Download 2-The-Outbreak-of-World-War-I

• Essential Question:
–What caused World War I and why was
the United States unable to remain
neutral in this conflict?
What caused World War I?
MILITARISM
ALLIANCES
IMPERIALISM
NATIONALISM
From 1914 to 1919, World War I erupted in Europe
This “Great War” began as
…the build up of
a result of competition
powerful, industrial
over Imperial territories…
Militaries
European rivalries led to two military Alliances that
threatened to draw European nations into war
England, France, Russia
Austria-Hungary, Italy,
formed the Triple Entente
Germany formed the
Triple Alliance
Pre-War Alliance Network
Rivalries due to militarism
and imperialism
increased Nationalism
among European powers
British propaganda poster, 1897
Austrian national poster, 1900
Europe Pre-WWI
Europe Post WWI
Europe Today
In 1914, Serbian terrorists
assassinated Austrian
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
which triggered the start
of World War I
Nationalism was strong
in the Balkans, where
Serbia hoped to unite
with Austrian Slavs
Germany and Austria-Hungary were joined by Bulgaria
and the Ottoman Empire to form the Central Powers
England, France, and Russia became the
Allied Powers and eventually were joined by…
…many nations throughout the world,
including the United States
Think about it . . .
■ Is it ever wise to join a military alliance?
■ Should a country always defend its allies?
■ What military alliance is America a part of
today?
■ Why do you think America remained
neutral as WWI began?
The outbreak of WWI in 1914 was a
test for America’s new foreign policy
By 1914, the USA was a
But Americans wanted
world power with overseas to remain neutral and
territories and influence
avoid involvement in
in Latin America and Asia
Europe’s “Great War”
“The people of the United States are drawn from many
nations, and chiefly from the nations now at war. It is
natural and inevitable that there should be sympathy
with regard to the circumstances of the conflict…
Every man who really loves America will act and speak
in the true spirit of neutrality…The United States must
be neutral in fact, as well as in name, during these days
that are to try men's souls.” —Woodrow Wilson, 1914
Group Activity:
If Americans wanted to remain neutral,
why did the United States enter WWI?
■ In teams, determine why the United States
entered World War I in 1917:
– Examine the documents provided and complete
the chart in your notes
– After examining all documents, try to group the
documents into categories
– When finished, create a one sentence thesis
that explains why the USA entered WWI
– Be prepared to discuss your ideas with the class
Document A
Document B
Intercepted
telegram from
Germany to
Mexico, 1917
Document C
U.S. War Loans
1914—1917:
To the Allied
Powers:
$2,250 million
To the Central
Powers:
$27 million
Document D
U.S. Losses to German Submarine Warfare, 1916-1918
Document E
The German officer knocked at the door…
The officer ordered the soldiers to break
down the door, which two of them did.
The peasant came and asked what they
were doing. His hands were tied behind
his back, and he was shot at once without a moment’s delay.
The wife came out with a little sucking child. One of the
Germans took a rifle and struck her a tremendous blow with
the butt on the head. Another took his bayonet and fixed it
and thrust it through the child. He then put his rifle on his
shoulder with the child up on it, its little arms stretched out
once or twice. The officers ordered the house to be set on
fire…The man, his wife and child were thrown on top.
James Bryce, head of the Committee on Alleged German
Atrocities as reported to British Parliament, 1915
Document F
“We shall fight for the things which we have always carried
nearest our hearts,—for democracy, for the right of those
who submit to authority to have a voice in their own
Governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations,
for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free
peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and
make the world itself at last free…The world must be made
safe for democracy.”
(President Wilson's war message, April, 1917)
Document G
Document H
“To whom does war bring prosperity? Not to the soldier who
for the compensation of $16 per month shoulders his
musket and goes into the trench, there to shed his blood and
to die if necessary; not to the mother who weeps at the
death of her brave boy; not to the little children who shiver
with cold; nor the millions of mothers and daughters who
carry broken hearts to their graves. War brings prosperity to
the stock gambler on Wall Street – to those who are already
in possession of more wealth than can be enjoyed…Their
object in having war and in preparing for war is to make
money. The enormous profits of munitions [weapons]
manufacturers, stockbrokers, and bond dealers must be still
further increased by our entrance into the war.”
Senator George Norris, in response to the
U.S. declaration of war, April 1917
Despite efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to
remain neutral, the United States joined World War I
Americans were outraged
by German violations of U.S.
neutrality and free trade
Americans were outraged
by German unrestricted
submarine warfare and
attacks on passenger ships
like the Lusitania
Americans were outraged
by the Zimmerman
Telegram in which Germany
offered to return the
Mexican Cession if Mexico
went to war with the U.S.
The USA remained neutral
from 1914 to 1917, but in
April 1917 Congress declared
war on the Central Powers
President Woodrow
Wilson promised to
“make the world safe
for democracy”
Why Did the United States Enter World
War I?
■ 1. Because the U.S. was under attack despite its neutrality?
■ The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare
against all mankind....Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious
assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right,
of human right, of which we are only a single champion....Armed neutrality,
it now appears, is impracticable.
■
—President Woodrow Wilson's War Message (April 1917)
■ 2. To make the world “safe for democracy”?
■ Our object...is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of
the world as against selfish and autocratic power.... We are glad...to
fight...for the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples,
the German peoples included: for the right 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....
■ —President Woodrow Wilson's War Message (April 1917)
Why Did the United States Enter
World War I?
3. Because we would have faced economic collapse if the Allies could not
pay back all the loans made to them by U.S. bankers?
■ …We have loaned many hundreds of millions of dollars to the Allies in this
controversy. While such action was legal and countenanced by international
law, there is no doubt in my mind but the enormous amount of money
loaned to the Allies in this country has been instrumental in bringing about a
public sentiment in favor of our country taking a course that would make
every bond worth a hundred cents on the dollar and making the payment of
every debt certain and sure.
■ —Senator George W. Norris in Opposition to President Woodrow Wilson’s
War Message (April 4, 1917)
■ By 1917, American loans to the Allies had soared to $2.25 billion; loans to
Germany stood at a paltry $27 million.
■ —The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Why Did the United States
Enter World War I?
■ 4. Because it was good for business?
■ To what extent was America's war a war for business? Did Woodrow Wilson
lead America into war in order to serve the selfish interests of the few? The
answer is determined by looking into the essential facts. In the first place,
Wall Street wanted war. American participation in the war against Germany
would constitute the most tremendous and profitable coup in the history of
American finance… The war created 21,000 new American millionaires and
during the war period, 69,000 men made more than three billion dollars over
and above their normal income… It would have been quite impossible for
President Wilson to have begun a war really intended to ‘make the world
safe for democracy’ without facing the united opposition of Wall Street.
■ —John Kenneth Turner, Shall It Be Again? 1922
Why Did the United States
Enter World War I?
■ 5. Because of cultural, historical, and economic ties to Great Britain?
■ The failure to treat the belligerent nations of Europe alike, the failure to
reject the unlawful war zones of both Germany and Great Britain is wholly
accountable for our present dilemma.
■ —Senator Robert M. LaFollette in Opposition to President Woodrow
Wilson’s War Message (April 4, 1917)
■
■ 6. Because anti-German sentiment was influenced by historic ties to
England, German policies, and American/British propaganda?
■ …a large number of the great newspapers and news agencies of the
country have been controlled and enlisted in the greatest propaganda that
the world has ever known to manufacture sentiment in favor of war.
■ —Senator George W. Norris in Opposition to President Woodrow Wilson’s
War Message (April 4, 1917)
Why Did the United States
Enter World War I?
7. The result of the expansion of the U.S.’s armed forces and weaponry?
■ That which has driven the masses of Europe into the trenches and to the
battlefields is not their inner longing for war; it must be traced to the
cutthroat competition for military equipment, for more efficient armies, for
larger warships, for more powerful cannon. You cannot build up a standing
army and then throw it back into a box like tin soldiers.
■ —Emma Goldman, from "Preparedness: The Road to Universal Slaughter"
Closure Activity:
Which other war that America became
involved in does World War I compare to?
Brainstorm the wars that the United States became
involved with from 1775 to 1914. Think about the
reasons the USA entered those wars. Which one is
most similar to why the USA entered World War I?
American Wars
American Revolution (1775-1783)
War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
Civil War (1861-1865)
Spanish-American War (1898)
Filipino-American War (1901-1904)
Reason the USA entered the war