American Cultures World War I

Main Causes of World War I

1 Militarism
2 Alsace-Lorraine
3 Nationalism
4 Imperialism
5 Alliances

Militarism

Glorification of military strength

Ottoman Empire

Muslim empire that succeeds Byzantine Empire
Lost all territory but Turkey, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq by 1914

Empire called “sick man of Europe”

Ottoman Empire

Germany

39 independent kingdoms in 1800s
Result of fall of Holy Roman Empire
Largest is Prussia

Otto Von Bismark

Prussian statesmen who unified Germany

Kaiser Wilhelm II

German Emperor

War that was most important to us regarding militarism

Franco-Prussian War

Prussia

crushes France in conflict
Gains valuable land holdings of France
key was raw size and superior equipment German Army

Causes of European Militarism

France feels they need to catch up to Germany in terms of military strength
Germany needs to keep advantage to avoid France retaking lands France lost in Franco-Prussian War
Other nations fear German strength and don't want to fall behind

Alsace-Lorraine

Taken by Germany in Franco-Prussian War
rich in minerals and great farm land
France wants it back

Nationalism

Belief that people of same backgrounds (ethnic, religious, cultural, etc.) should belong to one nation.

Pan Slavism

Nationalistic movement for Southern Slavic people to be independent nation
Centers on BALKANS
Serbs, Croats, Bosnians
27 mil Slavs live under rule of Austria-Hungary

Russia

self-appointed protector of Southern Slavic people
made up of Eastern Slavs
Many are Orthodox Christians
supporter of Serbia

Two Moraccan Crises

Germany supports independence-starts war
UK and France draw closer because of German Threat

Alliances

Agreement between nations to fight at side of one another in event one of them becomes involved in a war

Who has informal pact with Serbia to protect Southern Slavvs

Russia

Treaty of London

GB agrees to protect Belgium’s neutrality in European Conflicts

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir to throne of Austro-Hungarian Empire
visited Bosnia
brings his wife Sophie
AH had recently annexed Bosnia
Serbia not happy about annexation

Black Hand Society

Serbs who oppose Austria Hungary rule over Bosnia – Herzegovina
Believe in Pan-Slavism and that B-H should be part of Serbia
Not a gov agency – but Serbian gov’t generally aware of what they do

Response to Archduke Assasination

Blames Serbia
Went to Germany for support
Germany gives Austria Hungary a Blank Check

"Blank Check"

Do what you like – we will back you if you choose to attack Serbia, even if it means war with Russia

Ultimatum with Serbia

Knows Serbia will never agree to the list of demands
Serbia agrees to all but one
Austria says not good enough!

Official Start of World War I

Austria declares war on Serbia in July 28, 1914

Russia enters war

begins to mobilize troops on borders of GER and Austria
GER says stop or war will result
GER declares war on Russia on August 1, 1914

Schlieffen Plan

Want to avoid potential for two front war
Assume it will take Russia weeks to fully mobilize to fight.
Plan is to take out France quickly so can then focus on Russia

Date they declare war on France

August 3 1914

Schlieffen Plan

Hope to conquer France in 40 days
Means invading neutral Belgium
GER thinks UK will need months to fight

Date UK declares war on GER

August 4, 1914

German Advance Halted

Germany breezes through Belgium
Halted by British and French forces at Marne River
Both sides dig in
Trench warfare (Trenches from English Channel to Switzerland)
Stalemate created

New Weapons of War

Machine Guns, Poison Gas, Giant Artillery Guns, Flame throwers, U-Boats, Zepplin, Airplanes, Tanks

Types of Poison Gas

Mustard
Tear
Chlorine
Phosogene

Zepplin

Located subs

Triple Alliance becomes Central Powers

1. Germany
2. Austria-Hungary
3. Ottoman Empire
- Initially neutral
- Enter war Nov 1914
4. Bulgaria

Triple Entete becomes Allied Powers

France
United Kingdom
Russia
Serbia
Belgium
Italy

Reason Italy joined Allied powers

neutral
Convinced to join with promise of new territories on Adriatic Sea after Allies win
Enter war in 1915

Triple Entete becomes Allied powers

France, United Kingdom, Russia, Serbia, Belgium, Italy, United States ,Japan, Portugal, China, Albania, Romania, Greece

Wilson

Urged Americans to be “impartial in thought as well as
action”
Most held a preference for one or another combatant
Many businesses benefited from increased demand by warring
nations for American goods

Divided Loyalties

1914: 1/3 of Americans were foreign-born
German-Americans, Irish-Americans
Most Americans sided with Britain/France

Who supported central powers

German-Americans, Irish-Americans

Isolationist

the war was none of Americas business,
isolate from hostilities

Interventionists

the war affected American interests,
the U.S. should intervene on the side of Allies

Internationalists

the U.S. should play role in world
affairs, work toward achieving peace, but not enter
war

Belgium

British journalists/propagandists stressed brutality of Germany’s actions

British Blockade, German Response

Britain used their navy to blockade Germany to keep essential goods from reaching their enemy
Germany responded by sinking Allied ships using U-boats

Lusitania

German U-Boat sank it, British passenger ship
128 Americans on board
Wilson still wants peace

Susexx Pledge

Germany helped keep U.S. out of war by promising
not to sink any more passenger ships
1916: Germany violated by sinking the Susexx

Susexx Pledge

Germany pledged not to sink
unarmed ships

National Defense Act

expanded the size of
army

Naval Construction Act

ordered the building of more
warships

2 Events that pushed U.S. into War

1 Zimmerman Note
2 Unrestricted Submarine warfare

Arthur Zimmerman

German Foreign Minister sent telegram to Mexico

Zimmerman Note

Stated that if U.S. declared war on Germany, Mexico
should declare war on U.S.
In return, Mexico would receive Texas, New Mexico, and
Arizona
Telegram intercepted by British; gave it to U.S.

Date Wilson asked Congress for declaration of war

April 2, 1917

Why War?

1. 1914-1917 – U.S. gave money/munitions to Allies
2. Commercial interests – worldwide markets
3. British propaganda
4. World could be made safe for democracy
5. Americans believed they were on brink of
greatness

3 goals for America mobilizing for war

1. Build an army
2. Constructing War Economy
3. Shape Public Opinion

Pre-War U.S. military

U.S. NOT prepared for war
• 200,000 soldiers (many still in training)
• few guns
• 3rd largest navy, many ships need repairs, not enough crew
• No planes or tanks

Wilson Building army

1. Encouraged Americans to volunteer
2. Pushed Congress to pass the Selective Service Act
(military draft)
- Mandatory draft registration for men 21-30
- 24 mil Americans registered, 2.8 mil drafted

Construction of War Economy

U.S. and Allies need TONS of supplies, equipment,
ammunition, etc.
Wilson-Creates:
• War Industries Board
• Fuel Administration
• Food Administration

War Industry Board

broad powers
distribution of raw materials
• Tells manufacturers what must be produced
• Sets prices
•Succeeded in supplying
war
•Headed by Bernard Baruch

Fuel Admin

Goals are to:
• Increase fuel production (esp. coal)
• Reduce non-industrial consumption
Implements daylight saving time
•Encourages public to observe
“gasless days”

Food Admin

Goals:
Conserve meat, wheat, sugar, fats
Increase production
Set prices high for wheat to increase production
• Asked Americans to conserve food as
patriotic gesture
• Headed by Herbert Hoover
Encouraged famers to purchase more land to increase production and reap wartime profits

Committee on Public Info

Goal: educate public about
causes and nature of the war
Convince Americans that war
was just a cause
•Headed by George Creel

Committee on Public Info

Distributed 75 million pamphlets
•Assembled an army of 75,000 speakers
• “4 minute men”
•Designed, printed, distributed millions of posters
• Dramatized needs of America and its allies
• Stressed cruelty and wickedness of enemy

Cost of war

$35.5 billion
William McAdoo led effort to
raise money

Two Pronged Approach

1 Raise income taxes
2 Sell bonds

Resistance of Drafts

Some felt draft was an illegal intrusion of government into their private lives
• Draft dodgers were imprisoned

Conscientious Objectors

People whose moral or religious beliefs forbid them to
fight in wars

Jane Addams

formed Women's peace party

Jeanette Rankin

First woman to serve in U.S. House of Representatives
• Voted against declaration of war

Espionage Act of 1917

Allowed postal authorities to ban treasonable or seditious
newspapers/magazines/printed materials
• Severe penalties for anyone engaged in disloyal or treasonable
activities
• Obstructing army recruiters, aiding the enemy, interfering with war
effort = $10,000 fine, 20 years in prison

Sedition Act of 1918

Unlawful to use “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or
abusive language” about the American form of
gov, Constitution, or military
• Prosecuted socialists, political radicals, pacifists
• Eugene V. Debs imprisoned for giving anti-war speech

Schenck v U.S.

Upheld constitutionality of Sedition Act
• SCOTUS ruled there are times that public order is so
pressing that First Amendment protections of speech
do not apply

Anti-German Hysteria

Many schools stopped teaching
German language courses
City College in NY – continued
teaching German, but lowered
credits received for class
• Books published in German
were removed from libraries

German Americans "Americanized" their names

Schmidt became Smith

War Changes

new oppurtunities for"
Women
African Americans
Mexican Americans

women

Filled jobs that were vacated by men
Convinced Wilson to support women’s
suffrage

African Americans-armed forces

Thousands enlisted or were drafted
Fought in segregated units, under white officers

African Americans-Homefront

Moved from rural South to industrial North

Mexican-Americans

Faced violence, desperate poverty
•Sought work on large ranches in the American
West
•Increased demand for food, decrease in American
farmworkers created jobs

Convoys

groups of merchant ships sailed
together, protected by warships
• Made up of British and American ships
• Instant success

Treaty of Brest

Litovsk ended the war between Russia
and Germany

John J. Pershing

commander of
American forces in Europe

War Ends

Fall of 1918, German front was collapsing
• Many German, Austro-Hungarian men deserted,
mutinied, refused to fight
• November 11th, 1918, Germany signs an armistice

Goals of Wilson's 14 pts

1 Eliminate root causes of WWI
• Open diplomacy
• Freedom of the seas
• Encourage free trade
• Reduce arms stockpiles
• End secret alliances
• Scale back colonialism

Goals of Wilson's 14 pts

2 Ethnic Self-Determination
• Ethnic groups should be able to control own political
futures
• Desire of Southern Slavs to have own nation motivated
Ferdinand’s assassination , causes alliances to
create World War

League of Nations

International organization where nations of the world
join together to ensure peace and security of all
members
• Provides forum to resolve disputes without war
• Member nations agree to protect each other’s
independence and territorial integrity

Wilson at Paris Peace Confrence

• Allied leaders weren’t inspired by Wilson’s idealism
• Blamed Germany for the war
• Reminded Wilson that they suffered more than the
U.S.

Reperations

payment for war damages

David Lloyd George

British Prime Minister
• Insisted on protecting existing colonies
• Wanted to punish Germany

Georges Clemenceau

French President
• Demanded return of Alsace-Lorraine
• Demanded several German colonies
• Wanted to punish Germany

Failed 14 pt proposals

Freedom of the seas
• Free trade
• Liberation of colonial empires
• General disarmament
Wilson refused to compromise on the League of
Nations, L.O.N. became part of the final treaty

Wilson faced trouble at home

German Americans thought treaty
was too harsh towards Germany
Irish Americans criticized the failure
to create an independent Ireland
Stiff opposition from both parties in
the Senate

“Irreconcilables”

isolationist
Senators, opposed any treaty that had
the L.O.N. tied into it

“Reservationists”

opposed the treaty
as it was written, wanted changes
• Led by Henry Cabot Lodge

Wilson death

weak and ill a stroke