World War I and Its
Aftermath
1914-1920
Nationalism and Imperialism
 Until
1914 no major wars in Europe for 100
years
 Militarism, Nationalism, Imperialism, Alliances
of European countries caused outbreak of
war
 Nationalism
Europeans wanted nations to reflect their own
ethnic group
 Destabilized old empires (Austria- Hungary,
Ottoman)
 Social Darwinism- some nations felt superior
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Imperialism

competition for raw materials, industrial output
sources of national pride
Militarism
 European
countries build
large armies- protect
interests, show strength
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Increased size of armies,
navies
Stockpiles of weapons
made war more tempting
Germany built navy to
compete with Britain, had
large army
New weapons more
deadly (machine guns,
tanks, planes,
submarines), changed
nature of warfare
Alliances
Two major alliances in
Europe
 Triple AllianceGermany, AustriaHungary, Italy also
known as the Central
Powers
 Triple Entente- Great
Britain, France, Russia
 Also known as the Allies
Assassination leads to War
 1914
– Heir to throne of A-H
assassinated by Serbian
nationalist in Sarajevo
 A-H declares war on Serbia,
system of alliances causes
war to spread
 September- German army
had advanced within 30
miles of Paris, France
Technology, Trench Warfare and a
Stalemate
War unlike others
• Trench warfare- built trenches, attacked, counterattacked each other across “no-mans land”
• High death toll- machine guns, artillery, tanks,
poison gas produced massive causalities
• Effective defensive weapons led to stalemate- no
side could gain advantage
American Reaction
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At first most Americans against war
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American tradition was isolation
We did not want to get involved in
European affairs
We were protected by two large
oceans.
Immigrants supported nation of
birth
Most Americans supported British,
French- economic, cultural ties
American Reaction
German invasion of Belgium and reports of
atrocities, changed opinions
Three groups
 Isolationists- Not intervene in European affairs
 Internationalists- Work for peace, not enter
war
 Interventionists- Enter war on side of Allies,
protect interests
 Wilson supported internationalists

Americans Enter War
 Americans
supported
“freedom of the seas” to
send supplies to Allies and
Germans
 British navy blockaded
German navy
 Germans used submarines
(U-Boats) to attack British
ships
 1915, 1916 U-Boats sink
ships, kill American
passengers
Americans Enter War
1916 presidential election won by Wilson,
on a platform that he kept U.S. out of war
 1916 U.S. prepares to enter war
 National Defense Act- expanded size of
army
 Naval Construction Act- increased size of
navy
1917 two events led U.S. to war
 Unrestricted submarine warfare by
Germans
 Zimmerman note intercepted
 German proposal to Mexico to be
allies and after German victory
territory lost in Mexican-American
War (1848) would be returned
 April 2, 1917 U.S. declares war on
Germany
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America Mobilizes for War
 During
war government assumed
new powers
 Wilson organized an effort to
supply American in the war effort
 Changed relationship with federal
government
 New economic opportunities and
migration also changed country
 1917- Congress passes Selective
Service Act drafts men for war
 4.8 million serve in WWI
America Mobilizes for War
 War
Industries Board
 Shift for industry and agriculture to
wartime production
 decided what crops to grow,
products industry produced, how
supplies move around country
• American workers threatened by
“work or fight” to combat
unemployment
 Cooperation not competition in
industry
 Americans sacrifice food for war
effort
Shaping Public Opinion
 1917-
Committee for
Public Information
(CPI)- educate public
on causes and nature
of war
 Advertising to “sell
America”
Opposition to the War
 Many
Americans had fear of
government control and
balked at the government
effort
 Government took away
individual liberties to quiet
dissent
 Resistance to the draft
Seen as illegal intrusion into
private lives, did not cooperate
with draft boards
 Conscientious objectors- moral
or religious reasons forbid
fighting in wars

Opposition to the War
CPI stifled free expression
 1917- Espionage Act- penalties for
obstructing war effort (print, mail, resisting
draft)
 1918- Sedition Act- unlawful to speak out
about government. Used against
socialists, political radicals and pacifists
 Supreme Court ruled acts constitutional
(Schenck v. U.S. 1919) During wartime
freedom of speech does not apply
Prejudice Against German Americans
 Germany
seen as primary
foe against U.S.
 Harassment, violence
against German
Americans
 Stopped teaching
German in schools,
playing German
composers music
War Changes American Society
Women
 Men left workforce , labor
shortage filled by women
 Took jobs previously open
to men
 Women served Red
Cross, Army Corps of
Nurses in Europe during
war
 Efforts and sacrifices during
war led Wilson to support
passage of 19th
Amendment
War Changes American Society
African Americans
 Many served in military
 “Great Migration” (1.2 million
moved 1910-1920)
 Movement from rural South to
Chicago, Detroit, industrial
Northeast
 Escape racism, poverty of life
in south, promise economic
advancement
War Changes American Society
Mexican Americans
 Poverty and violence in Mexico
 Economic opportunity in U.S.
 Many worked in agriculture
 Settled in Southwest, California
Wilson, War and Peace
 Spring
1917 war was a stalemate
 Some European countries doubted
the U.S. could raise army fast enough
to end war
 Unrestricted sub warfare caused Allies
to loose supplies, ships
 Ships began to convoy (travel in
groups) for protection
 Shipping losses dropped
Allies Struggle
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Late 1916 Central powers gained and edge on Western
Front
March 1917 Czar of Russia overthrown in revolution
November 1917 Vladimir Lenin and socialists take over
Russian government, sign treaty with Germany and leave
war
Spring 1918 Germans begin new offensive on Western Front
American Role in War
 Early
1918 American troops arrive
in large numbers
 Commanded by John J.
Pershing
 American troops gave Allies
military advantage
 German offensives became less
effective, troops became
exhausted
 Fall 1918 German troops mutinied,
deserted, refused to fight
 Germans surrendered Nov. 11,
1918
End of War
 Lenin
thought war was
“imperialist land grab”,
exposed secret
agreements among
Allies to divide territory of
enemies
 Wilson- war was about
peace and freedom
 Introduced “peace
without victory”
Wilson Promotes Peace
 Wilson’s
peace plan called Fourteen Points
 Inspired by noble ideas not greed
I.
Promoted openness
II. Independence of nations
III. End colonialism
IV. National self- determination (right of people to
choose their own form of government)
V. Disarmament peaceful cooperation among
nations with the League of Nations
Wilson Promotes Peace and Allies Reject
Wilsons Ideas
 1919 Versailles Peace Conference
 U.S., British, French, Italians
 European allies blamed Germany for
starting war, wanted them punished
 European leaders wanted to maintain
status quo, punish Germany
 Suffered more than Americans
 Rejected ideas to end colonialism,
disarm Europe, free trade
Ultimately…..
 Wilson did get League of Nations
 Germany had to pay reparations
(payment for war damages)
Problems with Peace
 New
nations emerged in Europe
and Middle East
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Austrian, German people found
themselves as part of new
countries
Breakup of Ottoman Empire
clustered different ethnic groups
together
 Middle
East broken up by
European powers, not allowed
to practice self- determination
America Rejects Treaty
 Treaty
of Versailles had to be
approved by Senate
 German- Americans thought
treaty too harsh
 Some thought U.S. should not
be involved in European
affairs
 Isolationists opposed League
of Nations
 Senate
rejected treaty,
League of Nations failed to
maintain peace
Effects of the War
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Flu Epidemic September 1918 virus first appears, Spring
1919 disappears
Killed millions around the world (22m, 500,000 U.S.)
Men and women in 20’s, 30’s hit hardest
Combined with effects of war, gave people a sense of
doom
Red Scare- fear of communists and radicals, plotting
against the United States
Labor unrest seen as work of communists, radicals
Conservative business leaders used this as an excuse to
break the back of labor unions
April 1919 40 bombs intercepted in mail, one sent to
Attorney General (Mitchell Palmer)
Government response- Palmer Raids
Arrested thousands of Southern, Eastern Europeans (not
all were radicals), many deported, or held in jail without
ever being charged with crime
American Civil Liberties Union formed 1920 to protect
rights and liberties of those affected
Effects of the War
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After war Americans turned
inward
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Shunning diplomatic
commitments, denounced
radical foreign ideas and “unAmerican” lifestyles
Shut out immigration (passed
literacy requirement for
immigrants) and sealed off
economy from the outside world
New technologies, forms of
entertainment and leisure first
appeared in the US, but there
were fears that America was
losing their traditional ways
A Return to “Normalcy”
Public desire for change from the
progressive politics and high minded ideals
of Wilson
• Elected Republican Warren G. Harding of
Ohio as president
• Opposite of Wilson, back slapper and dull
minded
• With the election of Harding the idea of the
League of Nations was dead
1920 America
• America emerged from the war a changed
country nationally and internationally
• world economic giant, largest creditor
nation
• Compared to Europe, U.S. came out of war
strong and prosperous
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