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United States History
Topic 4: World War I and the 1920s (1914-1929)
4-1 – America Enters World War I
Key Terms
The Causes of World War I (1914-1918)
Causes – in 1914, nationalism, militarism, imperialism, and
entangling alliances combined with other factors to lead the nations of
Europe into a brutal, global war
Nationalism – devotion to one’s nation; in the late 19th century many
Europeans began to reject the earlier idea of a nation as a collection of
different ethnic groups; instead, they came to believe that a nation should
express the nationalism of a single ethnic group
Alsace-Lorraine – territory lost to Germany by France in 1871;
France longed to avenge its humiliating defeat by regaining Alsace-Lorraine
Social Darwinism – biologist Charles Darwin’s ideas of natural
selection and “survival of the fittest” applied to human society; adherents
believed that the fittest nation would come out ahead
militarism – glorification of the military; fueled an arms race between
European countries leading up to WWI; Germany and Britain at sea;
Germany, France, and Russia on land
Alliance System – two sides developed; led to the rapid escalation of
World War I
Triple Entente/Allied Powers – Great Britain, France, Russia, Serbia
(later the U.S.)
Triple Alliance/Central Powers – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
(dropped out before WWI), Bulgaria (later the Ottoman Empire)
Francis Ferdinand – (1863–1914) aka Franz Ferdinand, was an
archduke and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination (June
28) in Sarajevo was an immediate cause of World War I
The Great War Begins
The Chain Reaction – 1914
1. July 28 - Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia
2. July 28 - Russia mobilized to help Serbia
3. August 1 - this caused Germany to declare war on Russia
4. August 3 - France, Russia’s ally declared war against
Germany
5. August 4 - Germany declared war on neutral Belgium so
that it could invade France through Belgium.
6. August 4 - Britain, which had treaties with France and
Belgium declared war against Germany.
Kaiser William II – (1859–1941) aka Kaiser Wilhelm II, was the
German emperor and king of Prussia until the end of World War I in 1918
Western Front – critical battle front between the Allies and Central
Powers in Western Europe (France) during World War I; the side that won
there would win the war; stalemate led to trench warfare
Weapons of WWI – artillery, machine guns, rifles, etc. – the
defensive weapons of the time were better and more devastating than the
offensive ones.
trench warfare – combat in which opposing troops fight from
trenches; gruesome conditions led to higher casualties and poor conditions
for soldiers
Casualties – a soldier killed, wounded, or missing; the casualties of
WWI were shocking to people; almost 1 million French soldiers were killed or
wounded in just the first 3 months of the war; the Germans lost only slightly
fewer.
The United States Remains Neutral
neutrality – President Woodrow Wilson called for Americans to be
“impartial in thought as well as action”; Wilson did not want the war to set
Americans against one another; at first most Americans wanted no part of
the war
Americans Choose Sides – in 1914, 1/3 of Americans were foreignborn; many thought of themselves in terms of their former homelands
many immigrants from Germany or Austria-Hungary thought that the
Central Powers were justified; many Irish immigrants harbored a grudge
against Britain; many Jewish immigrants who had fled Russia hoped for
Russia’s defeat; most Americans, however, sided with Britain and France,
both of which had strong historic ties with the US
US Opinion Solidifies – the vicious German invasion of neutral
Belgium swayed American opinion; Americans might not have understood
the causes of the war, but they clearly understood the human cost of the
war for Belgium
3 groups – eventually, three distinct positions crystalized
-
Isolationists – the war is none of America’s business
-
Interventionists – felt that the war did affect American interests and
the US should intervene on the side of the Allies
- Internationalists – the US should play an active role in world affairs,
but not fight in the war
Reasons for U.S. Entry into the War
contraband – goods prohibited by law or treaty from being imported
or exported; international law generally allowed these goods to be legally
confiscated by any belligerent nation; Britain defined almost every product
as contraband
U-boats – German submarine; because Germany lacked the
conventional naval forces to do so, Germany attempted to blockade Britain
by sinking British ships with U-boats
Unterseeboot
Lusitania – May 7, 1915 - British passenger liner sunk by a German
U-boat during World War I; nearly 1,200 people died, with 128 Americans
included. After the American outcry, Germany promised not to sink any
more passenger ships to keep the US out of the war
Sussex – March 24, 1916 – unarmed French passenger ship sunk by
German U-boats; again, Germany pledged not to sink unarmed ships
(Sussex Pledge)
Zimmermann note – January 1917 - telegram written by German
Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann proposing an alliance between
Germany and Mexico against the United States during World War I; shortly
after, Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare against Britain;
caused President Wilson to ask Congress to declare War on Germany (they
did so on April 6, 1917)