Unit 7 World War I

MAIN

“Main” reasons for going to war for the United States:

• Militarism

• Alliance Systems

• Imperialism

• Nationalism

Militarism

European powers, especially Germany, had been building, massive armies, and Navy for decades. In arms race between Britain and Germany made a war feel almost inevitable to many leaders.

Alliance systems

Europe was divided into two armed camps

• Triple alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy)

• Triple Entente (France, Russia, Britain)

A conflict between any two nations threatened to pull in all the other others

Imperialism

competition for colonies in Africa and Asia created deep rivalries and resentment between the major powers, especially between Germany and the established empires of Britain and France.

Nationalism

intense pride in one's nation or ethnic group destabilized, multi ethnic empires like Austria-Hungary. Serbian nationalism, triggered the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, June 28, 1914, the spark that set off World War I

German Submarine Warfare

• May 7, 1915: a German U-boat sinks the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. 1198 passengers and crew are killed including 128 Americans Germany argues that the ship was carrying war munitions for Britain (true). American public outrage was immediate.

• May 1916: after US protests, Germany issues, the Sussex pledge, proux promising to warn civilian ships before attacking and allow allowing passengers to evacuate (ineffective for submarines)

• January 31, 1917: Germany announces the consumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. All ships in British waters, including neutral vessels, will be sunk without warning. Wilson breaks diplomatic relations with Germany the next day.

The Zimmerman telegram

British intelligence intercepted and decoded the telegram and shared it with the United States government in February 1917. A telegram from Germany to Mexico in claiming it will go to war and if allied will promise Mexico to gain back some of the land lost in the Mexican cession such as Texas. It was published an American newspapers on March 1, 1917. Public outrage, especially in the southwest, was enormous. Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war on April 2, 1917 to officially bring the United States into World War I.

War industries board

Directed by Bernard Baruch, it coordinated all in industrial production for the war effort. It set prices, allocated raw materials, and told factories what to make the WIB gave Washington more control over the economy that at any point in US history to that date.

Food administration

Directed by Herbert Hoover, it managed the entire nation's food supply. It encouraged "wheatless Wednesday's” and “meatless Mondays” to conserve food for troops in Europe. It made Hoover a national hero and set the stage for his political rise.

Committee on public information

Directed by George Creel, it was the United States government propaganda agency during World War I. it produced posters, pamphlets, films, and speeches known as “four minute men” to build public support for the war and demonize the enemy

Fuel administration

Directed by Harry Garfield, it managed the United States coal and oil supplies. It instituted “heatless Mondays” and moved the nation to daylight savings time for the first time to conserve fuel

War labor board

Directed by William Howard Taft and Frank Walsh, mediated disputes between workers and employers to prevent strikes from disrupting war production. It pressured employers to recognize unions and set an eight hour workday in war industries.

Homefront Anti-German Sentiment

• Language: German language instruction was virtually banned from being taught in any educational setting within the United States, and also typically barred for being spoken in public

• Names and culture: sauerkraut was renamed “liberty cabbage” along with many similar switches. German Americans emphasized their surnames to receive less hate.

• Music: Beethoven and other German or considered enemy composers were removed from Symphony programs. The Boston Symphony German conductor was forced to resign. Wagner and Bach were boycotted and caused her halls from New York to San Francisco.

• Violence: German Americans were beaten, tard and feathered, and in one notorious case in April 1918, a young German immigrant named Robert Prager, was lynched by a mob in Collinsville, Illinois. The men responsible were acquitted by a jury in less than 45 minutes.

• The dehumanization of the enemy from the CPI made all of this even more popular and “understandable” for Americans to perform such acts

Espionage Act

June 1917, made it a federal crime to interfere with military recruitment, to cause “insubordination”in the armed forces, or to obstruct the draft. The penalties were up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Sedition Act

Yes, Like from all the way back in John Quincy Adam’s Time! May 1918, extended the espionage act to criminalize any “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the United States government, military, constitution, or flag - including in private conversation. Over 2000 people were prosecuted. Socialist leader, Eugene V Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison for giving a speech against the draft - meanwhile, he ran for president while incarcerated and got many votes.

Schenck v. United States

1919, SCOTUS case which unanimously upheld the espionage act. Justice Oliver Wade Holmes wrote that free speech could be limited when it presented a “clear and present danger”, famously comparing anti-war speech to “falsely shouting fire in the theater”. Home leader partially walked back this reasoning in Abrams v United States

The Great Migration

with millions of white men entering the military and European immigration cut off by the war, northern factories desperately needed labor. Between 1910 and 1930, approximately 1.6 million African-Americans left the south. The immigration reshuffled the political and cultural geography of the United States and helped give the rise to the Harlem Renaissance and a new black political consciousness.

Wilsons 14 Points

President Woodrow Wilsons goals outlined within “14 points” for the word after the conclusion of World War I

• Freedom of the seas

• Self-determination for all peoples

• Open diplomacy (no secret treaties)

• Reduction of armaments

• Formation of a league of nations to peacefully resolve future conflicts