1. World War I

2. The Road to War

3. Origins of World War I
 Causes of WWI
 Imperialism: European competition for trade & territory in Africa, Asia, &
Pacific
 Fed militarism (glorification of the military)
 Nations built up forces (protection & glory)
 Military leaders gained influence in governments
 Nationalism: (pride in one’s nation or ethnic group)
 Boosted tensions
 National groups sought freedom from Austria-Hungary
 Serbians & Balkan nationalists (powder keg of Europe)
 Alliance System: formed as tensions mounted
 Germany & Austria-Hungary
 France, Britain, & Russia
 Conflict between 2, would soon involve others
 War Begins
 June 28, 1914
 Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungary
throne
 A-H accused Serbia of supporting terrorism; declared war on July 29
 20 countries became involved
 Allies: led by France, Britain, & Russia
 Central Powers: led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, & the Ottoman Empire

4. The Deadliest War
 Quick victory sought by both sides
 September
 Germany: 30 miles from Paris, France
 1st Battle of Marne
 French & British halted German advance
 Area became known as Western Front
 Fighting settled into a long stalemate w/ trench warfare
 Charges on the enemy resulted in mass casualties as both
sides fought back & forth over the same piece of land

5. Technological Advances
 Made war more lethal
 Airplanes: scouting & ground support
 Armored tanks
 Machine Guns
 Heavy artillery
 Poison gas: most feared
 1st used by Germans
 Caused choking, blinding, severe skin blisters
 Banned by 140 nations after the war

6. American Neutrality
 President Woodrow Wilson
 Issued proclamation of strict & impartial neutrality
 Ethnic Loyalties
 Americans supported ethnic group
 German Americans: central powers
 Irish: central powers; hated England
 British propaganda
 Used to win American support
 Spread of information designed to win support for a
cause
 Focused on Germany’s brutal treatment of Belgians

7. Supplying the Allies
 American firms
 Could sell to both sides
 Most traded w/ Allies
 Banks also lent to Allies
 British blockade
 Stopped supplies from reaching Germany
 Wilson agreed w/ blockade only if British bought more
American cotton to make up lost sales w/ Germany

8. The Lusitania
 Germany’s navy
 Few surface vessels to impose blockade
 Large supply of U-boats
 1905
 Germany announces use of U-boats to blockade Britain
 May 7, 1915
 Lusitania sunk by German U-Boat
 1,200 people died
 128 Americans
 President Wilson & American public were outraged
 Germany said Lusitania was carrying ammunition to
England
 Germany announced U-boats would no longer target
passenger liners fearing U.S. entering the war

9. Entering the War
 November 1916
 Wilson reelected under slogan “he kept us out of war”
 Tried to make peace with warring powers
 Attempt failed
 Germany continued unrestricted U-boat attacks in
February 1916
 Wanted to cut off British supplies from U.S.
 Break stalemate on Western Front
 U.S. cut diplomatic ties w/ Germany

10. Zimmermann Telegram
 February 24
 British intercepted German
telegraph
 Wilson was shown telegraph
 Germany proposed Mexico to
join the war on Germany’s
side
 Germany would help Mexico
re-conquer New Mexico, Texas,
& Arizona
 Released to press on March 1
 Americans were outraged
 Ready for war after U-boats
sank 3 American merchant
ships

11. Russian Revolution
 March 1917
 Military defeats & food shortages led to an uprising
 Russian tsar overthrown
 New gov’t vowed to keep Russia out of War
 U.S. could now enter the war
 Joined Allied powers
 Did not side w/ a tyrant
 Sided w/ other democracies to fight tyranny

12. Declaring War
 April 2
 Wilson asked Congress to
declare war on Central
Powers
 Goal:
 To fight “…for the rights of
nations great and small
and the privilege of men
everywhere to choose their
way of life and of
obedience. The world
must be made safe for
democracy.”

13. Supporting the War Effort

14. Building the Military
 U.S.
 Had large navy
 World’s 16th largest army (125,000 men)
 Would have to mobilize quickly to contribute
 Selective Service
 Declaration of War = eager young men volunteering for
military service
 Not enough to expand army
 Wilson wanted draft established
 Selective Service Act passed
 All young men between 21-30 to register for the military draft

15. Women in the Military
 Not subject to draft
 30,000 volunteered
 Most served in Army & Navy Nurse Corps
 Others preformed clerical work
 Women were divided on war topic
 Some favored war, others opposed it
 Jane Addams
 Cofounded Women’s Peace Party in 1915
 Jeannette Rankin of Montana
 1st women elected to Congress
 Voted against Wilson’s war resolution
 Carrie Chapman Catt
 Urged women to support war effort
 Hoped it would gain women the right to vote

16. A Diverse Force
 Reflected diversity within the U.S.
 1 in 5 recruits had been born in foreign lands
 Philippines, Mexico, Italy, etc.
 Native Americans, who were not U.S. citizens, fought in WWI

17. African Americans Serve
 38,000 served
 Opportunities restricted
 Encouraged to support the
war effort by W.E.B. Du Bois
 Faced discrimination in
military
 Placed in all black units
 10% sent to combat
 Most unloaded ships, worked
in kitchens, or constructed
barracks
 Some served w/ French units
 Harlem hell Fighters received
France’s highest medal for
bravery, the cross of war

18. The Military as Educator
 1 in 4 draftees were illiterate
 Some from poor rural areas not use to eating daily
meals, taking regular baths, or using indoor plumbing
 Military taught men how to fight & read
 Also learned about nutrition, personal hygiene, &
patriotism

19. Managing the War Effort
 Managing food supplies:
 Herbert Hoover lead Food Administration
 Job was to assure adequate food supplies to civilians & troops
 Americans urged to conserve: “wheatless Mondays” “meatless
Tuesdays”
 Producing for War
 American industry demands increased
 War Industries Board set up
 Oversaw shift to war production
 Had limited power at 1st
 w/ new head WIB had power to tell industries what to
produce, how much to charge, & how to use scarce resources

20. Finding Workers
 Labor shortage w/ war
 Millions of men joined military
 Decline in immigration
 Business owners turned to 2 sources
 Women: took on roles denied to them before the war
 African Americans: left rural South to work in factories

21. Shaping Public Opinion
 Calling for Patriotism
 Committee on Public
Information
 75,000 “Four-Minute Men”
recruited
 Delivered brief patriotic
speeches
 Artists
 Produced pro-war
cartoons & posters
 Liberty Bonds
 Issued to help finance war

22. Suppressing Dissent
 Measures take to suppress critics
of the war
 Espionage Act of 1917 & Sedition
Act of 1918
 Newspapers closes & individuals
jailed for expressing antiwar views
 War fever often collided with
personal freedoms
 Private organizations started that
encouraged people to spy on their
neighbors
 American Protective League
 2000,000 members
 Opened peoples mail, tapped
phones, & pried into medical
records

23. Anti-German Hysteria
 German Americans
 Shunned, harassed, & assaulted across the country
 Some tarred & feathered
 Schools stopped teaching German language
 Also affected language
 Sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage”
 German measles became “liberty measles”

24. Americans at War

25. Joining the Fight
 As U.S. prepared
 U-boats continued assault on supplies ships
 844 Allied ships sunk
 Protecting Allied Shipping
 Convoy system developed
 Large group of merchant vessels sailing together
 Light & fast Allied destroyers accompanied convoy

26. American Expeditionary Force
 John J. Pershing
 Commander of American Expeditionary Force
 Wanted Americans to fight in separate units under
American command
 June 1917
 American troops reached Europe
 Not ready to combat; meant to increase French moral;
symbolized American commitment to the war

27. Setbacks & Advances
 1917
 Allies waited for more American troops
 Western Front: British offensive slowed in Belgium
 Central Powers: major victory over Italians at Caporetto
 Russia Makes Peace
 New gov’t struggled w/ war effort
 2 million soldiers deserted front lines
 German troops drove deep into Russia

28.  Vladimir Lenin
 Leader of Bolsheviks; seized power on Nov. 7, 1917
 Wanted communism
 Embraced ideas of German thinker Karl Marx
 Workers around the world would unite to overthrow the
ruling class
 March 1918
 Russia & Germany sign peace treaty
 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
 30% of Russia’s territory to Germany
 Setback
 Peace in the east
 40 divisions of German army now re-focused to Western Front

29. Germany Attacks
 March 21, 1918
 Series of daring attacks
 Goal: defeat allies quickly & bring peace on German terms
 Pershing
 Pledged U.S. troops would now fight under French command
 “Infantry, artillery, aviation, all that we have are yours”, “Use them as
you wish”
 2 months before significant contributions made
 Germans
 Broke through Allied line in Belgium & France
 Reached Chateau Thierry (50 miles from Paris)
 U.S. troops arrived to reinforce the Allies

30. Turning the Tide
 American & French counterattacked Germans near
Chateau-Thierry
 Americans: evict Germans from Belleau Wood
 Filled w/ barbed wire, artillery, & machine guns
 Suffered heavy casualties, but were successful
 2nd battle of Marne
 Germans second attempt to reach Paris
 Gained ground, but stalled
 Allies counterattacked

31. Battle of the Argonne Forest
 German troops
 Became weakened by influenza & deprived of supplies;
started losing will to fight
 September 1918
 Allied forces pushed forward from North Sea to Verdun
 1 million Americans advanced towards Meuse River &
Argonne Forest
 Advanced slow at first; by November German defense
crumbled under unrelenting assault

32. The Armistice
 Cause was lost
 Realized by military & political leaders of Germany
 No reserves left
 Sought an armistice or halt in fighting
 Germans
 Knew French & British wanted harsh settlement
 Germans wanted peace on Wilson’s “14 Points”
 October 16, Germans requested armistice based on 14-Points,
but Wilson was reluctant

33. A Harsh Armistice
 France & Britain
 Dictated terms of armistice
 Germany: pull back forces on Western Front, cancel
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, & hand over fleet of U-boats
 Other Central Powers: also wanted armistice; in no
position to resist Allied demands
 Wilson
 Insisted Kaiser (absolute monarch of Germany) step
down
 Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Holland & soon gave up the
throne & Germany became a republic

34. War’s Deadly Toll
 Armistice
 Took effect 11 a.m. on November 11
 11 day of 11 month of 1918
 10 million military personnel died
 Millions of other soldiers were blinded, lost limbs,
suffered permanent lung damage, or experienced
psychological problems
 Unknown civilian deaths

35. Shaping the Peace

36. The Fourteen Points
 Presented to Congress before war ended
 Plan made in idealistic terms
 Hoped to prevent future wars
 1st 5 Points
 Factors that led to war
 Wanted to eliminate secret international agreements
 Freedom of seas
 Free trade among nations
 Sharp reduction in world’s military force
 Settlement of colonial claims

37.  Points 6-13
 Dealt w/ specific territorial issues
 Self rule for national minority groups in A-H & OE
 Later turned into call for self-determination
 Right of a group to decide its own form of government
 Point 14
 Setting up an international organization to guarantee
world peace

38. Peace Conference in Paris
 Wilson, Lloyd George, & Clemenceau organized in
Paris for peace conference
 Wilson’s 14 Points thrilled Europe’s population
 The Big 4
 Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George, &
Vittorio Orlando
 Made major decisions at conference
 All did not agree w/ Wilson’s idealistic goal of peace
 Wanted to punish Germany
 Secret treaties were also signed during the war dividing up the
territories & colonies of Central Powers

39. The Treaty of Versailles
 Dealt w/ Germany severely
 Territory on Germany’s borders & colonies stripped away
 Forced to accept full responsibility for war & pay Allies huge
reparations
 Placed limits on size & nature of Germany’s military
 League of Nations formed
 Provided place for countries to meet, settle disputes
peacefully, & punish any nation that broke the peace
 June 28, 1919 Germany reluctantly signed treaty
 Anger at Treaty of Versailles would set the stage for WWII

40. Other Treaties
 Treaties arranged w/ other Central Powers
 Applied principle of self-determination for people of
Eastern Europe
 Did not apply to non-Europeans
 Britain & France divided Germany’s African colonies
 Ottoman Empire dissolved, became Turkey

41. Battle Over the League
 Wilson urged Senate to ratify Treaty of Versailles
 Forcefully backed League of Nations
 U.S. must accept its destiny to lead the world on a new
path
 Lodge Opposes
 Many Senators opposed treaty
 Henry Cabot Lodge
 Opposed U.S. joining LON
 Would restrict the right of U.S. to act independently

42. Wilson’s Last Battle
 September
 Wilson set out on a tour to gain public support
 8,000 miles in 3 weeks, giving 40 speeches
 October 2
 Suffered major stroke, paralyzed left side
 Continued to reject all compromise on the treaty
 November 1919
 Senate voted to reject the treaty
 Absence of U.S. crippled LON to stem the crises that
came in the 1930s

43. Postwar Troubles
 U.S. didn’t adjust easily to peace after war
 Influenza Epidemic
 Took 500,000 lives in 1918 in the U.S.
 Labor Unrest
 High employment rates as soldiers came home to seek jobs
 Union’s demanded higher wages w/ stiff resistance from
management
 1919 4 million laborers went on strike
 Red Scare
 Americans feared Communists were behind labor unrest
 Fear of Communist revolution gripped the nation
 General A. Mitchell Palmer ordered immigrants suspected of
radical views to be rounded up and deported