America on The
World Stage
Unit 4
Expansion and Imperialism
 Between
1876 and 1915 Spain, Germany,
England and the US began to seize control of
areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America
 This imperialism (seizing other nations) was
driven by a need for raw materials to support
new industry and a desire for national
superiority and recognition.
 Supporters of expansion claimed that the US
had a duty to spread its political systems and
Christian religion throughout the world.
Alfred Thayer Mahan and Henry Cabot Lodge
► Alfred
Thayer Mahan was an admiral and naval
historian whose theories on the relationship of sea
power and world commerce were published in The
Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890).
► Henry Cabot Lodge supported American expansion
as a way to increase national pride, spread
civilization, and thereby gain world power.
► Drawing upon the theories of Mahan, Cabot Lodge
favored an American-controlled canal through
Central America and a strong navy to protect
American ships.
Spanish-American War -1898

For hundreds of years Spain had controlled the island of
Cuba and many Americans compared Cuba’s struggle to
the American colonists against the British.
 After an American ship the USS Maine was destroyed in
Cuba—possibly by the Spanish—the United States
declared war on Spain. (258 sailors were killed)
 After difficult fighting in Cuba, American Rough Riders
(led by Teddy Roosevelt) and naval ships defeated the
Spanish forces, gaining control of Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Guam and the Philippines
 The Spanish American War marked the end of Spain’s
colonial empire and the emergence of the US as a world
power
Yellow Journalism
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The events in Cuba raised
humanitarian concerns in the
United States.
They were reported by Joseph
Pulitzer and William Randolph
Hearst.
Newspapers sensationalized the
new, depicting Spaniards as
murderous brutes in order to
sell more newspapers.
This technique became known
as “yellow journalism”
This gave American inaccurate
pictures of the events in Cuba
Hawaii
American settlers built sugar and pineapple
plantations on Hawaii
 Missionaries were sent to “convert” natives
 In the 1890s, Queen Liliuokalani tried but failed to
overtake the Islands
 Sandford B. Dole led the provisional government
and tried to work out plans to annex the islands
 Dole served as president and governor of Hawaii
(1900-1903) and eventually developed the
pineapple company
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The Panama Canal
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Growing US interest in the Caribbean fueled a
need to link the Caribbean sea and the Pacific
Ocean by digging a canal through Panama.
 In 1901 The US aided Panama in a revolution
against Columbia and in 1904 the US began to
build the canal.
 Harsh working conditions and an outbreak of
yellow fever slowed work.
 On August 15, 1914 the SS Ancon completed the
first passage through the Panama Canal
 The two main purposes of the canal were a
shorter route for our cargo ships and quicker
access for our naval ships.
Notes #2
America and China
• China had participated in active trade with
the U.S. for years, but Secretary of State
John Hay wanted more business and
investors there.
• In 1899, Hay announced the “Open Door”
Policy, giving equal trading rights to all
foreign nations in China.
• In 1900, the Boxer Rebellion threatened
foreign lives, U.S. participated in crushing the
rebellion and began a military partnership
with China
America and Japan
• U.S. opened a secluded Japan to Western
trade in 1853 with Commodore Matthew
Perry
• Japanese imperialism defeated China in
1894 and Russia in 1905 (Russo-Japanese
War)
• President Roosevelt negotiated peace
between Japan and Russia with the Treaty of
Portsmouth (1905) – he won the Nobel
Peace Prize
America in the Caribbean
• The Monroe Doctrine (1823) prevented Europeans
from establishing new colonies in the Western
Hemisphere
• Roosevelt acted as a police officer and it became
known as the Roosevelt Corollary or “Big Stick Policy”
• Taft encouraged investment abroad with “dollar
diplomacy”
• Wilson developed a policy of “watchful waiting”
especially in Mexico with Pancho Villa. John J.
Pershing was sent to apprehend him, but the U.S.
would pull out at the start of WWI
Use Notes #1 over Imperialism and the information you know about America
and East Asia to complete the “ledger” below listing the arguments for and
against annexing overseas colonies.
Arguments for Imperialism
Arguments against
Imperialism
Pgs. 137-144 in the B.B.
Europe at the start of WWI
Causes of World War I
• Nationalism led to rivalries between France,
Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia
• Economic Rivalries and Imperialism; Britain felt
threatened by German factories and growing
navy
• The Alliance System; two alliances in Europe;
Germany and Austria against Russia, Frank,
and Great Britain
• Powerful Militarism and Military Planning
dominated European life
Central Powers vs. Allied Powers
► As
tensions rose and war seemed likely, European
countries began to take side through a series of treaties
and alliances.
► Germany and Austria Hungary, and Ottoman Empire
(Turkey) formed the Central Powers and had over 7
million soldiers in their standing army in 1914.
► Great Britain, France and Russia were the Allies (Triple
Entente) and countered with some 10 million soldiers
by 1914.
► President Wilson urged Americans, especially European
immigrants to remain neutral “The European war, he
said is one “with which we have nothing to do, whose
cause cannot touch us.”
Causes of World War I

The event that sparked WWI came with the
assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of
Austria-Hungary and Germany backing AustriaHungary in a war against Serbia.
A New Kind of War
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New and improved weapons made it easier to
defend positions rather than to attack (machine
gun, poison gas, submarines, and airplanes)
Trenches extended hundreds of miles along
eastern France and Germany’s “Western Front”
Soldiers faced attacks with poison gas, tanks,
airplanes, and submarines (U-boats)
German U-boats were used to
attack large merchant vessels
Trench Warfare
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In trench warfare battle were fought over a series of
trenches that stretched hundreds of miles but were only
a few hundred yards apart.
Attacks took place across the area between the trenches,
referred to as “no man’s land”.
Dead soldiers often lay unburied for days and
unsanitary conditions bred disease and sickness.
Head lice, trench foot, and rats were common problems
In the trenches.
In trenches near Verdun more than 500,000 soldiers
were killed in an eleven month period
US Enters the War
Reasons for American involvement include:
(1) Closer ties with the allies – American ancestry
is from Britain
(2) German Actions and Allied Propaganda
(3) Zimmerman Telegram: a secret message from
German Foreign Minister promising to return
US territories to Mexico if they helped
Germany
(4) Freedom of the Seas was the main reason for
US involvement
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Freedom of the Seas
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The British Blockade prevented food and arms from
being shipped to Germany. Germany retaliated by
sinking merchant ships.
The Lusitania was a British passenger ship in 1915,
killing 1,000 passengers (128 Americans). It was
unknown to passengers that it included munitions
Sussex Pledge said that German submarines would
not sink anymore ocean liners without prior warning
Germany Announces Unrestricted Submarine
Warfare
Preparing for War
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In 1916 President Wilson began a US military
preparedness program.
The number of US Soldiers in the regular army
was increased from 90,000 to 175,000.
Congress passed the Selective Service Act and
2.8 million Americans were drafted in WWI.
Massive training camps were constructed and
recruits spent most of their days learning military
rules, drilling with their equipment, exercising
and preparing for inspections.
Preparing the Nation for War
►Once
the US entered the war, President Wilson
set up programs to finance the war and to
redirect industry toward wartime production
►The US government also launched a huge
propaganda campaign to increase support for the
war effort.
►The government sold Liberty Bonds and raised
taxes (16th Amend) to help fund the War.
Posters, parades and rallies encouraged citizens
to purchase the bonds.
Organizing the country’s resources
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President Wilson chose Herbert Hoover to direct
the country’s food supply by increasing production.
Citizens were encouraged to observe ‘meatless’ and
‘wheatless’ days to conserve food and ‘heatless’
days to conserve coal
To aide in the feeding of the soldiers and to help
starving citizens in Europe, Americans planted
‘victory gardens’ to grow their own food.
The War Industries Board had the responsibility of
allocating industrial material, prioritizing
production and setting prices.
American Labor
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As immigration slowed and hundreds of thousands of
men were drafted, American industry was desperately
short of labor.
Workers went on strike to demanded higher wages and
better conditions and President Wilson established the
National War Labor Board to arbitrate labor conflicts.
Support from women was also essential to increasing
the supply of American workers.
African Americans and Hispanics moved North to take
advantage of increased job opportunities, this was
known as the Great Migration
Influencing Public Opinion
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In 1917 President Wilson established the Committee of
Public Information to try to sway Americans who were
against the War.
The CPI created posters and pamphlets that often
depicted Germans as evil monsters.
German-Americans were often accused of being spies
and most reflections of German culture in the US
became unpopular.
In response to antiwar groups, the Sedition Act
outlawed the printing of anything disloyal to the
country or in opposition to the war.
American Expeditionary Force
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President Wilson ordered American
Expeditionary Forces (AEF) to be sent to
Europe – led by John J. Pershing
By 1918, the AEF has over a million men
President Wilson refused to allow AfricanAmericans to serve but two served directly
under French command
Troops Arrive in France

In June of 1917 the American Expeditionary Force
reached France and included regular army, National
Guardsmen and draftees
 US troops were under the command of the Army’s most
experienced officer John Pershing, who is credited with
preparing the inexperienced army for battle and leading
them as a field commander
 On July 4, 1917 US troops marched through Paris, as
huge crowds cheered for them.
 Throughout the remainder of 1917 American soldiers
built docks and railroads, strung up telephone lines and
constructed camps.
Battle or Argonne Forest
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1918, Argonne Forest is in Northeastern
France near the Belgian border
“A region forgotten when level ground was
being created”
Concrete walls, barbed wire, and deep pits
fortified Germany for four years
The AEF (under Pershing) fought for a month
and fought with 1.2 million Americans
3,400 soldiers were distinguished with the
Medal of Honor
Alvin York (1887-1964)
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In the Battle of Argonne Forest, he killed 25
Germans and captured 132 prisoners
Awarded the Medal of Honor
He was also awarded the gift of a farm by his
home state (New York) and a film of his life
was made in 1940
He was a Christian pacifist and used the
money earned from the movie to fund a Bible
school
Allied Difficulties in 1917
In the summer of 1917 the Allies launched a
major offensive without US soldiers and
were unable to break German lines.
 French and British soldiers began to mutiny
along the western trenches.
 After three long years of war, the Russian
monarchy was overthrown in the Russian
Revolution of 1917. The new leader V.I.
Lenin pulled Russian troops out of the war.
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Campaign to Victory
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In March of 1918 the German army launched a huge
offensive that pushed the Allies back 40 miles in 4
months, but the German Army was left tired and weak.
The allies then began an offensive, pushing the
Germans out of France and into Belgium. American
soldiers met German lines in the Battle of Argonne
Forest, where the US soldiers won a bloody victory.
By September, German generals told German Kaiser
that the war could not be won.
On November 11th, 1918 the German government
signed an armistice, agreeing to end the war.
President Wilson’s Fourteen Points
► President
Wilson met with peace scholars in late 1917
and began to work on a peace treaty.
► Wilson’s 14 Points (his peace plan) included the need
for people to govern themselves, freedom of the seas
and establishing a League of Nations.
► Although American citizens and Congress supported
Wilson’s plan, Europeans saw it as the US trying to
interfere with European affairs.
► Wilson joined European leaders for a peace conference
in Versailles where he pushed the creation of a League
of Nations.
Treaty of Versailles
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The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the war.
German leaders were forced to take full blame for the
war and incur cost totaling over $30,000,000,000
(billion).
The treaty also limited the size of the German military
and stripped Germany of it’s colonies.
The treaty was never approved by the US Congress,
slowing American participation in the League of
Nations.
Dissatisfaction over the Treaty of Versailles is seen as a
major cause of WWII.
League of Nations
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Despite President Wilson’s grand vision, the
United States Senate and American people
didn’t want to join the League of Nations
By 1919, most Americans wants to avoid
European entanglements and retreated to
isolationism (separating themselves from
other countries’ affairs)
America raised tariffs and restricted European
immigration
Costs of the War – In Human Life
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More than 8,500,000 people died in WWI, including
51,000 Americans. Over 20,000,000 were wounded.
In 1918, famine and a flu pandemic killed more than 20
million people worldwide.
Influenza (flu) remains a health threat even today and
has proven it can be a killer!
The governments of Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary,
and the Ottoman empire had collapsed and
revolutionaries tried to seize power in these countries.