World War I
What caused it?
How was it fought?
What were the results?
What was the impact on the home
front?
I. European Origins
• Hopes for a world order of
peace and progress by
1914
• Competitive Nationalism
• Entangling Alliances
• A Growing Arms Race
• General Mobilization
Theory
--The German “Schlieffen
Plan”
I. European Origins (cont.)
• A series of
International Crises
(1905-1914)
• Pan-Slavic
nationalism and the
Assassination in
Sarajevo
• Europe tumbles into
war
II. American Response to the
Outbreak of WWI
• Traditional policy of
isolationism
• Most Americans did
not believe this was
our fight
• Split loyalties among
the American people
• Factors pushing US
toward involvement
III. Possible Explanations for US
Involvement in WWI
• “Tricky” British propaganda sucked us into the
war
• Desire to protect American investments in Britain
and France
• US economy tied in a significant way to the
economies of Britain and France
• The significance of International Law and
American neutrality rights
• American desire to shape the future peace of
Europe
IV. The Issue of International Law and
American Neutrality Rights
• What is international law?
• Wilson’s advocacy of
international law
• Both British and Germans
violated US neutrality
rights
• Difference between
British and German
violations
• Inherent violations of
International law with
German submarines
V. Steps Toward US Entrance
into World War I
• Falaba torpedoed
(March, 1915)
• Conflict between
Wilson and William
Jennings Bryan
• Lusitania sunk (May,
1915)
• Wilson’s response
V. Steps Toward US Entrance
into WWI (cont.)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
British ship Arabic sunk (August, 1915)
German “Arabic Pledge”
No response to US offer to negotiate a peace
French ship Sussex torpedoed (March, 1916)
Wilson’s “Sussex Pledge”
Growing US preparedness movement
Wilson wins the presidential election of 1916
-- “He kept us out of the war”
VI. A Desire to Shape the Peace
• Wilson calls for “peace without victory”
• The horror of WWI made a negotiated
peace an impossibility
• In order to “make the world safe for
democracy”, Wilson wanted to be included
in the peace talks after the war
VII. American Entry into the
War
• Germans pursue
unlimited submarine
warfare (February,
1917)
• Zimmerman telegram
(February 25, 1917)
• Wilson asks Congress
for a declaration of
war (April 2, 1917)
VIII. A Fundamentally Different
War
• Early fighting
• The development of
trench warfare
• Deadly frontal assaults
-- “Going over the top”
-- “The Race with death”
-- “No Man’s Land”
--cavalry officers killed
first
--the role of the machine
gun
VIII. A Fundamentally Different
War (cont.)
• Daily Life of the WWI
soldier
• “Industrial Death”
• Use of poison gas
--Chlorine, phosgene
and mustard gases
• Battles of attrition
• The changing
atmosphere of war
IX. The Role of American
Troops in WWI
• By 1917, the Allied cause
was desperate
• US contribution to Allied
naval strategy
• Few expected US soldiers
to make much difference
in the war
• American troops
prevented an Allied defeat
• AEF kept separate from
European troops
• Fight in Russia after the
war
X. The Treaty of Versailles
• Wilson’s Fourteen Points
• Wilson decided to go to
Paris himself
• Wilson’s mixed reception
in Europe
• Wilson alienated
Republicans back home
• Specific terms of the
Versailles Treaty
--League of Nations
--War Guilt Clause
X. Treaty of Versailles (cont.)
• Republican opposition to
the Treaty
-- “irreconciliables”
-- “reservationists”
• Other opposition to the
Treaty
• Wilson’s speaking tour to
defend the Treaty
• Failure to ratify the Treaty
• Failure to join the League
of Nations
XI. The Impact of the War at
Home
A. Economic Mobilization
• Food as a weapon of war
• 60% of costs funded
through liberty bonds
• Stock prices and GNP rose
dramatically
• Partnership between
business and government
• US Railroad
Administration
• National War Labor Board
• Food and Fuel
administrations
• War Industries Board
B. Emotional Mobilization
• Perceived “need” for
emotional mobilization
• Creation of the Committee
on Public Information
(CPI)
--George Creel
• Dual goals: inspire
patriotism and hate for the
enemy
• Evolution of a culture of
hatred
B. Emotional Mobilization
• The Espionage Act (1917)
• The Sedition Act (1917)
--U.S. v. “The Spirit of
1776”
--Schenck v. U.S.
• Why these acts if there
was little opposition to the
war?
• Hard to turn off the hate
when the war ended
C. Impact of the War on
American Culture
• Fashions and novelties
coming out the War
--Chanel #5
--wrist watches
--cigarettes
• New Slang Phrases
-- “Germs”
-- “Dud”
-- “Rats”
-- “Gas Attack”
XII. The Immediate Aftermath
of the War
• International Flu
Epidemic (1918-1919)
• Unusually high death
toll among young
adults
• Economic transition
from war to peace
• General labor unrest
• Racial Friction