4 Causes of WWI
• Imperialism
• Militarism
• Nationalism
• Alliances
• Imperialism…
The struggle for
new territories in
Africa and Asia
caused some
countries to
become rivals
• Militarism…
aggressively
building up a
nations armed
forces in
preparation for
war – AustriaHungary, FR,
GER, GB, RUS
all engaged in
militarism
• GER had the largest military of any nation
• 1914 – GER had an Army of almost 2 million
and 17 large warships in its Navy
• GB saw GER building up its military and did
the same
• Everyone knew what everyone else was
doing – so the arms race kept growing
• When the next war took place – it would
involve more troops, more technology –
machine guns, tanks, submarines, airplanes
Nationalism….
• 2 kinds of nationalism caused WWI…..
• One super-power acts in its own best
interests and it puts in the path of another
superpower acting in its own best interest
– war is the outcome
• In countries with diverse populations –
ethnic minorities often long for
independence – war can be the outcome
• Alliances…
Set up to
bolster a
nations
security,
alliances
bound great
powers to
come to each
others aid in
case of attack
Triple Alliance
• Germany
• AustriaHungary
• Italy
Triple Entente
• France
• Russia
• Great Britain
Social Darwinism…
• This theory did not soothe competitive
instincts – majority and minority ethnic
groups, large or small countries
Serbia…
• Serbia once part of Austria-Hungary had
declared its independence in 1878
• New Serbia tried to take land where
Serbians lived away from A-H
• Serbia by declaring its independence from
A-H – had set a bad example to other A-H
territories
Assassination…
• Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the throne of
A-H) and his wife Sophie went on a routine visit
of Sarajevo, Bosnia on June 28, 1914
• A group of ethnic Serbs who believed that
Bosnia should be part of independent Serbia –
saw Franz-Ferdinand as a tyrant
• The Chauffeur made a wrong turn and Gavrilo
Princips, leader of the Serb group, spotted the
couple, pulled his gun, fired twice and killed
Sophie then Franz Ferdinand instantly
Declares war on Serbia
A-H
SERB
Allies
Allies
Declares war on Russia
GER
RUS
Declares war on Germany
Declares war on Belgium
Allies
BEL
Allies
GB
Allies
Allies
Declares war on Germany
FR
Central Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman Empire
Allied Powers
Serbia
Russia
France
Great Britain
Battle of Marne…
• The first battles of WWI were fought in FR
and BEL by the GER – most were GER
victories
• Schlieffen Plan – GER plan for the war –
attack the FR first to gain victory on the
western front while RUS mobilized then
fight RUS on eastern front after FR was
defeated – NOT to fight a 2 fronted war
• However the GER were not expecting a
counterattack at Marne on the outskirts of
Paris
• Sept 5-12, 1914 – FR and BR counterattacked
to slow the GER advance on Paris
• Although the two sides did not agree – they were
able to hold off the GER and end any GER
hopes that the was would be short lived
• Ready to go down in defeat the FR army was
bolstered by the arrival of 6,000 fresh infantry
troops at the front by way of 600 taxi cabs – The
FR were able to push through GER lines and
divide the GER army – GER were in retreat but
halted and dug trenches that would be the
definition of the western front for the rest of the
war
Trench Warfare…
• 450 miles of trenches were dug along the border
of BEL to Switzerland known as the Western
Front
• Machine guns, artillery and rifles were used to
kill anyone crossing “No Mans Land” – the area
that stretched in between the two sets of
trenches
• Poison gas and fire throwers were used with
deadly results
• If all of the trenches dug in WWI were laid end to
end they would stretch around the world one
time – 25,000 miles of trenches
Reality of Trenches…
• Trench foot – developed by soldiers from
standing in muddy wet trenches for hours
• Lice – from the millions of rats that lived in the
trenches
• Bites from rats
• Mud slides – trenches collapsing
• Hypothermia
• No sleep – 4 hours of sleep in 96
• When desparate – soldiers held urine soaked
clothes over their faces during gas attacks
Wilson Urges Neutrality…
• In the melting pot nation – the US should
be neutral
• At first everyone saw this as a quarrel in a
distant land
• Unless the US was threatened – no one
wanted any part of the war – wanted
traditional American isolationism
• However many still sided with a certain
group involved – many businesses did not
want their markets affected by the war
• Just before WWI, about 1/3 of all
Americans were 1st or 2nd generation
immigrants. When the was broke out in
Europe, many of these US citizens still felt
very close to their “old countries.”
• Which ethnic group in the US might have
favored the nations of the Central Powers?
Why? Write 1-2 sentences to explain.
• Which ethnic groups might have favored
the Allies? Why? Write 1-2 sentences to
explain.
Divided Loyalties…
• 1914 – 1/3 of Americans were foreign born
• Many still saw themselves and others as
GER-AM or IR-AM
• Many had immigrated from A-H and GER
• Many IR-AM still harbored hatred for BR
• Many Jews hated Czarist RUS for years of
murderous pogroms
• Most sided with BR and FR as we had
close historical ties to both countries
Invasion of Belgium…
• BR journalists and propagandists sent
chilling reports and photos of the atrocities
committed by GER soldiers as the pushed
through BEL to get to FR
• Americans were shocked and horrified by
what they read and saw
• BEL was a neutral country that was being
destroyed at the hands of the GER
Isolationists…
• This group believed that the war was none
of our business
• As a nation we should isolate ourselves
from the hostilities
Interventionists…
• They felt that the war was affecting
American interests
• The US should intervene in the war on the
side of the Allies
Internationalists…
• This was the middle ground
• The US should play an active role in world
affairs
• The US should work towards a peaceful
end to the war but not enter the war
Naval Blockades…
• BR uses their navy to blockade GER –
keeping supplies/goods from reaching the
country - International law allowed
contraband goods to be confiscated by
warring nations – weapons, artillery, etc…
• Noncontraband goods could not be
confiscated – food, medical supplies etc…
• As the war continued BR contested the
definition of noncontraband goods to
include everything that help in the war
• GER responded with a naval blockade of BR
– using U-Boats or submarines – sinking any
ship that attempted to get close to BR
• May 7, 1915 – Luisitania – BR passenger
boat – fired upon and sunk off the coast of
Ireland
• Torpedo hit the ship – sank in in 20 minutes –
killing 1200 passengers – 128 of them
American
• GER insisted that the ship carried weapons
and ammo (fact)
• US protested that the GER had no right to
attack an unarmed, unresisting ship – a
warning should have been given and the
passengers should have been given safe
passage
• Wilson was stunned by the violence but
still wanted peace
• GER promised that it would not sink any
more passenger ships
• 10 months later - GER sank the FR
passenger ship the Sussex
• Again GER promised not to sink any more
passenger ships – Called the Sussex
Pledge
US Mobilization…
• Wilson knew that the time was coming for
US entry into the war – began preparation
• Many believed that preparedness would
be seen as an act of aggression
• National Defense Act - expanded the size
of the Army
• Naval Construction Act – funded the
building of more warships
Election of 1916…
• Wilson, the Democrat
incumbent – won by a
narrow margin over
Republican Charles Evans
Hughes
• Wilson won on the
campaign that he “kept us
out of the war”
1917…
• Blockades were working for BR – GER was
desperate for supplies…
• Zimmerman Note – GER Foreign Min. Arthur
Zimmerman sent a coded telegram to the GR
Ambassador to MEX instructing him to make a
deal with Mexico asking them to declare war
(with GR funding) on the US when the US joined
WWI after GR started unrestricted submarine
warfare again – in return for the victory - the
GER would return to MEX all land that the US
had taken from them – TX, NM, AZ – MEX
laughed at the idea.
• April 2, 1917 – Wilson asked Congress for a
declaration of war against GER
Selective Service Act…
• May 1917 – Congress enacted the draft
• June 5, 1917 – over 9.6 million men
registered for the draft and given a number
• July – all numbers were put into a jar –
258 was the first number – all men with
258 as their numbers were the first
draftees in WWI
• 24 million registered for the draft – 2.8
million were called up – including
volunteers – men in uniform during the war
– almost 4.8 million
Shift to Wartime Economy…
• Businesses and factories had to shift from
peacetime goods to wartime goods
• Council of National Defense – 1916 –
created new agencies to oversee different
aspects of preparedness
• Food production – who grew what and how
much, coal and petroleum distribution factory
production and railway use
• War Industries Board – Bernard Baruch –
regulated all industries engaged in the war
effort
• WIB determined what products industries would
make, where those products went, and how much
they would cost
• Americans realized that they had to cooperate if
they wanted to defeat the Central Powers
• Sec. of Ag. Herbert Hoover lead the Food
Administration – set high prices for wheat to
encourage production and asked for conservation
in the US – eat less so that more food can be sent
to our troops – wheatless Mondays & Wednesdays,
meatless Tuesdays and porkless Thursdays &
Saturdays
Committee on Public Information…
• CPI was to educate the public about the causes
and nature of war – convince the American
people that the war was a just cause
• George Creel was head of the CPI
• 75 million pamphlets, 6,000 press releases
• 75,000 speakers were sent all of the US to give
lectures and speeches on war goals and the
nature of the enemy
• CPI stressed the wickedness of our enemy on
millions of posters – especially GER – which
created problems for GER-AM people
Draft Controversy…
• Some Americans felt that the draft was an illegal
intrusion into their private lives
• Some men refused to register and they were
court-martialed and jailed
• 12% of notified draftees did not respond
• Conscientious Objectors – people whose moral
or religious beliefs forbid them to fight in wars
• Even though this was a legal excuse – it was
usually ignored – treated poorly by local draft
boards or bullied at training camp
Women at Work for Peace…
• Women’s Peace Party – lead by Jane Addams
• Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom
• Jeannette Rankin – 1st woman in the US House
of Representatives voted against the declaration
of war
• After the US joined the war on the Allies side –
most began to support all war efforts
• When the NAWSA began to support the war –
its membership doubled in size
Dissent…
• Although the US was founded on the idea of
personal rights and freedom – during wartime those
rights were often subjugated for the war effort
• 1917 – Espionage Act – allowed postal authorities
to ban treasonable or seditious newspapers,
magazines or printed materials from the mail – also
set severe penalties for anyone caught in disloyal
or treasonable acts
• Anyone caught obstructing army recruiters or aiding
the enemy could be fined up to $10,000 and jailed
for 20 years
• Sedition Act – illegal to use disloyal,
profane or abusive language about the US
gov’t, Constitution or US military forces
• Used to prosecute Socialists, radicals, and
pacifists – Eugene V. Debbs – head of the
Socialist Party in the US was arrested and
jailed for 10 years for giving a mildly antiwar speech to a group of Socialists in OH
Schenck v. US
• There are times when the need for public order
is very important that 1st amendment protections
of speech do not apply
• “Clear and present danger” ie// yelling fire in a
crowded theater
• Sec. of the Socialist Party – sent out pamphlets
telling people to not be intimidated into joining
the military – to not be bullied by the gov’t
• Sentences to 6 mos. In jail – later found dead in
his home
Hatred for Germans…
• GER-AM were treated badly in the US due
to the war posters, and movies that
showed the GER as the horrible enemy
• German was no longer taught as a
language in schools, Beethoven and
Brahms were not played any more
• German Measles were liberty measles
• Dachshunds were liberty pups
• Hamburgers were liberty steaks
Women…
• Women filled jobs that were vacated by men
who went into the Service
• Worked in munitions factories, on railroads,
as telegraph operators, trolley conductors
and farm laborers
• Some joined the Red Cross or the American
Women’s Hospital Service and went
overseas
• 1,000s enlisted in the Army Corp of Nurses
Women’s Suffrage…
• Wilson support suffrage after women had
risen to the occasion by taking men’s
places in the work force
• 1919 – 19th amendment passed
African Americans…
• 367,000 AA served in the military during
WWI – all served in segregated black units
lead by white officers
• At home – many AA moved from the
South to the North – Great Migration
• Moved due to racism in the South, for jobs
available in the North or a better future for
their kids – 1910-1920 – 1.2 million AA
moved to the North
Mexican Americans…
• Mexicans crossed the border for jobs, better
lives for their children, to escape poverty and
violence
• An increase in demand for food and a
decrease in farmhands made this group
useful – some were seasonal workers only
crossing during the picking seasons – others
stayed and made the US their home –
formed barrios (Hispanic neighborhoods) in
California cities
US Enters WWI…
• 1917 – Conflict in
Europe was a
deadly, bloody
stalemate – with the
war being won or
lost on Western
Front
Europe on US Entry…
• Would a country with such a diverse
population be able to fight a war with the
people of their ancestors?
• Could the US raise, train, equip and
transport a military force in enough time to
make a difference?
• GER renewed unrestricted sub warfare in
hopes of ending the war before the US
could join – sinking merchant ship faster
then replacements could be built
Convoys…
• Groups of merchants ships sailing together
protected by warships – convoys of BR and
US ships proved an instant success
Russian Revolution…
• March 1917 – Czar Nicholas II was
overthrown but RUS stayed in the war
• November 1917 – RUS was taken over by
radical Communists lead by Vladimir Lenin
• December 1917 – RUS stopped fighting
and by March 3, 1918 signed the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk ending the war between
RUS and GER – thereby ending the war
on the Eastern Front
• GER could now concentrate on the
Western Front
• Spring 1918 – GER launched an all out
offensive on the Western Front
• Attacks threatened to push the Allies back
– opening up a path for GER straight to
Paris
• Allies put together a joint command under
the leadership of FR Gen Ferdinand Foch
US Joins the Fight…
• Gen John J. Pershing arrived in FR with a
small US force (AEF) in June 1917 – not until
early 1918 would large # of US troops arrive
• At the same time the great GER offensive
began to stall – March 1918 – Allies
counterattacks and GER exhaustion ended
this phase in the war
• More fighting took place with US troops
taking on more of the burden on the
battlefield
• Allied defenses buckled and stretched but
did not break under the constant assault
by the GER
• Each failed assault weakened the GER a
bit and strengthened Allied hopes
Doughboys…
• US infantry troops were
called Doughboys
• Walked behind the
Cavalry and were
covered in dust – that
looked like flour –
name was initially an
insult – started in the
Mexican/American War
US Troop Action…
• Summer 1918 – US troops saw action at
the 2nd Battle of Marne on the defensive
and on the offensive at the Battle of
Cantigny
Alvin York…
• Oct. 8 1918 – York and 16 other US soldiers
were pinned down in N. FR
• Trapped behind enemy lines- they took cover
from blistering machine gun fire – half of the US
soldiers died – York made waste of a nearby
machine gun nest with his rifle – and then took
out several other machine gunners taking the
last GER position with just his pistol
• Killed 25 – captured 132 GER
• Won the Congressional Medal Honor and the
FR Croix de Guerre
US Statistics…
• By the end of the war…
• 1.3 million US soldiers
had served on the front
lines in Europe
• Over 50,000 had died
• 230,000 had been
wounded
• WWI cost $186 billion –
todays cost $2 trillion in
total to all nations
The War Ends…
• US, FR, IT, BR troops allied together were
able to defeat the Central Powers
• By the fall of 1918 – GER and A-H troops
were exhausted – many deserted and
many refused to fight any more – leaders
had little choice but to surrender
• November 11, 1918 – GER surrendered to
the Allies in a RR car in Compiegne, FR
• During the 6 hours between signing and
actual ceasefire – 11,000 died needlessly
Casualties…
Casualties…
•
•
•
•
5 million Allied soldiers died
8 million Central Powers soldiers died
10 million civilians were dead
10 million horses, dogs and carrier
pigeons died while in service
• 21 million soldiers wounded
Peace and Freedom…
• Lenin released secret treaties after the
ended – showing how the some Allied
countries had wanted to divide up the land of
the defeated enemies when the war ended
• Wilson never saw the war as an imperialistic
battle – he wanted only peace and freedom –
he wanted “peace without victory”
Fourteen Points…
• Peace inspired by noble ideas, not greed and
vengeance
• The Fourteen Points outlined Wilsons and the US
war aims – called for open diplomacy, freedom of
the seas, free trade, ending colonialism and a
reduction of armaments
• National Self-determination – right of a people to
chose their own form of gov’t
• League of Nations – a group “to assure mutual
guarantees of political independence and territorial
integrity to great and small states alike”
Versailles…
• Peace conference held at Versailles in
Paris by the Allies
• Pres. Wilson attended to be a part of the
major decisions being made post-war
• Did not trust Henry Cabot Lodge – Foreign
policy expert to attend – angered R
members of Congress who had just won
the majority in Congress
Placing Blame…
• The Allies wanted all blame placed on
GER for stating the war
• Wanted reparations paid by GER to all of
the Allied nations - $33 billion
• Wanted to weaken Ger so that it would
never threaten Europe as it had
• Vittorio Orlandi (IT), David Lloyd-George
(BR), Georges Clemenceau (FR) and
Wilson met to discuss “terms of peace”
• BR and FR knew that their people wanted
both peace and victory
• Lloyd-George wanted colonial status quo and
punishment for GER
• Clemenceau wanted harsh punishments for
GER + reparations + return of AlsaceLorraine region as well as several key GER
colonies
• All but Wilson had grand schemes about
what they wanted
• All were very skeptical of Wilson’s grand
vision
• All of the Representatives of the Allied
nations were against most of Wilson’s
Fourteen Points
• Wilson kept fighting for the League of
Nations – refusing to back down
• The other members of the group finally
capitulated and added the League of
Nations to the final draft of the peace
treaty
• $64 Billion in gold was actually paid by
Germany with the last payment coming in
2010
Problems with Peace…
• New state/country divisions caused new problems
• Some GER populations were now part of non-GER
nations – the same was true for several AUS
populations
• In the Middle East – in Iraq – formerly part of the
defeated Ottoman Empire – Basra, Baghdad, and
Mosul were thrown together even though they had
very different ties to other cultures – no sense of
nationalism – and not allowed to practice selfdetermination – made into a BR mandate
Returning with the Treaty…
• GER-AM thought the treaty to harsh on
GER – especially the “war guilt clause”
• IR-AM were angry that an independent
Ireland was not created
• Congress would have to ratify the treaty
and Wilson was not going to have an easy
time convincing them to agree
• “Irreconcilables” – Senators who did not
believe that the US had any business in
world affairs – these isolationists opposed
any treaty that had a League of Nations
• Article 10 of the treaty asked for “mutual
defense of the signers of the treaty”
• “Reservationists” – lead by Henry Cabot
Lodge – were opposed to the treaty as it
was written – some wanted small changes
- other wanted huge changes
• Reservationists felt that Art. 10 could lead
the nation into another war w/o the
consent of Congress – which was
unconstitutional
• With some changes the Reservationists
were prepared to vote for the treaty
because the majority of American were in
favor of the League of Naitons
• When the Senate delayed the vote –
Wilson went to the American people – 32
speeches in 33 days across the country
• Sept. 25, 1919 – Wilson fell ill – suffering a
stroke a few days later
• Nov. 1919 - A much revised treaty went to the
Senate for a vote – Wilson convinced his
Democrats to vote with the Irreconcilables
against the treaty – not willing to compromise
• Voted again on a treaty without any changes
– Dem’s voted for it but the Irreconcilables
and Reservationists banded together to
defeat the treaty
• Vote came up again with a few changes –
Wilson again convinced Dem’s to vote
against it – again with the Irreconcilables –
the treaty was voted down
• Most Senators believed that the US had a
place in world affairs – but opinions differed
slightly on how much participation the US
should have
• Unfortunately no compromise could be found
in either camp and without the full support of
the American Government – the League of
Nations was unable to maintain peace
among the nations of the world
Effects of the War…
• GER wanted revenge for the harsh
punishment it rec’d for the blame of WWI
• Lenin’s Soviet RUS wanted revolution
throughout the industrial world
• In the US – widespread fear of
Communists and radicals caused many to
questions their political and economic role
in the world
Flu Epidemic…
• 1918 – Spanish Flu – deadly form of
influenza – mutated bird flu – originated in
the US and traveled around the world
• Almost 50 million people worldwide were
died as a result of the flu
• With the end of the Great War and so
many dead and wounded and the spread
of death from the Flu – gloom and
depression was global
Women & African Americans…
• A post-war recession – economic slowdown caused a competitive job market
• Both groups had productive, well paying jobs
during WWI - post-war….
• Women returned to the home
• AA competed with returning soldiers for jobs
and housing
Race Riots…
• 25 Race Riots that summer across the US
• Summer 1919 – Chicago – triggered by
the death of a young AA male by a group
of whites at a segregated beach - this riot
lasted 13 days
• 1921 – Tulsa, OK – Group of armed AA
men – many who were war vets – tried to
protect a young AA male from lynching –
at the end 10 whites and 26 AA were dead
– white rioters burnt 35 city blocks to the
ground – 1200 homes destroyed –
Churches, schools and library destroyed
Inflation…
• Inflation – rising prices – after the war –
Americans rushed to buy all of the goods
that they could not get during wartime –
scarcity + high demand = inflation
• Prices of corn, wheat, cotton, cattle etc…
had risen during the war – then plunged
after the war – this started a tough period
of time for farmers
• Workers were upset because their wages
were not buying as much as they had
during the war – inflation…
• 1919 – 4 million workers or 20% of the US
workforce went on strike at some point –
striking for higher wages and shorter
workdays – Boston Police even went on
strike – some strike turned violent – some
workers won their battles – others lost far
more than they gained
• Newspapers blamed the strikes on
radicals among strike leaders
The Soviet Union…
• The rise of the Soviet Union – a communist
nation – calling for a world workers revolution
and the death of capitalism – Lenin supported
revolutions outside of RUS in various
countries - making it seem to many
Americans as if worldwide revolution was
starting
• All of the strikes in the US – problems with
the economy……
The Red Scare…
• …A wave of widespread fear of suspected
communists and radicals thought to be
plotting a revolution in the US
• Bombs mailed to industrialists and gov’t
officials including Atty.Gen. A. Mitchell
Palmer by suspected anarchists
• Bombs exploded in cities across the US
• It was not hard for Americans to believe
that a revolution was starting…
Palmer Raids…
• Atty Gen Palmer had
1,000s of people
arrested in the summer
of 1919-1920
• Many were radicals –
others were simply
immigrants from
Eastern Europe
• Most were never
charged or tried for a
crime – most were
deported
ACLU…
• American Civil Liberties Union – group
formed in 1920 in NYC to protect the rights
of American citizens during this time of
turmoil
• They got involved in important court cases
• This group is still active today
Sacco and Vanzetti…
• Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti
were both IT immigrants and known
anarchists
• Charged with shooting and killing 2 men
during a holdup at a shoe factory near
Boston
• Eyewitnesses said that 2 suspects “looked
Italian”
• Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and
charged with the crime
• ACLU got involved in their defense –
however they were convicted in a quick
trial even though there was little hard
evidence against them
• Many argued that the convictions were
based more on their ethnicity and political
beliefs than the facts of the crime
• August 23, 1927 – Sacco and Vanzetti
were put to death by electric chair
End of the Red Scare…
• Many crimes were committed, immigrants
abused, radicals attacked – all in support
of American way of life and democracy
and capitalism
• By the summer of 1920 – the Red Scare in
the US had run its course
Getting Back to Normal…
• Wilson hoped that the Election of 1920 would
bring about normalcy
• He believed that if Americans elected James
Cox- a Democrat – that means that the US
supported the idea of a League of Nations
• However – if Republican Warren G. Harding
of Ohio was elected as the next President
then the people did not support Wilson plans
• Harding knew that an election was seldom
won on a single issue – he ran on a
platform of rejection of Wilsonian idealism
• He was tired of progressive reforms and
foreign crusades
• He wanted the US to return to a time of
normalcy – return to a simpler time before
Wilson took office in 1913
• Harding won a landslide election and a
Republican Congress was elected as well
• America had decisively rejected Wilson’s
ideas
Foreign Policy w/ Harding…
• Under Harding the US did not completely
withdraw from world affairs
• US was an economic giant – richest, most
industrialized country in the world
• GB and FR demand for US goods was
huge – it created a huge trade imbalance
• Europeans had to borrow money from US
banks and get lines of credit with US
businesses to to pay for the goods
• US was now a creditor nation – other
countries owed the US more money
than the US owed them
• World industrial capital had moved from
London to NYC
World Adjustments…
• Old GER and RUS had been crushed and
replaced with new gov’ts
• A-H and Ottoman Empire ceased to exist
• GB and FR had emerged victorious from
WWI but weak
• US was strong, prosperous and confident
but unsure what new role they would play
in the world