Chapter 22
Global Involvements and World War I
1902-1920
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Introduction
• We will focus on U.S. foreign policy from 1902 to
1920
– Concentrating on U.S. involvement in WWI
• 1.) What objectives underlay U.S. foreign policy in
Asia and Latin America?
• 2.) Why did the United States enter WWI in 1917?
Introduction (cont.)
• 3.) How did U.S. participation in WWI affect
Americans at home?
• 4.) During the war, how did the role of govt.in the
U.S. economy and in people’s lives generally change?
• 5.) What part did President Wilson play in creating
the League of Nations, and why did the U.S. Senate
reject U.S. membership in the organization?
Defining America’s World Role, 19021914
• The “Open Door”: Competing for the China Market
– American businessmen who dreamed of penetrating the
Chinese market became alarmed at developments there
– European powers were forcing the weak Chinese govt. to
lease that country’s ports to them
• Then they closed those ports to trade and investment by business
of any country but their own
The “Open Door”: Competing for
the China Market (cont.)
• U.S. Sec. of State John
Hay attempted to aid
American business by
sending his 1899
Open Door notes to
the European powers
involved
The “Open Door”: Competing for the
China Market (cont.)
• Hay asked them to keep their leased Chinese ports
open to trade and investment from all countries on
equal terms
– He received noncommittal replies
• Soon afterwards, the United States joined the
European countries involved in China in putting
down a Chinese uprising against foreign imperialists
– the Boxer Rebellion
– 1899-1901
The “Open Door”: Competing for the
China Market (cont.)
• Some of the countries wanted to use the rebellion as
an excuse for carving China into colonies for
themselves
• Hay announced U.S. opposition to this plan in his
1900 Open Door notes
– He asked all countries to respect the territorial integrity of
China
– Repeated the demand for equal trading and investment
opportunities there
The “Open Door”: Competing for the
China Market (cont.)
• The Open Door notes became a cornerstone
of U.S. policy in Asia
• Helped shape the U.S.’s response to the
Japanese drive to conquer China in the 1930’s
The Panama Canal: Hardball U.S.
Diplomacy
• For commercial and strategic reasons, the U.S.
wanted to build a canal across the Isthmus of
Panama
The Panama Canal (cont.)
• In 1902, the U.S. negotiated a treaty leasing a
canal zone from Colombia
– Colombia owned the isthmus at the time
• The Colombian senate rejected the treaty
– Hoped for more $$$$
The Panama Canal (cont.)
• Pres. Roosevelt then conspired with the directors of
a bankrupt French company that had been trying
earlier to build a canal
– The company hoped to profit from the U.S.’s taking over its
land lease
• Philippe Bunau-Varilla, an official of the company,
fomented revolution in Panama
• Roosevelt sent a U.S. warship in 1903 to see to it that
the uprising succeeded
The Panama Canal (cont.)
• The U.S. then recognized Panama’s independence
and negotiated a treaty leasing the land
• The U.S. Army was in charge of engineering the canal
– It opened in 1914
– Historical pictures
• The imperialist methods Roosevelt used to seize the
area created lasting ill toward the U.S. in Latin
America
Canal Today
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in
Latin America and Asia
• Roosevelt and Taft believed that the U.S. had
to play an active role in world affairs
– Also they believed that they had to protect
American interests in Latin America and Asia
• Dollar Diplomacy
– Taft concentrated particularly on promoting U.S.
commercial interests abroad
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in
Latin America and Asia (cont.)
• Roosevelt Corollary
– An addition to the Monroe Doctrine
– Was given in response to a threat that European nations
might invade Dominican Republic to collect debts
– 1904
– The Corollary warned European nations not to intervene in
the Western Hemisphere
– The U.S. would act as policeman in Latin America
• Keeping order there and seeing that finances were handled
properly and debts repaid
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in
Latin America and Asia (cont.)
• Citing his corollary, Roosevelt had U.S. officials take
over the Dominican Republic’s customs service and
manage its foreign debt
• Taft, also using the corollary, sent marines into
Nicaragua to protect U.S. investors there
– He also keep in power a govt. friendly to U.S. business
interests
– The marines occupied Nicaragua from 1912-1933
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in
Latin America and Asia (cont.)
• As part of his Asian policy, Roosevelt mediated an
end to the Russo-Japanese War
• Roosevelt used his influence to obtain a peace
settlement that maintained the balance of power in
Asia
• Afterwards, he tried to improve U.S. relations with
Japan by negotiating a gentlemen’s agreement
– He hoped Japan would limit emigration of its people to the
U.S.
Roosevelt and Taft Assert U.S. Power in
Latin America and Asia (cont.)
• Roosevelt hoped this would cool American
prejudice
– Discrimination against Japanese immigrants in the
western states continued anyway
Wilson and Latin America
• Wilson criticized Republican expansionism
• But he proved just as interventionist in Latin America
as Roosevelt and Taft
• Wilson ordered marines to occupy the Dominican
Republic and Haiti
– To keep order and create a favorable climate for American
investors
– They stayed in D.R. until 1924
– And in Haiti until 1934
Wilson and Latin America (cont.)
• Wilson repeatedly intervened in Mexico
during its revolution
– He tried to bring to power leaders who were
liberal, democratic, and friendly to capitalistic
enterprise
Part II Conclusion
• U.S. foreign policy in Asia and Latin America from
1900 to 1914 showed that the U.S. was willing to
become involved in foreign affairs to:
– keep order
– Encourage the kinds of govts. the U.S. approved
– Protect U.S. economic interests
• These same tendencies would later pull the country
into WWI
War in Europe, 1914-1917
• The Coming of War
– Causes of WWI in Europe: MAIN
•
•
•
•
Militarism
System of rival alliances
Imperialist expansion
Aggressive nationalism
– June 1914
• Bosnian Serb nationalist assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz
Ferdinand
• Austria declared war on Serbia
• Russia bound by a secret agreement to protect Serbia mobilized
for war
The Coming of War (cont.)
• By the fall of 1914, the web of alliances had
pulled all of the major European powers,
except Italy, into “The Great War”
• Abandoning an earlier pact with Germany and
Austria, Italy entered the war on the side of
the Allies in 1915
The Perils of Neutrality
• Pres. Wilson proclaimed U.S. neutrality as soon as
the war began
• He asked the American people to be neutral “in
thought as well as in action”
– Most Americans agreed with Wilson that the U.S. should
not fight
– But few had neutral feelings
• Wilson and the majority of Americans had emotional bonds with
England
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• In 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on
Germany
• Reasons for this change:
• 1.) Wilson became convinced that for the U.S. to
shape the postwar settlement, it must participate in
the fighting
• 2.) Wilson’s handling of the issue of neutral rights on
the high seas pulled the country into a war with
Germany
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• The British violated our rights to trade by mining the
North Sea and stopping ships and goods bound for
Germany
• Wilson’s protests were not vigorous enough to
prevent the British from ending almost all GermanAmerican trade
• Germany retaliated with unrestricted submarine
warfare
• This led to injuries and the deaths of civilians,
including Americans, in the sinking of Allied ships
(Lusitania and Sussex)
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• This led to injuries and the deaths of civilians,
including Americans, in the sinking of Allied
ships (Lusitania and Sussex)
• History Channel video
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• In ever more threatening notes, Wilson
warned Germany to stop unrestricted
submarine warfare or the U.S. would break off
diplomatic relations
– Some believed Wilson’s policies would needlessly
pull the U.S.A. into the War
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• 3.) American citizens between 1914 and 1917
developed a large economic stake in an Allied
victory
– Made neutrality much more difficult
– U.S. trade with the Allies increased greatly
– American investors lent them $2.3 billion to
finance the items that the U.S. continued to
depend on for prosperity
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• Between 1914 and 1917, the war on the
Western Front in Europe degenerated into a
bloody stalemate
• British propaganda in the U.S. charged that
the Germans were committing atrocities
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• The war was a major issue in the 1916 election
• American public still had desires of peace
• Wilson ran on reelection reminding voters he hadn’t
gone to war
• Republican candidate, Charles Evans Hughes,
sometimes called for a tougher stand against
Germany
– Other times he criticized Wilson for having been too
threatening
The Perils of Neutrality (cont.)
• Wilson’s close victory seemed to indicate that
the majority of Americans still hoped to avoid
participation in the conflict
The United States Enters the War
• Jan. 1917, Germany fully unleashed its Uboats
– Germany decided that full use of its submarines
would contribute more to its victory than keeping
the U.S. out of the war
• Wilson responded by breaking off diplomatic
relations
The United States Enters the War
(cont.)
• During Feb. and March, Germany U-boats
attacked 5 American ships
• And the U.S. learned of the Zimmermann Note
• On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress to
declare war on Germany
– It did so after a short, bitter debate
The United States Enters the War
(cont.)
• 3 important factors produced the declaration
of war:
– German attacks on American shipping
– U.S. economic investment in the Allied cause
– American cultural links to the Allies
NEW WEAPONS USED
 Machine Guns – Guns could now fire 600
rounds per minute
 The Tank – New steel tanks ran on
caterpillar treads
Flame Throwers
 Airplanes – Early dogfights resembled
duals, however by 1918 the British had a fleet
of planes that could deliver bomb loads
 Poison Gas – mustard gas was used to
subdue the enemy
Why these
weapons and
why now?
Industrial
Revolution
Change in War Technology
• Transportation
Trucks
Airplanes-Red Baron and
Rickenbacker
U-Boats - (German
Submarines)
Zeppelins
• Weapons
Gatlin Gun
Chemical WeaponsMustard Gas
Trench Warfare
Tanks
Trench Warfare
• September 15, 1914 – First trenches on the
Western Front dug
• Trenches were the place where armies fought
from and lived for days at a time
• “No Man’s Land” – area in between trenches
of opposing sides
– No one ever went in this area
Trench Warfare
• Trenches were made of mud and wood and
often had an inch of water in them
– Many men contracted diseases from living in the
trenches
• “By war’s end, each side had dug at least
12,000 miles of trenches
Trench Warfare
U.S II 4b
U.S. II 5c; 1 a, f, h, i
Life in the Trenches
• Boredom
– Soldiers read to pass
the time
– Sarah Bernhardt came
out to the front to
read poetry to the
soldiers
• We all had on us the
stench of dead bodies.”
Death numbed the
soldier’s minds.
• Shell shock
• Psychological devastation
U.S II 4b
U.S. II 5c; 1 a, f, h, i
Mobilizing at Home, Fighting in
France, 1917-1918
• Raising, Training, and Testing an Army
– After declaring war on Germany, Congress passed the
Selective Service Act
• About 3 million men were drafted
– Both volunteers and draftees were sent to home-front
training camps
• War Dept. monitored their behavior
– Warning them of the dangers of sex and alcohol
Raising, Training, and Testing an
Army (cont.)
• Psychologists administered their newly developed IQ
tests
– Measured educational attainment and not intelligence
• 12,000 Native Americans served in the army
– Integrated with white troops
• 260,000 African Americans in the army
– Assigned to all black units
Raising, Training, and Testing an
Army (cont.)
• The navy used blacks only in menial positions
• The marines excluded blacks entirely
• Racist civilians provoked clashes with AfricanAmerican soldiers stationed in Houston
Organizing the Economy for War
• To mobilize the economy behind the war effort, the
federal govt. imposed an unprecedented amount of
regulation on American business
• It did this by creating thousands of special wartime
agencies
– War Industries Board, Food Administration, U.S. Railroad
Administration, etc.
Organizing the Economy for War
(cont.)
• War Industries Board
– Allocated scarce materials
– Established production priorities
– Introduced more efficient production practices
• Food Administration
– Encouraged farmers to increase output
– Exhorting civilians to conserve food and fiber
• U.S. Railroad Administration
– Consolidated all the privately owned rail lines into one
• Govt. ran them for the rest of the War
Organizing the Economy for War
(cont.)
• These govt. regulations were mostly
dismantled after the armistice
• The govt. regulations also did not prevent
soaring wartime profits or corporate mergers
With the American Expeditionary
Force in France
• The American
Expeditionary Force (AEF)
sent some 2 million
soldiers to France in 1917
and 1918
• Led by General John
Pershing
• They arrived at a critical
time for the Allies
With the American Expeditionary
Force in France (cont.)
• Russia dropped out of the War
• After the Bolsheviks came in power in 1917
– This freed the German armies on the Eastern Front to fight
in the west
• With these reinforcements, Germany launched an
offensive in the spring of 1918 that brought its
troops within 50 miles of Paris
With the American Expeditionary
Force in France (cont.)
• American soldiers were rushed to the front
– They helped to stop the German advance
• About 16,500 women also served with the
AEF
– Noncombat positions
• Nurses, telephone operators, clerical workers
Turning the Tide
• By July 1918, U.S. troops were participating in the
Allied counteroffensive that drove the Germans out
of much of France
• Among the troops were several African-American
regiments that served with distinction
– One received the French Croix de Guerre
• “to recognize acts of bravery in the face of the
enemy”
Croix de Guerre
Turning the Tide (cont.)
• In the often brutal fighting, soldiers lost their
illusions about war being a great adventure
• An influenza epidemic that swept Europe and
the U.S.A. in 1918 added to the suffering and
death
• PBS WWI maps
Promoting the War and
Suppressing Dissent
• Advertising the War
– Wilson believed that the federal govt. must promote
unanimous support for the war
– Sec. of the Treasury William G. McAdoo pioneered in using
advertising techniques and propaganda to sell war bonds
• Posters
• Parades
• Movie stars
– War bonds covered about 2/3’s of the war’s costs
• The rest came from increased federal income tax and other taxes
Advertising the War (cont.)
• Committee on Public Information
– George Creel
– Main job was to popularize the war
– Posters
– Advertisements
– News releases
– Films
– 75,000 speakers around the nation
Advertising the War (cont.)
Advertising the War (cont.)
Advertising the War (cont.)
• Many Progressive reformers, muckrakers,
teachers, and religious leaders supported the
war
– The U.S. was in a struggle to spread liberalism,
democracy, and other American values
Wartime Intolerance and Dissent
• Fear and intolerance mounted
– Anti-German hysteria
• German-Americans were victimized
– Hatred of anyone who questioned America’s
participation in the war
• Antiwar radicals were verbally and physically attacked
Opponents of the War
• Despite all the “patriotic” pressure, some Americans
continued to oppose the war
– Some German-Americans
– Religious pacifists
• A minority of women’s rights and progressive leaders
pointed out that the war was killing reform and
unleashing reaction and intolerance
– Jane Addams
– Randolph Bourne
Opponents of the War (cont.)
• Many socialists branded the war a crusade to
protect capitalists’ profits
– They also saw no reason for workers to die to
enrich their bosses
• There was also considerable resistance to the
draft in the rural South
Suppressing Dissent by Law
• Espionage and Sedition Acts
– Govt. attempt to silence these dissenters
– Made it a crime to criticize the war, govt., Constitution, or
armed forces
• About 1,500 people were convicted and jailed
– Eugene Debs was the most famous
• The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of
the laws with the “clear and present danger”
doctrine
Economic and Social Trends in
Wartime America
• Boom Times in Industry and Agriculture
– Stimulated by war, the American economy boomed
– The real income of farmers and unskilled workers rose
significantly
– Thousands of workers streamed into industrial centers to
take jobs in war plants
– The influx created terrible housing, school, and other
shortages in the cities
African-Americans Migrate
Northward
• Reduced immigration and soaring war production
created labor shortages in northern industries
• Southern African-Americans learned of these new
job opportunities
–
–
–
–
Labor recruiters
African-American-owned newspapers
Letters
Word of mouth
African-Americans Migrate
Northward (cont.)
• About 500,000 African-Americans migrated to the
North
– Hoped to escape southern racism and find good jobs
• In northern cities whites resented the AfricanAmerican newcomers
– Competed for jobs
– Competed for housing
• Race riots broke out
– East St. Louis, IL
• July 2, 1917
East St. Louis race riots
• Iba B. Wells account of
East St. Louis riots
Women in Wartime
• Many women’s rights activists hoped that the
war would lead to equality for women
• During the war, thousands of women served
in the military and in volunteer organizations
• About 1 million took jobs in industry
Women in Wartime (cont.)
• 19th Amendment
– Passed in 1920
– Women’s suffrage
• Those holding well-paying jobs in industry
generally were replaced by men returning
form wartime service
Public Health Crisis: The 1918
Influenza Pandemic
• Towards the end of the war, a worldwide outbreak of
influenza occurred
• Killed about 30 million people
• 6 times as many Americans died of the flu as were
slaughtered in battle in France
– 555,000
• Army camps and cities were hit the hardest
The War and Progressivism
• The war strengthened the prohibition movement
• Antiliquor forces argued that the “unpatriotic”
German-American brewers should be put out of
business
– The grain used to manufacture whiskey and gin would be
better used to feed the armed forces
The War and Progressivism (cont.)
• 18th Amendment
– 1919
– Banning the manufacture, transportation, or sale of
alcoholic beverages
• The war also boosted the Progressive Era
antiprostitution campaign
• Produced a brief flurry of protective labor laws
• But in most areas the intolerant, repressive war
atmosphere stifled progressivism
Joyous Armistice, Bitter Aftermath,
1918-1920
• Wilson’s Fourteen Points; the Armistice
– Wilson presented his fourteen-point peace plan in a
speech to Congress in Jan. 1918
– It included self-determination, impartial adjustment of
colonial claims, freedom of the seas, reduced armaments,
a world association of nations
– Wilson's Fourteen Points speech
Wilson’s Fourteen Points; the
Armistice (cont.)
• Whether Wilson could get those ideas incorporated
in the treaties signed at the end of the war remained
to be seen
• Oct. 1918, revolutionaries in Germany overthrew the
Kaiser and proclaimed a republic
• Nov. 11, 1918, the armistice was signed
• History Channel video
The Versailles Peace Conference,
1919
Palace of Versailles
The Versailles Peace Conference,
1919 (cont.)
• Wilson personally headed the American delegation
to Versailles
– He appointed no prominent Republicans to the delegation
• This was a political mistake since a Republican-controlled Senate
would have to ratify any treaty signed
• David Lloyd George
• Georges Clemenceau
• Vittorio Orlando
The Versailles Peace Conference,
1919 (cont.)
• The other members of the “Big 4” had no faith in the
Fourteen Points
• They all wanted to punish Germany
• The Treaty of Versailles that was produced contained
some of Wilson’s points
• Independence for Poland and the Baltic states
• Overall the Treaty was harsh and punitive
The Versailles Peace Conference,
1919 (cont.)
• The Treaty aroused resentment and desire for
revenge in Germany
• History Channel video
• Wilson and the Allied leaders also attempted
to overthrow the Bolsheviks in Russia
– They wanted to isolate and weaken the
Communist-controlled Russia
The Fight over the League of
Nations
• Dismayed at the treaty’s punitive features, Wilson
concentrated his hopes on the League of Nations
part of it
• In July 1919, Wilson submitted the Treaty of
Versailles to the Senate for ratification
• The Senate twice failed to ratify by Treaty and the
League of Nations by the necessary 2/3’s support
– Nov. 1919
– March. 1920
The Fight over the League of
Nations (cont.)
• Republican isolationists would not ratify the Treaty
– They believed the U.S. should stay out of European affairs
• Republican reservationists demanded changes in the
treaty
– Led by Henry Cabot Lodge
• Wilson refused to accept any changes to the Treaty
Racism and Red Scare, 1919-1920
• The war-generated intolerance and antiradical
hysteria reached a peak in 1919-1920
• Lynch mobs killed 76 blacks
– Race riots broke out in more than 25 cities
• The bloodies occurred in Chicago
• A rash of postwar strikes and a series of bombing
incidents convinced many Americans that the
country was on the verge of a communist uprising
Racism and Red Scare, 1919-1920
(cont.)
• To protect against this supposed danger, the Justice
Department raided the homes and meeting places of
suspected radicals and arrested more than 4,000
– Led by A. Mitchell Palmer
• Most times, there was no evidence that they had
committed any crime
• Aliens suspected of radicalism were deported
The Election of 1920
• Democrats nominated James Cox
• Republicans nominated Warren G. Harding
– Appealed to the public with his promise of a return to
“normalcy”
• Harding easily won
• Harding’s victory ended any chance for U.S.
membership and participation in the League
Conclusion
• WWI brought death to 10 million people worldwide
– 112,000 Americans
• The War transformed American society
• Helped to pass the 18th and 19th Amendments
• Gave the country its first taste of active govt.
regulation of the economy
Conclusion (cont.)
• Although Washington retreated from activism in the
1920’s and Progressive reform seemed dead, during
the Great Depression of the 1930’s some of these
WWI regulatory agencies and social programs would
serve as models for the New Deal
• In the short run, the intolerance and repression that
grew during the war arrested further Progressive
reform