Download World War I and South Carolina

World War I and South
Carolina
What role did South Carolina play
with its involvement in World War I?
How World War I Began
• On June 28, 1914, a Serbian nationalist
assassinated the heir to the throne of
Austria-Hungary. The assassination sparked
a chain of events that drew most of the
nations of Europe into a world war. Both
sides expected the war to be short, but they
were wrong. Their armies quickly reached a
stalemate, which meant that neither side
was winning.
The Assassination of Franz
Ferdinand
• Over the next few
weeks, most of the
major European
countries are at war
• President Wilson
issues a
proclamation of
neutrality…U.S. will
stay out of the war.
Central Powers
•
•
•
•
Austria-Hungary
German Empire
Bulgaria
Ottoman Empire
Allied Powers
•
•
•
•
Russia
England
France
United States (joined in 1917)
How the U.S. became involved
World War I (WWI)
• The U.S. remained neutral for the first 3
years of the war.
• So what got us involved?
• The sinking of a British passenger ship, the
Lusitania, by German U-boats in the spring of
1915.
• Why does this matter?
• The ship was carrying 100 American
passengers.
A German U-Boat
The Lusitania Sunk
The German Command said it would torpedo any
boat. Neutrality did not matter!
Zimmerman Telegraph
•The last straw was the interception of the
Zimmerman Note.
• This
telegraph proposed German support for a
Mexican attack in the U.S. southwest.
• For their involvement, Mexico would get the land it
lost during the Mexican-American war. (Texas,
Arizona, New Mexico, California, Colorado, Utah,
and Nevada)
• On April 4, 1917 the Senate voted “yes” to
enter the war.
The
Zimmerman
Telegraph
World War I Map
We Want You!
• The U.S. was not ready to enter the
war, so Congress passed the Selective
Service Act to ensure there would be
enough soldiers for the effort.
• Selective Service Act = Draft law that
required any male between the ages of
21-30 to register for service and serve if
called.
WWI Recruiting Poster
WWI Recruiting Poster
WWI Recruiting Poster
• Almost 24 million
males signed up for
the “draft” and 2.7
million were “called
up” for service.
Sample Draft Card
• On November 11,
1918 Germany signs
the armistice which
ends the war.
• Today, we celebrate
Veteran’s Day
(Armistice Day) to
remember the end
of World War I
South Carolina Military Bases
• Camp Sevier – Located in Greenville to train
soldiers to fight in WWI. They even had to
use wooden guns because the real ones
could only be used for war.
• Camp Wadsworth – Located in Spartanburg
to train the National Guard troops for the
war.
• Fort Jackson – Located in Columbia which
transformed a barren farm into the largest
military base in the state.
• Parris Island - Located on Parris Island
in the southern part of South Carolina
where Marines were trained to fight in
WWI.
• Charleston Naval Yard – Located in
Charleston, this naval yard built and
repaired ships for the war effort.
Camp Sevier
Camp Wadsworth
Charleston Naval
Yard
Fort Jackson
Parris Island
A Major South Carolinian in WWI
• Bernard Baruch (born in
Camden) was chosen
by President Wilson to
lead the War Industries
Board
• Under his leadership,
the country produced
every kind of war
supply possible
• This production helped
the U.S. achieve victory
in WWI
Wartime Economy
Freddie Stowers
The “Great” Migration
• In 1910, three out of every four black
Americans lived on farms, and nine out
of ten lived in the South before WWI.
• After 1917, hoping to escape tenant
farming and sharecropping, 1.5 million
southern blacks moved to cities in the
late teens and 1920s.
• During the 1910s and '20s, Chicago's black
population grew 148 percent, Cleveland's by
307 percent, Detroit's by 611 percent.
• African Americans created cities-within-cities
during the 1920s. The largest was Harlem, in
upper Manhattan, where 200,000 African
Americans lived in a neighborhood that had
been virtually all-white fifteen years before.
Copy the questions and answer each question.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
What sparked a chain of events that drew most of the nations of Europe into a world war?
Why was it difficult for the United States to remain neutral during WW1?
What event caused Americans to urge President Wilson to declare war on Germany?
What event forced the United States to join the war? Why?
There were five training camps in South Carolina during WW1. Name and describe each one of them.
How were blacks treated in the military?
Who is Freddie Stowers? (Describe his job in the military, the honor he was awarded and why he
earned it.)
8) How did WW1 affect South Carolina’s economy?
9) In what ways did Americans show their patriotism during the war?
10) Why did so many black Americans migrate north in the 1910s and 1920s?