APUSH Unit 7.5 Flashcards

How did WWI break out?

a Serbian nationalist assassinated Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the trhone of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife

• Austria-Hungary and Germany were in full-scale war against Russia, France, and Great Britain

underlying causes of the war

1. nationalism

2. imperialism

3. militarism

4. a combination of public and secret alliances

President Wilson’s response to outbreak of European War

declaration of U.S. neutrality

• tradition started by Washington and Jefferson

• called upon American people to support policy by not taking sides

Why did Wilson find it difficult to maintain a neutral course?

Seemed impossible to maintain neutrality while protecting U.S. trading rights

Allied Powers

Great Britain, France, and Russia (and later the US)

Central Powers

Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire of Turkey

Who was the first to declare a naval blockade against Germany?

Great Britain; mined the North Sea and seized ships attempting to run the blockade

• Wilson protected seizure of U.S. ships as a violation of neutral nation’s right to freedom of the seas

What was Germany’s hope for challenging British power at sea?

the submarine

• answered British blockade by announcing own blockade and warned that ships entering the “war zone” risked being sunk by German submarines

Lusitania Crisis

May 7, 1915, German torpedoes hit and sank a British passenger liner Lusitania

• most of the passengers drowned, including 128 Americans

Wilson’s response to sinking of the Lusitania

sent a strongly worded diplomatic message warning Germany would be held to “strict accountability” if policy of sinking unarmed ships continued

Who rejected Wilson’s message about the Lusitania and why?

Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan

• message was too warlike

• resigned from the president’s cabinet

Arabic sinking

August 1915, 2 more Americans lost lives in German submarine attack on passenger ship, the Arabic

Wilson’s response to sinking of Arabic

demanded the German government pledge that no unarmed passenger ships be sunk without warning, allowing time for passengers to get into lifeboats

Sussex Sinking

March 1916, German torpedo struck unarmed merchant ship, the Sussex which injured several Americans

Wilson’s response to sinking of the Sussex

threatened to cut off US diplomatic relations with Germany (a step towards war)

Sussex pledge

rather than risking the US entering the war on Britain’s side, Germany backed down

• Sussex pledge promised not to sink merchant or passenger ships without giving due warning

Economic changes of the war

Early 1914, the US had been in an economic recession

• after the outbreak of war, the economy rebounded due to orders for war supplies form the British and the French

• by 1915, US businesses had never been so prosperous

what prevented the US manufacturers from shipping supplies to Germany?

the British blockade

• President Wilson did not directly favor the Allied powers, but he tolerated the British blockade while restricted the German blockade

What happened to US trade between 1914 and 1917?

trade with the Allies quadrupled while trade with Germany dwindled to a vanishing point

US loans

the Allies couldn’t purchase everything they needed, so the US government permitted US bankers (bank of J. Pierpont Morgan) to extend as much as $3 billion in loans to Britain and France

• promoted US prosperity and sustained Allies’ war effort

American perception of Germany

a cruel bully whose armies were commanded by a mean-spirited autocrat, Kaiser Wilhelm

• the sinking of the Lusitania also reinforced this negative view

Ethnic population in 1914

first and second generation citizens made up more than 30% of the US population

• glad to be out of the fighting and strongly supported neutrality

Foreign sympathies during war

• German Americans strongly identified with struggles of their “homeland”

• Irish Americans, who hated Britain because of its oppressive rule of Ireland, openly backed the Central powers

• Italian Americans began cheering on the Allies when Italy joined them in 1915

Overall American sympathies

Overall, most native-born citizens supported the Allies

• positive relations with France since the Revolutionary War bolstered support

• Americans sympathized with Britain and France because of their democratic governments

• President Wilson, of Scottish-English descent, long admired the British political system

British War Propaganda

• British government made sure AMerican press was well supplied with stories of German soldiers committing atrocities in Belgium and German-occupied eastern France

Foreign policy realists

believed that a German victory would change the balance of power and that the US needed a strong British navy to protect the status quo

• majority of Americans remained thankful for booming economy and peace

preparedness

Eastern Republicans such as Theodore Roosevelt clamored for greater defense expenditures after the war broke out

• believed that the US military was hopelessly unprepared for war

Wilson’s armed forces policy

1915: urged Congress to approve expansion of armed forces; provoked a storm of controversy among Democrats who were against military increases

National Defense Act (June 1916)

after a nationwide speaking tour, Wilson convinced Congress to pass the act

• increased regular army to a force of nearly 175,00

• a month later, Congress approved the construction of more than 50 warships

opposition to war

many Americans, especially in Midwest and West, were opposed to preparedness

• antiwar activists: Populists, Progressives, and Socialists

Progressive leaders

peace-minded Progressive leaders were William Jennings Bryan, Jane Addams, and Jeannette Rankin

Jeannette Rankin

the first woman to be elected to Congress

• Woman actively campaigned against any military buildup

Why did President Wilson win the election of 1912?

because of the split in Republican ranks between Taft conservatives and Roosevelt Progressives

Election of 1916

• Wilson’s chances for reelection as a Progressive did not seem strong after Roosevelt rejoined the Republicans

• Charles Evans Hughes, supreme Court Justice and former governor of New York, became presidential candidate of Republican Party

What was the Democrats campaign slogan for the election of 1916?

“He Kept Us Out of War”

• peace sentiment, Wilson’s record of Progressive leadership, and Hughes’ weakness as candidate gave Wilson the victory in a close election

Wilson’s peace efforts

• sent chief foreign policy adviser, Colonel Edward House of Texas to London, Paris, and Berlin to negotiate peace settlement

  • mission was unsuccessful

• January 1917, Wilson made a speech to the Senate, declaring US commitment to hope for “peace without victory”

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

early January 1917, German high command decided to resume unrestricted submarine warfare

• believed cutting off supplies to Allies would win war before Americans could react

• Wilson broke off diplomatic relations a few days later

Zimmerman Telegram

March 1, US newspapers spread news of secret offer made by Germany to Mexico

• British intelligence intercepted a telegram to Mexico from German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, that Mexico ally itself with Germany in return for help recovering Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona

• aroused nationalist anger of Americans and convinced Wilson that Germany expected war with US

Wilson’s moral diplomacy

wanted the war to be fought for a worthy purpose: the triumph of democracy

• bothered that Russia, governed by an autocratic czar, was one of the Allies

  • March 15, Russian revolutionaries overthrew the czar’s government and proclaimed a republic

Renewed Submarine attacks

• the first few weeks of March, German submarines sank 5 unarmed US merchant ships

Declaration of War

April 2, 1917, President Wilson stood before senators and representatives and called to defend humanitarian and democratic principles

• asked Congress to recognize state of war that existed between Germany and the US

• condemned Germany’s submarine policy as “warfare against mankind” and declared “the world must be made safe for democracy”

• April 6, majority in Congress voted for declaration of war

  • a few pacifists, including Robert La Follette and Jeanette Rankin voted no

What made trench warfare more deadly in the industrial age?

heavy artillery, machine guns, poison gas, tanks, and airplanes

What took Russia out of the war?

a second revolution by Bolsheviks (or Communists)

• without an Eastern front to divide its forces, Germany concentrated on an all-out push to break Allied lines in France

Effect of Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare

900,000 tons of shipping were lost in one month on Merchant ships bound for Britain

• US undertook record-setting program of ship construction

• implemented convoy system of armed escorts for merchant ships

Goerge M. Cohan

wrote popular song “Over there” that reflected idealism of troops and the public

American Expeditionary Force (AEF)

commanded by General John J. Pershing

• first US troops to see action were used to plug weaknesses in French and British lines

• AEF assumed responsibility for one segment of the Western Front

Last German Offensive

Enough US troops in place in spring 1918 to hold line against last assault by German forces

• At Chateau-Thierry on the Marne River, Americans stopped the German advance and struck with successful counterattack at Belleau Wood

Allied offensive

August, September, and October: Allied offensive along Meuse River through Argonne Forest succeeded in driving exhausted German army back toward German border

Armistice Day

November 11, 1918: Germans signed an armistice in which they agreed to surrender their arms, give up much of their navy, and evacuate occupied territory

US casualties

US combat deaths totaled nearly 49,000

• many more thousands died of disease, including a flu epidemic in training camps

• total US fatalities in WWI: 112,432

• total deaths in WWI: around 20 million (mostly civilians)

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

a detailed list of war aims, designed to address the causes of WWI and prevent a future world war

• several related to specific territorial questions

  • called on Germany to return regions of Alsace and Lorraine to France and evacuate Belgium, Romania, and Serbia

broad principles of Fourteen Points

• recognition of freedom of the seas

• an end to the practice of making secret treaties

• reduction of national armaments

• “impartial adjustment of all colonial claims”

• self-determination for various nationalities

• removal of trade barriers

• “a general association of nations”

peace conference

• took place in Palace of Versailles outside Paris in January 1919

• President Wilson became the first president to travel abroad in order to defend his Fourteen Points

the Big Four

David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Vittorio Orland of Italy along with President Wilson met almost daily

• after months of argument, Wilson agreed to compromise on most of the Fourteen points

Treaty of Versailles terms

1. Punish Germany by stripping them of colonies in Asia and Africa; forced to admit guilt for war, accept French occupation of Rhineland for 15 years, and pay massive reparations to Britain and France

2. territories once controlled by Central Powers and Russia were taken by Allies; Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland granted independence; Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia established

3. to maintain peace, signers joined League of Nations; Article X of the League called on each nation to be ready to protect independence and integrity of other nations

Battle for Ratification

President Wilson had to win 2/3 approval of Senate for all parts of Treaty of Versailles, including League of Nations

• Republican senators objected to League, especially Article X; argued that US membership might interfere with US sovereignty and cause European interference in Western Hemisphere (violation of Monroe Doctrine)

Increased Partisanship After the War

Wilson made winning Senate ratification difficult; October 1918, asked voters to support Democrats in midterm elections as act of patriotism

• Republicans won solid majority in House and Senate

• 1919, Wilson needed Republican votes in Senate for ratification of Treaty of Versailles, but faced hostility of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge

Irreconcilable faction

could not accept US membership in the League, no matter how the covenant was worded

Reservationist faction

larger group led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge said it could accept the League if certain reservations were added to the covenant

• Wilson chose to fight the treaty as it stood rather than accept Lodge’s reservations

Wilson’s Western Tour

undertook speaking tour by train of the West in order to rally enough public support to push ratification of the League through Congress

• September 25, 1919, collapsed after a speech in Colorado

  • returned to Washington where he suffered massive stroke from which he never recovered

Rejection of the Treaty

Senate defeated the treaty without reservations

• when they came up with reservations, Wilson directed Senate allies to reject compromise, joining with Irreconcilables in defeating the treaty a second time

• After Wilson left office in 1921, the US officially made peace with Germany

• never ratified Versailles Treaty or joined League of Nations