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The War to End War
I.
II.
War By Germany’s Actions
a. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
i. January 1917 – Failed crops, as well as a British naval blockade,
caused severe food shortages in Germany
ii. Desperate to strike back, Germany decided to establish its own
naval blockade around Britain. They decided to sink any ship in
the waters around Britain without warning, called unrestricted
submarine warfare
iii. Germany hoped to defeat Britain before America could mobilize
their army
b. Zimmerman Note
i. February 1917 – The British intercepted a telegram (Zimmerman
note) from Germany’s foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman, to
the German ambassador in Mexico. The message said that
Germany would help Mexico “reconquer” the land it had lost to
the United States if Mexico would ally itself with Germany (Texas,
New Mexico, and Arizona)
ii. The British decoded the message and gave it to the U.S.
government. The American public called for war
c. Sinking of More American Vessels
i. Four unarmed American merchant vessels were sunk in the first
two weeks of March
ii. At this time, Russia had to deal with a revolution and backed out of
the war. If America entered the war now, they wouldn’t have to be
on the side of the Russians
d. Declaration of War
i. April 1917 – The U.S. entered the war on the side of the Allies
ii. British harassment of American ships was endurable; Germans
sunk and killed many American ships with innocent civilians on
them
Wilsonian Idealism Enthroned
a. Isolationists
i. America had a tradition of being isolationist
ii. 60 Senators and 50 representatives voted against the war resolution
iii. The Midwest was unconcerned about the war because they didn’t
care about submarine warfare
b. Glorifying the U.S.’s War Aims
i. To unify the country, Wilson declared that the war was being
fought “to make the world safe for democracy” – without the fear
of autocrats or militants
ii. He contrasted the selfish war aims of the other belligerents with
America’s goals and ideals. America didn’t fight for money or
territory
c. Wilson’s Beliefs
III.
IV.
i. He truly believed in the principles mentioned above and his appeal
worked
ii. He also thought that the modern world could not afford to have a
huge destructive war that advanced industrial States were not
capable of waging
iii. Americans, it seemed, could be either isolationists or crusaders, but
nothing in between
Wilson’s 14 Points
a. The First 5 Points
i. A proposal to abolish secret treaties (wanted open peace treaties)
ii. Freedom of the seas (appealed to the Germans, as well as to
Americans who distrusted British sea power)
iii. A removal of economic barriers
iv. Reduction of arms (burden to taxpayers in all countries)
v. An adjustment of colonial claims (in the interests of both native
people and the colonizers)
b. Other Points
i. Held out the hope of independence (“self-determination”) to
oppressed minority groups, such as the Poles (many of whom were
under the control of Germany and Austria-Hungary)
c. 14th Point
i. Foreshadowed the League of Nations
ii. Called for an international organization that would provide a
system of collective security
d. Reaction to 14 Points
i. Wilson was seen as the moral leader of the Allied cause
ii. It inspired the Allies to make better efforts and demoralized the
enemy because of alluring promises to dissatisfied minorities
iii. The 5th point helped open the road for eventual national
independence for millions of colonial areas
iv. Some Allied nations had notions of territorial gains after the war,
so they didn’t like the 14 Points
Creel Manipulates Minds
a. Committee On Public Information
i. Headed by journalist George Creel
ii. His job was to sell America on the war and sell the world on
Wilson’s war aims (was jingoistic – advocating an aggressive,
nationalistic foreign policy)
iii. The organization employed 150,000 workers at home and
overseas. They:
1. Sent out thousands of people to make short speeches
containing patriotic talk
2. Created many propaganda posters
3. Printed many pamphlets
4. Filmed several movies, such as The Beast of Berlin and To
Hell With the Kaiser
V.
5. Composed patriotic songs
a. Over There
6. Urged all citizens to spy on neighbors with foreign names
iv. He oversold Wilson. He led the world to expect too much from
him, which resulted in disillusionment both at home and abroad
Enforcing Loyalty and Stifling Dissent
a. German Americans
i. Numbered 8 million (including those with one parent who was
born in that country) out of a population of 100 million
ii. They were loyal to the U.S.
iii. Rumors persisted of German spies, so some German Americans
were beaten and tarred/feathered
b. American Protective League
i. Volunteer organization that claimed approval of the Justice
Department for pressuring support of war
ii. Humiliated those accused of not buying war bonds
iii. Persecuted those of German descent
iv. Encouraged the banning of German culture in everything from
product names to consumption, including “pretzels” and “German
Measles”
c. Result of German Hysteria
i. Orchestras found it unsafe to play German-composed music (like
Beethoven)
ii. German books were removed from libraries
iii. German classes were cancelled
iv. Sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage”
v. Hamburgers became “liberty steak”
vi. Beer became suspect
d. Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918
i. Reflected current fears about Germans and antiwar Americans
ii. The acts would:
1. Impose fines and imprisonment for persons who made false
statements which aided the enemy, hindered the draft, or
incited military rebellion
2. Forbade criticism of the government, flag, or uniform
e. Results of the Acts
i. Antiwar Socialists and Workers of the World (IWW) members
were arrested, including Socialist Party leader Eugene V. Debs and
IWW leader William Haywood
ii. 1,900 people were prosecuted. Most were pardoned after the war,
but a few weren’t released until the 1930s
f. Schenck v. U.S. (1919)
i. Schenck was a member of the (U.S.) Socialist Party. He sent out
pamphlets to men who had been drafted, urging them to resist
during WWI
VI.
VII.
ii. The Espionage Act was upheld in the Supreme Court. The court
ruled against Schenck because his words established a “clear and
present danger” to the U.S. (one cannot yell “fire” in a crowded
theater)
The Nation’s Factories Go To War
a. Preparation For War Prior To 1917
i. Wilson had only backed some mild preparedness measures
beginning in 1915:
1. Council of National Defense to study problems of
economic mobilization
2. Launched a shipbuilding program
3. Increased the army to 100,000 (15th in the world)
b. Problems With Mobilization
i. No one knew how much steel, gun powder, or other supplies the
nation could truly produce
ii. Traditional fears of big government stopped efforts to mobilize the
economy by the national government. States’ rights Democrats
and businesspeople didn’t like federal economic controls
iii. War Industries Board – It wasn’t until March 1918 that Wilson
tried to stop the economic confusion by appointing Bernard Baruch
to head this Board. However, even this board was disbanded days
after the armistice
iv. Wilson ended up controlling (to ensure supplies for the war):
1. Raw materials
2. Production
3. Prices
4. Labor relations
5. Fuel
6. Railroads
7. Maritime shipping
Workers In Wartime
a. Government Treatment of Labor
i. Threatened any unemployed male with being immediately drafted
– a powerful discouragement to go on strike
ii. Resolved some labor disputes through offers of employee benefits
iii. National War Labor Board –
1. Chaired by Taft
2. Purpose was to stop labor disputes that might hamper the
war effort
3. They demanded high wages and the 8-hour work day
iv. Overall, the government treated labor fairly
b. American Federation of Labor
i. Led by Samuel Gompers
ii. Supported the war
iii. More than doubled its membership to 3 million by the end of the
war
VIII.
iv. In the most heavily unionized sectors – coal mining,
manufacturing, and transportation, wages had risen 20%
c. Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
i. Also known as the “Wobblies” or “I Won’t Works” because they
didn’t support the war
ii. Fruit and lumber workers led strikes because they were transient
people and because of it, their working conditions were the poorest
iii. When they protested, many were beaten, arrested, or run out of
town
d. Labor During the War
i. Still didn’t have the right to organize
ii. 6,000 strikes occurred during the war
e. Steel Strikes
i. In 1919, ¼ of a million steelworkers walked off their jobs in order
to force their employers to recognize their right to organize and
bargain collectively
ii. The steel companies refused to negotiate with union
representatives and brought in 30,000 African American workers
to keep the mills running
iii. After confrontations that left more than a dozen workers dead, the
steel strike collapsed
f. African American Migration
i. Tens of thousands of southern blacks were drawn to the North in
wartime by war-industry employment. This began the migration of
African Americans moving northward
ii. Their sudden appearance in previously all-white areas sometimes
sparked race riots
1. St. Louis, Missouri (July 1917) – left 9 whites and at least
40 blacks dead
2. Chicago, Illinois (July 1919) – black and white gangs
roamed the streets and left 15 whites and 23 blacks dead
Suffering Until Suffrage
a. National American Woman Suffrage Association
i. Supported Wilson’s war
ii. Urged women to participate in the war effort (served as clerks or in
medical units)
iii. Took men’s jobs in the factories
b. National Woman’s Party
i. Some progressive feminists protested the war and women’s
involvement in it
ii. This group was led by Alice Paul and demonstrated with marches
and hunger strikes
c. New Momentum For Suffrage
i. The war effort gave new momentum for the suffrage movement
ii. Wilson endorsed women’s suffrage
iii. State legislatures began allowing women to vote
IX.
iv. 1920 – the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving all American
women the right to vote
d. Women’s Rights In the Workplace
i. Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor was created to
protect women in the workplace
ii. However, most women gave up their jobs after the war
iii. Sheppard-Towner Maternity Act of 1921
1. Provided federally financed instruction in maternal and
infant health care
2. With the passage of this act, Congress reaffirmed their
belief that the woman’s place was in the home
Forging A War Economy
a. Food Administration
i. Herbert Hoover, a Quaker-humanitarian was chosen to lead this
organization
ii. He was already considered a hero because he had successfully led
a massive charitable drive to feed the starving people of warracked Belgium
iii. He preferred voluntary compliance rather than compulsory
demands
1. Refused to issue ration cards, but instead used propaganda
posters, newspapers, and movies
2. People were urged to be patriotic – Victory Gardens
iv. Worked because of the patriotic wartime spirit
v. Farm production increased by ¼ and food exports to the Allies
tripled
b. Fuel Administration
i. Saved fuel with:
1. Heatless Mondays
2. Lightless nights
3. Gasless Sundays
c. Treasury Department
i. Sponsored huge parades and invoked slogans like “Halt the Hun”
to promote four Liberty Loan drives, followed by a Victory Loan
campaign in 1919
ii. Together, these efforts netted $21 billion, or 2/3 the cost of the war
at that point (the total cost, including interest and veterans’ benefits
was $112 billion). The remainder was raised by increased taxes
iii. Some people were actually threatened or their houses were
vandalized
d. Non-voluntary Compliance
i. Took over the nation’s railroads following bad traffic problems
ii. Seized enemy merchant vessels trapped in America’s harbors
e. Prohibition
i. Congress restricted the use of foodstuffs for alcoholic drinks
X.
XI.
ii. This helped speed up a wave of prohibition that was sweeping the
country
iii. Many leading brewers were German-descended, and this taint
made the drive against alcohol all the more popular
iv. This all resulted in the passage of the 18th Amendment, prohibiting
all alcoholic drinks
Making Plowboys Into Doughboys
a. Need For American Troops
i. America planned on:
1. Using its navy to fight in the seas
2. Ship war materials to the Allies and give them loans (they
loaned the Allies $10 billion)
ii. However, the Allies made the Americans aware that they were
running out of money and manpower. America would have to
send troops to the war, or else the western front would collapse
b. The Conscription Law
i. Wilson disliked the draft, but believed it to be necessary
ii. The bill in Congress met much opposition. Some believed that the
people would rebel
iii. The draft act was passed 6 weeks after war was declared. It
required:
1. The registration of all males between the ages of 18-45
2. No one could purchase an exemption (as in the Civil War)
3. The war excluded men working in key industries, such as
shipbuilding
c. Results of Conscription
i. Worked well. Registration day was patriotic
ii. 337,000 evaded the draft; 4,000 conscientious objectors were
excused
iii. Army grew to over 4 million
iv. Women were admitted to the armed forces (11,000 to the navy and
269 to the marines)
v. African Americans served the armed forces, but in segregated units
usually led by white officers. Reflecting discrimination, many
worked on construction and unloading ships. 400,000 black men
were drafted or enlisted
vi. Recruits were supposed to receive 8 months of training, but most
received much less because they were needed in battle
Fighting In France
a. Results of Russia’s Collapse
i. Meant that thousands of German soldiers could now concentrate
on the western front
ii. This gave the Germans a superiority in manpower
b. Slow American Mobilization
i. The Germans hoped that they could defeat Britain in 6 months –
before the Americans could mobilize
XII.
ii. No effective American fighting force reached France until about a
year after Congress declared war
iii. Shipping shortages stalled troops from coming over to Europe,
which Germany had also counted on
c. First American Deployments
i. First American deployments were used to replace the Allied armies
ii. Small amounts of troops were also deployed in Belgium, Italy, and
Russia
iii. America sent thousands of troops to Archangel and Siberia in
Russia to prevent that country from falling into the hands of
Germany when the Bolshevik Russians ended their fighting. The
Bolsheviks long resented the American interventions, which they
regarded as efforts to stop their infant communist revolution before
it grew any larger
America Helps the Defeat Germany
a. Spring 1918
i. Germany was moving forward with ½ million troops
ii. French marshal Foch became the Allied supreme commander,
unifying the troops. Up until then, the Allies had been fighting
imperfectly coordinated actions
b. May 1918
i. The Germans came to within 40 miles of Paris
ii. 30,000 American troops fought in the Battle of ChateauThierry/Belleau Woods. This was the first significant engagement
of American troops in the war
c. July 1918
i. The German drive was over
ii. The Allies began the Second Battle of the Marne, which marked
the beginning of the German withdrawal that never reversed
d. September 1918
i. 243,000 American troops (9 divisions) joined 4 French divisions in
driving the Germans back at the Battle of St. Mihiel
e. September-November 1918
i. John J. (“Black Jack”) Pershing was assigned a front of 85 miles
(because the Americans were clamoring for a separate army)
ii. He launched the Meuse-Argonne offensive, which was to cut the
German railroad lines feeding the western front
iii. The battle was the biggest the U.S. had ever fought up until that
point. It was 47 days long and engaged 1.2 million American
troops
iv. The Americans had 120,000 killed or wounded, most resulting
from being inadequately trained
v. Alvin C. York, a member of an antiwar religious sect, became a
hero when he single-handedly killed 20 Germans and captured 132
more
f. Victory In Sight
i. American armies were using their supplies so quickly that they
were in danger of running short
ii. However, the:
1. Central Powers were deserting the Germans
2. British blockade was causing food shortages
3. The Allies were killing many German soldiers
4. Propaganda leaflets dropped at the German front lines were
seducing German soldiers into giving up
XIII. Germany Surrenders
a. Peace Begins
i. October 1914 – Wilson makes it clear that the Kaiser must be
thrown out before an armistice could be made
ii. The German military generals took his advice and forced Wilhelm
to flee to Holland, where he lived out the rest of his life
b. November 11, 1918
i. The Germans surrendered
ii. There was around the clock parties, and the streets were jammed
with celebrations, laughing, and dancing
c. U.S.’s Main Contributions
i. Foodstuffs, munitions, money, oil, and manpower
ii. They fought only two major battles, at St. Mihiel and the MeuseArgonne, both in the last two months of the 4-year war
iii. It was the prospect of endless U.S. troops reserves, rather than
America’s actual military performance, that eventually
demoralized the Germans
iv. The U.S.’s European army depended on the allies for:
1. Supplies
a. Only 500 artillery pieces were of American
manufacture
b. Nearly all aircraft was provided by the British and
French
2. Britain and France transported most American troops
v. The Americans wouldn’t become a huge military force until the
next world war
XIV. Wilson Steps Down From On High
a. Wilson’s Popularity
i. Popularity of the president was at a high around the world.
Expectations of how well he’d perform at the peace negotiations
were high
ii. At home, the political parties worked together during the war
crisis. Wilson hoped to strengthen himself at the peace talks if his
party was a majority in Congress after the November 1918
elections. However, after the elections, the Republicans held a
narrow majority. Wilson didn’t have a legislative majority unlike
the rest of the leaders at the peace table, so his prestige was
diminished
b. Wilson and Problems With the Republicans
i. Wilson’s decision to go in person to Paris to help make the peace
infuriated Republicans. No president had traveled to Europe, and
Wilson’s journey looked to his critics like flamboyant
grandstanding
ii. Wilson further ruffled Republican leaders when he refused to
allow a single member from that party in his peace delegation.
Republicans wanted the chairman of the Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations, Henry Cabot Lodge (MA) to go (he had a PhD).
However, both men hated each other
XV. An Idealist Battles the Imperialists In Paris
a. Paris Conference
i. Many nations were there, but the Big Four made the important
decisions:
1. Wilson – United States (was popular with the European
masses and had the most bargaining power at the peace
conference)
2. Vittorio Orlando – Italy
3. David Lloyd George – Britain
4. Georges Clemenceau – France
ii. Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire were not
invited
b. Imperialism
i. Wilson’s ultimate goal was a world parliament to be known as the
League of Nations, but he first wanted to stop any vengeful
parceling out of the former colonies of the Central Powers
ii. The victors would not take possession of the conquered territory
outright, but would receive it as trustees of the League of Nations.
However, it was basically the same prewar colonialism
1. Syria was awarded to France
2. Iraq was given to Britain
c. League of Nations
i. Wilson envisioned an assembly with seats for all nations and a
council to be controlled by the great powers
ii. In February 1919, they agreed to make the League of Nations
XVI. Hammering Out the Treaty
a. Criticism of the League of Nations
i. Lodge and others didn’t like the League because:
1. It was useless
2. It was an overpowerful “super-state”
ii. About a dozen hard-core isolationists were known as
“irreconcilables” or “the Battalion of Death”
iii. Enough Republican senators to defeat the treaty demanded that it
be redrawn
b. Results of the Senate Refusing To Approve the League of Nations
i. Other countries had a stronger bargaining position. Wilson would
have to make concessions if he were to get a modified plan for the
League of Nations. He was sort of blackmailed into giving other
countries spoils:
1. France –
a. Rhineland:
i. Had a lot of natural resources
ii. Much industry
iii. It could serve as a buffer between France
and Germany to prevent future invasions
b. Settlement:
i. The Saar Valley (Rhineland) would be under
the control of the League of Nations for 15
years, then the people living there could vote
on their fate (they chose to be reunited with
Germany)
ii. In exchange for dropping its demands for
the Rhineland, France negotiated Security
Treaty, in which both Britain and America
pledged to come to its aid in the in the event
of another German invasion
2. Italy –
a. Fiume:
i. Was a valuable seaport inhabited by both
Italians and Yugoslavs
ii. Wilson wanted the seaport to go to
Yugoslavia and appealed over the heads of
Italy’s leaders to the country’s masses. This
infuriated the masses against Wilson
3. Japan –
a. Shandong Peninsula and German Islands in the
Pacific:
i. Japanese were given the islands (which they
illegally fortified and used against the U.S.
as bases in WWII)
ii. Wilson wanted self-determination, but Japan
threatened to walk out of the meeting. Japan
kept Germany’s economic holdings in
Shandong and pledged to return the
peninsula to China at a later date. The
Chinese were outraged (30 million of their
resident lived there)
XVII. The Peace Treaty That Bred A New War
a. Treaty of Versailles
i. Germans were forced to sign in June 1919
ii. Only 4 of the original 23 Wilsonian points were included. He was
forced to compromise some of the points to save the League of
Nations. He hoped that the League would make up for some of the
inequities in the treaty
iii. Vengeance, not reconciliation, was the treaty’s dominant tone.
The Allies hated Germany because:
1. Money spent on war
2. Starting war
3. Deaths (65 million mobilized - 17.5 million allied
casualties; 11.5 million central powers)(9 million deaths,
20 million wounded or MIA, 7 million permanently
disabled)
b. What Did the Treaty Do?
i. Article 231 – “War Guilt Clause” – Germany had to accept
everything as their fault. Germany thought unfair, but had to sign
ii. Reparations – Payments for the cost and damage caused by the
war. Germany had to pay $33 billion dollars, $500 million per
year until 1988. War cost the U.S. $224 million per day in 1918.
It cost $337 billion total for the U.S. The U.S. loaned and was
owed $11.5 billion in war debts - $2 trillion today
iii. Reduced army and made them be defensive only
iv. Limited navy
v. No reserves
vi. No tanks
vii. No subs
viii. No long-range artillery
ix. No conscription
x. Can’t train soldiers to be general staff officers
xi. Rhineland to be occupied for 15 years
c. Immediate Results of the Treaty
i. Wilson, who was worshipped in Europe, was now a fallen idol
ii. It liberated millions of minority people, including:
1. Finland
2. Latvia
3. Lithuania
4. Listonia
5. Poland
6. Czechoslovakia
7. Yugoslavia
iii. However, all of these countries:
1. Harbor ill feelings toward each other
2. Not democratic
3. Ultra-nationalistic
4. Little good leadership
d. Separate Treaty With Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire
i. Treaty of St. Germaine – signed September 1919
1. Austria-Hungary
a. Get rid of Austria-Hungary Empire (separate them
into 2 countries)
b. Pay reparations
c. Forbid to unite with Germany
d. Small, defensive armies
2. Ottoman Empire
a. Reduced size to today’s Turkey (lost empire)
b. Pay reparations
c. Small, defensive army
d. Gave islands to Greece
e. Dardanelles open under international supervision
XVIII. Domestic Prejudice
a. Critics of the Treaty
i. Isolationists –
1. Didn’t like the League of Nations
ii. Hun-haters –
1. Didn’t think the treaty was harsh enough
iii. Liberals –
1. Thought the treaty was too harsh
iv. German Americans, Italian Americans, and others –
1. Thought the peace treaty was not sufficiently favorable to
their native lands
v. Irish Americans
1. Thought that the 5 overseas British dominions would give
Britain undue influence in the League which would be used
to force the U.S. to crush any rising for Irish independence
XIX. Wilson’s Tour and Collapse
a. Acceptance of the Treaty of Versailles in America
i. Most people were favorable
ii. Senator Lodge wanted to amend it in such a way as to
“Americanize” it so that the Republicans could then take credits
for the changes
iii. He effectively used delay to muddle and divide public opinion
1. Read the entire 264-page treaty aloud
2. Held protracted hearings in which people of various
nationalities aired their grievances
b. Wilson’s Tour
i. Wilson decided to make a tour of the country in September 1919
because the opinion was changing. Two “irreconcilable” senators
followed him in the same cities a few days later
ii. Midwest –
1. Received Wilson lukewarmly, partly because of strong
German American influence
iii. Pacific Coast –
1. These areas welcomed Wilson
iv. Pueblo, Colorado –
1. Wilson collapsed from physical and nervous exhaustion
2. Several days later a stroke paralyzed one side of his body
XX. Defeat Through Deadlock
a. Senator Lodge
i. Didn’t amend the treaty
ii. Came up with 14 formal reservations to the treaty, which served to
safeguard:
1. Monroe Doctrine
2. Constitution
3. American sovereignty
iii. Lodge and others were alarmed by Article X of the League
because it morally bound the U.S. to aid any member victimized
by external aggression. Congress wanted to reserve for itself the
constitutional war-declaring power
b. The End of the Treaty of Versailles In America
i. Wilson hated Lodge and didn’t want to except his reservations to
get the treaty passed (although the Democrats had similar
reservations)
ii. Wilson sent word to all true Democrats to join with the
“irreconcilables” to vote down the treaty, which is what happened
iii. These factors played a part:
1. Lodge-Wilson feud
2. Traditionalism (the U.S. didn’t get into alliances)
3. Isolationism (the U.S. didn’t want to be drawn into another
war)
4. Disillusionment (shock, disappointment, and dismay at the
war, causing the U.S. to not want to get into another one)
5. Partisanship (political parties voting according to party
lines)
XXI. The “Solemn Referendum” of 1920
a. Republican Nomination
i. Roosevelt was dead, so wayward Bull Moose people were back
with the Republicans
ii. They devised a platform that appealed to both pro-League and antiLeague supporters
iii. Nominated Senator Warren G. Harding from Ohio (thought he was
affable (warm and friendly) and malleable (capable of being
used)); the vice-president would be Governor Calvin Coolidge of
MA
b. Democratic Nomination
i. Nominated Governor James M. Cox of Ohio, who strongly
supported the League. His running mate was Assistant Navy
Secretary Franklin D. Roosevelt from NY
c. Campaigning
i. The Democrats tried to make the League a referendum issue, as
Wilson had wanted
ii. The Republicans attracted supporters from both sides because they
both thought Harding would advance their cause (Harding would
work for an Association of Nations – a league, but not the League)
d. Election of 1920
i. Harding won:
1. 16.1 million-9.1 million
2. 404-127
ii. Eugene V. Debs won the most ever votes for the Socialist party
while he was in jail – 919,000
e. Results of the Election of 1920
i. The people wanted a change from the do-good, star-reaching,
morally sound, self-sacrificial president that Wilson was
ii. Harding’s victory was the end of the League
XXII. The Betrayal of Great Expectations
a. Downfall of the League of Nations
i. It was undercut at the start by the refusal of the U.S. to join it
ii. Had this organization been strong enough, it may have prevented
WWII
b. Downfall of the Security Treaty
i. The U.S. senate rejected the treaty, which would’ve given
American aid to France if Germany attacked them
ii. As a result, France began a buildup of military force. Germany
responded by doing the same
c. Why Did the U.S. Remain Isolationist?
i. Conduct of its Allies had been disillusioning (had been unreal or
unbelievable)
ii. Wanted to remain out of bloody European wars by having no
entangling alliances
iii. As a result, they did not assume its war-born responsibilities and
embrace the role of a global leader
d. Results of WWI
i. America emerged as the political and economic leader of the world
ii. European States went into decline
iii. Germany was devastated and angry