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Jacob Schulman
Chapter 23: WWI
Causes of the War:
M: Militarism
A: Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist from Black Hand (spark)
N: Nationalism
I: Imperialism
A: Alliance System- central powers (triple alliance)- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
Allied powers (triple entente)- France, GB, Russia (Franco-Russian alliance)
Initial US Response to the war:
- Publicly the US announces a proclamation of neutrality (traces back to GW farewell address)
- Want to avoid alliances with Europe; we don’t have to get involved in their wars
- We maintain that we are a neutral trading power (want to make money)
Wilson Administration is privately sympathetic to England and the Allies (favoritism)
- US trades more with the Triple entente, US banks loan money to GB and France
Business community favors the entente, they are more reliable
- Anglo-Saxon Superiority: Both are white dominated, English speaking, very similar
- Inter-marriage between British men and American women
GB aristocracy was lessening (losing money and power)Mary American women for their
money (Ex. Winston Churchill)
German Immigrants wanted to support the triple alliance, as did Irish Americans
Wilson knew that he had to be very careful because there were multiple ethnic groups
Submarine Warfare (U-Boats): Controversial weapons that operated under water and torpedoed
- Wanted to capitalize on the element of surprise
- Wilson believed in strict international law (must warn ships before attacking)
- Lusitania (1915)- passenger ship from NY to GB that killed 128 Americans
Germans did warn the US, there were weapons on the ship; Germany apologizes
1916: Gore-McLemore Resolution- Congress proposes a bill that prohibits Americans from
traveling on belligerent ships (Wilson refuses to sign it)
- Believes that Americans are neutral and can go on whatever ships they want
1916: Sussex Pledge
- More American lives are taken when Germany sinks the Sussex and the Arabic
- Germans say they feel bad and promise not to attack unarmed merchant ships
- Realize that the British had a blockade around Germany, Germ has one around GB
- America violates the blockade; Says that Germany is killing people, GB is only trading
1916 Presidential Election:
- Wilson runs his campaign based on the “Three P’s”Peace, Prosperity, Preparedness
- Promises that the US isn’t going to get involved in the war; not sending soldiers
- Wilson wins and gets re-elected
1917: Unrestricted Submarine WarfareGermany violates the Sussex Pledge and adopts USW
- Announce that they will attack any and all ships to win the warBasically saying that they
would go to war with AmericaMajor turning points
- This is a very bold, risky, gamble for Germany
- Germany won’t have to fight a 2 front war any more (Lenin gave 1/3 of Russia away in the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk- trying to consolidate power)
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- Once Russia pulls out, the Germans can focus attention on the westTide turns to favor
Germany (they think they can win before US troops mobilize)
US/Mexico Relations:
- We own a lot of land in Mexico
- 1912: Mexican revolution led by HuertaWe don’t recognize the revolution to Mexican gvt
seizes/nationalizes US property
- Pancho Villa hates the US and crosses into Texas to kill Americans and do raids
- US sends part of the army to hunt him down; send in General John Black Jack Pershing
1917: Zimmerman Telegraph- GB intercepts a message from Germany to Mexico
- Germany says that if Mexico attacks the US, they will give them all the land they lost in the
Mexican-American war (Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo)
- Promising Mexico California, Texas, and the SW; US is FURIOUS
Wilson’s War Message to the Congress, April 1917:
- Calls Congress into session because he has major decisions and needs Congress to make
them
- Talks about German unrestricted submarine warfare and its dangers
- Germany is blowing up any ships and killing Americans, GB is only destroying property
Makes a distinction about why Germany is the greater threat
- Germany is the “natural foe of liberty”World must be made safe for democracy
- We represent liberty and democratic freedommake the world safe
- Says we are in war for everyone’s human rights
Wilson must be persuasive because he promised not to get involved in the war
- Propaganda like argument painting Germany as evil
Wilson will get Congress to declare war on Germany
- Departure from GW’s farewell addressWW things that Euro war does affect the US
Wilson’s Goals for WWI: 14 Points
- Wilson’s view of what the post-WWI world will look like
- Creation of a League of Nations- place where countries will resolve disputes
- Self-Determination for the people of the worldPeople should be able to govern themselves
- Freedom of the seas, open diplomacy, arms reductions
- Freedom of trade- international trade should be promoted
Believes the US can play a role in shaping the future of the world
- Georges Clemenceau wasn’t impressed; thought Wilson was stuck up
Wilson and Mobilization for War:
- Sales of Liberty Bonds (War Bonds) to finance war and taxes increase
- Selective Service Act- Men 21-30 are asked to fight in this war (draft)
- War Industries Board- Bernard Baruch
Gvt coordinates the national economy with big business; price fixing and allocation
- “It is not an army that we much shape and train for a war, it is a nation”
War isn’t just fought overseas, you need support at home
Propaganda: Anything Germany was banned, changed name of German foods
- Celebrities helped with the effort
- Be vigilant, watch out for possible enemies
Committee on Public Information: Official Propaganda Agency
- Led by George Creel
- Idea of “4 Minute Men”- gvt sent people to speak to you for 4 minutes to garner support
Wilson’s Wife: Publicly rationed- cut back on purchases and consumption
Rationing is part of the sacrifice people must make
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Eugene v Debs: Arrested and jailed for speaking out against the war
He ran for president from jail in 1920, Harding forgave him
Victory Gardens: People grow their own food
Women: Work in factories and help build thingsmake progress
The Great Black Migration: Blacks move from the South to North (more jobs in factories)
Civil Liberties and WWI: Limits on civil liberties whenever we fight a war
Sedition Act: Anyone who spoke out/wrote anything critical of the gvt could be arrested
Espionage Act: Not allowed to interfere with the draft (gvt needed the soldiers)
- IWW has a difficult time, Debs is jailed
Schenck v US: Used the US mail to interfere with the draft, told people not to fight
- Gvt intercepts the mail and arrests him for violating the Espionage act
- First Amendment case- does freedom of speech exist during wartime?
- Court rules in favor of the government and establishes:
“Clear and Present Danger Doctrine”: 1st Amendment rights are not absolute, can be limited
- By interfering with the draft, you are breaching security and posing a danger
Red Scare: (Palmer Raids)- Communism
1919-1921: Gvt goes around arresting suspected Communist sympathizers
Many amputees, many wounded, many blinded, “Men with broken faces”
- 30k-40k have been seriously injured in Iraq, 4k have died
1918: Flu outbreak- 40 million died
*At the time of WWI, people really sacrifice and alter their lifestyles for the good of the nation
- 15 million people die in WWI
Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles (1919)
- Wilson becomes the 1st President to go to Europe while in office; treated as a hero
- The Big 4: Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George (GB), Orlando (IT), Wilson
- Germany must accept responsibility for the war (Dictat)
- Must pay reparations (determined later to be $33 billion)
- Weaken the military, demilitarized zone must be created
- Loss of all colonies
Wilson knows that for the US to have influence post war, we must be involved in the war itself
- Wilson thinks that the treaty is too harsh, but he goes along with it because he wants the
League of Nations (his creationwill do anything to get it)
- No lower tariffs, self determination, freedom of the seas, etc.
Article X of League: Collective Security Provision- try to prevent war by international diplomacy
- An attack on one, is an attack on allProtects weaker nations, everyone is protected
*Wilsonian Internationalism (Basically the 14 points)
Senate Debate over the Treaty of Versailles:
- As a Democrat, he didn’t bring any Republicans with him to Versailles
- 3 sides in the Senate:
1. Wilsonian Internationalists- senators that support Wilson
2. Irreconcilables- isolationist republican senators against the treaty
3. Reservationists: Henry Cabot Lodge of MA (might accept it, with reservations)
- Wanted to modify the treaty before accepting it (dislike Article X)
Wilson refuses to change it, says it’s the last change at peace
- Wilson has a stroke and becomes partially paralyzed
- Voted on Treaty 3 times (with and w/o reservations)Rejected (Wilson wouldn’t change it)
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we never actually end WWI
Germany is punished and angry, seeds of WWII are sown
- We never officially join the League of Nations
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