The Great War and the Great Migration

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)

• Battle of Pueblo → France invades due to loans but Gen. Ignacio Zaragozo and Gen. Porfirio Diaz repelled the French attack and become hero’s

• Pres. Porfirio Diaz modernizes Mexico and created ‘friends’ for foreign investments with U.S., Germany, and Great Britain

• Pres. Diaz promises not to run for reelection but became an “elected” leader as he’d throw the competition in jail and his party was in charge of counting votes

• Francisco Madero arose as competition, he was imprisoned and then went into exile in San Antonio

  • A revolution fostered around him, they overthrew the existing government and Madero becomes president 

Impact on Mexico to American Immigration

• Political refugees like Madero came to America to escape the violence in Mexico

• Over 100,000 came to the U.S.

• During the Great War, after American entry in 1917, Mexicans were welcomed for their labor

Events of the Revolution and a Telegram

• Gen. Huerta ousts Madero and detains U.S. troops in Mexico, the U.S. decides to stop Huerta take over to prevent a german arms shipment - shifting power to Pancho Villa (Madero’s friend) and Venustiano Carranza

• The U.S., however, views Villa as too radical so they backed up Venustiano

• “Plan of San Diego” - a revolutionary manifesto by a group of Mexican and Tejano rebels who sought to establish an independent hispanic republic and overthrow U.S. rule

• Zimmerman Telegram → sought to draw Mexico into a war against the U.S.

Reasons for the Great War

• Increased Ethnic Nationalism in Europe → A form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity

• Domino Effect → Since so many countries had alliances it just took one country to attack to involved the rest

  • Triple Entente - Allied powers - Great Britain, France, Russia, Japan, America (the ‘good guys’)

  • Triple Alliance - Central Powers - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Ottoman Empire

Events Leading up to the Great War (June to July)

• June 28, 1914 → Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary are assassinated by a Serbian nationalist

• July 5, 1914 → Germany’s Carte Blanche (blank check) to support Austria-Hungary against Serbia if Russia intervenes 

• July 23, 1914 → Austria-Hungary gives Serbia an ultimatum to participate in the investigation and their courts/judiciary

• July 25, 1914 → Serbia agrees to most of the ultimatum except for for judiciary participation

• July 28, 1914 → Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

• July 30, 1914 → Russia, in support of Serbia, mobilized their army along the Austrian border

Events Leading up to the Great War (August)

• August 1, 1914 → Germany took Russian mobilization as an act of war, so they too began to mobilize - France, as an ally, also began to mobilize

• August 2, 1914 → A secret alliance was forged between the Ottoman Empire and Germany, they would enter war in Germany declared war on France

• August 3, 1914 → Germany declares war on France with the Schlieffen plan, to defeat France quickly and concentrate on Russia, doing so they invaded Belgium (who is allied to Britain)

• August 4, 1914 → Britain declares war on Germany in defense of Belgium and its French and Russian allies under the Triple Entente

• August 6, 1914 → Russian and Austrian-Hungary officially declared war

• August 10, 1914 → Austria-Hungary invades Russia

America at the beginning of the war

• President Wilson wanted to stay out of the Great War cuz America is full of immigrants

• In 1915, a german U-Boat sank the Lusitania, a UK passenger liner with 128 Americans on board (US said it was an innocent ship but it had military goods) Pres. said it was a step towards war but Germany apologized

• America was selling military goods to both the allied and central powers, but sold ammunition mostly to allied powers

• Germany does not want US to join the allied power so they send the Zimmerman telegram to Mexico

Suspension of Freedom of Speech and other Rights: Committee on Public Information

a public relations campaign which included films, pamphlets, public speeches, and advertising to gain the support of the people

Changes to American Cities - The Great Migration

• African Americans sought to move out of agricultural work and away from Jim Crow discrimination

• The war draft allowed mobilization of 4 million Americans, including African Americans

• The Red Summer Race Riots → rise in racial tension as growing population of African Americans in cities, from 1914 till 1920 at least 382 African Americans were lynched

• Rachel → A play by Angelina Grimke in 1916 to enlighten Americans on the issue or race and racial injustice

Reform and Activism During the War

• Increased production and new jobs increased women in the labor force replacing men

• Since African Americans are closer together in cities they are able to organize better to vocalize about civil rights

• The war allowed ppl to be more lenient on progressive reforms, such as: 

  •  18th Amendment, 1919, making alcohol illegal

  • Woman such as Alice Paul pushed for suffrage, forced Wilson to switch stances, 19th Amendment, 1920, gave women the right to vote

End of the Great War

• The Treaty of Versailles → Ended the war, took territory, forced Germany to Demilitarize, and made them page huge reparations (20 billion to be paid upfront which bankrupts them)

• Mandate System → territory and colonies from the Ottomans, Austria-Hungary, and Germany were made into new nations along ethnic lines

  • Big powers believed they needed the guidance of more advanced nations, white mans burden

• Wilsons 14 points → Limiting arms, open sea, free trade, diplomacy, self-determination of ethnic minorities and small nations, and formation of a League of Nations

• League of Nations → Proposed organization by Pres. Wilson to promote world cooperation and peace, senate didn’t ratify Americans membership and many wanted to return to isolationism

Punitive Expedition

John J. Pershing was sent into Mexico after Villa attacked Columbus N.M. killing 100 Mexicans and 17 Americans

• it went on from 1916 to 1917, he never caught Villa but destroyed his forces in battle

Suspension of Freedom of Speech and other Rights: Espionage Act of 1917

• Imposed hefty fines and imprisionment for those caught spying, aiding the enemy, disrupting recruitment, or encouraging disloyalty 

  • 74 newspapers were denied mailing privileges, Supreme Court ruled wartime circumstances justified infringement of 1st Amendment

Suspension of Freedom of Speech and other Rights: Sedition Act of 1918

made it illegal to speak against the nation, the armed forces, the war effort, or “utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal language” about the US gov’t

End of the Great War: Mandate System

territory and colonies from the Ottomans, Austria-Hungary, and Germany were made into new nations along ethnic lines

• Big powers believed they needed the guidance of more advanced nations, white mans burden

End of the Great War: Wilsons 14 points

Limiting arms, open sea, free trade, diplomacy, self-determination of ethnic minorities and small nations, and formation of a League of Nations