sequence and Impact of Strict Mobilization Plans:
-Widespread enthusiasm carries millions of men, from most European nation
(and colonies), toward the cause of the “German Kaiser and Fatherland,” “Czar
and Mother Russia,” British “King and Country.”
1. Fixed Alliances and Mobilization Plans, Ego, and Home For Christmas!
A. After the assassination of its heir Archduke Francis Ferdinand, A-H
demands acceptance of its ultimatum to Serbia that it be permitted to
occupy Serbia, investigate the murders, and try the criminals. Serbia
refuses this humiliation. Serbia mobilizes its small army, and calls on Czar
Nicholas II of Russia for assistance. It, too, mobilizes. In preparation to
enforce its will, A-H mobilizes. A-H Emperor Francis Josef asks Kaiser
Wilhelm II of Germany to do the same. Russia and Germany exchange
formal telegrams (the Czar, Kaiser, and King of GB were cousins) to
prevent war through preventing mobilization of reserve troops, but each
did so anyway. France mobilizes to honor its alliance with Russia. The
stage is set for the massive, sustained attacks in Europe. At the time,
however, many soldiers thought that they would be home, with a glorious
victory, before Christmas of 1914.
2. Germany’s Schlieffen Plan
A. Germany puts its “Schlieffen Plan” into effect in an attempt to
decisively and quickly win this war. The plan is designed to quickly win a
two-front war versus France and the Russia. It fails because Russia
mobilizes quicker than expected and compels the German leaders to send
troops to the Eastern Front (vast plains of Poland and Ukraine). Germany
sends most of its army divisions on a right flank attack of France. Because
Germany’s Schlieffen Plan directs the attack across neutral Belgium (who
resists valiantly) toward France, Britain honors its alliance and joins
Belgium, France, and Russia against Germany. France also attack on the
right flank. Russia mobilized faster than expected. Thus, Germany was
defending two attacks and making their own westward—all at the same
time! This was the very two front war it tried to avoid!
B. In a series of huge, costly battles that lasted days, weeks, and months in
Northeastern France and Southern Belgium, a stalemate ensues. Neither
side effectively penetrated the other’s line of battle or outflanks the other’s
line of battle. Each flanking maneuver was checked by the other army.
These series of attacks create the “Western Front” that stretches 500
miles from the English Channel to Switzerland. For over 4 years, millions
of men, in countless offensive attacks across “no man’s land” suffer,
battle, and die, while retreating to and living in a complex yet primitive
system of trenches and bunkers. Notably brutal battles of the Western
Front include the 1st and 2nd Somme (River in Fr), 1st and 2nd Marne (River
in Fr), Verdun (a fort in Fr), 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Ypres (pronounced “Epruh”)
or Passchendaele in Belgium.
3. Germany is the Major Force of the Central Powers
A. Without a doubt, Germany is the driving planning, industrial, and
fighting force of the Central Powers. It is the leader. It fights in the
Western Front and Eastern Front (notably, the Battle of Tannenberg) and
directs and assists A-H in the Eastern Front and Balkans. A-H is unstable
and weaker than Germany. Bulgaria joins with them and the Ottoman’s
to regain lost territory in the Balkans. They mainly fight the Russians in
the Caucus Mountains of southern Poland, Ukraine, and Romania in the
Carpathian Mountains. Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, too, are
rather weak and disorganized. The Italian Front is mainly an Alpine
mountain and trench conflict against Austria-Hungary. The most
devastating for the Italians is at Caporetto where they suffer nearly 1
million causalities.
B. Amphibious Frontal Assault at Gallipoli: Suicidal Fiasco
- The British and French send troops to the Middle East (then the Ottoman
Empire, Arabia, and Persia) to fight the Ottomans. Although the Ottomans
(ethnic Turks) and Arabs are Muslims, the British and French succeed in
inspiring Arab tribes (via nationalism) to resist the Ottomans rule and demand
independence. The British (Australian, Indian, New Zealanders, and Canadians)
and French mounted a costly and failing campaign to capture the Ottoman
controlled peninsula called Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire (near Greece). This
was like storming the beaches of Normandy but without proper training,
equipment, and leadership. Hundreds of thousands valiantly tried to take the
beach against entrenched lines of machine guns, artillery, mortars, & barbed
wire.
C. Colonial Troops
- Each side uses hundreds of thousands of colonial troops to refresh its dwindling
manpower reserves. They serve in Europe and the Middle East. Britain receives
troops from Australia, New Zeeland, Canada, and India. France got troops from
North Africa. The colonies supplied men, food, medicine, raw materials, etc.
D. Russia: Imperial Absolutism, Popular Unrest, February Revolution, War Weary,
October Revolution, Abandonment of War, Lenin’s Communist Russia
-Despite the “February” Russian Revolution in 1917 against the imperial
(inefficient, outdated, and corrupt) rule of Czar Nicholas II, the provisional
(temporary) government is democratically-minded and tried to honor its alliance
with the Allies and continue the war against Germany. This was a mistake.
America is pleased to see the possibility of democracy, or at least some
democratic reforms, in Czarist Russia. In the “October” Russian Revolution of
1917, the Bolsheviks (radical, revolutionary Communist Party led by Vladimir
Lenin) seize power and convince many Russians to support them. They promise
“peace, land, and bread” to the starving, frustrated masses. This change in
leadership causes a Russian peace treaty with Germany called Brest-Litovsk
after the town in which it is signed. Now the Allies are without Russia to keep the
Germans, A-H, and Ottomans busy on the Eastern Front. The Central Powers
send most of their troops to the Western Front for one more series of offensive
attacks. It almost succeeds, but eventually fails in November 1918.
E. Sinking Them In The Blue Water Rivalry: Protecting and Attacking Sea Lanes and
Colonies
-The British Royal Navy (BRN or Grand Fleet) blockades the German coast line to
prevent the importation of food and materials, as well as discourage the German
High Seas Fleet (GHSF) from escaping into the Atlantic Ocean. German
submarines are very effective in sinking Allied shipping and scaring the BRN.
The largest naval battle in history to that date and the only major
surface battle of the war (and last one in history without airplanes)
occurs off the coast of Denmark in 1916. It is called the Battle of
Jutland. It is a huge and dramatic engagement of the BRN and GHSF, but both
sides claim a victory, even with major losses of various ships on each side.
F. Technology
-As in any war, technology increases and diversifies the methods of creating
enemy casualties. New inventions and innovations occur throughout the war.
With industrialization, factories produce an abundance of existing weapons that
spelled disaster for the millions of infantrymen of both sides. The Allies and the
Central Powers used: trenches, barbed wire, grenades, mines, “Dreadnought”
type battleships (all big guns), airplanes (reconnaissance, photograph, some
bombing, and dog fighting), machine guns, chemical gasses, heavy artillery
capable of firing shells miles away, railroads to transport men and material,
telegraphic radios, tanks, submarines, and depth charges. Air planes soon
replace cavalry as the main source of intelligence gathering. They are are safer,
faster, and more reliable. They transition from a novelty to vital in modern
warfare.
G. Strategy and Tactics
-How do they fight? The basic strategies of WWI armies are either to bombard
the enemy’s lines (for hours or DAYS!) then attack en masse or use flanking
maneuvers. The first method involves heavy artillery and using overwhelming
numbers of troops to break the enemies lines and penetrate deep thereafter. The
other basic method is to (“outflank the enemy”) send your forces around the
end (flank) of the other army at night or as a surprise in an effort to get to kill him
and/or get to his rear and cut him off from reinforcements and communication.
H. Closing of the War: Blame Game and Lack of US Ratification
-The Central Powers (Germany was the last major force) agree with the Allies’
offer of a cease-fire agreement to begin formal peace talks. The Germans sign the
armistice on November 11th 1918 that leads to the Paris Peace Conference of
1919 that, over 6 months of negotiating, produces the Versailles Peace Treaty.
That treaty is mainly based on President Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” philosophy
to make and keep peace. Many of the British, French, and Italian political leaders
want to blame the war on Germany alone and punish it. Wilson does not want
this, but gives into their demands. What Wilson does want and get is his “League
of Nations.” This is an international organization that is created to discuss,
debate, and resolve conflicts to prevent future wars. Although POTUS Wilson is
honored in Europe, he is despised in parts of America (especially in the
Republican controlled Senate that refuses to ratify “his” treaty, despite his
attempts to persuade them and the American people of its value. He suffers a
stroke and weakly presides until 1920.)
III. NATURE AND COURSE OF AMERICAN INTERVENTION
A. Greatly Unprepared
-At the outbreak of WWI, the United States has an army of only 100,000 and
130,000 reserve troops. This is a very small army, but the navy is modern and
one of the largest in the world. In April of 1917, President Wilson gets a
declaration of war from Congress on Germany and the Central Powers. General
John J. Pershing is charged with planning and leading our American
Expeditionary Force (AEF) army in Europe. By the end of the war, 4.8 million
men serve, with 2.8 million as draftees. These troops are fresh and enthusiastic,
if yet unscarred by the cruelties of battle. The AEF and American supplies,
food, equipment, and money are enough to hold the Allies together
until the German gov’t and people starve and give up the fight.
B. Gearing Up
-To gear up for the war, the American government centralized control of several
businesses and industries. President Wilson and his Council of National Defense
oversaw the strategy of the war, as well as the production, distribution, and
pricing of food, public utilities, housing, and labor unions relations. Millions of
women and African-Americans worked in wartime factories. Along with war
bond drives, the 16th Amendment provides for an income tax that will fund much
of the war effort.
C. Rationale
-President Wilson views the war as a crusade to save the world from the
tyrannical monarchies of the Central Powers—the Kaiser, an Emperor, a King,
and a Sultan. He truly believes and constantly speaks of his trust and faith in the
Allies cause of creating a world “safe for democracy.” Patriotism in American is
boundless, while many things named by or for Germans (or German-Americans)
are changed. German books are banned or burned. Sub attacks were pivotal.
D. Domestic Fears
-This is a difficult time to be an immigrant. Congress passes the Espionage Act
of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 to punish those who spoke ill of the war
effort or the leadership. Nearly 1,500 pacifists, socialists, and union leaders were
jailed (see SCOTUS case of Debs v US in 1919). Many immigrants are suspected
of being spies and saboteurs. In the Schenck v. US SCOTUS case of 1919, a
decision is made justifying a limitation of free speech in wartime. Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote that the government has the right to restrict words
that would cause “a clear and present danger” to the public. (Doctrine
example: Can’t yell fire in a crowded theater. So, speech can be curbed in war.)
E. Red Scare
-Yet another issue for America to manage during and after WWI is the Red Scare
of 1918-1919. The February Russian Revolution creates a democracy, as America
hoped it would under the Provisional Government. Unfortunately, the
Bolsheviks’ October Revolution creates another tyrannical government in Russia.
It is the first communist government in the world. We did not know how bad it
would be; nonetheless, many average Americans fear that radical communists
(against capitalism, private ownership of property, democracy, and religion) had
infiltrated American businesses, colleges, military, and the government. Very
few Americans and/or immigrants are indeed communists, but many were
suspected, accused, harassed, and tried. Surprise! The ACLU is founded in
1920.
IV. CONSEQUENCES OF WWI
A. Unprecedented Casualties and Restructuring of Europe (World Powers).
-The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 produces many treaties, but the most
important one is the Versailles Peace Treaty with Germany of 1919. The Big Four
(Wilson, David Lloyd George—P.M. of G.B, Georges Clemenceau—P.M. of FR,
and Vittorio Orlando—P.M. of IT) led the way, but many lesser powers are invited
to participate and make treaties. This is certainly a different approach in
European diplomacy. The “little people” matter. In short, Wilson’s “Fourteen
Points” philosophy of how to reorganize European nations and negotiate
differences was the basis of the Conference. The Fourteen Points, in short,
required:
1. Open, not secret diplomacy (alliances/treaties)
2. Freedom of the sea (aka free trade routes)
3. Arms reduction
4. Self-determination of people—letting various national groups make
their own political decisions (unlike African Americans in America?)
5. League of Nations—to guarantee political independence/ terr. integrity.
B. The main effects of this treaty include Germany’s:
1. Acceptance of causing the war
(war guilt clause—>infuriates Germans)
-German Gov’t gave up: Mil not defeated *stab in back
theory” that blamed politicians/communists/Jews/etc
2. Reparation payments to the Allies
3. Reduction in military size, weapons, & areas (demilitarized Rhineland)
4. Concession of land for new or reborn European nations like Poland
5. Loss of colonies
C. True and Fair? Probably Not, But….
-Wilson accepted many of these demoralizing demands of Germany because he
believes in the prospective value of the peace keeping organization called the
League of Nations. He pushes for “self-determination” of ethnic and religious
minorities to form their own new nations out of the land once held as imperial in
Germany, A-H, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. He believes, idealistically, that
this will prevent future conflict. (Indeed, it does the opposite.) His Fourteen
Points are adopted as the basis of the Versailles Peace Treaty. The creation of the
League of Nations is his finest point. Sadly, the US Senate rejects the treaty and
participation in the League of Nations—to spite Wilson for not including them in
the diplomatic team. Thanks, politics!
D. Break Up of 4 Dynastic Empires
-The First World War caused the disintegration of four empires: AustriaHungary, Germany, Ottoman, and the Russian. Germany lost its colonial (land in
Africa and islands in the Pacific) empire. Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania gained and Poland regained independence, while the Kingdome of
Yugoslavia came into existence as a successor to the Kingdom of Serbia. The cost
of waging the war set the stage for the breakup of the British and French
Empires, as well as left France and Belgium devastated for more than a
generation. The US emerged as a major economic/banking/lending, industrial,
and political power. The US soon retreated to an isolationist foreign policy of
nonintervention.
-This nonintervention foreign policy is partly responsible for
the rise of the fascist, militarists groups, movements, and
governments in Germany and Italy prior to WWII.
E. Peace Movement: “Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom”
-Although the US failed to join the League of Nations, there was still great
concern in the US about keeping the peace. During the Paris Peace Conference,
for example, many American women met with others from around the world to
form the W.I.L.P.F. Jeannette Rankin, a prominent American pacifist, and
reformer Jane Addams were among this group, and Addams was voted the first
president of the league. It opposed peace terms that would created additional
anger and hostility among nations, so they rebuffed the Treaty of Versailles
because it would just lead to another war (French Field Marsh Ferdinand Foch
also called it “An armistice for twenty years.”). They all sought disarmament,
arms control, and neutrality (no alliances).
F. Show Me The $: Time to Pay Up! Reparations, War Debt, and a Cycle of Antagonism
-In 1914, the US had been a debtor nation. After WWI, the US became the world’s
leading creditor nation. The nation was also the world’s leading industrial
producer, exporter, and financier. These changes were due in large part to money
from the payment of war debts owed to America from the former Allies.
-During WWI, the Allies borrowed a great deal of money from the US in order to
buy war supplies from American manufactures. After the war, these debts
became a source of conflict. The Allies argued that their debts should be canceled
because, while the US had contributed money/material, the Allies had paid a
heavy prince in LIVES. Nevertheless, the US demanded repayment.
-A factor that made repayment difficult was US protectionist’s policy. High
American tariffs limited European trade with the US and thus reduced earnings
that might have been used to pay off war debts. These tariffs also led to
retaliation by 26 nations, which raised their own tariffs rates. SLOWS trade.
-One step aimed at making repayment easier was the Dawes Plan, adopted in
1924. Under this plan, the US lent funds to German so that it could make war
reparations—money it owed to the European Allies as payment of economic
losses during the war. The Allies would, in turn, use the funds to make payments
on the war debts they owed to the US.
G. Baby Steps Toward Peace and Arms Control (Can babies enforce the law?)
-In 1921, POTUS Warren G. Harding hosted the Washington Naval Conference.
The US, Britain, France, Italy, and Japan agree to set limits on the number of
warships each nation could build. They also pledged to keep the peace in Asia and
to protect the independence of China. The conference, however, failed to
establish any means of enforcement.
-In 1928, 15 nations met in Paris to sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which
OUTLAWED WAR except in self-defense. Enforcement provisions were missing
from the pact, which 60 nations eventually signed.
-Although he US never joined the League of Nations or the World Court
(international disputes were settled there), it did send observers to League
meetings. American judges also served on the World Court, which was based in
Geneva, Switzerland and The Hague in the Netherlands.
H. Highest Body Count Ever: Still Not Enough To Ward Off Future Wars!
-The Allies causalities include 5.5 million dead soldiers, 13 million wounded, and
4 million missing soldiers. The Central Powers causalities include 4.5 million
dead, 8.5 million wounded, and 3.5 million missing soldiers. The war terrorized,
starved, disillusioned, and made homeless tens of millions of civilians, including:
women, children, elderly, and the disabled and sick. The gloom, despair, and
hopelessness of the present and future created tensions, suspicions, and fears
that fermented in the European society for two decades. The Nihilists, for
example, are a product of this era. They are convinced of the purposelessness of
life/society and find life to be absurd. For several nations like France and
Germany, nearly a whole generation of adult males as wiped out before enjoying
and contributing to society. The Second World War was already on the heels of
the first.