WWI (APUSH) American Pageant

American pageant 29

the triple wall of priviledge

wilson wanted to attack

the tariff, banks, trust

woodrow Wilson governor of? how?

new jersey

campaigned against trusts and promising to return the state government to the people.

wilson as a president

used sincerity and moral appeal to attract the public

He was smart, but he didn't have people skills. Wilson's idealism and sense of moral righteousness made him incredibly stubborn in negotiating.

Underwood Tariff Bill

reduced the tariff significantly

result of Wilson calling a special meeting of Congress in 1913 to address the tariff.

16th Amendment

ratified in 1913

This enabled Congress to collect a graduated income tax.

National Banking Act

passed during the civil war

resulted in many problems, mainly the

inelasticity of money. In times of financial stress, banking reserves, which were located in New York and other large cities, could not distribute money fast enough into areas of need.

Federal Reserve Act

1913

• The new Federal Reserve Board, appointed by the President, oversaw a nationwide system of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks. Each reserve bank was the central bank for its region. The final authority of the Federal Reserve Board guaranteed a substantial level of public control.

Federal Reserve Notes

aka the US dollar

issued by the federal reserve board

Because of this, the amount of money in circulation could be increased as needed for the requirements of business.

Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914

Congress passed

created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which oversaw industries engaged in interstate commerce

This organization could issue cease-and-desist orders to companies engaged in unfair business tactics.

Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914

lengthened the Sherman Act's list of business practices that were deemed objectionable

It also sought to exempt labor and agricultural organizations from antitrust prosecution, while legalizing strikes and peaceful picketing. Union leader Samuel Gompers supported the act.

Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916

made low-interest rate loans available to farmers

Warehouse Act of 1916

enabled farmers to take out loans against the value of their staple crops, which were stored in government warehouses.

La Follette Seamen's Act of 1915

benefited sailors by requiring decent treatment and a living wage on American ships.

Workingmen's Compensation Act of 1916

giving assistance to federal civil-service employees during periods of disability.

Also in 1916, the President approved an act restricting child labor on products flowing into interstate commerce.

Adamson Act of 1916

established an 8-hour work day for all employees on trains in interstate commerce.

Louis D. Brandeis

nominated by Wilson to Supreme Court

progressive reformer, and he was the first Jew to be a Supreme Court justice.

what was wilson’s foreign policy?

anti-imperialist

opposed an aggressive foreign policy.

What is the Panama Canal Tolls Act of 1912?

What did Wilson do about it?

• exempted American coastal shipping from tolls.

• Wilson persuaded Congress in 1914 to repeal the act

Jones Act

1916

granted the Philippines territorial status and promised independence as soon as a stable government could be established.

Haiti

1915 - political turmoil broke out `

Wilson dispatched marines to protect American lives and property. 1916- he signed a treaty with Haiti that provided for U.S. supervision of finances and the police.

what did Wilson purchase from denmark?

the virgin islands in 1917

Mexican revolution

1913, a Mexican revolution occurred and the Mexican president was murdered and replaced by General Victoriano Huerta

general victoriano huerta

brutal dictator

as a result, millions of Mexicans came to America

Wilson’s original stand on intervening

refused to directly intervene

wanted the Mexican citizens to overthrow their government, themselves.

Tampico Incident

a small party of American sailors was accidentally captured by the Mexicans —> Wilson ordered the navy to seize the Mexican port of Vera Cruz.

prevention of war why?

Just as war seemed imminent with Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile intervened and pressured Huerta to step down.

Venustiano Carranza

new president of Mexico

Francisco Villa, rival to President Carranza, attempted to provoke a war between Mexico and the U.S by killing Americans.

General John J. Perishing

Wilson ordered General John J. Perishing to break up Villa's band of outlaws. The invading American army was withdrawn from Mexico in 1917 as the threat of war with Germany loomed.

Start of WWI

1914 - assassination of Franz Ferdinand - heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary was murdered by a Serb patriot

• outraged Vienna government (backed by Germany) presented a series of demands to Serbia. Serbia (backed by Russia) refused to comply.

• Russia mobilized its army, causing Germany to also mobilize its army.

• France initially implied that it would be neutral in the Germany-Russia conflict. But, as Germany was bordered on both sides by potential enemies, it decided to first defeat France so that it could focus on fighting Russia

Central Powers

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria

Allies

France, Britain, Russia, Japan, and Italy.

US and WWI (at the start)

proclamation of neutrality - wilson

Most Americans were anti-German from the start of the war.

• viewed Kaiser Wilhelm II, the leader of Germany, as the embodiment of arrogant autocracy.

• opposed to war.

Who was the leader of Germany?

Kaiser Wilhelm II

trade during the war (US)

• American industry prospered off trade with the Allies

• The Central Powers protested American trade with the Allies, but America wasn't breaking any international neutrality laws

• Germany was free to trade with the U.S., but Britain prevented this trade by controlling the Atlantic Ocean through which Germany had to cross to trade with the U.S.

Sinking of the Lusitania

In 1915

several months after Germany started to use submarines in the war (U-boats)

one of Germany's submarines sunk the British ship, Lusitania, killing 128 Americans.

Americans demanded war but President Wilson firmly opposed war.

The Arabic

1915 - Germany sunk another British ship

agreed to not sink unarmed passenger ships without warning.

The Sussex + Sussex Pledge

• Germany sunk a French passenger steamer, the Sussex

• Germany agreed to the Sussex pledge, which again said that Germany would not sink unarmed ships without warning

• BUT the U.S. would have to convince the Allies to stop their trade blockade. This was not possible, so war with Germany became imminent.

Election of 1916

• Theodore Roosevelt nominated by the Progressives, refused to run for president because he didn't want to split the party again

• Republicans - Supreme Court justice Charles Evans Hughes

  • condemned the Democratic tariff

  • assaults on the trusts

  • Wilson's dealings with Mexico and Germany.

Democrats = Wilson and ran an anti-war campaign. Woodrow Wilson won the election of 1916.

Zimmerman Note

German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann secretly proposed a German-Mexican alliance with the Zimmermann note

News of the Zimmermann note leaked out to the public, infuriating Americans.

Declaration of War

April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked for a declaration of war from Congress

after 4 more unarmed merchant ships were sunk.

Three Main causes for US involvement

• Zimmermann Note

• Germany declares unrestricted submarine warfare

• Bolshevik Revolution - pulled out of the war which led to Germans being pulled from the Eastern front to the west

  • Germany now had an advantage

Wilson’s justification for war

used to persuade American public to support war

declared that America would be fighting "for a war to end war" and "to make the world safe for democracy."

Wilson’s Fourteen Points Address

gave speech to Congress on January 8, 1918

The message declared that WWI was being fought for a moral cause and it called for post-war peace in Europe

gave Wilson the position of moral leadership of the Allies

first 5 points of 14 Point Address and their effects

1) A proposal to abolish secret treaties pleased liberals of all countries.

2) Freedom of the seas appealed to the Germans, as well as to Americans who distrusted British sea power.

3) A removal of economic barriers among nations was comforting to Germany, which feared postwar vengeance.

4) Reduction of armament burdens was gratifying to taxpayers.

5) An adjustment of colonial claims in the interests of both native people and the colonizers was reassuring to the anti-imperialists.

14 The largest point

• foreshadowed the League of Nations - an international organization that Wilson dreamed would provide a system of collective security.

League of Nations

foreshadowed by pt 14

an international organization that Wilson dreamed would provide a system of collective security.

Committee on Public Information

created to rally public support of war

led by George Creel whose job was to sell America on the war and to sell the world on Wilsonian war goals.

German Americans

over 8 million German-Americans in America

rumors began to spread of spying and sabotage

A hysterical hatred of Germans and things related to Germany swept the nation.

Espionage Act of 1917

sought to prevent support of U.S. enemies during wartime.

broad language was used to prosecute anti-war dissenters

Socialist Eugene V. Debs and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) leader William D. Haywood were convicted under the Espionage Act.

Sedition Act of 1918

made it illegal to speak out against the government.

Schenck v. United States (1919)

upheld that any criticism of the government could be censored and punished.

it argued that freedom of speech could be revoked when such speech posed a danger to the nation.

Civilian Council of National Defense

Before the war, President Wilson created a Civilian Council of National Defense

study problems of economic mobilization

increased the size of the army and created a shipbuilding program.

Fears of big government restricted efforts to coordinate the economy from Washington.

War Industries Board

1918, Wilson appointed Bernard Baruch as head

to create order over the economic confusion

never had much control, but it set a precedent for how the Federal government would handle the economy in times of crisis.

National War Labor Board

• Workers were discouraged from striking by the War Department's decree in 1918 that threatened to draft any unemployed male.

tried to fix labor disputes before they hurt the war effort

The AF of L's (American Federation of Labor) supported the war and because of this, membership had more than doubled by the end of the war.

IWW (Industrial Workers of the World)

had some of the worst working conditions in the country.

AF of L's (American Federation of Labor)

supported the war and because of this, membership had more than doubled by the end of the war.

Steel Industry Strike

Wartime inflation reduced wage gains; this led to thousands of strikes across the country.

In 1919, the greatest strike in American history

More than 250,000 steelworkers went on strike, seeking the right to organize and collectively bargain.

The steel companies refused to negotiate

brought in 30,000 African-Americans to keep the mills running. The strike eventually collapsed, crippling the union movement.

Great Migration

Thousands of blacks moved to the North in search of war-industry employment and freedom from racism. Deadly disputes between whites and blacks broke out.

National Woman's party

led by Alice Paul

protested the war.

National American Woman Suffrage Association

The larger part of the suffrage movement supported the war.

After men left the country to fight in the war, women took up the factory and field jobs.

19th Amendment

1920

Impressed by this work, President Wilson supported passage of the 19th Amendment (1920), which gave all American women the right to vote.

Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921

gave federally financed instruction in maternal and infant health care.

Draft Act of 1917

Wilson initially opposed a draft

eventually realized that a draft was necessary to raise the large army that was to be sent to France

required the registration of all males between the ages of 18 and 45, and it did not allow for a man to purchase his exemption from the draft.

For the first time, women were allowed in the armed forces.

Bolshevik Revolution

In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution (communist) in Russia overthrew the tsar regime

- decided to pull Russia out of the "capitalist" war.

- freed up thousands of Germans on the Russian front to fight against France on the western front.

US troops in WWI

• A year after Congress declared war, the first American troops reached France

• They were used as replacements in the Allied armies and were generally deployed in quiet sectors with the British and French. Shipping shortages plagued the Allies.

• sent to Belgium, Italy, and Russia

• sent to Russia because they hoped to prevent Russian munitions from falling into the hands of the Germans.

Marshal Foch

French

spring of 1918

the Allies, for the first time, united under a supreme commander

to fight the German expansion on the western front.

To stop Germany from taking Paris and France, 30,000 American troops were sent to the French frontlines.  This was the first significant engagement of American troops in a European war.

Second Battle of the Marne

July 1918 the German expansion was halted

Foch made a counteroffensive in the Second Battle of the Marne. This engagement marked the beginning of a German withdrawal.

American Army

dissatisfied with simply bolstering the French and British

demanded a separate army

General John J. Pershing was assigned a front of 85 miles.

Meuse-Argonne offensive

Pershing's army undertook the Meuse-Argonne offensive

September 26 to November 11, 1918

One objective was to cut the German railroad lines feeding the western front

Inadequate training left 10% of the Americans involved in the battle injured or killed.

Germany surrender?

As German supplies ran low and as their allies began to desert them, defeat was in sight for Germany.

November 11, 1918, after the kaiser of Germany had fled to Holland.

US Main contributions

• foodstuffs, munitions, credits, oil, and manpower

• only fought 2 major battles, at St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne

• The prospect of endless U.S. troops, rather than America's actual military performance eventually demoralized the Germans.

Wilson and the aftermath

President Wilson had gained a lot support throughout the world because he was viewed as the moral leader of the war.

Leading up to the congressional elections of November 1918, Wilson asked the public to re-elect a Democratic majority in Congress.

• He thought it would help him negotiate and pass a treaty.

• angered much of the public, and voters instead elected a Republican majority to Congress.

Wilson's decision to go to Paris in person to negotiate the treaty infuriated the Republicans because no president had ever traveled to Europe.

Paris Conference

dominated by the big 4

• Wilson's ultimate goal was the creation of the League of Nations. It would contain an assembly with seats for all nations and a council to be controlled by the great powers. Wilson envisioned it as a way to prevent future world wars.

• In February 1919, the the Big Four agreed to include the creation of the League in the treaty.

Big Four

United States, Italy, Britain, France.

Big Four reps

President Wilson (led the conference)

Premier Vittorio Orlando of Italy

Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain

Premier Georges Clemenceau of France.

Saar Valley

France gave up claims for the Saar Valley (part of Germany)

• it would remain separate from France for 15 years, and then a popular vote would determine its fate

• In exchange for this, Britain and America agreed to the Security Treaty

Security Treaty

in exchange for France giving up Saar valley

American and Britain would defend France if Germany invaded again.

Fiume

Italy demanded Fiume, a valuable seaport inhabited by both Italians and Yugoslavs. Wilson wanted it to go to the Yugoslavs, but this was opposed by the Italians. Ownership of the area was ultimately not established.

Shandong Peninsula

Japan demanded China's Shandong Peninsula and the German islands of the Pacific, which it had seized during the war

• After Japan threatened to walk out, Wilson accepted a compromise in which Japan kept Germany's economic holdings in Shandong and pledged to return the peninsula to China at a later date.

Treaty of Versailles

forced upon the Germans in June 1919

• The Germans were outraged with the treaty, which spoke more of vengeance than reconciliation

• Most of the Fourteen Points were left out of the treaty.

Wilson compromised away some of his Fourteen Points in attempts to salvage the League of Nations.

irreconcilables

Isolationist congressmen

did not support the treaty or the League of Nations.

Treaty of Versailles and the US

• Most Americans supported the treaty

In an attempt to speed up the passing of the treaty in the Senate, President Wilson gave speeches across the country to appeal to the public. The speeches had mixed reactions. During the tour, Wilson suffered a stroke.

Wilson strongly opposed the Lodge’s reservations, and after the Senate rejected the Treaty twice, the Treaty of Versailles was defeated.

Senator Lodge

a critic to the president

came up with fourteen reservations to the Treaty of Versailles

He wanted to give the U.S. more control over how it interacted with other nations and how these nations interacted with it.

The "Solemn Referendum" of 1920

Wilson decided to settle the treaty issue in the presidential campaign of 1920; if voters elected a Democrat, then this would mean they supported the treaty.

Republicans= Senator Warren G. Harding

• VP= Governor Calvin Coolidge.

• appealed to both pro-League and anti-League sentiment in the party.

Democrats = pro-League Governor James. M. Cox

• VP= Franklin D. Roosevelt

Warren Harding won the election of 1920. Harding's victory led to the death of the League of Nations.

America and the aftermath of WWI

After WWI, America became isolationist and it did not embrace a role as a global leader

In the interests of its own security, the United States should have used its enormous strength to shape the world

It instead allowed the world to drift towards another war.