Transcript The Great War/ World War I (WWI)

1914-1918
U.S. Entry = 1917
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Nationalism – belief that national interests and
national unity should be placed ahead of global
cooperation.
◦ A nation’s foreign affairs should be guided by its own selfinterests.
◦ France and Germany wanted to lead Europe
 France had lost the Alsace-Lorraine region during the FrancoPrussian War of 1871 and wanted it back.
 Germany wanted to protect industrialization by ensuring open
markets and access to overseas territories.
◦ Russia was seen as a protector of the European Slavic
people (ex. Serbs)
 Serbia (in the Balkans) was independent by many Serbs lived
under the Austro-Hungarian rule
 Russia and Austria-Hungary tried to influence Serbia
◦ Some ethnic groups wanted to have their own nations
 Czechs, Poles, etc.
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Imperialism – expanding economic and political
control
◦ Linked to industrialization
◦ Germany, France, and Britain wanted colonies that
supplied raw materials (cotton, oil, etc.)
 France and Britain nearly fought over Africa
 Russo-Japanese War over Korea and Manchuria
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Militarism – development of armed forces and
their use as a tool of diplomacy
◦ Empires are expensive to maintain – budgets rose
◦ 1890 – Germany was the strongest militarily in Europe
and the British had the strongest navy in the world.
◦ Germany wanted to build a strong navy
◦ Soon Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the U.S.
were in a naval arms race and military build-up.
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Alliance System – all of this tension led
nations to sign alliance treaties to help the
other in case of attack
◦ By 1914 there were two major alliances:
 Triple Entente (Allies) – France, Great Britain, Russia
 Russia also had an alliance with Serbia
 Triple Alliance – Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
 1915 – Italy joined Allies for promised territory
 Germany, and Austria-Hungary later joined with the
Ottoman Empire to form the Central Powers.
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Balkan Peninsula (“Powder Keg of Europe”)
◦ Surrounded by Black Sea, Adriatic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the
Aegean Sea
◦ Many countries had interests there:
 Russia wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea
 Germany wanted a Railroad to the Ottoman Empire
 Austria-Hungary (annexed Bosnia in 1908) objected to Serbia
encouraging Bosnian rejection of their rule
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June 28, 1914 – assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand (in Sarajevo)
◦ Heir to the Austrian throne
◦ Gavrilo Princip (member of a secret society aiming to unite all
Serbs under one government) shot Ferdinand and his wife
◦ Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia (others followed)
 Russia mobilized troops to help Serbia
 Germany declared war on Russia to help Austria-Hungary and then
France
 Great Britain declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary to help
France
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Germany invaded Belgium on August 4, 1914
◦ Schlieffen Plan – plan to avoid a two-front war by
concentrating troops in the west and quickly
defeating the French and then, if necessary, rushing
those troops by rail to the East to face Russia.
◦ Late 1914-early 1915 trench warfare became a big
factor (essentially a stalemate/deadlocks
throughout Europe)
 First Battle of Somme (July 1 – November 1916)
 Britain lost 60,000 troops on the first day
 By the end there were 1.2 million casualties, but only 7
miles of ground had changed hands.
 650,000 German, 420,000 British, 200,000 French
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1914 – Americans saw this as a European war 3,000
miles away, not involving us.
◦ Imperialist struggle between Germany and England
◦ Pacifist saw war as evil
◦ Sympathy for nations involved
 German atrocities – killing women and children
◦ Naturalized citizens had ties to their native origins
(Germans, Irish, French, etc.)
◦ Connection with British
 Common ancestry, language, democratic institutions and legal
systems
◦ Strong economic ties to allies (traded twice as much with
them than with Germany)
 TNT, cannon powder, copper wire, etc.
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1916 – Wilson was elected because he “kept us out of
war”
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1917 U.S. mobilized for war
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British set up a blockade to keep military goods
and food from Germany
◦ Ensure the allies paid back their debts
◦ Prevent Germans from threatening U.S. shipping
◦ American ships carrying goods for Germany refused to
challenge the blockade
 Germany found it difficult to import food and fertilizer
(750,000 starved to death)
◦ German U-Boats (Unterseebooten)/submarines
 Any ship for Britain or allies was to be sunk (75,000 died at
the hand of the U-Boats)
◦ Some Americans were mad about British blockade but
more mad about the U-Boats
 Public opinion became more negative toward Germany
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May 7, 1915 the British carrier RMS Lusitania traveling from
New York to Liverpool was sunk.
◦ Torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat
◦ 1,198 people were killed (128 were Americans)
◦ Germans said the ship carried war materials (they had warned that
they would be sunk)
◦ In the following months the U.S. stayed neutral, but more ships were
sunk and more Americans died
 Break off diplomatic relations with Germany unless they changed their tactics
– agreed under one condition:
 The U.S. had to persuade Britain to lift its blockade against food and fertilizers
or else Germany would renew unrestricted submarine warfare.
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1917 – Zimmerman Note
◦ Written by the German foreign minister to the German Ambassador in
Mexico – intercepted by British (in an attempt to keep the U.S. neutral
or else, unrestricted submarine warfare would begin).
 Suggested an allegiance between Germany and Mexico if Mexico would fight
the U.S. for Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona
 President Wilson asked Congress to declare war – both houses declared war
on Germany and the U.S. entered WWI
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German commander ordered trenches to be dug to
protect troops from the advancing French and British
troops. Allies couldn’t break through so they too dug
trenches.
Germans dug in on the high ground
◦ Tactical advantage and also forced the allies to live in worse
conditions.
◦ Invariably found water 2-3 feet below the surface = neverending struggle against water and mud.
◦ Much of the land was either sand or clay = water could not
pass through the clay and with the sand on top, trenches
became waterlogged when it rained.
◦ Trenches were hard to dig and kept on collapsing.
◦ Shells from guns and bombs made craters in the ground –
rain filled up the craters and then poured into the trenches.
◦ Duck-boards were placed at the bottom of trenches to protect
soldiers against problems like trench foot.
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Trench Foot – infection of the feet cause by cold, wet
and unsanitary conditions.
◦ Men stood for hours in the waterlogged trenches without
being able to remove wet socks or boots.
◦ Feet would go numb and skin turned red or blue – untreated,
trench foot turned gangrenous and resulted in amputation.
◦ Only remedy was for soldiers to dry their feet and change
their socks several times a day. Soldiers also had to cover
their feet with a grease made of whale-oil (battalion used 10
gallons a day).
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Rats – decomposing bodies and foot scraps attracted
rats and a pair of rats can produce 880 offspring a
year.
◦ Some grew extremely large – eat a wounded man if he
couldn’t defend himself and took food from sleeping men.
◦ 2-3 rats would be found in a dead body – went for the eyes
first and then burrowed their way into the corpse.
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Snipers – specifically trained marksmen who had
rifles with telescopic sights.
◦ German snipers crept out at dawn into no-man’s land and
remained their all day.
 Wore camouflaged clothing and used a fake tree for cover, they
waited for a British soldier to pop his head above the trench.
 Common trick: send up a kite with English writing – anyone who
raised his head to read it was shot.
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Shell-Shock – tiredness, irritability, giddiness, lack of
concentration and headaches and eventually mental
breakdowns (PTSD) caused by enemy’s heavy artillery.
◦ Bursting shell disturbs the cerebro-spinal fluid, which
upsets the working of the brain.
 Only cure was complete rest away from fighting – some officers
were sent home, however, the army was often less sympathetic
(cowards trying to get out of fighting).
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Poisonous gas was considered an uncivilized weapon and many
were reluctant to use it.
◦ French were the first to use – tear-gas grenades.
◦ Germans began firing shrapnel shells in which the steel balls had been
treated with a chemical irritant
◦ Chlorine gas cylinders – destroyed the respiratory organs and led to a slow
death by asphyxiation.
 Victim would cough and limited the intake of poison.
◦ Phosgene – small amount needed and usually killed its victims within 48
hours
◦ Mustard Gas – (Germans) was most lethal – almost odorless and took 12
hours to take effect. Remained in the soil and active for several weeks.
◦ Bromine and chloropicrin – nerve gas
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Allied troops were supplied with masks of cotton pads soaked in
urine – ammonia in the pad neutralized the poison.
◦ Handkerchiefs, socks, flannel body-belt dampened with a solution of
bicarbonate of soda tied across the mouth and nose.
◦ Was not until 1915 when efficient gas masks and anti-asphyxiation
respirators were given.
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Raising of an army during WWI
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Increase ship production
◦ Selective Service Act (draft) – required men to register with
the government in order to be randomly selected for
service.
◦ At the time of declaration, only 200,000 men were in
service and very few had combat experience.
◦ 8 month training in U.S. and France – 17 hour days.
◦ Women = nurses.
◦ Exempted shipyard workers from the draft/being deployed
(“deferred”)
◦ Emphasized the importance of shipyard workers
◦ Fabrication techniques – standardized parts were built
elsewhere and then assembled at the yard.
◦ Government took over commercial and private ships to use
them in war.
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Convoy System – protected Allies’ merchant
ships from being sunk by U-boats.
◦ Heavy guard of destroyers escorted merchant ships
across the Atlantic.
◦ Shipping losses were cut in half by 1917.
◦ Helped to lay 230 miles of mines across the North
Sea from Scotland to Norway – bottle up U-boats to
keep them out of the Atlantic.
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New arrival of troops (U.S. troops)
◦ Brought freshness and enthusiasm to exhausted
and demoralized Allied troops
◦ Had already been fighting for 2 years
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American Expeditionary Force (AEF) – led by General John J.
Pershing
◦ Urged to be used and an independent fighting force not simply as
reinforcements.
◦ Believed in aggressive combat (trenches made Allies too defensive)

New Weapons
◦ Refined the machine gun (600 rounds/minute)
◦ Tanks running on treads – mow-down barbed wire/soldiers and were built
from steal (bullet proof)
◦ Airplanes with front-mounted machine guns and bombs (Zeppelins –
floating gas-filled airships)
◦ Anti-aircraft guns and poison gases
 All could attack more soldiers and cover greater distances – also a threat for
civilians and communities
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Medical Services – physical and emotional wounds
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Improved methods of fighting infections
Skin-graft technology for gunshot wound to the face
Importance of rehabilitation
Filthy conditions, poison gases, lack of sleep, “shell shock”, trench
foot/mouth/fever

Alvin York
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Collapse of Germany

Shocking numbers
◦ Originally a conscientious objector (opposed war on moral grounds – Bible
says, “Thou Shall Not Kill”) – but realized it was morally acceptable to fight
for a just cause.
◦ With just a rifle and a revolver in Meuse-Argonne, he killed 25 Germans
and captured 132 prisoners.
◦ November 3, 1918 – Austria-Hungary surrendered and German sailors
mutinied against government authority to end fighting.
◦ German republic was established and Kaiser Wilhelm gave up his throne.
◦ Germans were too exhausted to continue fighting.
◦ 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 (11/11/1918)
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22 million deaths – more than half were civilians
20 million wounded
10 million more became refuges
Cost (directly) - $338 billion
New technology continues to advance, which means more harm and war
related wounds (physically and emotionally).
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Saw this with ship production
Went from producing consumer goods to war
supplies
◦ Business and government collaborated (power of the
government expanded)
◦ Wilson had direct control to fix prices and regulate
certain war-related industries
War Industries Board (WIB) – encouraged companies to
use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency,
standardizing products, and set quotas and allocated
raw materials.
 Price controls – chemicals, meatpacking, oil, and steel
 Railroad Administration, - railroads Fuel Administration –
coal supplies (rationing gasoline and heating oil)
 People – “gasless Sunday”, “lightless nights”
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Industrial wages increased, however so did the prices of
food/housing, affecting the consumers.
Enormous profits for stockholders and large corporations.
◦ Unions boomed as a result of uneven pay between labor and
management, increasing work hours, child labor, and
dangerous “speed up” conditions => strikes broke out.
◦ National Labor Board – workers who refused to obey board
decisions would lose their draft exemptions and also worked
to improve factory conditions.
Production/Conservation of food – Food Administration
◦ Food shipments to Allied troops tripled.
◦ Did not ration food but followed the “gospel of the clean
plate”
◦ Special Days: “meatless”, “sweetless”, two days – “wheatless”,
“porkless”
◦ “Victory Gardens” by homeowners – children spent their
afternoons growing tomatoes and cucumber public parks.
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Had to raise money for the war ($35.5 billion) and convince the public
to support the war
◦ Taxes – progressive income (high incomes have higher tax rates), war-profits tax,
and higher excise taxes on tobacco, liquor, and luxury goods.
◦ Public borrowing by selling “Liberty/Victory Loan” bonds.
◦ Movie stars spoke at rallies
◦ Committee on Public Information (CPI) to set up propaganda: biased
communication designed to influence people’s thoughts and actions.
 Paintings, posters, cartoons, and sculptures promoting the war
 “Four-Minute Men”: spoke about the draft, rationing, bond drives, victory
gardens, and other war related topics.

Promoted patriotism but also inflamed hatred and violations of the
civil liberties of certain ethnic groups and opponents of the war.
◦ Anti-Immigrant Hysteria (especially around those who emigrated from Germany
and Austria-Hungry)
◦ Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918): person could be fined up to
$10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for interfering with the war effort or for
saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or war effort.
 Violation of the First Amendment!

Black opinions were divided about the war (most African Americans
backed the war)
◦ W.E.B. Du Bois thought blacks should support the war because it would
strengthen calls for racial justice.
◦ Victims of racism should not support a historically racist government

Great Migration – large-scale movement of hundreds of thousands
of Southern blacks to cities in the North
◦ Escape racial discrimination in the South
◦ Boll weevil infestation from floods and droughts, which ruined much of the
cotton fields
◦ More job opportunities (WWI and drop in European immigration) in steel
mills, munitions plants, and stockyards.
 Racial prejudice also existed in the North, and new migrants caused overcrowding
and intensified racial tensions.

Women moved into jobs formerly held by men – railroad workers,
cooks, dockworkers, bricklayers, mined coal, and as shipbuilders.
◦ Also held “traditional jobs” – nurses, clerks, and teachers.
◦ Volunteered for the Red Cross and encouraged the sale of bonds and
planting of victory gardens.
◦ Acknowledgement of their hard work did not include equal pay for equal
work, but it did help bolster public support for women’s suffrage (1919).

Home-front suffered when the
international flu affected ¼ of the U.S.
population.
◦ Mines shut down, telephone services cut, and
factories and offices staggered working hours to
avoid the spread.
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In the army, where living conditions were
already terrible, ¼ of the soldiers caught
the disease (Germans fell victim in larger
numbers than the Allies)
30 million people dead worldwide
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Meeting at the Versailles Palace, President Wilson
tried to persuade the Allies to construct a just
and lasting peace to establish a League of
Nations
◦ Many Allies were looking for vengeance on Germany
after four years of warfare so his peace plan was shut
down.
◦ Various groups were looking for Wilson to help them
set up independent nations.
◦ “Big Four” – U.S., France, Great Britain, and Italy
 Russia and the Central Powers were not a part of this
conference

IN AN IDEAL WORLD, CAN PEOPLE AND
GOVERNMENTS RESOLVE THEIR DIFFERENCES
WITHOUT WAR?
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Fourteen Points
◦ Three groups – the first five represented issues that Wilson
believed had to be addressed to prevent another war:
 No secret treaties among nations (ZIMMERMAN NOTE)
 Freedom of the seas for all (BRITISH BLOCKADE/U-BOATS)
 Tariffs/economic barriers should be lowered or abolished to
foster free trade (IMPERIALISTIC COMPETITION)
 Arms should be reduced – as low as possible to still ensure
domestic safety (MILITARISTIC COMPETITION)
 Colonial policies must consider the interests of both the
colonial people and imperialist powers (NATIONALISM)
◦ Next eight points dealt with boundary changes
 Self-determination along historic lines of nationality –
distinct ethnic identities formed their own nation-states or
decide to which they would belong. (NATIONALISM)
◦ Last point called for the creation of a League of Nations that
would meet to settle grievances without going to war.
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Allied leaders rejected the plan as it was too lenient
on Germany
◦ Too much anger from Allied leaders to settle on a peace
treaty
 French premier, Georges Clemenceau wanted to prevent
future invasions
 British prime minister, David Lloyd George won reelection
with the slogan of “Make Germany Pay”
 Italian prime minister, Vittorio Orlando wanted control of
Austrian territory
◦ Peace agreement did not include Central Powers or Russia
who was now under the control of a Communist
government
 Wilson let go many of his points in his meeting with the “Big
Four” for the establishment of the League of Nations.
 Wanted stability for a rebuilt Europe, however anger ensued

Established 9 new nations – Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia – and shifted the
boundaries of others
◦ 5 areas where the Ottoman Empire was were divided up between France and Great Britain
as mandates (temporary colonies) – administer their policies until they were ready or
self-rule and independence.
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Barred Germany from maintaining an army and required Germany to return the region
of Alsace-Lorraine to France and to pay reparations (war damages - $33 billion).
Weaknesses – treatment of Germany (to take the blame) made lasting peace almost
impossible
◦ War-Guilt Clause: forced Germany to admit sole responsibility for starting WWI
◦ Impossible for Germany to pay the financial reparations (lost its colonial possessions in
the Pacific that could have at least helped)
◦ Russia lost more territory than Germany because it was excluded from the peace
conference – Soviet Union was determined to regain the territory
◦ Ignored claims of colonized people for self-determination (Vietnam)
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Opposition
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Herbert Hoover thought it was too harsh
Sell-out to imperialism (exchanged some colonial rules for others)
Ethnic groups were upset about the shift in control (Poles/Germans)
League of Nations threatened the U.S. policy of isolation
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Unsure about the joint-economic and military action against aggression (now fully involved in
foreign wars) – would have to align its foreign policy with the League.
U.S. never joined the League – rejected by the Senate
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Warren G. Harding (new president) pushed for a
“return to normalcy”.
Strengthened the military and the government,
while creating social change, especially for African
Americans and women.
The war created political (and economic) instability
in many countries – Communism in Russia and
fascism in Italy, Spain, and Germany (dictators rise
to power)
◦ Austrian Adolf Hitler (angry veteran from WWI) and other
leaders (Russia, Italy, etc.) sought for vengeance almost two
decades later.

Unresolved issues (arguably, newly created issues)
in Europe would drag America into a much wider
war