World War I through the 1920s

Wilson’s Presidency and Diplomacy

  • 1912 Election

    • Taft (R)

    • Roosevelt (Bull-Moose)

    • Wilson (D)

      • Taft and Roosevelt divided Republican votes, leading to Woodrow Wilson winning the Presidency.

      • Woodrow Wilson (WW) = World War I (WW)

  • Diplomacy

    • Wilson was opposed to imperialism

    • He wanted more democracy

    • He wanted a war free of revolution and war

Outbreak of World War I

  1. The world: 1914-1918

  2. The U.S.: 1917-1918

    Three Causes of the War

  1. Alliances

  • 1871: Germany Reunified

    • When Germany reunified, they stole some of France’s land

  • Triple Alliance: 1879

    • Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

  • Franco-Russian Alliance

    • France was mad about the land, so they allied with Russia to sandwich in Germany

  • Triple Entente: 1907

    • Great Britain, France, Russia

  1. Nationalism

  • Self-determination

    • People should have their own nation

  • Balkans

    • many independent nations based on ethnic groups, making the nations weak

  1. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

  • Ferdinand was the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne

  • Assassinated in the Balkans (Serbia) during official business on June 28, 1914

    • This started WWI

  • He was killed by Garvillo Princip, a Bosnian Serbia nationalist

  • Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia for the murder of the Archduke, but Serbia was under the protection of Russia

    • The Triple Alliance v.s. the Triple Entente; WWI begins

New Alliances:

  • Central: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire : loses

  • Allied: Great Britain, France, U.S., Italy (after leaving the Alliance) : wins

American Neutrality

  • Wilson Declares neutrality

    • He didn’t want to get into foreign affairs

  • American immigrants supported their home countries

  • America favored the side England was on (the Allies)

    • Pro-British cabinet

    • Lots of pro-Brit propaganda

    • America gave loans to Allies

  • In WWI, everyone but the President wanted to go to war

    • In WWII, no one but the President wanted to go to war

Moving to War: United States

  1. Sinking of the Lusitania

  • British passenger ship/cruise liner was sunk by a German submarine (U-Boat) on the suspicion of carrying contraband (weapons)

  • The ship was going from New York to Liverpool

  • Americans dies onboard, sparking the outrage of the nation

  1. Sussex Pledge

  • Germany says that they won’t attack the civilian boats anymore

    • “Civilian” is subjective; (war) weapons aren’t “civilian”

  1. Zimmerman Telegram

  • Sent by a German Minister to Mexico

    • From Germany to Mexico about “unrestricted submarine warfare”

      • American boats would be caught in the crossfire between the Germans and the Allies “eventually,” and when that happens, Mexico could invade the U.S. and take back the territory they lost to the U.S.

      • Japan was invited to invade, too, in order to gain land

    • England intercepted the telegram, and gave it to the American people

    • From February to April (3 months), 4 U.S. boats were hit

  1. Violation of the Sussex Pledge

The U.S. Prepares for War

  • Building Up the Military

    • Conscription

      • Conscription was a thing since the Civil War (Lincoln)

      • 30-21 year olds; lottery system going by age (30 first) and day (15 30 y/os from Jan 1, so on so fourth until the end of the year)

        • Starting with 30 year old men because they likely already had families

      • African Americans

        • allowed to fight but put into segregated units led by white men

      • Women

        • not drafted

        • The Navy:

          • 11,000 women enlisted

            • became clerks, radio operators, chemists, missile assemblers, etc.

            • Didn’t leave the U.S.

        • The Army:

          • refused to enlist women, but hired them

          • Army nurses were the only American women to leave the U.S. to go overseas

  • Organize Industry

    • War Industry Board

      • Government can’t control the industry, so they created the War Industries Board to coordinate the flow/production of the raw materials

    • Food Administration

      • Herbert Hoover: leader of the admin.

      • Made sure that the U.S. could feed the 2.2 million soldiers, the Allies, and the U.S citizens

      • Victory Gardens: Americans grew their own produce in these gardens so that the companies could fund the war

      • Meat-less Tuesday, Wheat-less Wednesday, etc were instituted to further fund the war effort

    • Fuel Administration

      • Day Light Savings Time

        • Working during the day to save fuel from lights and such (to give to the soldiers)

    • Mobilizing the Workforce

      • National War Labor Board

        • Purpose: prevent strikes

        • Businesses were willing to give

          • wage increases

          • 8 hour work days

          • rights to form a union

        • Workers agreed not to strike because of this

      • Great Migration

        • 300,000-500,000 African Americans moved from the South to the North (like Chicago) in order to escape debt

        • Resulted in Mexican immigrants taking on the jobs left behind by the African Americans

    • Ensuring Public Support

      • Committee of Public Information

        • “Sell the war” ; propaganda everywhere

          • Easier to sell the propaganda at the beginning of the war

      • Espionage and Sedition Acts

        • Made it illegal to criticize the government and the President

          • If you did, you went to jail

        • Schenck vs the United States

          • “Burn draft cards!” : violated Espionage and Sedition Acts

          • Schenck sued over these Acts; Supreme Court ruled against him

            • They did this because he said things (burn the draft cards) that caused “clear and present danger

Combat in WWI

  • “All Quiet on the Western Front” (book)

    • Speaking Specifically about France in WWI

  • By 1917, million lives were lost

    • Civilian and military

    • Americans believed that they could bring a swift end to the war

  • “First Modern War” ; because of the amount of casualties, countries, and people involved

    Technology and Trenches

  1. Trenches

    • Dug out ditches used for safety from gunfire

    • 6 ft deep, at least

  2. Poison Gasses

  • Grenades full of toxic gasses

    • Colored red/yellow

    • made clear in order to be more effective

  1. Rapid Fire Machine Guns (in use today)

  • Not accurate; more dangerous than effective

  1. Tanks (in use today)

  • made to combat Trench Warfare

    • needed to be made lighter, longer, and the weight distribution had to change

    • Ended up just snaking around the trenches

  1. Planes

  • bombs dropped in the trenches

    • didn’t work well

  • Used more in cities

    • The Red Barron: German, shot down later, the Allies’ “best adversary”

Americans and Victory

  • “Dough Boys”: nickname for Americans, meaning they hadn’t been faced with the harsh realities of warfare

  • Convoy System, created by Navy Admiral Sims

    • created to escort supply boats with battle ships to ensure safety from U-Boats and such

  • U.S. joins the war in 1917; Russia dipped in 1916 during their civil war

    • Vladmir Lenin takes communist control of Russia and makes a treaty with Germany ( Brest-Litvosk Treaty) so they don’t fight each other

  • John J Pershing: Army

    • Pushed Germans back at the end of the war (“final push”)

  • U.S. signs an armistice (ceasefire) with Germany

    • Nov 11, 1918: “Armistice Day” or “Veterans Day”

Flawed Peace

  • Big Four: leaders of the winning nations

    • America: Woodrow Wilson

    • France: George Clemenceau

    • Great Britain: David Lloyd George

    • Italy: Victoriano Orlando

      • All of but America signed the Fourteen Points authored by Woodrow Wilson because the U.S. military can’t be controlled by another nation

      • 14 Points folded into the Treaty of Paris

        • Germany was forced to take full responsibility for the war, pay reparations, and keep a small standing army

Woodrow Wilson has a stroke at the end of his term and is rendered unable to continue service as the President of the United States

The 1920´s

Harding Administration

  • Warren G Harding wins the Presidency

    • “Return to Normalcy” : going back to the US before WWI

  • Ohio Gang

    • Old Poker/drinking buddies of Harding

    • He gave some of them government jobs

      • some of them:

        • sold jobs

        • sold pardons

        • sold immunity from prosecution

  • Scandals

    • Tea Pot Dome Scandal

      • Albert Fall, the Secretary of the Interior, leased out US Navy oil reserves to private companies

      • He pocketed the money from leasing the land, in addition to taking $300,000 in bribes

    • Harry Daugherty: Attorney General

      • working with a German company

      • refused to turn over bank records during an investigation

      • bribe money had been given to him

      • he refused to testify under oath

      • forced to resign by Calvin Coolidge

Coolidge Administration

  • 1923: Warren G Harding dies and Coolidge takes over

    • the two men were opposites

    • Coolidge won the re-election in 1924

      • “Keeping it cool with Coolidge” was his slogan

  • 1920s

    • higher standard of living

    • lower hours of work

    • higher wages

  • Mass Production

    • increased supply of goods

    • decreased cost

  • Assembly Line

    • used by Henry Ford

  • Model T

    • $850: first year

    • By 1924, car costs $295

      • prices go down, wages go up

  • Automobiles changed America

    • Small businesses opened up

      • garages, gas stations, etc. are opened

  • Disposable Income

    • new items: electric razors, frozen food, new household appliances

  • Nativism and Racism

    • increased competition for jobs (soldiers returning to jobs taken by POC)

    • left-over tensions from WWI (US grudge against Russia)

  1. Sacco and Vanzetti

  • Italian immigrant anarchists

  • put to trial for robbery and murder. found guilty. and sentenced to death

    • They lose all appeals made

  1. Eugenics

  • false science of the improvement of the hereditary traits

  • used to support augments against immigrants

    • led to forced sterilizations and such

  1. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

  • Led the movement to restrict immigration

  • targeted:

    • freed African Americans

    • Catholics

    • Jewish people

    • any immigrants

    • any other “un-American” groups

  • The (first) Red Scare

    • After WWI, Americans associated Communist with disloyalty and unpatriotic behavior

    • Communists and Russia = “Reds”

  • Red Scare Problems

    • the Post Office intercepted 30 packages addressed to leaders in politics and business

    • Attorney General