❤️❤️ CH 21 World War I & Its Aftermath Notes

I. Introduction

World War I, also known as "The Great War," had a profound impact on the world. It led to the collapse of empires, the creation of new nations, and increased global tensions.
The war introduced modern weaponry that caused immense destruction and loss of life, particularly among young men.
The United States entered the war in 1917, marking a significant turning point in its role as a global military power.
Domestically, the war initially boosted American progressivism but later suppressed it through harsh repressive measures.
The war fostered national pride while also fueling disillusionment, which undermined the hopes of the Progressive Era.
It set the stage for a global depression, a second world war, and ongoing national, religious, and cultural conflicts worldwide.

II. Prelude to War

The rise of the German empire in the late 19th century disrupted the traditional balance of power in Europe.
Wilhelm II, who became the German monarch in 1888, pursued an ambitious agenda, including building a strong German navy to rival Great Britain's Royal Navy.
Wilhelm's actions and Germany's growing influence led to the formation of new alliances among European nations.
In 1892, Russia and France formed a defensive alliance to counter the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austro-Hungary, and Italy.
Great Britain initially remained unaligned but later joined France and Russia in the Triple Entente due to concerns about Germany's naval expansion and diplomatic crises.
The Ottoman Empire in Turkey posed another threat to European peace. Austro-Hungarian expansion into Turkish lands worried Tsar Nicholas II, who saw Russia as the protector of Slavic nations in the Balkans.
By 1914, Austro-Hungary controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina and aimed to expand into Serbia, which was protected by Russia.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in 1914 by a Serbian nationalist triggered a crisis that led to the outbreak of World War I.
The United States played a limited role in global diplomacy, focusing on domestic affairs and economic expansion.
American foreign policy was guided by President George Washington's advice to avoid foreign alliances and maintain neutrality.
However, as the U.S. developed its industrial economy and expanded its empire in the 1880s, Congress authorized the construction of a modern navy.
Border issues in Mexico served as a testing ground for the modernization of American military forces.
The Davis Act of 1908 and the National Defense Act of 1916 led to the development of the National Guard and military reserves, providing a strategic reserve of trained soldiers and sailors.
In April 1914, President Woodrow Wilson sent Marines to Veracruz, Mexico, to prevent German arms shipments to Mexican leader Victoriano Huerta.
The threat of war in Europe led to the passage of the Naval Act of 1916, which aimed to make the U.S. Navy the world's greatest.
In 1916, Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, prompting President Wilson to send General John "Black Jack" Pershing to capture Villa.
After the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914, President Wilson declared American neutrality, but economic ties to the British and French drew the United States closer to the conflict.
German submarine attacks, such as the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915, increased public anger and support for war.
By 1914, the United States had become the world's leading industrial economy, producing over one-third of the world's manufactured goods.

III. War Spreads through Europe

After the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary issued ultimatums to Serbia and declared war on July 28, 1914.
Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914, after Russia began mobilizing its forces to protect Serbia.
Germany implemented the Schlieffen Plan, which involved invading France through neutral Belgium, leading Great Britain to declare war on Germany on August 4, 1914.
By 1915, the war had devolved into trench warfare stalemates with huge casualties, especially for the British and French armies.
In March 1917, the regime of Tsar Nicholas II collapsed in Russia, a major turning point for Germany.
Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, hoping to defeat the Allies before the United States could intervene effectively.
The Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany offered Mexico support in regaining territory in the United States, further pushed the U.S. towards war.

IV. America Enters the War

By the spring of 1917, President Wilson believed a German victory would destabilize Europe.
German submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram led Congress to declare war on Germany on April 4, 1917.
The United States was largely unprepared for modern warfare, lacking a large standing army or trained military reserves.
American labor organizations preferred voluntary service over conscription, but Congress passed the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917, instituting a draft.
The conscription act required men aged twenty-one to thirty to register for military service, with basic physical fitness as the primary requirement.
The Army Medical Department examined recruits, finding that over 34 percent were rejected for service or later discharged for neurological, psychiatric, or mental deficiencies.
The army used cognitive skills tests, such as the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests, to evaluate intelligence, but the results were later criticized for misrepresenting recruits' education levels.
The army accepted immigrants, although some were segregated due to public agitation against "hyphenated Americans."
Prevailing racial attitudes led to the segregation of white and Black soldiers into different units.
Despite discrimination, many Black leaders, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, supported the war effort, hoping it would demonstrate Black citizens' capabilities and willingness to sacrifice.
The War Department restricted Black troops from combat, assigning them to segregated service units.
The U.S. government implemented social control measures to ensure American soldiers remained morally pure.
Women joined military and civilian organizations, filling administrative positions to free men for combat units.
Approximately twenty-five thousand nurses served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, but they did not have commissioned officer status and faced abuse.
Millions of women volunteered in civilian organizations, such as the American Red Cross and YMCA/YWCA.
Black women faced discrimination in both the military and civilian sectors, but they formed auxiliary units to support Black soldiers.

V. On the Homefront

Initially, Americans were detached from the war in Europe, focusing on domestic issues.
However, the brutality of modern warfare and the sense that the fate of the Western world was at stake led to increased support for the Allies.
American trade with the Allies tripled, while trade with the Central Powers decreased significantly.
The war generated debates about military preparedness, and the U.S. mobilized military resources and cultivated popular support through propaganda campaigns.
President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (Creel Committee) to promote patriotism and support for the war.
The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 restricted dissent and protest against the war, leading to the imprisonment of critics and protesters.
Immigrants, labor unions, and political radicals were targeted by government investigations and public hostility.
Americans supported the war effort by purchasing war bonds and contributing financially.

VI. Before the Armistice

The Allies struggled against German submarine attacks until the United States provided naval escorts and established a convoy system.
In July 1917, the Russian army disintegrated, leading to the collapse of the tsarist regime and the rise of Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik party.
Russia surrendered to German demands, allowing Germany to focus on the Western Front.
In March 1918, Germany launched the Kaiserschlacht (Spring Offensive), which failed to break through the Western Front.
On August 8, 1918, American, British, and French forces launched counteroffensives that pushed back the German lines.
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated, and the new German government agreed to an armistice on November 11, 1918.
By the end of the war, over 4.7 million American men had served in the military, and the United States lost over one hundred thousand men.

VII. The War and the Influenza Pandemic

In the spring of 1918, a deadly strain of influenza appeared in Kansas and spread rapidly through army training camps.
The virus was carried by soldiers to Europe, and by September 1918, it had spread to all training camps in the United States.
The second wave of the virus was even deadlier, disproportionately affecting those between eighteen and thirty-five years old.
The "Spanish Influenza" resulted in an estimated fifty million deaths worldwide.
More American soldiers died from influenza than from combat during the war.

VIII. The Fourteen Points and the League of Nations

President Wilson traveled to Europe in December 1918 to shape the peace after the war.
The war led to the collapse of the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires, and the map of Europe was redrawn.
President Wilson proposed the Fourteen Points in January 1918 as a statement of war aims and peace terms.
The plan included principles for long-term peace and proposed the creation of the League of Nations to prevent future wars.
Allied leaders were less enthusiastic about Wilson's plans, prioritizing their own nations' safety and interests.
The Treaty of Versailles included demands for German reparations, provisions for the League of Nations, and the promise of collective security.
Republican senator Henry Cabot Lodge opposed the League of Nations, arguing it would rob the United States of its sovereignty.
President Wilson's efforts to gain public support for the League of Nations were cut short by a stroke, and the U.S. did not join the organization.

IX. Aftermath of World War I

The war transformed the Middle East, leading to the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of new nations under European mandates.
The King-Crane Commission found that most inhabitants of the region favored an independent state free of European control, but their wishes were largely ignored.
France received Syria; Britain took control of Iraq, Palestine, and Transjordan.
The 1917 Russian Revolution intensified American fears of communism, contributing to the Red Scare.
The Sacco-Vanzetti case exemplified the nervousness about immigrants and radical ideas.
Racial tensions in the United States culminated in the Red Summer of 1919, with violence breaking out in numerous cities.
The Great Migration of Black southerners to the North and Midwest sparked racial conflict as white northerners and returning veterans fought to reclaim their jobs and neighborhoods.
Black Americans, who had fought for the United States in the war, were determined to resist postwar racism.

X. Conclusion

World War I decimated millions and profoundly altered world history, leading to a global depression, a second world war, and the Cold War.
The war sparked the Bolshevik Revolution and created new Middle Eastern nations, exacerbating ethnic tensions.
The United States emerged as a major power on the European mainland, but postwar disillusionment shattered hopes for progress.