Transcript World War I

ENTRY # 29
While Watching the
Film, answer the Page
of questions provided
Europe, Before WWI
Europe, After WWI
Was it worth10 million dead and 20 million more casualties?
 Militarism:
Glorification of
military and warfare
 Naval arms race
between the
Total Defense Spending of Germany, AustriaGermans and the Hungary, Italy, Britain, France & Russia (in million £)
British.
1870 1880
1890
1900
1910
1914
94
130
154
268
289
398
 Imperial
competition created
tension
 Elaborate and farreaching system of
alliances, including
imperial holdings
The Triple Entente
(“The Allies”):
France, Russia, Great Britain
(on the side of Serbia)
VS
The Triple Alliance
(“Central Powers”/“The Axis”):
Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary
(plus Ottoman Empire)
 Green: Allied
Powers
 Yellow: Central/Axis Powers
 The
beginning of the
conflict was the
assassination of
Archduke Francis
Ferdinand of AustriaHungary by a Serbian
nationalist, Gavrilo
Princip. (6/28/1914)
 Austria declared war
on Serbia, invoking a
series of alliances to
jump into the war…a
domino effect.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia (7/27/1914)
Russia ordered mobilization of troops in
defense of ally, Serbia (7/29/1914)
Germany, ally of Austria, declared war on
Russia, (8/1/1914)
Germany then attacked France, ally of Russia,
through Belgium (Schlieflen Plan) (8/3/1914)
Britain then declared war on Germany over
attack on ally, France/Belgium (8/4/1914)
Note: Italy did not jump in on “their side”
This all took about 2 weeks…”The Guns of
August”
The fighting on the
Western Front
primarily occurred in
France and Belgium…a
near stalemate
 Most of it “fought” in
Trenches…about
12,000 zigzagging,
barb-wire-lined
trenches on each side
facing each other

Machine Guns & Massive Artillery
Tanks to cross
trenches
Total war is a war in which a “belligerent” engages
in the complete mobilization of every available
resource and member of the population.
In the mid-19th century, "total war" was identified
by scholars as a separate class of warfare. In a
total war, there is less differentiation between
combatants and civilians than in other conflicts,
and sometimes no such differentiation at all, as
nearly every human resource, civilians and soldiers
alike, can be considered to be part of the
belligerent effort
“Impartial in thought as well as action”
–Woodrow Wilson
 At
the Beginning of the War,
the United States considered
the
war Europe’s problem and
did not want to deal with it
(Isolationism)
 There was private support for
both sides in the War (although greater
support for the Allies)
 Wilson took the official stance of
Neutrality (“Impartial in thought as well as
action”) …He picked no side;
 Instead, an Internationalist, Wilson tried
to use US influence to end the War and
bring peace.


The British blockaded German ports, seized ships trying to
run the blockade, and confiscated any contraband materials
that could help the German war effort.
Despite the naval arms race before the war, the Germans did
not have a large enough surface fleet to break through this
blockade.
Instead, the Germans created
their own blockade around
Great Britain, using
submarines (U-boats)
 They (mostly) sank ships that
carried Allied supplies,
 Many such supplies came
from the United States…The
US traded far more with the
Allies than with Axis powers,
and provided the Allies with
almost $3 billion in loans (so
not quite neutral).





A passenger ship, which
German officials (probably
correctly) claimed was also
carrying ammunition and other
war materials.
Sunk by the German U-boat
torpedoes on May 7,1915.
Killed 1198, including 128
Americans.
We warned Germany to stop
sinking unarmed passenger
ships…
Called the Sussex Pledge
 However, as 1917 rolled around,
the Germans changed tactics and
began unrestricted submarine
warfare again, hoping to cut off
Allied supplies and win the war
before the US entered…

 Meanwhile, The
German Foreign
Minister, Arthur Zimmermann, sent
Mexico a telegram stating that if
Mexico declared war on the US that
Germany would help Mexico take
back Texas, New Mexico, and
Arizona.
 German U-boats and telegrams
pushed US public opinion against the
Germans, as had German brutality in
their march through Belgium toward
France (Schlieffen Plan)
American
poster using
the "Rape of
Belgium" to
raise money
for War
Bonds, 1918
 Why
did the US enter WWI? Please
explain in a full paragraph. There are
multiple reasons…what do you believe to
be the main cause?
 Prior
to US entry into the War, the US Army and
Navy were unprepared for a major War.
 Recognizing this, the US Government began
increasing armed forces expenditures to
expand both the Army and Navy
 The National Defense Act – June, 1916
increased the standing army to 175,000.
 Congress approved the immediate
construction of 50 new warships.
 But once war was declared in April, 1917,
there was much more work to do…
1. Create a War Economy (we need
weapons)
2. Recruit an Army (we need men to shoot
the weapons)
3. Mobilize Public Opinion for the War.
(convince the public that our men should go
shoot weapons in other countries)
(And we needed to this quickly – 1917 was
a race against time and the Germans, who
were preparing to deliver a knock-out blow!)



Wilson created The War
Industries Board, which
regulated all industries
involved in the War effort.
The Food Administration
Americans asked to
conserve food as a patriotic
gesture and so that food
could be shipped to the
Allies, and to our own
troops, once they arrived.
The Fuel Administration
directed efforts to save
coal and other fuels.

The National War Labor
Board worked to settle
disputes between labor
and employers to keep
manufacturing going.
 War
is expensive - The war
government raised $33
billion for the war effort
through a combination of
(a)increased taxes (income,
corporate and
excise/luxury) and (b) the
sale of Liberty and Victory
Bonds
 While the US raised and
trained the Army, we
shipped munitions, food, and
other supplies to the Allies.
 June, 1917-
Congress passed
the Selective Service Act.
 All men ages 18-45 were
supposed to register for the
Draft.
 2.8 Million were actually
drafted into the Army during
the war.
 2 million soldiers would be
shipped overseas to fight
alongside the British and
French in the Trenches.
 Some
men registered as
conscientious objectors. (were
not morally allowed to fight)
 Many men never responded to
the draft.
John T. Neufeld was a Mennonite
World War I conscientious objector
sentenced to 15 years hard labor in
the military prison at Leavenworth.
He was paroled to do dairy work
and released after serving five
months of his sentence. His diary of
army and prison life is published in
a collection with three other WWI
Mennonite conscientious objectors.
The Committee on Public
Information (CPI), headed
by George Creel, printed
lots of Propaganda, which
 “educated” Americans
about why they should
fight,
 “educated” Americans
about the nature of the
enemy (Germans
especially were labeled as
monsters)
 and dramatized the needs
of America and her allies.

“Propaganda is a form of communication
aimed at influencing the attitude of a
community toward some cause or position“
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
F)
 War
enthusiasm and propaganda created
serious anti-German prejudice in the US,
which resulted in violence against
German Americans and rejection of
German culture in the US.
 During WWI
the
government did not allow
for dissenting opinions.
 Obstructing army
recruiters, or “inciting
rebellion” could get you a
heavy fine and/or up to 20
years in jail.
 Over 2000 People were
convicted of “disloyal” and
“abusive” behavior under
various laws during the
War.


The Sedition Act (1918), made it
unlawful to use “disloyal, profane,
scurrilous, or abusive language”
about America, the Constitution, or US
military forces.
Schenk v. The United States (1919)
upheld the Espionage Act (1917),
which gave postal authorities the job
to ban treasonous newspapers,
magazines, or printed materials of
any kind.
“Sometimes the need for order is so
pressing that the First Amendment
Protections of Speech do not apply.” –
S v.US decisions
Under the Sedition Act, Eugene
Debs went to prison for 10
years because of an anti-war
Speech.



The Great Migration of African Americans from the Jim
Crow South to the northern cities, which had started
before the war, increased with job
opportunities/openings during the war. Many other
African Americans enlisted as soldiers.
Likewise, Mexicans immigrated to the US with increased
demand for farmworkers, then often moved west to
California, or to the North to fill those vacancies created
by the war.
Women moved into the workforce, as men joined the
military and left job vacancies; many others joined the
Army Corps of Nurses. Women’s roles on the home front
and as nurses earned President Wilson’s support for
suffrage… and helped win passage of the 19th
Amendment in 1919/1920.
While the US raised and trained its military (and
built new ships), we shipped munitions, food,
and other supplies to the Allies. Getting these
supplies to the Allies required the use of BritishAmerican convoys, groups of merchant ships
protected by warships.
 General
John J. Pershing
led the AEF (American
Expeditionary Force)
to France in June, 1917.
 His one specific order
from Wilson was to
“maintain a separate
American Army”
 In
November, 1917 a
communist revolution occurred
in Russia.
 The new Russian Government
signed a peace treaty with
Germany (Treaty of Brest –
Litovsk March, 1918), and
Russia pulled out of the war,
allowing a great German
offensive on the Western
Front…uh-oh…good thing the
US was sending troops there in
large numbers by this time!
Vladimir Len, leader of the
Russian Revolution
In battles such as the 2nd Battle of
the Marne, and the Battle of
Cantigny, the Allies, supported
by large American forces,
defended against the German
offensive, then counter-attacked
at
Belleau Wood, and finally
went on the offensive along
the Meuse River and through
the Argonne Forest.
 The
Fighting ended on November 11,
1918, When Germany signed an
armistice (on a railway car in France)
Wilson, desiring a “peace without victory” had
Fourteen Points for his peace treaty, including:
1.Open Diplomacy: No Secret Treaties
2.Freedom of the Seas and Trade
3.Self Determination: countries/nationalities to
form their own destinies, especially within the
former A-H Empire, and including decolonization
4.Reduction of armaments
5.League of Nations: a general association of
nations to settle disputes, and protect the
independence and territorial integrity of
nations,***
(Still trying to “Make the World safe for
Democracy”)
Instead, the Allies wanted revenge (A peace with lots
of victory) and The Big Four created the Treaty of
Versailles, which included:
1.War Guilt Clause: Maintained that it was Germany’s
fault that the war had happened
2.Reparations: Germany had to pay the GB and France
(lots) of money for “starting” the war and for war
damages
3.Germany was stripped of its colonies and militarily
occupied for 15 years
4.The Axis powers (plus Russia) lost European
territories to self determination
5.The only good news for Wilson: League of Nations
 Many
in US thought it was too harsh on Germany
 Some nationalities (like Irish-Americans)
disappointed by “random” and incomplete selfdetermination
 Isolationists opposed the League of Nations,
especially article 10, calling for mutual defense
of the signers
 Wilson tried, but failed to get the votes to ratify
the Treaty of Versailles or the League of Nations,
thus weakening the League of Nations.
Europe, Before WWI
Europe, After WWI
Was it worth10 million dead and 20 million more casualties?