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Chapter 22: From Neutrality to War
Primary source analysis (AVMS):
Zimmerman Note
A: Arthur Zimmermann
M: Zimmermann note, secret telegram sent on Jan. 16, 1917, by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to
Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States. In it Zimmermann said that in the event
of war with the United States, Mexico should be asked to enter the war as a German ally.
S: The Importance of the Zimmermann Note is that it was the last step that pushed the U.S to go war with Germany.
The Zimmerman note caused anti-German feelings across the nation. Wilson had hopes that Germany would back
down but his hopes were dashed. Germany said that they would help Mexico gain their territory in New Mexico
Arizona and Texas.
Sussex Pledge
A: The Sussex Pledge made as an agreement between Germany and the U.S. is being summarized by the History
Alive! Textbook.
M: The Sussex Pledge is an agreement made between the United States and Germany in 1916. The agreement
promises that Germany would give warnings before attack ships with submarines and spare the lives of passengers
or crew from then on, but only if the U.S. would stop Britain’s illegal naval-blockade.
S: Due to Germany’s start of unrestricted submarine warfare, many ocean-liners were often sunk with bunches of
casualties, usually with no warnings and no consistent reason. As a result, Americans began losing their lives on
the sea due to attacks such as on the British liner Lusitania where 128 Americans died, or on the Arabic
where two Americans died. Growing tired of Germany’s “murder on the high seas”, the U.S. would stop
diplomatic relations with Germany, so Germany responded with a promise to give warnings and save
passengers, since America was an important business relation. However, the condition America was given to force
Britain to take down their naval blockade was never carried out by Wilson.
Historical Identifications
Central Powers: The central powers were led by Germany and Austria-Hungary, later including the
Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. The central powers wanted to expand their empire overseas and become a world
power. They believed in nationalism which was a strong feeling of pride toward a nation or ethnic group; leading
some European countries to put their national interests first disregarding the consequences of other countries.
This was the central powers beliefs and an influence on the start of the war.
Allied Powers: Allied powers were led by France, Britain, & Russia later including Portugal, Japan, and
Italy. Allied powers believed in militarism: glorifying military power and values so when Germany improved its
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army and added to its navy, Britain felt that they had to do the same. Britain and France also had colonies in Africa
and Asia that provided resources for their products this fueled the fire of Germany its own colonies. The belief of
the Allied powers gave them a reason to fight Germany and start this war.
U-Boats: U-Boats were the creators of havoc in the fight of the Atlantic, they were German Submarines so
dangerous that even Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister) commented that the release of the German
Undersea Boats on January 31 1917 were the only thing that might cause Britain to contemplate surrendering.
Lusitania: On May-7-1915 the Lusitania was struck by torpedoes that were launched by German U-boats without
warning. The Lusitania was carrying civilian passengers when they were struck by the Germans, 1,924 people were
killed in the sinking and sudden blast of the ship, 128 of which were American citizens.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare: Unrestricted Submarine Warfare was a type of naval warfare struck civilian
and military ships without warning. After the sinking of Lusitania the United States was very frustrated with
Germany because it killed 114 Americans, doing so restricted the trade of the United States and oppressed the right
of traveling on British ships. Some believed that people should fight for this right and some believed that people
shouldn't worry about it. So the United States wanted to restrict the attacks on civilian U-boats without warning to
protect their people but Germany did not listen and continued their attacks leading the United States to declare
war.
Preparedness Movement: Beginning in 1915, former president Theodore Roosevelt led the Preparedness
Movement along with all other war supporters in the movement. Unhappy with the way Wilson’s handling of
Neutrality during the war, although Roosevelt did not support the Central or Allied side. But Roosevelt toured the
whole of the U.S. to point out that the U.S. was very ill-prepared for a war, with a small army and navy. Roosevelt
also tried to use this to convince of the U.S.’s involvement being needed in the war. With being prepared for war for
peace-reasons being on everyone’s mind, the movement called to increase the United States’ measly 80,000 man
army and lack of equipment. However, Wilson eventually gave in with the submarine problem of Germany
persuading him to prepare for war, and he called to Congress to gather the money to double the size at least, and to
build the world’s largest navy. The increase of military power in the U.S. finally gave it the potential to fight in the
war, which would begin after the propaganda spread soon after in the Allied and Central Powers.
Summary;
After the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on June 28, 1914, Europe exploded into war,
with Russia siding with Serbia against Austria-Hungary, Germany declaring war against Russia and France, and
finally Britain coming to France’s aid against Germany. Tensions in Europe had be high because of the system of
alliances that divided Europe into two camps, the intense sense of nationalism that created Germany’s thirst for
power and fostered the discontent of smaller ethnic groups, the militarism that glorified military strength, and the
competition created by imperialism.
At the outbreak of the war, the United States chose to remain neutral because they had no real reason to go
to join the fight. This stance also benefitted the U.S. by allowing them to make loans and sell supplies to both sides,
helping the economy. Despite this, many Americans chose sides because of their heritage and most supported the
Allies. This was evident through the actions of American business and even the government.
When Germany began to use U-boats to attack merchant ships heading to Britain, the U.S. began to favor
the Allies even more: President Wilson protested the practice of sinking ships with the passengers and crew still
aboard, and after Americans were killed by a German attack on the Lusitania, America demanded that they cease
unrestricted submarine warfare. More Americans were killed later, so Wilson asked the Germans to accept the
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Sussex Pledge, which stated all lived must be spared on merchant ship attacks, if they wanted to maintain
diplomatic relations. The Germans required that the U.S. end Britain’s illegal blockade if they were going to accept
it, but Wilson rejected this condition.
Back in the states, many Americans became concerned about the war and started the preparedness
movement, and although Wilson tried hard to keep the peace by speaking domestically and abroad, foreign
propaganda, primarily against the Germans, added fuel to the fire.
Then, Germany returned to unrestricted warfare in an effort to win the war, and America broke off all
relations as prescribed by the Sussex Pledge. To make matters worse, Germany sent the Zimmerman note, and
Wilson felt he had no choice but to enter the war. This decision was only made easier by the fact that Russia was
now under democratic rule, making them a fit partner in the war against German aggression. On April 2, 1917
Wilson spoke to Congress, and two days later--after much controversy--America entered the war.
23 - The Course and Conduct of World War I
Primary source analysis (AVMS):
Selective Service Act
A: The legislative branch along with the president, Woodrow Wilson, devised the Selective service act.
V: The Government had declared war on Germany, because Germany had sunk US passenger ships, and
was urging Mexico to invade the US. They thought that they could no longer be involved with this war.
Germany had provoked them to take action.
M: Once the US had declared war on Germany they needed more men to assist the allies, so they used the
selective service act to issue a draft. They knew that many people may not comply with the draft so they
used anti-German propaganda to convince the citizens to comply. By the end of the war 25 million men
were registered and 2.8 million actually to war.
S: This document triggered the first time that a massive amount of Americans went to war, and showed
that the US can be a world power. It would also set the table for more drafts to happen in the future as
well. The US was starting to become a rising military power.
Historical Identifications
Convoy System: Nearing the end of the war, a convoy system was created by the Allies to help reduce the
number of Allied deaths greatly, which succeeded. A convoy is a group of vessels or vehicles that travel
together, often under the protection of an armed escort. The convoy system did many things: it reduced
the effectiveness of the U-boat attacks, it protected merchant ships through escorting them, and it
dropped the amount of material lost from U-boat attacks from more than 850,000 to a little over 200,000.
369th Regiment Convoy: Otherwise known as the Harlem Hell fighters the 369th regiment was a group
of all black solders that fought in World War I. The group started in 1916 as the 15th regiment. After the
war the 369th received some of the highest medals/awards a regiment can receive from both America
and France. The 369th had a big impact on history as they were one of the first African American
regiments to go to war for the United States and make such a huge impact on the war. The 369th also
helped change the mind of many Americans about how they felt with racial integration.
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Meuse-Argonne Offensive: Before the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, World War One had been raging for
over four years. Eight-million soldiers had been killed. Russia had already surrendered, and The Meuse
Argonne Offensive was part of the final effort of the allies to defeat the Germans, and end World War One.
The battle was fought from September 26th, 1918 to November 11th, and took place in the German
controlled Argonne forest and Meuse River. 37 French and American divisions tried to reach Sedan to
destroy the railroad there, which were Germany’s main source of communication and supplies, and they
were ultimately successful. In these weeks, over 26,000 men were killed, and about 100,000 were
wounded. This was the largest offensive attack by Americans in WW1, which caused the end of the war
because the Germans were forced to surrender. This led to the “peace” treaty of Versailles, soldiers
returning home, and the world reeling from so much hardship. Without the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the
war would have continued, so even more soldiers would have been killed.
Combatants: During World War 1 (1914- 1918) people who were physically fighting in the war were
called combatants. These soldiers were used to fighting wars in hand-to-hand combat, but due to the
advancements of technology (flame throwers, trenches, and cannons) Combatants didn't have to be faceto-face with the enemy during fighting. Advancements in artillery also made wounds more deadly and
harder to heal than regular rifle wounds from previous wars. Newer technology made the war both easier
and dangerous for the combatants fighting during World War 1.
American Expeditionary Force (AEF): The American Expeditionary Force came into existence during
World War 1. They fought under General John. J. Pershing when they were on French ground, and are also
widely known as the ‘dough-boys’, and were also mainly infantry. The AEF fought in order to aid the
French soldiers against Germany, and they boosted their moral. But, after Russia gave up large amounts
of territory to Germany due to the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Germany threw all of its troops onto the
western front; causing allies to ask put the AEF in the western front to counter attack. General John J.
Pershing resisted the request and insisted that the AEF goes over seas. Pershing got his way and the AEF
were successful. The AEF has played a major role in World War 1, since they have caused Germany to
back off. This war also boosted the production of new technology because a lot of the strategies during
WW1 required new technology’s in order to win, making advancements in technology go by faster.
Chemical Weapons: Chemical weapons were first used in WWI around August 1914 by the French
against Germans and others used by in 1915 and 1917 and many other times. Chemical weapons consist
of toxic gasses there are four that were used during WWI. Tear Gas first used in 1914 by the French
against Germans that irritates mucous membranes in the eyes, mouth, throat, and lungs that leads to
coughing difficulty breathing and temporary blindness, Chlorine first used in september1915 by the
Germans against the British forces in Loos that reacts with water in lungs and creates hydrochloric acid
that causes coughing vomiting and irritation to the eyes in low concentration and rapid death at high
concentrations, Phosgene first used in December 1915 by the Germans against the British at Ypres reacts
with proteins in the lungs that causes difficulty breathing along with irritation to the eyes that often lead
to death by suffocation, and Mustard gas first used in July 1917 by the Germans against the British at
Ypres was a powerful irritant and blistering agent that damaged eyes skin and the respiratory tract it
burns on contact with skin and lead to cell death. The significance of the use of these chemical weapons
was that they were a major advance in the technology of warfare, and they were very effective at
achieving their goal of incapacitating the people of the receiving end.
WWI STUDY GUIDE
24 - The Home Front
Primary source analysis (AVMS):
Sedition Act
Author: The United States government during World War I
Voice: Formal
Message: All of those that are caught trying to go against the US government such as writing letters of propaganda
against the US or trying to cause mutiny among the Army will receive fines and possible imprisonment for trying to
incite mutiny among the military branches. Basically, any attempt to not root for the US in the war will result in
fines and jail time.
Significance: Sedition: conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.
Sedition targeted people who did not root for the war such as pacifists and wobblies. This caused a rise in arrests
for people who even slightly mocked the war or war-time events. The significance is that the government
attempted to influence people’s ideas towards the war with propaganda in a similar fashion to 1984: those who
didn’t follow specific ideals were arrested.
Espionage Act
Author: The United States government during World War I
Voice: Formal and Serious
Message: Any person found guilty of espionage, or the act of spying on a country, against the United States will
receive fines and/or possible imprisonment. Acts of espionage can include disclosing classified or open source
information to other countries, misusing government research, and selling or giving away any documents or
research regarding national defense.
Significance: The Espionage Act made people wary of expressing their opinions for fear of being prosecuted of
being a spy. This made life for immigrants very difficult, as many people were suspicious of which country they
really were loyal to. Many people believed this act was a violation of freedom of speech, as anything that could
possibly interfere with the United States’ war effort against Germany could lead to a heavy punishment from the
government.
Historical Identifications
Committee of Public Information: The Committee of Public Information (CPI) was an agency/ group created as a
way for the government to promote propaganda towards the general public. Led by George Creel, the group would
hire movie producers, composers and music directors and would create media creations such as movies, songs,
and symphonies that would promote America’s “greatness” and its liberty. Also, they would make speeches
throughout America every ten days in order to promote America and cause Germany to seem like savages. The
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significance of this committee was that patriotic fervor spread across America and caused recruitment levels to
rise.
Women’s Peace Party: The women’s peace party was an organization established by a group of pacifist women in
1915 in response to the start of World War 1 so that they could call for arms limitations and mediation to take the
place of combat in Europe. A group of women led by Jane Addams held a peace conference in Washington D.C.,
believing that progressive social reforms would help eliminate the economic causes of war. Conference leaders
formed the Women’s peace party, which grew rapidly but was broken into factions throughout the U.S. after
entering the war. The significance in the opposition is that the first female member of Congress had urged the U.S.
not to fight, setting an example for other pacifists to step and act upon their beliefs.
Great Migration :During World War I, the need for ample war materials rose - creating a large need for workers in
the north. This then caused the movement of a large population of African American citizens to the north following
the opening of those positions and factories, which was called the Great Migration. The African American
population was very supportive of the war overall and fought in the army or worked in the factories as a way to
show their loyalty to their country. Cities such as Chicago, New York City and Cleveland all saw a large increase in
African American citizens; this increase brought competition for jobs and heightened racial tension between
Whites and African Americans that resulted in riots in many cities. The summer of 1919, remembered as the ‘Red
Summer’ was a perfect example of the violent riots and excess of blood spilled in the cities during these riots. The
Great migration was a shift in labor locations and the many families that followed to support their country and
show loyalty to it as well.
Wobblies: “Wobblies” was the term used for members of the Industrial Workers of the World, a Chicago Labor
organization founded in 1905. They were anti-war, which many people saw as disloyal to the United States. Their
enemies used this as a platform to attack them, and over 1,500 Wobblies were arrested under the espionage and
sedition acts. Approximately 1,000 were convicted, and More than 100 members were sent to jail, something the
IWW never recovered from. Though they were ultimately unsuccessful, the IWW represented an important part of
the population, and is a group that remained staunchly opposed to the war.
Schneck v. U.S.: In 1919, Charles Schneck was tried by the Supreme Court for circulating antiwar pamphlets,
giving them to men who had just enlisted. He was tried under the Espionage act, and argued that he had been
denied the right of free speech. However, it was unanimously upheld that his conviction was constitutional, as it
was decided that his actions represented a “clear and present danger” as the US was actively engaged in a war. This
showed that there was a limit to freedom of speech if it was decided that said speech endangered national security.
Liberty Bonds: Liberty Bonds were used to help finance the war effort, and to build patriotism, the US treasury
issued securities called “Liberty Bonds” in June and October 1917, and in May and October 1918. They issued them
1 more time in May 1919 to consolidate the short term debt issued during the war.
WWI STUDY GUIDE
25 - The Treaty of Versailles: To Ratify or
Reject?
Primary source analysis (AVMS):
Fourteen Points:
A: President Woodrow Wilson
M: The fourteen points were a collect of ideas that he would like to enact with the ratification of the Treaty of
Versailles. These points encouraged:
 the formation of the League of Nations
 Peace and collective security between all who joined the league of nations
 The restoration of and sovereignty for all nations that were occupied and/or damaged by Germany
 Border redefined and formed with consideration for the ethnicity of the people of the regions.
S: These points represented the vision Wilson had to create a more unified Europe after its near
destruction after the First World War. He hoped to join all of the world powers in through the League
of Nations and eliminate the chances of facing another catastrophic conflict between them in the
future.
Treaty of Versailles:
A: Big Four (see below)
M: The Treaty of Versailles sent out the message that Germany was to be held accountable for the damages
done in its futile attempts to expand the German Empire. This document stated that Germany must give up all
occupied territories acquired during the war and limited its armament to an army of 100,000 men and placed
bans on heavy artillery, gas, tanks, and aircrafts. These measures were taken in order to prevent Germany
from re-entering war with France. Also, the Treaty formed a League of Nations that was supposed to ensure
peace and security among all league powers.
S: This treaty was supposed to bring peace and unification among the European powers and yet it was drafted
without the input of Russia or Germany. France, especially, was seeking revenge of Germany and through the
conditions of the treaty brought Germany great poverty and humiliation. Ultimately, this “peace treaty” failed
when the WWII broke out about 30 years later.
Historical Identifications
Big Four: In 1919 The "Big Four" which included, President Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister Lloyd
George of Great Britain, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando of
Italy, dominated the Paris peace conference and made the important decisions. Wilson pushed for inclusion of
his Fourteen Points especially the League of Nations. Many of his proposals, however, clashed with the secret
treaties and territorial rearrangements already made by the other three European powers, thus causing
conflict between the four main powers.
War-guilt clause: In 1919 the treaty of Versailles had an opening article that held Germany responsible for
World War I and required it to make reparations to the Allied nations to pay for losses and damages they
suffered during the war. Lloyd George insisted that Germany accept responsibility for starting the war. The
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treaty required Germans to pay $33 billion in reparations to the Allies. The significance of this clause in the
path to WWII is mainly that Germany took on paying damages, but there is also the fact that this clause
infuriated many Germans. The Germans resented the war-guilt clause, fearing that the payments would
cripple their economic recovery from war.
Reservationist: After the close of World War 1 the US senate was trying to ratify the treaty of Versailles. The
US senate was divided on their view of the treaty and separated into different groups one of the groups being
the reservationists. The reservationists believed in the treaty and its cause but wanted changes to be done to
certain segments of it. This group was important because they did support the treaty and would vote yes for it
but the changes they wanted to the treaty would make it so the US could not be dragged into European affairs
without senate approval.
Irreconcilable: The Irreconcilable was a group of 16 republican senators in 1919 who were firmly against the
treaty of Versailles. The irreconcilables were against the treaty because they felt that the US should not be
involved in European affairs. This group was important because they were a section of senate that would vote
no against the two-thirds vote needed and would actively take part in campaigning against President Wilsons
speech’s to get the public’s support of the treaty.
Internationalist: In the 1919 treaty of Versailles there was a group of mostly US Senate Democrats which
were known as internationalists. They supported everything the Treaty of Versailles had to offer and believed
it would be a huge benefit to the United States to take its “rightful” place in the world community by becoming
a member of the league of nation, even if that meant they'd have to go to war. While other groups of people
were very against the Treaty of Versailles they opposed the fact that it might bring the US into an
international organization leading to war.
Reparations: In 1919 the treaty of Versailles had article 231 put in which had put the blame for all damages
and losses from World War I on the Germans and their allies. In 1921 the price that Germany would
have to pay was set and had been decided that they would pay 13 billion euros which is the equivalent
to 64 billion us dollars. This had all been decided on by the governments of the allied forces after assessing
the damage of each country affected during the war. This threw Germany into a large scale depression
throughout most of the 1920’s. Later on this debt would be added on with the debt from World War II and
would throw Germany into a debt that wouldn’t be paid off until October 4, 2010.
League of Nations: The League of Nations was an international organization that was headquartered in
Geneva, Switzerland. This organization was put together in hopes of stopping another World War from
happening. The organization started to break apart as tension grew between nations in Europe. After many
nations lost faith in the organization working they had broken apart and once World War II had started the
organization had been destroyed.