Download America Remains Neutral

America Remains Neutral
I. Reasons
a. Economic reasons = Foreign investments
b. Peacemakers ‘moral diplomacy’
c. 1/3 of US population 1st or 2nd generation
immigrants
d. Mexican Revolution/Pancho Villa
II. Fighting starts (Bloody stalemate in Europe)
a. German plan for war
Schlieffen Plan – attack France first through Belgium,
then turn to Russia with both armies
- By September Germany within 30 miles of Paris on
the Western Front
- Also winning on the Eastern Front against Russia;
looks like it will be a quick war… wrong!
b. Allies stop German on Western Front by end of
1914
- Huge casualties (Trench Warfare begins)
IMPORTANT EARLY BATTLES
- 1st Battle of the Marne – Sept. 5-12, 1914
(Allied Victory)
- Verdun – Feb. 21, 1916 (major German offensive)
- Battle of the Somme – July 1st-Mid November,
1916 (Bloodiest battle)
Only 7 miles change hands – Bloody stalemate
c. Modern Weaponry
- automatic machine guns, hand grenades,
mechanized cannons, poison gas, tanks, fighter planes
Trench Warfare
Trench Warfare – Long concentrated artillery
bombardments, followed by all out charges at the
enemy across “no man’s land” (area between the
trenches)
Diagram of Trenches
Trench Dugouts
Going “Over the Top”
Trenches of Somme
Automatic Machine Guns
Life in the Trenches
a. Living conditions were horrible
1. Horrible smell, filled w/ dead bodies and
stricken with flies
2. Filled with mud up to the knees, wet
conditions led to diseases
3.
4.
5.
6.
Trench foot – led to amputation
Rats fed on the dead
Shell shock – mental breakdowns
“lousey” – lice that ate away at the scalp –
loss of hair
7. Boredom
8. Poison Gas – Chlorine, Sulfur, Mustard
Boredom in Trench
Shell Shock
Shell Shock
Trench Foot
U.S. remains neutral?
1. People horrified – American Red Cross and
American Ambulance Corp. see trench
warfare firsthand.
2. French Foreign Legion – volunteer
3. U.S. Gov.t trades with both sides
a. British naval blockade – USA still supplies Allies with
food, weapons, supplies
b. American banks give Allies billions of dollars through
war bonds
c. Central powers upset and notice unfair neutrality
Reasons US pushed toward war
1. German U-boats and Unrestricted Submarine
Warfare
a. To fight British naval blockade
b. Unrestricted warfare – all seas around GB
considered a “war zone” and subs would fire
without warning.
c. By May 1915 Italy leaves the Central Powers and
joins the Allies
2. Sinking of the Lusitania
a. May 7th, 1915 U-boat sinks Lusitania in 18
minutes, 1,200 die; 128 Americans
b. Secret cargo on board = 4,200 cases of gun
cartridges
c. US remains neutral = American people upset =
Wilson refused to repeal neutrality
3. Zimmerman Note
a. Jan. 1917 intercepted by British intelligence said:
-
-
Germany would continue unrestricted submarine
warfare
Proposed Mexico to join Germany should US enter the
war
Promised Mexico financial aid to re-conquer NM, TX,
and ARZ
US Declares War
1. Wilson outraged, breaks diplomatic relations
with Germany
2. Zimmerman Note published in US papers on
March 1st 1917
3. German U-boats sink 3 American ships on
March 16th
4. US declares war on April 6th at 3 AM
5. More support war than oppose (Jeanette
Rankin). Senate 82-6, House 373-50
US mobilizes for war
1. Not prepared for war at first, send 14,000 led
by John Pershing. More needed!
2. Selective Service Act; May 1917
a. 3 million enlisted, 5 million volunteer (AEF =
American Expeditionary Force)
b. Included 11,000 women (Am. Red Cross, etc.)
John Pershing
Total War
Total War = All Resources of a nation used for
the war effort
3. US agriculture and industry increased
4. Propaganda campaigns by Gov.t
a. “War to end all wars”
b. CPI led by George Creel
c. Against anything German = hamburgers, beers,
music.
d. Discrimination against Germans
Objectives of Wartime Propaganda
1. Recruitment of soldiers, draft or voluntary
enlistment
2. Financing the war effort, sale of war bonds,
loans, new taxes
3. Eliminating dissent and unifying the country
4. Conservation of resources, food, oil, steel
5. Participation in home-front organizations
Common tools used in Wartime
Propaganda
1. Demonization, portray the enemy as purely
evil, menacing, murderous, and aggressive
2. Emotional Appeals, playing on people’s
emotions to promote the war effort
3. Name Calling, using loaded labels to
encourage hatred of enemy
4. Patriotic Appeals, using patriotic language or
symbols to appeal to national pride
5. Half-Truths or Lies, deception or twisting the
truth
6. Catchy Slogans, memorable phrases to foster
support for the war effort
7. Evocative Visual Symbols, using symbols to
appeal to people’s emotions
8. Humor or Caricatures, capturing the viewer’s
attention through the use of humor to
promote the war effort
US Prepares for War
5. Gov.t Acts
a. Espionage Act 1917 – treason, hunt out spy's
b. Sedition Act 1918 – cannot criticize gov.t for war
6. Convoy system
a. Destroyers with depth charges to fight U-Boats
7. American Soldiers in Europe
a. 2 million cross Atlantic and join Pershing
b. Infantry called “doughboys”
c. African Americans segregated 300,000
volunteered or drafted
-
Most never saw combat did menial work
Harlem Hell Fighters – awarded the Croix de Guerre
Fighting and the end of the war
1. New Factor changes face of war = Civil War in
Russia led by Vladimir Lenin successful
a. Bolshevik/Communist take-over Nov. 1917
b. Calls peace with Germany
c. Germany can now focus totally on Western Front
Lenin
Czar Nicholas
The Romanov Family
2. By June 3, 1918 Germans push within 50
miles of Paris
a. US troops enter war in full force and hold Paris
against German offensive at Chateau-Thierry.
- Allied victories at Belleau Wood, & the 2nd
Battle of the Marne
- Within 7 weeks Germany is pushed out of
France
b. Sensing defeat Kaiser Wilhelm seeks concessions
from Allies in return for peace, the Allies refuse, will
only accept total surrender.
c. Sept. 26-Oct. 9, 1918 One million AEF fought
Germans back on a 200 mile front at the MeuseArgonne (Lost Battalion)
- Central Powers crumble = Bulgaria, Turkey, AustriaHungary all surrender
- Armistice finally comes when Kaiser Wilhelm flees
country due to uprising on Nov. 9th, Armistice
signed on Nov. 11th, 1918…fighting stops
Bloodiest War in History
a. Approximately 8.5 million are killed or die
(this does not include civilians)
b. Approximately 21 million additional people
wounded
c. Approximately 8 million prisoners or missing
in action
d. War creates approximately 10 million
additional refugees
e. Total cost of war about 350 billion dollars
(direct economic costs)
Approximately 57.6% of all men mobilized end
up casualties of war
France lost 20% of its men ages 20-44
Germany 15%
Young people that lived became known as the
“lost generation”.