US History Unit 7: World War One

Central Powers

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey

Allies

U.S., Great Britain, France, Russian; Italy switched from the Central Powers to the Allies in 1915. They were promised port cities on the Adriatic Sea

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The next king of Austria-Hungary; assassinated by a Serbian terrorist; this was the spark that kicked off WWI

Belgium

Germany invaded this country to begin actual combat

Trench warfare

the style of warfare used by combatants in WWI; resulted in a extraordinary number of casualities

New weapons of war

Machine gun, tank, “Big Bertha”, flamethrower, poison gas (Mustard Gas), U-boat, airplane

1915

German U-Boats Torpedo the British ship Lusitania; 128 Americans and over 1000 Brits and Europeans die; the Lusitania was carrying weapons

Neutrality

President Wilson declared neutrality to be the official American position once the war broke out; President Washington declared a Proclamation of Neutrality in the 1790s regarding foreign wars; the U.S. followed that policy until World War One

American Loans

the U.S. loaned far more money to the Allies than it did to the Central Powers

Zimmerman Note

Germany sends to Mexico; asking for Mexico to help in the war; in return Germany will help Mexico retake territory in the Southwestern U.S.

“make the world safe for democracy”

President Wilson stated this to be the official reason for America’s entry into the War; he was referring to the German invasion of the neutral country of Belgium

Black America’s respond to the War

W.E.B. DuBois urged African-Americans to fight, he believed that more equality would come after black soldiers returned home; more equality did not happen in the U.S. for Black Americans

the Committee on Public Information

created by the federal government to produce pro-war propaganda: movies posters, pamphlets, etc. “Minute Men” were trained to give patriotic speeches

Selective Service Act:

the Draft; originally ages 21-30; expanded to 18-45; 8 million drafted; all socio-economic groups were drafted

Doughboys

Americans troops were called this, the french greeted the “Yanks” like with cheers and applause when we arrived in Paris to go fight the war

Sedition and Espionage Acts

$10,000 penalty and 20 years in prison for those interfere with the draft, stir up disloyal to the government or the war effort. the government can inspect people’s mail; people can’t obstruct the sale of Liberty Bonds or say anything disloyal or abusive to the American form of government, the Constitution, or the army and navy

Eugene Debs

a socialist, and anti-war activist; he criticized the draft and was given 10 years in jail; Debs was let out of jail in less than a year

Schenck v. U.S.

The Supreme Court rules that government can limit freedom of speech during War; speech that causes a “clear and Present Danger” can be limited

Federal government issued an IQ Test to all soldiers

Southern and Eastern European immigrants scored much lower than did the rest of the Americans take the test; test questions were not always objective; one test given to literate soldiers, another to illiterate soldiers; low test scored by Southern'/Eastern European Immigrant led to the restrictive Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924

Government sold Liberty Bonds

to help pay for the war; they advertised Liberty Bonds heavily to the American people; Americans purchase $21 billion in Liberty Bonds; 2/3 of cost of war

Income Taxes

a War-time tax of 77% was put in place for a small # of very wealthy Americans

Food Administration

The Food Administration had the power to ration food, but did not do it; urged Americans to eat less meat, wheat, and sugar

First Great Migration

500,00 African-Americans leave the South and move to northern and mid-western cities for jobs

19th amendment

women can vote (suffrage)

Doughboys

the nickname given to Americans soldier in World War One

Meuse-Argonne Forest

the final battle of the War; American troops fight hard; 120,000 casualties over the course of 6 months; most devastation battle in American history

The Fourteen Points

President Woodrow Wilson’s plan to end the War in Europe and put an end to all war and conflict. The League of Nations was the most important of Wilson’s Fourteen Points

The Big Four

representatives from the U.S., France Great Britain, and Italy meet in Versailles, France. They agreed on the Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

the Peace Plan ending WWI: self-determination for European countries; the Germany army was capped at 100,000 soldiers, and Germany was not allowed to possess any heavy artillery. Germany had to admit to a “War Guilt” clause and pay somewhere around $30 to $50 billion to the Allies ; a League of Nations was established

Reservationists

President Wilson was a Democrat; he had to gain Republican support for the League of Nations. Reservationists were Republican Senators who liked the Treaty of Versailles; however, they worried that America’s membership in the League of Nations would pull America into foreign wars. They never ratified the Treaty of Versailles. The U.S. never joined the League of Nations

Henry Cabot Lodge

Republican senator from Massachusetts; leader of the Reservationists; Wilson could never get his support for the League of Nations

President Wilson’s 1919 public speaking tour

a 9500 mile public speaking tour to gain support from the American people; he hoped they would support the U.S. joining the League of Nations. Wilson suffered a stroke in Colorado and never recovered

Ratification of the League of Nations

Senate never ratified the League of Nations; the U.S. never joined the League of Nations