Unit 3: WWI Notes
I.
Waging Neutrality
A. American isolationism:
1. United States had no vital interest in the war & would not become involved.
2. Neutrality – U.S. remained neutral from 1914 to 1917
3. Ethnic, cultural, and economic ties to British & French
4. German victory would threaten U.S. economic, political & strategic interests
B. Economy of War
1. Sale of war materials to the Allied nations pulled America out of a recession.
2. violating neutrality: only sold materials to Allied nations & loaned money to finance
the war.
C. Diplomacy of Neutrality
1. Declaration of London (1909) – neutral rights
a. British violated terms by blocking trade with Germany
b. America conceded allowing British blockades
2. German Unrestricted submarine warfare, 1915
a. Used against allied shipping around the British isles.
b. Violated traditional rules of naval warfare:
1) surprise attacks
2) too small to rescue victims
c. Sinking of the Lusitania: killed 128 Americans
d. Sussex Pledge, 1916
1) Germany promised not to sink merchant ships without warning
a. contingent on British adherence to international law
D. Battle over preparedness
1. program to expand the armed forces & establish universal military training
2. opposition: unneeded costs & denouncement of militarism
3. 1916 – National Defense Act & Naval Construction Act
E. Descent into War
1. Wilson – new world order based on national equality and self-determination,
arms reductions, freedoms of the seas, international organization to preserve peace.
2. National objectives of European nations conflicted with Wilson’s post war plans
3. 1917 - Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare
4. Zimmerman Note – motivated Americans to join the war against Germany
5. Russian Revolution established a provisional government which withdrew Russia from the
war.
6. April 6, 1917 – U.S. entered the war
II.
Waging War in America
A. Managing the War Economy
1. Complex structure of agencies and controls for every sector of the economy:
a. Shifted resources to war-related enterprise
b. Increased production of goods and services
c. Improved transportation & distribution
Unit 3: WWI Notes
2. WIB: War Industries Board
a. set prices, allocated scare materials, standardized products & procedures
b. promoted major business interests, helped suspend antitrust laws, guaranteed corporate
profits
3. Railroad Administration
a. operated the nation’s railroads as a unified system to move supplies and troops efficiently
b. centralized management eliminated competition, permitted improvements in equipment,
brought profits to owners
4. Food Administration
a. Persuaded millions of Americans to accept meatless and wheatless days so they could
feed the military and foreign consumers
b. To encourage production – established high prices for farm commodities
c. Woman’s Land Army – recruited women to work in the fields
B. Women & Minorities
1. Women worked in male dominated jobs due to labor shortage
a. African American women filled domestic jobs
2. The war helped women reformers achieve 2 objectives:
a. 18th Amendment = prohibition (outlawed alcohol)
b. 19th Amendment = woman’s suffrage (right to vote)
3. Migration of African Americans from the rural South to Northern industrial centers
(Industrial jobs)
a. 1917 race riots
C. Financing the War
1. To finance the war, the gov’t borrowed money and raised taxes
a. Est. graduated tax structure
2. Liberty Bonds
D. Conquering Minds & Suppressing Dissent
1. CPI: Committee on Public Information
a. To rally Americans behind the war effort
b. Propaganda
2. Espionage Act: heavy fines and prison terms for obstructing the war effort
3. Sedition Act: designed to suppress labor radicals – provided severe penalties for speaking or
writing against the draft, war bonds, or war production
III.
Waging War Abroad
A. Selective Service Act of 1917
1. established the draft (conscription)
2. Training of soldiers operated according to progressive principles: prohibition, personal
hygiene, campaigns against venereal disease, immigrants taught English & American history
3. Racial segregation of troops
B. American Impact
1. AEF (American Expeditionary Force) – General Pershing
a. Influx of American troops tipped the balance toward allied victory
2. Battle for the Argonne forest
3. Nov. 11 Armistice (11-11-11) Germany asked for peace
Unit 3: WWI Notes
C. Wilson’s Fourteen Point Plan
1. American war objectives spelled out by President Woodrow Wilson
2. Plan was divided into 3 categories:
a. 8 points proposed creating new nations, shifting old borders, or assuring selfdetermination for peoples previously subject to Austrian, German, or Russian empires.
b. Another 5 points invoked principles to guide international relations: freedom of the seas,
open diplomacy instead of secret treaties, reduction of armaments, free trade, and fair
settlement of colonial claims.
c. 14th point: creation of a league of nations
D. Treaty of Versailles (Paris Peace Conference)
1. Wilson’s weakened position: Republican’s gained control of both houses of Congress,
Wilson’ s refusal to consult with Senate Republicans
2. Leaders: Clemenceau (France), Lloyd George (England), Orlando (Italy), Wilson (US)
E. League of Nations
1. committed to preserving peace in the future
2. Debate over ratification:
a. Republicans opposed ratification
1) Irreconcilables: saw the league as a design to perpetuate the power of imperial
Countries & would entangle U.S. in continual conflicts
2) Reservationist: Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge =the League eroded Congressional
authority to declare war
3. Senate killed the treaty in 1920