Chapter 21: United States and World War I (1914– 1921)

American Expeditionary Force

American military force that served in France in 1917 and 1918 under the command of General John J. Pershing. Both women and blacks served in the American army during the war, although black units were segregated and usually had white officers.

War Industries Board

Board that regulated American industry during World War I; it attempted to stimulate war production by allocating raw materials to factories that aided the war effort.

Committee on Public Information

Agency created during the war whose mission was to spread pro-Allied propaganda through the press and through newsreels; newspapers were asked to print only articles that were helpful to the war effort.

Fourteen Points

Plan for the postwar world that Woodrow Wilson brought to the Paris Peace Conference; Wilson’s plan proposed open peace treaties, freedom of the seas, arms reductions, and a League of Nations. Britain and France were openly suspicious of these plans, but they supported the creation of a League of Nations.

League of Nations

World body proposed by Woodrow Wilson as part of his 14-point peace plan.

1914

Outbreak of World War I in Europe

1914

Woodrow Wilson officially proclaims American neutrality in World War I

1914

National Security League founded to prepare America for war

1915

Sinking of the Lusitania by German U-boat

1916

Germany torpedoes Sussex, then promises to warn merchants ships if they are to be attacked

1916

Woodrow Wilson reelected with campaign slogan of “He kept us out of war”

1917

Zimmermann Telegram

1917

Germany declares unrestricted submarine warfare

1917

United States enters World War I, stating that U.S. rights as a neutral had been violated

1917

Russian Revolution; Russian-German peace talks

1917

Conscription begins in United States

1917

War Industries Board formed to create a war economy

1917

Espionage Act passed

1917

American Expeditionary Force lands in France

1918

Military success by American Expeditionary Force at Chateau-Thierry

1918

Sedition Act passed; free speech limited (illegal to criticize government or American military forces)

1918

Wilson announces the Fourteen Points

November 11, 1918

Armistice ends World War I

1919

Paris Peace Conference creates Treaty of Versailles

1919

Race riots in Chicago

1919

Wilson suffers stroke during speaking tour promoting Treaty of Versailles

1919

Senate rejects Treaty of Versailles; United States does not join the League of Nations

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

On June 28, 1914, Serbian terrorists assassinated Austrian _____________, starting a diplomatic chain reaction that led to a war involving most of Europe in August.

Central Powers

Germany

Austria-Hungary

Turkey

Triple Entente

Britain

France

Russia

Allied Powers

Britain

France

Russia

italy

August 4, 1914

American neutrality

US recession

European war orders ended the 1913 ________.

**Huns**

U-boats torpedoed ships without warning, killing crew and passengers. Americans found this form of warfare barbaric and began calling Germans "_________."

Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, the _________ sinking galvanized American opposition to the German submarine campaign.

Sussex Pledge

The Germans caved and signed the ________, promising not to sink ships without warning.

Charles Evans Hughes

Wilson narrowly defeated the reunited Republicans and their candidate, former New York governor and Supreme Court Justice ________, in the reelection.

Arthur Zimmermann

German foreign minister, he foolishly sent an inflammatory diplomatic note to Mexico as war loomed between Germany and the US.

**Zimmermann Telegram**

In a German-American war, he encouraged the Mexicans to attack the US and promised German support for a Mexican reconquest of the American Southwest. British intelligence intercepted and gave the ___________ to the Americans.

**American Expeditionary Force** (AEF)

June saw the **___________**'s first contingent arrive in France. This first detachment of this force helped boost Allied morale despite its small size.

Selective Service Act

Men between 17 and 46 could be drafted; In segregated units with white officers, 400,000 African Americans served in the military; 11,500 nurses and office workers wore uniform.

**Bolshevik Revolution**

In November 1917, this revolution ended Russian war participation

Chateau-Thierry

Americans stopped the German advance on Paris at _________.

American Meuse-Argonne Offensive

This massive offensive involved a million American soldiers, cut a vital German supply line, and convinced the enemy they had lost the war.

Meuse-Argonne fighting

Eddie Rickenbacker, the leading American flying ace, and Alvin York, who killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 more in the _________, returned home heroes.

**Charlie Chaplin**

Liberty Bonds could help civilians fund the war. Celebrities like **____________** promoted these bonds as a patriotic act.

Herbert Hoover

The Food Administration was led by _________, famous for feeding European refugees.

Food Administration

Here, Hoover increased food production and promoted "Wheatless Mondays" and "Meatless Tuesdays" to save food.

1917 Lever Food and Fuel Control Act

Food production and consumption were regulated by the ____________.

Fuel Administration

It promoted "Fuelless Mondays" and "Gasless Sundays" to help Americans.

War Industries Board (WIB)

War production was supported by industrial resource allocation by the _____________.

Bernard Baruch

By the end of the war, the WIB was harnessing the nation's industrial might under Wall Street tycoon _________.

**Committee on Public Information** (CPI)

In 1917, the government established the **_______________**. This informed Americans about the war under journalist George Creel.

Liberty Leagues

These were formed across the US to spy on neighbors and report any suspicious activity or disloyal talk to the authorities.

**anti-German hysteria**

German music, food, and language were banned in some communities due to **_________________**. Individual German Americans were harassed or worse.

St. Louis

In April 1918, a German-American man who had joined the navy was mobbed and lynched in _________.

1917 Espionage Act

Dissent was suppressed legally by the federal government. Interfering with the draft was illegal under the _________, and postal authorities could seize treasonous mail.

1918 Sedition Act

Criticizing the government, Constitution, or armed forces was illegal under the _________.

Robert Goldstein

A film producer, was sentenced to three years in prison for making a film about the American Revolution in which the British were portrayed as villains.

Fourteen Points

An idealistic program to build a peaceful world, while the war was still going on. It included open diplomacy (no more secret military treaties), freedom of the seas, national self-determination, and a League of Nations.

1919 Paris Peace Conference

Wilson attended the ______________, defying presidential precedent.

**Treaty of Versailles**

German diplomats had to sign the **_____________** or be invaded. German resentment over this treatment sparked **World War II**.

Ottoman Empire

Turkey was famously known for this Empire.

Zionism

Jews inspired by ______ had been settling in Ottoman-ruled Palestine since the late nineteenth century.

Balfour Declaration

The ____________, which supported a Jewish state in Palestine, was issued by the British in 1917 to weaken the Turks.

Christian Armenians

In 1915, The ___________ were massacred and starved by the Turks.

King-Crane Commission

The US was authorized to form the _____________ to study Middle Eastern political aspirations at the Paris Peace Conference.

**Henry Cabot Lodge**

Most Republicans followed Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman **______________**. He wanted the American ratification of the treaty to include League reservations.

Reservationists

Lodge’s supporters

Monroe Doctrine

Lodge wanted to ensure that the League of Nations would not invalidate the _______________ and that Congress would authorize American military actions on behalf of the League.

**Warren G. Harding**

In 1921, Wilson left office physically broken. His successor, **_________________**, signed separate peace treaties with the former Central Powers that year to end America's involvement in World War I.