World War 1 - Jocz

U.S. Entry into World War I
- Violations of U.S. Neutrality
- Examples
  - Lusitania
  - Sussex sinking
- Temporary pause in German sinking of Ships
- Zimmerman Note
- British intercept a German proposal to Mexico for a joining alliance
  - Ask Mexico to attack the U.S. and they would be allowed to recover lost territory
- Spring 1917
- Germany returns to unrestricted submarine warfare
- April 1917
- Congress declares war against Germany
Wilson asks Congress to Declare War in April 1917
- Key factors
- German attacks on American shipping
- Zimmerman Telegram proposing alliance with Mexico
- U.S. economic investment in allies
Mobilizing for War
- The United States was entirely unprepared for war
- Selective Service Act
- Organizes a draft for soldiers to fight in the war
  - American Expeditionary Force headed by General Pershing
- Total War effort
- All aspects of the country mobilize for the war effort
- War was financed by war bonds and income taxes from the 16th amendment
- Federal Agencies
- National War Labor Board
  - Help mediate labor disputes and prevent strikes
  - AFL supported the war effort
  - IWW opposed the war
- War Industries Board
  - Set production priorities for war
- U.S. Food Administration
  - Headed by Herbert Hoover
  - Encouraged Americans to conserve food for war effort
- WWI boosted support for the 18th amendment
  - Prohibited the sale, consumption, manufacture, and transport of alcohol
  - Conserve resources
  - Due to Anti-German sentiment in the U.S.
Silencing Dissent
- Committee of Public Information
- Headed by George Creel
- Promote the U.S. war effort with propaganda
- Espionage Act
- 1917
- Prohibited interference with the draft or war effort
- Sedition Act
- 1918
- Banned anybody from criticizing the government
- Anti-German sentiment increases
- Nativists attack all things German
Schenck vs. U.S.
- 1919
- Charles Schenck was arrested under the Espionage Act for mailing leaflets to men eligible for the draft
- Supreme Court supports the argument that freedom of speech could be restricted
- Congress had the power to restrain speech if it posed a clear and present danger
Social Impact on the Home Front
- Great Migration
- Staring in 1910, large migration of African American to northern cities
  - Crappy racial relations
  - WWI
  - Job opportunities in northern factories as white men were drafted for the war
- Nearly 400,000 African Americans served in segregated units
- Racial riots will break out in many cities in 1919
- Women will play a key role in wartime factories
- Sacrificed of women on the home front during WWI leads to ⅔ majority finally supporting the 19th amendment
- Granted women’s suffrage
Wilson’s 14 Points
- Wilson’s proposal for the postwar world
- Goal of preventing another world war
- Points
- Guarantee freedom of the seas
- Eliminate economic trade barriers
- Military reduction
- No more colonies
  - Self-determination
- No more secret treaties
- Called for the formation of a League of Nations to help prevent another world war
Treaty of Versailles
- Much of Wilson’s 14 Point proposals were rejected by the allied powers
- Wilson did get the League of Nations included
- Has to get it approved by the Republican controlled Congress
- Republicans in Congress hated the idea of the U.S. joining the League of Nations
- Henry Cabot Lodge leads the opposition to the treaty
Battle over the League of Nations
- Tradition of isolationist policies
- George Washington warned about permanent foreign alliances
- Opposition over Article X
- Fear the League would force the U.S. to deal with foreign issues around the world
- Desire amongst many to be isolationist following WWI
- Congress rejects the treaty