Download Chapter 23: World War I (1914-1919) Section 1: War in Europe 1

Chapter 23: World War I (1914-1919)
Section 1: War in Europe
1) Troubles in Europe
a) Nationalism
i) Nationalism – a feeling of intense loyalty to one’s country or group, caused much of the
tension in Europe.
ii) Nationalism encouraged nations like Germany to unify and become a power in the world. It
also inspired some ethnic groups to break away from existing nations.
b) Imperial Expansion
i) Tensions in Europe also grew out of the desire of nations to expand their empire. Since most
areas had already been colonized a nations desire to expand usually brought it into conflict
with other nations.
c) Military Buildup
i) As European nations competed for colonies, they strengthened their armies and navies to
protect their interests.
ii) When one nation built up its military neighboring nations did the same to protect
themselves this caused nations like Germany, France and Russia to develop huge armies.
d) Forming Alliances
i) Along with militarism came a strengthening of the alliance system, or defense agreement
among nations.
(1) By 1914, two major alliance had formed.
(a) Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
(b) Triple Entente: Great Britain, France, and Russia. An entente is an understanding
between nations.
(2) The alliances aimed to keep peace by creating a balance of power – a system that
prevents any one country from dominating the other.
(a) An attack on one nation was all that was needed to trigger a war involving many
nations.
2) Crisis in the Balkans
a) An Assassination Leads to War
i) After one of Austria-Hungary’s leaders was assassinated Austria-Hungary rulers blamed the
Serbian government and with the support of the Germans they declared war on Serbia on
July 28, 1914.
ii) Europe’s system of alliances caused this war to spread to all of the other nations.
3) A World War Begins
a) Allied Powers, or the Allies- Great Britain, Russia, France and Japan.
b) Central Powers- Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire.
i) Italy broke its alliance with Germany in 1915 and joined the Allies after they were promised
territory in Australia after the war.
c) Fighting on the Western Front
i) German hoped that attacking Belgium first would provide them with an easy route to France
so that they could destroy the French army quickly and enter into Russia.
(1) The Belgians fought heroically for three weeks allowing the France and Great Britain to
mobilize their troops.
(2) After defeating the Belgians the German army moved into France, but were pushed
back by France and Great Britain at the Battle of the Marne.
(3) For the next 3 years the two sides fought in trenches which protected them from some
of the bullets.
(4) Both sides tried to get out of the trench warfare by launching major offensives which
when over only caused large amounts of casualties on both sides.
d) Deadly Technology
i) New and more deadly weapons accounted for the large amounts of casualties.
(1) The Germans were the first to use poison gas to kill their enemies. Not long after the
introduction of these gases the gas mask was invented.
(2) Tanks were also developed in WWI.
(3) The most dramatic new weapon was the airplane. Both sides used them to bomb
enemies and to watch the movements of troops. Pilots waged duels in the air called
“dogfights”.
(a) Famous pilots included the Red Baron (Germany) and Eddie Rickenbacker (American
fighting for the French).
(4) The German’s also used Zeppelin or blimp to bomb Allied cities.
e) On The Sea
i) Since both armies were deadlocked they both locked at the sea as away to gain an
advantage.
(1) Great Britain blocked German ports so that the Germany soldiers could not get the
supplies they needed.
(2) The Germans did the same but they used their U-boats (submarines).
(a) U- boat attacks on ships at sea eventually affected the United States and changed
the course of the war.
Section 2: America’s Road to War
1) President Wilson declared that the U.S. would be neutral in the war.
2) Due to the fact that many Americans had moved to the U.S. from these countries which were at war
there was no clear side for the U.S. to support.
a) Using propaganda
i) To gain the support of Americans, both sides in the war used propaganda – information
designed to influence opinion.
(1) Allied propaganda portrayed Germans as barbarians. The Central Powers was equally as
horrible but because of British sympathies, the Allied propaganda was more effective at
influencing Americans.
b) America’s Early Involvement
i) Trade between the U.S. and the Allies helped build support for the Allies cause.
ii) As a neutral nation the U.S. wanted to trade with both sides but the British would not let the
U.S. trade with Germany.
iii) The Allies also borrowed billions of dollars from U.S. banks to support their war efforts.
(1) All this business caused an economic boom in the U.S.
(2) This also upset the Germans because the U.S. was supposed to be a neutral country but
they were helping the enemy.
c) Submarine Warfare
i) To stop American trade with the British, Germany announced in February, 1915 that they
would sink any U.S. vessels entering or leaving a British ports with their U-boats.
(1) President Wilson warned that Germany would be held responsible for any American
lives lost.
(2) On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed a British passenger liner. More than 1000
people died including 128 Americans. Later American found out that the ship had been
carrying military materials.
(3) In order to keep America out of the war Germany created the Sussex Pledge which
stated that Germany would warn neutral ships and passenger vessels before attacking.
2) The End of Neutrality
a) Due to submarine warfare the U.S. took steps to strengthen its military. The U.S. doubled its
army and built new warships.
b) On the Brink of War
i) In January 1917, Germany reversed its policy on submarine warfare. They stated that they
would know sink any ship without an announcement.
(1) This caused President Wilson to break off diplomatic relationships with Germany.
ii) Germans foreign minister Author Zimmermann sent Mexico a secret message trying to
persuade them to attack the U.S.
c) Revolution in Russia
i) The Russian people overthrow the monarchy in Russia and planned to change to a
democratic government.
(1) Wilson could now claim that the Allies were fighting a war of democracy against
autocracy – rule by one person with unlimited power.
(2) Also in March of 1917, Germans attacked and sunk several American ships.
d) America Enters the War
i) Congress passed a declaration for war, and Wilson signed it on April 6th.
ii) The U.S. had to raise an army quickly. This was done when Congress passed the Selective
Service Act on May 18th, which established a military draft. Many American s supported the
draft.
(1) 24 million men registered, 3 million were called to serve, and 2 million joined
voluntarily.
(2) This was the first time women could serve they performed noncombat duties.
(3) 300,000 African Americans decided to serve their country. The marines were the only
branch that would not accept them.
(a) African Americans faced discrimination and racism in the armed forces just as they
did in civilian life.
(b) Many African American soldiers never saw actual combat.
(c) One African American regiment received medals for bravery from the French
government. One of its members Henry Johnson was the first American to receive
the French Croix de Guerre (Cross of War) for bravery.
Section 3: Americans Join the Allies
1) Supplying the Allies
a) In 1917, the Allies desperately needed the help of American soldiers. Some French troops no
longer wanted to fight. British troops were running out of war supplies and food, and 1 out of 4
ships leaving British ports.
b) To ensure that supplies reached Great Britain the U.S. navy took two steps: First, it helped the
British find German submarines to destroy. Second, convoys – teams – of navy destroyers
escorted groups of merchant ships across the Atlantic.
i) Due to the convoy system not one American soldier was lost to submarine attack on their
way to Europe.
c) Russian Withdraw
i) The Allies needed more troops because of a second revolution in Russia. In November 1917,
the Bolsheviks, a group of communists, overthrew the democratic Russian government in
March 1917.
(1) Led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks wanted to end Russia’s participation in the war
and in 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, surrendering
Poland, the Ukraine, and other territories to the Germans.
(a) This withdraw allowed Germany to move hundreds of thousands of troops from the
Eastern Front – line of battle to the Western Front in France.
d) American Troops in the War
i) When the Americans began to fight they helped turn the war around.
(1) General John J. Pershing led the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), the American
troops in Europe.
(2) In 1918, the AEF turned back the Germans at Chateau-Thierry on the Marne River.
(3) By the middle of July, the Allies had stopped the German offensive.
(4) The American soldiers fighting alone called doughboys defeated the Germans at Saint
Mihiel.
(5) Later in the month, more than one million American troops joined the Allies in the
Battle of the Argonne Forest.
(a) This battle ended months later when the Allies pushed the Germans back and broke
through their line. The Germans were now faced with an invasion of their own
country.
2) The End of the War
a) Request for an Armistice
i) On October 4, 1918, the German government appealed to President Wilson for an armistice.
(1) An armistice is an agreement to end the fighting.
(2) Wilson agreed as long as the Germans promised not to renew hostilities, removed
troops from Belgium and France, and replaced their military leaders with civilian
leaders.
(a) While German was considering this offer political unrest erupted. On November 9,
the German Kaiser, or emperor, Wilhelm II, was forced to give up his throne and a
republic was formed.
b) Peace Begins
i) On November 11, 1918, Germany signed the armistice and an end came to the Great War.
Section 4: The War at Home
1) After declaring war on Germany in 1917, mobilization – the gathering of resources and the
preparation for war – occurred.
2) To ensure production of vital war material, the government created the National War Labor Board in
April 1918.
a) The board helped workers get the things they wanted like an 8 hour day, extra pay for overtime,
equal pay for women, and the right to form a union. The workers had to promise that they
wouldn’t go on strike.
b) Workers During the War
i) With millions of men at war new job opportunities opened up for women and minorities.
(1) Women were hired to do jobs that were previously held by men.
(2) Hundreds of thousands of African Americans moved from the South to work in factories
in the North.
(3) Mexicans also migrated to the U.S. for work.
c) Paying for the War
i) World War I cost the U.S. $32 billion. Two-thirds of this money was raised by selling the
American people war bonds, or Liberty Bonds.
ii) The Federal Government raised money for the ear by raising taxes.
d) Producing Supplies
i) The U.S. not only had to produce food for itself but also for the Allies.
(1) Herbert Hoover headed the Food Administration which encouraged farmers to produce
more food and persuaded the public to eat less food.
ii) The War Industries Board, converted factories to the production of war-related goods and
setting the price for consumer products.
e) Mobilizing Support
i) The Committee on Public Information job was to persuade Americans that the war
represented a battle for democracy and freedom.
(1) To gain support for the war posters, advertisements, and celebrates were used.
3) Americans and the War
a) Even though the war improved America’s economy racial and other tensions remained.
b) African American Migration
i)
Between 1914 and 1920, between 300,000 and 500,000 African Americans moved to the
North this migration became known as the Great Migration.
(1) Many of these African American found jobs in the north but their lives were still not
easy due to the racial prejudice they continued to face.
(a) Several terrible race riots took place in several North cities.
(i) East St. Louis, Illinois was one of these cities. A white mob burnt 1000’s of
African Americans homes and 40 African Americans were killed as they tried to
escape their burning homes.
c) Controlling Public Opinion
i) There were many people against the war in America: German-Americans, socialists – who
believed that industries should be publicly owned and pacifists – people opposed to the use
of violence.
(1) To control public opinion Congress passed The Espionage Act in 1917. Espionage, or
spying, as well as for aiding the enemy or interfering with army recruiting was against
the law.
(2) In 1918, an even harsher measure was passed. The Sabotage Act and the Sedition Act
made it a crime to say, print, or write almost anything negative about the government.
Such actions would be considered sabotage – secret actions to damage war efforts.
Section 5: Searching for Peace
1) After the War
a) In January 1919, world leaders from 27 nations meet in Paris for a peace conference following
WWI. Many Europeans were hoping that Wilson would be able to build a better postwar world.
i) Across Europe homes and landscape were destroyed by the war. 9 million soldiers and
millions of civilians were killed.
ii) Europe faced social and political turmoil.
(1) Many people were homeless and hungry.
(2) Civil wars raged in many of the nation even after the war.
b) Wilson’s Fourteen Points
i) Wilson’s Fourteen Points was an outline of his peace plan.
(1) Adjustment of bounders in Europe and the creation of new nations.
(a) These points reflected Wilson’s belief in “national self-determination”- the right of
the people to decide how they should be governed.
(b) Other points included: free trade, freedom of the seas, an end to secret treaties or
agreements, reduction and limits on arms, and the peaceful settlement of disputes
over colonies.
c) League of Nations
i) Wilson’s final point concerned the creation of a League of Nations. The League would
prevent future wars by respecting and protecting one another’s territories and political
independence.
2) The Peace Conference
a) The Allies did not invite Germany or Russia to the peace conference.
b) The Allies Disagree
i) Even though Europeans liked Wilson European leaders were not excited about the
Fourteenth Points.
ii) Wilson was against punishing the defeated nations but many of the European nations
wanted revenge.
(1) Many leaders wanted to split Germany into smaller countries.
(2) Also the Allies demanded Germany to make large reparations, or payments. For the
damage Germans caused in the war.
iii) The Allies decided to deal with the new Bolshevik government of Russia. Fearing the spread
of communism, France, Britain, and the U.S. supported anti-Bolshevik forces fighting for
control of Russia. All three countries sent troops to Russia.
c) The Treaty of Versailles
i) On June 28, 1919, the Allies and Germany signed a treaty at the Palace of Versailles outside
of Paris. Germans did not want to sign the treaty but after being defeated they had no
choice.
(1) Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to accept full responsibility for the war and
to pay billions of dollars in reparations to the Allies. Germany also had to completely
disarm and give up oversea colonies and some territories in Europe.
(a) The treaty also carved up the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires to create new
nations and restore old ones.
(b) Many Americans worried that U.S. involvement in the League of Nations would
create a permanent American commitment to international affairs.
d) The Treaty Is Rejected
i) The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations was rejected by the Senate in 1920.
ii) In 1921 the U.S. signed separate peace treaties with each of the Central Powers and it never
joined the League of Nations.